Cash on the barrel head: Coin collectors convene at Camp Jordan

Bob Hurst, of Vero Beach, Fla., holds a 1692 Italian 3 Scudi Thaler Friday at the Tennessee State Numismatic Society show at the Camp Jordan Arena.
Bob Hurst, of Vero Beach, Fla., holds a 1692 Italian 3 Scudi Thaler Friday at the Tennessee State Numismatic Society show at the Camp Jordan Arena.

IF YOU GO

What: Tennessee State Numismatic Society annual spring conventionWhen: Today from 10 a.m. to- 6-p.m.; special youth program at 1 p.m.; Sunday from 10 a.m.-6 p.m.Where: Camp Jordan Arena, East Ridge.Admission: Free

A hundred trillion dollars for $25.99?

There aren't many places you can get a deal that sweet, except this weekend at the Tennessee State Numismatic Society's annual spring convention.

Mark Thompson, a coin and currency dealer from Marietta, Ga., is selling the fabled banknote from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, which he says is the largest denomination of any currency ever. Because of inflation, however, the value of the note doesn't really measure up to the amount written on it.

"That won't buy you an empty Coke bottle," Thompson said.

Thompson is one of 200 dealers from all over the country who have taken over the Camp Jordan Arena this weekend for the convention. Currency enthusiasts of all levels milled around the tables, glass cases and adjustable desk lamps to buy, sell, trade or simply admire rare currencies from the world over.

Gayle Pike, second vice president of the Tennessee State Numismatic Society who supervised the public area of the show, said the society puts on two conventions a year, both in Chattanooga.

"Chattanooga's always been the best place in the state for this event," Pike said. "It has a good coin base, and good clubs."

The two local clubs hosting the event are the Chattanooga Coin Club and the Chief John Ross Club. Richard White, a member of the Chattanooga Coin Club, said dealers were also selling arrowheads, pocket watches, glassware and other collectibles, though the vast majority is currency.

White, who started collecting coins as a child after his grandfather gave him a jar of Indian Head pennies, showed off his haul for the day -- four "Matron Head" pennies from the 1820s (one of which cost $92), and a few "reverse-proof" Kennedy silver half-dollars.

White said a lot of people are buying coins these days for the metal.

photo Jim Schaefer, of Sandusky, Ohio, takes a close look at a 2010 Canadian Golf Eagle priced at $1,250 on Friday, March 6, 2015, at the Tennessee State Numismatic Society show at the Camp Jordan Arena.

"A lot of people are buying old coins just to have the silver," White said. "A lot of people feel like the country is teetering on the edge."

While some dealers also dabbled in selling to "preppers" -- one dealer sold bags of magnesium shavings, which is said to burn at 3,000 degrees in damp environments -- most of the cases contained currency of all sorts: Counterfeit coins, Confederate tender, Greek coins from 400 B.C., and Spanish silver reals often found in shipwrecks.

White gestured to a glass case of old and odd forms of currency. There was bamboo money from 18th century Japan, and a large copper "Katanga Cross" from Africa. Fourteen of those, a sign said, could buy you a bride once upon a time.

"People have always had money, they've always had something that represented wealth," White said. "It usually consisted of hard-to-find precious materials, metals."

One of the featured events of the convention is a youth program at 1 p.m. today that will include educational programs and bingo games with rare coin prizes. White says this event is aimed at attracting younger collectors to the field.

"We've got to sow the seeds with the young collectors," White said.

White said that's especially hard today, with technology providing all sorts of demands onkids' attention.

He also mentioned another threat to currency collecting -- digital methods of payment, like Apple Pay, that are making tangible currency obsolete.

"Currency as we know it will go away, maybe not in my lifetime, but it will," White said. "What will that do to coincollecting?"

Contact Will Healey at whealey@timesfreepress.com, or 423-757-6731.

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