Guido Crapanzano Passed Away
By Steve Feller, former editor of the (International Bank Note Society) I.B.N.S. Journal
Guido Crapanzano passed away last December at the age of 85. This was reported to the numismatic community by Pam West in her president's report in the I.B.N.S. Journal. Guido was larger than life, indeed he was a force of nature; his accomplishments are legion.
Guido
He was THE Italian bank note collector. He was president of the I.B.N.S. He wrote the standard book on Italian paper money and was a major contributor to World War II Remembered.
Guido's book on Italian notes
He was a literal rock star musician and went by the name Guidone. He performed with many world-famous groups including the Beatles.
He was flamboyant, generous, spirited, and genuinely nice. In numismatics he was well-known for leading the celebration of the I.B.N.S.'s 40th anniversary in 2004. Celebrations were held around the numismatic world. In The U.S. it was at Memphis in June. What a party it was. Food, stories, a free reverse raffle -- wouldn't you know it as the last number drawn for a 1000 federal reserve note a silence fell over the crowd. MC Joe Boling tried the number a second time. Only then did he check his pocket and his ticket and, lo and behold, he was the winner!
As part of the celebration officers of the society were awarded solid silver and, yes, a few gold, medals. As editor of the Journal I received a silver medal:
The silver medal from the 40th anniversary of the I.B.N.S.
Closeups of the medal
Junk Box Digs
By William Myers
I recently purchased 2 MPC fractional notes from a junk box. One is a series 591 10 cents note with the serial number 00007430. position 1. It is from the first unit. It is a beat-up note but I like the low serial number.
The next note is a series 681 25 cents note. Nothing special about the serial number or block. The note has been written on. and states NEVER AGAIN/CHANGE ON 7OCT70/SORRY ABOUT/THAT. 7 October 1970 is the correct date for the conversion of series 681. I am not sure of the meaning of the message. It appears he had issues with the conversion for this note. Does never again mean he will never miss a conversion again or that is tour is ending and he will not be around for another conversion. Since he apologizes (SORRY ABOUT THAT) was he supposed to convert MPC for someone else and could not do it for some reason and apologizes and notes he will never agree to converts someone else's MPC. I like the note as it has the conversion day on it.
— Myers
Editorial
The thing about Guido Crapanzano is that ten minutes after you met him, you felt that you knew him well and that you were great friends. I knew Guido for many years and considered him a great friend. He contributed greatly to World War II Remembered. Of course his contributions were mostly regarding Italian notes. I was -- and am -- particularly pleased with the great presentation we had on Italian partisan notes all thanks to Guido.
When I was preparing this Gram, I searched for Guido on the internet. To my surprise my initial searches did not find anything of a numismatic nature. Instead, I found information and images about Guido the professional poker player! At pokerdbthehendonmob.com lists Guido's total lifetime earnings as $87,298!
Perhaps I should not have been surprised about the poker. We (Steve and I among others) played poker with Guido many times. Mostly these games were at shows in the United States. We particularly remember games at early Memphis Paper Money shows.
Sometime in the late 1980s I spent a few days with Guido playing poker in Las Vegas. I do not remember anything about the results, but I remember having a great time.
I have many memories about Guido, I will try to tell a few of these over time here in the Gram.
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 "fictional") will be used.
Dear Editor,
Today is the 249th birthday of the United States Navy.
— Bill Myers
Dear Bill,
Thank you very much for the notice. By including the image that you sent for your article above we make this into a numismatic item! Next year will be a big birthday for the Navy! I am marking it on the calendar. Next year we will have a special issue for the 250th birthday! We have a year to gather military navy numismatic items for that issue. I am counting on you.
Training Schedule (calendar)
2024 shows
2025
ANA National Money Show, Feb 27-1 March 2025
GNA Show, 11-13 April
MPC Fest 2025 dates -- 4-6 April
Michigan State NS -- April 10-12
ANA World's Fair of Money® - 19-23 Aug, Oklahoma City
Please help us fill in the dates for the events listed and give us any additional events that might conflict. Thank you very much.
Resources
MPC Boot Camp by Fred Schwan https://youtu.be/ReL-dBk2cPk
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 Warner Talso.
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.
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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)