WBCC Newsmail 20, Vol. 1, december 29, 1996 Well people this is the last Worldwide Bi-metallic Collectors Club (WBCC) Newsmail for this year 1996 from your Focal Point. I must thank all members who did give contributions to make the weekly WBCC Newsmail possible. I'm sure with help from all of you the next 52 issues of the WBCC Newsmail will be a success. I hope you all have a peaceful, happy, nice, healthy, hopeful, friendly, challenging, and especially a successful Bi-metallic New Year 1997. 1. Hot Bi-metallic news...By Joseph Kocian, USA A new 2 pound sterling coin was designed by Bruce Rushin an art teacher from Brundall, Norfolk and introduced to the Treasury Department in London this past week. It has a white center and a yellow outer ring and will be introduced into general circulation toward the end of 1997. 2. Profile a (new) member................By WBCC Focal point Name ..........Luis Gómez Wulschner, Mexico E-mail:..........momomex@mail.internet.com.mx Homepage:....http://www.internet.com.mx/empresas/coins/index.html Age ........... .34 Profession ...General Doctor (medicine) and coin dealer Hobbies .......collecting mexican medals and world Bi-metallic coins, collecting mexican masks, reading, archaeology. Against .......Helms-Bourton Law Goal ...........The complete happiness of the human being. 3. Australian Test Token....By Rod Sell, Australia This week I received the Test Tokens I have been waiting on from the Royal Australian Mint. These tokens were struck in 1993 to test the new Verson Presses they use to make our Bi-Metallic $5 coins in 1994 & 1996. I have a good supply of these tokens at US$3 each for any members of the WBCC who would like one or more. I am happy to take swaps as I am still missing a lot of Bi-Metallic coins, so If you would like some please let me know and E-mail me any swaps you may have, including condition and price. 4. Commemorative Bi-metallic news....By Martin Peeters, Netherlands This week I've got, for nothing (!!), a commemorative Bi-metallic from the German firm "Schuler Pressen". This Bi-metallis is struck for the "Mercedes Benz" day, 15 september 1996. On the observe is a nice Mercedes Benz. The outer ring is white colored and the inner ring is yellow colored. This commemorative Bi-metallic is the third "Schuler Pressen" has made. 5. ECU and EURO............By Jean Verleg, Netherlands I 'll tell you all I know about the ECU and EURO. First you have to devide the name ecu in two user groups. First user group was the France Empire. In France the ecu was a gold coin from the year 1385 untill 1641. It was a weak gold standard coin.In the year 1641 the french reformed their currency system and the old gold ecu coin was further equal to one Louise D'or gold coin. Further the ecu was the regular currency silver coin in France from 1641 untill 1794 in the following system. 1 Louise D'or (gold) = 4 ecu's 1 Ecu (silver) = 6 livres 1 Livre (small silver) = 20 sols 1 Sol (copper) = 4 liards 1 Liard (copper) = 3 deniers(small copper) The silver ecu has a weight of 27.19 metric-grams with 0.917 silver. On the front the head of the king and on the reverse a shield is struck. This coin had a bad stability and was later (in 1795) in the new decimal currency system equal to a five franc coin. The second user group of the name ecu is the European community. After the world war in Europe a lot of countries tried to build up a system where was no place for a war. So in 1952 six countries started a community of "coal and steel market" what later on shauld form an united common market with one head of state (the EEG ). This countries were Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Germany, France and Italy. As a reaction to the EEG an other group of countries formed the "EVA" united market. This were Great Brittain, Ireland, Norway, Iceland, Denmark and Austria. However, the EVA had a low organisation-level an as result a low and degreasing influance all the time. One by one the members of the EVA left that community and joined with the EEG. Now a day (1996) only Norway and Iceland forms the EVA, but they have special bands with the EEG. Other countries also came into the EEG. That means Sweden, Finland, Portugal, Greece and Spain. From the beginning of the common market of the EEG the six countries developped an account currency called ECU (European Currency Unit) with the symbol epsilon with an extra dash. Even from the beginning a lot of people wanted to call the account currency "EURO" with the same symbol as the "ECU". Most of the new members supported the account currency, except Great Brittain and Denmark. In December 1996 the EEG has decided to set up a new legal currency for the strong EEG-members in the year 2002. The name of that currency will be mentioned "EURO". One Euro will be 100 cents. From the beginning of the common market (EEG) a lot of marchant companies and clubs struck coins with very exotic names and also ECUs and EUROs. Even coins were struck with only the symbol "epsilon with extra dash" (Sorry, I can't find this symbol in my computer but you can find this in the cataloge of unusual world coins part Europa coin nr x46 and more). BUT not any coin is a legal currency. They are used in a very small group, happening or used as medal. We call it in the Netherlands "Home money". In the end of the 1980th more and more coinhouses produced Ecus, Euros, (also many Bi-metallic ones) to make profit and the collectors pays the bills...... 6. Coin World "Readers Ask"..........By Harry Newton, USA The following I received from Richard Giedroyc International Editor COIN WORLD.Richard writes "Reader Ask" which appears as a weekly feature of Coin World (e-mail is cweditor@amospress.com). I had mistakenly belived that Canada had made a Bi-metallic $1 coin. Dec.23,1996 Dear Mr.Newton, This letter is a reply to your recent inquiry regarding if the Bi-metallic Canada $1 coin can separate from the inner part of the coin.The Canadian Loon dollar coin is made entirely of aureate-nickel.It has no metal separation problems.The $2 coin introduced in 1996 is made of two separated metals (ringed Bi-metallic composition).Metal separation problems initially announced in the general press have proved to be unfounded,except when someone willfully attempts to separate the two pieces by mutilating the coin. Since the inner section has a golden color,it can tone or change color.Heating and circulation will each cause the same change in appearance. The coin is struck in the same manner as is any other coin.It is struck in a single strike process in which the two sections become locked due to the flow of metal. Thank you for thinking of COIN WORLD. Cordially,Coin World, Richard Giedroyc International Editor 7. Are US clad coins Bi-metallics?...By Larry Friemel, WBCC Helpdesk I recently received the question, "Are US clad coins Bi-metallics?", in response to my little article last month. This took me by surprise and required that I do a little research. I think most of the American public and numismatic community tend to ignore these coins for anything more than simple currency. They certainly are considered to have little collector value. I obviously am aware that they exist for I use them daily, but I was not sure whether the display of two metals around the rim of the coin was by design or the result of poor minting process. As it turns out, I believe the answer to the question is yes and no. Let me step back for those of you who may not be familiar with clad coins. Clad coins have also been referred to as sandwich coins because from the edge the two outer surfaces can be thought of as the two slices of bread with the center core representing the meat portion of the sandwich. Clad coins were introduced in 1965 as substitutes for silver coins; however, the coin designs then in use for the Roosevelt dime, Washington quarter and Kennedy half were retained. (The US was not minting dollar coins at the time) The only alteration since then was to add the special 1976 Bicentennial designs. Clad coins unlike plated coins such as the cent are made of three layers of metal bonded together. The outer layers are usually of the same alloy while the inner layer is different. Most clad coins can be easily identified by the odd strip of color (the sandwich "meat") around the edge resulting from the different core metal used. On current US dimes and quarters, the obverse and reverse layers are of a copper-nickel alloy while the core is pure copper with its traditional reddish color. The edge of a 1965 to 1970 Kennedy half dollar does not provide the observer a clue to the coin's clad characteristics, because all three layers are silver alloys. The only difference is that the two outer layers contain more silver than the inner core layer. That is the outer surfaces are 80% silver and 20% copper with an inner core of 21% silver and 79% cooper. As a result there is no contrasting color of metal appearing around the rim of the coin. After 1970, the composition of the half dollar was changed to be the same as the dime and the quarter. That is the outer surfaces are 75% copper and 25% nickel and the inner core is 100% copper. Now back to the question. I think in the general sense I would have to say -- yes the dimes, quarters and post 1970 half dollars are bi- metal coins for they meet the definition including displaying more than a single metal. However, I would say no for the 1965 to 1970 Kennedy halves, since for all practical purposes when viewed from the edgy you can see no difference. I find it interesting that in the general sense you can say the US has had Bi-metallic coins since 1965 which might give these coins a little more glamour today than calling them clad coins. Here I previously thought I was a relatively new collector of Bi-metallics coins having started in 1995 when in fact I have been a bi-metal collector since 1965 having started my collecting interest with early US cents, nickels, dimes and quarters. But independent of this little excursion into what might be; what we are seeing in the magazines and numismatic publications is that the word Bi-metallic is becoming almost interchangeable with ringed coins. With the other items we have considered being relegated to categories of gilt, cameo, encased, clad, etc. 8. A lost members is back............By WBCC Focal Point In the past lost member of the WBCC is back. Brett McInnes has joined the club again. 9. Nice Websides...........By WBCC Focal Point Krause Publications: http://www.krause.com 10. Planning Bi-metallics for 1997......By Martin Peeters Italy planes 2 new issues in 1997. A Bi-metallic 1000 and 2000 Lire. Great-Brittain a new Bi-metallic 2 pound coin by the end of 1997. San Marino planes again a Bi-metallic 500 Lire 1997 11. Updated membershiplist WBCC.........By WBCC Focal Point Here you find an updated memberslist of the WBCC. Please check the E-mail addresses and update your addresslist. As you can see we are now with 27 Bi-metallic Collector from 7 countries from all over the world. We are really an International Club. 1. Martin Peeters, Netherlands, martinp@concepts.nl 2. Frans Dubois, Netherlands, No Internet entry 3. Larry Friemel, USA, lrfriemel@ccgate.hac.com 4. Tony Chibbaro, USA, tchibbaro@aol.com 5. Koen Helling, Netherlands, No Internet Entry 6. Joseph Kocian, USA, jkocian@bright.net 7. Jean Verleg, Netherlands, jbverleg@concepts.nl 8. Joel Anderson, USA, jacoins@aol.com 9. Eugene Canham, USA, cherokeeflyer@msn.com 10. Bill Allain, USA, lall@popalex1.linknet.net 11. Kyle Mutcher, Canada, kmutcher@mb.sympatico.ca 12. Louis Crawford, USA, loucraw@felix.teclink.net 13. Ron Shalgi, Israel, rshalgi@netvision.net.il 14. Mike Kahlke, USA, kahlke@ctron.com 15. Gert Bultman, Netherlands, g.w.bultman@rikz.nws.minvenw.nl 16. Douglas Umland, USA, fresh-e@ix.netcom.com 17. Frans Woons, Canada, mwoons@sos-connect.com 18. Fabio Guerrieri, Italy, No Internet entry 19. Rod Sell, Australia, rod.sell@Hlos.com.au 20. Jim Alby, USA, ccchiz@wi.net 21. Patrick Glassford, Canada, err@netcom.ca 22. Arthur Murray, USA, amurray@suffolk.lib.ny.us 23. John Magruder, USA, magruder@inna.net 24. Brad Strong, USA, 72763.1176@compuserve.com 25. Harry Newton, USA, harry.newton@chrysalis.org 26. Tim Grubbs, USA, Tazz447@aol.com 27. Luis Gomez Wulschner, Mexico, momomex@mail.internet.com.mx 28. Brett McInnes, mcinnes@ictp.trieste.it 12. Public Relations..............By WBCC Focal Point This week there were send letters to 'Muntkoerier" (a Dutch Coinpaper), "World Coin News" (an American Coinpaper) and to "Canadion Coin News" (a Canadian Coinpaper) to get more addicted members for the WBCC. Maybe you know more coinpapers over the world were you can send some letters. 13. The WBCC competition is still on.........By Martin Peeters The Worldwide Bi-metallic Collectors Club (WBCC) is still on. To rememder, the question is: Who will get the FIRST 1997 Bi-metallic ? The winner will get the title "The most fanatic WBCC hunter". So, if you are the WBCC member who gets the first issued 1997 Bi-metallic, please E-mail me: martinp@concepts.nl "See" you next year, Martin, Your Focal Point of the Worldwide Bi-metallic Collectors Club.