EAC – Early American Coppers

The Early American Coppers club (known throughout numismatics as “EAC”) has about 1200 members. Broadly speaking, the hobby involves the acquisition, study, discussion and promotion of early copper coins: large cents and half cents coined by the US mint from 1793 through 1857, and the various emissions authorized by the colonial and state governments. In 1981, EAC voted to expand its scope to include Hard Times Tokens.

EAC traces its origins to an ad placed by Herbert A. Silberman in the November 9, 1966, issue of Coin World. After listing duplicates for sale, the ad concluded: “If you collect Large Cents, please write. We are trying to start a mail club to trade and discuss this series.”

As a result of the Coin World ad, Silberman was soon corresponding with collectors in 11 states. Letters passed from member to member with comments added along the way. One year later, on November 1, 1967, the Early American Coppers Club reached the level of 93 charter members. The number of charter members commemorated the first cents struck in 1793. Dr. William H. Sheldon received charter member number 1. Member number 4500 had joined by mid-1997 and member number 6000 at the end of 2011.

In 1970 EAC became a club member of the American Numismatic Association (ANA) with membership number C-64199. EAC was officially incorporated in 1972 in the State of New York as Early American Coppers, Inc. EAC is recognized by the IRS as a charitable organization and has received tax-exempt status under section 501(c) (3) of the IRS code.
Membership is divided into eight regions: Region 1: New England (CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT); Region 2: New York-New Jersey; Region 3: Mid-Atlantic (PA, DE, MD, DC, VA, WV, NC); Region 4: Southeast (SC, GA, FL, AL, MS, TN); Region 5: North Central (MI, OH, KY, IN, IL, WI, MN, IA, NE, SD, ND); Region 6: South Central (KS, MO, AR, LA, TX, OK, NM, CO); Region 7: West (WY, MT, ID, UT, NV, AZ, CA, OR, WA, AK, HI); and Region 8: Internet.

Emerging technologies have changed the way EAC members communicate. In 1993, a small group began to meet in a weekly moderated chat on the Internet. In 1997 the Internet group passed 100 members and was recognized as Region 8 of EAC. The EAC web page can be found at http://www.eacs.org.

Research Projects

EAC members voluntarily conduct research projects in various areas related to early American copper coins. The club provides no financial assistance but these activities are promoted through Penny-Wise. In the past, members have maintained:

Inventories of Massachusetts and New Jersey coppers
Fugio files
Listings of half cent collections
Listings of a condition census for half cents
Inventories of collections of early, middle and late date large cents
Listings of condition censuses for early, middle and late date large cents
Photographic records of condition census coins.

EAC supports original research into early American copper coinage through original articles in its journal, Penny-Wise and the Garvin fund which awards scholarships to individuals to help further their understanding and appreciation of the early copper coinage of the US Mint.

National, Regional and Local Meetings

National meetings have grown from an evening dinner to a four day convention. The pattern in recent years includes a reception on Thursday evening, an educational forum on Friday evening, educational seminars on Friday and Saturday, a private EAC Sale on Saturday evening and a general business meeting Sunday morning. Non-competitive exhibits offer members an opportunity to show interesting items from their collections. A public bourse is open Friday through Sunday. In recent years, a very popular Grading and Counterfeit Detection Seminar has been offered prior to the Thursday reception. This seminar, covering EAC net grading, the use of copper pricing guides and how to spot counterfeit and/or altered coppers, is an excellent introduction to early copper coinage for the novice or expert collector, alike. The meeting site changes each year to bring the convention as close as possible to as many members as possible over a period of years.

EAC conducts a private auction sale of consigned coppers in conjunction with the annual EAC convention. Members send coins to the cataloguer prior to the sale and a catalog is produced and distributed to all members. A space on or near the bourse floor is reserved for viewing sale lots. Although mail bids are accepted and encouraged, most lots are sold to bidders who attend. Proceeds from the sale defray costs of the annual convention and help fund Penny-Wise.

An evening of “black velvet and white gloves” describes the Colonial, Half Cent and Large Cent Happenings held on Thursday evenings during national conventions. Coins for inclusion in the Happenings are announced in advance. Members are encouraged to bring their examples of designated varieties. Each variety is displayed on a table carefully watched by volunteer monitors. Members attending are encouraged to examine the coins and assign an order of preference for desirability. The Large Cent Happening, added in 1994 and the Colonial Happening, added in 1995, are patterned after the highly successful Half Cent Happening, which began informally in 1975 and was added to the conventions in 1986.

“Whist” matches are another activity between EAC members. Dr. Sheldon, writing in Penny Whimsy (Sheldon, 1958), credits Dr. George French with the invention of “old cent whist.” In its simplest form, two collectors compare collections and score one point for having a variety and a second point for having a nicer piece than the competitor. More complex scoring may be used for games with several competitors. Whist is a popular activity when small groups gather and an antecedent of today’s set registry collecting.

EAC is a friendly and inviting club; its members frequently get together informally to talk about coins and whatever else is on their minds. Regional Meetings are held in conjunction with national shows (e.g., ANA) or large regional Coin shows (e.g., Long Beach, Baltimore, Florida United Numismatists (FUN), etc.).

Penny-Wise

Penny-Wise is the award-winning journal of EAC. The first issue was published September 15, 1967. Dr. Warren A. Lapp of Brooklyn, NY, Herbert A. Silberman of Maplewood, NJ and William J. Parks of Orlando, FL shared the editorial tasks in the early days. Dr, Lapp also served as publisher with Mr. Parks assuming the duties of printer and distributor. Mr. Silberman became EACs first President. At the time EAC had 39 members and 75 copies of the first issue were printed. Prospective members received copies of the first issue until the supply ran out. The name was chosen because its initials duplicated Dr. Sheldon’s Penny Whimsy. Dr. Lapp went on to offer 19 years of service and leadership to the club he co-founded, relinquishing his editorial duties after suffering a heart attack.

The May, 1986 issue marked the beginning of a new era for Penny-Wise as Dr. Harry P. Salyards took over the editorial role. In the ensuing 30 years, Dr. Salyards has provided the EAC community with thoughtful, educational and entertaining editorials to introduce each and every issue of Penny-Wise without fail. He, along with contributing editors John Wright, Denis Loring and William Eckberg have ushered Penny-Wise into the twenty first century with their well researched articles and unselfish service.

A typical issue has its table of contents and a directory of club officers followed by a one-page “Introduction by the Editor.” Articles featured in Penny-Wise cover the field of early copper. Some are scholarly and lengthy and may become the standard reference for a topic. Others are short, light-hearted or anecdotal. The journal publishes minutes of club meetings and reports from club officers. Regional meetings are announced and reported. Discoveries of new varieties and of new examples of rare varieties are reported. Letters to the Editor include commentary on member activities and reaction to events and previously published articles. Each issue has a section for “Swaps and Sales” where members may solicit an orderly succession of ownership.

All back issues of Penny-Wise are available on the Newman Numismatic Portal free to all.It covers all issues from the first. Updates are issued every two years. The recent issues are also located i the members section of this web page. The Newman Numismatic Portal contains all issues over two years old at Penny-wise at NNP

The year 2020 has brought us into a new phase of Club involvement. Early American Coppers has embraced the latest Zoom technology for a Virtual Convention and on-line meetings. We will continue to expand our virtual and in person meetings with the latest technology.