EAC – Early American Coppers

The Early American Coppers club (known throughout numismatics as “EAC”) has about 1200 members. Broadly speaking, the hobby involves the acquisition, study, discussion and promotion of early copper coins: large cents and half cents coined by the US mint from 1793 through 1857, and the various emissions authorized by the colonial and state governments. In 1981, EAC voted to expand its scope to include Hard Times Tokens.

EAC traces its origins to an ad placed by Herbert A. Silberman in the November 9, 1966, issue of Coin World. After listing duplicates for sale, the ad concluded: “If you collect Large Cents, please write. We are trying to start a mail club to trade and discuss this series.”

As a result of the Coin World ad, Silberman was soon corresponding with collectors in 11 states. Letters passed from member to member with comments added along the way. One year later, on November 1, 1967, the Early American Coppers Club reached the level of 93 charter members. The number of charter members commemorated the first cents struck in 1793. Dr. William H. Sheldon received charter member number 1. Member number 4500 had joined by mid-1997 and member number 6000 at the end of 2011.

In 1970 EAC became a club member of the American Numismatic Association (ANA) with membership number C-64199. EAC was officially incorporated in 1972 in the State of New York as Early American Coppers, Inc. EAC is recognized by the IRS as a charitable organization and has received tax-exempt status under section 501(c) (3) of the IRS code.
Membership is divided into eight regions: Region 1: New England (CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT); Region 2: New York-New Jersey; Region 3: Mid-Atlantic (PA, DE, MD, DC, VA, WV, NC); Region 4: Southeast (SC, GA, FL, AL, MS, TN); Region 5: North Central (MI, OH, KY, IN, IL, WI, MN, IA, NE, SD, ND); Region 6: South Central (KS, MO, AR, LA, TX, OK, NM, CO); Region 7: West (WY, MT, ID, UT, NV, AZ, CA, OR, WA, AK, HI); and Region 8: Internet.

Emerging technologies have changed the way EAC members communicate. In 1993, a small group began to meet in a weekly moderated chat on the Internet. In 1997 the Internet group passed 100 members and was recognized as Region 8 of EAC. The EAC web page can be found at www.eacs.org.