From esylum at binhost.com Sun Apr 2 22:37:31 2006 From: esylum at binhost.com (esylum@binhost.com) Date: Sun Apr 2 22:38:09 2006 Subject: The E-Sylum v9#14, April 2, 2006 Message-ID: <00ac01c656c7$8f2512d0$0207000a@laptop035> Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 9, Number 14, April 2, 2006: an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society. Copyright (c) 2006, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society. WAYNE'S WORDS Among our recent subscribers is Kate Cahill of Littleton Coin Company. Welcome aboard! We now have 870 subscribers. It's been another good week for interesting firsthand numismatic accounts, research updates and breaking news from various numismatic areas. A new book has been published on Philippine Counterstamped coins, The Colonial Newsletter gains a subtitle, and several readers provide additional information on Thompson's 1783 Essay on Coining. In ancient coins, a 2,000-year-old counterfeit has been unmasked. Research questions this week concern patents for banknote anti-counterfeiting devices, FCC BOYD counterstamps, and the recipient of a particular American Institute medal. You people are sharp when it comes to noticing errors in The E_Sylum. Ray Flanigan took issue with the Wall Street Journal's statement that "The Denver Mint opened in 1862." He writes: "The Denver Mint was not really in existence in 1862. An Assay Office was. The 'mint' didn't come about until 1906 and produced the first coins in 1907." Regarding the title of one of last week's articles, Ken Berger writes: "Since you meant INVERTEBRATE (notice the second E), should we retitle the article TYPO TYPO TIME?" In the believe-it-or-not department, someone's WWII medals, including a Purple Heart, were recently saved from the trash when discovered during the cleanup of decades-old trash from the basement of a service station. All this and more, including previously unpublished stories by Russ Rulau relating to John Ford. And to learn why the Denver Mint employee who runs the furnace that anneals coin blanks shouted "Wooh, wooh!", read on. Have a great week, everyone. Wayne Homren Numismatic Bibliomania Society LAKE BOOKS 84TH SALE CATALOG AVAILABLE Fred Lake writes: "Our 84th mail-bid sale of numismatic literature is now available for viewing on the Lake Books web site. The sale has a full variety of United States auction catalogs including Chapmans, Frossards, B. Max Mehl sales, Steigerwalts, hardbound McCawley-Grellman sales, etc. A large selection of "A Guide Book of United States Coins" (the Redbook) features many of the special editions and one edition signed by Dick Yeo (Richard Yeoman's real name.) Works on Ancient coins and Spanish material are offered and a new section devoted to Orders, Medals, and Decorations contains some beautifully photographed books. Bids may be placed by email, fax, telephone or regular mail. You may view the twenty-page catalog at: http://www.lakebooks.com/current.html" BOOK: FORTICH'S PHILIPPINE COUNTERSTAMPED COINS Howard A. Daniel III writes: "I just received a copy of "Philippine Counterstamped Coins, 1828-1839" by Dr. Quint Jose Ma. Oropilla Y Fortich. It is a large hardbound book with tons of historical and economic history behind the issue of the coins. There are also several original documents from the Philippine National Archives. For anyone who collects the Philippines, Spanish Colonial; Southeast Asia; and economists and historians of the Philippines and Southeast Asia, this book is a must for their library. My copy was obtained from Ray Czahor, the creator of the Philippine Collectors Forums at the ANA Conventions, and there will be one at the Denver ANA. You can contact Ray at CJCPI@ComCast.com or at P.O. Box 597, Columbia, MD 21045-0597, or me at HADaniel3@msn.com." THOMPSON'S 1783 ESSAY ON COINING David Gladfelter writes: "Jim Spilman relied heavily on the information in Thompson's essay (and on Diderot and other sources) for a series of essays titled "An Overview of Early American Coinage Technology" that ran in The Colonial Newsletter from April 1982 through July 1983. The subject was recently revisited by Dr. Philip Mossman, "Error Coins of Pre-Federal America," The Colonial Newsletter, April 2004. The ANS did recently publish, with annotations, a small edition of a manuscript in its collection, written in the 1950s by Damon G. Douglas on New Jersey coppers. Possibly the Thompson manuscript would lend itself to similar study with a view toward possible publication." James C. Spilman writes "I can add a bit of information to the discussion in the The E-Sylum v9#13, March 26, 2006 on THOMPSON'S 1783 ESSAY ON COINING. This holographic manuscript was discovered in the ANS Library in the late 1970s by the late Edward R. Barnsley. Ned and I went to the Library and made a complete set of 35 mm negatives for use in CNL. The first use of any of this material appeared in CNL 62 (April 1982) on pages 765 and 767. The publication of this information made such an impression on Eric P. Newman that I am told he made a special trip to New York, from St. Louis, for the sole purpose of reviewing the document. At the time Frank Campbell was an Assistant Librarian and I remember his buzzing around like an angry bee while we were doing the photography. Subsequently, a photoprint version of the document was produced by CNLF (about 1985) and Xerox copies were placed in the CNL Library and , later, in the C4 library. C4 carried the publication a step further (ca. 1995) by producing a "translation" of the old English script into a typewritten manuscript that made for much easier reading for those unfamiliar with early English script. These edited copies and a Xerox "original" now reside in the C4 Library where they can be checked out on loan to the membership. I am told that quite a number of copies were produced and distributed to all C4 members who wanted one, so there is no lack of copies available today in both the "original" and the edited version. Check with C4 Librarian Leo Shane at Leo_J_Shane@hotmail.com for additional information as to availability." [Many thanks to all who provided information on Thompson's Essay. This is great information, and the kind to thing that makes editing The E-Sylum both fun and rewarding. -Editor] COLONIAL NEWSLETTER RENAMED Actually, the 46-year-old publication "Colonial Newsletter" has a new subtitle: "A Research Journal in Early American Numismatics." In his Message from the Editor Gary Trudgen writes: "After several discussions, the CNL staff unanimously agreed that a subtitle should be added in order to allow new readers and institutions to easily identify the purpose of our periodical. CNL has published some of the most scholarly and seminal studies in early American numismatics over the years. Thus, it was felt that a title change was desirable since today, Newsletter infers a publication with less academic content than we attempt to provide. Therefore, the subtitle, "A Research Journal in Early American Numismatics" is now part of our publication name." THE HENRY CHAPMAN CATALOG FIND AT THE FREE LIBRARY OF PHILADELPHIA Bob Vail published an article about remnants of the Henry Chapman Library in the holdings of the Free Library of Philadelphia in the March 2006 issue of Penny-Wise, the official publication of Early American Coppers, Inc. After Del Bland tipped him off in 1995 to a Numismatist article by Pete Smith mentioning the remnants, Bob made arrangements for the two of them to visit the library during the May 1996 EAC Convention in Philadelphia. "When I called back later, a lady assistant who was listening to my request asked me to hold while she went to check a pile of stuff. Several minutes later she came back on the line and asked me if the name "Matthew Stickney" meant anything to me. DID IT EVER!" "In our wildest imagination we didn't come close to imagining the "goodies" that awaited our perusal." The pair reviewed three carts of books over a two-day period. Bob's article contains a partial list of the material. GEORGE FULD ON THE BAKER LIBRARY SCOVILL ARCHIVES George Fuld writes: "I appreciate Dick Johnson's updates on the Scovill story. Some ten years ago I spent two full days at the Baker library looking over the Scovill archives. I was most disappointed in what I found - there was very little if any information on early tokens or medals. I did find the mintage on a rare New Orleans token, some several thousand (about 5 or 6 now known) I did this for the ANS Coinage of the Americas Conference on Civil War cents in the late nineties. There was little to help the story." [Many thanks to George as well for sharing his recollections with us. Stay tuned for future notes about the Hopkins and Picker per last week's request. -Editor] ROCHESTER CLUB GOES ELECTRONIC Scott Fybush, editor, RNA News writes: "Just a quick note to let you - and your readers - know that the Rochester (NY) Numismatic Association's "RNA News" has made the leap into electronic distribution. Our monthly newsletter is now available as a PDF at our club website, www.the-rna.com, and we're delighted to be able to share it with the rest of the numismatic world. This month's issue celebrates National Coin Week, with the (remarkable, if I do say so) results of our junior club's poster competition, as well as a cautionary tale about what happens when you complain to the local newspaper about those ads they run for overpriced junk coins. We have archives available back to the beginning of 2006, and will soon be supplementing those with issues going back to the relaunch of our newsletter in its current form in 2002. Thanks again for all your hard work on The E-Sylum. I look forward to it every Sunday!" ANTI-COUNTERFEITING PATENT INFORMATION SOUGHT Dave Bowers writes: "In connection with a book I am writing I desire to correspond with anyone who has information regarding some of the more obscure patents and processes regarding anti- counterfeiting. I do not need the Rawdon, Wright, Hatch & Edson ?green tint? of 1857, or the National patent of 1860, or any of Perkins? patents, or Lyman?s or Seropyan?s patent. I would like to learn more about the Congreve Patent Check Plate (used in the USA by New England Bank Note Co., perhaps related to Sir Wm. Congreve of English bank note renown), Star?s patent, Desopyn?s patent, Atwater?s patent, and any related patents. Many of these arose in the 1850s when there was a scare about photographic counterfeits of bank notes. Also, if anyone has some paper scrip notes of New York City, fractional amounts, with dates from May through August 1837, I would be desirous of obtaining some images. Thanks to anyone who can help! Will be in Atlanta at Whitman this coming week, and Thursday and Friday at the ANA Money Show." AMERICAN INSTITUTE MEDAL INFORMATION SOUGHT Lynn Tumulty writes: "I read Katherine Jaeger's article on medals and minting. It was sent to me by a librarian at the New-York Historical Society because I had inquired about the origin of a medal from the American Institute in my possession. Ms Jaeger's update was interesting as well. I'm trying to find out more about this medal. It was awarded to an ancestor of mine in 1867 and it is signed by G.H.L. - George Lovett, her ancestor. It was awarded to F. Gleantzer who I think was a silver or goldsmith for Cartier's in New York working on the molds used to make large sterling silver platters, etc. but I'm not certain. How could I find out more about him and this piece? Can I tap into the records on line? Maybe Ms. Jaeger has run across his name in her research." I forwarded Lynn's query to Katie Jaeger. She writes: "I looked it up in the 1989 Harkness Token and Medal Society article and she has a Harkness 110, the "Large Gold Medal" struck between 1856 and 1867. I asked her to measure it, to confirm the I.D. Harkness says these 35mm medals were intentionally made the same size as the U.S. $20 gold piece, because the institute wanted to use $20 gold pieces as planchets. He states "none have been located in gold," which apparently holds true for her piece, which has pits. It does look to be gilded, however, so was probably intended as a gold medal. I assume her ancestor's fair entry merited some special recognition, to have won the larger medal. I don't have any records for 1867 here, but in 1857, there were only 20 large gold medals awarded (as opposed to 12 small gold, 100 small silver, 114 large silver, and 250 bronze.) It may seem like they awarded medals up the wazoo, but in fact each fair had 2000+ entries so winning a large gold was a real accomplishment. It may well be she will find her ancestor in the newspaper recaps of the fair." Katie in turn forwarded a request to Kay Freeman, who specializes in silver and goldsmith research. Katie adds: "My friend K.O. Freeman with newspaper access found exactly what her ancestor, Gleantzer, won in the 1867 fair recap: "a third premium for a banjo." So her medal is plain ole bronze! Lynn Tumulty writes: "Now I know he didn't invent the banjo, but I can't imagine what he did to one to make it so special." [Can any of our readers suggest additional places to look for information that haven't already been discussed in The E-Sylum? For example, were there printed programs with information on exhibitors? Awards banquet programs? -Editor] ANCIENT COUNTERFEITERS INVENTED EARLY ELECTROPLATE-LIKE TECHNIQUE It is said that counterfeiting is the world's second-oldest profession. A report in the journal Nature pointed out to us by the Explorator Newsletter (via Arthur Shippee) concerns ancient coins recently discovered to be contemporary counterfeits. "An ingenious counterfeit-coin scam has been rumbled by scientists in Italy. But no one is going to jail, because the forgers lived more than 2,000 years ago. Giuseppe Giovannelli of the University of Rome 'La Sapienza' and his colleagues took a close look at what seemed to be a silver coin minted in southern Italy in the third century BC. It turned out to be a lump of lead with a thin silver coating. This is not the first example of counterfeiting in the ancient world, but the researchers say that in this case the silver coating seems to have been created by a sophisticated chemical process. "We are not yet aware of any other counterfeit coins like this one," says Giovannelli. " "A couple of simple counterfeiting methods have been spotted before. Old forgers could cover a metal lump with thin silver foil and heat it to fuse the foil on to the surface. They could also fake the look of a coin by chemically treating the surface of an alloy (which may or may not have contained precious metals) to give it a silvery or golden sheen. But the microscopic structure of the silver layer in this case differs from that produced by either of these methods. Instead it looks like something generated by a much more modern electroplating process, say researchers. Metallurgists of the time are not thought to have known about this technique. To solve the mystery, the Italian researchers devised a treatment that produces an effect similar to electroplating, using only materials known to be available in the third century BC." To read the complete article, see: http://www.nature.com/news/2006/060327/full/060327-8.html INDIA BECOMING A BANKNOTE POWERHOUSE? According to a March 31 article in The Economic Times of India, "India may soon be the popular choice of several nations as a printer of currency. It produces the largest volume of bank notes in the world, at a third of the cost of production of established leaders." "The multi-billion dollar market is now dominated by companies like De la Rue and Royal Mint, both from the UK, Canadian Banknote Company and Orell Fussli Security Printing of Switzerland, among others." "The government has already held discussions with some big banners who have shown keen interest in sourcing some key operations from here. Apart from working on lower costs, the new public sector company also has a highly-trained work force that can churn out notes and coins with advanced security features." To read the complete article, see: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1471677.cms SPECTRUM NUMISMATICS WINS SECRET OHIO CLOSED-BID COIN AUCTION Guess what? According to a March 31 report in The Toledo Blade, "The state of Ohio announced today it rejected a series of closed bids from dealers and instead sold a batch of rare coins and currency connected to a state scandal to Spectrum Numismatics International for $7.5 million. The stock of collectibles was part of a $50 million Ohio Bureau of Workers? Compensation investment with former Toledo-area coin dealer Tom Noe and is now part of the evidence in a criminal case against him. The $7.5 million bid was the pre-set minimum that Spectrum agreed to pay if a so-called auction ? one held over several days in a secret location and open only to select dealers who provided $10,000 deposits ? did not raise more. Six other bidders placed bids totaling nearly $2.03 million on 37 of the 100 lots for sale, said Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro?s office. Bidding was from March 21 to Wednesday." To read the complete article, see http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060331/DEVELOPINGNEWS/60 331019 DENVER MINT WORKER'S CLASS-ACTION SUIT SETTLED According to a report in the Saturday Rocky Mountain News, "Scores of women who say they suffered ... harassment, ... discrimination and retaliation at the Denver Mint will share a settlement of nearly $9 million, it was announced Friday. "Yes!" about 20 of the women shouted Friday afternoon in front of the mint, thrusting their fists in the air, when they were asked what they think of the settlement ending their three-year class-action complaint. Mint officials acknowledged no wrongdoing, but agreed to the settlement to avoid a long, expensive legal battle, said U.S. Mint spokeswoman Becky Bailey in Washington, D.C." "In addition, five tiers of payment have been established, meaning women with the strongest cases will receive the most money, she said." "Violet Lamorie, 41, of Englewood, continues to work at the mint running the furnace that anneals the blanks of the coins. A mother of four, ages 8 to 22, she has been with the mint for 11 years and was elated when she learned of the settlement Thursday. "Wooh, wooh!" she recalled shouting when she heard of the Proposed settlement. Lamorie said she hopes the work environment will continue to improve for her and all employees, female and male." To read the complete story, see: http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_4588003,0 0.html JP MORGAN CHASE'S NUMISMATIC HOLDINGS A subscriber writes: "Referring to the article which appeared in this week's E-sylum about the $10,000 bill, I read the original article in the Krause Newsletter. I was a frequent visitor to the Chase Manhattan Money Museum as a kid back in the 1950's. I think these visits whetted my numismatic appetite and accelerated my desire to be a more advanced collector. While reading the Krause article, I was struck by the fact that JP Morgan Chase didn't own a $10,000 bill. This would have been a wonderful item for the museum, a real drawing card for the public, and with the portrait of the bank's namesake. I couldn't believe they didn't have one of these. I e-mailed Gene Hessler, the last curator of the museum. He said the Chase Manhattan Money Museum had owned a $10,000 and also had a $100,000 bill on loan from the Treasury. As you probably know, the $10,000's are legal for anyone to own, whereas the $100,000's were only for Treasury and Federal Reserve use. According to Gene, when the museum folded, the only material he could convince the bank to retain in their archives were the items pertaining to the bank's history (such as National Bank notes of banks absorbed by Chase Manhattan). Commenting on the Krause article's statement that the bank is considering a new museum, Gene said they would never be able to approach what they once had. As I recall, the museum was founded during the 1920's by acquiring the collection of Farran Zerbe, who then became the museum's first curator." CONGRESSMAN PROPOSES ADMISSION FEES FOR SMITHSONIAN MUSEUMS Washington, D.C. is a tourist's paradise because of the 160 year old free-admission policy at the Smithsonian museums. But visiting the National Numismatic Collection display and other exhibits could someday require an admission fee if a Congressman has his way. "The suggestion, by Rep. James P. Moran Jr. (D-Va.), came during congressional hearings at which a Smithsonian official said the complex is crumbling because there is not enough money for critical repairs. "Personally, I don't understand why we don't charge a fee," said Moran, a member of the appropriations panel that approves Smithsonian funding." To read the complete story, see: http://tinyurl.com/o4zsa [It would be sad to see the tradition end, but I think it's only fair that visitors help pay part of the burden. Similarly, as a longstanding practice, most coin shows charge no admission fee. But a number of larger shows do charge a fee and it's the accepted practice for virtually every other type of trade fair from gun shows to bridal shows to home shows. Over time the market dictates the appropriate amount for an admission fee - shows that try to charge too much will see their attendance drop. But an appropriately modest admission fee would not scare away many interested attendees and would help offset the costs of running the show. -Editor] JOURNAL FOR DIE ENGRAVERS SOUGHT Web site visitor Alon Dagan writes: "I am a sculptor-engraver located in Israel. I run my own private die shop. I read your article about the reducing machines in The E-Sylum and I wish to know, if you can recommend a magazine/website that I can subscribe to, that talks about information and development in the coin production industry? If there isn't one, how can I stay updated?" I forwarded Alon's query to Dick Johnson, our resident minting technology expect. Dick writes: "There is an American monthly publication, The Engravers Journal, which, unfortunately is more for businesses that have equipment which does flat engraving for the award industry, not the modulated engraving required for dies. There is a bright spot on the horizon, however. A new museum of coin and medal engraving and all related technology has been created here in America, Gallery Mint Museum. A major portion is concerned with die preparation. One of their proposed projects is just such a publication you are seeking. It should be first published in a year or two. Here are some contacts: The Engravers Journal P.O. Box 318 Brighton, Michigan 48116-0318 U.S.A. website: http://engraversjournal.com/ Subscription is expensive, $125 US for international air mail. Further subscription information on the website. Ron Landis, President Gallery Mint Museum P.O. Box 101 Eureka Springs, Arkansas 72632 U.S.A. website: http://www.gallerymint.com" THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS FANTASIES Regarding Dave Bowers' mention of the "Republic of Texas" doubloons in last week's issue, Rich Hartzog writes: "On behalf of Greg Brunk, I'd like to note that the Brunk "Merchant and Privately Countermarked Coins" book lists four "Republic of Texas" pieces in the Fantasies section, along with the Union Mine fantasies, both made from the same punches. The Brunk collection of countermarked coins, and many other rare US and World medals and tokens are coming up at auction in our Fall 2006 sale 2006 - watch our web site for more details: http://www.exonumia.com. Happy Collecting!" WESTERN ASSAY INGOT RESEARCH UPDATE Regarding John Kleeberg's discovery of a reference to Paul Franklin's counterfeiting arrest, Fred Holabird writes: "This article contains a very important discovery, which must be addressed. It does not, however, make all western assay ingots fake. We must continue to let science do the talking, and make the discoveries regarding authenticity through applied science. We are on an important road to discovery, but we aren't there yet. There are a number of spurious ingots, both silver and gold, that have gone through the marketplace, that have caused all of us serious concern. As technology develops, we hope to find ways to uncover the secrets of antiquarian metallurgy. Our current metals fingerprinting work, which involves colleagues from major gold-producing regions around the globe, involves looking at gold and silver on an isotopic level allowing us to "source" the metal. We are currently building that database, which is costly, but very necessary. Already we have made significant discoveries regarding some spurious ingots, but much more work is required. Another important goal is a communal effort of experimentation trying to "date" the metal "pours" by looking at various isotope ratios, etc. that may lead to the proximal date an ingot was poured (simply put, visualize Carbon-14 dating, of which you all are familiar). If we are successful, we can then test the questionable pieces, as well as known legitimate ingots. Some of this methodology has already been used in geology to date the formation of specific minerals in rocks. The problems with new research are many. First and foremost is funding. We need independent funding for this research that can be applied in both the US and Australia, which appears to eliminate, at least in part, the NSF. Private funding is desirable, because it is quite simply a faster means to achieve a goal. Our team currently is composed of gold experts from around the world. Myself, David Fitch, John Watling (University of Western Australia) and an incredible group from Lawrence Livermore Labs involving Gerald English and his colleagues, who have been working in a parallel direction on similar problems. While we are still in the planning stages regarding the dating issue, we all are of the opinion that it must be investigated. Meanwhile, we might find other solutions to the problem after we all get together for a think-tank session later this spring." F.C.C. BOYD COUNTERSTAMPED BUST HALF INFORMATION SOUGHT Ray Flanigan writes: "I'm looking for some help on F.C.C. Boyd. I recently came across a Bust Half with FCC BOYD counterstamped across the face. Boyd was a prominent numismatist in the early 1900s, joined the ANA and served 3 terms as President of the New York Numismatic Club. That's where my meager library left me. Does anyone know of sources of information on FCC Boyd or how the coins came to be counterstamped? My email address is RFlanigan@ec.rr.com" [We've published some information on Boyd in previous E-Sylum issues; here are a few of interest: F.C.C.BOYD http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v06n20a08.html WHAT DOES THE F. C. C. STAND FOR? http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v06n21a02.html JOHN J. FORD JR. COLLECTION CATALOG PUBLISHED http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v06n39a02.html This last article, referring to the Ford I sale by Stack's (October 14, 2003) notes that "Many of Ford's key coins came from the estate of F.C.C. Boyd, and the catalog includes a 3-page essay on Boyd." Perhaps one of the Bust Half collectors among our readership can tell us more about Boyd's counterstamped halves. -Editor] WHY THERE WILL ALWAYS BE MARDI GRAS DOUBLOONS Paul MacAuley writes: "I was pleasantly surprised to read your comments about Mardi Gras doubloons, since this gives me cover to admit that I actually collect some of these cheap ?throws?. I?m only a tangential doubloon collector -- my specialty is Confederate-themed coins, and so far I?ve found about 35 doubloons that meet my criteria. I estimate that there are 3,000 to 10,000 different doubloons out there. This topic could really use a good book or two. It would make some of the most colorful reading in the entire numismatic literature. The doubloons themselves are gaudy fun, but the stories of the hundreds of krewes and characters who produced these doubloons could fill a dozen books. The only books I?ve found are basically checklists developed by doubloon collectors and traders, and even these are hard to get. Probably the best of these books is privately- produced by Chuck Cox, Mardi Gras Doubloon Checklist and Swappers Guide (2004), and I was told that the inventory was lost in Katrina. You are partly justified in your concern that Mardi Gras doubloons are being edged out by bead necklaces, panties, stuffed toys, poker chips, plastics cups, etc. In part this is because Asian-made trinkets are cheaper than doubloons which are still American-made. But more importantly necklaces are easier to catch, especially by women who are often the intended recipients. When an uncaught doubloon hits the ground a scramble ensues, increasingly with Darwinian results. The heyday of the aluminum Mardi Gras doubloons was probably from the mid-Sixties to the mid-Nineties, but they are unlikely to disappear. Despite Katrina, I have already seen more than 50 different 2006 doubloons on Ebay, and I?m sure there are more. The krewes are proud of their doubloons, and the crowds will always grab for them. If only they would write more about it..." PURPLE HEART, OTHER WWII MEDALS SAVED FROM TRASH AT SERVICE STATION The following item is from the Eagle Tribune of Andover, MA: "An unusual find while cleaning out the basement of a gas station prompted a call to the city's Veterans Affairs office. Bill McDaniel and Emile Levasseur, owners of Larry's Service at 665 Haverhill St., came across three war medals ? a Purple Heart, a Bronze Star Medal and a Good Conduct Medal from World War II ? hidden in a 5-gallon bucket and sealed in a plastic bag. The only clue they had to the owner was the name embossed on the medals ? Walter F. Lanen." "Neither McDaniel nor Levasseur know how the medals got there or how long they had been in the cellar. McDaniel said the building is about 80 years old, and they have owned the service station since 1971." "McDaniel is just as anxious to return the medals to the rightful owner. "Obviously he worked for it," McDaniel said. "I'd rather see it go to someone in the family than on eBay." If you have any information regarding Walter F. Lanen, contact Dan Lannan, director of the Lawrence Veterans Affairs office at (978) 794-5846." To read the complete story, see: http://www.ecnnews.com/cgi-bin/15/etstory.pl?-sec-News+fn-fn-fn-medals.ybe-2 0060329-fn WWII SUPPLY OF PURPLE HEARTS LASTED HALF A CENTURY I came across an interesting 2003 article noting that nearly half a million Purple Heart medals had been struck but remained unissued at the end of World War II. The stockpile had been created in anticipation of massive losses in a ground invasion of Japan. The U.S. government still had 120,000 unissued Purple Hearts as of 2003, and the remainders of that massive hoard are likely still being awarded today. "In all, approximately 1,506,000 Purple Hearts were produced for the war effort with production reaching its peak as the Armed Services geared up for the invasion of Japan. Despite wastage, pilfering and items that were simply lost, the number of decorations was approximately 495,000 after the war." "The organization ordered a small number of medals in 1976 to bolster the "shelf worn" portions of the earlier production still retained by the Armed Services at scattered locations around the globe. It wasn?t long, however, before an untouched warehouse load of the medal was rediscovered after falling off the books. The DSCP suddenly found themselves in possession of nearly 125,000 more Purple Hearts. "Gary Hoebecke is one of the soldiers who received Purple Hearts during service in Vietnam for wounds suffered in 1965, 1968 and 1969. The retired lieutenant colonel was amazed that the decades-old medals are still being used. "With all the waste and screw-ups," said Hoebecke, "it?s quite remarkable that they have kept track of that stock and are still using them." When told that 125,000 had effectively been lost until after the Vietnam War, Hoebecke laughed. "Now that?s the Army I know!" he said, adding, "I?m glad we didn?t have to use them." But perhaps the most poignant appreciation came from a fellow Vietnam vet who learned for the first time that he had received a medal minted for the grandfathers of he and his buddies. "I will never look at my Purple Heart the same way again," he said." MILITARY MONEY GRADING SERVICE CREATED According to a report in yesterday's MPCGram (v7n1448), a new grading service for military currency has been created: "Professional Official Grading Service, a new numismatic grading service has been created and began operating today. Steve Swoish, founder and CEO, announced today that the service has been created to fulfill a demand that he has seen developing for properly graded and encapsulated material. Unlike other grading services that have evolved into including military notes among types services, Swoish states that military notes will be the backbone of the service." "The grading service holders are going to include the best features of existing holders and introduce new features. The holders will be completely inert to protect the notes. They will also be perfectly transparent and very rigid to further protect the notes. They will also be extremely thin allowing the special sensation of touch." THE GREAT SILVER DOLLAR FLOOD OF 1894 Coin World published a great article in the March 27, 2006 issue about an unusual event at the Philadelphia Mint. Written by Nancy Oliver and Richard Kelly, the article concerns an avalanche of silver dollars that shook the building like an earthquake and had workers running for their lives. Based on accounts of the incident in contemporary newspapers, the article recounts events that unfolded once officials decided to inventory 50 million silver dollars that had been moldering in a vault for over 60 years. "On Tuesday, May 1, at about 5 o'clock, Clerk Wellington Morris was up on top of one of the huge mounds raking in some loose silver coins when suddenly a bag beneath him burst and spewed its contents. Like a snowball on a mountainside, the mass of sliding silver dollars grew in size. There was a massive rumble as bags began to break by the dozens, and looking up, the workmen could see a flood of silver rushing toward them. Seeing the impending danger, the workmen rushed for the door, just barely in time to keep from being crushed by 112,000 pounds of falling coins." The workers feared the worst for Morris, but he managed to exit the vault unharmed. CALVACADE OF SPORTS BROCHURE WANTED Dick Johnson writes: "In 1967 twelve medals were issued by Paramount International in a series termed "Calvacade of Sports." The twelve medals were created by four sculptors, Abram Belskie, Albino Manca, Bruno Mankowski, and Robert Weinman. A 16-page brochures was issued with the set. I am looking to identify what sculptor created what medal and I am hopeful this is detailed in the brochure. I would like to borrow, purchase, or obtain a photocopy of this brochure. Anyone? My email address is dick.johnson@snet.net" SIMILLE SIMILARITIES AND JEFFERSON PORTRAITS Regarding Bob Neale's question in last week's E-Sylum, Mark Tomasko writes: "I was puzzled at the inquiry about whether James Smillie or Charles Burt engraved the portrait of Jefferson for stamps and currency. James Smillie was an etcher, and did not do portraits, which in the bank note tradition are all "cutting", i.e., with a graver, as opposed to etching. I would e interested to know where James Smillie is credited with engraving a Jefferson portrait ( I suspect it was Fred Smillie - see below). Charles Burt did the portrait of Jefferson used on the $2 United States Note, series 1869 and 1874-1917. There is a portrait of Jefferson done by George Frederick Cumming ("Fred") Smillie for U. S. stamps, used, for example, on the 50 cent stamp of the 1902 & 1903 series. I recommend my friend Gene Hessler's book The Engravers Line for further information about James Smillie, G.F.C. Smillie and Charles Burt. The Smillies had a remarkable bank note industry family tradition, and I sorted the various Smillies out (particularly how Fred Smillie was related to James Smillie and James D. Smillie) in an article I did for the Bank Note Reporter on the estate sale of Fred Smillie's son's collection several years ago." Bob Neale writes: "Many thanks for your reply to my inquiry regarding Jefferson portrait on notes starting in 1869. I recall (perhaps incorrectly...) that James Smillie is credited in a couple of books but, most definitely, in the 15th edition of Friedberg, page 17. My upcoming exhibit "Jefferson - On Paper" at our local coin show here in Wilmington, NC, will now contain the correct information." HAMMERED GOLD COIN HEAVY, BUT NOT THAT HEAVY Regarding last week's quote from a newspaper article about the auction of the heaviest hammered British gold coin, Martin Purdy writes: "That should be ?20 - it certainly doesn't weigh 20 lbs! And even at ?20 Scots, it was only worth about ?1 13s 4d in English currency at the time. Still a lovely coin, though." [The article referred to the coin as "The 20lb gold piece". Martin wrote to The Scotsman, and they replied: "You are dead right. We have carried an apology." -Editor] ANA MONEYMARKET CLEARANCE SALE Cary Hardy, Enterprise Manager, ANA - MoneyMarket writes: "I appreciate the comment Dick Johnson wrote in E-Sylum to buy from our clearance sale, however, "The American Numismatic Association needs money..." at the beginning of his sentence was a bit unnecessary. I organized this sale catalog to reduce inventory of once popular books that do not sell anymore or outdated editions still in inventory, to clear the warehouse of cases of old books and reprints from the 80s or earlier and leftover convention medals, all items sitting around collecting dust, which benefits no one. His comment projects a negative feeling for the catalog and the association. Nothing in this catalog or its intentions should give anyone the impression of his comment. The MoneyMarket catalog is published at least twice a year." [Dick's comment was meant to be innocuous - what organization doesn't need money? I don't think either of us believed his comment would be taken seriously as an indication that the organization is in dire straits. But I agree with Cary that it was unnecessary and could have been edited out. I've made some orders myself recently from the MoneyMarket catalog, and Cary runs a very professional operation. I encourage all of our readers to take another look at the catalog - there are a number of good bargains in the current sale. See www.money.org -Editor] DO PRESIDENTS POSE FOR MEDAL ARTISTS? WILSON VS THEODORE ROOSEVELT Roger Burdette writes: "Regarding the topic of presidents posing for medallists, during the Wilson administration, Philadelphia Mint engraver Charles Barber made repeated requests to visit the White House to capture President Wilson's likeness. Wilson consistently refused and Barber finally gave up and worked from photographs. One letter I recall reading in the archives indicated that Barber would not be responsible for the quality of the likeness if he had to work from photos. President Theodore Roosevelt seemed to enjoy having artists about the White House and Oyster Bay, and may have been the most sketched-painted-sculpted President - at least from life." INTERNET, MAIL, TELEPHONE BIDDING Our resident joker Dick Johnson writes: "A term for all forms of bidding, as requested in last week's E-Sylum: How about "poly channel bidding"? The icon can be a parrot perched on a pastiche of a telephone, letter, computer." DUTCH-MADE ISRAELI ERROR COINS Leon Worden writes: "Last week you asked about a Dutch-made Israeli coin error. You cite a report about a year-ago delivery of 9.5 million 1 shekel coins, of which 40 percent were faulty. There must have been two error coins made at roughly the same time, because a story by Pinchas Bar-Zeev of Tel Aviv in the July-August 2005 issue of The Shekel (the journal of the American Israel Numismatic Association) chronicles a commemorative "error shekel" with a reported mintage limit of only 1,500 pieces. The coin is inscribed in English, Hebrew and Arabic. The error was in Arabic script. The coin in Bar-Zeev's story was a "miniaturized version" of a previously issued "Jacob and Rachel" 1 New Shekel gold coin, released in late 2004 and/or early 2005. An excerpt: "(A) collector with a good knowledge of written Arabic and very keen eyes noticed that the miniscule Arabic word ISRA'IL was ... written incorrectly, and that the middle letter A was completely missing. Not just some freak die flaw" (note: the letter is formed by a small, relatively straight line), "but a real spelling error by either designers or engravers had quietly slipped through all quality control checkpoints of all parties involved: the Royal Netherlands Mint, the Bank of Israel and the Israel Government Coins & Medals Corporation. The same collector informed the IGCMC of the blunder, who [sic] in turn interrupted the coin's sales at its stores and franchise outlets all over Israel and recalled all outstanding stocks." According to Bar-Zeev's story, the Dutch mint was instructed to manufacture new coins from new, corrected dies. "The first 'corrected' coins reached the Israeli collectors market (in) early April 2005, and a few Israeli numismatists ... are now lucky and proud owners of a set of 'Jacob and Rachel' miniature gold coins: one error variety plus one 'corrected' version." ADVERTISING AGE, DAVE BOWERS AND THE HUNDRED THOUSAND-CENT MURAL Dick Johnson writes: "I was introduced to the trade publication "Advertising Age" in a college class at Washington University business school. I liked it so well I subscribed for a half dozen years or so early in my career after college. Among the illustrations of notable ads were often ones where ad agencies made small sculptures of the clients' products, like a bird made of colored rheostats or something. Agencies must have thought this was great art that would help sell the product. I had similar disdain for buildings made of coins -- like the Capitol built of silver dollars -- or the guy who pasted coins all over his auto. A waste of time and unintended use of good money -- PLAYING with coins! However, I must be getting mellow in my old age. I like the idea of the mural in Minneapolis made of 100,000 cents. There must have been some artistic talent required to form a design, even of a taco!, based on the color variations of the toning of the cents. I would like to see a color photo of that mural. Incidently, speaking of "Advertising Age," in an issue, must have been in the late fifties, was a photo of a special class in advertising. Seated in the front row was a numismatic personality, none other than Q. David Bowers. Maybe that's how he learned to write all those full page ads over the next fifty years!" [April Fool! Like all cons, the best April Fool stories have an element of truth, and in this case there really is a 100,000 cent coin mural in Minneapolis. I changed the subject to a taco in my excerpts to see if anyone would question it. The item is repeated below sans my ham-handed changes. Dick's wish for a color photo has been granted - see Michael Orzano's article on p52 of the March 27 issue of COIN World. -Editor] RECORD-SETTING FLAG MURAL MADE OF 100,000 CENTS [This item ran in last week's E-Sylum, but with a few changes. As an April Fool's joke I changed the subject of the mural from a U.S. Flag to a taco, and the setting from a coin shop to a taco shop. Here's the original, unedited version. -Editor] According to an article in the Pioneer Press of Minneapolis, "It's almost official: The largest permanent mural made of coins is in Minneapolis. On Saturday, Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer measured a mural inside a coin shop at Seventh Street and Marquette Avenue in downtown Minneapolis and, at 209.5 square feet, pronounced it larger than the previous record holder in Ranchero, Calif. Now all Bill Himmelwright has to do is send in the paperwork to Guinness World Records, culminating 2? months of plastering pennies to the wall of his store to make a giant U.S. flag. The mural measures 10? feet tall by almost 20 feet wide and is made up of 100,000 pennies, give or take. That's about $1,000." "Himmelwright crafted the flag's stripes and other features using natural color variation in pennies. He estimates he and friends combed through 365,000 pennies to come up with 55,000 coins that were brown." To read the complete article, see: http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/twincities/news/local/14133500.htm RULAU'S JOHN J. FORD OBITUARY, PART II Russ Rulau published a lengthy article on John J. Ford, Jr. in the March 21 edition of Numismatic News (p34,36). Russ has given us permission to publish additional parts of the article which did not make the final cut, and a few selections are shown below. DONALD MILLER Donald Miller of Indiana, Pa., an insatiable U.S. token enthusiast, an attorney of solid bodily structure, and John J. Ford Jr. were bidding at a penthouse auction sale of rare Hard Times tokens in the mid-1950?s. Each was bidding on a pristine HT 1 (Low 1) variety, a pro-Andrew Jackson ?Bank Must Perish? piece. Ford approached Miller to whisper something and a vicious verbal exchange erupted. The argument was carried out of the auction room and onto the terrace, which had a rather low wall. A great struggle ensued; Miller grabbed Ford and pushed him against the barrier and it seemed Ford might be thrown to eternity many floors below. Four men rushed to restrain the now-violent Miller, two of whom are still alive. One of these, the very young (then) Dave Bowers confirmed this report to me July 15, after it had been published in The E-Sylum by the other living participant. [See http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v08n29a07.html -Editor] Bowers said Miller ?had a bit too much to drink.? The Don Miller I knew was a very self-controlled person who updated Edgar Adams? 1920 U.S. token catalog in 1962, and whose numbering system I still use in the Merchant Token segment of my ?Standard Catalog of U.S. Tokens 1700-1900,? now in its fourth edition. John Ford could enrage almost anyone, it seems. INVASION OF LOUISVILLE Collector James H. Adams of Wisconsin wrote that he was honored to be among 40 guests visiting Armand Champa?s numismatic library during the 1988 Cincinnati ANA gathering. John Ford used Champa?s Louisville, Ky. bedroom to hold forth in his booming basso voice on subject after subject in numismatics. John loved an admiring audience. This episode appeared in Bank Note Reporter for June, 2005, pgs. 62-64. Two of the greatest ?lobby sitters? in numismatics were Ray Byrne and J. William Ross. I sat in on several of their post-bourse all-nighters talking coins, paper money, tokens, crooked coin dealers and of course girls. The Sixties held the ?lobby sitters? conclaves and anyone was welcome. They differed from the Ford pontifications in that everyone got their say. A Ford conversation was actually more a listening session. JJF never joined any ?lobby sit-in? of which I?m aware, but regulars were John Pittman Gordon Dodrill, Amon Carter, Grover Criswell and similar folks -- all now sadly gathered to their Maker. PAUL FRANKLIN AND THE "MASSAPEQUA MINT" (quoting from the internet Kleeberg article) ?Trained as an engineer, Paul Franklin was an expert tool and die maker. From 1933 until 1975 it was illegal for Americans to hold gold unless it had a numismatic premium .... but bullion traded in the black market. Colonial coin dealer Richard Picker dubbed the activities of Ford and Franklin ?the Massapequa Mint.? Ford lived in Rockville Centre and Franklin in nearby Massapequa. ?John Ford?s charisma won him clients -- Frederick C. C. Boyd, Mrs. Emery Norweb, John Murrell. Ford sold the $140 pioneer bar ostensibly from Dawson City, Yukon to Mrs. Norweb for $5,250. He sold a fantasy Republic of Texas countermark to Murrell. OLD FEUDS GO MARCHING ON A fitting epitaph for this article was penned by Ed Reiter, ex-coin columnist for the New York Times in a 1999 Numismati Literary Guild bash, sung to the strains of the Battle Hymn of the Republic: ?Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of John Ford. ?They have gazed on Doctor Sheldon?s coins when they were being stored. ?They have glimpsed the brouhaha about the Western assay hoard. ?Old feuds go marching on.? [Many thanks to Russ for sharing these writeups with us. I knew Don Miller and he told me the story of that famous rooftop struggle with Ford. I was also lucky to be among the Fortunate Forty bibliophiles at Armand Champa's that day, and I vividly remember Ford holding forth from his perch on the bed in Armand's stepdaughter's room. Whatever happened to the videotapes of that day? Armand hired a videographer and parts of Ford's exposition were caught on tape. Do any of our readers have a copy? -Editor] FEATURED WEB PAGE: This week's featured web page is "Observations on a Tiffin Token", an article by Greg Burns originally published in The Journal, a publication of The Canadian Numismatic Association, Vol. 39, No. 2 [3/94]. The tokens were produced around 1832 by a Montreal grocer named Tiffin, but dated 1812. http://www.glencoin.com/Observat.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 Apr 9 21:51:51 2006 From: esylum at binhost.com (esylum@binhost.com) Date: Sun Apr 9 21:53:33 2006 Subject: The E-Sylum v9#15, April 9, 2006 Message-ID: <00a301c65c41$56f4a0e0$0207000a@laptop035> Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 9, Number 15, April 9, 2006: an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society. Copyright (c) 2006, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society. WAYNE'S WORDS Among our recent subscribers are Neil Berman, J.S.G. Boggs, and Chris Jones. Welcome aboard! We now have 873 subscribers. I'm sad to report that we lead off this week's issue with word of the loss of two of our hobby's leading lights, R.A.G. Carson and William Dewey. Our thoughts go out to their families and friends. A family vacation has cut into my editing time this week, so some submissions which arrived over the weekend could not be included in this issue and will be held for the next issue - sorry! In the correction department, the author of the Coin World article about Bill Himmelwright and his shop was MICHELE Orzano, not Michael. My apologies to Michele. I know better, but it was a typo I shouldn't have let happen. Arthur Shippee noted that I'd forgotten to include the link to the source of the 2003 article on the half a million Purple Heart medals remaining unissued at the end of World War II. Sorry - it's http://hnn.us/articles/1801.html In a correction of a correction, Tom Delorey notes that "The Denver Mint produced regular issue Dimes, Quarters, Half Dollars, Half Eagles, Eagles and Double Eagles in 1906." Ray Flanigan's note stated that the Denver Mint "produced the first coins in 1907." Neil Shafer also reported this one. Some of you figured out that the item from the MPCGram was an April Fool's joke. One reader wrote: "Surely the new military money grading service, which was announced April 1, is just that, another April 1 joke? POGS? Come on..." Last week's mention of an ancient coin counterfeiting technique prompts Dick Johnson to discuss firebranding and galvanoplasty, Allan Davisson provides some background information on the recently-sold 1575 ?20 gold piece of James VI, and Alan Weinberg provides some interesting anecdotes about John Ford bidding at auction. New numismatic products debuting or on their way include a "pink quarter" from Canada and Mozambique debates new coin and banknote designs as part of a proposed currency revaluation. In other news, the WWII medals discovered last week in a service station basement have been returned to the recipient's family, a businessman in Marco Island, Florida adopts the Liberty Dollar, and a Canberra mint worker is caught smuggling coins in his steel-toed workboots. And to learn how a group of Germans hoped to turn decades-old Franklin Mint products into a million dollar profit, read on. Have a great week, everyone. Wayne Homren Numismatic Bibliomania Society OBITUARY: WILLIAM DEWEY 1905-2006 Former American Numismatic Association Librarian William Dewey passed away this week at the age of 100. Jim Majoros, President, Ocean County Coin Club writes: "Bill Dewey celebrated his 100th birthday on Dec 5, 2005, it is sad to say that Bill passed away on Sunday, April 2nd at the nursing home in Woodcliff Lake, NJ, where he had been for a number of years. Bill, a professional engineer by trade and a direct descendent of Admiral George Dewey, had a long and remarkable life with interests in numismatics that began in 1932. These interests led him to research and writing about a number of subjects, primarily the Bergen Iron Works Tokens and Early Manchester and William Torrey. He took to numismatics just as a fish takes to water and was the ANA librarian in the late thirties. He co-founded the Westchester County (NY) Coin Club and received the Numismatic Ambassador Award amongst many other individual recognitions. Just recently, he was honored with two special citations on his 100th birthday, presented by ANA president Bill Horton at the Nursing home. A number of members of New Jersey's Ocean County Coin Club will always remember Bill for his dedication and interests in the club and its members, consistently being available to discuss some of his numismatic findings at the club's "show & tell" sessions. Bill Dewey has been missed the past twenty years ever since he moved to his nursing home in north Jersey and he will continue to be missed by all who knew him. He never forgot us and we will never forget him. Bill's daughter, Autumn said there will be a memorial service on Sunday, April 23, 2006 at 1 pm at the 1st Congregational Church in River Edge, NJ (off exit 161 of the Garden State Parkway to Route 4) for those who would like to attend. Cards may be sent to Mr.& Mrs. Robert H. Owens at 390 Fifth Ave, River Edge, NJ 07661." David Gladfelter adds: "He was ANA librarian in 1940 when the 51 year index to the Numismatist was published, and was on the committee that published it. In 1987 he received the Krause Numismatic Ambassador award. I believe he won a Heath Award from the ANA for articles in the Numismatist on his relative, Admiral George Dewey. He had a fine collection of Admiral Dewey medals. He wrote 2 books on New Jersey historical subjects, "Early Manchester and William Torrey," in 1982 and "The Bergen Iron Works and its Tokens" published by the Ocean County (N.J.) Historical Society in 1989. He won the Society of Paper Money Collectors literary award in 1984 for a series of articles on the S. W. and W. A. Torrey railroad scrip, and again in 1998 for an article (with me) on Bergen Iron Works scrip. He was a professional engineer who retired in 1966. And was a hell of a guy." David also forwarded the following from the introduction to Dewey's first book. David's comments are in brackets []: "Born in New York City in 1905 and educated in Mt. Vernon public schools, Mr. Dewey received his Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering in 1927 from Union College in Schenectady, New York. A licensed professional engineer in New York, he retired in 1966 after many years of service in the engineering department of New York Telephone." "He has been honored many times for his varied activities, among those of which he is most proud -- the Gold Medal Award from the Alumni Council, Union College; President Emeritus, Cruiser Olympia Association of Philadelphia [the Cruiser Olympia was Admiral Dewey's flag ship in the Spanish-American war, now docked at the Philadelphia waterfront]; honorary membership in the Bergen County (N. J.) Coin Club; and the Heath Literary Award of the American Numismatic Association in 1959." "While active in research and uncovering past mysteries, Mr. Dewey still enjoys the violin and though he no longer participates in lacrosse and cross country running as he did in school [that must be why we hit it off], keeps in excellent physical shape with brisk walks and exercise." Bob Mitchell writes: "I first contacted Bill around April 1974, when I was stationed in Ethiopia. My aunt had sent me a newspaper clipping about a man that was researching the "Torrey" family. She knew that I had collected the Torrey scrip and I immediately wrote Bill. His reply dated May 12th arrived soon afterwards, and we started our exchange of information and many years of friendship to follow. Bill told me in a letter dated Dec 13, 1996 that he was sorry to have had to turn over all his records and collections and stop research and writing. (Torrey stuff went to the Lakehurst Historical Society, and I believe some of the notes went to a fellow NJ collector with the stipulation they be donated to the Ocean County Historical Society upon his death). Bill had just turned 91 and said he was thankful to be alive and still be able to add 2+2. And he only complained about increasing difficulty in hearing! He was such an energetic man in mind and spirit, certainly an example for all of us to live by. I think I have every letter Bill wrote me since 1974 because we exchanged so much information on our mutual interests in the Ocean County money and scrip. Now I can look them over and enjoy the memories he left me with." To read previous E-Sylum items on Bill Dewey, see: http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v06n52a11.html http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v08n52a02.html OBITUARY: R.A.G. CARSON, 1918-2006 On April 3 The Independent of London published an obituary of British Museum curator and Roman coin expert R.A. G. Carson: "Robert Andrew Glendinning Carson, museum curator and numismatist: born Kirkcudbright 7 April 1918; Assistant Keeper, Department of Coins and Medals, British Museum 1947-65, Deputy Keeper 1965-78, Keeper 1978-83; FBA 1980;" "Robert Carson was the leading British expert of his generation on Roman coins. He joined the staff of the British Museum as Assistant Keeper of Roman Coins in the Department of Coins and Medals in 1947, a few months after his life-long colleague Kenneth Jenkins, an expert in Greek coins." "Their arrival coincided with the start of the slow recovery of the museum from the effects of the Second World War, when most of the staff had left to take part in the war effort and the collections were evacuated from London. The fabric of the museum, including the offices of the Coin Department, was much damaged by bombing and it was not until about 1960 that the department was able to return to permanent accommodation when its bombed offices were finally rebuilt." "Robert Carson was in great demand as a reviewer and also as an editor. It is typical of his generosity and selflessness that he spent so much of his own time bringing other people's work to publication. He was always willing to share his time and expertise, especially with a younger generation of his colleagues, one of whom at least has every cause to be grateful for his endless patience." "After his retirement, Robert Carson and his wife Fransisca moved to Australia to join one of their children who had emigrated there." To read the complete article, see: http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/article355391.ece ESHBACH STEIGERWALT LITERATURE EXHIBIT IN ATLANTA NBS President Pete Smith writes: "I just returned from the ANA Money Show in Atlanta. This show does not have a classification for numismatic literature exhibits but there was an excellent literature exhibit in the History and Politics class. ?The Numismatic Publications of Charles Trissler Steigerwalt? was placed by John Eshbach. I talked with John briefly about his research and his unsuccessful search for a photo of Steigerwalt?s house. I was not aware of Steigerwalt?s middle name so I learned something from the exhibit." HENRY CHAPMAN LIBRARY REMNANTS FOLLOWUP Charles Davis writes: "Bob Vail's account of the Henry Chapman Library discovery published in the latest issue of Penny Wise has probably resulted in a number of phone calls to the Art Department of the Philadelphia Free Library from EAC members hoping to view or acquire some of the holdings. Bob should have continued the story by noting that he contacted me and I was able to obtain the library, and it was sold at public auction at the 1997 ANA Convention in Cleveland. The $100,000 generated was used to set up an endowment for conservation of needy works in the Free Library's collection. The Chapman material had laid untouched for over 50 years, hidden in the Art Department where it was "triple shelved" - eg Chapman book in the back with an art book in front of it and another art book in front of that. As the collection had never been "accessioned," there was no problem in "de-accessioning it." Had it made it to the library's card file, it would no doubt still be there tied up in bureaucratic red tape." NEW $10 BILLS ARE "UGLY", BUT OLD FIVES ARE "NASTY" We've seen a number of articles with a numismatic theme from the Daily News of Newburyport relating to the Jacob Perkins building and the "roofer hoard" of banknotes. On April 5th the paper published an article on another common theme, criticism of new designs - in this case, the new U.S. $10 bill. "Although the new $10 hasn't caused major headaches for local businesses, some have had to make changes to equipment that handles the bills. Bonnie Demars, owner of the Village Washtub Laundromat, had to change a computerized chip for the washing machines three times to accommodate the new $10s." "The new bill is real currency, but many say it looks like "play money." Janette Hill, branch supervisor at TD Banknorth in Newburyport, said she's had customers make comments. "Some people like them and some people don't. But a few people have said it looks like it's been sitting in rusting water," she said, referring to the bill's background colors of red, orange and yellow that look dingy to some. Teller Amanda Hardy has also had similar responses. "A lot of people question it because it looks like play money," she said. "It looks like foreign currency more than anything." But both agree that the $5 bills need a makeover, too. Hill said the $5 bills are "nasty;" Hardy said they haven't had a new look in years." Derek DeBoisbriand, a salesperson at Richdale's, said that older people seem to question the validity of the new $10 bill more than other customers, because they're used to the older bills." "While he says "personally I think it's really ugly" and like coffee has been spilled on it, he did add that he likes the numeral 10 in the right-hand corner of the new bill, because it turns from copper to green, depending how one looks at it." To read the complete article, see: http://tinyurl.com/kdynj CANDADA'S PINK QUARTER DEBUTS The Edmonton Journal published an article March 31 about Canada's new "pink quarter": "The Royal Canadian Mint, together with the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, on Friday unveiled a 25-cent coin, featuring the iconic pink ribbon. The "breast cancer awareness" quarter, according to the RCM, is the second coloured circulation coin to be produced following the popular 25-cent poppy coin in the fall of 2004. The RCM said it plans to produce up to 30 million "pink" coins, which will enter into circulation beginning on Saturday." "As part of the unveiling of the coin, 12 Canadian fashion designers generously created and donated one-of-a kind fashion items featuring the new coin. From travel wallets to corsets, all items will be auctioned on the RCM website with the proceeds directed to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation." To read the complete article, see: http://tinyurl.com/geas8 [Has anyone seen these coins? How are they manufactured? Is there some sort of insert for the ribbon, or is the coloring applied after striking, like enameling? There are many bimetallic coins being made today, but other than the Canadian Poppy quarter mentioned in the article, are there other coins with similar color features? -Editor] PROVENANCE OF SCOTTISH GOLD COIN UNCOVERED Allan Davisson writes: "A bit more on the 1575 ?20 gold piece of James VI (And a story with a brief moral for those who do not adequately value important old auction catalogs....) The cataloger did not catch the fact that the piece was part of the great Murdoch sale of May 1903 (lot 266) where it realized ?81, a huge sum for the day. In general, Murdoch had the means and opportunity to collect the finest known examples of everything in his huge collection and coins from his collection show that he did, in fact, obtain the best. In 1997, DNW offered this piece as lot 214. Their publicity at the time, as I recall, referred to a "new and formerly unrecorded" example of the piece and the catalog notes that "To the best of our knowledge, this coin has never before been offered at Public auction." It sold to Lucien LaRiviere for ?22,500 in a sale that had virtually nothing of significance otherwise in the Scottish series. The Spink catalogers also missed this extremely important bit of provenance. The coin was estimated at a moderate ?30,000 to ?40,000 and sold for ?48,000, again a modest sum, it seems to me, for one of the most important and dramatic coins in the Scottish series if not the entire British series. And this great coin also happened to be a part of the most renowned of British collections." QUERY: JOHN PINKERTON AND MEDALLIC ILLUSTRATIONS Kay Platt writes: "I have a question that I am hoping a member of the NBS could answer, or just steer me in the right direction to find an answer. I have four different versions of The Medallic History of England attributed to John Pinkerton, two with text, two without text. The spine of one contains his name, otherwise there is no mention of his name anywhere else. The information on the four volumes may be summarized as follows: (A) The Medallic History of England to the Revolution, with Forty Plates. Dated 1790, No author?s name on the title page, but Pinkerton's name appears on the original spine. ?Printed for Edwards and Sons, Pall Mall, Faulder, in New Bond Street.? This volume contains 40 plates and commentary on each medal. (B) The Medallic History of England, Illustrated by Forty Plates. Dated 1802. Pinkerton's name does not appear on the original spine, which is badly deteriorated. ?Printed, at the Oriental Press, by Wilson and Co for E. Harding, No. 98, Pall-Mall; and J. Scott, St. Martin?s Court ? This edition contains 40 plates, no preface but the same commentary as (A). (C) The Medals of England, consisting of 384 Specimens Engraved on Forty Plates. Undated. No author. ?Nichols & Son, 25 Parliament St.? This edition contains 40 plates and commentary, but no preface or commentary. This copy is bound together with Adam d. Cardonnel?s Numismata Scotiae (1786). (D) 384 Medals of England, Engraved on Forty Plates. Dated 1831. No author. ?Printed for JB Nichols & Son, 25, Parliament-Street.? No preface or commentary. Binding (red leather?) appears to be a later replacement for the original. I also have Snelling?s Thirty Three Plates of English Medals (1776). This is, of course the source of about 2/3 of the 40 plates, although Snelling had died in 1773. Some questions are: How did Pinkerton?s name come to be associated with Snelling?s work? Did he purchase the rights from Snelling?s family, or did he just appropriate the work and have the additional plates added and publish the revised work for his profit? After all, it would appear that Pinkerton had a great interest in medals. But he was also accused of having appropriated other authors? works without attribution. Perhaps the most basic question is, how do I really know that Pinkerton had anything to do with the publication of the ?40 Plates? works, other than his name appearing on the spine of one of the four volumes, and in libraries? Also, did Pinkerton actually write the text that accompanied the plates, or did he hire someone to do it (or did the publisher write the preface and text), and why the (odd, to me) appearance of incomplete later editions lacking the accompanying text? And, finally, was he associated with all four versions? Any light a member could shed on the Pinkerton relationship with Snelling?s original work, and the four later editions would be greatly appreciated. Any references to commentaries or works which would shed light on these questions would especially be welcomed. More broadly, recommendations to any other essential sources on the eminent writers on medals of the 17th century would also be appreciated. I have Evelyn, Vertue, Pinkerton?s Essays on Medals (not of much value), Henfrey, Turner?s Pinkerton?s Correspondence, Pinkerton?s earlier work, On Medals, and of course the works mentioned above. More generally, I have Medallic Illustrations, Helen Farquhar?s articles, Besly?s book (and article on for the Forlorn Hope in The Medal), Mayo, Lessen?s articles, and Nathanson?s small work on Simon. Is any other essential book missing that I should have that would provide more information on the writers mentioned? Many thanks in advance for your readers? help." PRIVATE MONEY: MARCO ISLAND ADOPTS LIBERTY DOLLAR The Naples Daily News of Naples, Florida reports that a local entrepreneur plans to market Liberty Dollars. "Seeking to liberate his neighbors from a monetary system that he believes has lost some of its juice, Marco Island accountant Al Wagner plans to launch an independent Liberty Dollar franchise next month. But he's mostly in it for the fun, Wagner said. The silver-based money is neither endorsed by Marco Island government, nor Marco Island Chamber of Commerce leaders. Newly elected Marco Councilman Rob Popoff is an investor in Wagner's project." "Wagner won the right to distribute the currency throughout Collier County. It is a $20 silver minted circle, which he plans to unveil on April 6 at an event at the Esplanade on Marco. Wagner said he can't use the word "coin" because that is legally defined as U.S. government money." "The Liberty Dollar is a national franchise, initiated in 1999 by self-described monetary architect Bernard von NotHaus, because American money is no longer backed by the silver and gold that was once protected at Fort Knox." "Claudia Dickens, spokeswoman for the U.S. Treasury Bureau of Engraving and Printing, said no matter how the Liberty Dollar is presented, it is not legal currency. "We have heard of Liberty Dollars," she said. "This agency prints U.S. currency, and it is the only legal currency." Dickens compared Liberty Dollars with Disney Dollars, used exclusively at Walt Disney amusement parks. Like poppet beads at Club Med, Disney Dollars are bought with real money, but are not real U.S. currency. "If a merchant wants to accept Liberty Dollars, that is their right," Dickens said. "As long as the person doesn't claim it is the legal tender of the land." Wagner said he regards the comparison with Disney Dollars as "derogatory." "Disney Dollars are not real silver," Wagner said." To read the complete article, see: http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2006/apr/01/marco_liberty_dollar/?local_news BOOK ON MARDI GRAS DOUBLOONS In response to the article on Doubloons by Paul MacAuley, numismatic literature dealer Richard Stockley writes: "I sell a book called "Doubloons Commemorative Medals" by Jerry Ledet Sr. I don?t know if it is updated every year - mine is a 1994 edition. It is basically a listing, not illustrated, of the doubloons along with a couple of other items. If anyone is interested, I can be contacted at rstockley@sympatico.ca. To those collecting these items, enjoy!" WASHINGTON, D.C. BOOKSTORES SOUGHT Michael Savinelli writes: "I will be visiting Washington, DC at the beginning of May on a business trip. Does anyone know whether there are any good used bookstores there (and preferably ones that might have numismatic literature)? I will be staying at the Marriott at H & 12th Streets. I will not have a rental car, so any suggestions for bookstores within walking distance would be appreciated. Thanks." NOE BEHIND NEW GOLD COINS; PUSHED FOR PALLADIUM Tom DeLorey writes: "The Sunday, April 2 Toledo Blade has an amazing article which reveals that Tom Noe was the driving force behind the creation of the 2006 one ounce .9999 find gold bullion coin bearing the image of Fraser's 1913 Buffalo nickel, and the 2007 and subsequent half ounce .9999 fine gold "First Lady" coins. If Mr. Noe is ever convicted of anything (and of course he remains innocent until proven guilty), does this mean that righteous collectors should boycott these coins? If not, should we at least refer to the one ounce Buffalo Nickel coin as the "Noe Bull Chit?" [The lengthy article quotes coinage committee member Ute Wartenberg Kagan, executive director of the American Numismatic Society, Scott Travers, and several government officials. In addition to the gold bullion coins, Noe suggested a palladium coin as well. The following are some brief excerpts. -Editor] "Last week, Greg Weinman, the Mint?s senior counsel and ethics official, told The Blade that the Treasury Department?s inspector general had opened an investigation into Mr. Noe?s role as a member and chairman of the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee, a panel that advises the Treasury secretary on themes and designs for coins and congressional gold medals. In May, 2003, the White House and House Speaker Dennis Hastert recommended that Mr. Noe get a seat on the influential 11-member committee. Treasury Secretary John Snow appointed Mr. Noe, less than six months after the Toledo-area coin dealer expressed interest in joining a Mint committee to Henrietta Fore, then director of the Mint. ?I have always had interest in getting more involved on the national level,? Mr. Noe wrote to Ms. Fore." To read the complete article, see: http://tinyurl.com/jqz7e [A commercial web site claims that "In 1967, Tonga issued palladium coins on the occasion of the Coronation of King Taufa Ahau Tupou IV, thereby achieving a world's first." Is that true? Were the first palladium coins issued by Tonga? http://www.24carat.co.uk/tongapalladiumcoins.html -Editor.] AUSTRALIAN MINT WORKER SMUGGLED COINS IN HIS BOOTS Philip Mernick forwarded a story published April 6 by the BBC News about a Canberra mint worker who stole coins by concealing them in his workboots: "An ex-worker at Australia's mint has admitted stealing tens of thousands of dollars in coins he put in steel-capped boots to avoid metal detectors. Prosecutors said William Bosia Grzeskowiak stole more than AU$155,000 (?65,000) in new two-dollar coins over a year at the Canberra mint. Grzeskowiak, 48, was arrested two months ago while trying to change a large number of coins into notes." "Workers are not required to remove boots during random screening. They said they found AU$100,000 in coins hidden in plastic buckets and shopping bags in the garage of Grzeskowiak's mother." "The case triggered a review of security at the mint during which Australian Federal Police found a host of problems. The mint has since upgraded security." http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4882560.stm PORTION OF SCOVILL ARCHIVES SAVED FROM DESTRUCTION Dick Johnson writes: "I too, share friend George Fuld?s appraisal of the shortcoming of material at the Baker Business Library at Harvard. A researcher must be pleased however, with the material he does find in any archives. Pleased with what you have to work with, but not satisfied to stop looking for more ? keep digging!) Case in point: The Philadelphia Mint could not meet the demands of the Columbian Exposition officials who wanted raised lettering on all the Expo Award Medals after the1892-93 Expo. This is a large chore to make an "insert die" for every medal. The Philadelphia Mint contracted this to private industry, Scovill Manufacturing with whom they had a long relationship. (The technology is simple, but very labor intensive. A cavity must be created in one side of the award medal dies. A large quantity of steel "inserts" must be made to EXACTLY fit that cavity. Then each one of the inserts must be engraved with the lettering to appear as raised lettering on the medal.) The Baker Library has the journal in the Scovill archives which recorded the exact inscription on every Columbian Expo award medal. The trouble is that they have only one journal. The order of 23,757 medals required TWO journals to record all those names. One journal is missing. The existing journal is gargantuan! It must be 4 feet tall, with numbers down the left hand side of each page and a nice hand script entry of the insert die lettering. Does the other journal still exist? It may. Keep digging. In all, it took Scovill two years to complete this striking order even with a small team of workers. Several engravers creating those insert dies. A pressman or two for striking. A finisher to patina the medals. And several clerks to keep the records straight and to enter those names in that journal. Oh! I do hope the other journal exists. What should be saved for the archives? Another case in point: When the old Scovill headquarters building was demolished in Waterbury in 1995 to make room for a shopping mall (Brass Center Mall) the demolition crew came across one room that was sealed. No one could get the door open to enter. A worker climbed down from the roof, broke open a window and entered the sealed room. They discovered it was the office of the press officer. It was filled with material. Filing cabinets and shelving filled with reports, pamphlets, books, magazines, clippings, company publications, on and on. One of the demolition crew saved the material, instead of hauling it to the dump (bless him!). From four filing cabinets and lots of shelving he filled 46 boxes. He contacted a friend of mine, who knew of my interest in Scovill history. He had his company driver drop off two sample boxes at my home for me to examine and return. It is exactly what a press officer would save. (I know; I was one once!) Gist for some future article or report. This is the corporate intelligence that senior management often needs to make enlightened decisions (and often needs in a hurry). Perhaps we should be grateful the room was sealed, and that the material hadn?t been discarded before. My suggestion was this material should go to the Baker Library to join the rest of the Scovill archives. I contacted the curator I had worked with when I researched in their library. He, in turn, went to his administration. The reply came back, in essence, they would accept it for donation but would not for purchase. My friend has the 46 boxes stored at his Waterbury company storeroom. The material is for sale. The purchaser can be a Scovill buff, or someone who can make the purchase and donate it to the Baker Library. (Or it could be a lifetime of very dry r eading!)" [It?s tragic what gets thrown away sometimes. We owe a lot to the people who take the initiative to save this sort of material, and it's only right that they should be compensated for their effort. Several years ago, someone walking past the Pittsburgh City Courthouse discovered a large number of boxes of documents on the sidewalk awaiting trash pickup. A crew had cleaned out the attic and documents decades or even a century old were being thrown out. A number of boxes were salvaged but a lot went to a dump. I've gotten a few items for my numismatic library by being in the right place at the right time with a catcher's mitt as things were being thrown in the trash, including a few complete years of Mehl's Numismatic Monthly and some numismatic correspondence of Howard Gibbs. Do any of our readers have a "saved from the trash" story to tell? -Editor] LANEN WWII MEDAL FIND FOLLOW-UP David Klinger writes: "Here is an article with the follow up to the story about the medals of Walter F. Lanen, found in the trash at a gas station." "With a slight trace of tears in his eyes, William J. Lanen stood still and straight as the 87-year-old retired Army colonel stared down at his younger brother's grave. "He was a good soldier," Lanen said of Private First Class Walter F. Lanen, who is buried at the Immaculate Conception Cemetery. A few minutes earlier, two strangers had handed William Lanen long-lost mementos of his brother. They included a Bronze Star, a Purple Heart with two clusters, and two other medals that Walter Lanen had earned while serving with the 339th Regimental Combat Team in the US Army during World War II." The medals were discovered this week in the basement of Larry's Service Station on Haverhill Street as co-owners Emile Levasseur and Bill McDaniel were cleaning up." "We have no idea how they got there," Levasseur said. "Not a clue." "A newspaper account in The Eagle-Tribune led a producer from the television station CBS4 to find William Lanen, who is living in retirement in Bow, N.H." To read the complete article, see: http://tinyurl.com/otjw4 Howard A. Daniel III forwarded a link to a similar article with Images of the medals: http://www.cnhins.com/newsrollup/cnhinsmilitary_story_090012942.html JOHN FORD BIDDING AT AUCTION Inspired by Russ Rulau's account of the famous John Ford - Don Miller auction fistfight last week, Alan V. Weinberg writes: "I distinctly recall at an early 60's (Howard Egolf sale?) NYC Stack's auction John Ford standing up at the back of the room and confronting cigar-wielding NYC coin dealer Max Kaplan, a few feet apart, as Max drove him up and up on a desired coin. This resulted in a shouting match as each man, with a booming voice, tried to get in the last word, disrupting the auction. I believe a young Dave Bowers and Johnny Rowe were present, as was I. At the 1984 NYC Bowers & Merena Virgil Brand Part II auction, John bellowed out loud "Whaddya want this put-together cockamamie thing for?" as John Hamilton bid him up on a unique 1850 gold hand-constructed "Eureka" San Francisco medal which JJF won for $9900. I remember these and other incidents as not disparaging but adding to the colorful history of a colorful collector/dealer." TAXAY AND THOMPSON'S 1783 ESSAY ON COINING Eric P. Newman writes: "Since there has been recent comment in The E-Sylum on when the discovery in the ANS library of the "Essay on Coining" manuscript was made and a mention of my being excited about it, I feel I should point out that Don Taxay in 1966 published The U.S. Mint and Coinage in which, beginning on page 88, a group of images from "Essay on Coinage" and information from the text was included." DAVE BOWERS, ADVERTISING AGE, AND DICK CLARK Regaridng the Advertising Age photo mentioned by Dick Johnson last week, Dave Bowers writes: "Although I don't remember the photo, I have always been a student of advertising, of the old John Caples, et al., mail-order variety, "Which Ad Pulled Best," and so on. For a number of years in the early 1960s I went to the annual seminar held by Advertising Age in Chicago. Often after hearing a presentation the attendees would break into study groups. I remember I was in one such small group with Dick Clark, of rock and roll memory now of current rock and roll fame back then." 1906 SAN FRANCISCO EARTHQUAKE SURVIVORS Jeff Reichenberger writes: "I'm pleased Werner Mayer and Dave Kellogg (volume 9, number 13, March 26, 2006) mentioned the fine article in the Smithsonian magazine about the San Francisco Mint and the earthquake. Coupled with the equally fine story in the April Numismatist you really get a feel for the mint, the fury, and the chaos there a hundred years ago. A highlighted column within the Smithsonian article features a group of survivors who get together every year on that day. Centenarians now, all but one, who claims being conceived the night of the earthquake! She says she danced at the saloon where her father worked when she was six. Longshoremen threw nickels and pennies at her feet. One wonders, what nickels? What pennies? Perhaps 1912 S Liberty nickels, 1909 S VDB pennies, or how about 1894 S dimes.... Are there any centenarians in our group?" ANOTHER LIVING NON-HEAD-OF-STATE HONORED: DESMOND TUTU Regarding living non-heads of state on coinage Dr K.A. Rodgers writes: "I think this topic has had its day, but the South African Mint has just announced its 2006 Protea designs featuring the very much alive Nobel Laureate Archbishop Desmond Mpilo Tutu. This leads to looking at other folks on previous Proteas. It looks like at least one other living South African has been featured there." MOZAMBIQUE MULLS NEW NOTES AMID CURRENCY REVALUATION An article posted April 4, 2006 discussed plans of the Mozambican parliament on currency reform. While politicians debate, the Bank of Mozambique is moving ahead with plans to produce revalued coins and banknotes: "Back in November the Assembly passed a government bill intended to make the Mozambican currency, the metical, more manageable, by lopping off the last three digits. The bill established a rate of conversion of one to a thousand. Thus the current 1,000 metical coin will be worth one metical in what the government refers to as the "new family" of the currency. The largest current banknote, for 500,000 meticais, will be worth 500 meticais in the "new family"." "The government stresses that the metical is not being abolished, and the country is not embracing a new currency. All that is happening is a simple mathematical operation - division by a thousand. The name of the currency is unchanged and the old notes and coins will remain legal tender for a lengthy transition period, as they are gradually withdrawn from circulation." "Meanwhile, the Bank of Mozambique is pushing ahead its preparations for the introduction of the new banknotes and coins. As from 1 April it became compulsory for shops and other business to indicate their prices both in the existing meticais, and in the "new family" meticais. Posters and leaflets explaining the changes have been distributed all over the country, and the new notes should be unveiled on 1 July." To read the complete article, see: http://allafrica.com/stories/200604040691.html PHILIPPINE COUNTERSTAMP BOOK NOT NEW Ken Berger writes: "You state that "A new book has been published on Philippine Counterstamped coins". Then you mention that Howard Daniel received a copy of "Philippine Counterstamped Coins, 1828-1839" by Dr. Quint Jose Ma. Oropilla Y Fortich. This is not a new book. It was published in 2001. I've had mine for over two years! I got it from Bill Elwell of Bishop Coins. Ponterio has has been advertising this book on eBay for almost 3 years." ON FREE ADMISSION Regarding a proposal to charge admission for the Smithsonian Museums, last week I wrote: "It would be sad to see the tradition end, but I think it's only fair that visitors help pay part of the burden." Pete Morelewicz writes: "The Smithsonian is supported by our tax dollars. Similarly, a "road to nowhere" in Alaska, for example, is paid for by tax dollars, even if few people ever use it. That the Smithsonian be subject to usage fees when other, arguably less important, projects are not is, in my opinion, ludicrous. (Phew! -- needed to get that off my chest. Not having a vote in Congress can subject one to such sudden outbursts.) Oh, and the comparison to gun/coin/boat shows is faulty, as these are not government-funded events." [Government funding subsidizes public transportation, too, but the rides aren't free, and I would argue that they shouldn't be. Some part of the burden rightly rests on the user of the service. But every taxpayer is entitled to an opinion. -Editor] ANCIENT COUNTERFEITERS COULD HAVE USED FIREGILDING TECHNOLOGY Dick Johnson writes: "It is understandable an ancient coin that appeared silverplated would raise many questions (as noted in last week?s E-Sylum). The process of electrolysis was developed by a German physicist and engineer, Moritz Herman Jacobi (1801-1874), in 1837. He called his process "galvanoplasty" and it led to the fields of electroforming and electroplating (great for the silverware industry). The process required an electric current, so from 1837 until 1890, when electric generation became available (thank you Thomas Edison!), it had to be accomplished with primitive batteries. There was a technique that could have been used this early. It was the technique of "firegilding." The ancients knew how to coat an object with gold by using mercury. They could have accomplished this with silver just as well (but I have not heard of the term "firesilvering" nor have I heard of such an object). [Museum Curators Note: Please prove me wrong that such a silver-coated object DOES exist, particularly before 1837.] The process shorted the lives of those who did firegilding. The mercury fumes are deadly. I?ll describe the process, but don?t try this at home. [Official Disclaimer ? We Are Not Responsible If You Are Stupid Enough To Try This!] You need a "gilding stone" a flat surface like marble will do. You need gold, mercury, a brass brush, nitrate of bioxide of mercury and a stove. That?s all. Shortly before you do this, mix the gold and mercury together, it becomes waxy between the fingers. Make a ball and place this under water until use. When ready take the ball and rub all over the gilding stone until it covers a large spot. Dip the brass brush in nitrate of bioxide of mercury. Rub the brass brush on the gilding stone until the mercury-gold is deposited on the brass bristles. It will be white in color. Then brush the object to be gilded with the brass brush. It will take considerable brushing to get an even deposit of the mercury-gold on the object (well cleaned and degreased). Then heat the object. The mercury fumes will burn off. Don?t get anywhere near these fumes ? they will kill you! The gold is left on the object. Several applications may be necessary. It is not a thick coating like goldplating. The thin coating is susceptible to wearing off, particularly on the highpoints. In later years firegilt objects may have an uneven gold color (with dark areas) and sometimes only left in the crevices of the relief. This gave rise to the term "parcel-gilt" which may have been intended (only a portion of the relief with gold) or a result of wearing off. The ancients could have done firesilvering by suing silver instead of gold. Renaissance medals frequently show evidence of firegilding. Japanese had a similar process where they gilded sword guards ? tsuba ? 400 years ago. In America, firegilding was done as early as 1820 by Scovill Manufacturing (there?s that name again!). They used this process to coat with gold, silver, copper and zinc but converted to electroplating entirely by 1844." [You never know which E-Sylum item will trigger an interesting response from one of our readers. Leave it to Dick Johnson to provide us with background on another fascinating aspect of numismatics and minting technology. -Editor] REPUBLIC OF TEXAS FANTASY Bob Merchant writes: "I have one of the Republic of Texas fantasy countermarks in my collection, on a 1746 British LIMA Half Crown. It is countermarked with the two punches "TEXAS / 6 BITS". To view an image of the piece, see: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v607/bobm/texas-6-bits-a.jpg COOK ISLAND COINS PRESENTED FOR PAYMENT The Cook Island Herald reported on a previously hushed-up scheme to redeem Cook Island "coins" for profit, which prompted the country to update its coinage laws. "Cook Islanders do not know it, but early last year, a crisis arose which was kept quiet and which has remained unpublicised until now. Such was the urgency that the Minister of Finance of the time relied on the Herald not to publicise the matter. In June, government rushed a much-needed amendment to legislation through all three stages in the House." "He told the House that coins left the country as souvenirs and that was good for the Cook Islands. Then he dropped a big clue as to the nature of the crisis. He said he heard that some coins had somehow come back to the Cook Islands and payments had been demanded. Then he referred to a few who, ?Would come back to a developing country and try to rip us off.? The coins Dr Maoate referred to, are $50 silver coins. According to Greta Little of the Numismatic Bureau, the coins involved are the ?explorer series, it is a set of $50 silver coins which mark the 500th anniversary of America 1492-1992. They are currently not on display at the bureau. While the face value of the coin is $50, the rise and fall of the price of silver on the market also affects the coin?s true value. Little says that last year, some German collectors whom she describes as scam artists, tried to ?cash in? some of the $50 coins and asked for the money to be sent overseas to them. They had somehow acquired a lot of the coins at a lower value. Unfortunately, Cook Islands currency legislation did not provide any safeguard against someone wanting to cash them in." The Herald understood the Finance Secretary had estimated that the Germans stood to make many millions of dollars. The exact figure was not known. There needed to be a law change or some contingency built into the upcoming budget to provide for a very large payout." To read the complete story: http://www.ciherald.co.ck/h296a.html FEATURED WEB SITE: BANK OF CANADA BANKNOTES This week's featured web site is the Bank of Canada's Bank Note Series, 1935 to present. http://www.bankofcanada.ca/en/banknotes/general/character/index.html 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 Apr 16 13:16:58 2006 From: esylum at binhost.com (esylum@binhost.com) Date: Sun Apr 16 13:18:15 2006 Subject: The E-Sylum v9#16, April 16, 2006 Message-ID: <001f01c66179$91824a90$0769c747@laptop035> Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 9, Number 16, April 16, 2006: an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society. Copyright (c) 2006, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society. WAYNE'S WORDS Among our recent subscribers are Joe Fitzgerald (courtesy of John Eshbach), Dennis P. Skea and Barry Jablon. Welcome aboard! We now have 878 subscribers. We're publishing a little early today because of the holiday. Lots of submissions this week, on topics old and new. One highlight for me has been reading Barry Jablon's recollections of his days working in department store coin shops, a topic discussed by several readers last year. Barry found us as a result of a web search which led him to the E-Sylum archive. Viva Internet! In the news, another quarter-million dollars worth of coins and gold bars have been recovered from the Atocha shipwreck, copper and zinc prices imperil the U.S. cent, hackers stuff the electronic ballot box with votes for their favorite Washington State quarter design, and new legislation could mandate better record-keeping at the U.S. Mint and provide funds for displaying more of the National Numismatic Collection. And finally, to learn why some people fry their ATM cards in a microwave oven, read on. Have a great week, everyone. Wayne Homren Numismatic Bibliomania Society ROGER BURDETTE'S 1905-1908 VOLUME PUBLISHED Roger Burdette writes: "There will be a color ad in Coin World next week announcing availability of my new book "Renaissance of American Coinage 1905-1908." Copies will be available for $44.95 + $5.00 shipping until May 10. Thereafter the regular retail price is $64.95 plus shipping. The book is an in-depth examination of the origin and initial production of the Saint-Gaudens $20 and $10 of 1907 and the Pratt $5 and $2.50 released in 1908. As with the previous book, the work is based on hundreds of original documents, drawings and photos - many never before published. There are more than 100 previously- unknown letters relating to the new coins! In 400 pages of text and images, the story of the collaboration between Theodore Roosevelt and Saint-Gaudens is revealed in a new light. The book even expands on the decades-long animosity between Saint-Gaudens and Philadelphia Mint Engraver Charles Barber." The following is from the press material already sent to hobby publications: "Authoritative text, extensive illustrations and thorough referencing make "Renaissance of American Coinage 1905-1908" the only comprehensive source for this important, but poorly understood aspect of American art and numismatics. This book will be of special interest to historians of the early 20th century, coin collectors, numismatic auction companies, researchers and fine art historians. It is intended to become a standard reference for libraries and research facilities. Renaissance of American Coinage 1905-1908 is the second of three books exploring the coinage redesign of 1907-1921. A companion volume covering the 1916-1921 period (ISBN 0-9768986-0-8, available from the publisher.) was released in October 2005, and a third volume covering 1909-1915 is planned for release in late 2007. The book is available direct from Seneca Mill Press LLC, PO Box 1423, Great Falls VA 22066 for $64.95 plus $5 postage." [Roger's latest volume is eagerly anticipated. Few numismatic authors today go to the lengths Roger has in seeking and finding previously unpublished original source material. The book and its companion volumes are a must for libraries of American numismatic literature. -Editor] AMERICAN NUMISMATIC RARITIES LAUNCHES PAPER MONEY REVIEW The following is from the April 14 American Numismatic Rarities eNews: "Christine Karstedt, President of American Numismatic Rarities, is pleased to announce the launch of another company magazine, The Paper Money Review, which will join the highly popular Numismatic Sun. Emphasis in the new title will be paper money of America?ranging from colonial times through obsoletes, scrip, and providing the main focus, federal issues from 1861 to date. Edited by Q. David Bowers, the inaugural issue will feature a mix of research articles, interesting tidbits from history and market information, along with a panorama of currency for sale, including many of the more beautiful and rare federal issues, as well as the ever-popular ?type? notes, such as the 1896 Educational series, various ?nickname? notes (?Woodchopper,? ?Battleship,? ?Silver Dollar?), and more. Paper money enthusiasts on the American Numismatic Rarities customer list will all receive a copy. However, a limited number of extra copies have been made available, and, subject to the supply on hand, interested readers can request one free of charge by sending their mailing information by email, mail or fax to the attention of Mary Tocci; maryt@anrcoins.com; ANR; PO Box 1804; Wolfeboro, NH 03894. Fax 603-569-3875. Publication is anticipated for late April." JAPANESE OCCUPATION PATTERN COIN AND BOOK David Klinger writes: "Recently, I have been doing a world tour of numismatic museums on the Internet. My latest visit was to the Money Museum of the Bank Negara Malaysia, in Kuala Lumpur. There, I found a very interesting Japanese Occupation Pattern Coin on display. The curator of the museum sent me some details about this coin. The Japanese did not issue any coinage for their occupation of Malaya in WWII. All the occupation currency, including denominations of less than one dollar were printed on paper. Of course, many Americans refer to these issues as Japanese Invasion Money (JIM). However, the pattern coin on display in this museum, and some others, are a clear indicator that occupation coinage was considered. The pattern on display is a 20 cent aluminum pattern coin inscribed on the obverse with the name MALAYSIA, and the date 2602, which translated from the Japanese calendar is 1942 A.D. Inscribed on the reverse is a typical Japanese design of a sun ray with sakura flowers, with 20 CENTS at the top. It is interesting that the name MALAYSIA was used on a pattern coin of 1942, given that the name for this country was not changed from MALAYA to MALAYSIA until 16 September, 1963. However, that name had actually been in common use since the 19th Century. Mr. Saran Singh of the Malaysian Numismatic Society received verification from the Osaka Finance Ministry, Japan, that this pattern coin had indeed been minted at the Osaka Mint, and that the name MALAYSIA was the Japanese name for that region, at that time. In a new book entitled ''Malaysian Numismatic Heritage" to be released in May, 2006, by the Money Museum, Central Bank of Malaysia, it states: "This specimen coin is the most unique [sic] in the Money Museum's collection". (I was sent some excerpts from an advanced copy of this book.) It has also been reported in Schwan/ Boling WWII Remembered (p 619) that the Japanese produced other related pattern coins: Two one cent occupation coins with a pattern of a wooden head, dated 2603 (1943) and 2604 (1944). One five cent occupation coin , with a pattern of a shadow puppet, dated 2604 (1944). Two 10 cent occupation coins made from an alloy of zinc and nickel, dated 2603 (1943) and 2604 (1944). You can visit the Money museum of the Central Bank of Malaysia here: http://moneymuseum.bnm.gov.my/ You can view the Occupation Pattern 20c Coin here: http://davidklinger.blogspot.com You can purchase the book "Malaysian Numismatic Heritage" published by Central Bank of Malaysia from the following address. The book will be available for direct sale in May 2006 at RM100.00. Money Museum & Art Centre Bank Negara Malaysia Jalan Dato Onn P.O. Box 10922 50929 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia" CANADIAN NUMISMATIC BIBLIOGRAPHY UPDATE In a note to advance subscribers to the Canadian Numismatic Bibliography Project, Ronald Greene writes: "I was in Toronto this last week and had the opportunity to meet with the copy editor, Paul Petch. We went over what has been done and what needs to be done, and I must say that the part of the bibliography that I saw completed looks extremely nice. I trust that when it finally gets into your hands you will be pleased with it. It is certainly much more comprehensive than anything attempted before by a factor of ten or more times. It has also been significantly more complex and time consuming a project than ever envisioned. We thought that we were ready to go to press in 2003 after seven years of work. We obviously were not ready then, and all concerned in the project regret the delays since we started selling the work. However, we are getting much closer and no one will be happier than Darryl, Paul and I when the finished product is in your hands. The text is essentially complete. The main task that needs to be done is the completion of the insertion of the photographs and illustrations, much of which has already been done. However, this work is complex, detailed and covers over 1,200 pages in the finished two volume set, so it is very time-consuming. The copy editing is a job that needs to be done by one person, so that consistency and control can be maintained. We are very fortunate that we have a copy editor with the necessary technical skills and numismatic knowledge. Paul is spending four to six hours per day on the project and has set the objective of finishing the editing by mid May, if all goes well. However, not everything has gone smoothly to this point. If we meet the mid May target the printer estimates that he can have finished copies ready to be delivered at the C.N.A. convention. If that is the case, then I will try to bring as many copies as I can when I go to the convention. Some time in June, please let me know if you will be attending and would be willing to accept your copies at the convention. If you have moved or changed your mailing address in the last three years it would be wise to provide us with an update. We?re optimistic with the progress being made and we do thank all the subscribers for their patience." [This is a very worthwhile project, and I'm sure purchasers will feel it's worth the wait. Subscriptions are closed however, and no more will be sold at the originally published price. -Editor] QUEEN DISTRIBUTES MAUNDY COINS David Sundman forwarded this story about Great Britain's annual Maundy Money ceremony: "The Queen has distributed Maundy Money to 160 pensioners in a service ahead of her 80th birthday next week. She gave 80 men and 80 women two purses each at the ceremony at Guildford Cathedral, which she attended with the Duke of Edinburgh. The purses contain 80p in Maundy coins and a ?5 coin both of which mark the Queen's forthcoming 80th birthday." "One of the purses presented by the Queen also contains a 50p coin marking 150 years of the Victoria Cross. All the coins are newly minted this year." "The Maundy service dates back centuries. Until the 18th Century the monarch would also wash the feet of the poor selected to receive the coins. In modern times the monarch has distributed the money without washing the recipients' feet." "Canterbury Cathedral spokesman Christopher Robinson said the feet washing ceremony at the cathedral was re-instated in 2003 after a 400-year absence." To read the complete story, see: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4905376.stm OTHER NUMISMATIC LITERATURE EXHIBITS IN ATLANTA At the recent ANA Convention in Atlanta, there was more than one exhibit related to numismatic literature or topics discussed recently in The E-Sylum. Congratulations to all the exhibitors, E-Sylum subscribers every one. We'd love to hear more about your exhibits! Third place, History and Politics: John Eshbach, The Numismatic Publications of Charles Trissler Steigerwalt." Third place, Economics: Nancy Wilson, "Scovill Manufacturing Company." Second place, The Arts: John Wilson, "Early ANA Ephemera." Larry Gaye adds: "I too was at the ANA in Atlanta and enjoyed ?The Numismatic Publications of Charles Trissler Steigerwalt? exhibit. It was very well done. The other exhibits were excellent too. The checks and other items in the Scovill exhibit were complete and really well done. Howard Daniel III was very busy at the club table. He had a real haul and was giving stuff away faster than gas burns. He is a true WAG, for the uninitiated, "What A Guy." Howard reports: "When I arrived at the Atlanta ANA, I had 82 references donated by NBS and other numismatists to give to new and young collectors. It was a great time and I gave all of them away except three!!!" NEW ANA JOURNAL SEEKS AUTHORS The following item is from the American Numismatic Association's April e-Newsletter: "April marked the debut of the ANA Journal, a quarterly scholarly publication devoted to in-depth numismatic topics featuring member- submitted articles and original numismatic research. The ANA is seeking content for the Summer 2006 and later editions. Manuscripts are evaluated by a review panel on the basis of scholarship, presentation and suitability of illustrations." [For more information on the Journal, see: http://www.money.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Communications/ANAJournal/default.htm Contact Research Editor David Sklow (phone 719-482-9823, e-mail sklow@money.org. -Editor] BARRY JABLON'S GREAT DEPARTMENT STORE COIN SHOP ADVENTURE New subscriber Barry Jablon writes: "I recently came across your articles written about people who purchased stamps and coins at department stores around the county in the early 1960s thru the 1980s. I was lucky enough to apprentice with Ernst Kraus at the Gimbel's in Philadelphia. I then became manager of the newly opened coin department in Hutzler's Department store in Baltimore when I was eighteen years old. I transferred back to Philadelphia when I was nineteen and worked for Gimbel's (actually Jack and Bob Friedberg) at their suburban Gimbel's outside Philadelphia. In 1962, I left the company and went to the Air Force and then went on to become a school teacher. I recently retired. I have some great stories about some of the purchases I made in Philly and in Baltimore and about meeting Louis Eliasberg and the Stefanelli's in Washington (curators of the Smithsonian coin exhibit)." I invited Barry to share some of his stories with us. He writes: "I have thought a lot about my years in the coin business and the excitement associated with it. As far back as I can remember, I was a coin collector. The old Whitman coin albums were sold everywhere for $.35. I would go through my father's change every night and fill in the holes. Of course, there were always those holes which would remain empty. To own a 1909-S VDB or a 1914-D was as remote to me as owning a DaVinci painting. However, I could gaze upon these rarities any Saturday, and for free. All I had to do was to take the subway to center city Philadelphia, walk a block to Gimbel's, and gaze into the old wooden display cabinets at all of those coins that we would never own. Just imagine how I felt, when I was sixteen and happened to be staring into the cases in front where the manager was standing, and I heard him talking on the phone about being able to hire a part-time salesperson. I got up the nerve to ask for the job. One half hour later, I was filling in forms and was starting my career as a coin dealer for Coins and Currency Institute, who leased space all around the country in the largest department stores along with Jacques Minkus (stamps)." "Each of the coin departments owned by the Friedberg/Minkus group was allocated as much money as it needed to make purchases from the public who came to the counter with their coins or currency. Mr. Kraus, who ran the Philadelphia Gimbel's coin dept., was from New York. He had been a member of the Brooklyn Coin Club with the Kagins and other famous people in the coin hobby and business. He trained me to know all coins. American, foreign, ancients, patterns, etc. I wasn't allowed to make purchases on my own. After a few months on the job, he allowed me to evaluate a collection someone had for sale, but I had to clear the price I was going to pay with him. One Saturday afternoon, we had the usual crowd around the department, when Mr. Kraus called me over to where he was standing talking to two well-dressed gentlemen. "Barry" he said, "this gentleman has a coin he wants to sell, you handle it." He walked away, smiling to himself. Here I was, about to make my first purchase, totally on my own. I took the jeweler's tray from under the counter and asked the gentleman what he wanted to sell. He reached into his coat pocket and took out a square Lucite coin holder and, literally, tossed the holder onto the jeweler's tray. I took out my jeweler's loop and picked up the coin. It was a 1913 liberty nickel! The gentleman's name was Wolfson. I don't recall his first name. He was in town for an A.N.A. show at the old Ben Franklin Hotel in Philadelphia. He was a friend of Mr. Kraus, and they thought they would have some fun with the "new kid". The coin was to be put on display at the show. But, of course, at the time, I didn't know any of this. "Well" he laughed, "will you give me enough for the coin so I can take you and Ernie out for lunch?" My hands were still shaking when Mr. Kraus came over to me and took the coin, and gave it back to his friend. So, here I was, sixteen years old, and I had held one of the rarest coins in the world in my hands. This was going to be a great job." RESEARCHER SEEKS 1930S HOBBY SHOP PRICES REALIZED LIST Dave Lange writes: "I'm hoping that one of our pack-rat readers has the prices realized list for The Hobby Shop's sale of March 15, 1930. The final lot, 545, either is or includes a 1918/7-D nickel, and I'd like to know what it brought." NUMISMATIC TITLES REPRINTED BY UNIVERSITY OF MIGHIGAN Ed Snible writes: "The University of Michigan Library has gotten into the reprint business. Their first numismatic titles were issued late last year. Amazon lists the publisher as "Scholarly Publishing Office, University of Michigan Library". That office has a web site, http://spo.umdl.umich.edu/, but it doesn't mention reprints. Quality control can't be very high, as at least one title is Misspelled. Also, the UofM has neglected to supply author's names to Amazon, except as part of titles. Some of these books are also available for free through books.google.com -- but not all -- suggesting that the UofM is picking titles rather than reprinting everything Google scans. The first title choices are rather odd, though. Not what I would have chosen. I recently used the UofM's MITS service (Michigan Information Transfer Source) http://www.lib.umich.edu/mits/ to obtain a printout of a rare 1885 book. MITS prices are about the same as other libraries' copy services, 25 cents a page, the benefit of MITS is that you get the option of downloading a PDF instead of waiting in the mail for Xeroxes. MITS won't copy whole copyrighted books, though. I recommend this service." http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1425529755 http://books.google.com/books?&id=mYrIOzZ_GLQC&pg=PR1 The coinages of the world; ancient and modern. By Geo. D. Mathews. Illustrated with several hundred engravings of the principal coins (312 pages, $24, reprint from 1876) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1425545599 A description of ancient and modern coins, in the cabinet collection at the Mint of the United States. Prepared and arranged under the direction of James Ross Snowden (420 pages, $27, year ???) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1418199567 Catalogue of a selection from Colonel Leake's Greek coins, exhibited in the Fitzwilliam museum, by Churchill Babington (54 pages, $15, from 1867) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1418198161 Catalogue of the cabinet of coins belonging to Yale college, deposited in the College library (48 pages, $12, from 1863) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1425528368 Coins, medals, and seals, ancient and modern. Illustrated and described. With a sketch of the history of coins and coinage, instructions for young collectors, ... and American coins, medals and tokens, &c. (302 pages, $24, from 1861) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1425509355 New varieties of gold and silver coins, counterfeit coins, ad bullion; with mint values(SIC!) (132 pages, $17, from 1850)" FINDING USED BOOK STORES Regarding last week's query, Steve Woodland writes: "I don't know of any specific bookstores in Washington, D.C., but readers going there can search for bookstores on abebooks.com before they go. Just browse to www.abebooks.com, choose "Bookstores" from the red menu bar, then choose "USA" and "District of Columbia" and click on search. When I did the search, there were 20 stores listed in the Washington, D.C. area. The potential buyer could then browse the store inventory and view contact information online to determine which ones to visit. Unfortunately, the listings are by state, not by city. So readers headed for other cities may not find this feature as useful." Warner Talso writes: "In the The E-Sylum: Volume 9, Number 15, April 9, 2006, there was an article seeking information on bookstores in Washington D.C. For Michael and other travelers, I suggest searching on "mapmuse" or checking this website: http://find.mapmuse.com/re1/mmHomeBrands.php One can search anywhere in the country for any kind of interest or product." SAME BOOK, DIFFERENT TITLE? Darryl Atchison writes: "Here is a quick question for our readers. I came across a reference to a publication recently on the Internet which seemed somewhat familiar to me but yet somehow not quite as per my recollection so I did a further check on a couple of websites to corroborate my suspicions. The text I came across was entitled "Matthew Boulton: Master Silversmith 1760 - 1790" by Eric Delieb and Michael Roberts. It was published in New York in 1971 by Clarkson N. Potter. I was already familiar with another book by Delieb and Roberts entitled "Great Silver Manufactory: Matthew Boulton and the Birmingham Silversmiths, 1760 - 1790. This book was also published in 1971 in London, England by Studio Vista. Both books are 144 pages in length. I suspect that these two books are, in fact, the same publication but that they were published simultaneously under different titles for both British and U.S. markets. I wonder if our readers can either verify or disprove this theory, or comment upon other numismatic books which may have been simultaneously published under different titles. Thanks." MORE ON DON TAXAY AND THOMPSON'S ESSAY ON COINING Recently Eric Newman noted that in 1966 Don Taxay published "The U.S. Mint and Coinage" which included a group of images from Thompson's 1783 "Essay on Coinage" Jim Spilman writes: "As usual -- Eric is correct. I wish that my memory was as good as his. It may well be that Barnsley's information on the Thompson document came from Taxay and that Barnsley's information was inaccurate. I wish he were here so that we could ask him. I have a copy of Taxay's book in my library, but Barnsley did not as I have his library -- rather small -- that he gifted to me personally, and there is no copy in it. If I had known of the Taxay discussion I would have reported it in The Colonial Newsletter, so apparently I totally missed it, and at best we can give Barnsley the credit for "rediscovering" the actual document in the ANS Library. I believe that all the other information in my earlier letter is correct. I have a color slide, someplace, of Ned Barnsley holding open the original manuscript in the ANS Library that I made while we were there. I shall try to locate it." PLAY MONEY: IT'S ALL RELATIVE Regarding the criticism of the new $10 bills, Gary Dunaier writes: "If memory serves me right, the current $10 bills, with the larger portrait off to a side, also looked like "play money" when they were first introduced. Once people get used to the new bills, as well as once the bills themselves become less "crisp" and more "circulated," I'm sure people won't have any problem seeing them as what they are -- real money." CORRECTION: FIREGILDING, NOT FIREBRANDING Dick Johnson writes: "One of last week's "Wayne's Words" was incorrect. The technology I proposed for silver coating ancient coins could have been a form of :"firegilding" not "firebranding." Did you have cattle branding on your mind, Wayne? If you did, it reminds me of a charming instance of California sculptor Spero Anaygros who designed the Salinas California Centennial Medal of 1984. He depicted a horse in the design and signed the medal with his initials "S" over "A" on the horse's haunch like a cattle brand. That's "firebranding" in numismatics. That's charming." [Where "firebranding" came from, I have no idea. This is what happens when an editor doesn't have an editor of his own to keep him honest. But that's what corrections are for. Sorry, Dick! Besides, if it weren't for my boneheaded mistake, we wouldn't have learned about Spero Anaygros' charming signature. -Editor] NEW FIND OF ATOCHA GOLD BARS AND COINS According to an April 11 Associated Press report, "Divers returned to port Monday with two gold bars and 15 silver coins they unearthed, which had been buried beneath the ocean floor for almost 400 years. The objects are believed to be from the shipwreck of the Nuestra Senora de Atocha, a Spanish galleon that sank off Key West in 1622." "The first bar found weighed one pound and measured about 7 inches long, while the second weighed two pounds and was 7.25 inches long. Kim Fisher, the president of the Fisher company, estimated the value of the find to be about $250,000." To read the complete article, see: http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060411/BREAKINGNEWS/60411002 WHY PEOPLE MICROWAVE THEIR ATM CARDS In previous issues, we've discussed the use of RFID (radio frequency identification) tags in currency and credit cards. On April 10 the Wall Street Journal published a related article titled, "Why Some People Put These Credit Cards In the Microwave." "When Brenden Walker got his new MasterCard PayPass ATM card in the mail last month, he headed to the gas station to try it out. To test the card's "Tap N Go" convenience, he passed it in front of the scanner, which activated with a beep and displayed the word "authorizing..." on its LCD screen. That was quite enough for Mr. Walker. Without completing the transaction, he put the card down on the pavement and took a hammer to it." "The PayPass card, which contains an embedded radio chip, had worked perfectly.... But Mr. Walker, a 37-year-old software engineer in Canton, Ohio, is one of a growing number of computer and technology experts who are becoming anxious about possible abuses of the technology. Mr. Walker fears that thieves will be able to eavesdrop on the radio transmission and buy gas at his expense." "Others are using do-it-yourself methods for disabling radio chips, including microwaving them. The electromagnetic energy emitted by a microwave oven fries the chip and renders it useless. The downside: Tagged items might burst into flames in the process..." LEITZMANN, JOHN PINKERTON AND MEDALLIC ILLUSTRATIONS Regarding Kay Platt's query about different versions of "The Medallic History of England", David Gladfelter writes: "Attribution of the 1802 edition to Pinkerton goes back at least to 1867, when Leitzmann listed him as the author in the supplement to Lipsius's "Bibliotheca Numaria." That doesn't prove anything, of course." HEROIC NURSE'S WWI MEDAL SELLS AT AUCTION According to the UK's Greenock Telegraph, "A rare medal won by a Greenock war heroine has sold for more than ?3,000. The Military Medal was awarded to nurse Kate Carruthers for showing bravery in the face of the enemy during the First World War. Miss Carruthers was one of only a few women to receive the award for her heroic efforts in treating the wounded on the frontline." "The 30-year-old nurse was stationed on the Western Front in 1917 when her field hospital came under attack. She was injured in the fighting but battled bravely through the pain barrier to continue treating the wounded. In 1917 she became one of only a few women to be awarded the prestigious Military Medal, which was created by King George V in 1916." "The medal was bought on behalf of an unknown collector. It had lain forgotten in a bank vault until Miss Carruthers died in 1969. It was left in her will to the Haylie House nursing home in Largs, where she spent her final days. The medal, along with a newspaper cutting announcing the award, was sold on behalf of the home." To read the complete article, see: http://www.greenocktelegraph.co.uk/readstory.php?id=7109 AUSTRALIANS WATCHING SCRAP VALUE OF AMERICAN CENTS Dick Johnson writes: "Are American cents destined to be melted for their scrap value? Metal experts in London say a rise in copper and zinc prices equal to what has happened in the last three weeks could exceed the metal value of the lowly U.S. cent. In a report by Kevin Morrison in London, published in The Australian, he quotes market analysts who follow international metal prices. Copper is up 30 percent, zinc is up 55 percent in the last three weeks. The experts project this could have a dramatic effect on the world?s largest storehouse of these two medals ? the United States cents in circulation. What happens when the scrap value of a cent is greater than its face value? Nothing, at first, say the experts. Prices go up, prices go down. The price could descend without notice, negating a mass meltdown of America?s lowest denomination coin. Each U.S. cent is 97.5 percent zinc and 02.5 percent copper [since 1982]. There are 160 cents to the pound. At present copper and zinc prices those 160 cents have a scrap value of $1.36 according to this article. You might want to read this report. The prices are quoted in American dollars: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/printpage/0,5942,18786863,00.html DICK JOHNSON ON FUTURE COINS Dick Johnson writes: "I have praised the United States Treasury officials in previous writings for choosing the copper clad zinc composition for the U.S. cent and converting to this coinage alloy in 1982. World market prices of metal are rising. Should they rise even more ? an even-money possibility ? it would make U.S. cents in circulation vulnerable to hoarding at first, scrapping in the long run. Treasury officials will be faced with an immediate dilemma ? what composition for cents being struck? What to do with all the cents in circulation? It could be the great silver meltdown of the 1960s on a smaller scale, deju vu all over again. The brilliance of the copper clad zinc is that melting these coins, the metal could be easily reformulated into ? brass! (Pick a formula, add a little virgin copper, you could have a highly successful brass coinage alloy!) The Treasury has two options. One. Use this brass to strike a new cent coin; unfortunately it will have to be a smaller diameter or we might face this monster recoinage problem again, shortly. Two. Abolish the cent. Hold on, collectors, all is not lost in removing this coin from circulation. I have written a 41-page plan titled "Future Coins" which addresses this problem. My advice -- don?t attack this cent problem alone. Restructure the entire U.S. coinage schedule with advance planning (a 50-year plan!) and enlightened understanding in a Master Plan For All U.S. Coins. Plan for the long run. Eliminate politics. Use common sense. Plan ahead. More later." TED BUTTREY ON FRANKLIN, FORD, AND FAKES Regarding Dave Bowers' recent comments on Paul Franklin, Ted Buttrey writes: "It is good to see Bowers coming on board. He says that he was suspicious of certain Ford/Franklin pieces, and did not like ?Ford-supplied research about certain new coins?. He acknowledges the Republic of Texas fraud. Those who would argue that Ford was conned by Franklin present us with a very curious picture ? a man who on the one hand exhibited the utmost sagacity, a true scholar, deeply learned in the minutiae of American numismatics (including counterfeits ? he served on the Counterfeit Committee of the IAPN), and not just the numismatic material but the underlying documentation, all of this testified to universally -- but who at the same time was so innocent and na?ve as to be duped by Franklin?s faked material ? not just a couple of rarities, mind you, but ingots by the dozens and dozens, with no history as issues, no plausible proveniences individually ? with Ford continuing in this haze over decades. I don?t think it is unfair to suggest that those who accept this implausible scenario are more comfortable with the notion that Ford was conned by Franklin, than with its alternative, that they themselves were conned by Ford. No, there really is no doubt about it: Ford and Franklin were a team, Ford thinking up the bars and confecting the historical setting ? my favorite is the vanishing Duke of Carlyle --, Franklin producing the objects, and the two of them (but mostly Ford I believe) getting them out into the market. For further details see http://www.fake-gold-bars.co.uk. On Fred Holabird?s note in E-Sylum v9n14: he has undertaken a mammoth task which will include the metallurgical analysis of certain of the Western ingots to a very fine scale. This is wonderful, and all of us can only wish him well and look forward to the results of his investigations in antiquarian metallurgy. Just one caveat to what he says, that we must ?let science do the talking, and make the discoveries regarding authenticity through applied science?. The implication ? perhaps not intended ? is that authenticity can be established only through metallurgical analysis, and therefore not now, and only later, much later, when those tools are finally ensured. This of course not the case at all. There is plenty of expertise already available today in the study of American counterfeiting, whether coins or paper or ingots. Counterfeit coins have been identified with certainly by the trainload, and not 1 in 1000 has been subjected to metallurgical analysis. On the simplest level, e.g. historical misplacement, you know that a silver dollar dated 1806 is wrong; and so too with equal certainty are purported Western ingots with erroneous punches. Metallurgical analysis is one tool, and may it be a fruitful one, but it is only one." MORE ON CANADA'S PINK QUARTER Regarding the Royal Canadian Mint's newly-released 25-cent colourized coin for breast cancer, Steve Woodland writes: "The coin is manufactured from a standard 25-cent planchet (steel core with nickel-copper-nickel plating). The obverse of the coin features the current uncrowned effigy of Queen Elizabeth II, while the reverse has the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation's "pink ribbon loop" symbol on a white background in the centre, surrounded by three groupings of the loop and the words "25 Cents CANADA". I am not certain of exactly how the coloured image is placed on the coin, but it is applied after striking and it seems that it is stamped on. Much discussion is occurring among Canadian collectors about the "right" orientation of the coloured image on the reverse and of the quality of the image. The loop appears in all possible orientations and often the white background is "splotchy". The accepted "right" orientation appears to be medal orientation with the loop up and the tassels down. For the info of interested collectors, the enamelled version of the 25-cent coin contained in the bookmark is of better quality and much nicer to look at, with a proof-like finish and a slightly different colouring arrangement. Photos of this and the $5-dollar Silver Proof coin are on the RCM's website at http://www.mint.ca. As for other colourized circulating coins, I am not aware of any others aside from the Canadian 2004 Poppy 25-cents and this coin. There are, however, many non-circulating colourized coins, as I am sure E-Sylum readers are aware." To view an image of the coin, see: http://www.mint.ca/royalcanadianmintpublic/RCMImageLibrary.aspx?filename=BCcirculationcoin.JPG In the April 10, 2006 issue of the Canadian Numismatic Association E-Bulletin (v2n12), editor John Regitko writes: "Now the Royal Canadian Mint has partnered with Shoppers Drug Mart and Pharmaprix to distribute a new circulating colored quarter. A collaboration of the RCM and Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, the first of the up to 30 million went into circulation on April 1. You remember the criticisms Tim Hortons received about the fact that you had to make a purchase before you received a Poppy quarter as change, even though the commercials said you did not? Or the fact that they would not give you more than one in change, even when you bought coffees for the whole office or coin club? Or were out of stock when they saw you coming in again to buy a coffee just to get another one, even though your friends went in 10 minutes later and received one from a bunch that mysteriously appeared from one of the compartments in the cash register? My wife went to Shoppers Drug Mart on April 7, made a purchase and was asked how many of the new pink-ribbon coins she wanted." Canadian coin dealer Vern Gilbertson protested the distribution plan in an interview with The Brandon Sun: "I went up to Shoppers and asked for 10 rolls of coins. I was prepared to pay a premium, too. But they told me I could only get one coin per purchase. ?I?m the only coin dealer between Winnipeg and Regina. We being a dealer, we like to have a lot of coins on hand. While I am able to order coins from the mint in Winnipeg, I have to pay double.? Gilbertson said he paid $90 for five rolls of quarters worth $50 at face value. Right now, Gilbertson has only one of the pink ribbon coins in his possession ? the one he got at Shoppers Drug Mart. He?s awaiting a special order from the Winnipeg mint." To read the complete story, see: http://www.brandonsun.com/story.php?story_id=23310 WASHINGTON STATE QUARTER ONLINE BALLOT BOX STUFFED Steve Pradier forwarded an article about electronic ballot-box stuffing in the online voting for Washington state quarter designs. "Talk about your two-bit schemes. Robotic computer programs stuffed the online ballot boxes in a contest for Washington's official state quarter design over the weekend, forcing technicians to suspend voting Monday while they retooled the Web-based poll. State officials overseeing the balloting realized something was fishy when the poll, launched last Thursday, swelled to more than 1 million votes during the weekend." To read the complete article, see: http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060411/D8GTF78O9.html UTAH STATE QUARTER ONLINE VOTING BEGINS The press release doesn't say whether robot programs are eligible to vote, but Utah has opened online voting for its state quarter design: "The designs depict the driving of the golden spike, a beehive and a female snowboarder. The concepts were taken from nearly 5000 ideas submitted by school children and citizens of the state then the designs were created by artists selected by the United States Mint for their expertise in creating artwork for coins. "One of the artists lives in Utah, though the Mint will not disclose the name of this artist until the final design has been approved," said Margaret Hunt, Chair of the Utah Commemorative Quarter Commission. Utahns may provide feedback for the Utah Quarter design by taking an online survey at www.utah.gov between now and May 8th." To read the complete press release, see: http://tinyurl.com/glman ARTICLE ON "ELEVEN CENT" COIN ERROR Dick Johnson forwarded this article from the Sun Herald of Florida about a local man who discovered a muled cent/dime error coin: "Ed Brooke didn't know what to think when he received an odd coin as change from the North Port Publix five years ago. The unusual coin is silver like a dime, but stamped with the indicia of a penny. Brooke has taken to calling it his "11-cent piece." The dime/penny apparently started its numismatic life as a silver-colored dime. It's the size of a penny, a little larger than a dime. On the obverse (the face side), you can make out a bit of the outline of Roosevelt's profile. Otherwise, it bears a clear image of Lincoln's portrait along with the standard text ("In God We Trust" and "Liberty") and the date it was minted, 1999. The reverse gives away the coin's former life as a dime. Just under the hybrid penny's Lincoln Memorial is a clear image of part of the olive branch that, on a true dime, is to the left of the torch. You can also make out a few letters of the "E Pluribus Unum" phrase just under the olive branch that, on a true dime, crosses at the bottom of the torch. "I don't know whether to consider it worth a penny or 10 cents," Brooke says, tongue in cheek." "One guy wanted to give me $125 for it," Brooke said. However, until he knows its real worth, he does not want to give it up. "I think it's probably worth more than 11 cents, though," he added." To read the complete story, see: http://tinyurl.com/ecbj4 [There is a front-page article about this error in the April 17 issue of Coin World. One of the nine reported examples will be offered in an April Heritage auction. Here's a link to the auction lot (#5271). http://coins.heritageauctions.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=404&Lot_No=5271 -Editor] PROPOSED BILL COULD LEGALIZE SOME COINS, HELP SMITHSONIAN The numismatic press has been covering proposed legislation that could have some side benefits for numismatic researchers and writers. The following excerpts are from a Numismatic News article published on the web this week. "Owners of 1913 Liberty Head nickels and the 1885 Trade dollar get relief under terms of proposed legislation aimed at preventing government seizure of pre-1933 rare coins owned by collectors. Owners of 1933 double eagles and 1964 Peace dollars do not." "Authored by Rep. Frank Lucas, R-Okla., the bill seeks to clarify the law regarding ownership of coinage minted before 1933." "However, Lucas? bill would require the government to display at least some of the pieces it seizes and auction off extra coins not needed for display. The proceeds would go toward preservation and display of the Smithsonian?s collection, thought to contain more than 900,000 pieces. ?It?s time the Smithsonian dusted off its extensive collection so that these historic pieces can be enjoyed by the public,? said Lucas." "Another feature of the bill is that it calls for an inventory of what numismatic material the Mint has on hand right now." To read the complete article, see: http://tinyurl.com/mo5av ON CHARGING ADMISSION TO MUSEUMS Joyce Weiss writes: "When my husband and I and our children were younger, we spent many hours at the Smithsonian Museums. We lived in Maryland at the time so access to the city was easy for us. We did not have a lot of extra money to spend on fun activities for us and the children so going to the museum really was a wonderful experience both for us and them. We could not have taken advantage of this great opportunity as often as we did if we had to pay a fee. The Smithsonian is one of the very few things left in this country where young families, like we were once, can go and be educated and have fun at the same time and not have to worry about paying a fee. I agree with the writer of the other letter that you printed that Congress should take the money away from pork barrel projects and spend it on something worthwhile like keeping the museum free for the public. Perhaps the next thing will be to charge admission to libraries so that only people of means will be able to enjoy these facilities. I hate to think that our country is already turning into a place of the "haves and the have-nots" where only the "haves" are able to take advantage of the educational opportunities that the country offers." EURO COINS COUNTERFEITED An April 16 article in Stars and Stripes notes that Euro coins are being counterfeited in large numbers: "Wednesday, Italian police in Naples busted a counterfeit money ring said to have manufactured upward of 5,000 coins a day, according to Italian news reports and officials. ?From what we are hearing from the Carabinieri, it is difficult to distinguish the counterfeit coins from real coins,? said Debbie Rocco, a Naval Criminal Investigative Service agent who works out of Naval Support Activity Naples and closely with Italian officials. ?The problem of controlling this illegal activity is aggravated by technological advances in printing and by reproduction machines,? she said in an e-mail." "Police seized minting machines the alleged criminals used to make 2-euro and 50-euro-cent coins, ANSA reported. It added that in January 2002 ? when the first euro coins appeared ? Naples came out with Europe?s first fakes." To read the complete article, see: http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=36528 ON PALADIUM COINS Regarding palladium coins, Ralf B?pple writes: "In the 1840s, Russia issued coins in palladium which were actually meant for circulation, but as I assume that there are E-Sylumites more knowledgeable in Russian numismatics than me, I will leave this topic to them. However, I know of a coin or a coin set from Sierra Leone, celebrating the 5th anniversary of the country - which would make the year of issue 1966. I don?t know if these items were actually put on the market in 1966, though. I remember having seen one of these coins at a local coin show in an exhibit on ?Lions on Coins? (there is a lion head on the coin) a few years ago, but I have been unable to find out more about them for the E-Sylum (my library is a little weak on novelty coins?)" COIN JARS AROUND THE WORLD Dick Johnson writes: "If you thought you were unique by tossing your loose change in a jar at the end of the day, you are not. In fact, it's a trait pretty much universal around the world, and it has been for hundreds of years (as evidenced by many unearthed coin hoards found in jars). Here is a report from Ireland that 60 percent of all Irish households have a coin jar." "SOME ?40m in loose change which is sitting in jars and piggy banks in homes has been targeted by a company that provides machines at shopping centres that sort the change and return vouchers. Change Depot Ltd already has a number of machines for collecting the coins in shops, and plans to expand its operation. It believes that ?40m worth of euro coins is sitting in piggy banks, dresser drawers and sofas." "According to the company's research, 60pc of Irish households keep a coin jar or container and amass about ?5.50 per week or ?286 per year in stored change. Change Depot boss Eugene Bent contends that the Irish are the biggest hoarders of small change in Europe." "Most people underestimate the value of the change they've accumulated. Most people who show up at a Change Depot machine think they have ?10 or ?15, and statistically they usually have ?30. "People typically underestimate their coin jar by half," Mr Bent added." To read the full article (registration required), see: http://www.unison.ie/business/stories.php3?ca=80&si=1591759 HOW TO MAKE YOUR EDITOR'S LIFE EASIER Dick Johnson writes: "E-Sylum readers should be aware of the sacrifices that our esteemed editor goes through to bring us our weekly dose of numismatic gossip, news and discourse. While juggling his day job, family time with his wife and three small children, and all the usual hassles of daily life, he somehow also gets the E-Sylum out every week on schedule. He should be applauded. It is no wonder last week's issue was truncated. Wayne, I know you have a lot of energy (to accomplish what you do every week), but don't overdo it. You are purdy important to us E-Sylum readers. How can we make your tasks easier? If it means shorter E-Sylums, that's okay." [Well, whatever I can't find time to include just doesn't make the cut. Usually I find the time somehow, but anything readers can do to save me some time is appreciated. Here are some suggestions: 1. When sending submissions, be sure to email them to me at whomren@coinlibrary.com. Just hitting the Reply button to an E-Sylum message does the trick. This also puts "E-Sylum" in the subject line, making it easy to recognize what the message is about. 2. Do NOT send messages to esylum@binhost.com - that is reserved for outgoing mail, and messages to that address go into a holding tank and take more time to deal with. 3. Please refrain from asking me to change your subscription address unless you're having trouble with the automated system at https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum 4. When sending a submission that refers to an article or image on the Internet, don't forget to include the URL - I need to have that to reference it in The E-Sylum. 5. If you see an interesting article ANYWHERE and think it would be of interest to our readers, don't assume I've seen it. I may not have, and even if I have, I may not have had the time to write it up. So write it up! Don't worry if you think you're not such a great writer - that's what editors are for - we edit. I'll whip it into shape and will often have time to send you a draft for review. 6. Send me suggestions for the Featured Web Site. These are all too often last-minute ideas I stumble across on Sunday night after desperately typing some random keywords into Google to see what turns up. 7. Help promote The E-Sylum. Recruit some new subscribers! Mention The E-Sylum at local club meetings, in other online forums, or in emails to some of your numismatic friends. 8. If you can send your submission before Saturday, please do so. Most of the issue gets pulled together by Thursday or Friday, leaving the final edits and publication for Sunday night. The fewer new submissions over the weekend, the more likely everything will come together at a decent hour. But don't let that stop you from sending important items at any time. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming. -Editor] COOK ISLAND: WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND Regarding the attempt to cash in the Cook Islands $50 "coins", Martin Purdy writes: "Isn't it interesting that selling these things originally - for presumably much more than $50 - is apparently considered OK, but trying to redeem them for only their face value is considered "ripping us off"? Wonderful example of a double standard!" [My thoughts exactly, though it's unclear what portion of the original profits went to the Cook Islands, and what portion went to the Franklin Mint. Who was scamming who? -Editor] Martin add: "It sounds odd when they claim that "millions" are involved, if the coin denominations are only in the order of $50. What were the mintages of these pieces again? You'd need 20,000 $50 coins to claim back a single million." [Well, the piece WAS dated April 1st, but it had the ring of truth to me. I also wasn't sure whether the Cook Island dollar is linked to the U.S. dollar or a separate currency at some exchange rate. Ralf B?pple informs us that Cook Islands dollars are linked to the New Zealand Dollar. -Editor] Ralf B?pple of Stuttgart writes: "No, I am not one of the Germans who presented Cook Islands money for redemption, but the story does not really sound that new to me. A similar thing happened on another Pacific archipelago a few years ago - I think it was Micronesia. The official currency of Cook Islands is the New Zealand Dollar. A 50-dollar-coin of Cook Islands could thus be cashed in for 50 NZ-dollars, which is 30 US-dollars. The ?coins? have approximately the size of a silver crown. Hundreds, if not thousands of these sets were marketed in Germany, and who knows how many sets never got sold and just sat in the vaults of some wholesale company. A quick look into eBay reveals that, quite unsurprisingly, these disks can today be bought at close to their bullion value, which is much less than 30 US-dollars. It seems to me that this is not really a scam to ?rip of a developing country?, as the Cook Islands officials claim, but simply a case of a government being too greedy and keen on the proceeds of these pseudo-coins to do their homework in economics. Or maybe they were just too self-conscious to think that somebody would actually show up at their forlorn shores with the money that has their name on it!" Mike Marotta writes: "Cook Island's monetary crisis is its own doing. They thought that they could scam tourists with their non-circulating non-legal non-tender. The government of Cook Islands found themselves obligated to a group of Germans who apparently knew their folktales: you have to pay the piper. Rather than allowing the Cook Islands legislative junto to get away with denigrating merchants who deal in money, we should be boycotting the Cook Islands as a thug state where tourists are victimized by the authorities for the profit of the ruling clique. Closer to home, the Liberty Dollar silver warehouse notes are an interesting example of the kinds of alternatives that people create to facilitate trade and commerce. All through history, merchants of all commodities whether "farmers" or "craftsmen" or "clerks" have solved problems in currency. To denigrate the Liberty Dollar is to make fun of coins for not being cows or to laugh at "pounds-shillings-pence" because they were only "money of account" and not "real" money. You have to ask who is laughing at whom. In ancient times, merchants supplanted farmers when democracies replaced monarchies and philosophies replaced superstitions. In the middle ages, a vibrant patchwork society with thousands of polities striking hundreds of currencies was united by traders who threw wide the cathedral doors to allow new arithmetics and (not surprisingly) new philosophies. In our time, we know that fiat currencies are doomed. This is not some unfortunate accident of history, but an economic law as immutable as gravity. People who choose silver over fiat and whose silver is tallied with attractive promissory notes are applying the truths of numismatics to the solution of practical problems." JAPANESE MAN'S MONEY SAVED FROM TRASH According for an April 13 Reuters article, "A Japanese man wept for joy this week when he recovered 5 million yen ($42,210) in cash his wife had mistakenly thrown out with the household rubbish. The 35-year-old man had withdrawn the money from a bank account but, fearing it would be stolen, he hid it inside a refuse bag which he placed in a rubbish bin, Japanese media said. His wife unknowingly threw out the bag, which was found last month at a refuse collection point outside an apartment building in Saitama, north of Tokyo." To read the complete story, see: http://go.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?storyID=11843735 FEATURED WEB SITE: BANK OF CANADA'S CURRENCY MUSEUM This week's featured web site is recommended by Steve Woodland. He writes: "A related site to the Bank of Canada's series of banknotes website featured in E-Sylum v9#15 is the Bank of Canada's Currency Museum website which features the Bank's currency collection. For numismatic visitors to Ottawa, the Currency Museum is a must see. It features all types of currency, including an 8 ft diameter Yap stone, and best of all, i's free!" http://www.currencymuseum.ca 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., $20 elsewhere. For those without web access, write to: David M. Sundman, Secretary/Treasurer Numismatic Bibliomania Society, P. O. Box 82 Littleton, NH 03561 For Asylum mailing address changes and other membership questions, contact David at this email address: dsundman@LittletonCoin.com To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, just Reply to this message, or write to the Editor at this address: whomren@coinlibrary.com Those wishing to become new E-Sylum subscribers (or wishing to Unsubscribe) can go to the following web page: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum All past E-Sylum issues are archived on the NBS web site at this address: http://www.coinbooks.org/club_nbs_esylum_archive.html Issues from September 2002 to date are also archived at this address: http://my.binhost.com/pipermail/esylum From esylum at binhost.com Sun Apr 23 15:54:10 2006 From: esylum at binhost.com (esylum@binhost.com) Date: Sun Apr 23 15:54:46 2006 Subject: The E-Sylum v9#17, April 23, 2006 Message-ID: <004b01c6670f$b0303ec0$df960318@laptop035> Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 9, Number 17, April 23, 2006: an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society. Copyright (c) 2006, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society. WAYNE'S WORDS Among our recent subscribers is Carl Waltz, courtesy of John Eshbach, and O. T. Thompson. Welcome aboard! We now have 880 subscribers. Our email list has undergone a periodic automatic purging of nonfunctioning email addresses. If you change your email account, to ensure uninterrupted delivery of The E-Sylum be sure to update your account information at the address listed at the end of each issue: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum We have a mystery on the table concerning the owner of the 1913 Liberty Nickel Barry Jablon saw in 1957 - perhaps one of our readers can help. Barry has provided us with another interesting story of his days in the coin business, and Dick Johnson adds his own encounter with Barry's boss, Ernie Kraus. In a related vein is an article on the Great Silver Melt of 1980. In the numismatic research department, Dick Johnson provides us with a lesson in the research value of numismatic ephemera, and we have some excerpts from the text of John and Nancy Wilson's recent exhibit on the Scovill company's token and medal production. Some of their information came from an unpublished 1943 doctoral thesis on the firm. Among new numismatic issues announced this week: Pope John Paul II will appear on a Polish banknote, and Pope Benedict XVI will appear on new Vatican Euro coins. And I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried, folks - they're baaaack! The National Collectors Mint is producing another Freedom Tower "coin", this time under the auspices of (guess who?) The Cook Islands. In the "great places for numismatists to go on vacation" category, we have a nice report from Richard Jewell on Brookgreen Gardens, South Carolina. And finally, why did a man flush bundles of banknotes worth tens of thousands of dollars down the toilet? Read on to find out. Have a great week, everyone. Wayne Homren Numismatic Bibliomania Society KOLBE ONE-HUNDREDTH NUMISMATIC LITERATURE SALE George Kolbe reports that catalogs for all four parts of his 100th numismatic literature sale are available online at http://www.numislit.com . We've published many of the sale highlights before. The following are some excerpts from the sale's press release: "Announcing Auction Sale 100 - Parts One to Four: On Saturday, June 3, 2006, George Frederick Kolbe/Fine Numismatic Books will conduct their 100th auction sale, issued in four catalogues, at the Long Beach, California Coin and Collectibles Expo. Each catalogue may be ordered by sending $15.00 to Kolbe at P. O. Drawer 3100, Crestline, CA 92325, or copies of all four catalogues may be obtained by sending $25.00. The catalogues are also accessible free of charge at the firm?s web site (www.numislit.com)." Auction Sale 100 - Part One: One hundred lots on various topics, including: W. W. C. Wilson?s Deluxe Edition of the classic 1913 Adams-Woodin work on United States pattern coins; a collection of autographs of over 40 early American Numismatic Association members; a handsome early edition of the first numismatic book, printed in 1524; an exceptionally fine set of Conbrouse?s classic catalogue of ?Monnaies Nationale de France?; an extremely rare 1820 work by William Congreve on methods to prevent counterfeiting of bank notes; an exceptionally fine 1875 ?Nova Constellatio? edition of Crosby?s classic work on American colonial coins; Auction Sale 100 - Part Two: Part I of the extensive American numismatic library formed by Alan Meghrig. Included is a complete set of the American Journal of Numismatics, each volume individually bound; perhaps the first published photograph of American coins, depicting colonial coins in the collection of Dr. Charles Clay; Dr. French?s extensively annotated copy of the 1883 Andrews work on large cents; a very fine 1923 edition of S. H. Chapman?s work on 1794 cents; an original 1892 Dr. Hall work on Connecticut coppers; Auction Sale 100 - Part Three: Attinelliana, the remarkable collection of rare early American numismatic publications and broadsides formed by John W. Adams. Highlights include an original 1876 edition of Attinelli?s Numisgraphics; the 1851 Philadelphia auction catalogue of the Roper Collection, the ?First All-Coin US Sale?; a very fine set of Mason?s Coin and Stamp Collectors? Magazine, 1867-1872; and many other desirable early American numismatic publications. Auction Sale 100 - Part Four: Twenty-five notable lots on various topics, including: an unusually nice 1870s United States Treasury Department ?Vignette Book,? containing over 140 superb bank note engravings executed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing; the Hess Library set of Henry Cohen?s great eight volume work on Coins of the Roman Empire; a fine attractive set of the preferred 1732-1737 French edition of van Loon?s magnum opus on Dutch and European Medals; etc." HARDBOUND HERITAGE REIVER SALE CATALOGS David Gladfelter writes: "Have you mentioned the availability from Heritage Galleries of a hardbound edition of the three catalogs of the Jules Reiver collection auctioned this past January? The collection covered all of the U. S. Mint series through the 1960s including patterns but was particularly strong in early (1793-1857) copper and silver. The catalogs are beautifully illustrated and the pieces well described, including pedigrees. The hardbound has a sewn binding and adequate interior margins. The PRL is laid in, not bound in. The cost is $125, but it comes with a $125 certificate good for any Heritage auction purchase. So it is a free book - the numismatic literature bargain of the year. The contact person at Heritage is Kathy Eilers at KathyE@heritagegalleries.com" [We haven't mentioned the catalog before, but I ordered one last month and can attest that it is nicely done. It's a great reference, and for me it's a great way to remember a good friend - I had many enjoyable visits with Jules and his wife Iona in Wilmington, DE. My only complaint about the catalog is that it's just too big for one volume - I would have split it into separate volumes. I was unaware of the $125 gift certificate, and when it arrived in the mail I was very pleasantly surprised. David's right - this is the numismatic literature bargain of the year! -Editor] THE VALUE OF SALES LITERATURE FOR NUMISMATIC CATALOGING Dick Johnson writes: "The Calvacade of Sports Medal Series pamphlet arrived in the mail today. I had mentioned in The E-Sylum that I needed a copy for documenting four of the medals (v9n14, article 26: http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v09n14a26.html ). I found one of the medals for sale on eBay. I wrote the seller asking if he had the pamphlet available (and offered $10 if he did). He did but wouldn't talk about price unless I was the successful bidder. I overbid for the medal, got it and repeated my offer. His invoice arrived and stated I could have the pamphlet, he would only add a dollar to the postage. I sent a bonus payment anyway (perhaps surprising him to see a check larger than the amount billed). The pamphlet answered my every question. Four sculptors created the 12 medals in the set. They were struck by Metal Arts of Rochester only in .999 fine silver in limited edition of 1,006 pieces and issued by Paramount International, then of Dayton, Ohio. It pictured every one of the medals! This does bring up the point about sales literature. Are you one of those people who saved all the letters and printed matter you received from Franklin Mint? Did you wonder why you did it? You may be glad you did! Sales literature often is a rare source of valuable data. In cataloging some Franklin Mint medals I have often found some data missing. What date was it issued? What series was it? What issue number in the series? Quantity struck? And for me I always want to know who was the artist(s).(Some were designed by one person and modeled by another.) Often sales literature has the answers. Franklin Mint had yearly catalogs -- published by Krause Publications -- and a monthly periodical, but even so there are still unanswered questions. All this is gist for the numismatic cataloger. All part of a medal's collector lore. Let's hope someone saved all that lore!" [As a numismatic bibliophile, I may be in possession of the only remaining empty box of Almond Delight cereal, which pictures and describes the set of banknote reproductions given away in the boxes as a promotion several years ago. If anyone else out there has one of these, you're certifiably as nutty as I am about numismatic literature. Dick is dead-on right: often this sort of ephemera is the only source of information about certain numismatic issues. If no one saves them or records the information, it will be lost forever. -Editor] ANS PUBLISHES ROMAN GOLD COIN IMAGES In a message posted Thursday to the American Numismatic Society Yahoo group, Sebastian Heath writes: "The ANS has received funding to initiate photography of all the gold coins in the Roman department. This work has begun and as a first step in making the results public. The page includes coins that stretch back to our very first efforts to make digital images available so that the "style" of the images varies. One goal of the current project is to edit existing images for greater consistency in size and background." http://www.numismatics.org/collections/roman/rg.html ERROR ON THE ELEVEN-CENT ERROR Dr. Eugene Bruder writes: "Your article on the 11 cent US coin has a major error. The man found a struck dime that went back through the minting cycle and was struck with 1 cent dies, as witnessed by the details left of the original striking. The coin in the Coin World article is a mule which was struck only once, on a 1 cent planchet, using a combination of a dime obverse and a 1 cent reverse. This is a totally different error, which is almost unheard of in US coinage. There are actually quite a number of the 11 cent coins found by Mr. Brooke in existence. (I myself have several, including a 1990 cent struck over a 1989 dime.)" [Joe Boling pointed this out as well. Thankfully the professionals at Coin World and other publications sweat the details and get their stories right. Here in the rough-and-tumble world of Cyberspace, research time is scarce to nonexistent, and I've only got my readers to keep me honest. Thanks for straightening this out. -Editor] 1957 ANA CONVENTION 1913 LIBERTY NICKEL EXHIBITOR MYSTERY Alan Weinberg writes: "More from Barry Jablon on his department store coin shop experiences! I didn't know Samuel Wolfson owned a 1913 Liberty Head nickel. I know he owned an 1804 dollar which I watched auction for $29,000 by Stack's...I attended the Wolfson sales, but I don't recall a 1913 nickel. Perhaps I'm wrong." [I remembered the Stack's Wolfson sale but didn't have a copy handy. I didn't remember him as having one of these nickels, either. I checked the pedigree lists in the new 1913 nickel book and Wolfson is not listed. Next I reread Barry's note for some clues. There were Philadelphia ANA conventions in 1941, 1957, and 1969. He left the coin company in 1962, so we?re talking about the 1957 convention. I don?t have ready access to my library or I?d try looking for a reference to a 1913 Liberty Nickel exhibit in Philadelphia, perhaps in The Numismatist or Numismatic Scrapbook. Does anyone have a 1957 convention program handy? That's another place to look. This is what makes numismatic research fun. Anyway, having come to a dead end I did the obvious and rechecked with Barry. He writes: "After forty-nine years, my memory could be playing games with me. I'm sure one of the gentlemen at the counter was Wolfson. As I wrote, I'm not sure who the other "well dressed gentleman" was. It could have been the actual owner of the 1913 Liberty Nickel. Regardless, they had a good time trying to make me crazy." Owners of genuine 1913 Liberty Nickels in 1957 included the Norwebs, Edwin Hydeman, Lou Eliasberg, George Walton and J.V. McDermott. Of this group my money would be on McDermott, who often exhibited his coin. But I never heard of him having his nickel encased in a Lucite holder. Could the "well-dressed gentleman" have been banker Eliasberg? Can anyone confirm for us who the mystery exhibitor was, before the rest of us go crazy, too? Thanks. -Editor] BARRY JABLON'S SNOWSTORM 1895 DOLLAR COIN BUY Continuing with his reminiscences of his time in the coin business, Barry Jablon writes: "Sometime in 1958, we had a big snow storm in Philly, and Mr. Kraus couldn't get in to work, so I ran the Gimbel's coin department for the day. There wasn't much business, but Mr. Kraus called several times to remind me what to do if someone came in to sell coins. "Don't look at the coin books for prices." "They'll think you don't know your stuff and they'll think their stuff is valuable." Right before closing a poorly dressed man came to the counter with two pieces of aluminum foil. "You guys buy coins don't you?" I opened the foil slowly trying to imagine what could be inside the foil. The first coin was a common date silver dollar. The second coin was a magnificent, beautifully toned, 1895 proof dollar. What do I do? If I call Mr. Kraus at home, the guy might walk. I had no idea of what to do so I threw at price at him out of the clear blue sky. "$75.00" I said, "I'll give you $75.00 for both coins." He took the money and as he was signing the seller's paperwork, I checked the stolen coin list we used to get each week. There was no listing for an 1895 dollar. When I called Mr. Kraus at home, he was certain that the coin had been altered - the mint mark removed. I rushed home from work that night, borrowed my dad's car, and went to Mr. Kraus's apartment with the coin. He went crazy. It was one of the best he had ever seen. We sent the coin to the offices in New York as we always did with purchases and that was the last I heard of it. That purchase established my reputation with Mr. Kraus and from then on he allowed me to make purchases on my own, and eventually, to run the Baltimore department." REMEMBERING COIN & CURRENCY: ERNIE KRAUS' FOREIGN COIN BOX Dick Johnson writes: "I remember Ernst Kraus, mentioned by Barry Jablon in last week's E-Sylum. On one of my many visits to the main office of Coin & Currency near Harold Square in New York City I stopped at Ernst Kraus' desk to chat with him. I caught him in the middle of a numismatic chore. He rolled his chair back and threw some coins in a box under his desk that must have held ten thousand foreign coins! "What are those?" I asked. "No value foreign coins," he answered. As material came into their main office -- you could imagine how much buying they had to do to keep three dozen coin departments in Gimbels and other department stores supplied -- Ernst would price coins and sets for shipment to one of their department outlets. I guess he was in charge of all foreign coins and culled out what would not sell. But over the years I often wondered what happened to that box of "no value" foreign coins. You couldn't lift it. It would be several hundred pounds. But by today's prices it would have been a treasure chest." 100 YEARS AGO: LEACH'S TREK TO SAVE THE SAN FRANCISCO MINT This week marked the 100th anniversary of the great 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire. The Contra Costa Times posted a number of articles on their web site, including one noting Superintendent Frank Leach's dangerous trek into the city to survey damage to the facility: "Like most Bay Area residents, Frank Aleomon Leach, superintendent of the United States Mint in San Francisco, was shaken awake in his Oakland home. He dressed quickly and headed off for work, figuring he might be needed at the mint. As he walked from his home to the ferry wharf, he was relieved to see relatively little damage, outside of tumbled chimneys and broken glass." "Leach, who was one of very few to return to San Francisco at the start of the fire, picked his way through the burning city, taking a zigzag route almost to Broadway and back before reaching the mint, where a persistent rumor had it that a group of thugs was planning an assault on the granite building to steal the nearly $300,000,000 in gold and currency locked up in there. The rumor was untrue, but caused plenty of concern as the 50 or so mint employees who turned out for work used the mint's self-contained water supply to save the building. "The buildings across the alley from the mint were on fire, and soon, great masses of flames shot against the side of our building as if directed against us by a huge blowpipe. The glass in our windows, exposed to this great heat, did not crack and break, but melted down like butter; the sandstone and granite, of which the building was constructed, began to flake off with explosive noises like the firing of artillery," Leach remembered. "The heat was now intense. It did not seem possible for the structure to withstand this terrific onslaught. The roar of the conflagration and crashing of falling buildings, together with the noise given off from the exploding stones of our building, were enough to strike terror in our hearts, if we had had time to think about it. At times, the concussions from the explosions were heavy enough to make the floor quiver." To read the complete article, see: http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/local/states/california/143 69260.htm" [As we've discussed in earlier issues, Leach led a ragtag assemblage of Mint employees and Army troops in a heroic effort to save the building and its contents. In the end, The Granite Lady stood, the only government structure remaining intact following the horrific fire sparked by the quake. The surrounding neighborhood was devastated. -Editor] "By 5 p.m., it was over. The men walked across the hot cobblestones of Fifth Street into a scene Leach described as "utter ruin, desolation and loneliness." The city's banks were rubble, their vaults too hot to be opened for several days. But the brave men of the Mint had saved $200 million in silver and gold from the same fate. Within two weeks, the Mint dispensed $40 million in desperately needed money." For more (the source of the last quoted paragraph above) see: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/01/26/IN13213.DTL To read Leach's full account from his 1917 book, "Recollections of a Newspaperman," see: http://www.sfmuseum.org/1906.2/ew22.html To view a photo of the Mint after the fire, see: http://www.sfmuseum.net/1906.2/usmint.html POLICIES ON HER MAJESTY'S COIN PORTRAITS Gary Dunaier writes: "The article on Maundy coins in the current E-Sylum prompts me to ask the following three questions regarding the portrait of Her Majesty The Queen on coinage: 1) Why do the Maundy coins continue to use the original Mary Gillick portrait of the Queen, whereas circulating coins are now on their fourth portrait? 2) Why do some countries continue to use the Raphael Maklouf portrait, even though the current (Ian Rank-Broadley) design is now in its 9th year? 3) How come Canada uses their own portrait of the Queen on their coins Are they not obligated to use the design of the, er, "home office?" And are other countries permitted to create their own unique portraits as well?" POLISH BANKNOTE TO HONOR POPE JOHN PAUL II According to an April 20 BBC News report, "Poland's central bank has revealed a new banknote depicting the late Polish-born Pope John Paul II. The note, worth 50 zloty (?9), portrays the Pope on both sides and will go into circulation in October. It bears religious symbols linked to John Paul II, quotes from his speeches, a copy of his signature and the dates of his long papacy, from 1978 to 2005." "The National Bank of Poland did not say how many of the new notes would be released on October 16, which marks the 28th anniversary of John Paul II's election as head of the Catholic Church." To read the complete article and view an image of the note, see: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4927736.stm VATICAN TO RELEASE FIRST EURO COINS OF BENEDICT XVI "The first Vatican euro coins bearing a bust of Benedict XVI will be released next week, according to information from the Vatican's numismatic bureau. Catholic World News reports that the Bureay will release a full set of coins, denominated in euros, bearing a bust of the Pope on one side, with the inscription "Citta del Vaticano" and 12 stars representing the European Union. The other side of the coin will be the same as the obverse of coins minted by other member-states of the European Union." To read the complete story, see: http://www.cathnews.com/news/604/100.php MINT DESTRUCTION AND RECORD-KEEPING POLICIES Regarding Rep. Lucas' bill, Roger Burdette writes: "Had this or similar legislation been in force in 1910 it might have prevented the wholesale destruction of hundreds of pattern and experimental coin hubs and dies ordered by Mint Director A. Piatt Andrew. Thus far, the Mint, in its various Treasury Department permutations, has proven to be a poor custodian of national numismatic art and artifact. There would be no $50 gold Half-Union patterns, no 1933 double eagles, no aluminum cents, etc. if not for the Smithsonian's protection. The only established place of "safety" seems to be the Smithsonian Institution. Rep. Lucas' bill should be amended, however, to include the hoard of models, galvanos, casts, hubs and other materials now stored in a basement vault at the Philadelphia Mint (based on the so-called Iacocca inventory ordered by engraver Elizabeth Jones long ago.) At present, these historic items are sequestered from academic research, and could be destroyed on a momentary whim by some future Mint Director. To perpetuate the National Numismatic Collection and open research, the Mint should be required to 1) provide at least two examples of every experimental and pattern coin to the NNC on a continuing basis, and 2) deliver to NARA all documents dating before 1975 currently in the Mint's possession." [Illegal examples of the 1974 aluminum cents, the 1933 double eagle (and the one recently legalized example) do exist, but Roger's point is still quite valid - the National Numismatic Collection is the one safe haven for most of these rare issues. -Editor] SMITHSONIAN COLLECTION DUPLICATE POLICIES Alan Weinberg writes: "With respect to the Smithsonian auctioning off duplicates: I have a two-page single-spaced letter from the then Secretary of the Smithsonian detailing the Numismatic Division's policy on "duplicates". He states that the SI required THREE of every coin they owned to show obverse, reverse and to loan out the 3rd to other institutions for exhibit. My interpretation: they owned at the time 3 1927-D $20's and would have to own at least two to exhibit the prolific reverse! Ridiculous." GOLD BULLION COIN COUNTERFEITING ON THE RISE Tom DeLorey writes: "The headline about counterfeit Euro coins reminded me that about a week ago we had somebody come into the coin shop with a counterfeit gold Maple Leaf, and just today one of the dealers in a suburb of Chicago reported that somebody had tried to sell a counterfeit Krugerrand. With gold at heights not seen in 25 years, I suppose this is inevitable." NEW YORK TIMES COVERS THE MINT'S CENT QUANDARY As Dick Johnson previously reported in The E-Sylum, the U.S. Mint is having a problem with cent production due to increases in commodity prices. The lowely one-cent coin currently cost the mint 1.4 cents each to produce. On April 22 The New York Times covered the story. Here are a couple excerpts from the article: "What happens if a penny is worth more than 1 cent? That is an issue the United States Mint could soon face if the price of metals keeps rising. Already it costs the mint well more than a cent to make a penny. This week the cost of the metals in a penny rose above 0.8 cents, more than twice the value of last fall. Because the government spends at least another six-tenths of a cent ? above and beyond the cost of the metal ? to make each penny, it will lose nearly half a cent on each new one it mints. The real problem could come if metals prices rise so high that it would be economical to melt down pennies for the metals they contain." "Asked if the mint had a backup plan for what it will do if zinc prices rise far enough that it could pay to melt down pennies, a spokesman said that such issues were for Congress to decide." "Pennies, meanwhile, are in high demand. Last year, the mint made 7.7 billion of them ? more than the number of all the other coins it produced. In the first three months of this year, the pace of penny production rose to an annual rate of 9 billion ? the highest since 2001." To read the complete article, see: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/22/business/22charts.html JOHNSON'S PREDICTION: NO U.S. CENT COIN IN 2010 Dick Johnson writes: "I can remember only once before that a Lincoln Cent story made the front page of the New York Times. In Saturday?s (April 22, 2006) NYT the story of the rising cost of striking a cent was indexed on page 1, with a color illustration of the Lincoln Cent. The full NYT story with three charts was inside (p C3, see above article). Floyd Norris wrote about the mint?s mounting problem of rising cost of zinc and copper, the U.S. cent?s two metal components. The cost of these two metals in a cent crossed the line of profitability, according to the major chart in that article, about October 1, 2005. But the U.S. Mint is not losing money. Yet! The mint had contracts in place with the supplier of the cent blanks ? the mint buys the copper-plated zinc blanks from private industry ? it then strikes the image in its coinage presses creating the cent coins. In all likelihood these firms hedged their zinc bullion purchases when those contracts were last signed. So they are not losing money. Yet! However, this cannot last past the end of these contracts. If the cost of zinc is still above 80% of a cent when these contracts expire, THEN the mint will lose money by continuing to strike a cent in the present composition. The problem has to be solved by the U.S. Congress. Knowing how fast Congress reacts, I see the cent being struck through 2009 ? the year legislation is already in place to have the cent with four different reverses (see E-Sylum vol 8, no 50, a 19). There are those that see these coins as commemoratives in which a surcharge could be added to their cost to the public. Most numismatists see these as circulating coins, like the current Jefferson nickels with three Lewis & Clark reverses -- intended for circulation. I predict we will have cents until 2009. But THEN the cent coin will be abolished. We will have no cent coins of 2010. Next week: How the cents can go out with a bang." PROPHETIC 1938 SPEECH ON NICKEL AND OTHER MINERALS IN PEACE AND WAR Darryl Atchison writes: "I am sending you a link to the text from an address delivered by the Hon. Charles McCrae (the Minister of Mines for the Province of Ontario) to the Empire Club of Canada on January 27, 1938. The speech was entitled "Canadian Minerals in Peace and War" which deals with the subject not only in a general sense but also specifically concerns the mineral nickel which played a significant role in the production of war materials during World War I as well as an increasingly large role in international coinage production. The bulk of the article pertains to World War I, yet many of the speaker's comments were quite prophetic and as most of our readers know, Canada altered its circulating nickel coinage during World War II and produced its five cent coins from a new alloy called 'tombac'. The article has only peripheral numismatic value but makes for interesting reading nonetheless." The link to this article is http://www.empireclubfoundation.com/details.asp?SpeechID=160&FT=yes THE GREAT SILVER MELT OF 1980 The SilverSeek.com posted an article this week about the great silver melt of 1980: "We had silver coins come in by the bags. As I recall we had three automatic coin counters running. It was a noisy place. At the door of the coin shop we had an armed security guard. I wore my .380 Walther on a belt holster on my back under my shirt. We could only permit a dozen or so in the shop at any one time. Outside, at times as many as three or four dozen were lined up waiting their turn to convert their silver to cash money. It was exciting." "For several weeks we ran an armored courier service nightly direct to the refiner in NYC. No middleman. We got good prices. I was only a go-fer. The owner became a multi-millionaire." "As a lifelong coin collector I cringed every time I had to count out Morgan and Peace silver dollars, and even some seated liberties, into a melt bin. Barber dimes, quarters, uncirculated or not it didn't matter into the melt bins they went. Who had time to sort them for their numismatic value? They had to be on that truck that night to NYC! You coin collectors will like this one. One of the other coin dealers after paying the melt value, later on opened it and discovered a mint choice uncirculated roll of 1936-S quarters. Today, one of those single coins in a roll of forty will fetch upwards of $1,000 each!" To read the complete article, see: http://news.silverseek.com/CharlestonVoice/1145492511.php [What other numismatic gems turned up in the buckets that year? Was there anyone at the refineries culling goodies before they hit the melting pot? -Editor] WORKS BY NUMISMATIC SCULPTORS AT BROOKGREEN GARDENS Rich Jewell writes: "I recently went on a tour of Brookgreen Gardens, Murrells Inlet, South Carolina - what a place!! Thousands of acres of gardens with tons of flowers bloomin', and over 900 sculptures by 300 hundred different artists (A.A.Weinman, Laura Gardin and James Fraser, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Frederic Remington, Hermon MacNeil, Paul Manship and CP Jennwein, just to name a few). By far the biggest surprise was the gift shop, where for the first time they were selling their Brookgreen Gardens medal series. These medals were previously for their President's Council, Chairman's Council and Huntington Society members only. Some of the designers are Marcel Jovine, Alex Shagin, Don Everhart II, and Eugene Daub. I thought some of your E-Sylum readers might be interested in the medal series." [I've heard of Brookgreen Gardens and have always wanted to go there. It sounds like an enchanted place. From their web site: "In 1931, Archer and Anna Hyatt Huntington, founded Brookgreen Gardens, a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation, to preserve the native flora and fauna and display objects of art within that natural setting. Today, Brookgreen Gardens is a National Historic Landmark with one of the most significant collections of figurative sculpture by American artists in the world." Many thanks to Rich for bringing this site to our attention - more numismatists should be aware of the full range of artistic output of the men and women who designed the marvelous coins we collect and study. To visit the Brookgreen web site, see: http://www.brookgreen.org/index2.html Quiz Question: In what other capacity are the Huntingtons connected to numismatics? -Editor] NEW ZEALAND VICTORIA CROSS MEDAL SALE CONTROVERSY An article in the Northern Advocate of New Zealand highlights a controversy resulting from the high prices medals like the Victoria Cross are bringing in the marketplace. Some recipients and their descendants would like to sell their medals, where others wouldn't dream of it: "For 364 days of the year, World War Two veteran Fred Hyslop keeps his Military Medal hidden in a drawer. The Scottish-born Whangarei resident is modest about his bravery award, and only gets it out of the drawer on Anzac Day. And if his children decided to sell it, like WWII hero Charles Upham's family wants to do with his double Victoria Cross, he wouldn't mind. "I've told my sons if they really need the money, go ahead and sell it," said Mr Hyslop, who was enjoying a quiet beer at Whangarei's RSA yesterday afternoon. But some of his drinking buddies shook their heads in disagreement, saying war medals should never be sold. The case of Charles Upham's family wanting to sell the rare medal has caused an uproar, and Defence Minister Phil Goff doesn't want to pay the $3.3 million he claims the family wants. Mr. Goff also doubted that Mr Upham would have wanted his medals sold, as he had always refused offers when he was still alive." "Mr Yates' view that the medals belonged to New Zealand was shared by most of the men at Whangarei's RSA, and Chas Sibun summed up their attitudes' perfectly. "It's such a prestigious award ... it's New Zealand's." To read the complete article, see: http://www.northernadvocate.co.nz/localnews/storydisplay.cfm?storyid=3681203 WILSONS? SCOVILL MANUFACTURING COMPANY EXHIBIT John and Nancy Wilson's recent exhibit on the Scovill Manufacturing Company was mentioned in previous E-Sylum issues. With permission I'm reprinting portions of the exhibit text, which relied on an unpublished Doctoral Thesis on Button and Token Making in America (Copyrighted 1945 in Nebraska by Theodore F. Marburg) and a book by William F. McGuinn and Bruce S. Bazelon, "American Military Button Makers And Dealers; Their Backmarks & Dates" (BookCrafters, Inc., Fredericksburg, VA., Copyright 1984, New Edition, 1996). "During the years of existence, Scovill and its forerunners produced: hard white pewter buttons; stamped brass and pewter buttons; woolens in the War of 1812; metal buttons, token and medalet production; hard times and civil war tokens; brass hardware; daguerreotype plates and other photographic items; political medalets; small cent-sized tokens, casings for Gault?s patent encased postage stamps; blanks for the U. S. government; coinage and tokens for foreign governments and Latin American plantations. Besides these, Scovill also produced the Queen Anne burners, brass kettles, hardware, lamps, carriage and harness trimmings, and probably other household implements. The firm used pewter, tin, zinc, aluminum, brass, copper, silver, gold, German silver and other metals in production of their products. According to Marburg, ?the Scovill?s venture in the production of tokens, or counters, is of interest as showing how the enterprise adopted production to whatever the demand might call for. As early as 1829, the Scovill?s were supplying business houses with inscribed medals, bearing the name of the business house and some slogan that were stamped with a die and lacquered. (They) may have served this function and were made already in 1829.? Quoting more, ?These passed at first primarily as business card or political campaign or as souvenirs, and their use increased in the early 1830?s.? ?The fact that they were in especial demand for use in the West suggest, however, that they may have passed as currency at some points as early as 1834. Marburg also mentioned about the dubious currency that was in circulation (ca. 1830) and how valueless it became. To me this suggests that Mr. Marburg was probably giving rationale on why the Scovill counters circulated as money because of the lack of specie and valueless currency that was in circulation during this period. Marburg also talked about the Panic of 1837 and how Scovill medals and tokens started to circulate as money because of the problems already mentioned during the early 1830?s. The Scovill tokens and or counters ran into a problem in 1839 when a Court in Connecticut issued a bill against Scovill?s for issuing such tokens, which it claimed was tantamount to the issuance of a currency. This didn?t stop Scovill from continuing its production with tokens and counters along with other look-a-like money at anytime during the 1830?s and beyond. Right through the 1840?s and into the 1850?s, Scovill was hard at work producing various tokens, medals as business cards and even work for Central or South America, Cuba, Mexico, Costa Rica, Columbia and Guatemala. Scovill was given some legal advice in the later 1840?s regarding ?being more cautions? when producing tokens with a human head on one side and an eagle on the other. They didn?t follow this advice and through caution to the wind and using their Daguerreotype plates between 1848-1850 they produced Coronet Liberty-and-Eagle imitations of U. S. $5 and $10 gold pieces, even gilding them to look more like the actual thing. The distributors? business names were carefully added in place of government legends. After 1866, the Scovill Company furnished the U. S. Mint with the blanks for a number of U. S. Coins in various metals, copper, nickel and bronze. Scovill furnished the full set of 23,757 medals for the Columbia Exposition in 1893." MORE ON THE MARBURG REPORT ON SCOVILL Dick Johnson writes: "I am so glad John and Nancy Wilson found the Marburg report and included research from this for their recent ANA Atlanta exhibit. Actually there are two publications by Theodore F. Marburg: "Brass Button Making" differs from his doctorial thesis, both of 1946. While the former discusses button making in the first half of the 19th century, it is his Ph.D. thesis that is far more comprehensive and really gets into the technology that is so close to that of coin, token and medal making (in fact one section, "The Mint at Waterbury" pages 397 to 417, actually discusses this very technology). Example: for years I credited Rogers Brothers, the silverware manufacturer, as bringing silverplate technology to America in 1849 (for manufacturing tableware). Marburg reports, however, that Scovill had this technology in 1844 and was using it to plate copper, silver, nickel, and zinc. Marburg also reveals that Scovill was using coin and medal technology in their metalworking activity: annealing (p 213), burnishing (p 82-83), chasing (p 105-106), diesinking (p 55-67), edgemaking (p 75-77), finishing (p 80-108), milling edge (p 177). They, of course, had been rolling metal strips and blanking since their beginning (1802). Scovill not only was the leading metal fabricating firm in America it was staying on top of the technology by importing this as soon as it appeared in Europe. I was allowed to photocopy only a portion of the Marburg thesis at the Mattatuck Museum, Waterbury. Even so it was a photocopy of a third carbon. It has never been published. It was prepared for the author's Ph.D. requirement at Clark University. Its title: "Management Problems and Procedures of a Manufacturing Enterprise, 1802-1852; A Case Study of the Origin of the Scovill Manufacturing Company." Marburg undoubtedly had access to the firm's archives. Five years later, Scovill hired an author, P.W. Bishop, to compile the firm's official history. By 1952 Bishop had written a complete manuscript, "History of Scovill Manufacturing Company." It must not have met the company officials' approval. He left under questionable circumstances and showed up working in Europe. That manuscript also remains unpublished. The chore is left yet for the Scovill story to be told, and for our field, the many connections Scovill had manufacturing coins, tokens and medals for more than 150 years. John, Nancy, why don't you write this book?" DOING THE MATH ON THE COOK ISLANDS $50S Kerry Rodgers writes: "Some light is shed on the recent discussion of Cook Islands $50 coins by SCWC. According to the info given there the Cooks issued over three dozen of these items from 1991-93. Krause gives mintage figures of 60,000 for many. If my arithmetic is correct (and it is 5.00 am in the morning so it may not be), that is over $10,000,000 face. Hence the "millions" at stake if too many of these swallows came home to roost. And by the way, the coins in question contained just under an ounce of silver. Later $50s have half an ounce ... which must make them even more tempting to buy and cash. Wasn't there some issue with folks cashing in Canadian commemoratives a few years back? The reasons all countries produce 'em is very simple ... there is a mass market out there that demands them. They are a cash cow that will disappear only when the market no longer exists. Numismaniacs may like to figure what the price of gold has to reach to make it worthwhile to cash in the Perth Mint's latest offering: a ten kilo .9999 fine gold coin with a face value of $30,000. Twenty are being "struck" and I have no doubts all will sell." [Confirming Kerry's math: 50 x 36 x 60,000 = 10.8 New Zealand Dollars. -Editor] Responding to last week's query about another Pacific nation which recently refused to honor its previously issued "coins", Martin Purdy writes: "I think this was the Marshall Islands - there was some "shock, horror" in the numismatic press a little while ago when they wouldn't honour *their* NCNLT (as they turned out to be) issues." [NCLT is the hobby abbreviation for "non-circulating legal tender". I like Martin's designation of NCNLT for such coins the issuer refuses to redeem: "Non-circulating NON-legal tender". -Editor] COOK ISLANDS AND THE FREEDOM TOWER DOLLAR On April 23 the Cook Island Herald published another story with a numismatic connection. The National Collectors Mint is at it again with another Freedom Tower "coin", this time under an agreement with Cook Islands. "A silver dollar minted by a US firm under a royalty agreement with Cook Islands government is bringing this country into disrepute among international coin collectors. Collectors say TV advertisements in Canada and the US for the ?Freedom Tower? dollar, minted by Wyoming firm Softsky and distributed by another US company called National Collector's Mint haven?t told the whole truth about the coins. The United States Government has agreed, describing the firm?s advertising as ?misleading.? A similar coin issued by Softsky the previous year has already landed the firm in hot water with the US Supreme Court." "The advertisements for the Cook Islands coin aired in Canada and the US last year, claimed the coins were legal tender and clad in 71mg of pure silver ?miraculously? found in a bank vault during the clean up after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre towers in September 2002." "According to Terry Piri of the Numismatic Department, the deal to mint the coins as legal Cook Islands tender was approved by Cabinet last year. However he is unable to say how much money the coin has earned for the Cook Islands as Softsky does not have to produce a sales report until September." "Controversy over the Cook Islands coins, which are not available in this country, follows a major row in 2004 over another Softsky?s coin commemorating the Twin Towers tragedy. According to news reports, they were minted under the license of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The silver dollar, which looks similar to the Cook Islands one, was described by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer as, ?A shameless attempt to profit from a national tragedy.? "As a result of the controversy the Northern Marianas ended their contract with Softsky in December 2004. However some media reports claimed that by then they had already made $US150,000 from the deal." To read the complete article, see: http://www.ciherald.co.ck/h299b.html ON PLATINUM AND PALLADIUM COINS Regarding our earlier discussion of palladium coins, Steve Dippolito writes: "Russia did indeed experiment with a new coinage metal in 1828-1845, but it wasn't palladium, it was platinum. To my knowledge it is the only case of a country issuing platinum coinage for circulation. It came in three denominations: 3 rubles (same size and almost twice the weight of the 25 kopek piece), 6 rubles (same size and twice the weight of the half ruble) and 12 rubles (same size and twice the weight of the ruble). The coins were made of sponge platinum since the technology to melt large quantities of platinum did not exist yet. Some effort was made to purify the metal in the coins, which originally was in nuggets and dust, but there is something like 1-5% iridium and iron in the coins. The weights are close to 1/3, 2/3 and 1 1/3 of a troy ounce, respectively. My understanding is that these coins' values were explicitly tied to silver during a currency reform in Russia, where the paper money was being brought back in line with silver, and the denominations are given as "3 [or 6 or 12] RUBLES IN SILVER". Only the 3 ruble piece actually did circulate to any extent, and one of my two examples is most assuredly proof that the coins saw use, as it has been worn, knifed (probably to do the "acid test") and bent. To my knowledge no one has ever issued palladium for circulation, though of course there are NCLT issues out there." Ralf B?pple adds: "Just for the record: the palladium coins from Sierra Leone are the denominations 1/4 golde (KM 22b), 1/2 golde (KM 23b), and one golde (KM 24b). Mintage is given as 100 pieces each (they were also minted in gold in larger quantities). The year of production is 1966, which would make them indeed the first palladium issues of the modern, i.e., post-WWII, era of pseudo-coins. I even found a picture of them on the Internet: http://www.rene-finn.de/images/Palladiumphoto/SierraLeone1966.jpg " NATIONAL COIN WEEK PUBLICITY STUNT Last week a number of readers sent links to articles on the American Numismatic Association's "Penny Drop" for National Coin Week. I didn't include it because of the lack of novelty and research value, but here are stories from the New York Times and ABC News: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/14/nyregion/14coin.html http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=1844607 I had a lot of fun spending a 1914-D cent one time myself, while serving as publicity chairman for the Pennsylvania Association of Numismatists. To promote an upcoming show I spent the coin at a bakery in downtown Pittsburgh. Local newspapers as well as the wire services picked up the story, and I was interviewed by news outlets as far away as Chicago. The cent never came back to us, although I did get a call from a man in Florida who had found one. He mailed it to me for verification and payment, but I sent it back to him. His coin was genuine and NICER than the one I'd spent (and worth a lot more). Circulation does a lot of strange things to a coin, but it's no Fountain of Youth. HAWAII CREATES STATE MEDAL OF HONOR AWARD An item in the Hawaii Reporter April 11 notes that "As of February 28, 2006, we in Hawaii have lost 120 service members, who have sacrificed their lives while in the line of duty. To pay a special tribute to these heroes and to their families, last year we passed House Bill 8 (2005), which became Act 21. House Bill 8 created the Hawaii Medal of Honor. This special medal is awarded on behalf of the people of the State of Hawaii to an individual who has been killed in action while serving our country as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom." "The families of these fallen service members will all receive the Hawaii Medal of Honor on behalf of their loved ones. The Special Joint Session of the Legislature is scheduled for Tuesday, April 18, 2006 at 10 a.m. in the House Chambers." To read the complete article, see: http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?e65fe780-2604-414a-9c51-c909991cc98 6 THE HONOLULU MINT AND THE HAWAII MEDAL OF HONOR Another article published this week described the design of the Hawaii Medal of Honor and mentioned the designer and manufacturer: "The medal features the state coat of arms and the Maltese Cross, which depicts four axes of the globe to represent Hawaii as the crossroads of the Pacific. The medals cost about $100 each and are being made by the Honolulu Mint." http://www.guampdn.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060418/NEWS01/604180307/ 1002 The Honolulu Mint's web site gives this background: "Steven Lee, an award winning jewelry designer, founded the Honolulu Mint in 1985. Lee applied his expertise and artistry to first produce a line of coin and ingot jewelry featuring Hawaiian Royalty. Steven Lee was trained at the US government San Francisco Mint where the nations' proof-quality commemorative coins are minted. There he studied press design and minting operations. An avid collector of historical and numismatic collectibles, Lee has also engineered and built a number of minting presses." http://www.honolulu-mint.com/ NEW NORTHUMBRIAN COIN FIND Arthur Shippee forwarded the following story from The Explorator newsletter: "A hoard of 131 Anglo-Saxon coins and fragments were discovered by two metal detecting friends in a field near Bamburgh in April 2004. Michael Jones and Brian Henderson found 76 and 55 coins respectively, which date from the 9th century Kingdom of Northumbria when Bamburgh was the seat of power. The finds were made in the same field where 253 base silver, copper, and bronze coins, of a similar age were discovered by members of the Ashington and Bedlington Metal Detector Club in 1999." Those coins are now at the Museum of Antiquities in Newcastle and North Northumberland coroner Ian McCreath, at a treasure trove inquest in Berwick, recommended the new finds should be displayed with the earlier finds. However, for the time being they have been deemed treasure and handed over permanently to the British Museum in London." "The Bamburgh discoveries have given historians a new insight into the later days of Northumbria, which had been the strongest and most cultured of the seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms that had made up 7th century England." To read the complete article, see: http://www.berwicktoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=970&ArticleID=1440 381 SUFFOLK TOWN COUNCIL MISPLACES MUSEUM'S MEDALS The East Anglian Daily Times reports that "Police officers are investigating the disappearance of two George Medals - including the first ever to be awarded to a woman - in a Suffolk town. Suffolk police were called in when the medals, which are the responsibility of Aldeburgh Town Council, were reported missing. The honours were supposed to be kept under lock and key for insurance purposes but they cannot be found and the force was asked to investigate just before Easter. Officers do not believe the medals have been stolen, however." "The value of the medals has not been revealed but one medal in particular is believed to be worth a lot of money. It was awarded in 1941 to Dorothy Clarke, a housewife from Aldeburgh, who was the first woman to receive such an honour. The George Medal is the second highest gallantry medal that a civilian can win. The highest is the George Cross. Mrs Clarke was with the Air Raid Precautions (ARP) when she was called out to rescue two Royal Engineers at Thorpeness. She drove an ambulance and she was assisted by first-aid attendant Bessie Knight-Hepburn, from Aldeburgh, who also received the George Medal. They made their way through a minefield to try to save the dying soldiers who had trod on a mine. One of the soldiers died and the other was badly injured. Mrs Clarke and Mrs Knight-Hepburn, who both died some years ago, were in the first group of people to receive the George Medal from the British monarch at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace." To read the complete story, see: http://tinyurl.com/oudwv AMERICAN BANKNOTE COMPANY AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE An article in The New York Times discusses inventor Sean Sabol's research at the New York Public Library. His research led him to the American Banknote Company, which is embarking on manufacturing product far from the mainstream of the century-old firm's business: "The product, Detail Devils, is a portable kit for $39.95 that provides "everything but the bucket" to clean a motorcycle, including five types of cloth and eight two-ounce bottles of potions like tar remover, bug remover and leather conditioner. In auto lingo, "detailing" means a thorough cleaning to make a set of wheels look like new." "Last summer, a venture capital firm he learned about at the library led him to a business partner that is manufacturing and distributing the kits. This is the first such venture for the company, American Banknote Corporation, a $220 million international printing business in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., that specializes in printing stock certificates and manufacturing credit cards." The deal with American Banknote gives Mr. Sabol a share of the profits, $2 per kit. According to Pat Gentile, American Banknote's chief financial officer, if the product is a success in the United States, distribution may expand to A ustralia and Brazil." To read the complete article, see: http://tinyurl.com/j3ynk [I wonder if the kit could also be used by a "Note Doctor" to spruce up tattered currency.... -Editor] MAN STACKS CENTS TO BEAT GUINNESS WORLD RECORD "Dominating the living room of Marcelo Bezos' home is nearly a ton of copper slowly taking shape as a massive pyramid of pennies -- some 300,000 of them." "When he finishes, possibly next week, Bezos will have a pyramid 30 inches square by 30 inches high, with a tower of pennies atop it extending almost 6 feet high. He's aiming to break the Guinness Book of Records feat for coin-stacking while increasing awareness of colorectal cancer, which a family member suffers from. "I haven't really told anybody about this," Bezos confides. "I don't want anybody to start thinking, `This guy's cracked.'" "Penny by penny, Bezos expects to break the previous record of a pyramid built in 1981 with 71,825 pennies. The publicity, he hopes, will focus interest on colorectal cancer, which causes about 56,000 deaths in the United States each year." "Whatever becomes of the copper structure, Elizabeth Bezos says her husband's time was well spent. "I'd rather him do that than ride a motorcycle for his mid-life crisis." To read the complete article, see: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-cpennyapr15,0,287488 3.story WHEN MONEY LAUNDERING IS JUST AND APPROPRIATE According to an April 20 Reuters article, "A German pensioner flushed bundles of old banknotes worth a small fortune down the toilet because he thought they were now worthless, police in the northern city of Kiel said Thursday." "Police said he dumped some 60,000 deutschemarks -- which the euro replaced in 2002 -- into the bowl, unaware they could still be exchanged for about 30,000 euros ($37,000). Sewage workers recovered about half the sodden currency from the 64-year-old's plumbing. The remaining notes created a bottleneck in local sewers, where most were fished out." Police said the man ... had dried out the notes and taken them to a bank. It was unclear if he had laundered the money first." To read the complete article, see: http://go.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?storyID=11906269 FEATURED WEB SITE: AUSTRALIAN MEDALS This week's featured web site is recommended by Roger DeWardt Lane. He writes: "I was researching the U.S. Vietnam Veterans National Medal 1984 which I picked up at our local club meeting a few weeks ago, and came across this site about Australian medals." http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-medals/1975-.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 Apr 30 23:28:25 2006 From: esylum at binhost.com (esylum@binhost.com) Date: Sun Apr 30 23:28:47 2006 Subject: The E-Sylum v9#18, April 30, 2006 Message-ID: <004a01c66ccf$4e704b10$f3910318@laptop035> Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 9, Number 18, April 30, 2006: an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society. Copyright (c) 2006, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society. WAYNE'S WORDS Among our recent subscribers are Mitch Sanders and Thomas Van Zeyl. Welcome aboard! We now have 882 subscribers. We've got our usual mixed bag of material this week. No earth-shaking developments, but interesting stuff nonetheless. We start off with an announcement of a new book for Conder token collectors. Several readers have offered tidbits about J.V. McDermott's 1913 Library Nickel displays, but the central question of who exhibited one of the nickels at the 1957 Philadelphia ANA convention remains unanswered, although J.V. McDermott seems the likely candidate. Although it's unrelated to numismatics, there are some parallels, and our readers may find something of interest in a story about an investigation into the recent sale of the United Nations' stamp archive. We have some new discussion of royal portraits on coinage, and another report indicating that the rising interest in sports medals continues unabated. For fans of Roman debauchery, a new museum exhibit examines Caligula's reign through coinage. In the "numismatic tourism" department, Dick Hanscom provides photos of the Jacob Perkins mint building in Newburyport, MA, and Dick Johnson provides some more background on Brookgreen Gardens. Have a great week, everyone. Wayne Homren Numismatic Bibliomania Society JOHN WHITMORE'S TOKEN COLLLECTORS COMPANION AVAILABLE Allan Davisson provided the following information on a new book for Conder token collectors. He adds: "It?s a great work, a major production on John Whitmore?s part." NEW & NECESSARY! THE TOKEN COLLECTORS COMPANION by John Whitmore. A 390 page A4 format volume, hardbound (or leather if you prefer) with * THE TOKEN TRACER 1700-1860; a guide to all the legends, dates only or design only tokens issued in this entire period. Dalton and Hamer, Australasian, the Bell volumes including Unofficial Farthings, Withers?Coin-Weights & 19th Century Copper, Breton, Cobwright, Davis & Waters, Dalton (silver) and more. * An extensive listing of major auction prices of Dalton and Hamer tokens going back to the Jan sales in 1983 and including the Noble sale of 1998 and the major DNW sales. * A supplement, with four plates, to Unofficial Farthings. And a price guide. * A definitive listing of Inn tokens. * A comprehensive index to Hawkins. * Bibliography and general index. This is a tremendous volume, the result of painstaking work and an extensive depth of knowledge and experience on the part of John Whitmore. I began with only a proof copy in sheets that I used extensively. I now have an early copy of the work itself. he binding and dustjacket are notably high quality. I happily agreed to distribute this outstanding work in the United States. The cost is modest for all this offers, $125 hardbound or $190 half leather. (Prices are postpaid to U.S. addresses. Delivery will be in early June.) Allan and Marnie Davisson Cold Spring, MN 56320 320-685-3835 ? 24 hr FAX 320-685-8636 email: coins@davissons.net WILLIAM S. DEWEY MEMORIAL SERVICE David Gladfelter writes: "About 60 of William S. Dewey's family and friends attended his memorial service at the First Congregational Church in River Edge, Bergen County, New Jersey, on April 23, 2006. Bill, noted collector and writer about the historical medals, tokens and paper money of New Jersey and the medals and mementos of his distant relative, Admiral George Dewey, died at age 100 earlier this month at the nursing home where he had lived the past 4 years. In attendance were both of Bill's children, William E. Dewey and Autumn Owens, all six of his grandchildren and all 10 of his great-grandchildren. The service, like Bill himself, was very upbeat as speakers recalled his warm family relationships, engineering career, volunteer activities, numismatic pursuits, love of music and family history. Afterward, there was time to visit, eat and browse Bill's photo albums, publications, awards and news items. Among the last named was a December 1937 article about Bill taking charge of some 600 books belonging to the American Numismatic Association and working up the collection into a lending library operated out of his home. The family allowed interested persons to take away some of Bill's award plaques as remembrances of him. His children said that although confined to a wheel chair while in the nursing home because of a fractured hip, his mind remained clear. Most days he dressed like the professional he was, in a jacket and tie and occasional jaunty cap. I had the pleasure of working with this remarkable man on the last article he wrote, 9 years ago, about the rare paper money of the Bergen Iron Works in Lakewood, Ocean County, New Jersey. In that article we described and illustrated all of the five known specimens, in all denominations. Since that time, only one additional specimen has turned up. He took great pleasure in being thorough." 1957 EXHIBIT OF 1913 LIBERTY NICKEL Mark Borckardt writes: "I would suggest that the "well-dressed" gentleman was, in fact, George Walton. Walton and Wolfson are similar enough names that this could be an easy mixup. My understanding is that George Walton was always extremely well dressed at shows, and also, he did indeed have his nickel in a Lucite (capital plastics style) holder." [As Barry clarified last week, he is certain that it was Wolfson in the shop that day, but it was Wolfson's well-dressed companion who had the 1913 Nickel. The companion could have been George Walton, J.V. McDermott, Lou Eliasberg or any of the other nickel owners. -Editor] Dave Bowers writes: "Concerning the 1913 Liberty Head nickel owned by J.V. McDermott, he at first kept it mingled with pocket change and keys. He would pass it around the bar (where he could usually be found) in the hotel where a convention was being held, or nearby. Later, he put it in a small green rectangular plastic holder." George Fuld writes: "I remember McDermott throwing a 1913 nickel to me at an ANA convention (possibly 1957). The coin was in a small Lucite holder--possibly a Capitol one. He carried it with him most of the time!!" Ken Hallenbeck writes: "In the late 1950s, probably about 1959, I borrowed J.V.McDermott's 1913 liberty nickel for our local coin show when I still lived in Fort Wayne, IN. I don't recall many of the details, but do recall it was in a Lucite plastic holder. The holder was quite large and quite thick. It was quite a thrill." Rich Hartzog writes: "McDermott lived near Rockford, IL (my source says Beloit, WI, about 15 miles north), and kept his 1913 nickel in a Lucite holder. He would pass it around at coin clubs, in bars, at shows, and generally everywhere, not keeping any particular track of it. When he was ready to go, he would inquire of the room who had his nickel, and always get it back. My friend Joe Michalek remembers this clearly, and he got to hold it on several occasions. This was before I moved to Rockford, but McDermott was famous for passing his nickel around." ROCHESTER CLUB'S 1913 NICKEL DISPLAY Bill Coe of Rochester, NY forwarded the text of an item he wrote for the August 5, 2003, Vol. 52, No. 31 issue of Numismatic News: "I found the following information from an article in the program of the 1965 Empire State Numismatic Association 30th Semi-Annual Convention held in Rochester, NY, and hosted by the RNA, on May 14 ? 16, 1965. ?The J. V. McDermott specimen was on display throughout this convention. But the more incredulous fact is that, in 1920, Samuel W. Brown of North Tonawanda, NY, attended a regular meeting of the Rochester Numismatic Association held in the old Rochester Museum in Edgerton Park and there laid out five (yes, all five) of these rare coins to the amazement of the RNA members! Subsequently, he showed the specimens to the 1920 ANA conventioneers.? The article indicates that all five coins were struck in proof, although, at least some, have been mishandled since. The article goes on to reveal some of the facts leading up to the existence of these famous nickels. Unfortunately, I was not among those who enjoyed seeing these fabulous legends in American numismatics." "Unless additional references surface, I will claim for the Rochester Numismatic Association that it has the distinction of being one of the, perhaps only, local coin clubs to have had all five of the 1913 Liberty Head nickels displayed at one of its regular meetings." BARRY JABLON'S CHURCH CORNERSTONE BUY Continuing with his reminiscences of life in the coin business, Barry Jablon writes: "I was asked to run the newly opened Hutzler's coin department for the Friedbergs in 1960. I stayed in Baltimore until 1961. After I had been in Baltimore for a few months, two women showed up at the department early one Saturday morning. They were from Cambridge, Maryland and had seen the ad in the paper advertising our new department and the fact that we would buy coins. They told me that they belonged to a church in Cambridge and, when the church was being razed to build a new one, a box of coins was found in the old cornerstone. The tin box contained about twenty old copper coins. Most of them were early 1800's and were in excellent condition. However, there in front of me was a beautiful 1793 Liberty Cap cent. It was a dark chocolate brown color, hardly any wear, no nicks or bruises. I purchased the coins for $200.00 and called New York immediately. As department manager, aside from my salary, I received 2% commission on total sales. I wanted permission to keep the coin in Baltimore and try to sell it. The first potential buyer was Louis Eliasberg. I knew he had a complete collection, however, I thought this coin was so special, maybe he would want another one. So, I wrote Mr. Eliasberg a letter describing the coin. Four days later, I got a call from New York. Send the coin back to New York! Mr. Eliasberg did want the coin. However, he was going to trade Jack Friedberg for some duplicate coins he had. I wound up with no coin to sell and no commission. Looking at coin prices today, I would see this coin being at least $100,000. Oh well, like the 1895 dollar and the 1913 nickel, it was nice to be able to hold such rare coins. Most people never get the chance. Oh, by the way, when the coin did get back to New York, Jack showed it to Walter Breen, and Breen thought it was truly beautiful." On a related note, George Fuld writes: "Regarding the Gimbel's coin shops, they had one in Boston and I bought a proof New York Theater penny from them for $90 in 1958 or so -- I sold it for a small profit to Dick Picker." UNITED NATIONS STAMP COLLECTION SALE INVESTIGATED On April 28 Fox News posted a very lengthy article about an investigation into the 2003 sale of the United Nations' stamp collection. "Amid the many scandals at the United Nations, a new mystery now looms. What happened to the world organization?s unique and valuable postal archive ? in effect, the U.N.?s own stamp collection, one of the crown jewels of its past and a popular point of contact with the global public? Auditors from the U.N.?s investigative arm, the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), are currently putting the last touches on an investigative report that has taken months to complete, and that aims to determine exactly what happened ? and why ? to the U.N.?s rare and much-admired collection of materials that belong to the United Nations Postal Administration." "One thing that investigators know for certain about the archive: In a discreet but historic auction carried out in a quiet suburb of Geneva, Switzerland, all of it ? more than a metric ton of prized material, dating from as early as 1951 ? was sold off to a single bidder on May 12, 2003. The collection included original artwork for U.N. stamps, unique so-called die proofs to test the faithfulness of design reproduction, printing proofs and other rarities, along with hundreds of thousands of other stamps, reflecting many of the most colorful aspects of U.N. history." "But for the U.N., it was no coup, even though, according to officials familiar with UNPA finances, the UNPA netted ?some $2.5 million? from the Swiss auction deal. The reason: according to U.N. sources, the archive sale may well have taken place without the permissions required by the regulations of the U.N. Secretariat for the disposal of such important U.N. property." "The sole winner of the Geneva auction bid was Arthur Morowitz, CEO of a Manhattan-based firm called Champion Stamp Collection. Morowitz is also secretary of the American Stamp Dealers Association, an industry group. When contacted by FOX News, Morowitz declined to comment on the sale, or the subsequent resale of the postal archive. Even before leaving Geneva, however, Morowitz had been contacted by another U.S. auctioneer, Greg Manning, head of a New Jersey auction firm named Greg Manning Auctions, Inc (GMAI)..." "Six months later, at his auction galleries in West Caldwell, N.J., Manning put the rarest and most unique items in the U.N. archive up for auction once again ? more than 2,000 items in all. They ranged from artists? drawings for the earliest U.N. stamps in 1951 to approved models for special anniversary issues to unique rarities celebrating peacekeeping operations and national member states." "This auction, however, was only the tip of the UNPA?s archival iceberg. After the sale, Manning still retained "hundreds of thousands? of individual items from the archive, less unique than the top-line items but still in highly limited quantity. These, he says, he disposed of throughout 2004 to other private customers." To read the complete article, see: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,193181,00.html CIVIL WAR MEMORABILIA SOUGHT FOR BOOK ILLUSTRATIONS Dennis Tucker of Whitman Publishing writes: "For an upcoming Whitman book, I'm looking for full-color photos or scans of Civil War memorabilia. Do your readers know anyone who collects, and would share some pictures? There must be an NBS member or two in the field. I'm seeking portraits, maps, enlistment posters, newspapers, uniforms, awards and decorations, citations and other ephemera, battlefield photos (either contemporary to the war, or modern-day), maybe even scenes from re-enactments. If anyone would like to participate, I'd be happy to give them credit in the book. I can be reached at dennis.tucker@whitmanbooks.com, or 404-235-5348." LIBRARY RESEARCH: A DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD THAT CAN FUEL FORGERIES In the March 26, 2006 E-Sylum (v9n13) Dave Bowers noted his earlier suspicion of research about certain new coins supplied by John J. Ford. Bowers wrote: "The Franklin technique seems to have been to find something in historical records bearing the name of a person or firm associated with the Gold Rush. A "new discovery" was then presented, an item needing research. A writer, dealer, cataloguer, or someone else was then guided toward contemporary directories, history, etc., of the Gold Rush and was able to find that John Doe did indeed go to San Francisco, or that John Smith was listed as a jeweler or something else in a San Francisco directory or newspaper or other account. This "proved" that the new item was, in fact, made in San Francisco, etc. Then, a scenario was constructed by the writer about John Doe going to San Francisco, making gold coins or ingots, but "today little is known about him" etc. Ted Buttrey writes: "Not to rehearse this business but to correct a point made by Bowers. He quite rightly points to the use of early records, such as western American city directories, as a source for the ?new discoveries?. This is well said, but Bowers calls this operation ?The Franklin technique?. No, it was Ford who collected the directories and drew on them for the bogus histories which he wove about the fake bars -- ?the writer? above was Ford. You can check the directories for yourself: there was a wonderful collection of well over a hundred of them in his library, so many that Kolbe called attention to them with a subheading in his auction of the Ford Library pt. I, 1 June 2004, most of lots 1-115." [Possession of the directories is not proof of how they were used, but it is important for collectors and researchers to understand how an assortment of small facts can be used to mask a larger lie. A similar technique was employed by master forger Mark Hofmann. Hofmann would dive into libraries and archives in search of tidbits of information. Using the information, he would then concoct a forged document and offer it to a collector or dealer. Later, anyone researching the document would find "evidence" supporting its authenticity. Interestingly, I learned of the "Hofmann technique" at an ANA Numismatic Theater presentation by none other than Eric Newman, a longtime opponent of Ford's in disputes relating to purported forgeries. -Editor] COIN PORTRAITS OF THE QUEEN Regarding the Queen's portrait on various nations' coins and banknotes, Martin Purdy writes: "I guess they must have some freedom - NZ had a "unique" (and not very successful) portrait of the Queen by James Berry on its NCLT dollar coins from 1979 to 1981, before reverting to the Machin portrait. The dates of changeover from one portrait to another are not standardised, either. The Machin portrait was introduced on some "colonial" coinage before the UK itself made the switch away from the Gillick portrait. The UK adopted the Machin version in 1968/71, while Machin was adopted in Rhodesia as early as 1964 (I'm quoting from memory, I think it was the first), Canada in 1965, Australia in 1966 and New Zealand in 1967. Likewise, changes to later portraits have been staggered from country to country." Charlie Hosch writes: "As for Maundy money, traditionally the monarch's portrait on the obverse is never changed throughout the reign. They are not "circulating currency," so who really cares? Maundy money is quite rare, but not collected by a significant number of numismatists, and therefore the retail prices are quite low compared to the mintage. As for different images used by various British Commonwealth countries that do not "conform" to the UK image -- well, they (the Commonwealth countries) can do anything they want to do. It's not like the Queen can have their heads cut off if she doesn't approve. Of course she will approve whatever a mint puts in front of her. Is she going to cause a "stink" because she has a minor problem with the design? Not hardly. I'm sure Her Majesty has other fish to fry." Kerry Rodgers writes: "Gary Dunaier queries the use on coins of different EFFIGIES (NOT portraits) of Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith. The Queen may be Head of the Commonwealth, Supreme Governor of the Church of England, Lord of Mann and the Duke of Lancaster, but is also Queen of at least sixteen independent nations known as the Commonwealth Realms, consisting of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, and Saint Kitts and Nevis. The key word is "independent". By the Statute of Westminster 1931 she holds these positions equally; no one nation takes precedence over any other. As such there is and never has been a "home office" since 1931, except where and when any of these countries were colonies. All are now independent. As such, each of these realms can do what it wishes with their own queen's effigy, although the approval of HRH is sought as to how she is depicted. New Zealand did it own thing back in 1979-82 with a distinctive effigy of the Queen of New Zealand. Canada has its own effigy of the Queen of Canada. I spoke to one mint about their use of the Maklouf effigy vs the Rank-Broadley version and they said it depended on cost, convenience and usage of the particular realm. Consequently, while the IRB version may be "current" in one of Her Majesty's realms it may well not be in another. The situation is no different than it is with bank notes or stamps. I may be doing Gary an injustice but I presume he is from one republic or another - or is an Australian! I used to struggle to explain to such folk that Elizabeth is Queen of New Zealand quite independently of being Queen of England. These days I usually don't bother - particularly with confused Australians. Intriguingly, I have found the California numismatists I know have no problem with the concept. Many of them had it sorted out long before I hove into view. They point out that a number of countries use the currency of another with which they are not politically connected. For example, Tuvalu uses Australian dollars. Consequently, having a Head of State who doesn't live in your neck of the woods is no big deal. I had always understood it was Bostonians who were the politically savvy folk in the U.S. I now know it is the Californians - which may explain a lot!" REVEREND ROBINSON, COIN-CLIPPING VICAR The Huddersfield Daily Examiner published an article about a reverend executed in 1690 for the offense of coin-clipping: "Thurstonland had its own coin clipper, one Reverend Robinson, and even though the reverend acted strangely and seemed to have more money than one would expect, no-one suspected he was taking part in this popular crime. Robinson, ably assisted by his 18-year-old son, carried out his underhand activities in his cellar. When he was eventually caught it was discovered that there was a tunnel running from his house to a nearby field, indicating the involvement of others. He was put on trial, found guilty and executed in 1690. His son, however, got off lightly and went on to work at the Mint in London!" To read the article, see: http://tinyurl.com/ec57c [Would any of our readers have more information on Reverend Robinson or his son? What was his position at the Mint? -Editor] 1889 SCOTTISH CUP MEDAL SOLD The fever for historic sports medals continues. The Evening Times reports that "A rare medal from Celtic's first Scottish Cup defeat has sold at auction for more than ?800. The gold medal sparked a bidding war in Glasgow as football collectors clamoured to get their hands on the controversial gong. Bought by a Scottish private collector for ?850, it was presented to player William Love of Third Lanark after his team swept to victory with a 2-1 win in a replay in 1889." To read the complete article, see: http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/hi/news/5051455.html JOHNSON: PLAN TO VISIT BROOKGREEN GARDENS FOUR TIMES Dick Johnson writes: "Brookgreen Gardens was a favorite haunt of super collector, world traveler and American Numismatic Association official John Jay Pittman. Mine too. In addition to the statues by numismatic artists mentioned by Rich Jewell in last week's E-Sylum, are the animals (it?s also a zoo), the birds (it?s also an aviary) and the flora and fauna. Plan to visit four times, once each season. The color and beauty change with each season. I have been there three times (but I forgot what season I am missing so I am going to have to start the cycle all over again). The sculpture (and medals in their collections!) are the domain of Senior Curator Robin R. Salmon. Buy her 1993 book on the Brookgreen collections. It includes some of the best biographies of all those numismatic artists Rich mentioned last week. Also get the book by her predecessor, Beatrice Gilman Proske. Both are great books, they don?t duplicate each other, and both have excellent artists bios. Mrs. Proske worked at the Hispanic Society, next door to the American Numismatic Society in New York City when it was at Audubon Terrace. I often ran into her at a function of one or the other, or at some sculpture function. She wrote the first edition in 1936, the second in 1968, and she was still active years later. The Huntingtons ? Archer Milton and Anna Hyatt ? bought Brookgreen Plantation in 1929 and added adjacent land until they had 9,000 acres. Brookgreen plantation was once the home of John Trumbull (who designed the four Washington Seasons Medals of 1796 and was the subject of the third medal, for 1849, in the American Art-Union Medal Series with portrait by Charles Cushing Wright). While the Huntingtons were building Brookgreen Gardens they lived in a bunker-like building across the highway right on the seashore. Visit that also on your trip to Brookgreen Gardens. Archer Huntington is the same person who was the benefactor to the American Numismatic Society. He not only gave the Society the building they recently abandoned, but also five other buildings to organizations which located at Audubon Terrace (he had earlier bought John James Audubon?s farm located from Broadway to the Hudson River, and from 152th to 156th Street. He was also a benefactor to several other museums. They say "Everywhere he put his foot down, a museum sprung up." Anna Hyatt was six years younger, but well known as a sculptor even before they married. In fact, she was listed in Who?s Who as a sculptor before he was listed as a philanthropist. She was earning $50,000 a year before the income tax was enacted (while Archer was spending more than ten times that in a year?s time!). Question for E-Sylum readers. Archer was spending inherited money, where did it come from?" [Dick Johnson has answered last week's Quiz Question for us: Huntington's numismatic connection is his support for the American Numismatic Society. But now Dick has saddled us with a fresh Quiz Question - who can tell us where Huntington's millions sprang from? -Editor] MINT DIRECTOR BOUDINOT'S HOME OPEN TO VISITORS IN MAY The Daily Record of Morris County, New Jersey reports that the home of an early U.S. Mint Director will be the center of a charitable event expected to draw some 20,000 people in upcoming weeks. "The Federal-era Ross farmhouse, set on 61 acres of pastures and woods, was built in 1771 by Elias Boudinot, who frequently invited Gen. George Washington to dinner during the two winters he was encamped in nearby Jockey Hollow -- 1777 and 1779-80. Boudinot, a lawyer, held various leadership positions in the fledgling American government and was a signatory to the document that preceded the Treaty of Paris, which ended the American Revolution. After the war, he served three terms in the House of Representatives. In 1795 Washington appointed him director of The United States Mint, a position he held until he retired 10 years later." To read the complete story, see: http://www.dailyrecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060428/ENT07/604280301/1082/NEWS01 THE GREAT SILVER MELT OF 1980 Last week I asked about numismatic gems that turned up in the buckets of coin and bullion dealers in the silver frenzy of 1980. Dave Lange writes: "I saw quite a few uncirculated pieces of modest scarcity get processed through counting machines as just so much bullion, but I never found anything truly rare at my local coin shop. The best piece retrieved was an 1877-CC half dollar in choice XF condition (probably AU by today's standards). I bought this for its melt value which, unfortunately, was not much less than its numismatic value at the time. I've always contended that very few of the silver coins cashed in for their bullion value in 1979-80 were actually melted at refineries. When one does the math, it simply doesn't make sense to go to the added expense of having the coins rendered into bars. They were worth as much in the marketplace in coin form as they were in bar form, since the extraordinary demand for silver was not from industrial need but rather from pure speculation. Such speculators would not have added to their overhead without a clear financial incentive to do so, and this simply didn't exist. I believe that these accounts of millions of silver coins being melted is just a myth perpetuated by those trying to create a sense of rarity that simply doesn't exist. It seems to be one of those stories that, told often enough, becomes numismatic fact. It's revealing that all of these reports are not from end users, but rather from coin dealers. I'd like to read an account from someone who actually worked at a refinery and witnessed the coins being melted before I would accept it as fact." [Dealers shipped the silver out as fast as they got their hands on it, for two main reasons: One, they needed to get the cash so they could buy more the next day, and Two, because they were afraid of the price dropping before they could turn a profit. So who was left holding the bag(s) when the bubble burst? Investors who took delivery of silver bags? Smelters who sat on the bags? Middlemen? Have most of those bags been returned to the marketplace, or are there still piles of silver coins sitting around in vaults? Several years ago investor Warren Buffett bought over 100 million ounces of silver, and I understand he took delivery of the metal. Was it in bar form, or did the purchase include bags of coins? -Editor] ALMOND DELIGHT CEREAL BOXES AND BANKNOTE REPRODUCTIONS Last week I wrote: "I may be in possession of the only remaining empty box of Almond Delight cereal, which pictures and describes the set of banknote reproductions given away in the boxes as a promotion several years ago." Bill Gibbs writes: "At least two empty boxes of Almond Delight with the information about the note replica promotion survive. I kept one as well, and have (somewhere) the note replicas included in the boxes and the uncut sheet ordered through the promotion." Joe Boling writes: "I have one of those boxes, too, but mine contained genuine notes of various countries (including the USA, up to a $500 note)." [I think I ate my $500 bill my mistake. Good source of fiber ... -Editor] MUSEUM EXHIBIT OF CALIGULA COINS TELLS TALE OF DEBAUCHERY According to an article in the Coventry Evening Telegraph, "An historic tale of incest, murder and cannibalism is being revealed at a Warwickshire museum this summer." "Dating from as early as the 1st Century BC, the cash includes Greek and Roman coins brought back by Sir Roger Newdigate of Arbury Hall, Nuneaton from his grand tour of Europe in the 18th Century. Dr Stanley Ireland, of the University of Warwick and the museum's former honorary numismatist, then late Wilfred Seaby catalogued the coins. One tells the story of the insane Roman Emperor Caligula who, believing he was the son of a god, had incestuous relations with his sisters, murdered and then ate the offspring." Other money on view between now and September includes Celtic coins featuring cartoon horses, an 'angel' of Henry VII and heavy Roman coins." To read the complete article, see: http://tinyurl.com/nw96c KIBBUTZ TRASH BIN YIELDS TROVE OF JEWISH MEDALS The Baltimore Jewish Times published an article about the trash bin rescue of a hoard of historic medals and molds which could become the nucleus of a future museum collection. "The workers were emptying the factory, moving a lot of heavy objects," he says. "I asked my father about them and he said, 'Forget it, this is just old stuff.' " Kretschmer began taking boxes out of the garbage at the factory and going through them. He was amazed, and took everything that was left. "The early copper etchings from the early 20th century are pure works of art," he says. "They are priceless works by a professor from the Bezalel School, my grandfather, and I found them in a garbage bin." "There are round etchings of Zionist founding father Theodore Herzl with his trademark beard. There are medallions of writer Sholem Aleichem cast from clay for the Zionist Congress of 1921, and of Chaim Weizmann, the first president of the State of Israel. "You can stare at the faces of Herzl and Weizmann and Prime Minister Ben-Gurion and they step right out of the copper and bronze into real life," says kibbutz member Boaz Kretschmer, the medallions' owner. Kretschmer rescued the medallions, produced by his grandfather, from an industrial garbage bin. He hopes one day to be able to show them to the public in a museum he wants to build on the kibbutz." "There is David Ben-Gurion declaring the State of Israel's establishment in Tel Aviv. The 1948 scene was etched in clay, then cast in bronze and copper. All three round tablets are on display." "Kretschmer wants to build a museum on the kibbutz to attract people to this part of the western Negev Desert." "Meanwhile, people come from the region alone or in small groups to see the medals, coins, insignia and etchings." To read the complete article, see: http://www.jewishtimes.com/scripts/edition.pl?now=4/25/2006&SubSectionID=32&ID=5604 THE LAST HURRAH FOR THE LINCOLN CENT Dick Johnson writes: "Last week I predicted there would be no Lincoln cents struck in 2010. Strong economic forces are driving this decision. The costs of the metal composition alone -- irrespective of the striking costs -- of a cent coin will be so overwhelming by then that it would be foolish for the U.S. government to underwrite continued striking, and losing, even a fraction of a cent for each coin. Unless the government wants to make cents in nonmetallic form -- "How to you want those Ma'am, paper or plastic?" -- Americans must face the fact the cent is destined to be abolished. The bright spot is already passed into law. There will be four different commemorative reverses of the Lincoln cent in 2009 honoring the four locations in Abraham Lincoln's life -- Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois and the District of Columbia. This is to honor the bicentennial of the birth of Lincoln -- and the centennial of the Lincoln cent itself. These special reverse cents should be coins for circulation, much like the recent Lewis & Clark reverses of the Jefferson nickel. To make a spectacular departure from America's family of denominations, the 2009 Lincoln cents with four reverses should be struck in something special -- perhaps precious metals -- silver and gold! Imagine the charm of a silver cent and the uniqueness of a gold penny! Each with four different reverses. THESE coins should be the commemorative cents. These could be coins with a surcharge. These could be sold to collectors for the spectacular final issuance of Lincoln cents. It will be like the finale of a musical program or the fireworks display at the end of July 4th! A grand finale! When the public was asked for commemorative Lincoln cent design plans back in 2004 E-Sylum had a string of readers' comments. E-Sylum reader Gary Dunaier suggested the Lincoln cent be issued with the original Victor Brenner models of 1909. The original obverse and reverse, from galvanos of Brenner?s original design. (The galvanos still exist!) Here?s what I wrote (vol 7, no 28, article 10): "I also would like to see Brenner's reverse with his name signed in full in script like on the original 1909 model for the 2009 Cent. Great Idea, Gary! Can we carry your idea one step further? Can only 484,000 cents be struck at San Francisco -- with "S" mintmark obviously -- this was, of course, the original 1909 mintage. And 27,995,000 struck at Philadelphia. And unlimited striking at the Denver Mint (since it didn't strike any cents until 1911)." Can anyone at the U.S. Mint say "collector friendly"?" CANADIAN CENTS ALSO VULNERABLE TO MELTING Dick Johnson writes: "Rising metal prices are making copper and zinc coins worldwide vulnerable. Will numismatics forever lose minor coins to the melting pot? Could be. But not for the moment. A decade or two in the past it was the precious-metal coins that were melted in vast numbers for their metal content. Shortly we could face a similar mass destruction for coins of lesser value even with base metal compositions. But we could still have enough coins around for collectors. A Canadian writer, Robert Sheppard, reporting on the CBC, responded to the New York Times article (see last week?s E-Sylum) that the U.S. cent is costing 1.4 cent to make at current metal costs. He analyzed Canadian cents since their composition differs from the U.S. cent (which converted to a copper coated zinc in 1982). It wasn?t until 1996 that Canadians solved the problem with a cent composition of 94 percent steel, 1.5 percent nickel and 4.5 percent copper. He pointed out, however, that all Canadian cents prior to 1996 were 98 percent copper. They are vulnerable to melting for their copper content. If his figures are correct he said a ton of pre-1996 Canadian cents would be $4,081.63 face. A ton of copper is selling around $7,000 (and the Chinese are buying). But don?t start smelting coins in your backyard." For a transcription of his interesting broadcast, see: http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/realitycheck/20060426sheppard.html NEW ZEALAND MINT HONORS DOGS AND PIGS "Artist Sally Logue, from Kirkoswald, near Penrith, has been asked to produce portraits of photogenic pigs for the New Zealand Mint. She has already had a selection of canine portraits used to mark the current lunar Year of the Dog." Ms Logue said: "The New Zealand Mint contacted me last year to see if I could provide them with a series of drawings of dogs. "I thought it was a bit of a wind up at first because they said the coins would be issued in Cambodia, sold in Russia and minted in New Zealand. "But now we have three Cumbrian dogs with the king of Cambodia on the other side." "Now they are looking for pigs, but it's not certain exactly what kind of pig they want. So I thought it would be good to have a portfolio to show them. "So I am looking for people who might want to have a portrait done of their pig." To read the complete article, see: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/cumbria/4942306.stm FIXING THE MATH ON THE COOK ISLANDS $50S Last week Kerry Rodgers discussed the estimated outstanding dollar amount of Cook Islands noncirculating legal tender issues. He came up with over $10 million face, justifying the term "millions" that had popped up the previous week. He asked me to check his math, and I quickly agreed that millions was correct, but I didn't get the details right in my comments. Mike Marotta writes: "I worked the arithmetic three times -- twice on calculator and once by hand using a different commutation -- and got 108 000 000 for 36 issues of 60,000 coins worth 50 dollars each." He's right - the correct total is $108 million New Zealand dollars. On the coinage of the term NCNLT (non-circulating non-legal non-tender) Mike also correctly points out that that he had used the term in his previous week's submission. He writes: "On the coining of NCNLT -- the term, not the coins -- in the April 16 issue, I had published this: "They thought that they could scam tourists with their non-circulating non-legal non-tender." I agree that NCNLT is more correct and that my phrase was overkill." MARBURG'S PUBLICATIONS Dan Freidus writes: "Again, an item in The E-Sylum led me to do some searching. I was suspicious about the statement that Marburg's dissertation had "never been published." So I checked the company formerly known as UMI, and before that as "University Microfilm International" (and now calling themselves Proquest). I found that they do indeed have Marburg's dissertation (1942, not 1946): http://wwwlib.umi.com/dissertations/fullcit/0000773 I also found a few more possibly relevant tidbits: Marburg, Theodore 1952. Commission Agents in the Button and Brass Trade a Century Ago. Bulletin of the Business Historical Society 16:8-18 (Feb 1952) Marburg, Theodore F. 1954. A Study of Small Business Failure: Smith & Griggs of Waterbury. Business History Review. 28:366-384 (Dec 1954) MARBURG, THEODORE F. 1956. Small Business in Brass Fabricating: The Smith & Griggs Manufacturing Co. of Waterbury. New York: NYU Press. The University of Connecticut library has records of Scovill (about 6 shelf feet of paper) and American Brass (the company that acquired Scovill; about 160 shelf feet of paper): http://www.lib.uconn.edu/online/research/speclib/ASC/findaids/American_B rass/MSS19970996.html http://www.lib.uconn.edu/online/research/speclib/ASC/findaids/Scovill/MS S19930078.html I suspect that these records would prove useful, though they are likely to require a substantial investment of time. I hope these links help out Dick and/or the Wilsons." REDEEMING MARSHALL ISLANDS "COINS" Dick Hanscom of Fairbanks, AK writes: "From the August 1997 issue of World Coin News: "As the Marshall Islands Journal reported on June 13, 1997, an individual must: -Appear in person at the Treasury -Redeem no more than 10 coins per day. -Present an original invoice showing the purchase of the coins; and -Pay a 10 percent fee." Thus, if exchanging 10 - $50 coins, the maximum one could realize is $450 per day. An earlier letter to the editor (March 1, 1993 World Coin News) from the "Secretary of Finance" indicates that for coins over $10 denomination, only one coin per day could be redeemed, and for coins of less than $10, a maximum of $10 per day will be exchanged. All other terms from the above 1997 statement hold." [They really make holders stand on their head and bark in order to collect, don't they? Shades of the days of wildcat banks, which would force noteholders to appear in person at certain hours on certain days at their home office in some remote hamlet with some impossibly large amount of notes in order to redeem them for coin. -Editor] JACOB PERKINS BUILDING PHOTOS Dick Hanscom visited family in Newburyport, MA last week, and he took some photos of the old Jacob Perkins mint building that's been in the news recently. He writes: "They're not good photos, but good enough to show what all the fuss is about." He uploaded them to his web site for all to view: http://www.mosquitonet.com/~akcoins/Perkins%201.jpg http://www.mosquitonet.com/~akcoins/Perkins%202.jpg Dave Perkins writes: "The photos are exactly as I remember the building to look. One appears to have been taken from the "backyard" of the Newburyport Historical Society. It's fun to imagine the activity 200 years ago in Perkins' workshop." Here are links to some recent E-Sylum articles about the building: PERKINS MINT BUILDING MAY GO RESIDENTIAL http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v09n03a15.html PLAN IN MOTION TO SAVE PERKINS NEWBURYPORT MINT BUILDING http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v09n11a08.html FOLLOWING MISTAKE, BANKNOTE PRINTERS VIE FOR PHILIPPINE BUSINESS According to an article in the Manilla Standard, "De La Rue PLC and Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) GmBH, the world?s top two private banknote printers, are vying for a contract with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, including the printing of Philippine peso notes..." "The Arrovo notes?P100 notes that misspelled the name of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo?were printed by Oberthur, the third-largest private printer of banknotes. It caused great embarrassment to the central bank. It is not clear whether Oberthur was also the printer of the defective P1,000 notes. The BSP shredded some 78 million pieces of the Arrovo notes but the fate of the P10 billion worth of defective P1,000 notes remains unknown. Oberthur shouldered 75 percent of the losses arising from the Arrovo notes but the BSP had to shoulder the remaining 25 percent of the cost as it had approved the printing of the notes." To read the complete article, see: http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=business02_april24_2006 To read an earlier E-Sylum article about the Arrovo error, see: A TYPO OF PRESIDENTIAL PROPORTIONS http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v08n51a16.html "PENNY DROP" PUBLICITY STUNT LOGISTICS Regarding the National Coin Week "penny drop" stunt, Gary Dunaier writes: "Unless the actual purchase is done with no media present, what's there to prevent the merchant with whom the coin is spent from putting it aside and subsequently turning it in himself?" [Well, when I saw the photos of all the press surrounding Scott Travers in New York, I wondered just how the coin drop COULD work without the merchant suspecting something and immediately pocketing the coins. There's never a guarantee that the merchant or clerk won't spot the coin and immediately set it aside. When I did my coin drop in Pittsburgh I picked a busy bakery at lunchtime (with no media in tow), when I figured no one would have time to examine coins. I went back to the bakery following the coin show and told the staff what I'd done. They'd seen the publicity about the coins and had searched their tills, but no one found the coin. As far as we knew, it had been handed back out in change shortly after I'd spent it. Most likely, it went straight into someone's dresser drawer or coin jar. The Lincoln cent is the longest-lived of current coin designs, and provides the best cover for a scarce coin. Pre-1965 silver coins are out because the color and sound of silver would draw immediate attention. I'm waiting for someone to use a scarce state quarter, like the extra corn leaf variety. But varieties are much harder to describe in a press release than a simple date/mintmark combination. We never repeated the coin drop in Pittsburgh out of courtesy to the local coin dealers - the publicity set their phones ringing with callers who seemed to think they could cash in their 1994 cents for $100 apiece. -Editor] ELONGATED COIN SALES AS SMITHSONIAN FUNDRAISER Pete Morelewicz of the Squished Penny Museum in Washington, DC writes: "It was right under our noses the whole time! The Washington Post helpfully pointed out perhaps the best solution to the Smithsonian's funding woes: exonumia." Pete included a link to a Washington Post editorial cartoon lampooning the Smithsonian's funding predicament, and proposing that sales of souvenir elongated cents could fill the funding gap and eliminate the need for an admission fee, as proposed by a congressman recently. The cartoon states that "Squished penny machines are the major source of income for many tourist destinations, like the Louvre and West Virginia. Thirty of forty of them in each museum ought to do the trick." To view the cartoon, see: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/artsandliving/daily/graphics/poor_richard/042206.html Pete adds: "Since their site requires registration, I posted a version here, too: http://www.squished.com/rpalmanac.jpg " [Given the discussions over the fate of the cent, perhaps there should be some concern as well over the fate of elongated cents. Could they be on the way out as well? Nearly any coin can and has been rolled into an elongated souvenir, but without the cent the nickel would be the next lowest value coin. Is there a Squished Nickel Museum in our future? -Editor] FEATURED WEB PAGE: PORTRAITS OF BRITISH KINGS AND QUEENS This week's featured web page is from a commercial site, featuring portraits of British Kings & Queens on coins. "We present a royal portrait gallery of kings and queens on British coins. Because of their very nature, these are all contemporary images of monarchs engraved in metal by some of the finest artists or sculptors of their day. We have shown the best example we could find of each ruler taken from coins in our recent stock." http://www.24carat.co.uk/britishmonarchsportraitsoncoinsframe.html 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