The Counterstamped
Coins of Mel Wacks
By Mel Wacks NLG
Dedicated to the
artistry and workmanship of Adam Cool
When I learned of the plans
for NASA to land on Mars, something clicked. While Mars did not appear on any United States
coin, another celestial object did – the Moon – on the reverse of the
Bicentennial Eisenhower Dollars dated 1776-1976. And so I designed a
counterstamp which was struck on 40% Silver Proof coins over the rugged surface
of the moon, reading “VIKING I ON MARS JULY 20, 1976.”
Catalog MW1 “VIKING I ON MARS JULY 20, 1976”
I also wanted to create PNC
(Philatelic-Numismatic Cover), and where more appropriate could I have it
cancelled than in Mars (Pennsylvania)?
I contacted the postmaster there, and he indicated he would be happy to cancel
covers on the day of the Mars landing. So envelopes were prepared with two 8˘ postage stamps – “Rise of the Spirit of Independence”
and appropriately “United
States in Space,” depicting the
lunar landing vehicle on the moon with the earth and the sun above. They were
sent to the Mars postmaster who carefully applied the cancellation reading “MARS, PA
16046 JUL 20 AM 1976,”
and shipped back to me in a box (so they were not individually addressed). On
the day of the Viking landing, I drove about 25 miles from my home in a Los Angeles suburb to the
headquarters of JPL (Jet Propulsion Lab) in Pasadena where I gained entrance with my
Numismatic Literary Guild card and was able to obtain a press kit that included
the first photo taken on Mars by the Rover. When I received the box of
cancelled envelopes, I took them to a printer who added the historic first
photo to each envelope. The back of each envelope was printed with a serial
number, and “LIMITED EDITION of 1000.”
I then placed each counterstamped dollar into a hole in a thick
card, placed the cards into the envelopes and sealed them. My records indicate
that 500 were made.
MW1PNC “VIKING I ON MARS JULY 20, 1976”
Considering the success of my
first counterstamped coin, just a few months later I created another one. This
was issued on Thanksgiving and appropriately honored the turkey. The coin
chosen was the 1961 Proof Benjamin Franklin Silver Half Dollar. Why? Because Franklin had proposed
that the national bird should be the turkey (the bald eagle won out). A turkey
was counterstamped over the Liberty Bell (just to the left of the “winning”
eagle).
MW2 Turkey
(Thanksgiving 1976)
A full color reproduction of
John James Audubon’s engraving (1830) of a wild turkey is featured on the
envelope, along with the following quote: “The turkey is a bird of courage and
would not hesitate to attack a grenadier of the British guards who would presume
to invade his farmland with a red coat on,” with the facsimile signature Benj. Franklin. The postage
used was the 3˘ Wild Turkey Wildlife Conservation stamp and the 13˘ Bicentennial 1776-1976 stamp featuring a bust of Franklin. And,
appropriately, the cancellation reads “TURKEY, TX 79261 NOV 25 PM 1976.” The back of
each envelope was printed with a serial number, and “LIMITED EDITION of 500.”
My records indicate a mintage of 200. (Picture mw2pnc)
MW2PNC Turkey
(Thanksgiving 1976)
I was thrilled, along with millions of others around the world,
when the Camp David Accords were signed by
Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin on September
17, 1978, following twelve days of secret negotiations at Camp David. The two agreements were signed at the White
House, and were witnessed by United States President Jimmy Carter. The Accords
led directly to the 1979 Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty, which among other things,
established full diplomatic relations between Israel and Egypt, and contained
about 50 normalization agreements covering a variety of issues, including
economic and cultural matters, designed to enhance peace between the two
countries..
While I was watching this
historic event on television I was inspired to commemorate it. And I
immediately thought of counterstamping “Peace” Silver Dollars (that were issued
beginning in 1921 to celebrate the end of World War I). I believe that it was
Ed McClung who had created the first two counterstamped coins, and so I asked
him to do the Camp David counterstamp. I gave him dozens of uncirculated 1922
and 1923 Peace Dollars to use for prototypes. But he had problems. The design
that I requested was more complex than the first two counterstamps, inscribed
“CAMP DAVID PEACE SUMMIT SEPT. 5-17, 1978” and featuring the peace symbol, the
names of the participants and appropriate symbols: BEGIN + Star of David, SADAT
+ Crescent, and CARTER + 5-Pointed Star. He was unable to make a bold
counterstamp, even after reaming off an area and stamping it.
MW3TRIAL “CAMP DAVID PEACE SUMMIT SEPT. 5-17, 1978”
And so I asked someone else
to give it a try – Adam Cool, who had created a number of counterstamped coins
for the American Israel Numismatic Association. Adam was successful, so we photographed
it and sent out press releases a relatively short time after the event had
occurred.
MW3 “CAMP DAVID PEACE SUMMIT SEPT. 5-17, 1978”
The press release and a
picture was featured in the coin column of the Sunday New York Times– and then
all hell broke loose! In a few days the
mailman started bringing piles of envelopes with orders. This continued day
after day, and within a relatively short time the entire authorized mintage of
1,000 pieces was sold. These coins are actively collected, appear periodically
on ebay, and the “Camp David” counterstamp is featured in the newly published
“A Guide Book of Peace Dollars” by Roger Burdette.
UNESCO (The United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization) proclaimed 1979 as the International Year of the Child. The proclamation was signed on
January 1, 1979 by United Nations Secretary General Kurt Waldheim, and was
intended to draw attention to problems that affected children throughout the
world, including malnutrition and lack of access to education. I decided this
would be my next project, and based the design on Leonardo da Vinci’s 1505
drawing of a fetus in utero. The limited issue of 1,000 “Baby Dollars” were
counterstamped on various uncirculated 1972-7 Eisenhower Clad Dollars. The die
was cancelled after the issue sold out.
