From: MPCgram [mpcgram@yahoo.com] Sent: Monday, June 18, 2007 12:46 AM To: mpcgram@papermoneyworld.net Subject: MPCGram 1551 =========================================== MPC GRAM =========================================== Series 8, no 1551 Sunday, June 17, 2007 Commentary by Joe Boling I believe the answer to Sam Spiegel's confusion about the exchangeability of Philippine pesos and JIM is that the PI pesos as a UNIT OF ACCOUNT were on a par with the JIM, but they were not allowed to be used in daily commerce. Thus, the woman who borrowed before the war was able to repay in JIM because the notes were equivalent in law. In practice, underground, if you had PI pesos, you could (as the war went on) get quite a few more JIM pesos for them than the law allowed. It is precisely because of that that the PI pesos were banned in circulation - they disrupted (and shamed) the JIM. As for the guerrilla notes, they were even more severely restricted - banned with extreme prejudice (read - capital crime). Also, Sam, a 40:1 exchange rate by late 1944 is not a hyperinflation. The August 2007 issue of Paper Money Values (a Coin World title edited by fester Michele Orzano) is loaded with articles of interest to other festers. Starting off is a short item (no byline) on Stephen Decatur, naval hero of the Barbary campaigns. Next is a long article on MPC by Al Doyle. There are no surprises in it for experienced MPC collectors, but it's a great introduction for initiates (but Al needs to realize that there is no intaglio printing on any series of MPC, even the fanciest-looking ones). Running as a sidebar to that article is another one by Doyle about the specific experiences of an infantry officer assigned to convert MPC when series 692 was introduced. Next is an article by Orzano titled "Military money collectors capture more than knowledge," about some specific collecting adventures of guys with names like Daniel, Downey, Mericle, Smulczenski, Wolka, and Boling. Finally, there are two articles by Gene Hessler and Orzano again, the first about Hawaiian notes and the latter about notes with portraits of children. No, not silver certificates and FRNs with HAWAII overprints, but 19th century notes of the Republic of Hawaii, before the US annexed it. They are a fascinating series. And that's just the first 42 pages of the magazine. The rest (forty more pages) is filled with current value tables (and several sidebars with valuable information) for US notes of all series - all illustrated in color. WWII Hawaii and North Africa notes are included, but NOT MPC (seems like a conspicuous deficiency, doesn't it?). During its first year of publication I picked up the occasional copy of Paper Money Values at the Amos Press booth at coin shows and liked what I was seeing; I am now a subscriber. OK, all you condition freaks - you can now build registry sets of MPC. PCGS has announced the opening of a free on-line site where collectors of PCGS-graded notes can brag about them. Points will be awarded based on grade and set completeness. MPC are among four series that are being included (the others being US large size, small size, and fractional notes). Start your showcase at www.PCGSCurrency.com/SetRegistry. Three collectors (none with a name familiar to me) are already there (you can register fractional sets, short sets (94 notes) and complete sets (102 notes). What do you think - should I start a registry set of my PCGS-graded and slabbed MPC counterfeits? Do you think maybe they'd not want to own up to those pieces? ***************************************************** Championship Question Corner Question 200. Difficulty 1. What issue of notes was used as trial MPC? Prevous Question: Question 199. Difficulty 1. How many notes in a unit of fractional MPC? Answers and comments: The answer to this one applies the answers to previous questions. A sheet of fractional notes has 84 notes. A unit of notes has 8000 sheets. The arithmetic product of 84 and 8000 is 672,000. That is a number that collectors should know. ========================================== Editorial ========================================== Since I complained about the inconsistent internet via my cell phone, the setup has been working great. The only apparant difference is that the phone is tethered to the USB slot on the right side instead of the left side. There is no difference that I know of between the two sides, but it seemed to make the difference. I know that I could test this by going back to the left side, but I am unwilling to risk it. Yesterday at the base exchange at McChord Air Force Base I met retired sailor Fred Brossard. He was set up in the entrance way to the exchange selling two books that he had written. I was immediately interested on several levels. Of course I am always looking for interesting or informative (or both) books. I honor people who have the courage to market their books as he was doing. I feel the same way about people who publish their own books, but I could not be sure that that was what he had done until I looked at the books or until we chatted. Well, it turned out that I was not very interested in either of the books that Fred was selling because they were both fiction. The matter of publication is still up in the air. The information inside the books made me think that they were self published, but Fred said differently. I think that we had a little communications problem and we did not discuss it for long. Fred lives in South Carolina whence he entered the navy in 1957. More recently, he left there in March as he does every year and travels the country and world selling his books and, I presume, seeking adventure. When he is selling in the United States he travels by motor home so we had another thing in common (in addition to being authors, publisher and retired Vietnam vets (more on that later))--we were neighbors in the RV park on McChord! In response to my question, he said that he had been in Vietnam and that he did remember MPC. He said that somewhere in his souvenirs he had at least a few examples of small values. On specifics his memory was not only weak, but mistaken. I had a copy of Remembered in the car (imagine that) which I brought in to show Fred. I was hoping that we could work out a deal to get him to sell some of our books along with his as he went around the country. When I showed up with the book, his eyes got big. His immediate response was that the book was far to big to cart around the country. He certainly has a point there and he was not interested in making any kind of deal. He said that it was hard enough to sell his own book. Fred taught me several things about selling his books. He complained rather bitterly about the cut that the BX takes of sales to allow him to set up in the lobby. However, since that system required that customers sign a cash transaction sheet, it also provided me an opportunity to see what his sales had been. I was moderately impressed. A person came up and chatted a little and departed. Fred told me that he knew that the person was not going to buy a book because buyers always pick up a book and examine it. Sounds right to me. I had done that--picked up and studied his books. I had not bought because I am not much interested in fiction. Eventually he told me that his first book had been an autobiography of his time in the Navy. I told him that I would have bought one of those (and I would have), because those are the kinds of books that I like--esoteric military biographies. He said that it had sold out quickly, 1000 copies. When I got home (motor home), I immediately went to the search engines and found his biography, Ninteen Years, Eleven Months, 25 Days. I found a copy for sale. When I started to order it, I saw that the seller was in Puyallup, Washington! That is only a few miles from where I am so I got excited about possibly picking up the copy and getting my neighbor Fred to autograph it for me. I emailed the seller. He responded quickly and volunteered to deliver it to Tacoma at some mutually agreeable place! Well, the meeting did not take place but because my plans changed in favor of staying a few more days at McChord we arranged and I received the book in the mail. I have just started reading it. I will report more latter. I do not expect that there will be anything numismatic so there will not be much to report--but probably something. ========================================= Mail Call (send mail to MPCGram@yahoo.com) =========================================== Dear Gram, Hope everyone is enjoying pleasing temperatures. Mark your calendars for our September 11 floor auction at Lyn Knight's building in Kansas.  We will offer many important rarities found in World War II Remembered.  You WILL want to attend in person to participate in the excitement.  Please contact me for further details. Lyn Knight Currency Auctions World Sale 11 ends on Thursday, June 21 at 11:00 PM Eastern Time.  We offer several items of interest, with LOTS 430-442 containing United States Military Payment Certificates.  Highlights include LOT 436, a Series 481 10 Cents from an old time collection, LOT 439, a wonderful 20 Dollars Series 661, and LOT 442, a striking 10 Dollars Series 692.  LOTS 440 and 441 contain neat collector items, and LOT 437 is intriguing as well. United States POW chits, a growing area of interest, are included in LOTS 443-451.  Some tougher camps are represented, so check these out! A delicious lot can be found in LOT 5, with the Aore Islands 1 Ice Cream 31.12.1943 from Fleet Recreation Center.  That's right, this piece is denominated in ice cream! Burma LOTS 55 and 56 are two solid group lots. Appealing group lots can be found throughout this sale. Scattered through China LOTS 77-94 are pieces from the Joseph Boling collection, as is Japan LOT 241 and Malaya LOTS 285-286.  Djibouti LOT 115 is scarce in any grade.  Faeroe Islands LOT 133 makes for a pleasing trio. French Indochina LOTS 150 and 152 highlight a strong contingent.  Germany LOT 165 is a solid condition Barter Unit.  Greece contains an attractive pair with LOTS 189 and 190.  Guadeloupe LOT 191 features a handsome Columbus type. Hungary LOT 211 provides a clear picture of the World War II economic aftermath-the largest denomination ever made! Do not miss New Caledonia LOTS 324-328. Specifically, LOTS 326-327 contains a complete run of the Tresorerie de Noumea series.  World War II Remembered relates that some of these types had limited amounts made. Oceania LOT 343 contains a well underrated 1/2 Shilling Specimen from an old time collection. Tangier LOT 417 is certainly worth a look.  Yugoslavia LOTS 463 and 464 contains notes from Laibach in high grade. Again, this sale ends in a few short days.  Please contact me at grbaypa@aol.com if you have any questions or if I can provide any assistance.  Happy Father's Day. Joel Shafer Dear Joel, Nice try. Once again because of the cras commercial nature of your letter we cannot publish it. We do appreciate that it includes information of interest to collectors of MPC and other military notes. We also note that you and your firm have been supportive of the hobby for many years. Editor =========================================== Calendar =========================================== 2007 ANA Summer semnar Session I: June 24-29, 2007* Session II: June 30-July 6, 2007 Donations for 2008 scholarship fund are being accepted. Contact Dan Freeland at ksfdaf@sbcglobal.net or call him at 989-843-5247. Memphis 6-8 July ANA Convention, Milwaukee. 2008 MPC Fest IX, Feb 29-Mar 2. Holiday Inn Express, Port Clinton, Ohio 43452 ========================================== for dealer Hot Contact list, ANA MPC museum holdings and other static information please click this link: http://www.papermoneyworld.net/Gramattichments.htm ========================================= POST / BASE EXCHANGE(PX/BX/NEX) Dump your dupes! Your classified advertisement for items for sale, purchase or trade will be run here for free. Send your ads to the gram. This service is for everyone, most humble dealer or most advanced collector. The point is to make the gram more interesting. In all cases confirm your order via email first. WANTED SECTION: Collectors may submit lists of items wanted for their collections for listing here. WANTED - JAPANESE INVASION MONEY (JIM). Collector/researcher of these notes by zone, type, and block letter, or number will buy or trade.  Checklist available, Anythinfg unusual is of particular interest. Mike Payton, 6609 Craig, Merriam, KS. USA 66202, papermoneymike@yahoo.com Dealers and collectors who have these items, are then encouraged to list them for sale in the above section as a reply. Wanted listings will run for a period of 1 month. Germany Buchenwald nd 50 Pfennig C.3951b, F&F GE-140b UNC 200.00 nd 2 Marks C.3953a, F&F GE-142a UNC 250.00 nd 2 Marks C.3953b, F&F GE-142b UNC 250.00 nd 3 Marks C.3954a, F&F GE-143a UNC 300.00 nd 3 Marks C.3954b, F&F GE-143b UNC 300.00 Insured Postpaid David E. Seelye, P.O. Box 356; North Chili, NY 14514 Silent Witnesses: Civilian Camp Money of WWII by Ray and Steve Feller. 166 pages, large format, soft cover in FULL COLOR only $35 (plus $4 per ORDER) shipping. Send you order to the Gram and we will send your book with an invoice or send your order via snail mail to BNR Press, 132 E. Second St., Port Clinton, OH 43452. Fest quarters (also known as Fest casino tokens, Fest quarters, and harolds are available to Gramsters. These quarters are ideal give aways to promote the hobby. Additionally, they will be valid for spending at all Fests. 2007 harolds can be purchsed in rolls at $6.25 per roll (face value (we knew that you would love this roll value!). Rolls are original, unsorted or searched just the way that they came from the Great Lakes Mint. As a courtesy we will also send four harolds for a dollar bill and a self addressed stamped envelope. Send your orders to MPCFest Headquarters, 132 E. Second St., Port Clinton, Ohio 43452. ======================================= MPCGram Staff: Publisher, editor: Fred Schwan fred@papermoneyworld.net; Subscription Manager:Doug Bell- doug@papermoneyworld.net Tuesday Columnist : JoeBoling- JoeBoling@aol.com Friday Columnist: Warner Talso: wtalso@aol.com Fest Auctioneer: Larry Columnist at large: Jim Downey Fest auctioneer "Ski"Smulczenski - skitex@cox.net Critic:Harold Kroll - HARBONS@aol.com Scholarship Coordinator: Dan and Kathy Freeland ksfdaf@sbcglobal.net Webmaster and Technical Advisors:Doug Bell "Wiz" - doug@papermoneyworld.net Fact Checker: Warner Talso -Calendar Coordinator: John and Nancy Wilson -The Boss: Judy Schwan MPC Gram is published by BNR Press and papermoneyworld.com as a free service to the community of military money collectors. Your suggestions, criticisms, complaints, editorial contributions, letters, and even praise are very welcome. The entire contents including linked illustrations are copyright protected by the publishers. In the case of contributors, the copyright is protected on behalf of the creators. Please send all correspondence regarding the gram to MPCgram@yahoo.com. Thank you very much for your participation. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Now that's room service! Choose from over 150,000 hotels in 45,000 destinations on Yahoo! Travel to find your fit. http://farechase.yahoo.com/promo-generic-14795097 No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.9.0/852 - Release Date: 6/17/2007 8:23 AM