Coin and stamp clubs meet illegally

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Eating Out With Dusty Miller: Illegal' gathering at Borrowdale Brooke         
Saturday, 16 April 2011

Readers of our "hard copy" newspaper may well have noticed an item in Dusty's What's On Diary which appeared for two weeks publicising a joint convention of scholarly societies: The Zimbabwe Medal Society, Zimbabwe History Society, Mashonaland Philatelic Society and Zimbabwe Numismatic Society to be held at Borrowdale Brooke Country Club last weekend.

Sadly,  I didn't have space to say that Harare lawyer Mike Kimberley would be speaking on "The History of the Founder Members of the History Society"; Bennie Kaschula would talk on "Chiefs' Regalia from 1890 to Today"; Colonel W Jansen's topic would be "Military Uniforms", Robin Taylor would lecture on "How the Railways Came to Harare" (I think he means Salisbury!) and prestigious Prince Edward School headmaster Kevin Atkinson's address would be on "The History of PE School."

Just some of the 14 themes scheduled to be the subject of informed learned presentations and Q&A sessions over a cultural weekend. Stamps, coins, medals and other ephemera were to be examined, discussed, valued, bought, sold, auctioned and swopped.

The first bit of the weekend went swimmingly, with upwards of 70 deeply interested members of the public digging out passports and driving all the way to Helensvale and gone.

Apart from the public lectures and exhibitions, further attractions were excellently valued US$5 meals at lunch and supper on Saturday, and Sunday lunch.

(...)

About 60 (including some new faces) clocked in on the Sabbath Day at leafy Borrowdale Brooke, a purpose-built extremely low-density suburb, surrounded by rolling, verdant, well-watered, championship golf course, with its high, often electrified walls and top security at the boom simply to get in and out. It's a suburb occupied by many different folk with one thing in common: loads of loot.

Again, all went well in the morning. Many participants, "resource persons" and Joe and Jane Public were enjoying a leisurely Sunday lunch and looking forward to two final presentations on "Colonial Police Medals" and "Hugh Marshall-Hole". (He was Administrator of Matabeleland during the Anglo-Boer War who, because of a shortage of small change — nothing's changed in 110 years! — introduced the Marshall-Hole card whereby British South Africa Company postage and revenue stamps on printed cardboard were worth between one penny and 10-shillings and could be used to buy goods and services, pay wages, etc.)

Gripping stuff!

At this stage I am told, (...)  Chief Inspector Plod of the ZRP ("A Force To be Reckoned Without!") and his merry men in khaki, and those with the dark glasses and white Defenders, appeared on the scene, mob-handed.

Organisers from the august scholarly associations were officiously warned this was an illegal gathering of more than three persons for which no permission had been asked or granted and the participants/speakers/exhibitors/public were to disperse with immediate effect or face the stern wrath of the law.

Being law-abiding folk, they gapped, quietly, but muttering about "Latter-Day Fascism."

I suppose it could have been worse. Some of the septuagenarians, octogenarians and upwards could have been tear-gassed, thrown into police vehicles (if they had any...if they had any fuel...) and hauled off to Remand for a day or two to appear, starving and lice-infested, before a magistrate (if they were not on strike) charged with breaking a law few, if any, were aware of, dreamed up, but rarely used other than when elections are on the horizon, by a paranoiac government terrified of the slightest criticism.

All that happened was the heavy-handed ZRP spoiled the weekend of a few score grey-haired and bald-headed amateur historians, military historians and pre-historians.

(...)

Source: The Standard (Zimbabwe)

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I am reminded of my school days, when our teachers thought it sinful and dangerous to be a follower of Beatles or even (gasp!) Stones. I was called in to the principal's office for a reprimand and an order to have my hair cut, only because my mother wanted to save a few cents by letting me go to the hairdresser a week later. I didn't mind much, I was an instant hero to my class mates, but my mother was not pleased.

Peter

[augsburger]

I wonder what would happen to a coin club here in China. More than likely it would be left alone, mainly because nothing of cultural value would be there or discussed, only fakes, fakes and more fakes.

I also found out that I have very, very distant relatives in Zimbabwe, who are Mugabe people, ugg!!

[Ukrainii Pyat]

Coin collecting is very legal in China, but only really in last 15 or so years.  There are even coin shops with varying degrees of good stuff, and those with a lot of fakes.

But in my USSR days, coin collecting was considered to be hoarding - even aluminium bronze coins of USSR.  But of course reality is that where there is a will there is a way.  It was possible to collect even Tsarist coins, and of course I did.  It was possible find the Tsarist gold coins, but then payment for them could only be in "valuta" or hard currency like dollars or Deutschmarks etc.  A friend of mine's father was a high ranking officer in the Soviet army - and travelled to western countries.  So of course she had pretty good collection of European and some American coins.

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What is legal or not in China is important only when there is no party interest at stake. When I went to China from time to time, I helped my father build a collection of Chinese stamps. At some point, I noticed that certain missing stamps, with the portrait or exploits of communist leaders who had fallen from grace were never offered, even though collecting stamps was perfectly legal.

China being China, the problem was solved by offering stamps with paintings or statues of naked women. They were not legal, but in high demand.

Peter

[Ukrainii Pyat]

I guess from my experiences living in the Red east, I know anything is possible.  Right connections, enough money.  Want a stamp with some disgraced party Kommissar, then have to know right people and have the $$$$ to make happen.