Now that I'm a member of this illustrious organization, I have been seeking out the numerous trinkets that it has issued over the last 60 years. Here's my collection so far: but it is definitely not complete. (There are a few older trade notes I'm missing, especially the one that's printed on rectangular slabs of leather instead of paper, and I don't have any special 2009
RCNA notes either.)
1966 4th Annual Coin-O-Rama Medallion
Nobody knew much about this one when I brought it to the meeting, myself included. I found it at a flea market in Calgary - luckily, it has now been repatriated. The die work here is pretty fine.
Annual Wooden Nickels
Many North American "wooden nickels" seem to share a common design: on one side, a bunch of words, and on the other side, a stock design. This seems to be what happened in 1973. But in later years, the club clearly shelled out in order to get more relevant images on their wooden nickels - hence the unique (and somewhat crude) map of Alberta and wild rose flower. If only I had been in the club in the 1970s! Then I could have seen the inside of a real Masonic Temple. It seems pretty likely that there are more of these that I don't have.
Edmonton Coin Club Trade Bucks
These are just a bunch of coupons. As is typical of scrip from the 60s through the 80s, they ape design elements from real Canadian notes, with a montage of the Multicolour $2 note's Inuit family photo and the Multicolour $10 note's refinery scene. (It might seem like a no-brainer that the Edmonton Coin Club would put some oil and gas scenery on its coupons, but the refineries depicted on this note are actually located in Sarnia, Ontario.) I can't split them up, because someone meticulously kept one with the same serial number from every year.
Edmonton Coin Club 35th Anniversary Trade Bucks
A commemorative coupon! Notice the fancy gray paper and well-stamped serial number.
I have no idea what the "MINI COIN SHOWS" advertised on these notes involved. Perhaps club members would show up at random venues around town and sell coins until security kicked them out?
A more modern Wooden Nickel
By 1989, the wooden nickel hobby was clearly being improved by the use of metallic inks. Notice how the club's logo apparently remained the same from 1966 to 1989... but since then, the club has been rebranded. Now it's the upscale "Edmonton Numismatic Society", and its logo is a pick, a shovel, and a gold pan.
Anyone else have any coin-club artifacts?
Posted 09/24/2015 01:36 am
