THE KURIOUS KOINPANEL--- Bernard A. Nagengast contacted me recently to inquire whether I'd like topublish his history of a coin board he manufactured and sold during the 1980s under the name Koinpanel. Thisimmediately stirred a memory from that time when I actually purchased a Koinpanel from his E & T KointainerCompany to house my set of Kennedy Half Dollars. I'd transferred all of my modern coins into Kointains, whichare inert, clear plastic lenses that friction fit over the obverse and reverse of a coin. These could then be insertedinto the openings of the Koinpanel, resulting in a coin board that permitted viewing both sides of the coins.Needless to say, I welcomed his reminiscences about the company and its products. Too long to reprint in itsentirety, I'm including here my summary of the main points.

In the late 1940s a collector named Francis S. Epps noticed that some of his coins were deteriorating due to theprimitive state of coin storage products at the time, and he set about finding a solution. Consulting with a researchchemist named Trainer (spelling uncertain), he selected ethyl cellulose as the ideal plastic for chemical inertnessand malleability. The end product was the "Kointain," a two-piece capsule that was convex so as to not contact thecoin except on its edge. E & T Kointainer Company was established in 1950, and ultimately holders of many sizeswere offered. Epps bought out his partner and continued the business until his death in 1973. Bern Nagengastpurchased the rights five years later and has operated the company ever since. It still manufactures and sells theKointain capsules.

Francis S. Epps sought a display product for his Kointains and came up with a hardwood veneer plywood boardwith openings cut to fit various sizes of coins. The Koinpanel debuted in 1952 in a standard size of 8" wide x 6" tallx 3/16" thick. African Mahogany was the default wood, but Rosewood was available at a higher price. These weredrilled and labeled in gold-colored hot type for various coin denominations, and a smaller 8" x 3" Koinpanel wasadded for proof or mint sets.

When Bern Nagengast purchased the company from Epps' successors he acquired alarge back inventory of these panels, which had enjoyed only limited sales over the years. Collectors suggested tohim that a larger format Koinpanel that could hold all or part of a coin series would be much more desirable, and heset about to produce such an item. He discovered that the woods used by Epps were either unavailable orunaffordable, but he found a suitable replacement in Honduran Mahogany. The new Koinpanel measured 8" wideby 12" tall.

The decision was made to start with the most popular coin series-cents back to 1857, nickels back to 1883, silvercoins back to 1892, etc. To reduce the number of different die cuts, he settled on eight panel arrangements. He hadthe drilling equipment from Epps to cut the openings, but hot type had become obsolete, so he sought a newlettering/numbering technique. The simple solution was the dry transfer type sold by stationery stores. He customordered 2000 sheets that included every combination of titles, dates, mints, etc. that he anticipated would beneeded.

The new Koinpanel line debuted in 1982, but it was destined to last only a year or so. Production was laborintensive, sales were disappointing, and collectors sometimes complained that the Kointains were difficult to insertinto the openings. Indeed, I found this to be true of my Kennedy Half Dollar panel, and I declined to order anymore Koinpanels. Bern Nagengast estimates that only 100 or so of the new Koinpanels were sold in that time.

Obviously, this is a very rare entry in coin board history, and I sorely regret not having saved for posterity my oneand only purchase. Bern discarded most of the company's inventory years ago, but he graciously sent me a few ofthe original Epps Koinpanels for my collection along with associated literature.

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