Arizona's Oldest and Largest Continuously Active Coin Club
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The
Primary Goal of
the Tucson Coin Club
To encourage and promote numismatics and to provide a pleasant venue for the sharing of numismatic knowledge and fellowship. The membership is made up of experienced and beginning Collectors, published Scholars, local Dealers, many married couples and entire families. The Members collect all types of numismatic, exonumic, and syngraphic items and collectively have great knowledge and expertise in many areas. While some are novices just beginning, many are experts in their field of knowledge, with several published authors.
History
In May, 1956, by George W. Smith, Henry Johnson, and Leonard Buckholter . 24 collectors attended that first meeting at the old Carl Haden Hospital on West Congress Street. Through the years, meetings have been held at the University of Arizona Library, various banks, at the American Legion, and currently at the VFW on Beverly Avenue just north of Speedway. The membership now consists of approximately 100 Regular Members and 20 Life Members. Life Member Bruce Wickham, having joined in 1956, holds the current record for the longest continuous membership in the club.
Tucson
Coin and Stamp Show
In the 1960s, a three day affair. A few years later they joined with a Phoenix coin club to organize the Annual Arizona State Numismatic Show. The show was held alternately between the two cities for several years. Eventually the Tucson Coin Club took over the show due to higher attendance. The show was moved to the Tucson Convention Center in 1979 and became an annual event . In 2004 the Club Membership decided to no longer sponsor the show, and the 40th Annual Show was held in 2004 for the last time. One of the club members now promotes the Tucson International Show at the Tucson Convention Center as a private business venture.
The
Tucson Coin Club is a non-profit Arizona Corporation
Guided
by the applicable Arizona Statutes, Club By-laws and Standing
Rules. All members may have a copy if they request it.
The club is managed by an elected Board of Directors consisting of a
President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Sergeant at Arms,
Member
at Large, each elected annually and serving a one year term.
The Immediate Past President also sits on the board.
There are numerous temporary
and
standing committees, consisting of member volunteers, created to handle
ongoing and special projects. Volunteers are always welcome to join the
committees. It’s a great way to meet fellow members and serve the club.
Elections are held annually at the first meeting in December. Members must be in good standing and must be present at the meeting to cast their vote. Elected officials take office in January of the following year. Prospective members that have been sponsored by a club member are voted into the club after their names have been published in the monthly newsletter and the club has an extensive numismatic library available to all members.
Meetings are held on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month at 7:00 PM.
First meeting of the month is primarily a business meeting to discuss topics that keep the club active and interesting. The second meeting each month is an education meeting including a 20 to 30 minute presentation on some subject of general interest to the Members. A member or Guest Speakers will typically speak on a subject within his or her personal realm of expertise. At all meetings, after general business has been completed, members are given the opportunity to “Show and Tell” items of interest that they have brought in, and also to “Ask the Experts” regarding puzzling aspects of the hobby, or item specific questions. This is followed by the awarding of door prizes and a fund raising raffle of nice numismatic items brought in by members, and the raffle is followed by a 10 to 15 minute break and the final event of each meeting is a fun auction, offering up to 30 different numismatic items that members bring to auction.
The
Club holds Two Annual Banquet Events
One
for the holiday season around Christmas, and an “Awards Banquet” in the
spring to acknowledge the efforts
of the many members who give of their time to make the club work.
lasting between 2 and 2.5 hours, is not only informative, educational
and friendly, but also delightfully informal and TONS OF FUN!
There is plenty of time before and during the
meeting break to visit with others
and buy and sell individually. Periodically the club will forgo an “Education” night and hold a
“Bourse Night” wherein all members are encouraged to bring in numismatic and
other items from their collections for sale or trade, or just to proudly show
them off. Another fun
activity that is periodically scheduled on the Education meeting nights is the
“Numistrivia” night. All
members present are divided into two teams that test their collective knowledge
by battling it out in Trivial Pursuit style, seeking answers to simple and
complex numismatic trivia questions.
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Tucson Coin Club
P.O. Box 17021
Tucson, Arizona 85731
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