Coin show brings history alive

By Mark Brown/Converged Citizen Staff

Standing among rows upon rows of coins ranging in appearance from dull to gleaming on a recent Sunday morning, Dan Jones takes out a key and opens one of the many cases protecting the coins. He pulls one out and gives a fascinating history lesson.
“Here’s a neat Edwardian coin, this one for sure we have dated,” said Jones, president of the Essex County Coin Club. “This one is 1567, and this coin has Queen Elizabeth I. It was hand-hammered, meaning it was made with a press by hand. The man would have made a plate, put a blank silver in and he’d pull it. What’s interesting about this is, these would have only traveled with the merchant class and the nobility.”
The 1567 coin was one of the oldest on display at the 11th Annual Essex County Coin Show, held Oct. 4 at the Riverside Sportsmen’s Club in Windsor. Over a dozen collectors presented thousands of coins and other artifacts to buy, sell and trade. In addition to rare coins and paper money, the show also showcased rare watches, jewelry and even military memorabilia. Jones said those items often come in coin trades and are displayed with the rest.
“When I go out to buy a collection I get a gamut of things,” said Jones. “Mostly these are seniors we deal with, and they’re moving – a lot of them are downsizing so they have coins. Often with the coins are other little things such as military (artifacts)…and even little pieces of jewelry.”
Jones, a retired school teacher who has been collecting since he was 12 years old, said it is a treat to see how the styles of jewelry have changed over the years. Pocket watches were the most prominent pieces of jewelry on display at the show, which raised funds through donations for the Canadian Diabetes Association. Joyce Montrose, the Windsor and district coordinator for the association, said they are pleased with the show’s support over the years.
“We get a donation at the door and they contribute that to the Canadian Diabetes Association,” said Montrose.
Montrose says they have been involved with the show since 2009 and are glad that the show supports the association’s mission, providing support and resources to the over 49,000 Windsor-Essex residents who are diabetic.
Wandering around the show, visitors saw a wide range of artifacts that included commemorative coin sets from the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal as well as the history of the Ford Motor Company. Numerous military medals were on display, as well as giant 18th century coins referred to as pennies. Collector Thomas Clarke of Windsor also had a relic – a 1954 Canadian $1,000 bill.
“They made them as late as 1986,” said Clarke, who added that bills of that denomination were frequently used in illegal activity. They were retired by the Canadian government in 2000 as part of an effort to curb organized crime.
The Essex County Coin Club meets on the second Wednesday of each month. For further information, contact club president Dan Jones at 519-819-1805.