2003 Letter from:  Don Johnson   Life Member and Past President,

Chippewa Valley Coin Club History . . . The best I can remember

  The first meeting I went to was in the city hall.  They had a coin auction, and one thing I remember was a Dr. Krier from Mondovi had an uncirculated 1909s V.D.B. Lincoln Cent with a reserve bid of $70.00.  It was sold to the only bidder, Clayton High.

  Meetings moved to Grinsel Garage building at 425 Gibson Street. The building burned down and we lost all of the club's records.  Space now is a parking lot for the City Hall.

  Meetings were held in a room above the State Theater for a short while.

  Later we got in at Parks and Rec. building. One meeting was held at Kjentvet funeral home in Mondovi.

  Sometime in the 1960's we held an Auction open to the public in the Y.M.C.A. building.  We had a ten coin limit.  The club received a small percentage of the sale, 5%, up to a certain amount.

  Our first coin show, April 8th, 1967, was held in the Eau Claire Hotel and was a big success.  I was President of the Club at that time, and Beatrice Stover and Florence Nelson helped out.

  At one time the club's members came from Mondovi, Durand, Osseo, Menomonie, Chippewa Falls, Rock Falls, Downsville, and Tomah. As many as 35 people attended our meetings. We handed out wooden nickels to everyone who came to our spring shows. The wooden nickel of our April 26, 1970 had a print error.  In place of "United States of America" it was "Untied States of America" - No one noticed the difference.

  In the early days of the club there wasn't any dealers.  (now everyone is a dealer)  We traded with each other for what we wanted.  The Indian cent was the best means of exchange.  

In 1978 we hosted the State N.O.W. (Numismatist Of Wisconsin) show at the Civic Center downtown Eau Claire.  The two day show had many dealers and a good turnout.

Thank you Don
CVCC members.