Pete Smith: EAC Historian The Early American Coppers Club, Inc. traces its origins to an ad placed by Herbert A. Silberman in the November 9, 1966, issue of Coin World. After listing duplicates for sale, the ad concluded: "If you collect Large Cents,
please write. We are trying As the result of the Coin World ad, Silberman was soon corresponding with collectors in 11 states. Letters passed from member to member with comments added along the way. One year later, on November 1, 1967, the Early American Coppers Club reached the level of 93 charter members. The number of charter members commemorated the first cents struck in 1793. Dr. William H. Sheldon received charter membership number 1. Fifty charter members dropped out in the first five years including several who did not respond to the first dues imposed in 1968. Active members who joined later could claim abandoned numbers if they purchased the corresponding numbered membership token. Bill Parks, printer of the first 113 issues of Penny-Wise and Margaret Beeler, the original "Mama Mimeo" were honored with life memberships in 1986. Parks died in 1995 and Beeler resigned in 1995. Herb Silberman, founder and first president of EAC and Warren Lapp, editor of the first 113 issues of Penny-Wise, were honored with life memberships in 1992. Lapp died in 1993. Member number 4539 joined by mid-1997. About a third of all who have been EAC members are still active in 1997. Charter members still active include #4 Robinson S. Brown, Jr., #11 Denis W. Loring, #12 J. Robert Parsons, #13 Herbert A. Silberman, #17 Charles Skiendzielewski, #19 Gordon J. Wrubel, #35 George Ramont, #48 Charles A. Blood, #50 Daniel T. Borda, #54 Raymond H. Williamson, #56 R. W. Fellows, #60 R. E. Naftzger, Jr., #68 Darwin B. Palmer, Jr., #74 John Ward, Jr., #78 Robert S. Carter, #79 C. Douglas Smith and #85 William E. Hopkins. Others now in their 30th year of membership include #101 Jules Reiver, #105 John D. Wright, #109 Rod Burress and #111 Del Bland. The club was originally focused on the U.S. large cents produced between 1793 and 1857. The focus expanded to include half cents and colonial copper coins. At the annual meeting held May 3, 1981, EAC voted to expand its scope to include Hard Times Tokens. The first issue of the club journal, Penny-Wise, was published September 15, 1967. Dr. Warren A. Lapp of Brooklyn, NY, was editor and publisher. William J. Parks of Orlando, Florida, was printer and distributor. At this time EAC had 39 members and 75 copies of the first issue were printed. Prospective members received copies of the first issue until the supply ran out. Dr. Lapp described the beginning, "I proposed to Herb that Bill Parks and I be allowed to start publishing a journal which would be a forum for the club members and which would be free to members. I volunteered to put together the first several issues, Bill would print them on his mimeograph machine and I would pay for the cost of printing and mailing. Herb approved the venture and that was the start of P-W. We considered various names for the publication, most of them starting with Penny - e.g. Penny Royal, Pennyworth, Penny Ante, etc. The name Penny-Wise was suggested by Bill Parks. We liked it because its initials duplicated Penny Whimsy. Herb saw and approved each issue of P-W before it was printed and mailed out." Voluntary contributions supported the first three issues of P-W. For 1968, the price of a subscription and membership in EAC was set at $10. Chuck Funk, who produced indexes for the first 20 years, reported that through the end of Volume VIII (1974), 45 issues of Penny-Wise had been published totaling 1801 pages. On January 15, 1984, the 100th consecutive issue of Penny-Wise was published under the direction of Warren A. Lapp. Bill Parks announced that we had added a member from Montana and we were now mailing to members in all 50 states. In 1984 Jan Valentine arranged for the first four volumes of Penny-Wise to be reprinted. Price was $25 for the 250 copies issued. The November 15, 1986, issue of P-W included a 12 page suppliment, "The History of the Early American Coppers Club." The 25th anniversary issue and 150th consecutive issue of Penny-Wise was published May 15, 1992. Since three issues were published in 1967 (dated 9-15, 11-1 and 12-1) in a date span now covered by two issues (9-15 and 11-15), anniversary dates and issue numbers are out-of-sync by one. September 15, 1997, marks the 30th anniversary of the first issue of P-W and consecutive issue #182. In 1970 EAC became a club member of the American Numismatic Association with membership number C-64199. EAC was officially incorporated in 1972 in the State of New York as Early American Coppers, Inc. Text of papers of incorporation were published in the March 15, 1972, issue of P-W. At the annual meeting Sunday, March 7, 1976, the membership voted to accept the by-laws as proposed and amended. On April 30, 1977, EAC received tax-exempt status under section 501(c) (3) of the IRS code. The effective date was extended back to June 4, 1976, when the application was filed. Charter member #63 described his occupation as president of an Arizona university that bore his name. The university name was unfamiliar and aroused curiosity among the EAC officers. President Silberman contacted a sheriff in Phoenix who looked into the background of this member. It turned out he was a boy of thirteen who owned one well-worn large cent. He was dropped from membership in EAC. (July 15, 1970) In this issue of Penny-Wise the club conducted its EAC Mail Bid Sale No. 1. Denis Loring cataloged the sale of 70 lots. There were 12 consignors and 18 bidders. Bids were received for 36 of the lots. Various awards have been given to outstanding club members. The "Man of the Year" award was presented in 1971 and 1972. In 1987 the Early American Coppers Award was initiated for contributions in copper literature. The award committee was replaced in 1993 and the new committee renamed the award as the EAC Literary Award. The Editor’s Award was originally intended to recognize the best contribution to Penny-Wise by a first-year member. There were inadequate contributions to justify the award so it was modified to cover all contributors. The first EAC membership token was issued May 1, 1968. Metal Arts Company of Rochester, New York, struck 293 serially numbered pieces. The engraver was James Nordquist. His initials "J. N." appear on the truncation of the bust. Piece number 293 was donated to the American Numismatic Society. Later pieces 285 and 286 were donated to the American Numismatic Association. In commemoration of our 15th anniversary in 1982, 650 EAC medallions were produced. Issue price was $5.50. The medallion was produced by EAC member G. Lee Kuntz of Masterpiece Medallions. The design is based on the 1798 S-187 large cent with two prominent obverse die breaks. In 1992, A 25th Anniversary Medallion was struck in copper for general sale to members. A special edition in silver sold 130 copies. A medallion was struck in 1997 to commemorate the 30th Anniversary of EAC. The 500 pieces in copper were offered at $6 and 100 pieces in silver at $21. Emerging technologies have changed the way EAC members communicate. In 1993 small groups began to meet on CompuServe. Jon Lusk was authorized in 1993 to convert Penny-Wise to CD-ROM format for sale to members. It was offered for sale in 1994 and delivered in September. In the May 15, 1996, issue of P-W, Mark Switzer offered to compile an Internet address directory. Addresses are used for private messages. In addition, Switzer sends a weekly message to members. In 1997 the group passed 100 members and was recognized as Region 8 for EAC. Jon Lusk was appointed Web-Master and authorized to create an EAC Web-page. It first appeared in June 1997 at www.eacs.org. The Large Cent Condition Census Committee was formed in 1993 to review discoveries for inclusion in the Condition Census and to resolve disputes. Committee members included Del Bland, Bob Grellman, Denis Loring, Tom Reynolds, Jack Robinson, and Chris Victor-McCawley. |