==============================================
          MPC Gram
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Covering the Entire World of Military Numismatics
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Series 003-Number 500  Saturday, December 1, 2001

                  Late Conversion Attempt

By Fred Schwan

  Recently I purchased a nice group of documents and
memorabilia that had belonged to Daniel G. Lenihan.
Initial analysis of the group indicates that Mr.
Lenihan had been an army private first class. Then he
served in Germany at the office of the American
Consulate General.
  A lot of interesting documents are included in the
group, but what attracted my attention to the group in
the first place was the envelope of MPC. The envelope
said that it contained $44.25 in MPC. Of course I was
excited looking for replacements, error, or other
unusual things. I was disappointed on that score, but
then I examined the associated documents more closely.
This was an interesting little group of MPC. Included
with the notes were two envelopes listing the notes
(not by serial number) and a wonderful letter denying
the late conversion of the group of Series 472 MPC.
The text of the letter is reproduced below.

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR
GERMANY

Executive Director
Administrative Services
Disbursements Section
Box 230, Mehlemer Ave
Bad Godesberg

August 28, 1952

Mr. Daniel G. Lenihan,
American Consulate General,
Munich.

Dear Mr. Lenihan:

A letter dated August 21, 1952 from Colonel L. H.
Sims, Finance Division, EUCOM concerning your
application to convert old MPC was received by this
office and is quoted in part below:

"The Chief of Finance, Department of the Army, advised
this headquarters on 8 August 1952 that these currency
conversion claims were disapproved due to the
following reasons: . . . When --- and Mr. Lenihan were
authorized to use Military Payment Certificates, they
were charged with the responsibility for observing the
rules and regulations governing the use and conversion
of such certificates."

Enclosed are your outdated MPC which were held by this
office.

Any future correspondence should be directed to
Colonel Sims, Finance Division, EUCOM.

Very truly yours,

/signed/
Wayne L. Catching
U. S. Disbursing Officer

The following handwritten note is at the bottom
presumably from Catching to Lenihan.

How formal can one get? I trust your address is still
Munich!

  From this letter we understand that Lenihan had
requested the late conversion of the group of MPC.
Series 472 had been withdrawn on June 20, 1951.
Lenihan made the request some time before August 8,
1952 so it was shortly after the conversion.
The money was not actually Lenihan's. A slip of paper
in the envelope lists four people and the amount that
they had submitted adding up to $44.25.
What can we learn from this letter? Well, we learned
the names of several people whom we certainly would
like to meet: Colonel Sims, Wayne Catching, and of
course Mr. Lenihan himself. It seems interesting that
Lenihan and his friends or associates thought that
there was some chance of having the notes converted.
In addition, Catching forwarded the request to Colonel
Sims and ultimately to the Department of the Army
instead of simply rejecting it.
  While these observations are hardly earth shaking,
they are interesting. This leaves the notes
themselves. We might be able to learn a little bit
from them. First, the envelope contained $43.05
instead of $44.25 so a few notes have gone astray
since 1952. Of course it was the rare replacements
that were lost!
  We can reasonably assume that the notes are as they
were on C day. Can we learn anything from such a time
capsule?

Contents of the group

Total 1st (expected) 2nd printing
5¢ 3 3 2.37 0
10¢ 9 5 6.75 4
25¢ 6 4 4.18 2
50¢ 1 1 .90 --
$1 30 21 14.9 9
$10 1 1 1 --

The first and possibly most interesting observation is
that the group is dominated by first-printing notes.
This could make sense because the first printing was
much larger than the second. I calculated the number
of notes expected from the first printing based upon
its proportion of the total printing and the results
seem to conform to this expectation. On the other
hand, since this was on C-day, we could expect the
maximum penetration of second printing notes.
The condition of the notes is exactly as expected. The
notes from the second printing are decidedly nicer
than those from the first printing that on average
would have seen more circulation.
These observations do not prove that we can expect the
notes to show up in numbers proportionate to the
printing figures, nor that the second printings will
be more available in higher conditions. However, we
should keep these observations in mind as we look for
other data to solve these problems.
Even if we thought that the observations were stronger
than they are, we could not extend these observations
to other multiple printing series because many other
conditions prevailed.
==============================================
         Editorial
----------------------------------------------
Five hundred Grams, wow. It is hard to believe on
several counts. It is hard to believe that we cold
keep it up for this long and it is hard to believe
that so much time has gone by since the first Gram.
The heroes are the many people have contributed time,
information, and talent to the Gram. This includes
every single person who wrote a letter or question,
but mostly it means that our columnists are heroes.
Joe Boling and Larry Smulczenski have made it
possible. Right behind them is Howard Daniel who has
been a columnist in everything but name. Thanks guys!
For the next 500 Grams we can use a few more
columnists. Virtually every writer/author covets the
title columnist. You can have that title now by simply
entering your thoughts on the keyboard! You do not
need to be an expert on military money or even some
aspect thereof, you just need to have a little
curiosity, imagination, and the willingness to share
with your fellow collectors!
  I think that we have accomplished much in 500 Grams
and look forward to much more in the next 500!
==============================================
         Mail Call
----------------------------------------------

Gentlemen,
   I have a Armed Forces Leave Bond with a stated
value of $150.00 in uncirculated condition and paid a
lot to get it into my collection. What is the Grade of
Mr Downey's Bond ?

Keith

Dear Keith,
  Ah, yes, I had forgotten about your AFLB. You
reported it and we had some discussion about it here
in the Gram. Thanks for the reminder.

Editor

Dear Editor:
   I appreciate your interest in the bond. The remarks
in WWII Remembered attest to the scarcity of these
items. Would you believe that I won it on ebay! It was
hiding in plain sight under General US Currency and I
was the only bidder. I paid a little bit for it, but
how often do they come up. I haven't had it long
enough to be able to talk me out of it, but I will
keep you in mind if I ever decide to let it go.
  This is another example of the benefits of having
WWII Remembered. I have read it from cover to cover
several times. I told you in my earlier note about the
Validation Board Certificates that I never would have
paid attention to the bond if I had not seen the
talons in the book. I likely would have ignored this
one as well if I had not seen it in the book.

Regards, Jim


Dear Editor,
  The gram is still showing up with what appear to be
personal e-mails as headers

PURDUENUT
================================================
          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, Unknown Subscriber, 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

The following list of MPC replacements is available.
Please email to confirm.
issue/ # Reported /Serial number/ Pos # /Con / Price
461 $1 19 A00377503 48 VF $750.00
472 5c 34 C00624708 79 F/VF $300.00
472 $1 21 C00040842 6 F $650.00
481 10c 38 D00170337 22 VG/F $150.00
481 25c 21 D01617344 35 discolored XF $575.00
541 5c 45 F01193155 66 VG $200.00
541 5c 45 F01761339 53 GCU $800.00
541 10c 70 F00954890 36 F $100.00
541 50c 89 F11020164 44 VF $200.00
591 5c 31 G00425460 54 F+ $195.00
611 5c 127 H00331092 42 GCU $185.00
611 10c 145 H00282786 36 GCU $195.00
611 $1 170 H00016589 3 VG $100.00
641 5c 90 J00721442 7 VG/F  $50.00
641 10c 29 J00482501 61 ink 8 rev. F $175.00
641 $10 59 J00483291 11 discolored VF $200.00
661 10c 59 B00058454 8 CU $700.00
661 $1 75 B00253005 32 stained F $100.00
681 5c 42 C00281032 36 F $100.00
681 50c 35 C00072051 10 CU $750.00
681 $1 28 C00330407 42 GCU $950.00
681 $20 43 C00057576 8 F $500.00
692 5c 100 E00473007 60 F  $75.00
692 10c 83 E00561106 71 F  $85.00
692 25c 38 E00065719 9 F $200.00
692 50c 25 E00233975 30 XF $575.00

Confirm with Ed Hoffman hoffman@rabbitbrush.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
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.net 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.

__________________________________________________
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