xWhen Mr. Romanovich was gifted with his father Larry’s coin collection, amassed during his father’s time working in Birch Island in the 1980s, it sparked a passion that culminated in a 240-page book that illuminates the history of Manitoulin, the Little Current Lions Club and, of course, the story of the coin.
The original Haweater Dollar coin is officially classified as a trade token and originally envisioned by the late Doug Tracy and was a fundraiser for the Little Current Lions Club until it went out production in 2008 after 40 years.
But ‘Haw-Eater Coins of Manitoulin’ covers far more than just the Little Current Lions Club’s Haweater Dollar, going on to include trade dollars issued by Island businesses over the years.
The now-avid collector was captivated by the imagery and history depicted in the coins, its sides featuring iconic Manitoulin Island scenes such as Bridal Veil Falls, the Chi-Cheemaun Ferry, the Little Current Swing Bridge, Batman’s Mill and a host of others.
Mr. Romanovich said the imagery depicted on the coins appealed to him and his love of nature, reminding him of time spent at his family cottage on Manitoulin.
A decade ago, Mr. Romanovich decided to start seeking out Haweater dollars online, searching sites like eBay and Kijiji where he found “limited success.” But, thanks to a classified ad placed in The Expositor and through connections made with 35 different families, his father’s Haweater coin collection has now amassed over 2,500 coins and has taken on a whole new meaning.
In 2018 Mr. Romanovich reached out to former Lion Dave Walton, who inherited the coin chair role from the late Roly Racicot and was able to purchase a number of coins for his collection directly from the Little Current Lions. Then, in 2020, he placed an ad in The Expositor: “Haweater Coins Wanted, Dead or Alive.”
“The response was great,” said Mr. Romanovich. “At first there was a flood of calls. I did buy from a lot of people, and a lot of people wanted to help.” He said he was so moved by people’s stories he found he often couldn’t say no, even though he was purchasing duplicates. “It began to feel sentimental, especially when families were giving me their entire collections,” he continued.
With one of the collections purchased, the seller included a beautifully handwritten note with a little story of how the collection came to be. That struck a deep chord for Mr. Romanovich. “The coins didn’t mean as much without that bit of history, I found, so I went back and called the families that I had purchased from and asked them to write me a little something. After that, I almost made it a stipulation of purchase. I didn’t mind buying duplicates, I liked the stories.”
So moved was Mr. Romanovich by the stories he was now collecting that he created a book as a gift to those families who helped him in his quest for a complete Haweater dollar set. “A thank you for entrusting me with their collections,” he said. The Expositor was gifted with a copy of the book for our assistance in his numismatic odyssey.
Mr. Romanovich admits to having two favourite coins, the 1971 Bridal Veils Falls dollar and the 1988 hawberry dollar. He recalls working a job with his father that brought them to Manitoulin. The mindset of his father was always ‘time is money,’ he recalls, so having his father take a detour with him to Kagawong to watch the salmon make the heroic run to the falls on a fall day sticks with him to the present day.
But favourites falls quite a bit short of the real story. “I love them all,” he says.
“It’s definitely been fun,” Mr. Romanovich said, “and it’s brought joy between my father and I. It is beautiful. I still keep in connection with many of the families I met.”
Mr. Romanovich’s quest is nearly complete—he is only missing one crucial and very rare edition—the pure silver 1968
medallion.
The 1968 medallion was a precursor to the Haweater dollar and was designed by the late Doug Tracy. Mr. Romanovich explains there were four versions of the medallion, which had Little Current, the Lions Club International logo and “Haw-Eater July 1st Week-End 1968 Low Island Park Project” on the front. On the reverse, “World’s Largest Fresh Water Island” runs the circumference of the medallion with Ontario – Canada, a raised Island and hawberries in the centre.
The coins were not always without some controversy—and Mr. Tracy was quick-witted in settling one that ran up against Lions International protocols with the original 1968 medallion. The Little Current Lions Club had failed to receive Lions International permission before running the international logo. Undaunted, Mr. Tracy soldered a pin over the logo and, utilizing appropriately coloured nail polish, he painted hawberries on each for an added touch. The Little Current Lions did make amends with Lions International and by 1972 the club began using the Lions International logo again—but with permission this time.
Mr. Romanovich has actually sourced one surviving example of the silver medallion, but the family of a founding Little Current Lions Club member are not willing to part with it.
As for Mr. Romanovich’s book, it is now being made available online with proceeds going to the Little Current Lions Club’s projects. The book can be ordered at www.blurb.ca/b/11714470-haw-eater-coins-of-manitoulin.
