The issue began with the editor's comments. An announcement was made that those planning to attend the annual ANA convention in Philadelphia should set aside the morning of Wednesday, August 9 at 8:30AM for attending our annual meeting. As always, the meeting is a wonderful opportunity to meet other members and discuss our hobby. It was stated that JRCS will host an open house for the membership on Thursday night, the room to be announced at the JRCS meeting. 

The minutes of the 1999 Annual Meeting were presented by Stephen A. Crain, JRCS Secretary. Highlights and awards from the 1999 JRCS meeting were reviewed. 

Next, in what is hoped to become a regular feature, Robert Stark offered his second installment of "Early Dollar Notes." Bob discussed the Rarity-8 1795 B-20 silver dollar die marriage with only three specimens known (to him). Bob has been collecting and studying early dollars for over 25 years and the sharing his knowledge and stories are much appreciated. 

"Bust or Bogus - An 1836 Dime" by Russell J. Logan was our next article. Russ writes about a number of "bogus" dimes that he and Henry Hilgard have studied over the last few years. A recent purchase on E-Bay added to the mystery. Were these struck from real dies? Do the dies still exist? And if so, where are these dies today? 

Major reference books for the silver dollars 1794-1803 have called the 1795 B-10 die marriage everything from "Unique" to Rarity-5, with most calling it R-6 (13-30 specimens known). Which rarity rating should be applied today? W. David Perkins traces all specimens known to him (and other specialists) from 1881 to the present and illustrates the different views on rarity over time. He concludes that this extremely rare die marriage is most likely a Rarity-7, with 8 specimens known (to him), one of which may be duplicate listing. 

Paul Hybert, in his first article for the John Reich Journal, writes about dentil die clashing on 1799 silver dollars. Paul states that he has seen clashing on four varieties of 1799 dollars - B3, B4, B7a and very rare B19. The article was nicely illustrated with close up photos of the dentil clashing. Paul encouraged members to check their 1799 dollars and report their observations to him for a possible follow-up article. 

Karl Moulton follows with a list of his "Ten Favorite Bust Auction Catalogues." He listed his top two catalogues for five different silver denominations - Bust Dollars, Half Dollars, Bust Quarters, Bust Dimes and Bust Half Dimes. Factors considered were the number of usable plates and catalogue descriptions, pedigrees and of course, the collection itself. 

Ken Cable-Camilleis covers the "reduced size" bust quarters 1831-1836. Ken believes that there should be a restructuring of some of the Browning variety designations for the series. Ken has done considerable research and examined over 800 quarters in his study. 

Jim Koenings put out a call for help on a series of books that he and Rory Rea are working on that will be called "The Rarest (enter denomination). The first book they plan to publish will be called "The Rarest Quarters - 1796-1807." They have been taking color photos of every R5 or rarer Bust Dime and Bust Quarter that they can. They requested collectors contact them to arrange for their coins to be included. 

The last article was by Stephen A. Crain, a half dime specialist and frequent contributor. Stephen's article was "Inspection of the First Coins of the First United States Mint." Stephen stated that "As photography would not become a reality until 1840, no photographs of the original mint are available today. Certainly, no photographs are available of such a historically significant event as the presentation of the very first United States coins." He shares with the readers the story behind and a 10" X 7" print (from a 1916 calendar) that he acquired of the John Ward Dunsmore painting "Inspection of the First Coins of the First United States Mint." Stephen is an avid collector of half dimes, and of course, the first coins produced by the Mint were the 1792 half dismes (dimes).