President's Message by BCCOCO president Eric Holcomb (elected November 2012)

December 2013 — Greetings!

I would like to make a first reminder about the Bend Coin Club of Central Oregon's last 2013 meeting, on the evening of Tuesday December 17 at the usual location (Grange hall near the Bend airport). This is our annual holiday potluck ... the club will supply the meat items (ham and turkey like last year), drinks, and plates and utensils ... you supply the rest, including salads and holiday cookies or desserts if desired! It would be appreciated if you could respond stating what you're likely to bring to help avoid duplication. The meeting will also feature some excellent raffle prizes, a brief opportunity for "show & tell" or announcements, club elections for 2014 and possibly a short auction. Please let me know if you have any questions before the meeting, and I'll see you there!

See you soon! - Eric Holcomb, BCCOCO president (eric@holcomb.com).

November 2013 — Greetings!

I hope everyone enjoyed our October meeting and my presentation.

IMPORTANT! This month (November) there will be NO regular Tuesday evening club meeting. Instead, we're having a special meeting for members and invited guests in Redmond. The meeting will be on Saturday afternoon, November 16. Although we'll have time for the usual socializing and numismatic discussions, the primary purpose of this meeting is to allow club members to trade numismatic items among themselves, so please be sure to bring a few items to sell/trade, along with a want list of items you're searching for!

Refreshments will be available at the meeting. If you would like to bring food, please let me know to avoid duplication. The trading activity described above replaces the regular auction, but we're still planning to have a raffle.

October 2013 — Greetings!

I hope everyone enjoyed our September meeting, kicking off our new season! Now it's almost time for the club's October meeting, scheduled for Tuesday October 15 (one week from now) at the usual time and place ... the Grange Hall at 6:30 PM, with gates opening around 6:00 PM. If anyone hasn't been there in a while and needs directions, please let me know. This month I'll be the speaker, talking about "Remembering Neil Armstrong," including medals commemorating the first moon landing. This was the topic of my collector exhibit at the ANA convention in Chicago in August. Coffee and cookies will be available at the meeting. If you would like to bring food, please let me know to avoid duplication.

I'd also like to have a good "show & tell" and auction at just about every meeting, so please bring an item for each, or bring one item you'd like to sell and show it first so people know what it is before the auction at the end of the meeting. However, for a better special opportunity to buy, sell and trade with other club members in private, the club's board of directors decided to hold a special weekend afternoon meeting in Redmond in November. The date will likely either be Saturday 11/16 or Sunday 11/17, and we should be able to confirm the plans at the October meeting. As a result, there will be no regular club meeting on Tuesday 11/19 unless requested by club members, with someone volunteering to speak.

September 2013 — Greetings!

I hope everyone had an enjoyable summer (which isn't quite over yet). Believe it or not, it's time for the coin club to start meeting again!

Our first coin club meeting of the new season is scheduled for Tuesday September 17 at the usual time and place ... the Grange Hall at 6:30 PM, with gates opening around 6:00 PM. If anyone hasn't been there in a while and needs directions, please let me know. This month we've scheduled club member Walter Troutman, who attended the ANA Summer Seminar in Colorado Springs, and will speak to us about his experiences and the class he took this year at the Seminar. Coffee and cookies will be available at the meeting. If you would like to bring food, please let me know to avoid duplication.

I'd also like to have a good "show & tell" and auction at just about every meeting, so please bring an item for each, or bring one item you'd like to sell and show it first so people know what it is before the auction at the end of the meeting. I'll have my camera ready to photograph your item.

The club's board of directors met last weekend (9/8), and we've come up with plans for a special November meeting that will allow club members to do more buying, selling and trading than in the usual club auctions. Details will be provided at the September meeting, and we'll also be asking for your opinion about future club plans.

June 2013 — Greetings!

Thanks to everyone who attended our May meeting ... it was interesting and informative to hear Paul speaking about (and showing) his polar bear coins!

Our 2013 coin club meetings continue this month on Tuesday June 18 (just under two weeks from now) at the usual time and place ... the Grange Hall at 6:30 PM, with gates opening around 6:00 PM. If anyone hasn't been there in a while and needs directions, please let me know. This month we've scheduled club member Zohrab ("Z"), who will speak to us about "Interesting Old Coins," many of which will likely be world coins. Coffee and cookies will be available at the meeting. This is also our last monthly meeting before summer break.

I'd also like to have a good "show & tell" and auction at just about every meeting, so please bring an item for each, or bring one item you'd like to sell and show it first so people know what it is before the auction at the end of the meeting. If your item fits in with the "old coins" theme, that's great, but it's not a requirement. I'll have my camera ready to photograph your item.

May 2013 — Greetings!

Thanks to everyone who attended our April meeting ... it was interesting and informative to hear Mike from Mountain High Coin! Also it was good to know that despite recent turmoil in the bullion market, the collector market remains strong in most areas.

Our 2013 coin club meetings continue this month on Tuesday May 21 at the usual time and place ... the Grange Hall at 6:30 PM, with gates opening around 6:00 PM. If anyone hasn't been there in a while and needs directions, please let me know. This month we've scheduled club member Paul Solarz, who will give an illustrated presentation about world coins depicting polar bears. (This is an excellent example of what's known as topical collecting.) Coffee and cookies will be available at the meeting.

I'd also like to have a good "show & tell" and auction at just about every meeting, so please bring an item for each, or bring one item you'd like to sell and show it first so people know what it is before the auction at the end of the meeting.

We'll also be collecting 2013 club dues again this month, for those who haven't already paid. If you're also an ANA member, please email me your ANA membership number, or bring it to the meeting. We get a discount on our annual ANA club dues for each individual member in the club.

April 2013 — Greetings!

Thanks to everyone who attended our March meeting ... it was interesting to hear former club president Ted Campbell's talk on "Morgan Dollar VAM varieties," and to see some of his certified coins. Also to meet with Ted again!

Our 2013 coin club meetings continue this month on Tuesday April 16 (less than two weeks from now) at the usual time and place ... the Grange Hall at 6:30 PM, with gates opening around 6:00 PM. If anyone hasn't been there in a while and needs directions, please let me know. This month we've scheduled Mike from Mountain High Coin (who was originally scheduled for March) to conduct a "question & answer" session. Have your questions ready, especially about topics related to the coin market ... it should be another interesting evening. Coffee and cookies will be available at the meeting.

I'd also like to have a good "show & tell" and auction at just about every meeting, so please bring an item for each, or bring one item you'd like to sell and show it first so people know what it is before the auction at the end of the meeting.

We'll also be collecting 2013 club dues this month, for those who haven't already paid.

The weekend before this month's meeting (April 12-14) is the annual Pacific Northwest Numismatic Association annual convention and coin show in Tukwila, Washington, just south of Seattle along I-5. For more information, see http://www.pnna.org/convention/convention.html.

March 2013 — Greetings!

Thanks to everyone who attended our February meeting ... it was enjoyable giving the second part of my talk on Olympic Participation Medals. (I'll be posting some of the information from my talks online and will let club members know when it's ready.)

Our 2013 coin club meetings continue this month on Tuesday March 19 at the usual time and place ... the Grange Hall at 6:30 PM, with gates opening around 6:00 PM. If anyone hasn't been there in a while and needs directions, please let me know. In the event of snow or ice, check this website and your email the day of the meeting for information.

This month we have a surprise ... Mike from Mountain High Coin was originally scheduled to conduct a "question & answer" session, however former club president Ted Campbell will be back in town and has requested to speak about Morgan Dollar VAM varieties, so we'll be postponing Mike's program to a later meeting, possibly in April or May. Ted has promised to also bring cake, so no cookies needed this time!

I'd also like to have a good "show & tell" and auction at just about every meeting, so please bring an item for each, or bring one item you'd like to sell and show it first so people know what it is before the auction at the end of the meeting.

February 2013 — Greetings!

Thanks to everyone who attended our January meeting ... it was a good start to the new year! (See some photos of "show & tell" and/or prize items at http://www.bendcoinclub.org/exhibit/2013/exhibit_sample_jan_2013.html.)

Our 2013 coin club meetings continue next Tuesday (February 19) at the usual time and place ... the Grange Hall at 6:30 PM, with gates opening around 6:00 PM. If anyone hasn't been there in a while and needs directions, please let me know. In the event of snow or ice, check this website and your email the day of the meeting for information.

As I noted last month, an important thing is to have short educational programs at most meetings. I'll speak this month about Winter Olympic participation medals (recall that I spoke about the Summer Olympic medals last fall). I think we have volunteer speakers for March through June, but don't be afraid to volunteer to speak sometime this year ... just about everyone in the club is knowledgeable about some numismatic topic! If you need help photographing items and preparing a presentation for use with the club's projector, please let me know. If you know an outside speaker you'd like to invite, that's also a possibility.

I'd also like to have a good "show & tell" and auction at just about every meeting, so please bring an item for each, or bring one item you'd like to sell and show it first so people know what it is before the auction at the end of the meeting.

For refreshments, we'll once again have coffee and cookies; although you can let me know if you'd like something else, such as a different beverage.

January 2013 — Greetings and Happy New Year!

Thanks to everyone who helped make our December meeting a great meeting with great food and holiday spirit!

Our 2013 coin club meetings begin next Tuesday (January 15) at the usual time and place ... the Grange Hall at 6:30 PM, with gates opening around 6:00 PM. If anyone hasn't been there in a while and needs directions, please let me know. In the event of snow or ice, check this website and your email the day of the meeting for information.

I'd like to have a good "show & tell" and auction at just about every meeting, so please bring an item for each, or bring one item you'd like to sell and show it first so people know what it is before the auction at the end of the meeting. As an incentive, we'll waive the 5% auction sales commission for this month only (limit 5 items). Do remember to pay your 2013 club dues if you haven't already, however!

Another important thing is to have short educational programs at most meetings. Let's try to do some planning this month and line up speakers for February through June (5 months). I'll offer to speak in February, this time about Winter Olympic participation medals (recall that I spoke about the Summer Olympic medals last fall). Don't be afraid to volunteer to speak one of the other months ... just about everyone in the club is knowledgeable about some numismatic topic! If you need help photographing items and preparing a presentation for use with the club's projector, please let me know. If you know an outside speaker you'd like to invite, that's also a possibility.

Not sure I'll have cake every meeting like Ted did, but we'll definitely have coffee and something good to eat ... perhaps cookies.

See previous messages: 2012 | 2011 | 2010.