Green Bay’s Nicolet Coin Club

The Nicolet Coin Club’s uninterrupted run of Green Bay spring shows, it turns out, closed out at 58 years in 2019. This year’s planned 59th event, scheduled for April 26 at the Stadium Club, was wiped from the calendar by the “Social Distancing Guidelines” imposed to fight the coronavirus/Covid-19 outbreak. At the show on April 28, 2019, the 35th consecutive event organized by Roger Bohn, he was honored with an “Exemplary Service Award” plaque, recognizing his contributions to the club since joining in 1974.

The 2019 spring show also hosted the 59th annual gathering of the Numismatists of Wisconsin. The Nicolet Coin Club had hosted the 1965, 1970, 1977 and 1984 NOW conventions, the first two being hosted at the Hotel Northland, and the latter two at the Brown County Arena. In the interim, in 1994 and 2009, the club also hosted the annual NOW membership gatherings in conjunction with their annual spring shows held at the Rock Garden.

Now, for a nostalgic look back to the Nicolet Coin Club’s origins and early development.

Establishing and maintaining the Nicolet Coin Club proved to be a bit of a struggle in the early years. The year of its founding was probably 1957, but it may have been 1958, the documentation on that point being uncertain. The club was established, struggled, expired and was ultimately resuscitated, all within a span of roughly three years. Among those principally involved through this timeframe were Auggie DeBauch, Tom Callaway, Tom Fruit, Paul Kappel and Ray Phillips, all since deceased.

Interviewed in December, 1980, Tom Fruit had observed; “The club got started, I think, in the fall of 1957. I was drafted into the Army in 1958, and sometime while I was away in the service the club fell apart.” In a January 25, 1981, interview, Auggie De Bauch observed; “We were originally founded about 1957 as the Nicolet Coin Club. It did not last very long. There were very bitter arguments at the meetings. We argued over what the name of the club should be and who should (get) membership number one. After the club broke up in 1958 (the factions hosted) many little (splinter) club meetings all over town.”There does exist a transcribed document, recorded as being from 1958, that conveys the record of a “First Meeting” held on Thursday, October 9, at which Tom Fruit is listed as acting president, with eleven members enumerated. It appears that date should have been stated as being Thursday, October 10, 1957. There appears to be general agreement that the club “disbanded” in late 1958.

“Tom Fruit had many arguments with Ray Phillips,” De Bauch observed. “Everyone had an opinion and wanted it done his way. We were all a bunch of stubborn people. Tom Callaway was a quiet guy. He was the gentleman of the club. He helped bring the club back together.”

It was around the first of June, 1960, that an announcement was circulated among area collectors and published in the Green Bay Press-Gazette to reestablish a functioning club. “All coin collectors are invited to attend the organizational meeting of the Northeastern Wisconsin Coin Club,” the announcement read. The founding meeting was set for 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14th, at the Green Bay YMCA, downtown on Jefferson Street, with subsequent meetings projected to be held monthly, on the second and fourth Tuesdays.

“The club got going in 1960,” Tom Callaway stated when interviewed on January 27, 1981. “We had named the club the Nicolet Coin Club way back at the time of the 1957 iteration.”

The eleven original club members listed in 1957 were; Tom Fruit, Wally Enoch, John Martinkovic, Ervin Klapper, Al Abhold, Don and Betty Erickson, Paul Kappel, Ramona Verstoppen, Raymond Grover, and Leo Van Donsel. Records do not exist indicating who, or how many collectors were in attendance at the July 26, 1960, meeting of the reborn Nicolet Coin Club, at which Paul Kappel served as the temporary chairman. At that meeting Ray Phillips was elected president, Paul Kappel vice-president and Dolores M. Krueger as secretary-treasurer.

With the charter membership class being held open until December 31, 1960, the Nicolet Coin Club boasted 40 members when the charter closed, of whom 12 were juniors. Recognized as the club “father,” Tom Callaway was assigned membership number 9; following much argument it had been determined to draw numbers out of a hat for assignment to the charter those members enrolled in 1960. Other names of note and their charter numbers were; 1- Ray Phillips, 2-Dolores Krueger, 6-James and 7-Jeannie Medd, 8-Paul Kappel, 17-Albert Abhold, 19-Milton Detert, 20-Ervin Klapper, 21-Georger Brunn, 24-Thomas Fruit, 28-Paul Giese, and 39-Donald Heim.

The initiative to revive the Nicolet Coin Club in 1960 had been driven by the efforts of Tom Callaway; “to bring the club back together” according to DeBauch. Callaway met Tom Fruit, editor of Numismatic News at the time, who provided a list of the publication’s subscribers in the Green Bay area. The more active local collectors set themselves to soliciting these known collectors’ participation in the revitalized club. Their initiatives generated a solid response.

The organizational meeting of the revitalized Nicolet Coin Club was called to order on Tuesday, July 26, 1960, by Paul Kappel, who served as temporary chairman. An election of officers was conducted following, installing Ray Phillips as president, Paul Kappel as vice-president, and Dolores Krueger as secretary-treasurer. The first regular meeting was held on Tuesday, August 9, 1960, at which committees were established for naming, bylaws and membership. Two weeks later, meeting on Tuesday, August 23, 1960, the members in attendance formally named the organization the Nicolet Coin Club and set the charter membership deadline, with dues of $1.25 per year for adults and 50-cents for juniors.

The Nicolet Coin Club was off and running, meeting on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month at the YMCA. The meetings featured program, auction and trading sessions, along with the customary orders of business. In the early years, at least in 1963 and 1964, based on existent records, the club reached out to build membership by staffing a booth at the annual Green Bay Home Show in April.

PART 2 of this article will appear in the next issue of NOW NEWS.

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