President's Message by TLCC president David F. Schmidt.

The photo below was taken at the 1999 TLCC board meeting/party at Dave's house.

January 2013 — Hello Fellow members of the TLCC in 2013! Our club has lots of action planned for 2013 and we start by conducting our January 8th meeting with guest speaker Dick Billings, a familiar figurehead from PNNA-land and other clubs to the north (Editor Rick will go into more details, I trust!). Also at the January 8 meeting, we will be auctioning off of the MS-67 Morgan Silver Dollar, donated by the well-known and respected Heritage Auction Company of Dallas, Texas. Bidding will start at $300.00 and the sky is the limit. Remember, only those present at the 2012 banquet are eligible to bid. Good luck to you and me! Proceeds will go toward the general fund of the club.

...and how about your personal numismatic goals for 2013...

• thinking of selling some, or all of your holdings?
• thinking of selecting out your favorites for now and selling the rest?
• thinking of buying while gold and silver are "down"?
• thinking of putting your name in for a numismatic seminar in Colorado Springs?
• thinking of attending the annual ANA Convention this year in Chicago?
• thinking of attending all TLCC shows and meetings this year?
• thinking of doing a club program for all to hear?

Well - let's hear from you! Our club has great resources and you are one of those resources. Step right up and act now! This message brought to you by ... President Dave.

September 2012 — Hear Ye, Hear Ye! Your President is again on "roam", this time to Salt Lake City for the Annual Token and Medal Society (TAMS) convention. Last time I went it was in Fargo! So, email me with your token and medal lists and I'll see what I can do! And onward - to give special thanks to the Boy Scout helpers - lead by Rick "the bear" and Kevin, the tenderfoot. Both, plus a few of our own TLCC scouts, including at least Todd and Ron - made the Boy Scout Jamboree a rousing success. Ask Kevin about his tent raising skills at the meeting on Tuesday. And talk about our TLCC coin show held last weekend! Wall to wall people for most of Saturday with Sunday sales exceeding expectations for many of our dealers. Many thanks to the door attendants too! Kevin sold out the house! Thank you Kevin. At our coin show an anonymous person donated several Canadian dollars to a lucky "junior". Be sure you attend the next meeting!

So - fall is in the air and the Fair is starting up shortly. See Rick about signing up for a slot at the PNNA booth. He'll appreciate it! and, finally, bring all your Norse Medals for our September meeting. I know you've got them! The speaker, I've heard, will tell you even more about them than you can imagine! See you Tuesday.

September 2011 — Welcome to fall, TLCC members! We have just completed another fine coin show! Were you there? If you were, we thank you for your presence, as well as those of you who volunteered your services. There were lots of opportunities to help. Kevin, our bourse chair, displayed his usual cheerful and exuberant spirit as he announced the drawing winners, and Ron, our stabilizing force, laid down the wires for power as silently as usual. Many of the front desk volunteers assisted newcomers to the various dealers as well as handing out raffle tickets and collecting entry dollars. In total, it was a very successful show - which means that the scholarship potential is extended to new heights, per qualified recipient. Your President thanks you for the use of scholarship funds to attend the largest coin show in the history of anyone's memory, the ANA's World's Fair of Money held this year in Chicago. Ye Old President will report on the activities of the show at the September meeting, a most willing requirement for receiving funds.

July 2011 — Greetings from your President! Recently having returned from the Summer Baltimore Show and a quick visit to the Federal Reserve Bank Museum in New York, your President is slated to attend, and actually put on his dealer face, for the annual Northwest Token and Medal Society convention and show in Vancouver WA on July 9-10. So, what wares will those folks have for sale? Well -tokens, for sure, especially those that say "Good for 5 cents", or maybe even "Good for $l.00." The rare ones are given the insignia R-8, R-9 and R-10 (a measure of rarity. R-1 is common, R-10 means, it's unique, or only one example is known to exist). Frequently the token is a "merchant token", with the name of the business, the city and the state indicated (sometimes territory!). If those indicators are missing, it may be called a maverick! At around 4pm on July 9th, the NWTAMS organizer for umpteen years, Mike Patton, will conduct an auction of the scarce tokens as offered by many of the dealers and collectors from around the country. Bidding is fierce - the rules? No holds barred. Some civility is present, however, so you won't have to brandish your six-shooter.

But how about those medals, what are those? We'll, again, there are many. All kinds of themes, from birth medals from prominent folks from the "world" to "death" medals, commemorating those who reached a bit of wealth or glory during life can be seen. Many are beautifully done, by world-class artists, and are reasonably inexpensive, as compared to commemorative coins of like manner. Are there any "series" of medals you may ask? Of course, and they, for the most part, are around for your collecting pleasures. Most of you have heard, and seen, So-Called Dollars, but not so often seen, So-called Half Dollars! How about those Belgian medal folks, the Wiener's, and their cathedral medals? Have you ever browsed through John Dean's text, "National Commemorative Medals of the United States Mint", or seen the booklet "Medals of the United States Mint" issued by the Department of the Treasury? How about the Heraldic Art Medal folks from the sixties, and their half-dollar size silver and gold medals? By now you can see how much there is to learn about the vast field of exonumia. If you can get down to the NWTAMS convention you'll be well on your way to further your education.

Meanwhile, have a pleasant summer and remember, we are "dark" in July - no meeting! We'll see you all at the 2nd of August meeting at our usual stomping grounds.

December 2010/January 2011 — A Happy New Year to you! The Ho, ho, ho is over. Now -- your President is putting on his "dealer" hat and announcing -- It's time to sell, sell, sell! Gold closed at $1,404 and silver at $30.46 an ounce as of this writing. It's time for all coin collectors, numismatists, hoarders, and club members to take heed! Should you be buying? Look at your age for a minute ... not too long, mind you, as you might forget -- but DO NOT FORGET to gather all your extra sets of common circulated silver coins, including those 196l-1964 U.S. Proof Sets and sell them while prices are at higher levels then you have been able to for over 30 years. AND, buy those rarer coins that you have told yourself that you could never afford. Whether it's the Washington 1932 D or S quarter, or the Lincoln 1909-S VDB or the 1916-D dime. Don't watch this "run" go by. Sure, keep one Silver Proof Set for "Keepsake," but sell the rest. You won't regret it!!! And, who will "win" the TLCC jackpot for the closest guess to gold's spot price as of December 31, 2010? Come to the meeting -- always entertaining, educational and social. See you on January 4th.