President's Message by BCCOCO president Eric Holcomb (elected Nov. 2012, Dec. 2013-2015, March 2017 and Jan. 2018-2019)

December 2020 — Greetings!

Our first Zoom meeting on Nov. 24 was successful and fun, but only five members participated, and one of them was disconnected early in the meeting for some reason. Because of the small size of the meeting, the usual 40-minute meeting limit for free Zoom accounts was waived.

We will try again on Tuesday, Dec. 8 at 7 p.m. Meeting sign-in information is provided to club members via email before each meeting.

Thank you and Happy Holidays, Eric.

November 2020 — Greetings!

Sorry about the late message again; obviously we are not meeting tonight (Nov. 10) and will not meet in person again until sometime in 2021.

I have finally purchased a web camera and will tentatively schedule a "virtual meeting" for Tuesday, November 24 at 7 p.m., two nights before Thanksgiving. I will go ahead with the meeting unless several people are unable to participate. If the meeting is held via Zoom, you only need a web browser or phone to participate.

The local estate collection I mentioned last month will likely still be available, but not until in-person meetings resume next year.

The three 2021 "Red Books" that I mentioned in July are still available.

October 2020 — Greetings!

Unfortunately, local coin clubs in the Northwest are still unable to meet in person, and this situation will likely continue at least until early 2021. A small number of in-person coin shows and events are taking place again, including the Polk County Coin Show in Rickreall, Oregon earlier today.

A virtual meeting is definitely coming soon, but not as early as this week.

When we do meet again, I hope to have portions of a local estate collection available for sale. It includes a sizeable number of proof and mint sets, silver dollars, modern commemorative coins, etc.

September 2020 — Greetings!

Sorry about the late message (posted 9/7); hope you had a great holiday weekend!

Unfortunately, it's still too soon for the club to meet again in person. A small number of in-person coin shows and events are taking place again, but in states such as Idaho and Nevada.

I'm still considering a virtual meeting, but need to get a web camera first. I'll let you know when I'm ready. Until then, we'll have another "virtual show & tell" where you submit photos of your item(s). Please send me your photos within the next week.

July 2020 — Greetings!

Update! Due to the recent increase in virus cases, the club is not planning to meet at this time. An update will be posted this fall, when the club would normally start meeting again.

June 2020 — Greetings!

The June "virtual show & tell" page has been posted at http://bendcoinclub.org/exhibit/2020/exhibit_sample_202006.html.

You can also view some more items I posted on behalf of the Tacoma-Lakewood Coin Club at http://tlcc.info/exhibit/2020/TLCC_exhibits_202006.html.

Red Book update - 6 books are still available at $10 each.

I will send info later this month if I try to schedule a July meeting.

Although the coin club is still planning to try a meeting at the Redmond Round Table Pizza, I called them, and they are currently not ready for a meeting of our size. They told me to call again in a couple weeks - we might possibly be OK for July, a month we don't normally meet, but could this year. Most restaurant service is currently limited to about 8 people per party, and most regional coin club meetings for June are being cancelled. All regional coin shows have also been cancelled through at least June (see https://www.pnna.org/wp/events/event-calendar/). Therefore, we will have another "virtual show & tell" in place of the previously scheduled June 9 meeting.

I still have 2021 Red Books - the least expensive ($10) spiral-bound edition. I'm now willing to either deliver them to you (if you live nearby in Bend), or mail them at no extra charge. Please let me know if interested. Invoices will be sent via PayPal, and can be paid with a credit card without requiring a PayPal account.

For the "virtual show & tell," please send photos to me as attachments for use on the club’s website (http://bendcoinclub.org/). Only send your own photos, not photos copied from any website, including auction sites. Have a story to go with the photo(s)? - You can send your story too!

May 2020 — Greetings!

Update! The coin club is still planning to try a meeting at the Redmond Round Table Pizza as soon as restaurants open for service and group meetings again, however, it now appears this won't be possible until at least June (June 9), and then only with a limit of 25 people. Until then, we will have another "virtual show & tell" in place of the previously scheduled May 12 meeting. Don’t want to wait that long for pizza? – both the Bend and Redmond Round Table locations are open for carryout and delivery. I've also discovered that Abby's Pizza in Bend has excellent food, and some good deals are available to new members of the Uber Eats "Eats Pass" service.

I have ten 2021 Red Books - the least expensive ($10) spiral-bound edition. Once again, if you don't want to wait until June, I can offer other options including Media Mail for an extra $4 charge. Please let me know if interested. Invoices will be sent via PayPal, and can be paid with a credit card without requiring a PayPal account.

For the "virtual show & tell," please send photos to me as attachments for use on the club’s website (http://bendcoinclub.org/).

April 2020 — Greetings!

Update! The coin club is planning to try a meeting at the Redmond Round Table Pizza as soon as restaurants open for normal service and group meetings again. Until then, the club will not meet. At present, the earliest the meeting in Redmond could take place would be Tuesday, May 12. Don’t want to wait that long for pizza? – both the Bend and Redmond Round Table locations are open for carryout and delivery.

The PNNA Spring Convention originally scheduled for April 17-19 in Tukwila, Wash., has been cancelled. Fall shows are planned for Sept. 25-27 in Tukwila, and Oct. 30-Nov. 1 in Portland. For more information, see the PNNA’s 2nd Quarter edition of The Nor’wester, posted online at https://pnna.org/news/pdf/PNNAnews2020_Q2.pdf. When we do meet again, I will have paper copies available. Note the back-cover ANACS ad – they have a special on coin submissions this month.

ANA National Coin Week is Apr. 19-25, with the theme “Remarkable Women: Catalysts of Change.” Visit https://www.money.org/numismatic-events/national-coin-week for more information. Since the club will not meet this month, I have not requested an NCW club packet from the ANA.

I will soon order 2021 Red Books as usual. If you want anything other than the least expensive ($10) spiral-bound edition, please let me know right away. Other editions available include hardbound and large print.

Have you taken any nice numismatic photos that you would like to share? – Please send them to me as attachments for possible use on the club’s website (http://bendcoinclub.org/).

March 2020 — Greetings!

The coin club will continue its 2020 meetings in March in Bend. I have been advised that the Redmond Round Table Pizza location may become available in April, and will follow up on that possibility.

The March coin club meeting is scheduled for Tuesday March 10 (2nd Tuesday) at the community room (clubhouse) at Suntree Village, 1001 SE 15th St., Bend, OR. Time 6:30 p.m. as usual. Thanks again to club member and Suntree Village resident Sterling Respass for making the reservation. If anyone needs directions to Suntree Village, please let me know.

I’ll come up with part 2 of my “Match the Coin with the Price” activity (this time for 20th Century U.S. coins), unless someone else has a talk to give – please let me know if you do have a talk ready. Since this is an Olympic year, I'm planning to give my talk on Olympic Participation Medals again (perhaps in May), but I'm not ready to do that yet.

As always, we’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 regular auction at the end of the meeting. I'll have my camera ready to photograph your item. There will be an extra prize to show & tell participants in a random drawing. To receive a ticket for this special drawing, you must have a numismatic item to show. Of course we'll have the regular raffle with tickets you can purchase as well.

Annual membership dues remain $10 per person. Club treasurer James Parker will be available to take your dues, if you need to pay for 2020. 24 people have already paid dues for this year. Thank you if you're one of them, otherwise please consider renewing.

Check the club's website, http://www.bendcoinclub.org/, for more information and some photos from past club meetings. In the event of any meeting changes or cancellations, I will send an email the day of the meeting or sooner if possible, in addition to posting on the website.

February 2020 — Greetings!

The February coin club meeting is scheduled for Tuesday February 11 (2nd Tuesday) at the community room (clubhouse) at Suntree Village, 1001 SE 15th St., Bend, OR. Time 6:30 p.m. as usual. Thanks again to club member and Suntree Village resident Sterling Respass for making the reservation. If anyone needs directions to Suntree Village, please let me know.

I’ll come up with a “Coin Quiz” or similar activity, unless someone else has a talk to give – please let me know if you do have a talk ready. We may also have a visitor with coins to sell or appraise, as we have sometimes at past meetings.

As always, we’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 regular auction at the end of the meeting. I'll have my camera ready to photograph your item. There will be an extra prize to show & tell participants in a random drawing. To receive a ticket for this special drawing, you must have a numismatic item to show. Of course we'll have the regular raffle with tickets you can purchase as well.

Annual membership dues remain $10 per person. Club treasurer James Parker will be available to take your dues, if you need to pay for 2020. He will also have some new raffle prizes from the coin shop.

January 2020 — Greetings!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! – The coin club will begin our 2020 meetings in January, likely in Bend since I have not heard any more about the proposed new Redmond location.

The January coin club meeting is scheduled for Tuesday January 14 (2nd Tuesday) at the community room (clubhouse) at Suntree Village, 1001 SE 15th St., Bend, OR. Time 6:30 p.m. as usual. Thanks again to club member and Suntree Village resident Sterling Respass for making the reservation. If anyone needs directions to Suntree Village, please let me know.

The past few years we have scheduled both our December and January meetings in Redmond. However, the old Redmond location (Patrick) is no longer available to us, and I have not yet heard any more about the proposed new location. Since I'll be unavailable for a number of days before the meeting, I would need to know by Thursday (Jan. 2) if the new Redmond location is in fact available. We no longer need to stick to the previous schedule, where June and September meetings were in Bend due to fire season.

This year I'll be travelling and attending the annual Florida United Numismatists (FUN) convention for the first time, so I'll have a report on that activity, as well as on the upcoming Boeing Employees Coin Show in Kent, Wash. (I won't attend that one, but I will have copies of the 1st Q 2020 edition of The Nor'wester produced for the show.)

As always, we’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 regular auction at the end of the meeting. I'll have my camera ready to photograph your item. There will be an extra prize to show & tell participants in a random drawing. To receive a ticket for this special drawing, you must have a numismatic item to show. Of course we'll have the regular raffle with tickets you can purchase as well.

Annual membership dues remain $10 per person. Club treasurer James Parker will be available to take your dues, if you need to pay for 2020.

See previous messages: 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010.