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COPPER MEMORIES
1958 – The Last of the Wheats

by George Alafouzos #2028

George Alafouzos, 1954,
immigrated from Greece to
North Dakota, USA

Going through my Lincoln Cent collection that I hadn’t visited for a number of years brought on many memories. I started a very small collection back in 1954 shortly after immigrating to the United States from Greece. I was 14 years old then.

Legal tender coins were truly a novelty to me since I grew up in post-war Athens. All currency that I knew as a youngster was the paper kind – even the diminutive Lepta. It took 100 Lepta to make a Drachma. Pre-war coins were kept by families as souvenirs of those times and no longer acceptable for commerce. So the coins I started collecting in my new home in Grand Forks, North Dakota were indeed novel and exciting to me, including the affordable Lincoln Cents.

After graduating from Grand Forks Central High in 1958, I spent another 5 years pursuing a teaching degree from the University of North Dakota, also in Grand Forks. In 1963 when I graduated from UND, I married Bonnie in June, and received my first teaching assignment as an art instructor at John Muir Middle School in Wausau. That fall I also began to pursue the numismatic hobby in earnest.

On many occasions I used the art of numismatics as a teaching tool with the youngsters under my wing. Having a History Minor added a spark to both my teaching and collecting field. Many art activities were coin and currency related in many different media including drawing, watercolor, ceramics, etc. A big hit with my art students was a lesson of redesigning a currency note of their choice in any denomination.

Numismatics is a great excuse for collecting art, appreciating history and also serves as a teaching tool into design. This experience for me and my students was, and I believe still is, the ‘perfect storm’ of joining art theory with numismatic design. I believe this stayed with them throughout their lives.

Later I taught art in the D.C. Everest Schools supervising the art program in the elementary schools. Still later – in the ‘70’s – I taught in Stevens Point for another 29 years. My magical connection with coinage flourished when I joined the Wisconsin Valley Coin Club in 1966 at the Historical Society in Wausau.

My monetary interests multiplied, exchanging coins, stories, and being educated by older club members who helped me accumulate a number of pieces including the healthy group of cents from those in circulation around the Wausau area.

The beauty of the Walking Liberty Half Dollar captivated me. The impressive magnetic design in blazing silver in BU condition is etched in my mind. What a beautiful coin! The design fortunately is still with us. Since 1986 it graces the U. S. Mint Silver Eagles.

By the silver disappearance of 1964 – ‘65, pieces such as the Walking Halves were hard to find but still available at a price from collectors and dealers. Lincoln cents continued to fire up my passion in the hobby and of course the early cents (teens, twenties, thirties) became harder and harder to encounter in circulation.

By the early 1990’s my interest in cents waned and although still involved with club activities and various coin shows, I turned my collecting interests to other denominations.

Several months ago I returned to my initial red-brown copper gems of long ago. It was indeed interesting to visit again the plethora of cents circulating around Wausau in the 1960’s and ‘70’s.

Class of '58 Grand Forks HS yearbook

Next September the Grand Forks Central High class of 1958 is having our 60th reunion! My reignited zeal for copper cents gave me the incentive of procuring 2 rolls of uncirculated 1958 cents. That year is important of course, because it is the last year of the ‘wheat ear’ reverse which graced the cent since 1909. It was replaced by the Lincoln Memorial reverse the following year 1959.

I obtained the two 1958 BU rolls from Gary Wallin, a dealer from Savage, Minnesota. Ironically, while talking with him on the phone I discovered that he is also a UND graduate! A plan materialized to give all the 1958 grads attending the reunion a beautiful uncirculated 1958 cent as a memento. My treat! Of course these will be presented in 2 x 2 holders with a description of the celebratory event. I began thinking that planning for 100 attendees might not be enough, so I called Gary again and ordered another roll just to be safe.

Then, while attending the Oshkosh Coin Show with NOW President Thad Streeter, I bought another 2 rolls from dealer and old friend Randy Miller of Chief Coin. Later in the show I decided to acquire an uncirculated roll of 1958D cents from Randy! Now it appears I am hooked on BU 1958 cents!!

On our 50th class reunion in 2008, we had 170 classmates attend. We certainly hope to have more than the planned 100 this time around. One member of the organizing committee in Grand Forks, for this occasion as well as the previous, is Gary Swanson, who happened to be a retired educator, close friend, and also the best man at our wedding in 1963. We will be in contact with the early stages of planning the September activities for the prestigious active group of these surviving 1958 Grand Forks High School graduates. Wish us well!!

Gary Swanson 1958

George Alafouzos 1958


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