MPCFest 2024 Company Pictures
Fest 2024 photos by Bill Gordon
Festers Give Days of Briefings
Tenth Bob Olson Trainer of the Year Announced at Fest XXV
by Steve Feller, Assistant Briefing Officer
About two dozen research talks on military numismatics were delivered at Camp Leo May in Port Clinton, Ohio over the period April 12-14. In addition to this, voting took place for the tenth annual Bob Olson Memorial Trainer of the Year Award.
Momo and Leonardo speak at Fest
Challenge coin awarded to each presenter
The keynote speaker was Jim Downey, an extraordinarily able speaker. His talk was entitled Adventures Collecting Military Payment Certificates. Jim regaled us with how he got interested in MPCs with fun stories of his experiences and intrigues all of us could relate to.
Some of the topics of the slew of other talks presented included these highlighted examples in roughly chronological order (abstracts may be found in the fest program, see militarypaymentcertificates.us):
Moe Berg: The Unlikely Spy by Bill Myers, How MPCs sunk a North Vietnamese Battleship by Bill McNease, Ostarbeiter Sparmarke a lesser-known currency of the Holocaust and Winterhelp-Issues Outside of the German Empire by Marcus Turner, Continental Currency and Revolutionary War Heroes by youngest festers Momo and Leonardo McCloskey Feller,
The incredible Bob Olson Award winning Update on Paper Used for Operation Bernhard Notes by David Leong. This included David going to the extent of simulating the paper making step-by-step himself and selling, for MFC, examples of his simulations. There have now been ten years' worth of Bob Olson awardees.
The Lodz Post Office by Steve Feller,
Replacement Database for MPC and a Novel Fingerprinting of MPCs was unveiled by Doug Bell, Seamans Overseas Service Payment Certificates by Roger Urce, The Numismatics of WWII Camp Libraries by Ray Feller Edith Cavell by Louise Boling,
NATO Gasoline Coupons by Harold Kroll, Dominion of Canada's Non-Interest Bearing Certificate by Dick Dunn Featherstone (New Zealand) POW Camp by Dave Frank.
I make special mention of a technology first. Tom Sparks joined us remotely and gave his talk from afar to the assembled festers. His talk was on Mickey McKeogh's Short Snorter (Mickey was General Dwight D. Eisenhower's orderly).
Smulczenski Fest Auction Success
The annual Fest charity auction was a resounding success. Traditionally, the auction is held on Sunday morning at the Fest. The mission of the auction is to raise money for scholarships to send students to attend the military numismatics class at the ANA Summer Seminar. It usually also provides an opportunity for collectors to obtain interesting items for their collection.
The auction is named for Larry Smulczenski who conceived the idea of the auction and ran the auction for many years funding more than thirty scholarships! Larry turned the job of auctioneer over to Dave Frank but Larry continues to help with the auction at the Fest.
The key to the auction success is the donation of material for the auction. This year's donors were: Ken Berger, Louise and Joe Boling, Dick Dunn, Dave Frank, Peter Huntoon, Bill Myers, Judy and Fred Schwan, Richard Schusterman, the estates of Neil Shafer and David Seelye, John and Nancy Wilson.
See also the report on the scholarship fund.
Scholarships
Fest auctioneer Dave Frank and scholarship chair Kathy Freeland have proudly announced that the Fest auction raised $3,139.65. This includes proceeds from the floor auction and sales from the bid board which was run by John Phipps.
The scholarship committee is happy to make the following announcement:
We are pleased to announce the award of a scholarship to attend the World War II class during the 2nd week of ANA's Summer Seminar. The recipient is Avi Gupta. He comes from Jericho, NY. He is 17 years old, and this will be the first class he has taken. Because of his age, he will be living with the other YNs and helping with their activities, including the YN auction.
Avi has been interested in numismatics since he was 7, thanks to a trip to a numismatic convention with his mother. He met Neil Shafer, who gave him a notebook full of currency. That prompted an interest in paper money and he has been collecting since that time.
Avi also hopes to share the information he will learn with friends he has introduced to the hobby, and will share the information he learns to the military community as he writes an article for the Gram upon his return.
We hope that Avi has a great time at summer seminar, and can't wait to see his article for the Gram! Congratulations Avi!
While most of the fund raising for scholarships centers on the Fest, the committee (led by Kathy Freeland) are happy to accept donations in cash or material at any time!
Editorial
I am sorry that it has been so long since Gram 2608. Of course I have all of the usual excuses: very busy, computer problems (PROBLEMS) blah, blah, blah. However in this case I had an unusual problem, too much to report! Much of that revolves around the Fest for sure, but there is more and I did not get it all into this Gram so I expect that we should get back on schedule next week. This does not mean that you should not send your features, reports, letters and the like in to the Gram. They are all great and there are a few that are late or missing. I will not name names at this time.
One of the distractors from the Gram was the Armed Forces Day Findlay, Ohio military vehicles show. It is a great event. Fester Bill Gordon and I attended as we have for several years (Fester Judy attended a few years before that). I had intended to put this show on the Gram calendar, but missed getting the Gram out entirely. I will put it on the calendar in plenty of time next year.
Findlay certainly is not a numismatic event, but you KNOW that I can find things of interest. Looking inside the vehicle above yielded a surprise.
Inside was a box of looted Nazi gold!
The young collector above (on the left) did not know what a challenge coin was. Of course I instructed her and awarded her a Fest challenge coin for having the patience to listen to me explain it to her. The best part was that in walking around the grounds over the next few hours I had the opportunity to challenge her several times. The real test will come next year!
The vendor who had the above notes was pleased to learn something about them. In particular he liked the AM francs which I described as having been prepared for D-Day. Next year I hope to see you at the Findlay show.
Mail Call
The MPCGram welcomes letters from readers. Letters should be relevant to military numismatics. Letters may be edited. Senders must be known to the Gram and names (actual or "Internet") will be used in the Gram. VERY IMPORTANT: Do not use reply to send letters to the Gram. Send your letters, inquiries and the like to the editor at fredschwan@yahoo.com.
Dear Editor,
A thought regarding MPC Boot Camp: it could be offered over Zoom ahead of the Fest. Happy to help set that up if people would be interested! Maybe a month before as a little appetizer to get people excited! Cool if it could be taught by a few different experts!
Best,
— Ray
Dear Ray,
Thanks for the idea AND the offer. Certainly I like the idea of a Zoom MPC class. However, I would not want to do that shortly before the Fest because that is such a busy time for the Fest staff. You can imagine that I am very busy directing the large staff of workers at Camp May.
— Editor
Dear Editor,
I had a great time at this year's MPCFest. Thanks again to all the organizers for doing that work! It's much appreciated by me and I'm sure, the other attendees.
Thanks,
— Richard
Dear Editor,
I stumbled over an interesting stamp show in Clackamas, OR, about ten miles from my house. Called Pipex 2024.
They have some interesting displays and speakers on:
- German POW camps in the USA,
- Military units at Pearl Harbor
- U.S. internment of Latin American detainees
- Handling of feldpost mail to missing German soldiers
- Alaska at war
- U.S. Battleship Oregon
- Finnish volunteers trained by the Germans
- U.S. Army post offices in Greenland 1941-1945
I'll let you know. Might be something of interest.
Best Regards,
— Bill L
Dear Bill,
So how was the show?
— Editor
Training Schedule (calendar)
In this section, the MPGram lists events that are likely to be of special interest to collectors who are interested in MPC and other type of military numismatic items. We do not list "routine" coin shows where a collector might find a few items by chance. However, if we know that some Festers or Gramsters will be there we will list that same show in the hope of promoting fellowship. Send us your reports.
ANA Summer Seminar June 22-24
We are pleased to advise we will be offering the below class for Session 2 of Summer Seminar (June 22-June 27, 2024). We will open registration in January and I will start sending out weekly updates mid March. Please do not make any travel plans at this time. We will want to make sure we have enough registration to have the class. The final decision will be made around May 1, 2024 or sooner if your class fills sooner. Please review the below description and instructor credentials that will be printed in the catalog and let me know of any changes no later than November 9, 2023. If it is shorter or a bit different from what you sent in, it is because we had to keep descriptions uniform with similar classes and we had to limit character limits for some descriptions. Please let me know if you have any questions.
30-World War II Numismatics
Allied military franc notes were secretly printed in the United States for the D-Day invasion of France, shipped to England and paid to the troops mere hours before the assault. To hold one of them is to touch another time, history in your hands! Vast numbers of military and emergency issues were produced during World War II, and the study thereof fascinating. The issues are remarkably diverse in purpose, use, design and production. Most of the issues were paper, but coins were also created. Due to the vast variety of the material, this class utilizes a case-study approach, using certain issues to represent the greater universe of issues. United States military payment certificates, Allied military currency and Japanese invasion money are covered in-depth.
Instructors: Fred Schwan and Joseph E. Boling, authors of World War II Remembered: History in Your Hands, A Numismatic Study
contact Jennifer Ackerman ANA Events Director Ph. 719-482-9839
ANA World's Fair of Money® - 6-10 Aug, Rosemont
2025
25 March - MOH Day
ANA World's Fair of Money® - 19-23 Aug, Oklahoma City
Please help us fill in the dates for events listed and give us any additional events that might conflict. Thank you very much.
Resources
MPCFest sponsors
Joe and Louise Boling, Steve and Ray Feller, Dave Frank, Al Glaser, Dave Hunsicker, Brett Irick, Harold Kroll, Mike Marcil, Bill Myers, and Mike Buckley.
MPCFest is possible because of the generous support of its sponsors.
Gram Exchange
Do you have something for sale (or trade)? Are you looking for something for your collection? You can offer items here in the Gram or list specific items that you need.
FOR SALE
Send your text and images (!) to the editor for inclusion in the Gram Exchange. Please send the images in jpeg format with each image in a separate file.
List your items for sale here for FREE
New, fifth edition of the standard MPC reference book the Comprehensive Catalog of Military Payment Certificates by Schwan and Smulczenski. Now full color and packed with great information. $75 postpaid. No waiting, the fastest service possible. Send your snail mail address via email and we will send your book with an invoice. The digital version of Comprehensive Catalog of Military Payment Certificates after some delay is now shipping at $40. Send to fredschwan@yahoo.com.
I found a copy of World War II Remembered still in the original shrink wrap. Available $150. It will be available for pick up at the Fest or I can mail it if you insist for $8. fredschwan@yahoo.com
WANTED
Wanted to Buy [WTB] / In Search of [ISO] $10 Series 1934A North Africa silver certificate with the altered blue seal discussed in October 2022 MPCGram by Larry Smulczenski (Saturski #13) and covered in May/June 2008 SPMC article written by Peter Huntoon and Jim Downey. Please contact Andy Conroy (andyqconroy@gmail.com)
I want to buy Canadian Forces gasoline coupons used in Germany ca 1946-1990. fredschwan@yahoo.com