Dave Frank Champion
In an exciting competition at MPCFest, Dave Frank won the title of MPC National Champion. This was his second time winning having won in 2014.
The championship is held over two days at MPCFest. Festers compete in a quiz show format with the final pairing competing on Saturday evening.
All Festers compete in the preliminaries and all contestants receive a silver challenge coin.
The list of champions below is a virtual all star list of collectors of military numismatics.
National Champion
- 2000 None
- 2001 None
- 2002 None
- 2003 Marcus Turner
- 2004 Jim Downey
- 2005 Jack Hunter
- 2006 Jim Downey
- 2007 Neil Shafer
- 2008 Jim Downey
- 2009 Neil Shafer
- 2010 Bill Myers
- 2011 Joe Boling
- 2012 Bill Myers
- 2013 Bill Myers
- 2014 Dave Frank
- 2015 Joe Boling
- 2016 Fred Schwan
- 2017 Neil Shafer
- 2018 Fred Schwan
- 2019 Fred Schwan
- 2020 None
- 2021 Jeff Daniher
- 2023 Joe Boling
- 2024 Larry Smulczinski GOAT Jim Downey
- 2025 Dave Frank
MFC Series 241 out, 251 in
On Friday afternoon at the Fest, chief finance officer Harold Kroll announced MFC Series 241 was invalidated. Further he announced that all legally held Series 241 notes must be converted to a new series. He did not announce a reason for the conversion. Later he opened a crate and displayed the new notes (Series 251).
NEWS FROM THE FEST SCHOLARSHIP FUND
Kathy Freeland, administrator
As chairperson of the Military Numismatics Scholarship Fund, I am excited to tell you about the good fortune we had at MPC Fest XXVI! First of all, I set up at the bourse on Friday, bringing with me a number of notebooks that included the Fest bonds, the Fest souvenir sheets, and also the Fest notes and other items that my late husband Dan had collected.
As we visited after being paid, Dave Frank and I remarked that the best thing about pay was watching Dan enjoy looking over all his money and trying to figure out what he had. (In case you didn't know, I usually gave him mine as well because he had so much fun figuring it out). For those who knew him, my husband was a "rabid" collector – he had to have everything that there was to collect. It was fortunate for me that someone who had been looking for these items was also there and proceeded to purchase the entire lot! I know that they went to a good home, and I am thrilled to have some more space for other numismatic items as well. I also want you to know that the souvenir cards below came to us from David Seelye a number of years ago. We had probably 8 or 9 different envelopes with these souvenir sheets inside, and I gave them to David Frank, the auctioneer for the Fest auction a number of years ago. He has gone through them and put them into sets of 3 – all different numbers and the proceeds of the sale of these at $5.00 per set – will go to the scholarship fund as well. We sold a number of sets, but there are still a few left. If you are interested, please get in touch with me and I will be happy to send you a set for a donation of $5.00 for the set. We also have a pile of singles – the same design – that I will sell for $2 each, so don't be afraid to let me know.
And…the lousy photography is entirely my fault but I know you can see what they say. And…those are original notes!
Now, on to the other item at hand. Below you will see the bond for this year, designed by Doug Bell, and signed by The Boss (otherwise known as Judy Schwan) as the authorized signer, and the treasurer will be me. A good number of these were sold at Fest for $20 to the Scholarship Fund, and I do have that money to deposit. If you would like a bond, please send $20 to my address below, and indicate which number you would like. While they are called Neon Bond, named in honor of the neon sign that graced Camp Leo May and made by Doug, they are the only bond for this fest, so I know that you must buy one for your collection!
They are available for $20 either in cash or check – sorry I don't have anything else – and the funds sent to the following address: Kathy Freeland, PO Box 195, Mayville, MI 48744
I can also be reached by e-mail – ksfdaf@sbcglobal.net or by phone – 989-660-0526.
Checks can be written to one of the two listed here. Mine is the only name on the account, so you can write them as this:
- Kathy Freeland or
- Military Numismatics Scholarship Fund
I wouldn't delay in sending out your money for these really cool bonds – you are sure to want one! And…since you really want to know – we deposited $365 in the Scholarship Fund from these 2 efforts.
All of this is in addition to the major scholarship activity at the Fest which is the Smulczenski Scholarship auction.
I also want to thank Frank Clark and the estate of Layman Potter for their recent generous donations that didn't make it into the Gram! Now, we need to work on getting students for the class! 2026 will be the next year it's offered, and I know that I plan to attend!
Specialty Meetings
Bill Myers
Collectors at MPCFest have many opportunities to share their interests. One of these is a slate of meetings that are held on Friday morning during the bourse.
A bond mini-fest was held. An MFC Series 181 $19 note with a validation stamp with an image of the Medina, Ohio War Bond Office on it. 21 notes were produced with a serial number skip and 12 notes were issued.
A stamp mini-fest was held. This sounds unusual for a numismatic event, but it is justifiable on several counts. First and foremost, some Festers are interested in stamps More importantly some stamps are numismatics items in their own right and others have a close connection to numismatic items.
An MFC Series 151 $50 note with a validation stamp with an image of the WIN THE WAR 3 cents stamp on it. 23 notes were produced with a serial number skip and 10 notes were issued.
A JIM (Japanese Invasion Money) mini-fest was held at the end of the bourse. It was well attended by keen collectors. MPC series 171 $18 note with a validation stamp with an image of the round JAPWANCAP stamp on it. 20 notes were produced with a serial number skip and 12 notes were issued.
Although attendance at the meetings was low, they all were interesting.
Editorial
Most things at the Fest were educational. Everything about the Fest was fun! I expect (hope) that we will get more reports thereon to fill the Gram to overflowing. At the same time, I am thinking about next year!
The first order of business for next year is to decide on a date. To do that we have to figure out the conflicts. Kathy Freeland is out go to source for that, but you can help too. If you know of a numismatic event other than those listed in the calendar that will conflict, please send it in.
Joe Boling's class on detecting counterfeit paper money is a wonderful addition to the Fest program. I think that it is under appreciated because it is held on Sunday night after most Festers have departed. I have taken the extended class at the Summer Seminar and can attest to its value. Take the class at the Fest and take the class in Colorado.
All of this made me wonder if there any other in-depth classes that we might offer at or in conjunction with the Fest. It has been suggested in the past that we might be able to do that by offering alternative classes during the day on Friday. I never liked the idea of splitting the group, but I had also never thought of Sunday night.
We could offer an extended, probably two hour, class on MPC, AMC, JIM or other topics in addition to Joe's class or on an alternate year schedule or some other plan. This detailed class could be aimed at advanced or new collectors and the subjects could vary.
What do you think?
Mail Call
The MPCGram welcomes letters from readers. Letters should be relevant to military numismatics. Letters may be edited. Senders must be known to the Gram and names (actual or "handle") will be used.
Dear Editor,
As usual I had a great time at the fest. John Heim and I were 1 hour late getting home due to delays in the 2nd leg of the flight but well still landed around noon.
Bill
Dear Editor,
Vic and I got home without incident. We had a great time.
Dick
Training Schedule (calendar)
2025
GNA Show, 11-13 April
Michigan State NS--May 8-10
ANA World's Fair of Money® - 19-23 Aug, Oklahoma City
Please help us fill in the dates for the events listed and give us any additional events that might conflict. Thank you very much.
Resources
MPC Boot Camp by Fred Schwan https://youtu.be/ReL-dBk2cPk
MPCFest sponsors
Doug Bell, Joe and Louise Boling, Mike Buckley, Steve Fahrlender, Steve Feller, Ray , Leonardo and Momo Feller, Dave Frank, Kathy Freeland, Loretta Freyser, Al Glaser, Jennifer and Eric Kibbey dba Camelot Coins, Harold Kroll, Bill Myers and Warner Talso. (questions, corrections/revisions contact fredschwan@yahoo.com)
MPCFest is possible because of the generous support of its sponsors:
Gram Exchange
Do you have something for sale (or trade)? Are you looking for something for your collection? You can offer items here in the Gram or list specific items that you need.
FOR SALE Send your text and images (!) to the editor for inclusion in the Gram Exchange. Please send the images in jpeg format with each image in a separate file.
List your items for sale here for FREE
WANTED Vichy France - 1 Franc Bon de Solidarité Back: "Comite Central" - without "...Departement de la Seine..." depending on which catalog you use it may listed as:
Schwan/Boling 232d Campbell 2323 d - Variety 4 Kleiber 1F Type C
Send offers with image of back of note to maturnerindy@gmail.com Marcus Turner