Status: U Return-Path: Received: from web12703.mail.yahoo.com ([216.136.173.240]) by kendall.mail.mindspring.net (Earthlink Mail Service) with SMTP id ttvth5.rg8.37kbi2i for ; Wed, 31 Oct 2001 08:01:25 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <20011031130124.45416.qmail@web12703.mail.yahoo.com> Received: from [205.188.199.47] by web12703.mail.yahoo.com via HTTP; Wed, 31 Oct 2001 05:01:24 PST Date: Wed, 31 Oct 2001 05:01:24 -0800 (PST) From: MPCgram Subject: MPCGram 473/3 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 473 Wednesday, October 31, 2001 New U.S. Treasury "Freedom" Bonds by Howard A. Daniel III I was watching my usual morning show, Squawk Box on CNBC, when a man appeared from Merrill Lynch and he was interviewed by the CNBC "bond" woman. During the conversation, they talked about the new bonds to fight the "war" on terrorism. The following is what I can remember from the interview. He called them "Freedom Bonds" because the monies would go into the general treasury fund and not the old "war" department. The reason for this is because so many parts of the government are going to be fighting the war, like Health & Human Services, FEMA, Treasury, etc., etc. But he seemed to emphasize the bonds were for the "war," no matter how they were identified. Then he actually went into how they would be identified. He said the treasury would take current stock of EE Bonds and overprint them lithographically with something to identify them as "Freedom Bonds.” I immediately thought about varieties because of errors in the overprinting, but also colors of ink and other factors. Then I thought about what happens after the current stock is gone. Will the next batch be overprinted, or will "Freedom Bonds" be part of the original printing? The Merrill Lynch man also said there was not going to be much to any advertising of these bonds because the executive branch of our government wants the consumers to spend money during this recession, rather than save it. But my economic hat was telling me that with all of this money that is being pumped into the economy, there is a good chance of starting up some serious inflation, and bonds, like lottery tickets, are a voluntary way to lower the amount of money in circulation and reduce inflation. This morning (Monday), I went to the U.S. Treasury web site to see what I could find about the "Freedom Bonds" but there was absolutely nothing there about them. I am guessing the politicians are mostly behind creating these bonds and that the Treasury department is silent until an actual bill passes through the Congress and is signed by the president. For "military" and "war" bond collectors, I believe the "Freedom Bond," whenever and whatever way it finally appears, should be classified as a collectible and added to our want lists. What do you think and what more do you know about it? ============================================== Editorial ---------------------------------------------- When we left St Mere-Egles, I was inspired. We drove along the "coast road" visiting museums as we went and there are lots of museums. They range for small, private, and quaint, to large and imposing. I will not elaborate much on these because there were few numismatic items beyond AM francs that were included in virtually every museum. I was hoping to see a money bag carried by a finance officer or some such equipment, but I did not. However, there was a Reichsbank money bag in one exhibit. Unfortunately, it did not seem to be identifiable as to what it contained. I do have a picture of it for possible further research. One continuing problem as we drove along the shore was finding an Internet source to publish a Gram. While still in London, with the help of Marcus Turner, I had prepared Grams for Sunday and Monday. I was sure that I would be able to find an Internet cafe along the way to publish more Grams. I saw exactly one such cafe. More correctly, I saw one place with a sign proclaiming that it was an Internet cafe. It had one computer and use was expensive. Nonetheless, I was excited about the prospect of getting on the Internet, checking some mail, and publishing a Gram. Boy was I in for a surprise. A year ago, I commented on some of the interesting differences between English and North American computer key boards. The differences are relatively minor, but interesting. The differences between a French and North American keyboard are not minor and much more bothersome and difficult than interesting! In French, the letter Q is used much more so than in English, so the position of the Q and A are reversed. Interesting, not a big problem. Because of the accented letters, more keys are needed for the basic alphabet in French. Therefore, on the French keyboard, the numbers in the top row are shift characters, also interesting. Now the amazing thing. I could not find the period/dot key at all. I searched, studied, scratched, and cursed, but could not find it. It is difficult to get to www.MPCgram@yahoo.com to put out a Gram without a dot! Via a workaround, I was able to get there to check mail, but I was not able to prepare any more Grams. Only now in retrospect, can I say that there was another problem. This relates to some more recent events in my life. I will elaborate tomorrow. ============================================== Mail Call ---------------------------------------------- Dear Editor, I remembered that I had a Camp Peary chit. I just came back downstairs. It's Camp Peary VA, not OH. David Dear David, Thanks. Cool. I should have mentioned that chits for the Camp Perry PX do exist. There is nothing to indicate POW on them and I believe that they are not POW chits, but then I would love to be proven wrong on this issue. Editor Dear Gram, In response to Harold’s article.. I did not go ballistic as Harold stated... I went into a sub-orbital polar (or might that be bi-polar?) trajectory, following pre-mature ignition of my primary stage. Best Wishes, Phil Dear Gram, Thanks for putting me on the list to receive the gram. Not recently, but many years ago, I tried unsuccessfully to locate the regular serial number MPC for which I had the replacement. I advertised for a 5 cent series 541 with serial number J00354906J and realized that I was looking for a needle in a haystack. To your knowledge, has anyone ever found the same serial number as the replacement note that they have? If so, I would love to see a scan of the pair! Happy collecting! Don Hello Don, I am sorry that it took so long to get your letter in the Gram. I must have misplaced it here in the PCBH (you do remember the Port Clinton Black Hole?). Yes, there are some pairs of replacements and the corresponding regular issue with the same serial number. I believe that they are Series 611 10c pieces. There are several pairs, possibly as many as 100, but only a few of them have been reported. Some astute collector put them together when 611 was current! I think that Ski can comment more on these. He has a pair; I want a pair! As to finding a match for your replacement. Yes, this is a long shot. However, with the introduction of the new papermoneyworld MPC data base, the possibilities are better than ever. Enter your notes and watch for others! Editor ================================================ Departments ------------------------------------------------- Calendar of events for Gramsters maintained by Howard Daniel, Nancy and John Wilson and Gram staff, last updated September 7, 2001 show reports are requested on all events. Even if it was not a great show, there must be something to report. What and whom did you see? Market activity? Share your observations and thoughts with Gramsters everywhere. ---------------------------------------------------- Special "MPC" events March 2002 8-10 - MPCFest III - reservations in order received: Guido Crapanzano, Harold Kroll, Larry Smulczenski, Gary "Got any fours" Hicks, Tom Warburton, David Seelye, Jack Lippincot, Phil Goldstein, Warner Talso, Nick Schrier, Richard Freyser, Tom Koch, Mark Watson, Bill Yanchick, Doug Bell, Sam Feeback, Bruce Potter, Elmer Smith, Marv Mericle, Wes and Rod Hardy, Fred Schwan {running total 22}] W.W.II numismatics seminar at ANA Summer Seminar, July 2002 Session I (Sunday, June 30 through Thursday, July 4, 2002) Session II (Sunday, July 7 through Thursday, July 11, 2002) general events will return soon --------------------------------------------------- Donations are now being accepted for scholarships to the 2002 "Military Money" course at the 2002 ANA Summer Seminar. Inquiries and donations should be sent to: Military Numismatists c/o Marcus Turner 8103 East US Highway 36 Suite 163 Avon, IN 46123 Donors to 2002 Scholarship Fund Steve Feller Harold Kroll R. A. Medina Guido Crapanzano David Seelye Leo May Warner Talso Marv Mericle Mark Watson Gail Baker ==================================================== 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. FOR SALE For sale: 481 replacement 10C third print, serial number D01656387 in VF condition. Price is $450 shipping included. The note can be seen at http://trunghanhnguyen.tripod.com/481r, please confirm "Trung Nguyen"