Return-Path: Received: from web5201.mail.yahoo.com ([216.115.106.95]) by niles.mail.mindspring.net (Mindspring Mail Service) with SMTP id t584na.e4t.37kbi1o for ; Thu, 4 Jan 2001 01:06:34 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <20010104060533.20642.qmail@web5201.mail.yahoo.com> Received: from [152.163.194.206] by web5201.mail.yahoo.com; Wed, 03 Jan 2001 22:05:33 PST Date: Wed, 3 Jan 2001 22:05:33 -0800 (PST) From: MPCgram Subject: MPC Gram 215 To: mpcgram@yahoo.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii ==================================================== MPC Gram ==================================================== Covering the Entire World of Military Numismatics ---------------------------------------------------- Series 002-Number 215 Wednesday - 3 January 2001 Exhibit Recycling by Joe Boling My apologies for missing Christmas week; I was in Oregon without my laptop (my mother has no regular phone service, so I could not have filed from there). Now I've almost missed another week, but Fred says we can still get it in a day before Ski's, so here goes. I am at the FUN convention, where I will be teaching the ANA's judging certification seminar. In an effort to increase the number of exhibits, so that the apprentice judges will have something to look at, the exhibit chairman asked me to bring an exhibit from my "stock." It has been years since I exhibited competitively at a convention, and many of my exhibits need updating before they could be showed again (computer printer quality had improved since they were made, or some of the information in them has become outdated because of changes in exchange rates or new discoveries). However, I had one that could be showed, and it is a WWII-related exhibit, so let's talk about it a bit. The items shown are a set of twenty 50mm 1.000 fine silver medals commemorating Japanese warships, from battleships to submarines. The medals are typical of what you see from private mints as a subscription series, sold at inflated prices over a period of months. I had bought a single piece at a Tokyo coin show in 1984, and presumed that an entire series existed, so I asked a local dealer to watch for the set for me. Sure enough, five months later he called and said that his silver bucket had the set in it; it had been bought by the shop as bullion and would be sent to be melted. He had picked out the set of twenty and was holding them for me. I hustled down and bought them. At home, I discovered that one piece was not from the same set--it was from some other set of ship medals. I went back to the shop and poured out the bucket, but the piece I needed (which turned out to be the last piece issued) was not there. In order to complete the set, I had to buy the last medal directly from the issuer/manufacturer, for a lot more money than bullion value. In the process of doing that, I also obtained a copy of the original sales brochure and lots of other information about the series, which stimulated me to prepare the exhibit. I first showed these medals at the 1984 Detroit ANA, and won the modern mint medals class with it. I did not show it again until the 1994 ANA convention (also in Detroit, coincidentally), and it won the class again. I showed them again as part of Fred's and my 60-case exhibit of WWII numismatics in 1995, which was non- competitive. So, this is the fourth outing for these medals. In addition to the information that I obtained from the manufacturer, I researched each ship's construction and refitting history and battle record, and write a summary of that data for each ship. Following is the writeup for one of the twenty, that might open a few eyes. Submarine I-400 - #5 Built: 1943 - December 1944, Kure dockyard Displacement: 3530 tons surface; 6560 tons submerged Length/beam/draft: 394/39/23 feet Speed: not available Major armament: 1 x 5.5in, 10 x 25mm antiaircraft, 8 torpedo tubes, three float plane bombers. Disposition: surrendered at sea 200 miles SE of Yokosuka, 27 Aug 1945; moved to U.S.A. in 1946 and scuttled. Comments: I-400 was the first of the Sen-toku class ("special submarine") aircraft-carrying submarines. These were the largest in the world at that time (compare the dimensions and surface dis placement with those of the destroyer Yukikaze, medal #4) [displacement: 2490 tons; length/beam/draft: 381/35/12 feet]. Each had an on-deck 110-foot hanger for three fold-up float plane bombers, a 115-ft catapult, and a folding crane at the stern for aircraft recovery. In training, I-400's sister ship I-401 once surfaced, unstowed, and launched all three planes in forty-five minutes. Several schemes were proposed for using these subs (four were completed before the war ended), including bombing U.S. coastal cities and the Panama Canal. I-400 and I-401 were finally sent to bomb Ulithi, to disrupt Allied staging operations there. That mission was not accomplished before the Japanese surrender. ==================================================== Editorial ---------------------------------------------------- Well, I arrived in Olrando more or less unevnetfully--if driving for about 16 hours straight is unevenftull! The show has started with a bang. Many MPC fans are here and more will be here tomorrow. Joe Boling prepared his article here in the room we are sharing so I could not get much computer time to report on today's many events. I hope to be able to do better tomorrow. ==================================================== Mail Call ---------------------------------------------------- Editor, OK. 175! approximately equals 11 followed by 317 (yes I said 317) zeros. That's a big number! I couldn't give you the exact number because my computer kept rounding off. But with a number that big, what's a few digits among friends. Regards, Ken =================================================== Departments --------------------------------------------------- WWII numismatics seminar at ANA Summer Seminar 2001 --------------------------------------------------- Not only does the scholarship fund have an official identity but also has a bank account! Any further donations should be paid to the order of "Military Numismatists Scholarship" and sent to: Military Numismatists c/o Marcus Turner 8103 East US Highway 36 Suite 163 Avon, IN 46123 THE UPDATED LIST OF SCHOLARSHIP BENEFACTORS 11/22/00 Mike Cummings Ed B. Doug Bell R. A. Medina Harold MPCKid Kroll Bill McNese Marcus Turner Larry Ski Fred PK6 Joel Shafer World Wide Ventures John & Nancy Wilson Neil Shafer ----------------------------------------------------- MPC Fest II ----------------------------------------------------- MPC Fest is the annual feast of MPC. After some difficulties of coordination we have not changed the dates and tentatively scheduled 9-11 March 2001 for MPC Fest II. If these dates cause a problem, please write the gram immediately. ==================================================== Post/Base Exchange (PX/BX/NEX) Dump your dupes! Your classified advertisement for items for sale 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. Send in a list of items for sale and we will list them here in the gram. In all cases confirm your order via email first. MPC Series 472 25c CU, $180, David Seelye, coinman@rochester.rr.com. MPC Series 641 $10 with flipper serial number (the number is still a number when held upside down) f-vf, $22. verify at fred@papermoneyworld.com. ============================================== Staff: publisher and editor: Fred Schwan - fred@papermoneyworld.com; assistant editor - Phil Goldstein critic: Harold Kroll - MPCKid@papermoneyworld.com; index manager: Ed Beaman webmaster & technical advisor: Doug Bell - (Wiz): doug@papermoneyworld.com; 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. 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