June, 2014 Volume 31, Issue 4

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1 June, 2014 Volume 31, Issue 4 Inside This Issue: President s Message 2 Editor s Notes 2 In Remembrance 3 Empress of Ireland 4 Empress of Ireland Cont. 5 Palmers Pond Wreck 6 NSNS Club Auction Show Calendar 8 This Months Program Concentration Camp & Ghetto Money (Part ( 3) & PIZZA NIGHT Doors Open at 7:00 Bring a Friend Next Coin Show June 15th (Sun) See back page for more info. RMS Empress of Ireland 1 oz. Fine Silver Coin is the first in a new 3-coin series from the Royal Canadian Mint commemorating well-known vessels that have been lost in Canadian waters, and the stories that have emerged from the events surrounding their final fate. Page: 4

President s Message Lynn Balmer THE NORTH SHORE NUMISMATIC SOCIETY WE ARE A NON-PROFIT SOCIETY WORKING FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF NUMISMATICA AT ALL LEVELS MEMBERSHIP IS OPEN TO ALL INTERESTED PARTIES

(Behind Metrotown) FREE Parking Meetings start at 7:00 pm Most Meetings Include: A Numismatic Presentation Show & Tell PLUS A Numismatic Auction & Free Refreshments Non-Member Drop-Ins Welcome For

2 President s Message Lynn Balmer THE NORTH SHORE NUMISMATIC SOCIETY WE ARE A NON-PROFIT SOCIETY WORKING FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF NUMISMATICA AT ALL LEVELS MEMBERSHIP IS OPEN TO ALL INTERESTED PARTIES Meetings are held the Third Tuesday of each month at: Bonsor Recreation Centre 6550 Bonsor Ave. (Behind Metrotown) FREE Parking Meetings start at 7:00 pm Most Meetings Include: A Numismatic Presentation Show & Tell PLUS A Numismatic Auction & Free Refreshments Non-Member Drop-Ins Welcome For more information contact: msouza1866@gmail.com simgenles@shaw.ca (Club website) northshorenumismaticsociety.org Things are moving along with finding a new location for our shows, but we have to do more work before making a final recommendation. Anyone who has suggestions should feel free to contact anyone on the executive ASAP. On a sad note, we learned this week of the passing of one of our long time members, Les Goldsby. Les was always fun to be around, and added a spark of humor for all of us, not to mention the candies that he passed out on the sly. We still do not have a lot of details, but we regret that we did not find out sooner, so we could have made a more timely acknowledgement of his time with us. We will miss you Les, and the chair over to the side will be reserved for you. Lynn Balmer Editor s Notes Gene Simms The turn out for our monthly meetings continue to be good with 21 regular members and three guests in attendance at our May meeting. The guests were John Kozbial, and a couple, Colin Broughton and Carol Snydal. Carol had an item of BC Numismatica, a Horseshoe Encased 1950 Canadian Cent advertising a Van. Company. Ray Holbrook Co. Ltd Seymour Van. B.C. Collision Repairs, MA.8025 Ma.0727 This piece serves a dual purpose advertising and a good luck piece. Encased coins were touted as the souvenir no one would throw away (it is money, after all). Many encased coins like Carol s bear such legends as KEEP ME AND NEVER GO BROKE and I BRING GOOD LUCK. Encased coins fell out of favor as advertising pieces in the 1960s when other inexpensive advertising novelties arose such as the Bic pen. As the saying goes The pen is mightier than the sword and it was the Bic pen as a cheap advertising medium was mainly responsible for the demise of encased coins. Finding a new venue for our shows continues to be our main focus. Some of the potential venues were the Thomas Moore School, the Our Lady of Mercy gym, Queens Park Annex, Executive Inn, Edmonds Community Centre, the Anvil Centre. Mike has called about ten churches and halls up and down Cambie. near 41st and along Kingsway, but so far no luck. Most churches need their gyms on Sunday and others just do not have a large enough hall or are not available for rental. We will continue calling other venues and will check out the Kerrisdale Centre on Thursday. We will keep you posted on developments. It s only a matter of time before we find the perfect location. 2

The ShoreLine This is the last meeting before our summer break and we will end with the always popular Pizza Night, plus Mike will present the conclusion of his "Concentration Camp & Ghetto Money"

A reminder that we will need the usual volunteer's to help with the set-up and take-down and general running of the show. All help is appreciated. Note show date changes on the back page calendar.

Thanks to Mike, the club's Numismatica Collection has been sorted and catalogued with the help of Ron Greene's Database. We are hoping to have it on display at the Sept. two day show.

The Program will be: The Short Snorter Project by Tom Sparks, Seattle. This topic should make for a very interesting program. Everyone s Welcome. Doors open at 6:30pm, meeting commences at 7:00pm.

3 The ShoreLine This is the last meeting before our summer break and we will end with the always popular Pizza Night, plus Mike will present the conclusion of his "Concentration Camp & Ghetto Money" program. Our next coin show is at the Oakridge Auditorium on Sunday, June 15th from 10am to 4pm. Admission is free and everyone is welcome. A reminder that we will need the usual volunteer's to help with the set-up and take-down and general running of the show. All help is appreciated. Note show date changes on the back page calendar. We will not be meeting again until after the Sept. Show so this is a reminder that we will need the usual volunteer's to help with the set-up and take-down and general running of that show as will. Thanks to Mike, the club's Numismatica Collection has been sorted and catalogued with the help of Ron Greene's Database. We are hoping to have it on display at the Sept. two day show. A reminder from our friends at the IBNS. The next IBNS Chapter Meeting is on Wednesday, June 25th at the Burnaby Public Library on Willingdon Avenue. The Program will be: The Short Snorter Project by Tom Sparks, Seattle. This topic should make for a very interesting program. Everyone s Welcome. Doors open at 6:30pm, meeting commences at 7:00pm. IN REMEBRANCE LES GOLDSBY A-MAIZE-ING, TO COIN A PHRASE Ever lose yourself for a nickel? Or, for that matter, in a nickel? The Belmont Maze, a kilometre west of southeast Middlesex County - England, offered the chance. The 2003 maze was in the shape of a nickel with the obverse - or beaver side up. The corn maze, operated by Don and Lin Farquhar, features more than five kilometres of agricultural labyrinth. Ken Wightman - London Free Press (submitted by Mike Souza) 3

100 TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE LOSS OF RMS EMPRESS OF IRELAND 1914-2014 The 2014, 1oz. (99.

4 100 TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE LOSS OF RMS EMPRESS OF IRELAND The 2014, 1oz. (99.99% pure silver) coin with a face value 20 dollars, and a limited worldwide mintage of 7000 pieces, is the first in a new 3-coin series from the Royal Canadian Mint. The coins will commemorate well-known vessels that have been lost in Canadian waters, and the stories that have emerged from the events surrounding their final fate. Designed by Canadian artist John Horton to commemorates the 100 th anniversary of the loss of RMS Empress of Ireland, the coin features a stunning colour portrait, framed within the coastline of the St. Lawrence seaway, and shows the imminent collision of RMS Empress of Ireland and the Norwegian collier Storstad during the early morning hours of May 29, 1914, moments before her collision with the Storstad. The coin also features edge-lettering that displays the ship's name, as well as a bell: one of the recovered artifacts from the wreck.(1) RMS Empress of Ireland was an ocean liner operated by Canadian Pacific Steamship Company in the transatlantic lanes, linking the railroad's nationwide network via Quebec City with Great Britain via Liverpool. Assigned to this regular routing, the Empress of Ireland had safely completed 95 Atlantic crossings and had departed on her 96th crossing from Quebec City at 16:30 local time on May 28, 1914 fully laden with 1,477 passengers and crew. Steaming up the St. Lawrence River during the evening RMS Empress of Ireland moments before her collision with the Storstad. of the 28th and into the early morning of the 29th the Empress, under the command of Henry George Kendall on his first trip down the Saint Lawrence River as Captain, neared the pilot station at Rimouski shortly before 0200hrs. Approaching the same location from the opposite direction was the Norwegian collier SS Storstad, which like the Empress had been steaming under fair skies and clear conditions as she made her way for Quebec City. Lookouts aboard both ships sighted the lights of the other shortly before a thick bank of fog rolled in from the North and reduced visibility to less than a mile, prompting both ships to slow their speed and use dead reckoning navigation. Having last confirmed each other to be lined up for a Port-to- Port passage, navigators and lookouts aboard both ships could do little but assume that both ships would continue on their paths, however shortly before 0200hrs the Empress began a turn to Port in an apparent attempt to re-enter the deep channel and leave the Storstad on her Starboard side. Coming into view through the fog on a dead-ahead course as she began her turn to Port, the Empress likely appeared to be bearing down on the Storstad for a headon collision prompting Storstad's Captain to order an emergency turn to Starboard. With the two ships now turning into each other s path, the sudden appearance of the Storstad s mast and directional lights out of the fog left little time for the crew aboard the Empress to react, save for an order from Captain Kendall for an emer- 4

gency turn back to Starboard in the hopes of lessening the severity of the collision.

one of her midship longitudinal bulkheads, causing massive damage to the ship below the waterline.

passenger staterooms, quickly sealing the fate of most crew and passengers sleeping in the lower decks at the time of the collision.

before the rapidly increasing list prevented the use of the rest.

Remaining on her side and appearing to have struck bottom, passengers and crew engaged in a frantic attempt to pull survivors through the ships portholes to the relative safety of the outer hull.

5 gency turn back to Starboard in the hopes of lessening the severity of the collision. Two minutes before the hour the reinforced reverseslanting prow of the Storstad, designed to break harbor ice in her Northern home waters, sliced into the Starboard hull of the Empress of Ireland at one of her midship longitudinal bulkheads, causing massive damage to the ship below the waterline. Immediately taking a list to Starboard following the collision, the Empress began to rapidly flood as water poured into the ship through the collision hole as well as hundreds of open portholes in passenger staterooms, quickly sealing the fate of most crew and passengers sleeping in the lower decks at the time of the collision. Those who did manage to escape their cabins to the lifeboat deck found the ships list so great that only her Starboard side lifeboats could be launched, of which only four were able to be loaded before the rapidly increasing list prevented the use of the rest. Surviving passengers and crew were soon mustering on the Port side of the Empress which became almost fully exposed only ten minutes after the collision as the ship rolled onto beam ends. Remaining on her side and appearing to have struck bottom, passengers and crew engaged in a frantic attempt to pull survivors through the ships portholes to the relative safety of the outer hull. Captain Henry Kendall ( ), the last captain of RMS Empress of Ireland. Sailors taking children in coffins from The Lady Grey At Quebec. 5 After only four minutes of lying on her Starboard side, progressive flooding of the Empress lower decks began to win out over her remaining buoyancy and the ship quickly began to sink bow-first, throwing hundreds of people from her port side into the nearfreezing water as she sank at this location at approximately 0215hrs. Rescue efforts carried out by the four lifeboats launched before the ship went down were woefully inadequate when faced with the sheer number of people in the water, and after an hour for frantic efforts to find survivors only 465 of the estimated 700 people to have entered the water were found alive, the rest succumbing to drowning and hypothermia. In what remains the worst shipwreck in RMS Empress of Ireland, 1914 The Storstad, after ramming into the starboard side of the Empress. The Collision of the Storstad and RMS Empress of Ireland. Canadian history, the loss of RMS Empress of Ireland resulted in the deaths of 1,012 people, more than the loss of RMS Titanic two years prior. Largely overshadowed and forgotten by the declaration of War two months later, the sinking of the Empress of Ireland was eventually blamed on the crew of the Storstad in subsequent inquiries and hearings, though the issue of fault for the collision remains contentious today. Continued on page 7

A GREAT BRITAIN GEORGE III ENAMELED CROWN The majority of enameled coins are based on the existing design of the original coin.

The enamel was then applied in layers, fired and then ground down to enable the colours to come through in varying shades.

It was most usual to enamel on just one side of the coin, but some coins are enameled on both sides.

Two of the finest coin enamelers were William Henry Probert and the Steel family. The earliest enameled coins were thought to have been produced by William Henry Probert in his Birmingham workshop.

6 A GREAT BRITAIN GEORGE III ENAMELED CROWN The majority of enameled coins are based on the existing design of the original coin. The first task in the production process was to take out all the background of the coin, leaving the letters and pattern in. In some cases the letters and design were even removed. The enamel was then applied in layers, fired and then ground down to enable the colours to come through in varying shades. This process was often done in more than one stage to enable the intricate colours and painted effect to be perfected. It was most usual to enamel on just one side of the coin, but some coins are enameled on both sides. Popular designs included leaves and flower, coats of arms, Britannia and St George slaying the dragon. In some the bust of the monarch are completely removed and replaced in enamels. Two of the finest coin enamelers were William Henry Probert and the Steel family. The earliest enameled coins were thought to have been produced by William Henry Probert in his Birmingham workshop. His initial designs were very plain with no more than three colours used. However, the coins were expertly engraved. As the coins became more popular his designs became more colourful an elaborate. Edward Steele, was a well known engraver and enameller, who started a venture in his own name designing enameled coins. His son Edwin and later Edwin's son Henry carried on the business of manufacturing coin jewellery. Edwin's enamel coins are thought to be the finest, with engraving under the enamel to enable light to filter through the enamel. This created superb variations to the reflections. Unfortunately the craftsman involved in the production of this piece is unknown. Britannia Numismatics website. Canada, One Cent, Palmers Pond Wreck (January 26, 1897) By Library and Archives Canada Monday, 29 March 2004 Coins have often been used, officially and unofficially, to commemorate important events. This counterstamped onecent piece is an example of an unofficial use to mark an event of local significance. On January 26, 1897, a CPR train on its way from Halifax to Saint John was a few minutes late leaving Sackville. It was scheduled to arrive in Moncton at noon. As the train entered the first bend of a sharp S-curve, the passengers braced themselves to avoid being thrown into the aisles. On the second bend, the cars began to vibrate. The train left the rails, rolled down a steep embankment and finally came to rest on the ice of Palmers Pond. Two passengers were killed. After the dead and injured had been attended, the rescuers and onlookers turned their attention to the mail car, which contained about 5.6 tons of bronze cents struck in England and destined for Saint John and Montreal. Eighty boxes of coins had been smashed and the ice on the pond was covered with new, shiny one-cent pieces, in some places 2 to 3 feet deep. By evening the new cents were circulating in nearby communities. Subsequent investigation revealed that all the boxes had been placed in one end of the car and it was generally believed that the wreck was caused by the load shifting. Some of the recovered pieces were privately counterstamped PALMERS POND WRECK The one-cent piece illustrated comes from the wreck and forms part of the National Currency Collection, Bank of Canada. 6

7 Continued from page 5 Largely forgotten after initial salvage efforts carried out by Canadian Pacific to recover the ships mail and pursers safe, the wreck of RMS Empress of Ireland remained on her Starboard side in 130ft of water and slowly faded from the public eye until its 1969 rediscovery by a group of Canadian divers. Since that time an extensive amount of legal and illegal salvage has taken place on the wreck, prompting a belated 1998 declaration by the Canadian government that the wreck was restricted to destructive penetration and salvage practices. Formally declared a National Historic Site of Canada in 2009, the wreck of RMS Empress of Ireland is now a fully protected wreck and gravesite and has become a popular dive site for experienced Scuba divers. A collection of salvaged items from the ship are displayed at the nearby Empress of Ireland Pavilion at the Site historique maritime de la Pointe-au-Père in Rimouski, Quebec. -Royal Canadian Mint Website -Wikipedia (Article & Pictures) -Canada Post (Title picture) Door Prizes 1. Canada $5 BC-56bA Thiessen-Crow FNX UNC $30 2. Japan 100 Mon $10 3. Great Britain Half-Crown 1920 (silver) $5 4. Sweden 1 Krona 1915 (silver) $ Canada $2 Thiessen-Crow EBX replacement note $12 6. Sarawak 1 Cent 1886 $ 7 7. Canada 1973 PEI Cased Nickel Dollar $10 8. Canada 25 cents 1965 (silver) $9 1-5 Canada 5 Cents Silver -1905,6,7,10,11 VG-8 to VF-20 Est. $17 Res. $12 2- Newfoundland 20 Cents 1904 VF-20 Est. $70 Res. $55 3- Canada 1935 Silver Dollar AU-55 Est. $45 Res. $35 4- Cook Islands 1983 $1 - God of Fertility AU-50 Est. $8 Res. $5 5- Uganda 5 Shillings 1968 Est. $10 Res. $7 6- Denmark 2 Kronur AU-50 Est. $20 Res. $15 7- Australia 1927 Florin EF-40 Est. $40 Res. $30 8- Canada 50 Cents F-12 Est. $50 Res. $40 9- Canada 1985 $20 Proof Silver Est. $30 Res. $ Canada Cents Shinplaster DC-1c - VF Est. $160 Res. $ Japan 1976 Mint set - Est. $10 Res. $7 12- Bank of Canada 1973 $1 - UNC!3 Consec. Est. $40 Res. $28 June 17, 2014 NSNS AUCTION To facilitate paying for your successful bids, please bring small bills ($5s or $10s) or coins. We only have a limited amount of cash on hand to make change. 13- Canada 2001 Oh Canada Set - Est. $18 Res. $ Australia $2 note 1966 UNC Est. $40 Res. $ Canada 1992 Proof set - Est. $40 Res. $30 If you wish to place a item or items in the auction and have your entry appear in the Shoreline Lynn Balmer at balmoralnu@shaw.ca Floor submission items can be submitted by members at the meeting. All submissions FREE of charge. Keep the Auction interesting - Bring Your floor submissions. The auction is a good way to clear out some of those extras that accumulate. 7

8 THE NORTH SHORE NUMISMATIC SOCIETY COIN & STAMP FAIR OAKRIDGE AUDITORIUM 41st & CAMBIE (West Side of Oakridge Shopping Centre) BUY - SELL - FREE APPRAISALS Coins - Stamps - Bank Notes Tokens - Medals - Post cards & More 2014 Show Schedule (Revised) (Doors Open -10am - 4pm) Jan. 19th (Sun) Free Admission Apr. 5th & 6th (Sat & Sun) $2 Admission* Next Show Jun. 15th (Sun) Free Admission New -Sept. 13th & 14th (Sat & Sun) $2 Admission* Nov. 23rd (Sun) Free Admission For more information contact: msouza1866@gmail.com / simgenles@shaw.ca NSNS Website: Don t Forget To Purchase Your Door Prize Tickets: 2 Great Prizes - 5 Chances to WIN for only $2.00

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