From esylum at binhost.com Sun Nov 6 21:31:56 2005 From: esylum at binhost.com (esylum@binhost.com) Date: Sun Nov 6 21:32:59 2005 Subject: The E-Sylum v8#47, November 6, 2005 Message-ID: <1131330716.436ebc9cde7ab@webmail.telerama.com> Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 8, Number 47, November 6, 2005: an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society. Copyright (c) 2005, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society. WAYNE'S WORDS Among our recent subscribers are Riccardo Paolucci and Bertram C.J. Warr Jr. Welcome aboard! We now have 814 subscribers. A number of AOL subscribers reported not receiving their E-Sylum issue last week. This is a recurring problem with AOL. I've sent new copies to everyone who asked. Remember, our back issues are archived on the NBS web site, so if you miss an issue you can also catch up on your reading there. Several of this week?s contributors didn?t get an acknowledgement from me for their submissions, as I?ve been traveling and email access has been in transition ? my apologies. Meanwhile, I?ll be visiting the Washington, D.C. area often over the next several weeks. No numismatic adventures to report so far, but I did see some sights with my family over the weekend, including the National Zoo and in drive-by mode) the U.S. Capitol, Washington Monument, The White House and Old Executive Office Building. If any of the locals can tell us where they hide the parking spaces on the weekend, please me know. We drove past dozens of closed parking garages and failing to locate a space, opted for the Zoo instead. Roger deWardt Lane writes: "Hello from South Florida, one week and a day after Wilma, which left us with no power for a week and the telephone line down (no DSL) too. The fact that the TV cable was out also was a good relief from watching the news. When I got my computer back after the storm the first thing I read was The E-Sylum. (I got the previous one late Sunday night before the Hurricane." The week brings news of record-setting prices for numismatic items of many types, including coins, paper money and even numismatic literature. It?s interesting to see how the participants dream up catchphrases for their press releases. One item is compared to the Holy Grail, and another to the Hope Diamond. So what will the next mega-sale be compared to, now that these slogans are taken? ?This piece is the Magna Carta of counterstamped Lithuanian Subway tokens ? So what?s the most expensive numismatic book? See our lead story. In other news, the Latin Paper Money Society library finds a new home and an American Bank Note Company vignette book comes up for sale. Among the controversies touched on in this issue are the use of English letters on Korean banknotes, the recent resignation of the head of the Canadian Mint and calls for reform at the American Numismatic Association. We also give the ANA a pat on the back for David Sklow?s efforts to educate the general public about selling coins. As if that weren?t enough, this issue has two more interesting excerpts from William Blades' 1888 work, "The Enemies of Books,? and we learn all about the coins placed on the eyelids of the deceased President Abraham Lincoln, and where these coins are today. Enjoy! Wayne Homren Numismatic Bibliomania Society THE MOST EXPENSIVE NUMISMATIC BOOK Hadrian Rambach of Spink forwarded a press release: "On 7th October 2005, Spink purchased Johann Huttich?s ?Imperatorum romanorum libellus. Una cum imaginibus, ad vivam effigiem expressi.? A fierce bidding war for the item ensued, but Spink made the final bid to win the book in Christie?s Paris saleroom for ?102,935 ? a world record price for a numismatic publication. Possibly one of the most important numismatic portrait- books, it is a brief illustrated biography of the Roman Emperors. First published in 1525, the book was subsequently published in German, Italian and French. This rare second edition, published in 1526 is listed in Dekesel, Bibliotheca Nummaria, Bibliography of 16th Century Numismatic Books, London (Spink) 1997, # H39 (21 copies listed). Printed throughout in finely engraved italic letters, the publication contains descriptions of 263 medallions, 185 of which display portraits with 78 being left blank. These engraved portraits of emperors and their wives are superbly displayed in white on a black background, some of them being attributed to Hans Weiditz (?the Petrarch Master?, c. 1495-1536). This particular book comes from the library of humanist Jean Grolier (c. 1489-1565), who is renowned as the ?Prince of Bibliophiles? [So what?s the second-most expensive numismatic book? And since many of our subscribers are from the U.S., what is the most expensive piece of U.S. numismatic literature sold at auction? Is anyone keeping a list? ?Editor] THE MOST EXPENSIVE COIN SET An October 31, 2005 article in The New York Times reported the latest sale of the famed King of Siam set: "As a child in the 1960's, Steven L. Contursi sorted through the nickels and dimes he received on his paper route in the Bronx, picking out those he needed for his collection and saving them in inexpensive blue cardboard holders. On Tuesday in Beverly Hills, Calif., Mr. Contursi and his company will pay $8.5 million in a private sale for one of the most famous coin sets in the world, the United States proof set known as the King of Siam set. Mr. Contursi calls it "the Holy Grail of numismatics," and the price he is paying is a world record for a coin set. The set, which includes one of the finest of the extremely rare 1804 United States silver dollars, was a gift from President Andrew Jackson to King Ph'ra Nang Klao of Siam, known as Rama III, in 1836. Edmund Roberts, the American envoy charged with establishing relations with Asian nations at the time, sailed with the set on a diplomatic mission to Siam. The original ship's log is included in the sale. Rama's son, Rama IV, learned English from a British governess, Anna Leonowens; their relationship was the basis for the book "Anna and the King of Siam" and the musical "The King and I." In 1962, the set of coins came to light after being sold by descendants of Ms. Leonowens. It was sold at auction several times over the years, most recently in 2001 for about $4 million to an anonymous West Coast collector." To read the complete article, see: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/31/national/31COIN.html [The photo of the set published with the article is very nice, but outdated. It shows the coins lying au naturel in the original presentation case. But weren't all of these coins slabbed several years ago? Shouldn?t the caption read, ?This is what the set would still look like if some yutz hadn?t dandied the coins up for sale to prospective buyers.? Will some future yutz do the same to John J. Ford?s Nova Constellatio silver pattern set? If so, I expect John will be turning in his grave. The buyer is entitled to do whatever they want, I suppose, but slabbing coins of this stature seems as wrong as it is unnecessary. Does anyone really think an extra grading point (or two or ten) really make a difference in their value? -Editor] MOST EXPENSIVE BANKNOTE The November 8 issue of Bank Note Reporter has a front-page article about the most expensive bank note: ?Breaking the $1 Million barrier Oct. 21 and setting a record price for a piece of paper money sold at public auction was one of three known ?Grand Watermelon? $1,000 notes. The top note was Lot 1 of a Lyn Knight sale of the Dave Rickey collection of large-size paper money? MOST EXPENSIVE STAMP TRADE Arthur Shippee sent us this New York Times article about a recent trade of some very rare and valuable U.S. stamps: ?In a swap reminiscent of childhood trades of years past, a block of four rare United States airmail error stamps worth nearly $3 million is to be traded today for a stamp that is equally rare and far more obscure. With the trade, the block's owner, the bond investor Bill Gross, will finish what is believed to be the first complete collection of 19th-century United States stamps ever assembled.? ?The four stamps he is trading today are a block of the famous 24-cent airmail stamps from 1918 that are known to collectors as the Inverted Jenny because the Curtiss JN-4 biplane depicted in the center was accidentally printed upside down.? ?The prize for which he is trading it is a rare 1-cent Z-grill, a blue stamp depicting Benjamin Franklin that was issued in 1868 and is so named because of an experimental security grill, pressed into the back, whose purpose was to bar reuse by keeping the cancellation from being washed off. It belongs to Donald Sundman, president of the Mystic Stamp Company of Camden, N.Y. "The Z-grill is like the Hope Diamond of American philately," said Mr. Sundman, whose company sells stamps to beginners and advanced collectors alike.? Mr. Sundman bought his Z-grill at auction in 1998 for $935,000, a record price for a single American stamp. With today's trade, its value implicitly jumps to $2.97 million, the amount paid for the Inverted Jenny block two weeks ago. That is a world-record price for any stamp, surpassing the $2.2 million paid in 1996 for a unique Swedish stamp known as the Treskilling Yellow.? To read the full story, see: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/02/national/02stamp.html LAKE BOOKS RARESHIDE II SALE READY Fred Lake of Lake Books writes: " Part Two of the Clarence Rareshide Library is now being offered by Lake Books. The 508-lot catalog is available for viewing at: http://www.lakebooks.com/current.html and has a closing date of November 29, 2005. This fine library was "rescued" by Mrs. Liz Rareshide barely 72 hours before hurricane Katrina left the Rareshide home buried under eight feet of water in New Orleans. Clarence Rareshide was a noted authority on Obsolete Currency and helped author many reference books and papers. His library, however, contained material important in all aspects of the numismatic genre. Bids will be accepted until closing time via US Mail, email, telephone, or fax at Lake Books 6822 22nd Ave N. St. Petersburg, FL 33710 (727) 343-8055 FAX:(727) 345-3750 http://www.lakebooks.com." COLONIAL NEWSLETTER PUBLISHED CNL Editor Gary Trudgen writes: "The December 2005 issue of The Colonial Newsletter (CNL) has been published. The issue begins with a study by R. Neil Fulghum of the circumstances that led to the issue of North Carolina's so-called "smallpox currency" of 1779. Today, with the threat of smallpox being used as a weapon of mass destruction by terrorists, this paper reminds us of the horrors of this disease while exploring an episode in our monetary history during the War for Independence. Neil also delves into the life of the mysterious Hugh Walker, the printer of North Carolina's "smallpox currency." Walker appears to be lost to history as he is never mentioned in the published research on North Carolina's early printers. The recent increased interest in St. Patrick coinage was stimulated by Brian Danforth's ground breaking research into its origin. Next, we are pleased to present an updated study of the known halfpence dies in this series. Authored by Dr. Roger Moore, with assistance from Stan Stephens and Robert Vlack, the paper provides two extremely useful photo- plates that contain high quality photos and attribution information for the known obverse and reverse dies. Plus, more accurate legend descriptions are provided which were made possible by the recent availability of very high grade specimens from the Ford VII sale. Our final contribution is from Dr. Roger Moore and Alan Anthony in the form of a Technical Note where they report a newly discovered Virginia halfpenny variety. The new variety combines two previously known dies resulting in Newman 15-W. Interestingly, this new discovery shows that obverse 15 is a "no period" variety. Previously it was considered to be a "period" variety because of what is now known to be a die defect. Also, metrological data on discovery specimen is given. CNL is published three times a year by The American Numismatic Society, 96 Fulton Street, New York, NY 10038. For inquires concerning CNL, please contact Juliette Pelletier at the preceding postal address or e-mail pelletier@amnumsoc.org or telephone (212) 571-4470 ext. 1311." A VISIT TO THE GALLERY MINT The Fall/Winter 2005 issue (#8) of The Numismatic Sun, published by American Numismatic Rarities, features a nice article by John Kraljevich, Jr. titled ?A Numismatic Adventure in Northwest Arkansas: A Visit to the Gallery Mint? The well-illustrated article chronicles John?s recent visit to Eureka Spring, AR, home of the Gallery Mint, founded by Ron Landis and Joe Rust. ?Using old techniques, vintage equipment, a lot of hard work and more than a little ingenuity, they?ve produced picture-perfect collector reproductions of everything from Athenian tetradrahms to 1794 silver dollars (carefully noting each to be a COPY, as not to deceive and to conform to regulations). John (and a number of other distinguished E-Sylum readers and contributors) is on the board of directors of the newly-created Gallery Mint Museum Foundation. ASSAY INFORMATION USEFUL Rich Kelly and Nancy Oliver writes: ?We would like to thank subscribers Roger Burdette, and Dick Johnson for being so kind as to take the time to answer our inquiry into the status of Assay coins. We have been very pleased to find that the subscribers to E-Sylum have been very knowledgeable and helpful to our research. The information they provided to us on how the assay, and special assay, coins of the mints are handled has been invaluable in our most recent endeavor to solve the mystery of the 1894 Dime of San Francisco.? LATIN PAPER MONEY SOCIETY LIBRARY DONATED TO ANA Jay Beeton of the American Numismatic Association writes: "The Latin American Paper Money Society has donated its library collection to the ANA." The following is from the attached press release: "The Latin American Paper Money Society has donated its library to the American Numismatic Association?s Dwight N. Manley Numismatic Library in Colorado Springs. The LANSA collection, formerly housed in Seward, Alaska, consists of many references familiar to collectors as well as copies of original research on the subject of Latin American money, and source documents such as the First Annual Report of the Banco Central de Chile in Santiago, published in 1926. LANSA President Art Matz said he will contribute additional items and volumes to the ANA library as new materials become available. ?Your help has given me a tremendous boost,? Matz said. ?Seeing the material in the ANA library will be most enjoyable for me. It?s a huge relief to know that it will be in good hands and maintained for the future.? ?This special collection will be an important asset for the ANA,? Library Director Nancy Green said. ?Many of our members are interested in Latin American currency, and this will be a valuable resource for them.? AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY SAMPLE BOOK OFFERED Ed Krivoniak pointed out an interesting item of numismatic Literature up for sale on eBay this week (item #6574254679). It's an 1869 vignette book from the American Bank Note Company. The seller offers to forward links to images of any of the pages, so researchers may want to take advantage of this. "Presented to Annie W. Ayer, with her name stamped in gilt on the upper cover; engraved ex libris Charles Henry Sanford, incorporating a map depicting the North and South American continents, Europe, and Africa, and identifying the cities of New York, London, and Buenos Aires la Plata. A most remarkable American Bank Note Company promotional sample book, issued to further expansion of the firm?s Latin American business. A panoply of South American heroes, statesmen, and patriots are depicted on the superb, steel-engraved plates, accompanied by evocative scenes of Western American and South American rural life on the range and farm, accompanied by more prosaic scenes depicting technological progress in the New World. Such expansive American Bank Note Company vignette volumes are extremely rare and no two seem to be identical. Little has been found about Annie W. Ayer beyond her 1884 presence in Buenos Aires to witness a marriage. A native of England, Charles Henry Sanford (1833- 1891), was a millionaire businessman who made his fortune in Argentina." [The auction listing includes a number of nice images of the book and its plates. ?Editor] CIVIL WAR SIEGE COIN OFFERED The November 25-26, 2005 sale by Craig A. Whitford Numismatic Auctions features a ?rare & elusive New Orleans Siege Dime.? Lot 1628 is an 1860 Indian Head Cent counterstamped ?J. B. SCHILLER on the obverse, and ?X? on the reverse. ?This coin carries the stigma of being the only documented Confederate Civil War siege issues as the piece was countermarked while New Orleans was surrounded and eventually fell to Admiral Farragut?s forces on May 1 of 1862 .. It is widely speculated that the valuation of the countermarked coin in circulation was ten cents . The Schiller counterstamp was first reported in TAMS Journal for March 1963 by Robert Lindesmith in a letter to editor Russ Rulau. It was written up by Rulau in Coin World in 1963 also.? I would think that ?distinction? would be a more apt term than ?stigma.? It?s certainly an interesting story, and I?d be curious to read the writeups on it to see the basis for calling it a siege piece. Another example of the counterstamp appeared in Rich Hartzog?s World Exonumia 2005 Mail Bid Sale of the Brunk counterstamp collection, where the catalog entry reads: ?J. B. Schiller was an importer of alcohol and proprietor of the Sazerac Coffee House at 13 Exchange Place. During the Union siege of New Orleans he issued paper notes for 25 and 50 cents. He also made dime SIEGE TOKENS by stamping 1860 US small cents with his name and a large "X" over 'One" so the reverse becomes 'X Cent' indicating ten cents. This siege piece has been called 'one of the most important American tokens', and an examination of published photographs indicates the Brunk specimen may be the finest known.? http://www.exonumia.com/sale11/alla.htm PANAMA CURRENCY IMAGES SOUGHT Joaquin Gil del Real (gildelreal@yahoo.com) writes: "I trying to put together a catalog of Panama paper money, and need illustrations of same. There is a great scarcity of any of these locally. Could E-Sylum readers who hold samples of Panama items scan them and send the images to me? Credit will be given, if desired. I particularly need: Private issues: Banco de Perez y Planas- 5 peso note , and/or any signed item. Exchange Bank of Colon-- any signed and or numbered item. Banco de Panama- any 5,10,20, 50 that is signed. Government-(Colombian) issues: Estado de Panama-1862- 5, 10 and/or 20 peso item-signed or otherwise. Estado Soberano de Panama-1865- any item that is signed either numbered or not to l874. Estado de Panama- 1872-anything. Estado de Panama- 1875, anything and Estado Soberano de Panama-l880- .50 cents,1 and 2 peso. If the items can be scanned in color, that would be great. There should be available-someplace-an example of the bond issued in 1862 -Deuda Consolidada del Estado de Panama. Signed by Santiago de la Guardia. Any other item which could be useful would be appreciated. Thanks!!!? NEW BANK OF KOERA 5,000 WON NOTE STIRS CONTROVERSY According to a November 2 article on the website of The Korea Times, "The Bank of Korea (BOK) Wednesday unveiled the design for the new 5,000-won banknote and its anti-forgery features." "The BOK said it will issue the new bills early next year. The specimens of the new 10,000-won and 1,000-won bills will be unveiled in the first half of next year, the central bank said. The bank used hologram technology in the design of the 5,000-won banknote. Depending on the angle it is seen in, the hologram shows the images of the Korean map and elements of the yin and yang symbol, the taegeuk in Korean. It also used special ink on the number 5,000 in bottom right- hand corner of the bill?s reverse side, appearing different colors depending on the angle in which it is seen." "In addition, the bank changed the shape of the BOK governor?s seal at the center of all banknotes from a circular to a rectangular shape for the first time since banknotes were introduced in 1950. The red, circular-shaped seal has been considered one of the remaining vestiges of Japanese imperialism. After its establishment in June 1950, the BOK began issuing bills that were modeled on Japanese bills. The color of the seal was also changed from red into reddish-yellow." To read the full story and view images of the new note, see: http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200511/kt2005110217285410220.htm A November 4 article in the same publication noted: ?South Korean Internet users slammed the nation's central bank Friday over its plan to use English letters in serial numbers of its new 5,000-won ($4.79) notes.? "A Korean bank note is supposed to reflect a Korean image," a teenage Internet user said in a message posted on the BOK's Web site.? ?More than 1,500 complaints have been posted on the central bank's Web site since Wednesday, including claims that the central bank is kowtowing to western nations and calls for the bank to reverse the decision. In response, the central bank said it has decided to use English as it is a global trend to use such letters in bank notes.? ?For the time being, the bank has no plans to change its design, he added.? http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/biz/200511/kt2005110420205811910.htm IRON AGE FIND: ISLE OF WIGHT COINS Arthur Shippee forwarded this article noted in The Explorator newsletter. He writes: ?Metal detectorists have found a major Iron Age coin hoard on the Isle of Wight.? ?The largest hoard of Iron Age coins ever found on the Island has been unearthed by metal detectors. The haul of nearly 1,000 base silver coins was dug up over two weeks at a secret West Wight location by members of the IW Metal Detecting Club. But this week it also emerged the find is unlikely to be bought by the IW Museums Service for local display. County museums officer Dr Mike Bishop said his budget was empty and unless new funding was found, the service could not afford the many thousands of pounds at which the haul would inevitably be valued by the British Museum. The coins were originally buried in a primitive clay pot and then scattered over the site by successive years of ploughing.? To read the full article and view an picture of the hoard, see: http://tinyurl.com/9u4ka UNDER A LITTLE PRESSURE, LATELY? John Regitko questioned the following passage in a newspaper article quoted in last week's issue: "Ken Hopple, chief coiner of Coin Press No. 1 at the Carson City Mint, said it takes 120 pounds of pressure to strike each coin." He writes: Are you sure that's pounds, not tons?" Well, I'm sure ?tons? is what was meant, and I?m sorry I didn?t catch this when I first published the item. The reporter probably misheard or misunderstood. Discussing another newspaper article quoted last week, Joel Orosz writes: "I saw that quarters article in the Kalamazoo Gazette. Despite the usual quota of numismatic inaccuracies, it was an entertaining piece. It is frightening to me, however, that whenever I read a story in the popular press on a subject about which I know something, like numismatics or philanthropy, it is full of errors. It makes me wonder how many inaccuracies I am accepting as truth for those subjects about which I am not expert!" CANADIAN MINT HEAD EXONERATED BY AUDITORS Speaking of errors on the part of the press, in the the Canadian Numismatic Association E-Bulletin Number 24 (November 1, 2005), editor John Regitko writes about The results of two independent audits of expenditures by David Dingwall, the head of the Canadian Mint who recently resigned his position (see The E-Sylum, October 2, 2005 (v8n42). Regitko writes: "Much space has been consumed in the press lately, as well as much airtime, following David Dingwall's resignation as President and CEO of the Royal Canadian Mint. We wished him well in the previous bulletin and reserved judgment until all the facts came out. And now they have, so we are devoting a bid of space to the findings, since he certainly was a major figure in Canadian numismatics who, during his short time at the Mint, turned the corporation around to a profitable operation. The findings of two independent reviews related to the expenditures incurred by the Honourable David C. Dingwall during his tenure as President and CEO of the Royal Canadian Mint exonerated him, with a small exception. Although I am not a lawyer, I don't believe you have to be to fully understand what the reports say. And what it says to me is that I have been misinformed by the daily press!" Regitko presented much information culled from the actual Reports of the auditors. He adds "Although some small amounts, due to clerical errors, are recoverable from Mr. Dingwall, certainly the reports vindicate Mr. Dingwall. Who feels apologies are warranted?" For more information on the C.N.A. E-Bulletin, see http://www.canadian-numismatic.org/ebulletin.php ON EDITORIALS AND THE LATEST ANA DUST-UP And speaking of controversies, the latest involving the American Numismatic Association keeps growing and growing. Alan V. Weinberg writes: "Has anyone read or commented upon the recent Coin World editorial by Beth Deisher? It was an extraordinarily bold and perhaps controversial 2/3rds page commentary on ANA Executive Director Chris Cipoletti and the path down which he is taking the ANA. Ever since attorney Cipoletti took over, first as ANA legal counsel and now Executive Director (talk about a conflict of interest & approach to problems!), replacing the badly- missed retired Ed Rochette, the ANA's key operational decisions have been made in secret sessions, involved the ANA in questionable personnel dismissals and litigious situations which will end up costing the ANA a lot of money in legal fees and likely case losses/settlements. It is clear it was not a good idea to hire a lawyer as head of the ANA, much less a person who has no numismatic knowledge or background whatsoever. And the newly elected Board members, most or all accomplished numismatists, seem to be a rubber stamp for Cipoletti's actions. It is unprecedented in modern hobby times for the Editor of a major numismatic publication to take a strong public stand against the current ANA administration but it is commendable and brave, and hopefully only the first salvo." Pete Smith writes: ?Coin World and Numismatic News have reported on the action by the ANA board to remove Walter Ostromecki. If the story reported in these papers is correct, I do not believe the removal is justified. I have not heard or read an explanation from the ANA. I doubt if the ANA board will pay much attention to the response of a single ANA member but an organized response might get their attention. I am looking for suggestions or guidance. If any ANA member is interested in organizing a response or participating in such a response, please contact me at pete@coindeals.com.? [As Pete mentions, both Coin World and Numismatic News have each devoted a lot of print of late to the ANA and the nature of Cipoletti's leadership. David Ganz? column in Numismatic News has explored the unfortunate ramifications of having the same person serve the organization as both legal counsel and Executive Director. It will be interesting to see how the situation unfolds. Controversies abound in the history of the ANA, with the one involving literature dealer Frank Katen likely being one of the most notable for bibliophiles. ?Editor] CAPE VERDE SALINA TOKEN INFORMATION Bob Lyall writes: "Paul Baker asked about the Cape Verde tokens - I remember some of these being listed on dealers lists in the past - probably either Jerry Schimmel (San Francisco) or Cyril Fox (Australia). They are salina tokens (salt ponds, such tokens also used in the Bahamas and Turks & Caicos islands) and were catalogued by Salgado and Pascoal 15 years ago in "Portugiesische Kolonialwertmarken". It seems not all Salinas used tokens. I checked one in Malta some 15 years ago but they said they had never used tokens, sadly." THE ENEMIES OF BOOKS Last week I published a couple of excerpts from the digital version of William Blades' 1888 work, "The Enemies of Books". Here are two more interesting (and not exactly politically correct) sections: [On Spring cleaning...] "Dust! it is all a delusion. It is not the dust that makes women anxious to invade the inmost recesses of your Sanctum-- it is an ingrained curiosity. And this feminine weakness, which dates from Eve, is a common motive in the stories of our oldest literature and Folk-lore. What made Fatima so anxious to know the contents of the room forbidden her by Bluebeard? It was positively nothing to her, and its contents caused not the slightest annoyance to anybody. That story has a bad moral, and it would, in many ways, have been more satisfactory had the heroine been left to take her place in the blood-stained chamber, side by side with her peccant predecessors. Why need the women-folk (God forgive me!) bother themselves about the inside of a man's library, and whether it wants dusting or not?" [On children] "Children, with all their innocence, are often guilty of book-murder. I must confess to having once taken down "Humphrey's History of Writing," which contains many brightly-coloured plates, to amuse a sick daughter. The object was certainly gained, but the consequences of so bad a precedent were disastrous. That copy (which, I am glad to say, was easily re-placed), notwithstanding great care on my part, became soiled and torn, and at last was given up to Nursery martyrdom. Can I regret it? surely not, for, although bibliographically sinful, who can weigh the amount of real pleasure received, and actual pain ignored, by the patient in the contemplation of those beautifully-blended colours? A neighbour of mine some few years ago suffered severely from a propensity, apparently irresistible, in one of his daughters to tear his library books. She was six years old, and would go quietly to a shelf and take down a book or two, and having torn a dozen leaves or so down the middle, would replace the volumes, fragments and all, in their places, the damage being undiscovered until the books were wanted for use. Reprimand, expostulation and even punishment were of no avail; but a single "whipping" effected a cure." http://serv.ul.cs.cmu.edu/ulib/data/cmu_classics/3f3/83e/411/cd1/52e/b/ [Note to my kids: keep your paws off Daddy?s books!! Or else! -Editor] LOUISIANA LIBRARY HURRICANE DAMAGE Marilyn A. Graver forwarded the following item from the November 2005 Newsletter of the Bibliophile Society of Rochester, NY: ?Hurricanes Katrina and Rita did substantial damage to many of Louisiana?s libraries. Over 100 school libraries and 15 public libraries were damaged or destroyed beyond repair, and a number of academic libraries lost major portions of their collections. The first floor of Southern University Library in New Orleans was flooded and has lost collections including African-American History, reference, and all books from A-G in the LC classification system. Tulane University basement was flooded and lost almost its entire government documents section. If you are interested in helping, financial donations for public libraries may be sent to the Louisiana Library Foundation and they will forward the money to the appropriate library or community. If you want to donate to a specific library, you can indicate that and they will make sure that the library receives it. Make your check payable to Louisiana Library Foundation and send it to PO Box 2583 Baton Rouge, LA 70821.? OUR COMMUNITY Fred Schwan writes: "I liked Cliff Mishler's discussion about what to call ourselves. I have spent time pondering this difficult question. I never came up with as good an answer as Cliff (no surprise there), but I would like to make a refinement. I certainly agree with the community aspect. However, I think that hobby community is much better than coin community on a few counts. Coin community seems to exclude paper money collectors and it includes a few people who are not numismatists. I am thinking of people who work with money on a professional, non numismatic level: people who work at the mints, drive the Brinks trucks, etc. ON REVIVING THE ASSAY COMMISSION George Kolbe writes: "Concerning Dick Johnson's opinion on "killing" the Assay Commission, may I point out that politicians of both parties routinely rail against "wasteful spending" (but never when it occurs in their district, I admit). However, viewed from this, in my opinion quite proper, perspective, how can one justify the existence of a commission to certify how much base metal is present in a particular coin?" [In 1977 it was true that the Mint no longer produced coins of precious metals, but within a few years the U.S. began producing and marketing bullion pieces, and now sells a huge number of silver, gold, and platinum coins. We also have commemorative coins and various special issues struck in silver and gold. -Editor] George adds: "My point is that its abolition was undeniably justified at the time. A greater truth: the Assay Commission was an obsolete institution anyway. If not at its beginnings, certainly by the dawn of the 20th century the U. S. could have not gotten away with issuing underweight coins, nor can they now. It was and is a political impossibility. Monarch and tyrants may secretly debase coinage; democracies cannot. " [Well, I can agree with that, too, but I guess the collector in me still yearns for the revival of the tradition (see Fred Schwan's response following). Assays do go on regardless of the existence of an official commission, but despite the added expense I think there's something of value in a public, independent, official appraisal. The press doesn't do assays, nor do most buyers of U.S. Mint products. But all would pay attention to a less than favorable Assay Commission report. Of course, the mere existence of a watchdog organization helps ensure that the reports will be nothing but positive. Has there ever been a negative one? I?ll admit I?ve never read the details of assay commission reports or the corresponding sections of the annual Mint reports. But neither do I recall reading about an Assay Commission failing to give high marks to the U.S. Mint. -Editor] Fred Schwan writes: "The discussion on the assay commission has caused me to go public with an idea that I have been hiding. Since we do not have an official assay commission, I think that we should start our own! In my opinion the Old Time Assayers should take on this task. Failing that the ANA or, gasp, a large hobby community commercial entity might take on the task. Done correctly, it would probably even be possible to get the cooperation of the mint. Failing that or even if the mint wanted to participate, the organizers might opt to exclude the mint. The event could be very much like the meetings in the later years (more honorary and social than functional, but that is not such a bad thing). Alternatively, with the help of some scientific community members the group might be able to do some interesting assaying on circulating and noncirculating current coins. Certainly, the annual assay medals should be revived. Possibly the assayers could receive silver medals and base metal medals could be sold to the community to help finance the thing. I would suspect that the medals should not be advertised in New York (I could not resist)." [I would think that if the Old-Time Assay Commissioners really wanted to revive the institution on their own they would have done it long before now. The organization gets smaller and grayer each passing year since no new blood has joined since 1977. -Editor] ON THE CIRCULATION OF GOLD Don Cleveland writes: "I remember my Grandmother in the mid-1950s telling me about using gold coins when she was a young housewife in the state of Washington (late 1920s). Not being wealthy, they rarely saw them, but once in awhile they would get a quarter eagle, half eagle, or eagle. She did not recall ever seeing a one-dollar gold coin, although silver dollars were used quite often. She also mentioned she had never received a double eagle (which I now suspect would have represented a good part of a month's wages). Anyway, whenever she or her husband received a gold coin, the custom was to wrap it in tissue paper or cotton, so it would not rub on other coins or wear in the purse. She said banks and merchants did not like to take gold coins if they were too beat up." Tom DeLorey writes: "I have a little anecdote on the circulation of gold coins among ordinary people. My grandmother, nee Winifred Parks, was born in Lake Linden, MI in 1890. Whenever she stopped going to school, let's say 1908, she went to work for the local telephone company as a switchboard operator, where she worked for several years before marrying grandpa just to get out of town. In 1968 she came to live with my father and us, where she found out that I collected coins. This triggered a memory, and she told me that when she was working for the telephone company up in Calumet, one year she got a $2-1/2 gold piece in her pay envelope at Christmas. I naturally asked her if she had kept it, and she said no, that two and a half dollars was her entire pay for the week, but that that one Christmas the phone company had paid everybody in gold instead of silver. She took it home and gave it to her mother to help support the family, as she did every week, and got back the fifty cents that she was normally allowed to keep for herself. I am sure that this was the only gold coin that she ever owned in her life, if only for a few hours, that she could remember it sixty years later. [Thanks for the interesting anecdotes. I doubt gold jingled much in the pockets of my ancestors, either. My stepgrandfather had a $1 gold piece of 1851, which is now in my collection. He had been given it by his Sunday school teacher as a reward. -Editor] VERA CRUZ MINE AND THE U.S. MINT Roger deWardt Lane writes: "In my papers I found an old letter dated Nov 27, 1907 from the Manager of the Vera Cruz Mining Co., Nogal, New Mexico promoting the offer of some shares to a Mr. Cole in Michigan. The envelope has a Washington 2 Cent red stamp. Two paragraphs in the letter stand out - "You understand our product being gold, financial depressions and fluctuations in markets has no effect on us whatever, the price remaining the same from year to year." "I am also pleased to tell you that we have received returns from the U.S. Mint for our first shipment of bullion, which was very satisfactory indeed, and convinces me without a doubt that this proposition is even better than we at first anticipated." The internet gave me a little history of a different take - "Vera Cruz was the name of a gold mine on the west side of the Tucson Mountains more than it was the name of a community. Although an organized townsite was proposed, it never existed beyond the post office stage and then for only two years. The mine was closed after it was discovered the gold deposits were of too low a grade. Only the dump of the Vera Cruz Mine is seen today, high in the Tucson Mountains as one drives the highway between Carrizozo and Lincoln. " The mine was working during 1907 as there is another Internet family reference to a man who worked there during this period. I can't find much else except the names of some officers years later when the company name was changed to the Vera Cruz Consolidated Gold and Silver Mining Company." [Perhaps some of the gold from this mine found its way into the new Saint-Gaudens coinage of 1907. -Editor] THE COINS FROM LINCOLN'S EYES Last week, Jeff Starck of Coin World mentioned that "... pennies (sorry, cents) were placed over the eyelids of the deceased." and that "a Chicago museum has cents it claims were placed on President Abraham Lincoln". Tom DeLorey writes: "They were not cents, they were Seated Half Dollars. Joe Scheidler and I examined them here at the Chicago Historical Society several years ago, and Joe wrote it up for the Gobrecht Journal. The coins are affixed to a certificate of authenticity by means of a black silk ribbon run through two holes drilled in each coin (GACK! The first slab!) and some sealing wax. One of the coins is an 1861, and Joe was wondering if it might be an 1861-O. By very carefully laying coins atop it under the watchful and apprehensive eye of a curator, I was able to compare reeding counts and determine that it was a P-mint coin." [The Chicago Historical Society web site pictures these coins: "Silver half-dollars were placed over the president's eyes, and government undertaker Frank Sands arrived to prepare Lincoln's body for the journey home to the White House." http://www.chicagohistory.org/wetwithblood/RETURN/petersen3.htm I wonder if the old custom of using pennies (in Britain) and cents (in the U.S.) changed in the U.S. when the Mint switched to small size cents after 1857? Are the smaller cents too small and light to hold the deceased's eyelids in place? Could that be why half dollars were used instead of cents for President Lincoln's body in 1865? -Editor] MORE UNUSUAL USES OF COINS Doug Andrews writes: "I can contribute two off-beat uses for coins. One of the best known is a bride putting a copper coin (these days, likely a bronze- or copper-plated steel or zinc coin) in her shoe on her wedding day for good luck. The second use, with somewhat more serious potential consequences, is one that I learned in my profession unfortunately. It involves removing a blown electrical fuse in the days before circuit breakers came into wide use, and dropping a nickel into the socket before screwing the fuse back in. This is an old trick to keep the electricity flowing when a replacement fuse isn't handy. It also is a sure-fire, fool-proof method (pun intended) of burning down your building. By the way, did I mention that I am an insurance adjuster?" Don Cleveland writes: "I have seen, and used myself, coins with holes in them for emergency washers. In Papua New Guinea I once used a one Kina coin for a fishing weight. Of course, there is bride price in which a large number of Kina coins are strung on a leather strip and offered to the bride's father. I'm sure most readers have used a small coin, such as a dime, for a screw driver. And, last, coins for decoration. I have a shepherd's staff with a wooden handle wrapped in felt and covered with coins, the latest dated 1876. The coins are held in place by tiny bent nails. None penetrate the coins. Sounds good, until the coins are examined and each is bent to fit the curve of the round staff. At least half the coins are ancient Roman copper. Most of the rest are 19th century, although there are also a couple of 18th century on the staff. Luckily, none appear, even now days, to have any real value. I got the staff in Tunisia about 30 years ago. I suspect, however, it may have originated in France." SOLDIER ID TAGS Henry Bergos writes: "Regarding "dog tags", I have a 1696 English crown with a soldier?s name, town and birth date on it from the early 19th cent. The idea was that if the soldier fell in battle one of his comrades would take the coin and contact his relatives and keep the coin for his effort." NUMISMATIC LITERATURE ON GOOGLE PRINT Ed Snible writes: "Google Print has scanned and indexed a large number of numismatic titles. Some samples: Holt, ?Alexander the Great and the Mystery of the Elephant Medallions?; Mattingly, ?From Coins To History?; Vagi, ?Coinage and History of the Roman Empire?; Howe, ?Ancient Coins at the Elvehjem Museum of Art?; Crawford, ?Roman Republican Coinage?; Halperin, ?How To Grade U.S. Coins?; Reiter, ?The New York Times Guide to Coin Collecting?. A large number of recent Heritage auction catalogs are available. It's good to see Google scanning auction catalogs, and I look forward the eventual appearance of older auction catalogs. Books published after 1922 can be searched but Google only allows a few pages or paragraphs can be read. Old public-domain books can be read completely. Three such fully readable books: ?Greek Coins and Their Parent Cities? / Ward and Hill http://print.google.com/print?hl=en&id=7-S0M6NLGnsC George Greenlief Evans, ?Illustrated History of the United States Mint? (1887) http://print.google.com/print?hl=en&id=Gb78y8_aVlAC ?The Confessions of a Collector? / William Carew Hazlitt http://print.google.com/print?hl=en&id=O9TpqnZh9AIC Hazlitt's "Confessions of a Collector" is a gem that I wouldn't have discovered without Google Print. It is an 1897 account of book and coin collecting in England, full of details of dealers, coins, and purchase prices. I haven't found a way to jump to a particular book page. This is a problem for reading Hazlitt's book -- the numismatic stuff doesn't start until page 235! Frenzied attempts to click "Next" 234 times are thwarted by a false message suggesting that a virus is clicking pages for you!" MORE ON PARODY COINS Last week, in discussing the satirical "quarters" modeled After the U.S. Fifty States Quarter series, I asked: "Is it true that thes are overstruck on real quarters?" Kavan Ratnatunga writes: " Yes, they are all clearly overstuck and that is why they are legal like elongates. I have almost a complete set posted at http://lakdiva.org/coins/funny/sq/ The better original parody coins were struck I am told at All American Coin Company Inc, and others have joined in trying to profit from them and probably kill their collectibility. I do have few low grade copies in aluminum, which are clearly junk and maybe illegal. [Thanks for assembling the web page of images. A picture is worth 1,000 words, and the words to describe the Clinton Arkansas quarter would brand The E-Sylum in spam filters as content unfit for polite company. -Editor] Troy Hine writes: "Canadian Coin News October 18, 2005 issue contains a column by Hans Neidermair about Fark.com, a website that encourages readers to participate in a Photoshop contest to design their own quarter. The website is www.trajan.ca." NUMISMATIST MICROFICHE / MICROFILM SET SOUGHT Fred Reed writes: ?Do any E-Sylum readers know of a resource for The Numismatist in microfiche or microfilm version? This would be very helpful to researchers.? WILL COINS BE IN FOUNDATION OF NEW FREEDOM TOWER? Dick Johnson writes: ?Now that all the bad news about the Freedom Tower dollars is over, we learn of a numismatic connection to the old buildings. The good news, but without fanfare, is that they have begun building the new Freedom Tower. In a story in the New York Times (Friday November 4, 2005) we learn that in 1966 when the old buildings were first being built "John M. Kyle, the chief engineer of the Port Authority, threw in a silver dollar, a 100-lire coin from Italy, a 5-franc coin from France and a British penny." Anyone want to contribute a coin for the foundation of the new Freedom Tower?? Read the New York Times article at: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/04/nyregion/04rebuild.html NATIONAL COLLECTOR'S MINT AND THE 9/11 "COINS" Kavan Ratnatunga writes: "I agree there should be truth in advertising laws, but they are probably difficult to enforce, since one person's truth because of small print is another person's lie. The National Collectors Mint was clearly one who has produced most of the items seen in scams on eBay, mostly silver-plated replica coins advertised as rare proof silver coins. The 9-11 coin was one case when they could be prosecuted since there was a clear violation. It is however not an isolated case." ANA RAISES PUBLIC AWARENESS OF TRAVELING COIN BUYERS The American Numismatic Association is to be commended for getting the word out to the public regarding one potential scam, the traveling coin buyer. Of course, many of these buyers are undoubtedly on the up-and-up and may offer fair prices to the public selling their numismatic items. But sellers who fail to shop around could find themselves selling far too cheaply. The following excerpts are from a November 1, 2005 article by Patricia Sabatini in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: ?A traveling buyer of collectibles is in Pittsburgh this week offering "instant cash" for rare coins, jewelry, gem stones, guns, historical documents and other valuables. But before you head over to the event hoping to get top dollar for grandma's prized silver tea set or grandpap's beloved pocket watch, experts advise doing your homework. They say you should have a good idea of what your valuables are worth before showing up at such events or you risk getting taken. "Companies that do business like this, setting up in hotels and keep constantly moving, are notorious for paying way below the market value for what you bring in," said David Sklow, researcher at the American Numismatic Association, the country's largest trade association for coin collectors and dealers. "Make yourself aware of what you have so you aren't going in there blind," Mr, Sklow said, adding that taking your collectibles to a buyer's show isn't the place for an unbiased appraisal.? To read the complete article, see: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05305/598272.stm EGYPTIAN MUSEUM BASEMENT NEGLECT Do any numismatic treasures await catalogers working in Egypt? ?Egyptian archaeologists, who normally scour the desert in search of treasures of the past, have discovered that one of the greatest caches of antiquities may well be in the basement of the Egyptian Museum. For the last century, artifacts have been stored away in crates there and forgotten, often allowed to disintegrate in the dank, dusty cavern. Forgotten until now. The recent theft and recovery of three statues from the basement have prompted antiquity officials in Egypt to redouble an effort already under way to complete the first comprehensive inventory of artifacts in the basement. "For the last 100 years, curators sat down to drink tea, but they did not do their jobs," said Zahi Hawass, the general secretary of the Supreme Council of Antiquities. "How many artifacts are in the basement? It was awful." Step through a small, Hobbit-sized door, down a steep flight of stairs and through a locked gate. The basement is a maze of arched passageways and bare light bulbs hanging from decaying wires. It is packed with wooden crates, hundreds of them, sometimes piled floor to ceiling. Cobwebs cling to ancient pottery and tablets engraved with hieroglyphics. Six hundred coffins and 170 mummies have been found so far. No one knows what may have been stolen over the years. Last year, officials reported that 38 golden bracelets from Roman times had vanished from the basement, apparently six years earlier. "It is an accumulation of 100 years of neglect," said Dr. Ali Radwan, a professor of Egyptology at Cairo University who took a recent tour of the basement. To read the complete story, see: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/01/international/africa/01museum.html?8hpib A COIN-ENCRUSTED CAR Arthur Shippee sent this article about ?the world's most expensive limousine? at the Ripley?s Believe It or Not museum: He writes: ?The limo is covered with gold coins.? http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4989709 FEATURED WEB SITE This week's featured web site asks ?Was the 1915 medallion known as 'The Fort' actually sculpted by the German medallist Ludwig Gies (1887-1966); or was this the actual work of the Florentine goldsmith, sculptor and writer Lorenzo Ghiberti (1378-1455) between May 29th 1453 and December 1st 1455?? The site was recommended by Rich Hartzog, who adds: ?You can always check my www.exonumia.com/links.htm page for lots of links to interesting exonumia web sites. Happy Collecting!? http://www.freewebs.com/hooty1/ Wayne Homren Numismatic Bibliomania Society The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. For more information please see our web site at http://www.coinbooks.org/. There is a membership application available on the web site at this address: http://www.coinbooks.org/club_nbs_member_app.html To join, print the application and return it with your check to the address printed on the application. Membership is only $15 to addresses in the U.S., $20 elsewhere. For those without web access, write to: David M. Sundman, Secretary/Treasurer Numismatic Bibliomania Society, P. O. Box 82 Littleton, NH 03561 For Asylum mailing address changes and other membership questions, contact David at this email address: dsundman@LittletonCoin.com To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, just Reply to this message, or write to the Editor at this address: whomren@coinlibrary.com Those wishing to become new E-Sylum subscribers (or wishing to Unsubscribe) can go to the following web page: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum All past E-Sylum issues are archived on the NBS web site at this address: http://www.coinbooks.org/club_nbs_esylum_archive.html Issues from September 2002 to date are also archived at this address: http://my.binhost.com/pipermail/esylum/ From esylum at binhost.com Sun Nov 13 23:27:19 2005 From: esylum at binhost.com (esylum@binhost.com) Date: Sun Nov 13 23:28:40 2005 Subject: The E-Sylum v8#48, November 13, 2005 Message-ID: <1131942439.43781227a63b5@webmail.telerama.com> Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 8, Number 48, November 13, 2005: an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society. Copyright (c) 2005, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society. WAYNE'S WORDS Among our recent subscribers are C.L. Collins and Charles Riley. Welcome aboard! We now have 816 subscribers. This issue brings sad news. One of our longtime contributors, Bill Spengler, is gone. He will be missed. On a brighter note, Whitman Publishing has given NBS a nice publicity plug, and two new web sites for bibliophiles debut. Two E-Sylum contributors locate a trove of numismatic data on 19th-century medals, and we learn more about the recent high-profile stamp trade from one of our own who was present. Howard Daniel reports on his numismatic adventures in Bangkok, and from elsewhere around the world we learn about a new exhibit of Maltese numismatics, some background information on a book on Panama numismatics, and more on the distribution of counterfeit currency by the North Korean and Yemeni governments. Have fun! Wayne Homren Numismatic Bibliomania Society BILL SPENGLER PASSES AWAY Bill Rosenblum writes: ?It's my sad duty to report that Bill Spengler passed away Tuesday morning about 4:30 Mountain time. There will be no services. Bill was co-author with Wayne Sayles of the two volume standard on Turkoman coins (a third volume is in the works). He was the program chairman for Numismatics International at the ANA? [Bill Spengler of Colorado Springs, CO was a frequent E-Sylum contributor. Spengler spent seven years with the Foreign Service in Pakistan and many years in and out of India. A specialist in Oriental numismatics, he also volunteered at the American Numismatic Association Museum. He will be missed. ?Editor] John and Nancy Wilson, Ocala, FL write: ?Bill was a South Asian Historian and Numismatist who lectured on this subject in the U.S. and other countries. He also wrote extensively on the subject and was a contributor to several numismatic references. His contributions to our hobby in South Asian Numismatics are numerous. Bill's passing is truly a great loss for our numismatic hobby. Bill was not only a numismatic ANA Certified Judge but a prolific exhibitor. We will never forgot how proud he was when he won the coveted Howland Wood Best in Show award. Bill received numerous awards and honors in the numismatic hobby for his hard work and dedication over many decades. Our sincere condolences and prayers to his family. Bill will always remain in our memories and thoughts.? Steve D'Ippolito writes: ?William F. Spengler passed away this last Tuesday, 8 November. The Colorado Springs Gazette's death notice read: Born Jan. 12 1923. Died Nov 8, 2005. Consul general, 29-year Colorado Springs resident. Survived by his wife, Phillis; two sons, Bill and John; and a daughter, Sarah. [It goes on to name the funeral home--but there were no services or visitation, at Bill Spengler's request.] His numismatic accomplishments were unmentioned. William Spengler was not only a renowned specialist in issues from Asia, he was also a talented exhibitor, winning the Howland Wood Memorial Award for best of show in (if memory serves) 1987 and serving as an exhibit judge for many years. I took up exhibiting in 1998 and found Bill to be eager to give helpful advice and encouragement. I consider him my mentor. I went over to ANA headquarters Wednesday and he is remembered there as a gentleman and a scholar, "and there is no higher praise" according to Nancy Green, the ANA Librarian. His light has gone out of the world.? SPENGLER ON MARGINALIA [The following item is reprinted from the May 11, 2003 issue of The E-Sylum (v6n19). In it, Bill Spengler recalls his purchase of a numismatic library. ?Editor] Gary Dunaier writes: "Regarding handwritten notes in the margins of books: I, personally, don't care for them. But I don't think it's something that should be rejected on a wholesale basis. For example, I don't think any self-respecting numismatic student would turn down the opportunity to acquire a used coin book solely on the basis of writing in the margins -- if the notes were written by Q. David Bowers or someone of his caliber." Bill Spengler of Colorado Springs writes: "While in general I abhor the practice of underlining or writing in the margins of serious books, especially in irremovable ink, this once worked to my considerable advantage. On a visit to my favorite Oriental bookseller in England in 1976, I was fortunate to acquire a 39-volume numismatic library of original editions of most of the museum catalogues and other standard references on ancient and medieval coins of South Asia -- my specialty -- published between 1866 and 1941, including all the Numismatic Supplements to the "Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal" 1904-1937. They were all beautifully bound in tan leather with gold lettering and decoration, and were in nice condition. Several of the volumes, particularly those covering gold coins of the Gupta Dynasty of ancient India, contained "marginalia" written in blue pencil -- routinely used by British colonial administrators in annotating documents and exchanging notes. What a great find, evidently the personal reference library of a British collector of Indian coins while stationed in the Subcontinent! I was eager to know who of the rather small group of such British numismatists had owned and used this important library long ago. Sadly, however, these volumes did not contain a single bookplate, owner's signature or other overt indication of ownership, and the bookseller had had them in stock so long that he couldn't recall where, how or when he had acquired them! I took this as a challenge in detection and eventually discovered the solution in the volume on "The Coinage of the Early or Imperial Gupta Dynasty of Northern India" by the famous British Indian numismatist Vincent A. Smith, bearing on its cover a faint inked note presenting the book to one H. Rivett-Carnac Esq. "with the author's kind regards". This was the only such clue in the entire library. Confirmation came in a notation on one of the plates in this volume on which someone had written "to BM" in blue pencil alongside a gold stater of Kumara Gupta. When I looked up this piece in the British Museum I found on the coin's little round ticket that it had been donated by none other than H. Rivett-Carnac. This established ownership of this volume and, by association, all the others.? NBS PROMOTED IN NEW WHITMAN BOOK Dennis Tucker of Whitman Publishing writes: ?I'm pleased to let you know that Whitman has promoted the Numismatic Bibliomania Society in The Whitman Insider Guide to Smart Coin Collecting, as a numismatic group that collectors can join for education and camaraderie. The Society is highlighted along with a five-line description and a link to your web site: ?Numismatic Bibliomania Society. www.coinbooks.org. The NBS supports and promotes the use and collecting of numismatic literature--books, periodicals, catalogs, and other written or printed material relating to coins, medals, tokens, or paper money, ancient or modern, U.S. or worldwide. ? The Insider Guide is on the press right now and will be on bookshelves just before Christmas. It's part of a new series of inexpensive, small-size books (64 pages, measuring 4.25x6) focusing on single topics in the hobby (grading, buying, selling, etc.). Our press run will be in the thousands. My hope is that this kind of outreach, within the hobby community and also the mass market, will generate interest and additional membership for the NBS.? [Many thanks to Dennis and Whitman. Every bit of publicity is a good thing for our organization. Always room for more bibliophiles! -Editor] NUMISMATIC BOOK REVIEW WEB SITE DEBUTS Dave Millington of the U.K. writes: ?I've just set up a website for people to read about, rate and review numismatic books. I have added a few books to get it started, and will continue to add more books every day that I can. Please feel free to look around. You will need to register to add books and reviews, and also to receive the planned monthly newsletter. Any feedback would be gratefully appreciated!? http://www.numibooks.com [Chris Fuccione also forwarded a note about the new site. Visitors can browse the entries without having to register. Each book is given its own page with an image of the book?s cover. Periodicals are included as well. The subjects are mostly ancient coins, but over time I?m sure many others could be added. Be sure to take a look. ?Editor] PERSONAL LIBRARY WEB SITE Jeff Reichenberger writes: ?I stumbled onto a web site that might interest some of our fellow 'philes: http://www.Librarything.com You can catalog your personal library, share it or keep it private, categorize, tag, and otherwise set it up just the way you want it. Up to 200 books is free, Unlimited entries for $10/year, $25/lifetime. Enjoy!? TWO NUMISMATIC RESEARCHERS AT TIFFANY?S Dick Johnson writes: ?I have collected the medals of Tiffany & Company for almost forty years. The fact that Tiffany ? the famed jewelry firm on Fifth Avenue in New York City and now with stores all over the world ? made medals was brought to my attention by a passage in one of Leon Lindheim?s numismatic books. (Another reason was that I had to collect something after I became curator of the Medallic Art Company?s archives in the 1960s, as I did not want the temptation of collecting my own company?s medals.) I casually acquired a Tiffany piece now and then. Then I discovered something astounding. I learned that Medallic Art Company had struck all of Tiffany & Co?s medals since the mid 1930s. I kept record of these but collected only those that predated this era. Another discovery: The firm had their own Tiffany Pavilion at the Buffalo Exposition in 1901. They had exhibited one of every medal they had made in the 19th century. They even gold plated every medal in that exhibit! Even better, they had published a little pamphlet listing all these. I discovered this rare pamphlet in the vertical files in the library of the American Numismatic Society. My cataloging work at Medallic Art Co brought me in contact with the head of the art department at Tiffany?s. One time I asked him: "Does Tiffany have an archive of all their medals?" Yes, he said, some but not all. Come by some time and I will dig them out and show you. I was at his fourth floor office at the Fifth Avenue Store in less that a week?s time. He had a couple of trays to show me. They were all goldplated! These were the 19th century medals that had been in that 1901 exhibit! Recently, I learned that writers on silver had access to Tiffany?s archives, writing about famed Tiffany silver designs. I wondered if they still had records of their medals. I mentioned this to fellow researcher Katie Jaeger, who said she would like to visit the Tiffany archives as well. Katie is a rising star in the field of numismatic literature. An author of articles in history journals, some of her articles will appear in numismatic publications shortly. She has worked with Q. David Bowers for a book or two and currently she is well into her own major numismatic book project. Watch for her name on some gem numismatic books upcoming. Katie is inspired. Her inspiration is the fact her great grandfather was one of the Lovetts ? George Hampden Lovett. She had researched the Lovett family history, learned the lore of engraving and is now deeply immersed in numismatics. To access Tiffany?s archives a researcher needs extensive credentials, a letter from their publisher, and has to schedule an appointment well in advance. Appointments don?t come easy. Ours took from May to November. But we got in this week. Thursday we traveled to Tiffany?s New Jersey headquarters to spend the day pouring over the documents, papers, card files, photographs, journals, sketch books, and scrapbooks. I came with a list of 327 medals I knew Tiffany had made since 1851. I found perhaps two to five times that number of medals which were new to me. Katie and I were in our glory pouring over this untapped source of numismatic treasure. Two heads are far better than one in research, constantly seeking each other?s advice - and searching takes half the time. One series of boxes had small envelopes containing 3x5 cards (papers, sketches, and sometimes sample die impressions!). There were also black crumbs in every one of these envelopes ? tobacco, I first thought. No, these records were once held together by rubber bands. In 70 years the bands had deteriorated to crumbs. Perhaps we were the first eyes to see these documents in over 70 years!? TRADITIONAL BOOK SIZE INFORMATION SOUGHT Martin Purdy writes: ?The discussion about the most valuable numismatic book prompted me to do some research about the oldest book that the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand holds in its library - "Familiae Romanae in Antiquis Numismatibus", by Charles Patin, 1663. It clearly isn't going to beat any price records, but it's a nice item nonetheless. It appears to have been published in various editions and sizes, and I had some fun trying to work out exactly what "traditional" page size it corresponds to - at 360 x 240 mm (trimmed page size), it doesn't really match any of the standard definitions for the various folio standards! Can anyone offer an old-style size description with any degree of certainty?? MORE ON THE MOST EXPENSIVE STAMP TRADE NBS Secretary-Treasurer David Sundman writes: ?I was just reading the latest E-Sylum edition at home and found the mention of the big stamp trade that my brother Donald Sundman and Bill Gross did last week. You can point out to your readers that the new owner of the unique Jenny Airmail invert plate block is my smarter younger brother. Donald (of Mystic Stamp Company in Camden, New York), and I (of the Littleton Coin Company in Littleton, New Hampshire), enjoy working and collecting in our respective fields. You might also direct readers to the story on the BBC World News website, which has a photo of the actual trade. I was in New York for the event, which was pretty wild, with three TV camera crews, a dozen or more reporters, and a couple of dozen collectors in the Charles Shreve Gallery on West 57th Street, about a hundred yards from Stack?s. All this publicity should be good for stamp collecting.? http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4402810.stm HOWARD DANIEL REPORTS FROM BANGKOK The following is an excerpt from an article E-Sylum regular Howard A. Daniel III published this week in the MPC Gram (#1369). It?s a report on his numismatic adventures, filed from Bangkok, Thailand: Howard writes: ?I sent emails and called everyone I was to meet in Bangkok after settling into my room. My first meeting was with Barent Springsted. He is a former Peace Corps volunteer here during the war and he stayed to work in the investment community. He is a paper money and map collector, and has MPC in his collection. We had dinner in the restaurant and talked over it for more than two hours. His Thai wife is almost a perfect twin of my Vietnamese wife! My second meeting was with Ron Cristal, who is a former USAF JAG officer I met over here during the war. He stayed here and opened his own law firm. It has done very well and he is one of THE collectors of Thai metal financial instruments. He is working on a reference that will become THE best one for Thailand, but he is not into paper so you will not see Thai MPC Coupons in it. Then Barent, Ron and I met Mr Lee, Bangkok's foremost numismatic dealer for a lunch at the Sofitel Hotel. It started at 12 Noon and finished around 3PM. We talked and talked about family and numismatics. The next day, I went to see Ron again, and then on to Mr Lee's shop; L. Kim Guan. He brought me into his office and stacked up boxes of Vietnamese paper in front of me. And two sets of plates for the common DRVN Nam Bo 1 Dong note! I bought one set of the plates to use in a future exhibit. I also bought several modern Vietnamese notes with higher or lower blocks than I have in my database. And four Government of Indochina 10 Cent WWII-era notes. Two of them have the same exact numbers and are replacements! I need to get them to Joe Boling to update WWII Remembered.? JR NEWSLETTER REACHES SUBSCRIBER MILESTONE Editor William Luebke writes: ?With Issue # 12, emailed Sunday, November 13, the JR Newsletter has achieved a milestone -- 150 subscribers. This is a significant achievement since its birth in August 2005. Dedicated to collectors and students of U.S. Federal silver and gold coinage of the 1794-1839, the JR Newsletter is free to all. Simply email JRNews@nyc.rr.com to join. While JR News is not affiliated with any numismatic organization, it is recommended that subscribers join the John Reich Collectors Society (JRCS). JRCS can be contacted at www.jrcs.org. Content for the JR Newsletter is provided by subscribers and as such is dependent on their input. Published items have included book reviews, announcements of discoveries of previously unknown specimens of rare varieties, auction and coin show reviews, collector profiles, debates and other items of interest to all numismatic scholars in general and students of early U.S. coinage in particular.? OCEAN IN VIEW NICKEL PHOTOGRAPHER AT OREGON EVENT On November 9, 2005 the Newport News Times of Newport, OR reported that ?The new "Ocean In View" nickels, featuring the work of Newport photographer Andrew Cier, will be available for exchange during the Lewis and Clark signature event, "Destination: The Pacific," which takes place Friday through Sunday near Astoria on the north Oregon coast.? ?The new five-cent piece, released Aug. 5, 2005, was designed by Joe Fitzgerald of the United States Mint Artistic Infusion Program. The front features a contemporary image of President Thomas Jefferson and the back image is based on a photograph taken by Cier of the windswept Oregon coast. Cier, an employee at Newport Lazerquick, only became aware that his photograph was used for the nickel after a colleague brought the new coin to his attention; he later received official credit for the image through an unprecedented settlement reached with the United States Mint. "It's quite exciting, as a professional photographer," Cier said shortly following the settlement.? To read the complete story, and view Cier?s photo, see: http://www.newportnewstimes.com/articles/2005/11/09/community/community03.txt BOOK HUNTING IN BRITAIN Tom Fort forwarded a recent article from Slate on book hunting in Britain. Here are a few excerpts: ?Book collectors are thrill-seekers. It is a vegetarian hunt to be sure, without much exertion or risk, but the endorphin rush of the chase and the adrenaline high of the capture are much the same with first editions as I imagine they must be in the pursuit of 10-point stags, largemouth bass, or 20-foot waves at Maverick's. Speaking only for myself, I can describe four kinds of book-collecting euphoria. There is, first of all, simply the kick of a bargain. Despite all the Internet has done to make prices transparent and bibliographic information universal, you can still find?at book sales and thrift shops, auctions and even fancy dealers?unrecognized or underpriced rarities. Getting something valuable for cheap is the basic, greedy thrill of book collecting. The second pleasure is simply that of making a collection?assembling objects that are related in some way and then filling in holes and extending from the edges. Book collecting is a largely solitary, mostly male, and completely absorbing activity. Nicholas Basbanes' wonderful study A Gentle Madness explores what has driven the great book collectors. As his title indicates, it's not necessarily outstanding mental health. But while "completism" is clearly a form of nuttiness, it is for the most part a benign one, causing no harm to others and usually little to oneself. Next is appreciation of the physical object. Though you might not take this point away from the best-seller tables at Barnes & Noble, the book has historically been a beautiful thing. It is a repository of various arts and crafts, including illustration, typography, letterpress printing, paper-making, and binding (not to mention writing). Raised in a house filled with old books, I'm drawn to them: the dust jackets that call out a historical moment, the marbled boards, the words pressed into the page with movable type. Fourth and finally, there is something that approaches a literary sensation. Holding in your hands the original publication of a book or writer who subsequently became famous rolls back the veils of time and reputation. It connects you to the moment of original potential, before appreciation, recognition, and fame complicated everything. In this way, the first edition has always felt to me like the literature of original intent. It is the book as it went out into the world, the work in its purest (if not necessarily most perfect) form. Of course, there's a negative side to all this too, which makes me slightly loathe collecting, and which I'll get back to later. Once acquired, sought-after rare books become inert trophies, chloroformed butterflies pinned to a board. It's a bit deathly.? ?We chat about the Internet, which Tindley naturally deplores. His view is that the Web takes the magic and mystery out of the book business. Using Abebooks.com, which scours listings for 70 million books from 13,000 dealers around the world, you can find almost anything you are looking for with unimaginable ease. But on the Web, you never find what you're not looking for, which is what invariably happens when you walk into Tindley and Chapman. After lunch, we return to the shop and Tindley proves his point by emerging from the basement with a full run?eight issues?of a magazine called Polemic, which was published in England between 1945 and 1947. Little intellectual magazines, such as Partisan Review and Horizon are a special interest of mine, and Polemic, with covers designed by the British artist Ben Nicholson, is one I've never seen before. Almost every issue has the first publication of one of Orwell's essays, including "The Prevention of Literature" and "Second Thoughts on James Burnham." This is something I would have never thought to look for on Abebooks and probably wouldn't have found if I had. The price? James makes a gesture that indicates he has no idea and says ?40 ($70). I leave with that, an early V.S. Naipaul first, and the first collected edition of Hart Crane's poems.? "Nature abhors a vacuum," he tells me, apologizing for the mess of volumes, papers, and junk covering every available surface in his office, including the floor. "But a bookshop really abhors a vacuum." To read the full article, see: http://www.slate.com/id/2129497/ PANAMA PAPER MONEY IMAGES Regarding Joaquin Gil del Real?s request for images of Panamanian currency, Gar Travis writes: ?Do you know of Bejamin Mizarachi? He was president of the Asociaci?n Numism?tica De Panam? 1996-1997 and wrote an interesting text called Cat?logo Numism?tico De Panam?. Many notes and nearly all the coins and tokens of Panama are pictured and described.? Joaquin writes: ?Yes, I am familiar with the catalog. I wrote the paper money part, and many others here in Panama collaborated to write all the other parts. Mizrachi was President of the Associacion at the time and did push for the publication, but he only contributed a few tokens and never gave anybody else credit for the publication. What I'm looking for is for anyone holding any of these paper items to please scan and send them. I have many large empty spaces that need filling!!!? EXHIBIT OF MALTESE NUMISMATICS According to The Malta Independent on November 11 , ?Central Bank of Malta governor Michael C. Bonello inaugurated a permanent exhibition of antique coins used in Malta between 350 BC and AD 1855 yesterday. The exhibition, which is mounted in the foyer of the bank?s main premises, contains a representative selection of coins used in Malta from the Punic-Roman period to the early British era. The inauguration was preceded by a lecture on coinage in Malta delivered by Mr Joseph C. Sammut, a leading Maltese numismatist, who contributed to the setting up of the exhibition and has published extensively on this subject. The lecture was held in collaboration with Heritage Malta and the Farsons Foundation. The permanent exhibition includes detailed descriptions of the coins and an overview of the periods during which these coins circulated. The exhibition is open free-of-charge to the public during the bank?s office hours, between 8.30am and 4pm every weekday.? http://217.145.4.56/ind/news.asp?newsitemid=24160 IRA-KOREAN COUNTERFEITING SCAM DETAILED ?Daily Ireland today reveals the full extent of the Official IRA counterfeit dollar scam of the late 1980s and early ?90s. We can further disclose details of the sophisticated operation carried out by experienced Official IRA volunteers to offload the counterfeit $100 bills for genuine currency in a blitz on financial institutions the length and breadth of Ireland.? ?The story began in 1988 when a number of senior Official IRA men ? including a man known as ?the Devil?, a Belfast businessman and a veteran paramilitary from the Republic ? visited North Korea to attend celebrations to mark the 40th anniversary of the formation of the state. They travelled first to the North Korean embassy in Moscow, where officials arranged for them to get into North Korea without the travel documents that are usually required. The three men stayed in a guarded compound in the capital Pyongyang for two weeks. While there, they met then president Kim Il-sung and his son Kim Jong-il, who became ruler of North Korea and chairman of the ruling Workers? Party of Korea after his father?s death. President Kim and his son promised the Official IRA team whatever help they needed to carry out the ?Irish revolution? to which the Irishmen told the North Koreans they were committed. The Official IRA men were shown huge amounts of weapons and ammunition and the high-quality counterfeit US dollars that the North Koreans were churning out on state-of-the-art printing presses. In 1989, the Official IRA collected its first consignment of US$1 million in cash from the North Koreans. The money was moved to the North Korean embassy in Moscow before being transferred to a popular holiday destination in eastern Europe to await collection.? To read the full story, see: http://tinyurl.com/8xvhh YEMENI COUNTERFEIT DISTRIBUTION An article published in the Yemeni Times this week enumerated several criminal activities its government has been accused of being involved in, including distributing counterfeit money: ?Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh is scheduled to visit the United States in November for a round of meetings with President Bush and other high ranking US officials. As the representative of the Yemeni people, Saleh deserves a great deal of respect and hospitality. Yet it has become increasingly apparent that the regime, under the total domination of President Saleh, is engaged in a wide variety of criminal activities to the detriment of regional stability and the Yemeni people themselves.? ?Counterfeit Money: The Central Bank of Yemen distributed a substantial amount of forged currency to its clients. Confirmed as forgeries by the Yemeni police, the bogus currency distributed by the Taiz branch of the Yemen Central Bank was in both Saudi and Yemeni denominations, according to al-Wahdawi news. Counterfeit Saudi riyals are thought to be regularly smuggled into Saudi Arabia to be exchanged with authentic denominations. Adel al-Dhahab, the lawyer who had handled counterfeiting cases for the Reserve Bank of Yemen in 2004, reported that some of the counterfeit money stored for protection by the Reserve Bank was stolen (and presumably re-circulated) by a high ranking official in the Ministry of the Interior, until the prosecutor was forced to stamp every bill as counterfeit to prevent such practices. Mr. al-Dhahab also confirmed that the Central Bank is used as a mechanism of transferring and investing the personal funds of top officials overseas.? To read the complete article, see: http://yementimes.com/article.shtml?i=893&p=front&a=2 ANOTHER UNUSUAL GOLD COIN FIND Fred Schwan writes: ?Regarding circulating gold coins I have one good story. A few years after I started collecting, my father showed me (and later gave me) a coin that he had. It was a VF 1851 gold dollar. The interesting part is where he got it. Dad (and his extended family) was in the dry cleaning business (both his brother and brother in law also had dry cleaning establishments; dad learned the trade from the former and taught it to the latter). He started his own business in 1938 (still run by my brother) and started working in the business in the late 1920s. The subject dollar was found in a lint trap of a dry cleaning machine. If he told me when he found it, I do not recall specifically, but believe that it was in the early 1930s. A dry cleaning machine lint filter is much like the lint filter on a current home dryer--they both have the job of catching lint. Anyway, that is where he found it and since there was no way to determine the rightful owner, he kept it until the 1960s when I got it. Of course I still have and cherish it and I have more than a little interest in gold dollars. Now it would be a stretch to say that this dollar was a circulating coin, but it is also a little hard to imagine that someone was carrying a $1 gold piece as a pocket piece.? A CASE FOR SPECIAL COLLECTIONS Joel Orosz forwarded a link to an interesting article on the future of special collections at libraries: ?It is in unique collections that Neal sees a bright future for libraries. In fact, at the April 2005 Association of College and Research Libraries annual conference in Minneapolis, Neal told an audience of librarians that in the digital age, librarians are poised to enter a new ?golden age? of special collections, spurred by digitization and greater online access to primary resources. ?Research libraries traditionally have been evaluated by how many volumes they hold, but the smallest library can eventually access as many volumes as the largest,? Neal explains, alluding to the advent of digital databases for contemporary resources. ?In the future, I believe great research libraries will be evaluated more and more on their special collections.? ?Indeed, digitization, high-speed connections, and suites of powerful new tools that allow students and researchers to interact as never before with collections are breaking them free from their climate-controlled exile and putting valuable special collections at the center of exciting new partnerships among librarians, faculty, students, and technicians. It?s still early?but already the results are remarkable.? To read the complete article, see: http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6277380.html NUMISMATIST MICROFICHE / MICROFILM SET Regarding Fred Reed?s question about The Numismatist in microfiche or microfilm, Dave Lange writes: ?I purchased a microfiche set of The Numismatist 1888-1979 from the ANA in that latter year. It was of so-so quality, though I did use it occasionally. I now have a complete run of bound hardcopies in my office, so I let my microfiche set go in one of Fred Lake's sales about three years ago. I don't recall what it brought, but it wasn't much.? George Fitzgerald writes: ?I purchased the Numismatist in Microfiche from ANA several years ago. I use it occasionally. Dan Friedus writes: ?The ANA actually published a set of The Numismatist on microfiche. As someone who used to work for a microfilm publisher and has used a lot of microfilm and fiche for research, I don't think I'm going overboard in calling the ANA product mediocre at best. Some, if not all, of it was in negative which was pretty annoying for looking at images. But the data is there and it takes up less space than paper.? Nancy Green, Librarian of the American Numismatic Association Writes: ?The ANA does still have microfiche of (in those days) ?The Numismatist?. The last year filmed was 1996.? SOME CORRECTIONS Nancy Green adds: ?A bride puts a six-pence in her shoe for good luck, not a copper coin, and fuse boxes require copper coins to make the connection. Nickel does not conduct electricity.? GOOGLE PRINT TRICK Jim McNerney writes: ?I enjoyed Ed Snible's article about Google Print and the links he provided very much. After paging through some of the books I did find a way to skip forward, or backward, to the page desired. If you look at the location bar, while clicking through the pages, you will see a number in the line changing. This is the page number. A reader can change this number, by highlighting it, to the page needed and hit the enter key. Jack Benedict and Dan Freidus made the same discovery. Dan writes: ?I played around with print.google.com and found a way to go to a specific page. Just take the basic URL and add &pg=PAxxx where xxx is the page number you want http://print.google.com/print?hl=en&id=O9TpqnZh9AIC&pg=PA342 Have fun!? COMMUNITY EXCHANGE SYSTEMS Larry Mitchell forwarded a link to a web site devoted to community exchange systems in Asia, Africa and Latin America. ?Several communities in Asia have been experimenting with a new means of exchange, called a Community Coupon. It functions very much like a credit card. Instead, credit is received in the form of notes that look very different from the national currency, but are valued in the same denominations.? http://www.appropriate-economics.org/materials/Community_Exchange_Systems_screen.pdf COIN DEALERS ON MEDALS Regarding our earlier question about coin dealer Fred Merritt, Nick Graver writes: ?All presidents of the Rochester Numismatic Association had medals struck, making it a most interesting series. I cannot imagine many commercial coin dealers having their likeness on a large quality medal, or any piece, for that matter.? [A number of coin dealers have been featured on medals, usually on numismatic society medals such as Merritt. Has anyone ever compiled a list? -Editor] INDIAN COIN CONTROVERSY The following is from a November 7 newspaper article: ?Satyam Nagar, proud bearer of a rare pictorial Sikh coin bearing pictures of the first and the tenth Gurus, has contradicted the claims made by numismatists regarding similar coins said to be exhibited only at the British Museum, London. A law student of Ludhiana Regional Centre of Panjab University, Chandigarh, Mr Nagar supports his claim with a rare coin purportedly minted 258 years ago ( Vikrmi 1804 ) by one of the Sikh missals.? "Though some numismatics have claimed that only two coins of this types were reported at the British Museum, it is my firm opinion that the coin in my possession is different from those," claimed Mr Nagar. Supporting his claim with pictures of the coins he said the coin exhibited at the said museum carried picture of Guru Nanak Dev only with one person while the one with him bears pictures of Bhai Bala and Bhai Mardana. ?Even the historians are not sure about the identity of person sitting in front of Guru. Some view him as Bhai Mardana while others see him as Bhai Bala,? he argued.? To read the full story, see: http://www.sikhsangat.org/publish/article_564.shtml FEATURED WEB SITE This week's featured web site is "Spain and its Coins," a virtual exhibit of the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution, recommended to us by Roger deWardt Lane of Hollywood, Florida. http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/numismatics/spain/spain.htm Wayne Homren Numismatic Bibliomania Society The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. For more information please see our web site at http://www.coinbooks.org/. There is a membership application available on the web site at this address: http://www.coinbooks.org/club_nbs_member_app.html To join, print the application and return it with your check to the address printed on the application. Membership is only $15 to addresses in the U.S., $20 elsewhere. For those without web access, write to: David M. Sundman, Secretary/Treasurer Numismatic Bibliomania Society, P. O. Box 82 Littleton, NH 03561 For Asylum mailing address changes and other membership questions, contact David at this email address: dsundman@LittletonCoin.com To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, just Reply to this message, or write to the Editor at this address: whomren@coinlibrary.com Those wishing to become new E-Sylum subscribers (or wishing to Unsubscribe) can go to the following web page: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum All past E-Sylum issues are archived on the NBS web site at this address: http://www.coinbooks.org/club_nbs_esylum_archive.html Issues from September 2002 to date are also archived at this address: http://my.binhost.com/pipermail/esylum/ From esylum at binhost.com Sun Nov 13 23:03:44 2005 From: esylum at binhost.com (esylum@binhost.com) Date: Sun Nov 13 23:47:36 2005 Subject: The E-Sylum v8#48, November 13, 2005 Message-ID: <008801c5e8d0$68d3a6b0$f3ab11ac@laptop035> Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 8, Number 48, November 13, 2005: an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society. Copyright (c) 2005, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society. WAYNE'S WORDS Among our recent subscribers are C.L. Collins and Charles Riley. Welcome aboard! We now have 816 subscribers. This issue brings sad news. One of our longtime contributors, Bill Spengler, is gone. He will be missed. On a brighter note, Whitman Publishing has given NBS a nice publicity plug, and two new web sites for bibliophiles debut. Two E-Sylum contributors locate a trove of numismatic data on 19th-century medals, and we learn more about the recent high-profile stamp trade from one of our own who was present. Howard Daniel reports on his numismatic adventures in Bangkok, and from elsewhere around the world we learn about a new exhibit of Maltese numismatics, some background information on a book on Panama numismatics, and more on the distribution of counterfeit currency by the North Korean and Yemeni governments. Have fun! Wayne Homren Numismatic Bibliomania Society BILL SPENGLER PASSES AWAY Bill Rosenblum writes: ?It's my sad duty to report that Bill Spengler passed away Tuesday morning about 4:30 Mountain time. There will be no services. Bill was co-author with Wayne Sayles of the two volume standard on Turkoman coins (a third volume is in the works). He was the program chairman for Numismatics International at the ANA? [Bill Spengler of Colorado Springs, CO was a frequent E-Sylum contributor. Spengler spent seven years with the Foreign Service in Pakistan and many years in and out of India. A specialist in Oriental numismatics, he also volunteered at the American Numismatic Association Museum. He will be missed. ?Editor] John and Nancy Wilson, Ocala, FL write: ?Bill was a South Asian Historian and Numismatist who lectured on this subject in the U.S. and other countries. He also wrote extensively on the subject and was a contributor to several numismatic references. His contributions to our hobby in South Asian Numismatics are numerous. Bill's passing is truly a great loss for our numismatic hobby. Bill was not only a numismatic ANA Certified Judge but a prolific exhibitor. We will never forgot how proud he was when he won the coveted Howland Wood Best in Show award. Bill received numerous awards and honors in the numismatic hobby for his hard work and dedication over many decades. Our sincere condolences and prayers to his family. Bill will always remain in our memories and thoughts.? Steve D'Ippolito writes: ?William F. Spengler passed away this last Tuesday, 8 November. The Colorado Springs Gazette's death notice read: Born Jan. 12 1923. Died Nov 8, 2005. Consul general, 29-year Colorado Springs resident. Survived by his wife, Phillis; two sons, Bill and John; and a daughter, Sarah. [It goes on to name the funeral home--but there were no services or visitation, at Bill Spengler's request.] His numismatic accomplishments were unmentioned. William Spengler was not only a renowned specialist in issues from Asia, he was also a talented exhibitor, winning the Howland Wood Memorial Award for best of show in (if memory serves) 1987 and serving as an exhibit judge for many years. I took up exhibiting in 1998 and found Bill to be eager to give helpful advice and encouragement. I consider him my mentor. I went over to ANA headquarters Wednesday and he is remembered there as a gentleman and a scholar, "and there is no higher praise" according to Nancy Green, the ANA Librarian. His light has gone out of the world.? SPENGLER ON MARGINALIA [The following item is reprinted from the May 11, 2003 issue of The E-Sylum (v6n19). In it, Bill Spengler recalls his purchase of a numismatic library. ?Editor] Gary Dunaier writes: "Regarding handwritten notes in the margins of books: I, personally, don't care for them. But I don't think it's something that should be rejected on a wholesale basis. For example, I don't think any self-respecting numismatic student would turn down the opportunity to acquire a used coin book solely on the basis of writing in the margins -- if the notes were written by Q. David Bowers or someone of his caliber." Bill Spengler of Colorado Springs writes: "While in general I abhor the practice of underlining or writing in the margins of serious books, especially in irremovable ink, this once worked to my considerable advantage. On a visit to my favorite Oriental bookseller in England in 1976, I was fortunate to acquire a 39-volume numismatic library of original editions of most of the museum catalogues and other standard references on ancient and medieval coins of South Asia -- my specialty -- published between 1866 and 1941, including all the Numismatic Supplements to the "Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal" 1904-1937. They were all beautifully bound in tan leather with gold lettering and decoration, and were in nice condition. Several of the volumes, particularly those covering gold coins of the Gupta Dynasty of ancient India, contained "marginalia" written in blue pencil -- routinely used by British colonial administrators in annotating documents and exchanging notes. What a great find, evidently the personal reference library of a British collector of Indian coins while stationed in the Subcontinent! I was eager to know who of the rather small group of such British numismatists had owned and used this important library long ago. Sadly, however, these volumes did not contain a single bookplate, owner's signature or other overt indication of ownership, and the bookseller had had them in stock so long that he couldn't recall where, how or when he had acquired them! I took this as a challenge in detection and eventually discovered the solution in the volume on "The Coinage of the Early or Imperial Gupta Dynasty of Northern India" by the famous British Indian numismatist Vincent A. Smith, bearing on its cover a faint inked note presenting the book to one H. Rivett-Carnac Esq. "with the author's kind regards". This was the only such clue in the entire library. Confirmation came in a notation on one of the plates in this volume on which someone had written "to BM" in blue pencil alongside a gold stater of Kumara Gupta. When I looked up this piece in the British Museum I found on the coin's little round ticket that it had been donated by none other than H. Rivett-Carnac. This established ownership of this volume and, by association, all the others.? NBS PROMOTED IN NEW WHITMAN BOOK Dennis Tucker of Whitman Publishing writes: ?I'm pleased to let you know that Whitman has promoted the Numismatic Bibliomania Society in The Whitman Insider Guide to Smart Coin Collecting, as a numismatic group that collectors can join for education and camaraderie. The Society is highlighted along with a five-line description and a link to your web site: ?Numismatic Bibliomania Society. www.coinbooks.org. The NBS supports and promotes the use and collecting of numismatic literature--books, periodicals, catalogs, and other written or printed material relating to coins, medals, tokens, or paper money, ancient or modern, U.S. or worldwide. ? The Insider Guide is on the press right now and will be on bookshelves just before Christmas. It's part of a new series of inexpensive, small-size books (64 pages, measuring 4.25x6) focusing on single topics in the hobby (grading, buying, selling, etc.). Our press run will be in the thousands. My hope is that this kind of outreach, within the hobby community and also the mass market, will generate interest and additional membership for the NBS.? [Many thanks to Dennis and Whitman. Every bit of publicity is a good thing for our organization. Always room for more bibliophiles! -Editor] NUMISMATIC BOOK REVIEW WEB SITE DEBUTS Dave Millington of the U.K. writes: ?I've just set up a website for people to read about, rate and review numismatic books. I have added a few books to get it started, and will continue to add more books every day that I can. Please feel free to look around. You will need to register to add books and reviews, and also to receive the planned monthly newsletter. Any feedback would be gratefully appreciated!? http://www.numibooks.com [Chris Fuccione also forwarded a note about the new site. Visitors can browse the entries without having to register. Each book is given its own page with an image of the book?s cover. Periodicals are included as well. The subjects are mostly ancient coins, but over time I?m sure many others could be added. Be sure to take a look. ?Editor] PERSONAL LIBRARY WEB SITE Jeff Reichenberger writes: ?I stumbled onto a web site that might interest some of our fellow 'philes: http://www.Librarything.com You can catalog your personal library, share it or keep it private, categorize, tag, and otherwise set it up just the way you want it. Up to 200 books is free, Unlimited entries for $10/year, $25/lifetime. Enjoy!? TWO NUMISMATIC RESEARCHERS AT TIFFANY?S Dick Johnson writes: ?I have collected the medals of Tiffany & Company for almost forty years. The fact that Tiffany ? the famed jewelry firm on Fifth Avenue in New York City and now with stores all over the world ? made medals was brought to my attention by a passage in one of Leon Lindheim?s numismatic books. (Another reason was that I had to collect something after I became curator of the Medallic Art Company?s archives in the 1960s, as I did not want the temptation of collecting my own company?s medals.) I casually acquired a Tiffany piece now and then. Then I discovered something astounding. I learned that Medallic Art Company had struck all of Tiffany & Co?s medals since the mid 1930s. I kept record of these but collected only those that predated this era. Another discovery: The firm had their own Tiffany Pavilion at the Buffalo Exposition in 1901. They had exhibited one of every medal they had made in the 19th century. They even gold plated every medal in that exhibit! Even better, they had published a little pamphlet listing all these. I discovered this rare pamphlet in the vertical files in the library of the American Numismatic Society. My cataloging work at Medallic Art Co brought me in contact with the head of the art department at Tiffany?s. One time I asked him: "Does Tiffany have an archive of all their medals?" Yes, he said, some but not all. Come by some time and I will dig them out and show you. I was at his fourth floor office at the Fifth Avenue Store in less that a week?s time. He had a couple of trays to show me. They were all goldplated! These were the 19th century medals that had been in that 1901 exhibit! Recently, I learned that writers on silver had access to Tiffany?s archives, writing about famed Tiffany silver designs. I wondered if they still had records of their medals. I mentioned this to fellow researcher Katie Jaeger, who said she would like to visit the Tiffany archives as well. Katie is a rising star in the field of numismatic literature. An author of articles in history journals, some of her articles will appear in numismatic publications shortly. She has worked with Q. David Bowers for a book or two and currently she is well into her own major numismatic book project. Watch for her name on some gem numismatic books upcoming. Katie is inspired. Her inspiration is the fact her great grandfather was one of the Lovetts ? George Hampden Lovett. She had researched the Lovett family history, learned the lore of engraving and is now deeply immersed in numismatics. To access Tiffany?s archives a researcher needs extensive credentials, a letter from their publisher, and has to schedule an appointment well in advance. Appointments don?t come easy. Ours took from May to November. But we got in this week. Thursday we traveled to Tiffany?s New Jersey headquarters to spend the day pouring over the documents, papers, card files, photographs, journals, sketch books, and scrapbooks. I came with a list of 327 medals I knew Tiffany had made since 1851. I found perhaps two to five times that number of medals which were new to me. Katie and I were in our glory pouring over this untapped source of numismatic treasure. Two heads are far better than one in research, constantly seeking each other?s advice - and searching takes half the time. One series of boxes had small envelopes containing 3x5 cards (papers, sketches, and sometimes sample die impressions!). There were also black crumbs in every one of these envelopes ? tobacco, I first thought. No, these records were once held together by rubber bands. In 70 years the bands had deteriorated to crumbs. Perhaps we were the first eyes to see these documents in over 70 years!? TRADITIONAL BOOK SIZE INFORMATION SOUGHT Martin Purdy writes: ?The discussion about the most valuable numismatic book prompted me to do some research about the oldest book that the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand holds in its library - "Familiae Romanae in Antiquis Numismatibus", by Charles Patin, 1663. It clearly isn't going to beat any price records, but it's a nice item nonetheless. It appears to have been published in various editions and sizes, and I had some fun trying to work out exactly what "traditional" page size it corresponds to - at 360 x 240 mm (trimmed page size), it doesn't really match any of the standard definitions for the various folio standards! Can anyone offer an old-style size description with any degree of certainty?? MORE ON THE MOST EXPENSIVE STAMP TRADE NBS Secretary-Treasurer David Sundman writes: ?I was just reading the latest E-Sylum edition at home and found the mention of the big stamp trade that my brother Donald Sundman and Bill Gross did last week. You can point out to your readers that the new owner of the unique Jenny Airmail invert plate block is my smarter younger brother. Donald (of Mystic Stamp Company in Camden, New York), and I (of the Littleton Coin Company in Littleton, New Hampshire), enjoy working and collecting in our respective fields. You might also direct readers to the story on the BBC World News website, which has a photo of the actual trade. I was in New York for the event, which was pretty wild, with three TV camera crews, a dozen or more reporters, and a couple of dozen collectors in the Charles Shreve Gallery on West 57th Street, about a hundred yards from Stack?s. All this publicity should be good for stamp collecting.? http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4402810.stm HOWARD DANIEL REPORTS FROM BANGKOK The following is an excerpt from an article E-Sylum regular Howard A. Daniel III published this week in the MPC Gram (#1369). It?s a report on his numismatic adventures, filed from Bangkok, Thailand: Howard writes: ?I sent emails and called everyone I was to meet in Bangkok after settling into my room. My first meeting was with Barent Springsted. He is a former Peace Corps volunteer here during the war and he stayed to work in the investment community. He is a paper money and map collector, and has MPC in his collection. We had dinner in the restaurant and talked over it for more than two hours. His Thai wife is almost a perfect twin of my Vietnamese wife! My second meeting was with Ron Cristal, who is a former USAF JAG officer I met over here during the war. He stayed here and opened his own law firm. It has done very well and he is one of THE collectors of Thai metal financial instruments. He is working on a reference that will become THE best one for Thailand, but he is not into paper so you will not see Thai MPC Coupons in it. Then Barent, Ron and I met Mr Lee, Bangkok's foremost numismatic dealer for a lunch at the Sofitel Hotel. It started at 12 Noon and finished around 3PM. We talked and talked about family and numismatics. The next day, I went to see Ron again, and then on to Mr Lee's shop; L. Kim Guan. He brought me into his office and stacked up boxes of Vietnamese paper in front of me. And two sets of plates for the common DRVN Nam Bo 1 Dong note! I bought one set of the plates to use in a future exhibit. I also bought several modern Vietnamese notes with higher or lower blocks than I have in my database. And four Government of Indochina 10 Cent WWII-era notes. Two of them have the same exact numbers and are replacements! I need to get them to Joe Boling to update WWII Remembered.? JR NEWSLETTER REACHES SUBSCRIBER MILESTONE Editor William Luebke writes: ?With Issue # 12, emailed Sunday, November 13, the JR Newsletter has achieved a milestone -- 150 subscribers. This is a significant achievement since its birth in August 2005. Dedicated to collectors and students of U.S. Federal silver and gold coinage of the 1794-1839, the JR Newsletter is free to all. Simply email JRNews@nyc.rr.com to join. While JR News is not affiliated with any numismatic organization, it is recommended that subscribers join the John Reich Collectors Society (JRCS). JRCS can be contacted at www.jrcs.org. Content for the JR Newsletter is provided by subscribers and as such is dependent on their input. Published items have included book reviews, announcements of discoveries of previously unknown specimens of rare varieties, auction and coin show reviews, collector profiles, debates and other items of interest to all numismatic scholars in general and students of early U.S. coinage in particular.? OCEAN IN VIEW NICKEL PHOTOGRAPHER AT OREGON EVENT On November 9, 2005 the Newport News Times of Newport, OR reported that ?The new "Ocean In View" nickels, featuring the work of Newport photographer Andrew Cier, will be available for exchange during the Lewis and Clark signature event, "Destination: The Pacific," which takes place Friday through Sunday near Astoria on the north Oregon coast.? ?The new five-cent piece, released Aug. 5, 2005, was designed by Joe Fitzgerald of the United States Mint Artistic Infusion Program. The front features a contemporary image of President Thomas Jefferson and the back image is based on a photograph taken by Cier of the windswept Oregon coast. Cier, an employee at Newport Lazerquick, only became aware that his photograph was used for the nickel after a colleague brought the new coin to his attention; he later received official credit for the image through an unprecedented settlement reached with the United States Mint. "It's quite exciting, as a professional photographer," Cier said shortly following the settlement.? To read the complete story, and view Cier?s photo, see: http://www.newportnewstimes.com/articles/2005/11/09/community/community03.tx t BOOK HUNTING IN BRITAIN Tom Fort forwarded a recent article from Slate on book hunting in Britain. Here are a few excerpts: ?Book collectors are thrill-seekers. It is a vegetarian hunt to be sure, without much exertion or risk, but the endorphin rush of the chase and the adrenaline high of the capture are much the same with first editions as I imagine they must be in the pursuit of 10-point stags, largemouth bass, or 20-foot waves at Maverick's. Speaking only for myself, I can describe four kinds of book-collecting euphoria. There is, first of all, simply the kick of a bargain. Despite all the Internet has done to make prices transparent and bibliographic information universal, you can still find?at book sales and thrift shops, auctions and even fancy dealers?unrecognized or underpriced rarities. Getting something valuable for cheap is the basic, greedy thrill of book collecting. The second pleasure is simply that of making a collection?assembling objects that are related in some way and then filling in holes and extending from the edges. Book collecting is a largely solitary, mostly male, and completely absorbing activity. Nicholas Basbanes' wonderful study A Gentle Madness explores what has driven the great book collectors. As his title indicates, it's not necessarily outstanding mental health. But while "completism" is clearly a form of nuttiness, it is for the most part a benign one, causing no harm to others and usually little to oneself. Next is appreciation of the physical object. Though you might not take this point away from the best-seller tables at Barnes & Noble, the book has historically been a beautiful thing. It is a repository of various arts and crafts, including illustration, typography, letterpress printing, paper-making, and binding (not to mention writing). Raised in a house filled with old books, I'm drawn to them: the dust jackets that call out a historical moment, the marbled boards, the words pressed into the page with movable type. Fourth and finally, there is something that approaches a literary sensation. Holding in your hands the original publication of a book or writer who subsequently became famous rolls back the veils of time and reputation. It connects you to the moment of original potential, before appreciation, recognition, and fame complicated everything. In this way, the first edition has always felt to me like the literature of original intent. It is the book as it went out into the world, the work in its purest (if not necessarily most perfect) form. Of course, there's a negative side to all this too, which makes me slightly loathe collecting, and which I'll get back to later. Once acquired, sought-after rare books become inert trophies, chloroformed butterflies pinned to a board. It's a bit deathly.? ?We chat about the Internet, which Tindley naturally deplores. His view is that the Web takes the magic and mystery out of the book business. Using Abebooks.com, which scours listings for 70 million books from 13,000 dealers around the world, you can find almost anything you are looking for with unimaginable ease. But on the Web, you never find what you're not looking for, which is what invariably happens when you walk into Tindley and Chapman. After lunch, we return to the shop and Tindley proves his point by emerging from the basement with a full run?eight issues?of a magazine called Polemic, which was published in England between 1945 and 1947. Little intellectual magazines, such as Partisan Review and Horizon are a special interest of mine, and Polemic, with covers designed by the British artist Ben Nicholson, is one I've never seen before. Almost every issue has the first publication of one of Orwell's essays, including "The Prevention of Literature" and "Second Thoughts on James Burnham." This is something I would have never thought to look for on Abebooks and probably wouldn't have found if I had. The price? James makes a gesture that indicates he has no idea and says ?40 ($70). I leave with that, an early V.S. Naipaul first, and the first collected edition of Hart Crane's poems.? "Nature abhors a vacuum," he tells me, apologizing for the mess of volumes, papers, and junk covering every available surface in his office, including the floor. "But a bookshop really abhors a vacuum." To read the full article, see: http://www.slate.com/id/2129497/ PANAMA PAPER MONEY IMAGES Regarding Joaquin Gil del Real?s request for images of Panamanian currency, Gar Travis writes: ?Do you know of Bejamin Mizarachi? He was president of the Asociaci?n Numism?tica De Panam? 1996-1997 and wrote an interesting text called Cat?logo Numism?tico De Panam?. Many notes and nearly all the coins and tokens of Panama are pictured and described.? Joaquin writes: ?Yes, I am familiar with the catalog. I wrote the paper money part, and many others here in Panama collaborated to write all the other parts. Mizrachi was President of the Associacion at the time and did push for the publication, but he only contributed a few tokens and never gave anybody else credit for the publication. What I'm looking for is for anyone holding any of these paper items to please scan and send them. I have many large empty spaces that need filling!!!? EXHIBIT OF MALTESE NUMISMATICS According to The Malta Independent on November 11 , ?Central Bank of Malta governor Michael C. Bonello inaugurated a permanent exhibition of antique coins used in Malta between 350 BC and AD 1855 yesterday. The exhibition, which is mounted in the foyer of the bank?s main premises, contains a representative selection of coins used in Malta from the Punic-Roman period to the early British era. The inauguration was preceded by a lecture on coinage in Malta delivered by Mr Joseph C. Sammut, a leading Maltese numismatist, who contributed to the setting up of the exhibition and has published extensively on this subject. The lecture was held in collaboration with Heritage Malta and the Farsons Foundation. The permanent exhibition includes detailed descriptions of the coins and an overview of the periods during which these coins circulated. The exhibition is open free-of-charge to the public during the bank?s office hours, between 8.30am and 4pm every weekday.? http://217.145.4.56/ind/news.asp?newsitemid=24160 IRA-KOREAN COUNTERFEITING SCAM DETAILED ?Daily Ireland today reveals the full extent of the Official IRA counterfeit dollar scam of the late 1980s and early ?90s. We can further disclose details of the sophisticated operation carried out by experienced Official IRA volunteers to offload the counterfeit $100 bills for genuine currency in a blitz on financial institutions the length and breadth of Ireland.? ?The story began in 1988 when a number of senior Official IRA men ? including a man known as ?the Devil?, a Belfast businessman and a veteran paramilitary from the Republic ? visited North Korea to attend celebrations to mark the 40th anniversary of the formation of the state. They travelled first to the North Korean embassy in Moscow, where officials arranged for them to get into North Korea without the travel documents that are usually required. The three men stayed in a guarded compound in the capital Pyongyang for two weeks. While there, they met then president Kim Il-sung and his son Kim Jong-il, who became ruler of North Korea and chairman of the ruling Workers? Party of Korea after his father?s death. President Kim and his son promised the Official IRA team whatever help they needed to carry out the ?Irish revolution? to which the Irishmen told the North Koreans they were committed. The Official IRA men were shown huge amounts of weapons and ammunition and the high-quality counterfeit US dollars that the North Koreans were churning out on state-of-the-art printing presses. In 1989, the Official IRA collected its first consignment of US$1 million in cash from the North Koreans. The money was moved to the North Korean embassy in Moscow before being transferred to a popular holiday destination in eastern Europe to await collection.? To read the full story, see: http://tinyurl.com/8xvhh YEMENI COUNTERFEIT DISTRIBUTION An article published in the Yemeni Times this week enumerated several criminal activities its government has been accused of being involved in, including distributing counterfeit money: ?Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh is scheduled to visit the United States in November for a round of meetings with President Bush and other high ranking US officials. As the representative of the Yemeni people, Saleh deserves a great deal of respect and hospitality. Yet it has become increasingly apparent that the regime, under the total domination of President Saleh, is engaged in a wide variety of criminal activities to the detriment of regional stability and the Yemeni people themselves.? ?Counterfeit Money: The Central Bank of Yemen distributed a substantial amount of forged currency to its clients. Confirmed as forgeries by the Yemeni police, the bogus currency distributed by the Taiz branch of the Yemen Central Bank was in both Saudi and Yemeni denominations, according to al-Wahdawi news. Counterfeit Saudi riyals are thought to be regularly smuggled into Saudi Arabia to be exchanged with authentic denominations. Adel al-Dhahab, the lawyer who had handled counterfeiting cases for the Reserve Bank of Yemen in 2004, reported that some of the counterfeit money stored for protection by the Reserve Bank was stolen (and presumably re-circulated) by a high ranking official in the Ministry of the Interior, until the prosecutor was forced to stamp every bill as counterfeit to prevent such practices. Mr. al-Dhahab also confirmed that the Central Bank is used as a mechanism of transferring and investing the personal funds of top officials overseas.? To read the complete article, see: http://yementimes.com/article.shtml?i=893&p=front&a=2 ANOTHER UNUSUAL GOLD COIN FIND Fred Schwan writes: ?Regarding circulating gold coins I have one good story. A few years after I started collecting, my father showed me (and later gave me) a coin that he had. It was a VF 1851 gold dollar. The interesting part is where he got it. Dad (and his extended family) was in the dry cleaning business (both his brother and brother in law also had dry cleaning establishments; dad learned the trade from the former and taught it to the latter). He started his own business in 1938 (still run by my brother) and started working in the business in the late 1920s. The subject dollar was found in a lint trap of a dry cleaning machine. If he told me when he found it, I do not recall specifically, but believe that it was in the early 1930s. A dry cleaning machine lint filter is much like the lint filter on a current home dryer--they both have the job of catching lint. Anyway, that is where he found it and since there was no way to determine the rightful owner, he kept it until the 1960s when I got it. Of course I still have and cherish it and I have more than a little interest in gold dollars. Now it would be a stretch to say that this dollar was a circulating coin, but it is also a little hard to imagine that someone was carrying a $1 gold piece as a pocket piece.? A CASE FOR SPECIAL COLLECTIONS Joel Orosz forwarded a link to an interesting article on the future of special collections at libraries: ?It is in unique collections that Neal sees a bright future for libraries. In fact, at the April 2005 Association of College and Research Libraries annual conference in Minneapolis, Neal told an audience of librarians that in the digital age, librarians are poised to enter a new ?golden age? of special collections, spurred by digitization and greater online access to primary resources. ?Research libraries traditionally have been evaluated by how many volumes they hold, but the smallest library can eventually access as many volumes as the largest,? Neal explains, alluding to the advent of digital databases for contemporary resources. ?In the future, I believe great research libraries will be evaluated more and more on their special collections.? ?Indeed, digitization, high-speed connections, and suites of powerful new tools that allow students and researchers to interact as never before with collections are breaking them free from their climate-controlled exile and putting valuable special collections at the center of exciting new partnerships among librarians, faculty, students, and technicians. It?s still early?but already the results are remarkable.? To read the complete article, see: http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6277380.html NUMISMATIST MICROFICHE / MICROFILM SET Regarding Fred Reed?s question about The Numismatist in microfiche or microfilm, Dave Lange writes: ?I purchased a microfiche set of The Numismatist 1888-1979 from the ANA in that latter year. It was of so-so quality, though I did use it occasionally. I now have a complete run of bound hardcopies in my office, so I let my microfiche set go in one of Fred Lake's sales about three years ago. I don't recall what it brought, but it wasn't much.? George Fitzgerald writes: ?I purchased the Numismatist in Microfiche from ANA several years ago. I use it occasionally. Dan Friedus writes: ?The ANA actually published a set of The Numismatist on microfiche. As someone who used to work for a microfilm publisher and has used a lot of microfilm and fiche for research, I don't think I'm going overboard in calling the ANA product mediocre at best. Some, if not all, of it was in negative which was pretty annoying for looking at images. But the data is there and it takes up less space than paper.? Nancy Green, Librarian of the American Numismatic Association Writes: ?The ANA does still have microfiche of (in those days) ?The Numismatist?. The last year filmed was 1996.? SOME CORRECTIONS Nancy Green adds: ?A bride puts a six-pence in her shoe for good luck, not a copper coin, and fuse boxes require copper coins to make the connection. Nickel does not conduct electricity.? GOOGLE PRINT TRICK Jim McNerney writes: ?I enjoyed Ed Snible's article about Google Print and the links he provided very much. After paging through some of the books I did find a way to skip forward, or backward, to the page desired. If you look at the location bar, while clicking through the pages, you will see a number in the line changing. This is the page number. A reader can change this number, by highlighting it, to the page needed and hit the enter key. Jack Benedict and Dan Freidus made the same discovery. Dan writes: ?I played around with print.google.com and found a way to go to a specific page. Just take the basic URL and add &pg=PAxxx where xxx is the page number you want http://print.google.com/print?hl=en&id=O9TpqnZh9AIC&pg=PA342 Have fun!? COMMUNITY EXCHANGE SYSTEMS Larry Mitchell forwarded a link to a web site devoted to community exchange systems in Asia, Africa and Latin America. ?Several communities in Asia have been experimenting with a new means of exchange, called a Community Coupon. It functions very much like a credit card. Instead, credit is received in the form of notes that look very different from the national currency, but are valued in the same denominations.? http://www.appropriate-economics.org/materials/Community_Exchange_Systems_sc reen.pdf COIN DEALERS ON MEDALS Regarding our earlier question about coin dealer Fred Merritt, Nick Graver writes: ?All presidents of the Rochester Numismatic Association had medals struck, making it a most interesting series. I cannot imagine many commercial coin dealers having their likeness on a large quality medal, or any piece, for that matter.? [A number of coin dealers have been featured on medals, usually on numismatic society medals such as Merritt. Has anyone ever compiled a list? -Editor] INDIAN COIN CONTROVERSY The following is from a November 7 newspaper article: ?Satyam Nagar, proud bearer of a rare pictorial Sikh coin bearing pictures of the first and the tenth Gurus, has contradicted the claims made by numismatists regarding similar coins said to be exhibited only at the British Museum, London. A law student of Ludhiana Regional Centre of Panjab University, Chandigarh, Mr Nagar supports his claim with a rare coin purportedly minted 258 years ago ( Vikrmi 1804 ) by one of the Sikh missals.? "Though some numismatics have claimed that only two coins of this types were reported at the British Museum, it is my firm opinion that the coin in my possession is different from those," claimed Mr Nagar. Supporting his claim with pictures of the coins he said the coin exhibited at the said museum carried picture of Guru Nanak Dev only with one person while the one with him bears pictures of Bhai Bala and Bhai Mardana. ?Even the historians are not sure about the identity of person sitting in front of Guru. Some view him as Bhai Mardana while others see him as Bhai Bala,? he argued.? To read the full story, see: http://www.sikhsangat.org/publish/article_564.shtml FEATURED WEB SITE This week's featured web site is "Spain and its Coins," a virtual exhibit of the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution, recommended to us by Roger deWardt Lane of Hollywood, Florida. http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/numismatics/spain/spain.htm Wayne Homren Numismatic Bibliomania Society The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. For more information please see our web site at http://www.coinbooks.org/. There is a membership application available on the web site at this address: http://www.coinbooks.org/club_nbs_member_app.html To join, print the application and return it with your check to the address printed on the application. Membership is only $15 to addresses in the U.S., $20 elsewhere. For those without web access, write to: David M. Sundman, Secretary/Treasurer Numismatic Bibliomania Society, P. O. Box 82 Littleton, NH 03561 For Asylum mailing address changes and other membership questions, contact David at this email address: dsundman@LittletonCoin.com To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, just Reply to this message, or write to the Editor at this address: whomren@coinlibrary.com Those wishing to become new E-Sylum subscribers (or wishing to Unsubscribe) can go to the following web page: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum All past E-Sylum issues are archived on the NBS web site at this address: http://www.coinbooks.org/club_nbs_esylum_archive.html Issues from September 2002 to date are also archived at this address: http://my.binhost.com/pipermail/esylum/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://my.binhost.com/pipermail/esylum/attachments/20051113/16f19d29/attachment-0001.htm From esylum at binhost.com Sun Nov 20 23:24:03 2005 From: esylum at binhost.com (esylum@binhost.co