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Vol. 9, No. 11 November, 2010
"The Early Ancestry of the Canadian Dollar" "The Man Behind the 'Devil Hairs'"
Above: $1, Modified 1954 issue, Bouey/Rasminsky signatures, replacement note. Ch-BC37cA. Only seven *V/V $1 notes have been verified although the serial number "spread" would suggest many more, ranging from just over 3000000 to this one, the highest number recorded: 5674999. This particular note realized $7,475 at auction in 2005. The Mid-Island Coin Club, Dues: $12 per year Mailing Address: Mid-Island Coin Club, c/o West Coast Stamp & Coin, Executive Officers: President: Felix Stawski
Views from the Vancouver Island Exhibition: August, 2010
MICC members manning the booth: Russ McMullin (lt.), Spencer Wentworth (ctr.)
The ever-popular "One Free Coin per Kid" bowl. The MICC meeting of October 14 was attended by 29 members and guests. Reports were given by (1) Carl Johnson concerning the upcoming Alberni Valley Coin Club 50th anniversary celebration at the Golden Dragon Restaurant, Port Alberni , on the evening of Friday, October 22nd and (2) Orest Minishka on the immediate past meeting of the Victoria Numismatic Society. Please note: Since the date of our regular November meeting falls on the 11th, Remembrance Day, the club - by open vote - decided to hold this meeting only on Wednesday, November 10th . Infotainment for the evening was on the subject of Atlantic Provinces numismatic items with several brief talks, exhibits, "pass-arounds" &c resulting. For the November meeting, the subject will be on any aspects of the silver dollar (preferably Canadian). Slightly early, perhaps, but we should be considering our upcoming annual Christmas meeting, tentatively slated for the evening of December 9th at the usual place. Also (tentatively) there will be no regular business conducted and the entire auction will be of donated items, the entire proceeds going to a charity of the club's choice. All of these tentative details will be discussed and voted on at the November meeting. But it would be an excellent time to bring your donated items so Rob and your editor may include them in the December Journal . Also give some thought as to your charity of choice.
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Early Ancestry of the Canadian Dollar.
Our pre-1967 silver dollar was Canada 's version of a "crown-size coin" and, as a "dollar" had antecedents that stretched back to the year 1486. That was the year the first "crown-size coin" appeared. The Hartz mountains of the Tyrol and Bohemia had rich silver deposits but not gold. One owner of such a silver deposit was Archduke Sigismund, Count of Tyrol (1477-90) who conceived the idea of striking large silver coins as a matter of expedience. His silver had been marketed as bars, with all their testings and price negotiations - but coin can be moved at once, in any quantity. Since the local gold "gulden" (literally "golden" or "gold piece"), approximately the size of the old Canadian 10-cent piece, was worth roughly 15 times its weight in silver, Sigismund caused silver coins to be struck that weighed 15 times as much. They were known by the unwieldy term "guldengroschen" (or, literally, "heavy gulden" in reference to their weight) but proved so popular that soon other princes and countries began to imitate the coin.
Silver Guldengroschen, 1486. Sigismund of Tyrol . Actual size: 41mm
One of those who did so was Count Stephen von Schlick who, with his four brothers, ruled a small but silver-rich territory in what is now the Czech Republic . They were vassals of Louis II, King of Hungary and Bohemia , who in turn was a subject of the Holy Roman Emperor, Maxmilian I (1459-1519). Like Sigismund, the Schlicks began to strike "guldengroschens" in Louis' name beginning in about 1517, although the coins are undated. Struck in their capital, Joachimsthal (literally: "( St. ) Joachim's Vale or Valley"), the reverse featured their local saint, who bore a surprising resemblance to Father Christmas. Over the next ten years or so, a huge amount of these coins were turned out, becoming so common on European exchanges that the unwieldy "guldengroschen" acquired its own nickname: "Joachimsthalers", soon shortened to just "Thalers" (and pronounced "tallers"). "Thalers" soon became the official denominational name for similar crown-sized silver coins throughout the Germanic lands and, further afield, imitative names such as "tallero" ( Italy ), "daler" ( Scandinavia ) and the source from which we derive our name: "daalder" (Dutch, the name pronounced "dollder). The last came to us when New York was the Dutch colony of Niew Amsterdam and various such "daalders" were used in the fur trade and other commercial transactions.
Counts of Schlick, "Joachimsthaler" guldengroschen. nd. St. Joachim on reverse. Size: 40mm
The most famous "dollar" of all was not a dollar at all, but rather the 8-reales silver piece of Spain and, especially, the Spanish-American mints. But even the Spanish didn't refer to them as cumbersome-named "8-reales pieces" but usually as "duros" (literally: "hard") and also as "dollaros". Struck from the early 16th Century, their first form were as crude "cobs" (so-called by Americans) since most were meant for export and soon to be melted and minted into the coinage of other countries. But in 1732, the mint at Mexico City took the lead in striking only decent pieces and in the next 18 years, all the rest followed suit.
Mexico . 8-reales "Pillar Dollar", 1734
Americans and British colonists referred to these pieces as "Spanish milled dollars" (to distinguish them from the crude "cobs") and recognized two types: the "Pillar Dollar" to about 1772 and the "Portrait" thereafter, coined to about 1820-odd. All of the Spanish-American "dollars" (as well as their fractions) featured a stylized representation of the " Pillars of Hercules " (the Straits of Gibraltar). Colonial men of commerce used several types of coin and soon developed shorthand symbols to distinguish among the pounds, francs, escudos, &c - as well as the Spanish dollar. In this case, the ribbons twining about the two pillars became "$" in the account books, the dollar symbol we still use.
The first U.S. silver dollar, 1794. It was also the first coin to carry the "dollar" designation, being impressed "HUNDRED CENTS ONE DOLLAR OR UNIT" on the edge. Only 1,798 were struck that year.
The first true silver dollar was coined at the Philadelphia Mint, U.S.A. , in 1794, even though its standards had been set by the Currency Act of 2 April 1792 . In setting these standards, the Americans were outstandingly pragmatic: gathering from the marketplace a quantity of Spanish-American dollars that were good weight and practically unworn, they took the average by weight and assay, finding that the average such dollar weighed 416-grains with a fineness of .8924 silver. This was the exact standard adopted for the new American silver dollar, its fractions in proportion. A little later, the odd fineness was raised to an even .900, the weight reduced to compensate. It was also these dollars that determined the weight of U.S. gold coins: finding that it took precisely 19.39 of the dollars to buy a Troy ounce of pure gold, each future U.S. gold piece contained just that proportion pure gold, the $5 gold "half eagle", for instance, containing just over a quarter-ounce (the copper admixture in the alloy counting as nothing). By the time the Province of Canada went decimal in 1858, U.S. gold coins were struck on a standard of $20.67 per Troy ounce pure gold (the $5 pieces now containing just under a quarter ounce). But the values of the new Canadian coins were based on the U.S. , both countries valuing the Pound Sterling at $4.86?; even so, the Canadian dollar was based on the U.S. gold dollar, not the silver one. Although Canada never struck a silver dollar for decades, the silver fractions were all computed on it. The Canadian (theoretical) silver dollar had its weight and fineness (by law) fixed by the British coinage: Canadian silver coinage had to contain exactly the same amount of bullion as the British silver coin in direct proportion to their respective values. With the Pound at $4.86? Canadian, a Pound Sterling in British silver (4 crowns or 20 shillings, etc) would contain exactly 4867/1000 the silver of a Canadian dollar. It worked out that a Canadian dollar, therefore, contained exactly 358.667 Troy grains of silver .925 fine. Only in 1910, with the bullion price of silver away down, did Canada raise the weight of a dollar's worth of silver coin to an even 360 grains, a weight that remained even after the fineness was reduced to .800 fine in 1920. Had he lived, our first Canadian silver dollar might have shown Edward VII since Royal assent was given to such a coin on 4 May 1910 . But Edward died just two days later and although the Royal Mint Museum contains a reverse die for a 1910 Canadian silver dollar, it would have been George V on the obverse. As it was, the whole silver dollar affair died a-borning, the only reminders being the famous, costly 1911 silver dollar. Usually classed as patterns, their more likely designation are die trials of a coinage that was never struck for circulation.
Canada . Silver dollar "pattern", 1911.
The first true Canadian silver dollar had to wait until 1935, the Silver Jubilee of the reign of George V, when it appeared as a commemorative. The obverse was unique in Canadian coinage: a bust by Percy Metcalfe that was in current use on the coinages of Australia , New Zealand and Fiji combined with the legend GEORGIVS REX IMPERATOR ANNO REGNI XXV. The "Voyageur" reverse, developed especially for this coin by Emanuel Hahn, went on to be a staple design for years. The coin was neither the huge hit that the Canadian government hoped nor the failure the banks feared. The new coin held its own and, with the exception of the War years, appeared annually until silver disappeared entirely from Canadian circulating coinage. It also became a preferred "vehicle" for commemorative purposes. Beyond the Silver Jubilee issue of 1935, it commemorated the Royal Visit (1939), the joining of Newfoundland (1949), British Columbia Centennial (1958), the Confederation meetings (1964), and Confederation itself (1967). Thereafter, the silver dollar ceased to be struck as a circulating coin, becoming a nickel one in smaller size. But the silver piece's day was not over. After a short hiatus, it began to reappear as a collector's piece, most often in a commemorative role. The first was as a dual-dollar issue commemorating the centennial of British Columbia joining Confederation (1971). As a collectors' piece it is still struck.
The Man Behind the "Devil Hairs".
When he died on 18 April 1975 , just eighteen days after retirement, George A. Gundersen was considered one of North America 's foremost artists and engravers. For many years, he had been with the British American Bank Note Company in Ottawa and at his passing had been serving as their art director.
George A. Gundersen Jacques Cartier 3¢ stamp, 1934, by Gundersen
Gundersen first came to the notice of the Canadian public through the winning of the competition for the stamp design depicting Jacques Cartier on the 400th anniversary of his voyage to Canada . Subsequently, Gundersen designed and engraved many stamps for Canada and other countries. His first foray into the world of Canadian bank notes appeared after his joining the BABN as one of their engravers. Of the 1937 $10 issue, Gundersen shared engraving of the reverse vignette with another in-house engraver, H.P. Dawson. This was the "Transportation" allegory, showing Mercury with ships, trains and planes. Although a good many Canadian collectors could not put his name to it, his most famous work was the face of the Bank of Canada notes, 1954 issue. But the work itself became very famous (or infamous) as the "Devil Hair Dollars". Formed by the curls of the Queen's hair could be seen a leering face with bulging eyes, "whispering" into her ear. To be honest, the feature became "prominent" to most only after being pointed out - then it became "unmistakable". Back in 1935, the first Bank of Canada note issue was really two: one set in English only, another in French only. As might be expected, the French issue was much smaller than the English since most were released only through the Montreal agency, Bank of Canada. Dual issues are inherently wasteful so when George VI came to the throne only two years later, all the issues were quickly overhauled, this time with bilingual notes, French text to the left, English to the right with the King's portrait in the center. But notes are folded a lot and inevitably the broken fold lines ran through the central portrait, so when new notes were dictated by the accession of Elizabeth II (initial proclamation on 6 February 1952 ), it was decided to eliminate the folding problem while at the same time maintaining the bilingual nature of the notes. To oversee the new contemporary designs, the Bank of Canada contracted Charles Comfort, the prominent Canadian artist.
Original Karsh photo. Closeup same photo after alteration.
We should understand that Gundersen did not concoct a portrait out of the air - few bank note engravers ever did. Rather, they meticulously reproduced as an engraving a photograph, artwork or prepared illustration. In the case of the 1954 currency issue, Comfort and his colleagues (almost certainly including Gundersen), decided on a bilingual issue - English left, French right - with the Queen off to one side, her portrait preserved from vertical folds. Possibly the first trial was by use of a head-and-shoulders portrait of the original photo of Elizabeth by Ottawa-based (and internationally-famous) portrait photographer Yousuf Karsh. (Above left) In any case there exists in the Bank of Canada archives an engraved vignette of such a portrait of the proper banknote-size. Just as obviously, the original Karsh portrait was rejected in favour of another in which the Queen wore no tiara. A print of the Karsh was sent to the firm of Bridgens Limited of Toronto where the photo was altered by removing the tiara (above right). Although a photo , we can already see a "devil's face"-like design in the hair above the ears. Gundersen simply reproduced this altered photo - at least twice. In a first, rejected, effort, the engraving is somehow lighter, more sparkling and the background shading halo-like - but the offending "devil's face" is hardly apparent. The second effort was actually used on the new notes; it was darker and more heavily shaded - and the "devil's face" was back with a vengeance.
Gundersen's Portrait Vignette as used on the 1954 "Devil Hair" Notes. Perhaps George Gundersen didn't have a highly developed sense of being able to see pictures in what was actually random lines. In any case, this slipped by him even though he must have worked on it for many days. The first notes appeared in 1954, more than two years after the death of George VI, and almost at once there was a minor uproar over the "devil whispering in the Queen's ear", which urban legend immediately ascribed to some nefarious plot to overturn Canadian society, and possibly even Christianity. In 1956 the government oiled the troubled waters by making a rather minor change in the design. There was not an entirely new portrait engraved; Gundersen himself simply touched up some of the highlights in the hair, making them darker and, in the process, eliminating the offensive devil on the original plate. Hopefully, everyone was now happy. Perhaps it would be interesting to know that the original Karsh photo, which came so close to being used on the notes, was done in 1952 expressly for the new Canadian stamps. And, unaltered, it was used on the five definitive denominations, 1¢ through 5¢, for some thirteen months, beginning on 1 May 1953 . All of them were Gundersen's work.
"Devil Hair" $2. (Beattie/Coyne, H/B) The above was near the last produced. In subsequent years, George Gundersen's work was even more prolific. In the revamped currency series of 1969-75, he was responsible for the engraving of: the Queen's portrait on the $1, $2 and $20; Sir John A. Macdonald on the $10; William Lyon Mackenzie-King on the $50; and the Rocky Mountain scene on the back of the $20. All were engraved from - or adapted from - photos. The rest of the front portraits and scenes on the back were by Gordon Yorke. ************************************************************************
The U.S. Trade Dollar, 1884.
The particular coin shown above is one of the true U.S. rarities with only 10 known to exist. Some ten years ago, one brought $37,400. In this particular series, it is overshadowed by the 1885 with only 5 known; a decade ago a proof '85 (all known 1884 and 1885 Trade Dollars are proof) brought $242,000. These particular U.S. dollars occupy a rather strange niche in the currency of that country for they were never intended for domestic consumption but exclusively for export, particularly to the Far East . Back in 1873 (Feb. 12), a Coinage Act demonetized the silver dollar, making it legal tender only to a limited amount in terms of gold, just as had been the case of the half-dollar on down ever since 1853. At the same time, silver dollars for the U.S. itself ceased to be struck since most people preferred notes to them. There were immediately screams of protest. Loudest were from the western "silver interests", mine owners of silver deposits such as that of the Comstock Lode; but right behind was "Labour", reasoning that "Free Silver" and "Loose Money" meant more employment and better wages. As a sort of sop to the "silver interests" (who had clout in Congress), the U.S. began to mint a special silver dollar intended exclusively for export to China and the Far East . The new dollar was a direct competitor to the current Mexican silver "8 reales" dollar and, in fact, contained a bit more silver than it did ( U.S. = .7878 oz. silver; Mexican = .7859 oz.) For a short time, there was a sort of hole in the currency laws of the U.S. with the Trade Dollar nevertheless enjoying a status of "legal tender to limited amount" just like the old silver dollars. But even though the Trade Dollar had more silver than the old domestic U.S. dollar ( .7878 oz versus .7736), it could be purchased outside the U.S. at its bullion value and, since the price of silver was down, that was less than a dollar ( something like 90-cents, actually). "Wise guys", of course, started to do just that, forcing the government to declare the Trade Dollars as mere pieces of silver bullion within the U.S. Now there were other howls of protest since the government itself had paid out some of them within the U.S. as true "dollars". So a compromise was reached: Exported Trade Dollars almost inevitably first passed through the hands of the various Chinese bankers, each of whom was given to applying a "chopmark" as a counterstamp, the mark being a guarantee of full weight and fineness. Depending on how many such bankers' hands they passed through, such Trade Dollars could have their entire design nearly obliterated by "chops", especially since as "stamped pieces of bullion", continually being guaranteed, they still circulated in the Far East to WWII and later. Domestically, the U.S. government moved to totally demonetize the Trade Dollars within her borders by withdrawal. Those dollars without any chopmarks were held to have been used in the U.S. only and, having presumably been issued as a dollar, were redeemed for the same amount. Chopmarked dollars were forbidden to circulate and worth only bullion value. Within the U.S. , the silver interests had their way by the Bland-Allison Act of February 28, 1878 . By it, the U.S. government was to buy silver at market value in amounts of no less than $2-million and no greater than $4-million per month, such silver to be converted into legal tender silver dollars. As things turned out, most of the resulting "Morgan Dollars" wound up in federal vaults as backing for paper "Silver Certificates", a much more convenient medium of exchange. But as soon as the new "Morgan dollars" appeared, the Trade Dollar essentially ceased to be produced. The Trade Dollars were struck at three mints: Philadelphia , Carson City and San Francisco . As might be expected, the two western mints were much more active in Trade Dollar coinage than that of the east. In the final year of "real" production, 1878, Philadelphia struck but 900 pieces, Carson City 97,000 (of which most of the 44,148 dollars melted July 19, 1878 were probably of this issue) and San Francisco 4,162,000. After that, limited strikings were made only at Philadelphia and only in proof for collectors. Until 1908, U.S. Trade Dollars dated 1884 and 1885 - in silver - were unknown. There were a very few specimens in copper or bronze, believed to be "presentation pieces". Then the American coin dealer, Haseltine, began to disperse the collection of his father-in-law, William Adler and in it were "4 to 6" 1884 proof silver Trade Dollars as well as "most of the known (5)" 1885 coins. But how did they survive? Prior to 1884, the U.S. Mint was offering collectors proof sets of current coins, with Trade Dollars offered separately at $1.25 each. Presumably, Mint Superintendent Snowden had the usual number (around 1000) of proof Trade Dollars struck early in January for sale during the year. But almost immediately orders came from the Treasury Department to the effect that Trade Dollars were not to be part of the proof sets and, since all silver had to be accounted for, we further presume that Snowden ordered the proofs melted down. Or nearly all. Until the 1930s, employees of the U.S.Mint had the right to buy examples of domestic coinage in exchange for the same amount of bullion. It seems that Snowden took advantage of this right in two years: exchanging the bullion value for 10 trade Dollars in 1884 and 5 more in 1885, after which the coin was no longer struck. Furthermore, in doing so, he made the Mint Bullion Journals balance so that the figures showed no such coins had been struck. How so many secretly wound up in one set of hands is conjecture. But Mint officials and the better-known, better-heeled collectors of the time were often in cahoots with one another to some extent. The 1884/5 Trade Dollar event may have been performed "for consideration" - or at least later turned out that way. The more notable collectors of the day were frequently wealthy and typically acquired new rarities through trade rather than sale, the purveyors usually wealthy themselves. These Dollars would have made prime material for such trades - which would explain their being originally owned in multiples.
P.O.W. Meal Ticket - WWII.
Despite the thousands of prisoners taken by the Japanese during WWII - particularly in the first couple of years - there was never issued (so far as we know) any form of Prisoner-of-War currency, unlike all the rest of the combatants. Apparently they felt there was no need for anything beyond subsistence food. Accordingly, only "meal ticket" ration cards were issued for the prisoners. That above was issued for the month of December, 1943, to Gilbert Perez who, after the war, was a noted Philippine numismatist. Two meals a day were given, the date for A.M. or P.M. being punched out upon redemption. From the numbers still intact above, Perez missed quite a few meals for one reason or another. In fact, his health was broken by his internment and he died fairly early. Even so, he later reported that only an unexpectedly rapid advance by the Americans allowed his survival at all; orders had already been given to shoot the remaining prisoners.
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Nov 2010"The Early Ancestry of the Canadian Dollar" "The Man Behind the 'Devil Hairs'"
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