Chicago Coin Club

The Chicago Coin Club was born in 1919, although its ancestry traces back much further. Late in 1903, six men met over dinner at the Union League Club of Chicago and decided that it was time to form a local numismatic group. They discussed the scope and purpose of their infant society and each pledged to bring one new member when they met again.

The report from that January 16, 1904 meeting does not indicate how many were present, but enough were there to give this group the courage to call themselves the Chicago Numismatic Society. Five of the six men present at the earlier dinner meeting were elected as officers: President William G. Jerrems, Jr., Vice-President William F. Dunham, Secretary and Librarian Ben G. Green, Treasurer Enos C. Verkler and Censor Michael P. Carey. The sixth member, Walter McDonald, remained without office. Mr. Jerrems exhibited a number of silver and bronze Greek coins and Mr. Dunham exhibited hard times tokens with a discussion of our national, political and financial development. Thus, they began a legacy of numismatic education that we enjoy and still practice eighty-one years later.

Until 1912 the Chicago Numismatic Society was the only forum for coin collectors in the city, the state and perhaps even the Midwest. A second group was added with the formation of the American Numismatic Association Branch No. 1. This was the result of a change in the A.N.A. constitution brought forth at the 1912 Rochester, New York convention, which allowed for the formation of branch clubs. Ben Green, secretary of the Society and ever alert to promote the Chicago numismatic community, was the first at that convention to file an application for a charter, thereby entitling the Chicago group the honor of receiving number 1.

Branch No. 1's first meeting was held November 12, 1913 in the rooms of the Chicago Numismatic Society. The two groups were never officially affiliated though their membership overlapped considerably. Ben Green was elected first president of the Branch which met the first Tuesday of every month. It was to hold only fourteen meetings according to its reports in The Numismatist.

The Chicago Numismatic Society prospered for twelve years and in that time, attracted many numismatic notables, Virgil M. Brand, Frank Duffield, Dr. George F. Heath and well-known coin dealers B. Max Mehl of Fort Worth, Texas, Lyman Low of New York, S. Hudson Chapman of Philadelphia and Jacob Hirsch of Munich, Germany honored the Society's rolls.

On January 17, 1914 Ben G. Green died. His untimely death at age 53 from typhoid pneumonia was a shock to both groups and to the national numismatic community. The deep personal loss can be sensed in the tributes and resolutions that flowed in from across the nation. The light of Mr. Green's candle was snuffed out, and so too the flames began to flicker at both numismatic groups.

Branch No. 1 faded quickly. Mr. Green had been the group's only president to that point. The last meeting report received by The Numismatist was of its March 17 meeting, three months after Green's death. Shortly thereafter, Branch No. 1 ceased to function, but would return in 1917.

The decline of the Chicago Numismatic Society was not as rapid, but proved to be permanent. Mr. Green had faithfully served as the Society's secretary from its birth until the time of his death. With his passing the reports began to reflect a lack of spirit within the group. The July 3 meeting of that year shows that it was called to order and immediately adjourned to meet August 7. The results of the August meeting, and for that matter, the September and October meetings, are lost to us. The Society became negligent after many years of sending its meeting reports to The Numismatist. Several more meetings were held and the last published report was its 136th meeting, May 7, 1915. With that the Chicago Numismatic Society ended a brilliant twelve year era of Chicago numismatics. During its existence, the Society had issued meeting and anniversary medals as well as two art medals that can be seen in the Medals section.

Branch No. 1 was a different story. On Friday, February 14, 1919 the first official meeting of the Chicago Coin Club was called to order. The elected officers from Branch No. 1, President Hinckley, Vice-President Boyer and Secretary Davis were reelected as the officers of the new club. There were eight exhibits that evening and Mr. Leon read a paper titled "The Early History of Castorland." Surely, the fifteen people in attendance that evening could not have imagined that sixty-four years later, the minutes of that meeting would be viewed as such a milestone.

For a history of the later years leading up to the current time please visit the excellent history page referenced in the Resources section.

From the CCC's history page.