The Numbers Gram
by Doug "MPC WIZZARD" Bell
I have received THE lot of notes from the Stacks Bowers auction that I won. I am very excited. The lot was of radars and other fancy numbers. And in my opinion was undervalued.
In my opinion, not enough attention is given to MPC radars (and other special number) as there should be.
Fred suggested to me that I try to fix that situation with a series on the subject starting with the great group from the Logan Talks collection.
The first piece that we will consider is the spectacular Series 681 $1 binary radar. It is both a radar AND a binary serial number: C10100101C! Amazing.
There are far more radars in FRN's and silver certificates than in MPC simply because there are FAR more of those numbers.
With that said, it is possible to figure out the total number possible of radars in any particular group of notes (MPC or otherwise). For this 681 $1 you would first look at the population of the notes. In this case, 22,400,000 notes. Look at the first 4 digits, 2240 is the total radars possible, because those numbers are the highest numbers possible to be mirrored, whereas the FRN's and others could be 9999.
Now, the other main factor in collecting is survivability. For a note to make its way to a collection, it must survive a conversion and therefore loss of purchasing power to the collector. Experience has shown us that collectors usually were not willing to take this loss.
Another interesting factor in this particular case is the difficulty of reading the serial numbers of 681 dollars.
Over the years I have been looking at many notes for special numbers, and two of the notes I find to be the most difficult to read the serial number are the Series 611 $1 and 681 $1 as the background is obscuring the serial number. It is readable but very hard. Thanks to Logan Talks I now have a VERY hard note added to my collection.
On top of that it is a TRUE BINARY note. Some consider any 2 numbers in a serial number (i.e. 12121212 or other combinations) as binary. As Fred would say: there are no rules. In a computer science or mathematics sense binary is only 1s and 0s. In machine language 10100101 translates to a computer character.
Back to the radar. That is super cool in this collection, serial number C10100101C, a binary radar. How many are possible?
A true binary would be 1111, 0000 or 1010, about 1% of the total possible. That number puts it in the range of replacements.
I don't know the exact number of MPC radars out there, but the overall number is less than 50, derived from talking to dealers. If you have one I would like to know.
I like to even record the numbers to share with other people interested.
Seminar News
The American Numismatic Association has confirmed that the entire slate of military classes will be held this summer! The four are Detecting Counterfeit World Paper Money (instructed by Joe Boling), MPC Boot Camp (mini seminar instructed by Fred Schwan) and World War II Military Numismatics (instructed by Fred Schwan and Joe Boling).
Significantly, all of the classes have spaces available meaning that you can attend a class or two or even three classes! These possibilities are being facilitated by important news from the military numismatics scholarship committee.
Kathy Freeland, chair of the committee, has announced that in addition to tuition, room and board, scholarships will now include travel reimbursement of up to $200 for North American travel and $500 for travel from outside North America.
Furthermore additional scholarships are now available for as long as funds and seats are available!! Contact Kathy now.
Editorial
Memorial Day is of course an important day for all Americans and we are happy to recognize it as such here. I like to believe that this is especially true for Gramsters. True, I lecture frequently that this is a numismatic organization even as I argue that it is not an organization at all. Remember, there are no rules.
Still, our brand of numismatics is different. We promote military numismatics even as we admit to having made up the term.
So Veterans Day, VE Day, VJ Day even D-Day and, yes, Memorial Day is special so I say happy Memorial Day. I am sure that you spent at least part of this day remembering and honoring those who have fallen and in particular took the opportunity to spread that idea to someone who was less likely to celebrate the meaning.
Thank you.
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.
Dear Editor,
I was so sad to hear the news of both Bill and Brian passing away. I knew Bill from the Fest, of course, and will always appreciate (even though Fred argued that it wasn't numismatic enough) how much my kids LOVED his talk about sinking a ship with nickels. They were on the edges of their seats the whole time! He was an excellent storyteller and a lovely man.
And Brian... I have known Brian since I was young, as I realize is the case for a lot of people. But my recollection was that Brian always seemed young too. I remember him staying with my dad and me at the St. Louis show because he needed to save money. He was always very appreciative of friendships and mentorship, and especially of Neil, who I know had a huge impact on him. When he became a father I remember him talking to my dad and me about how it was that we had been able to find mutual interest. He actually said part of the reason he named his daughter "Rachel" was because he hoped to have the same kind of relationship my dad and I had.
Unfortunately, it has really felt like Brian had some kind of a dark cloud following him. His whole family have had an unfair set of health challenges and somehow, whenever it felt like things couldn't get worse, they would get worse. Throughout though he was always able to be positive and to get a lot out of both collecting and the camaraderie of the collectors.
I will miss both.
— ray
Dear Gram,
I am saddened to hear of the passing of Brian Giese and Bill McNease. They are gone but not the memories.
— Myers
Dear Readers,
In Gram 2656 we reported the price realized for the recent sale of the serial number one MPC (shown above): $5,515. In that same Gram we stated that we would report the price that Logan paid ca 1975 for the note, and we will below. This is one last chance for you to ponder the matter before I tell you the answer.
Of course there is a (long) story to tell along with the price paid. I do not remember if I have published that story but do not think that I have the time or energy to tell it today.
Logan paid exactly $200 for the note.
— Editor
Dear Editor,
Brian was a good friend and a good man who will be missed by many.
— Roger Urce
Dear Gram,
Happy Memorial Day.
— Myers
Dear Editor,
I was excited to read about the Talks number one. This note does not fit in my military collection but I still thought that you would like to see it!
— MPC Kid
Dear Kid,
Nice note. Thank you for sharing it with us, but you let me down. I would expect you to be more creative. I could not find that Lansdale was even near a Revolutionary or Civil War site. It is really weak to claim that the image belongs in the Gram because Lincoln was president during the Civil War. OK, they sold war bonds in Lansdale, PA! I could not find any artifacts or even data to confirm this, but you could have tried.
— Editor
Training Schedule (calendar)
2026
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 (Boling counterfeit paper course): 20-25 Jun ANA Summer Seminar (WWII course): 27 Jun-2 July ANA World's Fair of Money® - 25-29 Aug, Pittsburgh
Please help us fill in the dates for events listed and give us any additional events that might conflict. Thank you very much.
MPCFest sponsors
Joe and Louise Boling, Mike Buckley, Steve Fahrlander, Ray Feller family, Dave Frank, Kathy Freeland, Loretta Freyser, Al Glaser, Dave Hunsicker, Brett Irick, Jennifer and Eric Kibbey (dba Camelot Coins), Harold Kroll, Bill Myers.
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
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)