Status: U Return-Path: Received: from mail.papermoneyworld.net ([207.3.91.49]) by walker.mail.mindspring.net (Earthlink Mail Service) with SMTP id u05e93.e8sf.37kbi73.1 for ; Mon, 26 Nov 2001 16:50:27 -0500 (EST) Subject: MPC GRAM Precedence: bulk Sender: mpcgram-owner@mail.papermoneyworld.net From: mpcgram-owner@mail.papermoneyworld.net (List Server) Date: Mon, 26 Nov 101 15:20:23 CDT Message-Id: <10111261520.AA1591C907@mail.papermoneyworld.net> Reply-To: mpcgram@mail.papermoneyworld.net Date: Sun, 25 Nov 2001 17:45:05 -0800 (PST) From: MPCgram Subject: MPCGram 495 Reply-To: mpcgram@mail.papermoneyworld.net ============================================== MPC Gram ============================================== Covering the Entire World of Military Numismatics ---------------------------------------------- Series 003-Number 495 Monday, November 26, 2001 US Vietnam Withdrawal Cancels Series 692 MPC's by James Rose This weeks find's included a well preserved, second edition, illustrated issue by Toy. The book, now on Ebay, contained quite a surprise. Along with the previous owners notes, was a 1973 article clipped from "Coin World" with the above caption. The article (and I suspect the notes; due to their incredible detail) was written by Carlton F. Schwan -of Fort Sill, Oklahoma. The article unfolds as follows: The disengagement of US forces in the Republic of Vietnam has now ended an interesting numismatic series. Series 692 Military Payment Certificates, which had been in use in South Vietnam since Oct. 7, 1970, were discontinued and replaced by US currency on March 15, 1973. Not since 1946 has such a jolt hit the then small, but significant, military numismatic community. A sad day for all indeed. Four series of scrip were used in Vietnam. They are very interesting and illustrate several innovations in MPC history. The first series in Vietnam, series 641, was issued in Aug. 1965. The $10 note had the distinction of being widely counterfeited. Many exist today. This series also was the first to be mimicked by another series, the 651. Issued with no fractionals in Korea, in Apr. of 1969, it appears the engravers thought that since the enemy looked alike, the notes should look alike too. Aside from color, they were almost identical. On C-day, series 661 was next introduced to Vietnam on Oct 21, 1968, marking a first by including a $20 note. The $10 note rained highest since 1946. With the black market growing quickly, series 681 was next on the scene only one year later. Issued in Aug. of 1969, it was the first series to make a tribute to our military. Next, following it's predecessors lead, was series 692. It was issued in Oct 1970, continuing the commemorative theme with the $1, $5 & $10 note depicting American wildlife. Also, taking the lead from series 651, series 692 had its fractional notes replaced by US coinage on June 1, 1971. Apparently this was a welcome change, due to the fact that fractional notes had become very inconvenient to use. With the discontinuation of series 692 in Vietnam, Korea, was now the last area using MPC's. After this article was published, Series 651 was pulled from Korea in Nov 1973, bringing the spectacular era of MPC to a close. Fred ended this article stating at that point in time, "Even though the larger denominations were difficult to obtain, MPC's of Vietnam make an interesting and beautiful collection, either alone or as part of a collection of the entire MPC series." Overall a superb article for its time, and of course very accurate. If you have not yet met Fred Schwan, make it a point to do so, for he is and will remain a major MPC historian. Sadly, yet fortunately, future generations will only be able to glean him from a history book. ============================================== Editorial ---------------------------------------------- In a twist of fate, Joe Boling celebrated a family Thankgiving only about 40 miles from Gram Headquarters. Therefore, we are taking the opportunity for chat and editorial work on Monday. At the time that you receive this we will be having a mini fest/seminar! I expect that he will try to get out of his Tuesday column with some sort of excuse, but I intend to stand up to him on that! ============================================== Mail Call ---------------------------------------------- Dear Editor/Gramsters, I am currently reading "A General's Life," an autobiography of Omar N. Bradley. During the planning of Overlord, Omar met King George VI at a dinner attended by Ike, Bedell Smith, Churchill and others; "He {King George VI} seemed to take great delight in signing my "short snorter" (an autographed one-dollar bill, one of my prized possessions to this day) and produced his own, as did the others." Some short snorters to dream about, indeed! TomK ================================================ 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, Marcus Turner, Fred Schwan {running total 23}] Three airports are reasonably available for the Fest. In order of proximity they are: Toledo Cleveland Detroit (Metro) All three are reasonable. If you can arrive early enough AND coordinate it well ahead, every attempt will be made to pick you up at the airport to save on rental cars. Festers are encouraged to corridnate among themselves for rides. We will also run notices in the Gram and, finally, we will try to coordinate for Festers to run pickups from Fest central. 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 Beautiful gem unc MPC Series 692 $10 with nice even margins and great corners. This note is from the 1986 ANA sale in Milwaukee. I know this because the tag is still attached to the holder. Obvously, only one available, $835, confirm with fredschwan@yahoo.com. Germany 1 pfennig to 2 Marks Army issues page 479 SB 142-147 EF-UNC $85.00 postpaid insured for domestic delivery. coinman@rochester.rr.com WANTED Collectors may submit lists of items wanted for their collections for listing here. Dealers and collectors who have these items are then encouraged to list them or sale in the above section. This is a trial, if you like it, send your list. =================================================== Staff: publisher and editor: Fred Schwan - MPCGram@Yahoo.com; assistant editor - Phil Goldstein IWANTMYMPC@aol.com distribution manager - Brad Peacock bp22@swbell.net Tuesday columnist Joe Boling – JoeBoling@aol.com Thurski columnist Larry “Ski” Smulczenski –skifla@prodigy.net critic: Harold Kroll - MPCKid@AOL.com; index manager: Ed Beaman webmaster & technical advisor: Doug Bell - (Wiz): doug@papermoneyworld.net; 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. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! GeoCities - quick and easy web site hosting, just $8.95/month. http://geocities.yahoo.com/ps/info1