============================================== Commentary by Fred: ==============================================
============================================== Mr. Fred ==============================================
ANA Seminar: 29 June to 5 July 2003 CPMX 9: 20 - 23 February, $$ = Paid ===================================================
Donors to 2002 Scholarship Fund: Dave
Amey
Gail Baker
Keith and Sue Bauman Ort
Cowles ===================================================
FOR SALE Standard Edition (400 pages!)
$ 50 ===================================================
===================================================
MPC Gram
==============================================
Covering the entire World of Military Numismatics
----------------------------------------------
Series 003 -
Number Friday - 26 APRIL 2002
___________________
__308 days to Fest
IV__
FEATURED
ARTICLE
Oral History Interview with Bernard Bernstein
July 23,
1975
by Richard D. McKinzie
submitted by Fred
Schwan
Dan Bell and I were
having discussions with two officers from the War Department. One of them was
General Arthur Carter. Major General Arthur Carter, who was one of the fiscal
chiefs at the Pentagon. We had just a few meetings with them on the currency and
on the rate of exchange questions. The Treasury view was that we wanted to see
the U.S. dollar exchanged for 75 French francs.
On Friday afternoon, October 9,
1942, I remember the occasion so vividly--the War Department officers were in
Dan Bell's office and the four of us were having a discussion. Toward the end of
the meeting, General Carter put a cable on the table and handed it to Under
Secretary Bell, and said, "This is a cable from General Eisenhower."
Dan Bell read the cable aloud. The
cable said General Eisenhower wanted to have a Treasury man on his staff to
assist on financial matters in connection with the invasion of North Africa. Dan
Bell told Carter he would have to take it up with the Secretary. They left and
Dan and I were sitting there and I said that I felt I was the person to be sent
in response to the cable, that I was younger (I was married at the time, but I
was much younger than Dan Bell), and I knew the work and I had been in on these
discussions.
He said he would have
to talk to the Secretary. This was late afternoon on Friday. A little while
after I came in the next morning to my office Dan Bell phoned me, said that he
had discussed the cable with the Secretary, and the Secretary felt that he could
not spare me and that he wanted me to remain at the Treasury. I told Dan that I
thought that was the wrong decision; the country is at war and General
Eisenhower is leading our first invasion and is absolutely entitled to the
fullest cooperation of the Treasury and I thought I was qualified to represent
the Treasury in this field in view of what I have been doing. I also told Bell I
wanted an opportunity to talk with the Secretary.
Dan said he would tell the
Secretary. About an hour later my telephone rang and when the Secretary is
calling you, or the Secretary's operator is calling you, there are three rings
and you know it's the Secretary, or the Secretary's operator. I picked up the
phone and the Secretary's operator said that I was to go to the Secretary's
office.
There was the Secretary alone in his
office, standing behind his desk. He said that he just came back from taking a
walk around the White House grounds and that he knew from Dan that I wanted an
opportunity to express my views directly to the Secretary. So I said the
Treasury of course wants to cooperate with General Eisenhower; this is a crucial
moment in American history; I know the work of the Treasury in this field; and
I've been working on it; I'm young enough to serve overseas, and I think you
ought to designate me. I also said I'd be doing the work of the Treasury,
because what we were talking about was Treasury work. The Secretary agreed that
in a real sense I would be carrying on work I had been doing in the Treasury.
Secretary Morgenthau called the War
Department and said that I was the Treasury man to join General Eisenhower's
staff. At the Friday afternoon meeting there had been a little talk with
General Carter as to whether the Treasury designee would go in civilian clothes
or uniform. Carter said the War Department would like to have him in uniform as
a lieutenant colonel but he would be a Treasury designee. On Monday
morning, October 12, 1942, I turned up at the War Department. By about 5 p.m. I
was processed through the War Department, possibly one of the fastest examples
of being commissioned in the history of the War Department, sworn in, and handed
orders. The orders said I was to leave for England to report to General
Eisenhower.
I went back to the
Treasury, I had a friend, one of my colleagues there, prepare a will for me, and
I gave a power of attorney to my wife. We had one child and another child was on
the way. I began finishing off my work at the Treasury. On Tuesday morning I
finished off a lot of my work. Meanwhile my wife and Charles Kades who at that
time was a captain and a close friend of ours, helped my wife in getting things
for me. I don't know whether you know Lewis & Thomas Saltz in Washington,
that was the famous men's haberdashery store. I showed up there around 11 a.m.
to get my uniforms and overcoat. There was quite a scene in the store. Colonel
Foley was over there, a couple other colleagues and my pregnant wife was in
tears a little bit. When I used to run into the Saltz brothers for years
thereafter they used to remind me of that scene. I had an appointment for 1
o'clock that day at Union Station to meet a Colonel Foster, who had been
designated by General Carter to accompany me to New York and brief me a little
bit. Colonel Foster had asked me the night before if we could fly up. I didn't
tell him that I had never flown on a plane before. I was flying over to
England-to Ireland and to England, but I thought that I'd rather have the trip
to New York by train. So I said if he didn't mind, I'd find it more relaxing if
we could have the discussion on the train. We took the 1 o'clock train, we were
sitting in the dining car, opposite each other, at a table, and I said, "You
know, this is quite an experience for me, I've never had any military training
whatsoever, never ROTC of any form, I don't even know how to salute." So,
he saluted me, in the dining car. He said, "Now, you salute me back." I saluted.
He said, "Now you've had your basic training."
My wife followed me to New York
with all of the uniforms that were being adjusted and fixed at Lewis &
Thomas Saltz, and with all kinds of pills that I could take on this flight. I
was going over in a seaplane from LaGuardia to Ireland. I had been told at the
War Department that Ireland was a neutral country and you can't wear any
military equipment through there, and if they see it they will confiscate it. I
took the instructions seriously. I packed up all of my military gear and I wore
a regular civilian suit, except I carried a paper bag with my helmet in it. The
instructions I had said that I had to bring over a helmet. When I got up to the
airline counter to weigh in my baggage I had $80 worth of excess baggage and I
had to strip a lot of it out to get myself down to only $40 of excess
baggage.
Well, we flew
that night in what we'd consider now almost nothing of a plane. There were
hardly any seats except some canvas seats. There was one woman on the plane, who
was the head of the American Red Cross. She was a very distinguished lady. Some
of the men threw their overcoats on the floor and she slept on the coats on the
floor of the plane.
We
arrived in Foynes, Ireland.... To Be Continued
Friday I will be spending
the day at the Central States Numismatic Association Convention in Columbus,
Ohio. I was going to spend the weekend, but had a conflict so am now limiting
myself to just Friday.
In the days
before paper money shows (gad), Central States was a major event for paper money
folks. I expect to find quite a bit of paper, but mostly that will be because it
is so much more common these days for dealers to carry paper money along with
their coins.
I certainly expect to
see John and Nancy Wilson there and possibly even some Festers. If you are a
Fester and you will be there, be sure to have your challenge
coin.
I hope to find some goodies to
report and certainly will try to make a show report long before my column next
Friday.
Say, Phil is certainly doing
a great job. I am sure that most if not all of you will agree. Well, the best
way to show your feelings is to send in some material: article, letter,
question, material for sale, or some of each. Fill the MPCGram mail box with
good stuff.
EDITORIAL
What he said! Come on people... it's too quiet...
MAIL
CALL
Let's get
this straight now. In accordance to Fred Schwan's new Comprehensive
Catalog of Military Payment Certificates, (series 641) 5˘ costs $8 UNC and 10˘
costs $10 UNC.
I made an
internet bid for an UNC 5˘ note and an UNC 10˘ note, using the price guide, for
the last weekend auction in Ottumwa, Iowa. Some one outbidded me and
bought the pieces for more than twice the Schwan's price
guide.
Was that bizarre? Try
this, folks. On April 23, 2002 Robert Reynolds, an auctioneer in Omaha had
two lots of MPC on the block. Block one was four Alliance notes of no
significance whatsoever, and the condition was G/VG at its best. The lot
went for $8. The second lot consisted of a 641 5˘, 481 50˘, 481 10˘.
The 641 was kind of OK, good the very most. The 481's were so beaten up
one will have to wonder if they were used as a rifle cleaner before. The
lot went for $10.
Several
possibilities that can cause this type of high-price bidding can be thought
of. The first possibility is that Fred's price guide is out of whack, or
such bidders know more than Fred does.
It can't be, or we all are in
trouble. The second possibility is that these guys have no idea that the
new Comprehensive Catalog of Military Payment Certificates is available, and
they do not check things out on eBay. The third possibility is that the
price for this stuff is going to explode, and only those bidders know
so.
The bidders in these two
auctions can do much, much better on one of those dealers whose web sites are
advertised in Fred's book. One of the dealers is selling Series 641
5˘ GEM UNC for $9.
Any thought?
Shall we all hang on to our collection and enjoy the millions soon coming our
way? One thing we can do to make this happen: get the cash-rich Japanese
addicted to MPC. Take cameras for example, last weekend in the Omaha's
camera show, prices for all M3 Leica went off the roof, and any M3 in decent
shape was bought shortly after the show started. I found the reason for
it: at one empty table slept away a Japanese guy, probably due to jet lag.
Next to him? Several M3 Leica cameras and lenses.
* *
* * *
* * *
* *
For all who wants to get a fest shirt you can vote on the design
at:
www.papermoneyworld.net/usmpc/shirt.htm
and
to stay up to date by requesting to be put on the mpc fest shirt list. Just
email me at: doug@papermoneyworld.net
The
list will be a email fest shirt gram as to the progress of the shirts.
Douglas Bell
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
2002
W.W. II
numismatics seminar at ANA Summer Seminar, July 2002
Session I
Session II (Sunday, 7 July through Thursday, 11 July, 2002)
general events will return
WESPMEX: 27 - 28 July
Westchester Paper Money
Exposition - 175 Dealers
Westchester County Center, White Plains,
NY
WESPMEX: 11 - 13 October
Westchester Paper Money
Exposition - 100 Dealers
Westchester County Center, White Plains,
NY
WESPMEX: 29 November - 1 December
Westchester
Paper Money Exposition - 160 Dealers
Westchester County Center, White Plains,
NY
MPC Fest
IV: 28 Feb - 2 March, Port Clinton, OH
Jack Lippincot, Kevin Maloy,
Leo May$$, Fred Schwan, David Seelye, Nick
Shrier, Larry Smulczenski, Warner Talso,
Marcus Turner, Tom
Warburton
ANA: 19-22 March, Charlotte, NC
SCHOLARSHIP DONATIONS
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
or contact
Marcus at:
maturner@indy.rr.com
Guido
Crapanzano
Howard A. Daniel,
III
Steve
Feller
Gary Hicks
Ed
Hoffman
Harold
Kroll
Tim
Kyzivat
R. A. Medina
Leo
May
Marv
Mericle
Mr.
691
David Seelye
Joel Shafer
Neil
Shafer
Warner
Talso
Mark Watson
John & Nancy Wilson
Bill
Yanchick
===================================================
HOT CONTACT LIST - DEALER & RESOURCE LIST
They deserve
your support and patronage!
Name
phone
fax
email
Allens
(614)
882-3937 (614) 882-0662
info@allens.com
American Coins &
Collectibles (800)
865-3562
American Numismatic Ass'n
(800)
367-9723
ana@money.org
Guy
Araby
(562) 945-7891 (310)
508-0018
guyaraby@earthlink.net
Bob Baker
(713)
864-3122
Ken Barr
(408)
272-3247
ken@kenbarr.com
Fred Bart
(810)
979-3400
Dick Balbaton
(508)
699-2266 (508) 643-1154
RJBalbaton@aol.com
Keith and Suzanne
Bauman
(248)
262-1514
tnaksbauman@earthlink.net
Joe Bissell
(602)
440-0442 (602) 494-9103
BNR Press
(419)
732-6683 (419) 732-6683
fredschwan@yahoo.com
Remy Bourne
(800)
789-7070 (763) 789-4747
Ed Carne
(614)
882-3937 (614) 882-0662
info@allens.com
Champion Stamp
(212)
489-8130 (212) 581-8130
Cookie Jar
Collectibles
(301)
604-9225
cjcpi@comcast.net
Guido Crapanzano
[39]
2-8056228 [39] 2-4459856
Currency Dealer
Newsletter
(310)
515-7369
David F. Cieniewicz
(205)
852-7015
CGC
(602)
493-4758 (602) 494-9103
sales@gradedcurrency.com
Mike
Cummings
(863)
603-9899 (863) 603-9880
mpccoin@hotmail.com
Cygnet Charters
(419)
734-2422
Ray Czahor
(301)
604-9225
cjcpi@comcast.net
Doric Coins &
Currency
(508)
699-2266 (508) 643-1154
FUN
(407)
321-8747
Larry
Gibbs
(308)
635-7900
oth@prairieweb.com
Philip M. Goldstein
(845)
254-MPC1 [6721]
iwantmympc@aol.com or MPC Website
Great Lakes Bank Note
Company (419) 732-6683
IBNS
joeboling@aol.com
Essie Kashani
(909)
627-3996 (909) 627-2776
kashani10@aol.com
Lowel Horwdel
(765)
583-2748 (765) 583-4584
horwdel@inshightbb.com
Peter
Huntoon
Smithsonian Research
peter.huntoon@att.net
Lyn Knight
(800)
243-5211
Krause Publications
(715)
445-2214 (715) 445-4087
bnr@krause.com
Harold Kroll
(251)
649-5134
HARBONS@aol.com
Leo May
(305)
271-8391
LeoMayEnt@aol.com or Wide World of
Banknotes
Ian Marshall
(416)
445-0286 (416) 445-0286
iam@total.net
Memphis Coin Club
(901)
757-2515
MPCGram
(419)
732-6683
MPCGram@yahoo.com
Bob Reed
(504)
361-5684
bobreed@rrcoins.net
Fred Schwan
(419)
732-6683 (419) 732-6683
FredSchwan@yahoo.com
David Seelye
(585)
594-1987 (585) 594-2311
coinman@rochester.rr.com
Richie Self
(318)
868-9077
R. M. Smythe
(800)
622-1880 (212) 908-4047
www.smytheonline.com
Mel Steinberg &
Son
(415)
453-9750 (415) 457-4432
melsteinberg@mindspring.com
Military Trader
(800)
334-7165
Scott Winslow Associates
(603)
472-7040 (603) 472-8773
scott@scottwinslow.com
George Warner
(307)
672-3700
Pam West
[44]
0208 641 3224 [44] 0208 641 3224 pamwestbritnotes@compuserve.com
POST / BASE EXCHANGE (PX/BX/NEX)
See S/B WWII
Remembered, page 301, #659 a, Tudor printed 20 Zwanzig deutsche marks,
condition VF, blue front looks great, slightly rounded corners, back is
primarily red with light greenish brown.
SN C11209704A, PN 2,
Asking $400
cash or trade for other MPC notes
Contact: forwebfootbob@earthlink.net
Have the following CU MPC NOTES:
Series 651
$10.00...........$200.00
Series 651 $5.00............$185.00
THE PAIR
AT $380.00 POSTPAID.
Continental Coin Investors, Inc.
3123 N. HWY
98
Lakeland, FL 33805-2103
Email: mpccoin@hotmail.com
Website: www.internet4coins.com
Comprehensive
Catalog of Military Payment Certificates - 4th Edition
by Fred Schwan
Collectors’s Edition (432 pages!)
$ 95
Researcher's Edition (432 page, 46 produced, limited to
availability) $125
All orders plus $4 shipping per
order (NOT per book). Send snail mail payment to:
BNR Press
132 E. Second Street
Port Clinton, OH 43452
or PayPal using email:
fredschwan@yahoo.com
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 for sale in the
above section as a reply. This is a trial, if you like it, send your list.
WANTED Souvenir Card 'MPC Fest I' from the first MPC
Fest. (4/18)
Collector wants All USAFFE and AUSA Free Samar
notes All 125th Infantry Regiment and Markings Guerrilla notes. I am also
interested in any and all Guerilla Municipal issues. (4/18)
WANTED TO
BUY: Bulk quantities of Afghanistan propaganda leaflets or related. (4/18)
Looking for a Series 641 MPC, any denomination with the
serial number J02283151J. (4/18)
MPC CATALOG CORRECTIONS & ENHANCEMENTS
Page 18, Bottom - Users of Military Payment
Certificates
Check marks were omitted from production copies of books.
Please check off the following:
Australia:
641, 661, 681, 692
Canada:
461 through
and including 591
Korea:
641,
661, 681, 692
New Zealand: 641, 661, 681, 692
Thailand:
641, 661, 681, 692
United States: All
Page 201, Bottom Right - Very last sentence on this page
Two serial numbers listed for the second printing of
Series 472 .50 cent
notes. The first serial number listed is obviously in error as a nine
digit number: C040351392C
Correct Serial Number is:
C04035139C
D Freyser (date
listed 10 April 2002)
Page 207,
#833/4 - Series 481 .25 4th Printing (table listing serial number
breakdowns) line 5
Start Number is incorrect. It appears as:
(start)
D14784001D (end) D14784000D
Correct start number should
be: D09408001D
PK6 (date listed: 03
APRIL 2002)
Page
214, #855/r2 - Series 541 $1 Replacements,
Ending serial number is
incorrect
Correct number is F1112000
(date listed: 02 APRIL 2002)
Page 220, #884/2r - Series 641 .50
Replacements
On page 284, it is broken down into 2 printings. That's
correct, BUT, on page 220 he lists only (1) printing reported. It should "list"
both first and second printings.
Guy Araby (date listed 04 APRIL 2002)
Page 287, Series 661 Series Summary, 25 cent note: the
"list" shows "#CU as 10(7) . It should read, 8(7). As only 8 are known in CU.
Just recount P.289.
Guy Araby (date listed 08 APRIL 2002)
Page 398, Series #541 $10 on "UNC." price is
$2500, on P.214 the UNC. price is $3500. Also the rest of the prices don't match
all the way to "VG" on this issue. They should be the same
price.
Guy Araby (date
listed 08 APRIL 2002)
Staff:
Publisher:
Fred Schwan -
MPCGram@yahoo.com
Editor:
Philip M. Goldstein -
IWANTMYMPC@aol.com
Subscription
Manager:
Doug Bell
-
doug@papermoneyworld.net
Tuesday Columnist :
Joe
Boling -
JoeBoling@aol.com
Thurski Columnist:
Larry
"Ski" Smulczenski - skifla@prodigy.net
Friday
Columnist:
Fred Schwan -
MPCGram@yahoo.com
Critic:
Harold
Kroll -
HARBONS@aol.com
Distribution Manager:
Brad
Peacock -
bp22@swbell.net
Scholarship
Coordinator:
Marcus
Turner -
maturner@indy.rr.com
Index &
Back Issue Manager:
Ed Beaman -
ebeaman@sprynet.com
Webmaster & Technical Advisors: Doug Bell "Wiz" -
doug@papermoneyworld.net
Russ Walsh
-
russ.walsh@gte.net
Fact Checker:
Warner
Talso
-
Calendar
Coordinator:
John & Nancy Wilson -
The Boss:
Judy
Schwan -