MPC Fest celebrates record number of first-time attendees; announces winners of its two major awards

MPC Fest #24 was held in person after a three year hiatus necessitated by the Covid virus. Approximately 40 festers, including seven first-time attendees, gathered in cold and blustery Camp Leo May [Port Clinton, OH] to celebrate numismatic scholarship, competition, and fun. One of those new festers, Tom C., expressed the opinion of all in attendance - "It was so educational! I took away so many things from the briefings/presentation, plus folks helping with collecting ideas and the comradery was unbelievable."

Keynote speaker Tom Sparks spoke about the tradition of short snorters, and displayed the Bissel short snorter, 64 feet long and 141 notes, including Allied Military Currency sets. It was signed by over 100 Allied flag officers and senior political figures of the WWII era; an excellent slide presentation allowed the audience to see the famous and less famous signatures.

Winner of the Neil Shafer National Championship and Ray Toy award for service announced

Joseph Boling, well known author and scholar of military currency and American Numismatic Association vice president and chief judge, was crowned the national champion for 2023 in an exciting contest. His opponent in the final matchup was Roger Urce, author, researcher, and retired General Secretary of the International Bank Note Society. Later in the evening, the Ray Toy award for service or achievement was awarded to Loretta and Richard Freyser. The award was accepted by Loretta for her late husband and herself. The Freysers were faithful Fest attendees together for many years. Loretta was the first woman, aside from "the Boss", Judy Schwan, to attend Fest. She became registrar for the event, while Dick served as Fest Delta Company first sergeant. Dick is remembered as the discoverer of the first example of a fourth printing $5 certificate from Series 481. He died in August of 2021.

Roger Urce [left] and Joseph Boling, in the final match up of the Neil Shafer National Championship

Other Fest competitions

The Fest air rifle competition, held at the Director of Civilian Marksmanship range at historic Camp Perry, was won by Joseph Boling. The Poker Championship was won by Brett Irick, who came back from a very low stack in a final match up against second place finisher Robert Drew.