KLAN KREED COIN

I JUST LOVE THIS TOKEN! It makes me want to go out and form my own secret society so I can issue a token just like this. Each group of letters has its own secret meaning and indeed, some of them have double meanings.

Fortunately, we don't have to join the Klan to dope out what all of this means as we have Dale Birdsell to help us out. The letters N S S A around the border on the outside have a meaning evident to every veteran Klan Kollector: Non Silba Sed Anthar - Not for self but for others. (This is the same motto, only in Greek, that is also used by one of the oldest Jewish college fraternities, a curious fact which I never fail to inform my old college fraternity brothers of when they greet me with our secret words and handshake!)

Birdsell describes the six pointed star as "the Bethlehem Star" and says that its meaning speaks for itself. (Funny, I always thought that this was the Star of David, which is used by Jews much like Christians use the sign of the cross.) In any event, the letters LSS and KAP are said by Birdsell to stand for Love, Sacrifice and Service, and for Keep America Protestant. The white enamel, of course, stands for White Supremacy.

The reverse is much more intricate and meaningful. Each letter and group of letters has two or more meanings. O T P P, for example, is said by Birdsell to mean "On Top Pikes Peak, P___ On The P___." I take this last phrase to be, "Piss on the Pope." According to Birdsell, the outside letters (read counter clockwise starting with the lower right "P") mean "Protestants Teach Other Protestants."

What they teach is indicated within the circle by the letters contained within the Star of David (Oooops - The Bethlehem Star.) 1S/1L/1F stands for "One School, One Language, One Flag." Individually, the SLF letters represented: Sincerity/ Friendship/Love. The letters in the central circle mean Law & Order and the American Bible.

The late David Dreyfuss always loved to purchase items for which there was an interesting story. No matter what he paid, he always felt he got his money's worth out of such pieces by the pleasure he obtained from telling the uninitiated something interesting that was not evident from just looking at the item. Viewed this way, this token should be priced at several thousand dollars! Combined with its more Kommon Komrade, the "Dago Pope in Rome" token, it tells volumes about the Klan; its love of secrecy and the cryptic; its ultra-nationalism and its pseudo-religiosity. One doesn't have to be in sympathy with the views of the Klan in order to be able to appreciate what a truly fascinating piece of Americana this is.

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web