============================================== MPC GRAM ============================================== Covering the entire World of Military Numismatics Series 004 - Number 784 Friday November 22, 2002 World Record Price---Maybe By Doug Bell A few days ago on ebay a Series 692 $1 sold for over $125. I was amazed. I called Fred and we looked at the auction. We were and are very suspicious of the circumstances. The underbidder with a feedback rating of 5 has four pages of bids in the past 30 days. The overwhelming majority were on auctions from the same seller. The others were on auctions of one other seller. We did not follow through to that seller, but the circumstances caused us to send a complaint to ebay. Below is the response that we received. Thank you for taking the time to write to eBays Safe Harbor department. Shill bidding is a serious offense and we will investigate your report as soon as possible, usually within 24 hours. We will investigate the accounts for possible shill bidding by looking at the information you have provided as well as our internal records. We will also compare this to bidding patterns and any other activity that may have occurred involving the reported accounts. If we are able to find evidence of shill bidding, our actions can range from issuing an educational alert, a temporary suspension, or in some cases an indefinite suspension. The type of action that we take depends on the specific situation surrounding an individual account. Things such as the existence of a previous warning, the nature of the offense and the length of time as a community member will all be taken into consideration. Repeated violations of policies will often result in the suspension of a member's account. Sometimes, what appears to be shill bidding may actually be a legitimate bidding activity. This can occur for a number of reasons, for example, a bidder may bid almost exclusively on one or two sellers whom they have come to trust. If we find there is not enough evidence of shill bidding, we may not take action against any of the reported accounts. We assure you that we will thoroughly examine your report. Please keep in mind that due to our privacy policy you will not receive specific details of our actions. In certain circumstances, we may contact you by email if we need further information. We pledge, though, that an eBay Safe Harbor representative will quickly review your report of shill bidding and apply our guidelines fairly. **Please do not respond to this email as your reply will not be received. We know your time is valuable and we appreciate you taking a moment to express your concern to us. Thank you for helping to keep eBay a safe and reputable forum in which to conduct business. Regards, The eBay Safe Harbor Team It would of course be interesting to see what if anything is done, but it appears that we will not know. An interesting point is the harm done to previous bidders. Take the buyer of the 692 $1, he/she should have the bid price reduced and if it has been paid a refund should be made. Ebay made no mention of serious action like that. Late Entry By Dick Freyser If it's not too late, I'd like to enter my nomination for favorite note. As others have nominated discovery notes let me nominate the Series 481 $5.00 Fourth printing. With over 20 years of MPC collecting and owning this note for more than half that time without realizing its importance, I was amazed and delighted to discover I had a note with a higher serial number than what was noted in Fred's Catalog. I remember firing off an email to him with the subject line 'Discovery or Counterfeit?' because I didn't know where to catalog it, which printing? Was this an extension of the Third Printing? Subsequently noting, with the help of the MPC Gurus, the markings all being in line with Fourth Printing markings, and with them all agreeing (to date) this note is authentic, all add to this being my favorite note and worthy of the nomination. ============================================== Editorial ============================================== Winter must be here. The boss is home today school having been cancelled. Show loves these days—I do not. The schedule will be disrupted at a minimum and work might stop! On the other hand, it did give me a little something to complain about here in my otherwise empty space! Doug Bell’s article on ebay bidding practices should be a subject suitable for lots of commentary. We look forward to it! The consensus seems to be to leave the Fest dates untouched, but we welcome more comments on that. Indeed, even though Dick Freyser thought that he might be too late on his favorite note, that is a subject that will always be welcome here a Gram central. Fred ============================================== Mail Call ============================================== Hi Fred, It was the 10th Division - Mountain, not brigade, that fought in Italy. Cheers, Colin Dear Editor Fred, Why not list the MSNS Show in the Gram ??? Several dealers including myself will have MPC or WW2 related items for sale. The show is always held at the Dearborn Hyatt Friday, Saturday and Sunday on Thanksgiving weekend with well over 100 dealers. Call me at my new phone number (248) 647-8938 for any info or questions related to the MSNS Show. Thanks, Keith Dear Keith, Well, sometimes we need a kick in the head. Joe Boling will be there and I will be there too. Editor Dear Gram, Please do not change the dates of the fest. I have already been through the excruciating negotiation phase of acquiring leave for the holy trinity (FUN,CPMX,FEST). This year I had to cave on bringing the whole family out to Orlando so they could do the Disney thing while I attend FUN. I am concerned that if the Fest dates are changed, I will have to reopen negotiations regarding the changes to my pass. It has been my experience in the past that when talks resume, in order to make the necessary changes, some piece of new jewelry must enter the talks at the bargaining table. I normally attend the Long Beach show. I would rather miss LB in favor of the Fest for obvious reasons as stated above but also, LB happens twice a year. All you need to do is spend twice as much money at the October show, it will feel like you haven't missed a thing. Please include my reservation at Fest and count me in at FUN. Regards Al Glaser Hello, Saw your free e-newsletter mentioned on page 4 of the November 26th issue of Numismatic News and would like to receive it. Thanks! Jim V. Dar Gram, If you would not move the fest to accommodate the spring ANA convention (two years running!), you sure as hell have no grounds for moving it to accommodate a rinky-dink show in California. By the way, where is gram 782? Dropping a number every week will get you to number 888 pretty quickly. Joe Dear Joe, But how do you really feel? Editor ============================================== CALENDAR OF EVENTS ============================================== 2002 St. Louis paper money show 21-24 November Michigan State Numismatic Society convention. Nov 28 – Dec 1. Dearborne Hyatt Regency. Call Keith Bauman w/questions (248) 647-8938. [confirmed attendees: Keith Bauman, Joe Boling, Fred Schwan] WESPMEX:29 November - 1 December Westchester Paper Money Exposition - 160 Dealers Westchester County Center, White Plains, NY December 7, opening of World War II Numismatics exhibition at American Numismatic Association Museum, Colorado Springs, CO. [Warner Talso confirmed, Fred Schwan possible] 2003 FUN Florida United Numismatists, Orlando, 9 - 12Jan 2003 Confirmed table holders and attendees [Leo May (table), Fred Schwan (table), David Seelye (table), Larry Smulczenski (table w/Schwan), Harold Kroll, Marcus Turner, Howard Daniel, David Amey (with table), Al Glaser, others please confirm. CPMX 9: 20 - 23 February, Chicago, IL MPC Fest IV: 28 Feb - 2 March, Port Clinton, OH Fest Registrants: Doug Bell, Joe Boling†, Guido Crapanzano†, Dick Freyser, Philip M. Goldstein, Gary Hicks, Harold Kroll, Jack Lippincot, Kevin Maloy, Leo May$$, Fred Schwan, David Seelye, Nick Shrier, Larry Smulczenski, Warner Talso$$$, Marcus Turner, Tom Warburton, Mark Watson, Bill Yanchick, Tom Koch, Nancy and John Wilson†, Bill McNease, Cuneyd Tolek†, Wenell Wolka†, Al Glaser. Registration fee: $148 double occupancy $198 single occupancy (including meals and motel). Payments may be sent to BNRPress, 132 E. Second St., Port Clinton, OH 43452 or via PayPal to fredschwan@yahoo.com. Suggested airports in order of desirability: Toledo, Cleveland, Detroit (attempts will be made to provide ground transportation to/from these airports) $$ = Paid Running total: 26, †=new fester. ANA National Money Show, March 21-23, 2003, Charlotte (NC) Convention Center, Contact ANA Convention Department at convention@money.org or JoeBoling@aol.com for forms to exhibit. Hours are 10-6:30 Friday & Saturday & 10-2 Sunday. Hotels are The Westin Charlotte (704-375-2623) and the nearby Hampton Inn Charlotte Uptown (704-373-0917). Howard Daniel will be manning a joint NI/NBS/IBNS club table where Gramsters can meet each other. He is also conducting a joint NI/IBNS meeting on Saturday and invites all Gramsters to the meeting's show and tell session and to meet other collectors with similar interests. Masstricht April 4-6, Valkenburg, The Netherlands, contact Jos Eijsermans, Box 3240, NL 5930 Tegelen Netherlands ======================================== 2003 scholarship fund Donations of cash and numismatic material will be gladly accepted. Generally the numismatic material is auctioned at MPCFest, but might be sold via ebay or other places. Your scholarship donations help the hobby by sending qualified individuals to the ANA summer seminar military money class. Except for unavoidable charges like ebay fees, 100% of your donation goes to scholarships. 2003 Scholarship Donors Ed Hoffman RA Medina Dick Freyser Larry Smulczenski David Seelye Howard Daniel Steve Feller Warner Talso Pam West Mr. 691 Contact me at: "Marcus Turner" maturner@indy.rr.com Checks should be made out to the "Military Numismatists Scholarship". or Marcus Turner 8103 East US Highway 36 Suite 163 Avon, Indiana 46123 USA ========================================================= MPC ANA Museum Project ========================================================== Below is a list of the MPC holdings in the ANA Museum at this time. It goes without saying that donations of additional notes will be most welcome. Series 100 - NONE Series 461 - 5 cents Series 471 - None Series 472 - None Series 481 - 5 cents, 50 cents, $1 Series 521 - 5, 15, 25, 50 cents Series 541 - 5, 10, 25 cents Series 591 - NONE Series 611 - NONE Series 641 - 5, 10, 25, 50 cents, $1, $5, $10 Series 651 - NONE Series 661 - [50c], [$5], $10 Series 681 - 5, 10, 25, 50 cents, $1 Series 691 - [$1, $5, $10, $20] Series 692 - 5, 10, 25, 50 cents, $1 Series 701 - [$1, $5, $10, $20] [50c etc.] = notes donated by Gramsters contact Chris Connell ANA Museum Collections Manager 818 North Cascade Ave. Colorado Springs, CO 80903-3279 collections@money.org (719) 632-2646 ========================================================== Subscription information: ========================================================== You can enter an email address to receive the gram by using the link below. Use this to change your address (add the new one), add a friend or enemy. http://www.papermoneyworld.net/WebMailList/Default.asp =================================================== HOT CONTACT LIST - DEALER & RESOURCE LIST Below is the BNR Press Hot Contact List. This list serves several functions. Obviously it is an outreach by the dealers listed for your business. Most of them buy and sell MPC. Others organize shows or publish periodicals, or furnish information dedicated to this field. They have supported the new Comprehensive Catalog of Military Payment Certificates with their advertising. They deserve your support and patronage! Name phone fax / cell 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 RBalbaton@aol.com Keith and Suzanne Bauman (248) 647 8938 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 Philip M. Goldstein : (845) 586-4672 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 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(305) 720-0695 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 Pomexport Ltd. 1-201-641-6641 / Fax: 1-201-641-1700 E-Mail: Info@pomexport.com // website: http://www.Pomexport.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) Dump your dupes! Your classified advertisement for items for sale, purchase or trade 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. In all cases confirm your order via email first. FOR SALE: WANTED SECTION: 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. Wanted listings will run for a period of 1 month. WANTED - Fancy Series 641 fractional notes – any condition. (5/18) WANTED - Philippine Guerrila Money (5/26) WANTED – MPC from position 8 and all military money counterfeits. Wanted: War and other bonds issued by the US government, will purchase or trade. =================================================== 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 (date listed: 02 APRIL 2002) 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) =================================================== MPC Gram 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 Scholarship Coordinator: Marcus Turner - maturner@indy.rr.com Index & Back Issue Manager:vacant 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 ===== 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! Mail Plus – Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com .