From whomren at coinlibrary.com Sun Jan 5 21:21:24 2003 From: whomren at coinlibrary.com (whomren@coinlibrary.com) Date: Wed Dec 22 19:41:52 2004 Subject: The E-Sylum v6#01, January 5, 2003 Message-ID: <20030106022124.4531.qmail@woodstock.binhost.com> Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 6, Number 1, January 5, 2003: an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society. Copyright (c) 2002, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society. SUBSCRIBER UPDATE Among recent new subscribers are two former subscribers who had left or gotten lost in an email address change: Larry Brilliant and Peter Mosiondz, Jr. Welcome back! We now have 512 subscribers. NBS MEETING AT FUN SHOW The Numismatic Bibliomania Society will hold a meeting Saturday January 11th at the Florida United Numismatists show in Orlando, FL. The meeting will be held in Room 231C from 11:30am to 12:30pm. NBS Secretary- Treasurer David Sklow will be speaking on the 1894 Numismatist January issue with a rare different cover. For more information on the show, see the FUN web site: http://www.funtopics.com COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG NUMISMATICS SEMINAR From Gail Baker, ANA Education Director: "In August 2003, Colonial Williamsburg and the American Numismatic Association will partner to host a very special seminar on Colonial Numismatics. Richard Doty, numismatic curator at the Smithsonian Institution and John Kraljevich, numismatist, Bowers and Merena Galleries will join Erik Goldstein, numismatic curator at Colonial Williamsburg and the professional staff of Colonial Williamsburg for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn about 18th century numismatics in the original 18th century setting. Participants will view Colonial Williamsburg's foremost collection of Colonial and Continental paper money; coinage from the era, including extensive sets of French, Dutch and Spanish colonial pieces; exquisite Massachusetts and New England silver; Continental Currency, Colonial copper coins and much, much more. Students will go behind the scenes of the DeWitt Wallace Museum Collections and Conservation Building at Colonial Williamsburg for demonstrations in the state-of-the-art conservation areas, photography studios and archives. Williamsburg, Virginia was the capital of the colony of Virginia from 1699 to 1780. Here, Thomas Jefferson studied law, and later he, George Washington, Patrick Henry, and other patriot leaders plotted America's freedom from Great Britain. Today Colonial Williamsburg has been recreated with more than 500 restored and reconstructed buildings with historical interpreters representing citizens from the 18th century. Colonial Williamsburg is a living, working city. Skilled craftsmen create items like saddles, garments and cartwheels; people actually live in the homes you'll pass by, and real commerce takes place within the town's many shops and taverns. Please contact ANA Education for more information." [This sounds like a wonderful opportunity. The seminar dates are August 3-6, 2003. Gail's email address is education@money.org. -Editor] PHILIPPINE COLLECTORS FORUM PLANNED Howard Daniel writes: "Ray Czahor (cjcpi@comcast.net) is working on an event that is called the Philippine Collectors Forum (PCF). It will be the first ever forum of its kind and held during the 2003 ANA Convention in Baltimore. Many collectors, researchers, authors and publishers interested in Philippine numismatics and exonumia will be attending the PCF from the Philippines, U.S., and other parts of the world. What I would like to see is that the speaker(s) at our NBS meeting at this convention speak about Philippine references and sources, and that we invite the PCF attendees who are not members to attend our meeting. And that our attending members bring a list of the references in their libraries that have Philippine information in them, so a comprehensive list of all references can be started. Those not attending can send their lists to me at Howard@SEAsianTreasury.com and I will see that they are added to the list. I am sure we can attract some new members from the PCF attendees and support an area of numismatics that is closely associated with U.S. numismatics, but largely overlooked." MARK HOFFMAN BOOK George Fuld writes: "I was most gratified to see the details on Mark Hofmann in the last E-Sylum and immediately ordered the White Salamander book from Utah Press. At $8.00 it is a sure bargain and I am very interested in the litigation involving Hofmann. Anyone vaguely interested in this area should get the book. How the LDS feel about the bogus documents is another matter. Rust and a few others including Campbell were sure taken in by this clever counterfeiter. Again thanks for bringing up this important matter." [The transcripts of Hoffman's trial make a dandy tutorial on how to construct pipe bombs. And how not to go about delivering them... -Editor] CRITIQUING "NUMISMATIST" Greg Heim writes: "I just received my copy of the January 2003 "Numismatist." Here are my observations: 1) The dropping of the article "The" was unnecessary. 2) The lack of presence of columns from Dave Bowers and Ken Bressett is a mistake unless these gentlemen chose to discontinue writing for the publication. 3) Despite the first two items, I agree that the previous issues of "The Numismatist" were not suited for the average ANA member. I heard this complaint from members of my own local coin club, who are very intelligent and advanced collectors who told me that the articles were too specialized or erudite for their liking. If this group of serious collectors says this, than what was the rest of the ANA membership saying? The ANA made a good decision in "lightening" the format as "Numismatist" is the primary benefit to the majority of ANA Members. Granted it does not bode well for members of specialty clubs, but we can turn elsewhere for the advanced scholarship we crave. With that said, it is important for us to make our opinions known to Barbara Gregory that an occasional article "from the days of old" be printed so the publication preserves its rich tradition and integrity." NEWS FROM THE U.K: 2002 TOKEN CONGRESS Paul Withers writes: "At the beginning of November my wife and I attended the 2002 Token Congress, held in Cheltenham. For those who are interested in 'paranumismatica', i.e., struck or cast bits of metal that have served a purpose of one sort or another, from money to tool checks, to a representation of money for fruit picked, and just about everything else that you can think of, this event is a must. From 2.30 on Friday afternoon through until we finished lunch on Sunday, it was a whirl of events, beginning with a visit to Gloucester museum, which was followed by lectures and talks, and a bourse and we were kept gainfully employed. As well as selling at the bourse, I was able to get around and found some items for our collections and some several bits for resale. With an attendance of around 100 - nobody stayed still long enough for me to count all the legs twice and divide by two, this was a record. Only one visitor from the US this time; someone who had stayed on after Coinex. The event was ably organised by Barry Greenaway and his wife Di. Sadly, since then Barry has died and will be sadly missed by those who collect tokens. Barry was a dealer who was not known widely abroad, but found many interesting pieces for interesting specialist collectors, tracking down elusive material. He was also a tireless worker for charity, which few people knew. The expertise available at the event is astonishing, with dealers such as Alan Judd, John Whitmore, Nigel Clark, Gavin Scott, and Richard Gladdle present, to mention but a few. Authors present, besides ourselves, included Alan Henderson, Michael Dickinson, Alan Judd, Yolanda Courtney (Stanton), Andrew Andison, Bryce Neilson, Alan and Noel Cox, Bob Lyall, David Magnay, Gavin Scott, and, of course, Gary Oddie, editor of the Token Corresponding Society Bulletin, who hit us with some interesting research which has enabled him to re-attribute several 17th century tokens previously thought to have been from St. Ives, Cornwall, but which are quite clearly St. Ives, Cambridgeshire." NEW PAMPHLET: KRUGER POND IMITATIONS Paul Withers continues: "We chose the 2002 Token Congress to publish 'Kruger Pond Imitations'. Now whilst publishing is not exactly a new event for us, this was is a first inasmuch as our pamphlet is entirely illustrated with digital images and printed on a laser printer, instead of our more usual offset-lith machine. The quality is, we believe, comparable with, and may even be superior to that which can be achieved by traditional methods. Interestingly, the phone number of one of the advertisers in our little pamphlet has changed since he sent us the text for his advert, so we were able to change the number for the second printing. A copy of 'Kruger Pond Imitations' was sent to the British Museum. An e-mail came back from the Department of Coins & Medals thanking me for it and saying that it would be useful, but it caused a problem, as they couldn't decide where to file it ! O.k., so you try : Forgeries ? No, because they are not; indeed the pieces themselves, for those that do not know them, clearly state that they are 'imitation'. They are not fantasies either. Jetons seems to be the best place, because they were almost certainly used as counters. Is this a wise decision, because clearly they do not really fit into the traditional 'jeton' category? In one of the most used sections of our little library (4,000 volumes, and growing) we have a 'paranumismatica' section, where everything that isn't straight currency / coinage goes. What do other bibliophiles think ?" NEW BOOK: RAISING THE HUNLEY Coincidentally, after writing Sunday's note about the Edward R. Hamilton bargain book lists, a fresh copy of their catalog arrived in the mail Monday. In it I found a copy of "Raising the Hunley: The Remarkable History and Recovery of the Lost Confederate Submarine" by B. Hicks & S. Kropf. (Ballantine, 301pp). At $16.95 it wasn't discounted much from the $25 retail price, but it was only published in March 2002. Amazon and Barnes and Noble offer the book for slightly more, and "used" copies are already appearing for sale as low as $11. We discussed the Hunley in the E-Sylum in May and June 2001 (v4, nos 22-24). Lt. George Dixon, the sub's commander, carried with him an engraved $20 gold piece, which was found in the ship's wreckage. I ordered a copy of the book for $11.50 from another dealer and it arrived Friday. It contains a section of color photos, including a shot of the famous gold piece. Another item of numismatic interest is pictured: "It was copper, about the size of a half dollar, and it was stuck to the back of the first officer's skull. On one side was a relief profile of George Washington, just like a modern quarter, and on the other side was a name: Ezra Chamberlin. The medallion was the sort of thing a young soldier in the Civil War bought with his own money to help identify his body in case he were killed; it would be a half century before the advent of official dog tags. These medallions were made by private merchants and sometimes even sold on the sidelines of battlefields. It was stamped with enough information to cause the biggest uproar of The Hunley's excavation so far. Ezra Chamberlin had entered service early in the war -- September 6, 1861 -- as a private in Company K of the Seventh Regiment of Connecticut Volunteers. The scientists were speechless. Could it be true? -- a Connecticut Yankee on a Confederate sub?" For a picture of the item and more information, see http://www.hunley.org/main_index.asp?CONTENT=IDTAG http://www.thehunley.com/Crew/chamberlin.htm http://www.qvcc.commnet.edu/brian/KHS/chamberlin/chamberlin.html DEALING WITH REPORTERS Gar Travis writes: "Early this morning (December 31st) I was awakened by a phone call from the Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, North Carolina) seeking information about United States currency issues. Reporters just "kill" me with their questions. They have all the resources, but lack the knowledge to utilize their research capabilities. This fellow said he found my name on the Internet, associated with the ANA and wanted to know if the Federal Reserve ever issued a million dollar silver certificate and if so where to find information in its regard. Of course I directed him to visit the web site of the Bureau of Engraving & Printing, where information could be ascertained about the largest denomination issued, $100,000 featuring Woodrow Wilson (an inter-bank transfer currency of the late 1930's) http://www.bep.treas.gov/document.cfm/18/118 and that perhaps contacting the Federal Reserve Bank in Charlotte would yield additional answers to his inquiry about United States currency issues and he said: "There's a Federal Reserve Bank in Charlotte? Really?" Yes, a branch office of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. http://www.rich.frb.org/generalinfo/visitors/charlotte.html Well....at least he knows the Internet exists." KENNETH RENDELL Regarding last week's item about document dealer Kenneth Rendell, Len Augsburger writes: "Remarkable. I was in Manhattan a couple weeks ago, walking down Madison in the upper 70s, and there was a manuscript and autograph shop I passed by that I thought would be nice to include on a tour with family and friends. I thought no more about this until later when I couldn't recall the name of the establishment. Until now, when I saw the Rendell name and recognized it!" FRANK LAPA Following up on last week's discussion, Bill Rosenblum adds: "Frank Lapa was convicted of murder and has passed away. (I believe while he was in jail.) If my brain was working at a better pace I could come up with more details, such as who he murdered. It's a shame that we remember the criminal and not the victim (who was a customer of mine!). My excuse, other than the aging process, is that my two grandchildren (2 & 5) have been visiting the past week and I'm into Dr. Seuss, dinosaurs and bunny rabbits this week rather than numismatics. Happy New Year to you and all the E-Sylum readers." Neil Shafer writes: "Just a few comments about Frank Lapa. I knew him rather casually for a number of years- sometimes stopped into his shop in Chicago I believe, bought some coins and a little paper from him. He was certainly knowledgeable in several areas of numismatics. But I never saw an individual who could get so furiously angry at something or someone in a twinkling; Frank could do that. He was convicted of killing Ray Yablun and spent years in prison. Hobby New Year to all!" Rich Hartzog writes: "His wife, Joan, was an early member of TAMS, and on the 1966 ANA Convention Committee, in Chicago; as well as a graduate of the Roosevelt University Numismatic courses; and a contributor to French Emergency Tokens, 1914-22. I believe she is still alive, in California." Tony Tumonis writes: "Regarding Frank Lapa the Counterfeiter, one of his more common counterfeits was the (1345-1382) Silver Denar of Poland/Lithuania featuring the Spearpoint and Cross on the obverse and Columns of Gediminas on the reverse. To an experienced numismatist it was an obvious fake, for the artistry was not near an original. However, someone new to the field could possibly be duped. I don't think his fakes were that good." Scott Semans writes: "I've heard a number of secondhand stories about Frank Lapa, his behavior at coin shows, the murder, and his time in jail, but perhaps others can relate these. While in prison, he produced a revised version of his Kandy Kings of Ceylon, © 1986, in 8.5x11 spiral bind, though I'm not sure he ever marketed this edition. I have a 3x scan showing 5 Lapauanian items from my black museum and would be happy to send the scan to anyone wanting a copy. The Russian piece is Feodor Alexievitch, not a particularly rare item. The clumsy Lithuanian wire piece is Vytautas, 1384-92, Vilnius Mint and I'm not sure if this is a fantasy or a known type. The others are modern: Cambodia, Danish E India Co. and British E. India Co. The last is actually a fairly common type. He also produced and actively marketed an Andaman Islands token. When visiting another dealer I saw a roll of Thailand 4 Att 1876 that had come from Frank, all brilliant UC and with edges so sharp you could have shaved with them. The dealer returned them, and I have never seen this piece on the market, but they must still be out there somewhere, and it's a very scarce type in UC. He liked to copy things that were obscure, not necessarily of great value. None of the pieces in this scan are particularly deceptive to someone familiar with the real items, but I do recall the Thai pieces as being pretty good, except for the sharp edges. [Scott's email address is SSemans@aol.com. -Editor] Paul Schultz writes: "There was an article on Lapa's activities in The Numismatist several years ago. From the note I wrote in my copy of his Russian Wire Money book, it was November 1996, p1346-1348, "The Other Side of the Coin" column by Ed Rochette. The heading for the column was "Murder Most Unconventional." There is also a postscript in a letter to the editor, February 1997, p127. I seem to remember that Lapa spent less time in jail than one might have expected (a few years?) and then died relatively soon after being released from prison." [A search of the Numismatic Index of Periodicals (NIP) at the Harry Bass Foundation web site brought up the following listings for Lapa (see http://www.harrybassfoundation.org/search_numlit.asp). One reference is to the Numismatic Scrapbook, and the others are to The Numismatist. BOOK REVIEWS\ Vatican City 1929 (Frank A. Lapa) \ANA\Vol.82\1969 SEP\Pg.1241 BOOK REVIEWS\ Russian Wire Money (Frank A. Lapa) \ANA\Vol.80\1967 SEP\Pg.1143 BOOK REVIEWS\ Check List Of Siege And Necessity Issues, 16th-20th Century (Frank A. Lapa) \ANA\Vol.81\1968 MAY\Pg.607 BOOK REVIEWS\ Kandy Kings Of Ceylon (Frank A. Lapa) ] \ANA\Vol.82\1969 FEB\Pg.174 [SHIPWRECKS & TREASURE TROVE].\ The other side of the coin: the unlucky oysterman of Willapa Bay (Edward C. Rochette) \ANA\Vol.104\1991 OCT\Pg.1632-34\ill. GENERAL\ Lapa, Frank \Scrapbook\Vol.35\1969 SEP\Pg.1348 -Editor] Bob Leonard adds "I attributed some Roman coins for Frank Lapa when he had an office in downtown Chicago around 1964-5, and still have a number of foreign coins that I purchased from him at various times (including some Russian wire money which I believe to be genuine). Frank was an artist and had a drawing board and drafting instruments, etc. in his office. A number of his paintings are still around. He issued several price lists. As far as his other forgeries are concerned, the only one that comes to mind is a square copper piece purporting to be from the Andaman Islands, which he "discovered" in the early 1970s. But I believe there are others, as Bill Rosenblum says. Perhaps a list is available somewhere; if so, it should be published. The story of his arrest is rather long, but briefly, Chicago coin dealer Ray Yablun disappeared August 13, 1975 after leaving Chicago, on his way to Los Angeles to attend a coin convention. I can't find clippings on the balance of the story, but a body was discovered a few weeks later which was identified as that of Yablun by a finger ring, and informants appeared who said that Lapa killed Yablun with an ashtray stand. Lapa sold a 1795 eagle that was supposedly Yablun's property in a Wilshire Boulevard coin store the same day Yablun vanished, and Yablun's "denim leisure jacket" (old-time coin dealers were such fashion plates!), empty wallet, and several business checks were found in a trash can in the same block as the coin shop the same day. On the basis of this evidence and testimony from Lapa's "accomplices," he was convicted of Yablun's murder and sentenced to prison in California. But I have always wondered whether Lapa was framed. My friend Bob Greinstein, who now works for Harlan Berk, visited Yablun's store the day after his disappearance and found "no coins" there (there must have been some coins). Lapa claimed that the 1795 eagle was consigned to him (he was Yablun's "employee and West Coast agent, having moved his office to Beverly Hills from Chicago) and not stolen. Yablun was accompanied on the flight by a "Mr. Van Cleef," though he was supposed to be traveling to Los Angeles to meet with a customer of this name; L.A. police concluded that the name was phony. Was the battered body, identified only by Yablun's ring, really his? Were the "witnesses" to his murder truthful? Did Yablun clean out his store, arrange for a body and witnesses -- then ditch his wife, frame his employee, and skip? Who was Van Cleef? Lapa is the author of three booklets, Russian Wire Money, Check List of Siege and Necessity Issues, and Kandy Kings of Ceylon 1055-1295 A.D., all self-published and nicely illustrated by him personally. He thus joins a short list of authors of numismatic books who have served time in prison, others being Walter Breen, Robert H. Burnie, and Lynn Glaser. Perhaps there are more. Lynn Glaser is an especially sad case; the dust jacket of his Counterfeiting in America (1968) says that he published his first numismatic article when he was 15. In the early 1960's he was a frequent contributor to the Numismatic Scrapbook and Numismatic News. But according to Miles Harvey's The Island of Lost Maps (Random House, 2000), Charles Lynn Glaser served seven months for map thefts around 1975; in 1978 he was arrested for further thefts, pled guilty, and served six months more; he pled guilty again in March 1992 to mutilating a copy of the 1628 edition of Munster's Cosmographica, by cutting a map out of it; out on probation less than a month later, he was discovered in the stacks of Lehigh University, wearing surgical gloves and carrying a hammer -- not the usual accouterments of a library researcher. (We fervently hope that he does not return to numismatics!)." PORTLAND, OREGON BOOK HAUNTS Steve Pellegrini writes: "With a little patience many if not most modern books can be found at discounted prices. In Portland we have an outlet store which sells the thousands of books and periodicals which regularly get cleared from the public library system. The bookstore is located in a retired Public Library building and is stocked with shelves complete with sets of References, rare old archives from the Oregon Historical Society, biographies, literature -- something for everyone. On one shelf is a 50 year run of 'National Geographic at .25 an issue - with a thick hardback Index for an extra 5.00. One gem I managed to pick up here was a matching set of Will Durant's 'History of Civilization.' Ten volumes, so nearly unused that they still smell of printer's ink and glue. They were tagged at $3.00 a book or $20.00 the set. Also here in Portland is 'Powell's New & Used Books' which bills itself as the largest bookstore in the world. It's a small city of discounted books where you can easily lose an entire afternoon on the browse. Book bargains are everywhere." Larry Gaye adds: "I do want to comment on John Dembinski's missive regarding full retail prices. I too refuse to buy retail and have done so for a long time. I am fortunate enough to live in Portland, Oregon and have Powell's in my backyard, well almost, only about a half mile away. I continually haunt the stacks for deals. Some of my best buys have been there. Whether it's numismatic literature or just plain "stuff," I love the books I find there. I have made exceptions to my rule. I purchased a signed first edition of both The Sparrow, and The Children of God by Mary Doria Russell; two of the most compelling stories I have ever read. I needed almost six months to lapse before I could read The Children of God , the sequel to The Sparrow. These are two amazing books. If any of you are planning on coming to Portland for the 2004 National Money Show plan a little extra time to visit Powell's. It's quite easy to get to from the convention site. If you want directions just contact me and I'll be happy. I'll be easy to find; I'm the show chairman. See you here in 2004." [The American Numismatic Association's National Money Show will be in Portland, March 26-28, 2004. The summer convention will take place in Pittsburgh, PA August 18-22, 2004, and I'll be chairing that event. Like Larry, I hope to see many of you at the show. I attended the 1998 summer convention in Portland, and visited Powell's while I was there. It is indeed a pleasant place to browse for books. If memory serves, it was enroute to Portland that my plane stopped in St. Louis where none other than Eric Newman boarded. I quickly switched seats and spent the rest of my journey swapping numismatic yarns with Eric. The chance to catch up with old friends is the best feature of any convention. -Editor] DO THE RIGHT THING: PAY FULL FREIGHT! Steve Pellegrini writes: "I've been following the "Why Do Books Cost So Much?" discussion for the last few weeks. I feel that one consideration hasn't been mentioned. When it comes to Numismatic Books I'm of an entirely different mind. I always make an effort to buy numismatic books directly from their author - when it's possible. In this way I've accumulated all of Christopher Eimer's books and quite a few others from favorite authors sprinkled through my bookshelves. Right now I am eagerly waiting the publication of Dick Johnson's book on the American numismatic artists and artisans who've produced our tokens, coins and medals. I wouldn't even consider buying this book from anyone other than Dick himself. This type of book that we enjoy and treasure so much is the result of years of exhausting, expensive research, endless hours of organization and writing, followed by all the thankless tasks of publication - editing, correcting, re-writing - negotiations and little diplomacies with sloppy printers and unenthusiastic publishers. All for little or no recompense. For the pleasure these books give me, I feel I owe their authors a measure of support and loyalty. It seems ungrateful and a little shameful to wheedle a copy from these tiny editions for less than full freight. Or to try to out wait these dedicated men and women until their book ends in the remainder bin where it can be picked up on the cheap." COIN BOOKS FROM HEAVEN This week I read a draft article Len Augsburger wrote for The Asylum, and his intense research efforts reminded me of one time a tiny bit of research yielded a real prize for my library. In 1991 looked up an obituary of George H. Clapp. It mentioned names of several offspring. I picked up a phone book and found a listing. I called and found I was speaking to a family member. I explained who I was and that I was interested in any books or ephemera relating to coins. He said there was nothing left in the family, but took my address just in case. A few weeks later, I stopped at my house after my father's funeral. In the mailbox was a package from the gentleman I spoke to. I opened it and found a copy of Clapp's 1931 book on the cents of 1798-1799. It was inscribed by Clapp to his secretary. It was sent without insurance in an unpadded envelope, but arrived OK. I called to profusely thank him and offer to pay for it, but even after telling him it was a valuable book, he insisted I keep it. So I did. I figured someone in heaven was keeping an eye out for me. Thanks, Dad. FIRST SLABBED COIN? Tom Fort, editor of our print journal, The Asylum, writes: "My family and I recently returned from a much-needed vacation in lovely Key West, Florida. While there we visited the famous house where Ernest Hemingway lived through much of the 1930s. During the tour we were shown the swimming pool that his wife had built for him while he was away covering the Spanish Civil War. The pool cost $20,000, a colossal sum at the time, especially when you consider that the Hemingways paid only $8,000 for the property. When Hemingway came home he saw the pool and loved it, that is until he saw the price tag. According to our guide he shouted at his wife for wasting all his money and told her that she might as well take his last cent. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a penny and stuck it into the still drying concrete before he stormed off. His wife was very amused by this outburst and put a clear plastic cover over the coin where you can still see it today. By the way, Mrs. Hemingway was a rich heiress -- she paid for the pool out of her own money." FEATURED WEB SITE This week's featured web site is a fine excuse for all of us to head to warmer climes -- The Numismatic Museum of Aruba. "The Numismatic museum was established on November 13, 1981 and lodges the private collection of Mr. J. Mario Odor and is the first Numismatic museum established on Aruba. The museum contains over 35,000 different pieces covering over 400 countries." http://www.visitaruba.com/facts/general/musea/numismatic.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. To join, print the application and return it with your check to the address printed on the application. For those without web access, write to David Sklow, NBS Secretary-Treasurer, P.O. Box 76192, Ocala, FL 34481. For Asylum mailing address changes and other membership questions, contact Dave at this email address: sdsklow@aol.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 (To be removed from the E-Sylum mailing list send an email message with the word "Unsubscribe" in the body of the message to: esylum-request@binhost.com) From whomren at coinlibrary.com Sun Jan 12 21:48:15 2003 From: whomren at coinlibrary.com (whomren@coinlibrary.com) Date: Wed Dec 22 19:41:52 2004 Subject: The E-Sylum v6#02, January 12, 2003 Message-ID: <20030113024815.29129.qmail@woodstock.binhost.com> Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 6, Number 2, January 12, 2003: an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society. Copyright (c) 2002, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society. NBS PREPARES FOR ANNUAL MEETING NBS Vice-President John W. Adams reports: "I have contacted Barry Tayman and George Fuld. Happily, they have agreed to join us at our annual meetings at the American Numismatic Association convention in Baltimore this summer. Barry and George are working on a monograph covering the Blacksmith Tokens; I have asked them to talk about their research methodology for this as well as for other projects they have executed. Astute questioners from our club will no doubt want to learn George's secrets for building the fabulous library that he succeeded in assembling." NBS President Pete Smith adds: "Can anyone suggest a Baltimore resource for the NBS Symposium who is not part of the "normal" ANA crowd? Does anyone have Baltimore contacts to recommend?" [I'm already looking forward to hearing Barry and George's talk. Perhaps we can add a local historian, author, or archivist to the lineup who can add something interesting regarding numismatic research. Aren't there Mint or B.E.P. archives in the Baltimore/D.C. area? Perhaps an archivist or caretaker could be persuaded to join us and outline the extent and an availability of the collections for numismatic researchers. -Editor] KOLBE SALE 90 (FEBRUARY 20) PREVIEW George Kolbe writes: "An overview of Sale 90 follows: Auction 90 features 1200 lots of works on a wide range of numismatic topics, among them a number of important 16th and 17th century numismatic books. American works in the sale include books and catalogues from the New Netherlands Coin Co. Library. Among the many sale highlights are: an Exceptional 1925 Browning on Early Quarter Dollars of the United States; Very Fine Sets of Yeoman Red Books and Blue Books; Mazzini¹s Monumental 5 Volume Monete Imperiale Romane; two Original 1869 Maris Works on 1794 Cents; Walter Breen¹s Annotated 1950 Bolender Silver Dollar Book; Two Original Handwritten Letters by Sylvester Crosby; an Original 1923-1929 Set of the McClean Collection of Greek Coins; a Fine, Annotated Set of Dalton & Hamer on 18th Century Tokens; an Original Set of Corpus Nummorum Italicorum; and a Fine Selection of Numismatica Americana, Including Numismatic Correspondence from the Walter P. Nichols Files. Printed catalogues may be obtained by sending $15.00." KOLBE WEB SITE UPDATE George Kolbe adds: "There are three new "items" posted on our web site (http://www.numislit.com): 1) A revised 2003 List of Books for Sale featuring, for a limited time, savings of up to 20% 2) Our February 20, 2003 Auction Sale Catalogue 3) An Important New Acquisition: THE FIRST ILLUSTRATED NUMISMATIC BOOK. An extremely rare example printed on vellum. RUBINO EBAY AUCTIONS Art Rubino writes: "Many of your subscribers know me from the many coin shows all over the United States where I put up my large numismatic bookshop. I am doing something new that may interest some of your subscribers right now. Here's my press release: Art Rubino & Co. Antiquarian Booksellers Numismatic Arts of Santa Fe Has opened a permanent revolving auction of fine numismatic books on eBay. There are 30 or more numismatic books on sale by auction at any given time. The individual auctions run for ten days. New books are added to the sale daily, as old books are sold. Dealers & collectors are invited to visit the site regularly to view and bid for the lots on sale. This is done by going to http://www.ebay.com and signing in, then going to the “Find Items” sector, selecting “By Seller” and keying in my ebay user ID which is Art_Rubino." CHAPMAN CORRESPONDENCE ARCHIVE AT ANS An intriguing item was published in the Winter 2002 issue of the American Numismatic Society magazine. Librarian Francis D. Campbell notes in his column on p21 that "Through a generous donation from the Estate of Mrs. Henrietta Chapman Judson, the Library has received a substantial quantity of the correspondence and other papers of the coin auction firm run by Henry and Samuel Hudson Chapman, which began operations in 1879." The article goes on to describe the career of the firm, but does not elaborate on the contents of the correspondence archive. Perhaps some E-Sylum reader will poke their nose in the archive sometime and let us know some of the highlights. SAN FRANCISCO MINT VISIT Numismatic researchers and writers Richard Kelly & Nancy Oliver write: "On January 10th, 2003 we got a unique opportunity to receive a tour of the third San Francisco Mint while it was in the process of making the 2003 Proof Sets for sale to the public. The third SF Mint is not open to the public for tours so we jumped on the chance for a tour when it was offered to us. A gentleman we know arranged it for us and gave the tour personally. It was an enriching experience to say the least. Our tour began with the outside of the facility, with its thick walls of granite to the upper facade where large concrete representations of each commemorative coin made by the mint circle the roof. Inside, we were shown where the blanks for the proof sets arrive, massive vault doors, the storage bins for the blanks for all denominations and then the mint operations. We were right there with our guide on the floor where all the planchet making operation is conducted. In fact, he reached his hand into the turning burnishing bin and showed us several newly polished dollar blanks. We saw the upset mills, and the storage of newly made planchets. But, what we saw next gave us a deep appreciation of the delicate and hard work involved in making every proof coin as perfect as possible. The SF mint receives all its dies from Philadelphia unpolished, so all the work of polishing and chrome plating has to be done in SF. The work involved in this, not only includes the polishing and plating of each die, but the intricate microscopic work required to remove any excess metal or plating in the crevices of each and every die. The dozen or so workers in this room labor over the small detail of their work for 8 hours per day. Perfection was the key and these workers were very intent on their task. With protective ear plugs, we entered the press room where we watched as the massive presses stamped out beautifully frosted, double struck coins. Near each press operator was a bag of reject coins, but the ones we were shown had but smears and light scratches on them. Perfection was also the key here. Lastly, we saw the packaging process of each 2003 proof set as they made their way down several conveyor belts that made loops and stops as they inserted each individual denomination by machine. Then the filled sets arrived at the sealing operation to eventually be placed into their final packaging to all be sent out to Tennessee for final processing and shipping. All the people we met during our tour were friendly and were more than willing to answer any questions we might have concerning their department. The tour was an eye-opening event for us both. And we left with a deeper appreciation of the hard work involved in making proof coins for the public." LAPA KANDY KINGS REVISED EDITION Last week, Scott Semans mentioned a revised edition of a Frank Lapa book: "While in prison, he produced a revised version of his Kandy Kings of Ceylon, 1986, in 8.5x11 spiral bind, though I'm not sure he ever marketed this edition." Kavan Ratnatunga reports: "I have a copy of original 1968 edition as well as this 1986 spiral bind. I did not know of its provenance til today. The original book is clearly the best illustrated book on these copper massa coins. I have not studied the details or tried to find all the 50 or so varieties he illustrates for each of the 6 more common Kings and Queen. The coins are from Kings in Lanka in Pollonnaruva and Dambadeniya in the era 1055-1295 AD. The kingdom moved to Kandy many centuries later, and the colonial name Ceylon was not even invented." COINING A PHRASE Kavan has a question for E-Sylum readers: "Is there a Numismatic origin to the usage "Coin a Phrase"? PARANUMISMATICA REVISITED In response to Paul Withers' mention of the term 'paranumismatica,' Tom DeLorey writes: "I had never heard the term "paranumismatica" before, though I have not been active in the field since editing the "TAMS Journal" for 1981, and I think I prefer the shorter term "exonumia" coined by Russ Rulau and widely used in America. Which is more common in Europe?" [It seems like just yesterday, but it was two years ago when this term first came up in The E-Sylum. See Volume 3, Number 54 (December 31, 2000). Back issues are archived on our web site: http://www.coinbooks.org/. I was unfamiliar with the term myself when I first encountered it on Paul Withers' web site. Here's what I wrote, under the title, "Vocabulary Word: Paranumismatica" "We discussed numismatic word definitions several issues ago. Mr. Withers' web site uses a word your American-bred Editor hadn't seen before: paranumismatica. In context: "World Paranumismatica - Tokens, Countermarks and the like from around the globe." A web search turned up 25 pages using the term, one defining it as the "British term for exonumia" I'm sure Paul would prefer a definition along the lines of "Exonomia: American term for paranumismatica" A search today (January 6, 2003) turned up 84 references to "paranumismatica," more than triple the number found two years ago. -Editor] EUROPEAN NUMISMATIC LIBRARIES Bob Knepper of Anaheim, Calif. ask, "Where, if anywhere, does there exist a list of numismatic libraries in Europe which are accessible either to walk-in public or by appointment? I realize that all numismatic dealers have libraries. I would also like a similar list of coin and/or paper money museums. I've visited a few but there must be more. Thank you." [I believe we published this request once before, but we haven't gotten any responses and thought we've try again. -Editor] Bob adds: "I'm now planning, with my wife Sue, a trip around Europe in April - May to combine sightseeing, coin and book hunting, and visiting friends. I'm still hoping to see or possibly buy the book about the coins of German state "Salm". As my queries to several dealers have found only one copy of the book (not for sale and in an inconvenient location), I'll start trying various libraries." NUMISMATIST CHANGE Bruce Perdue writes: "I haven't read all of the "new" format "Numismatist", but it seems to me that some of this change was done for the advertisers ... their ads seem more intrusive than they did in the old format. I of course agree with Greg Heim that without David Bowers and Ken Bressett's columns it isn't as good as it was." Ken Bressett writes: "I must second what Greg Heim had to say about the new Numismatist. One can only hope that the extra effort and cost that went into the renovation is on target and of benefit to the typical ANA member. The decision to drop the columns by Dave Bowers and myself, as well as all the other changes, was strictly that of the ANA, and not ours." Regarding Greg's comment that "the articles were too specialized," Martin Purdy writes: "I find that rather odd, if I may say so. Put alongside a really academic and quite turgid publication such as the Numismatic Chronicle, which I have never succeeded in reading from cover to cover, the "Numismatist" is decidedly populist and lowbrow. Maybe that's not a good comparison, who knows. I enjoy receiving the "Numismatist" each month (I haven't got the January 03 issue yet, so I can't make an old/new comparison at this stage), but it's hardly a heavy read. It also tends to let some fairly basic errors through the editing process, which I wouldn't expect of a more academic publication." Bill Malkmus writes: "I noted the comments about the "new" Numismatist in last week’s E-Sylum. I was compiling a list to send to the editor, and thought I’d offer a few of my comments. The dropping of the article I agree is a non-issue. But some of the other changes for the sake of change are not so innocuous. I have tried to resist my usual septuagenarian's viewpoint that equates "change" with "bad" (however often that may be the case). I do credit them for placing the name, date, and page number on (almost) every page. (It’s frustrating when a Xerox file copy is found to be lacking in ID.) The typography and proofreading seem good, although I am still checking my pocket change unsuccessfully for that Eisenhower quarter mentioned on p.12. I agree that the dropping of Bowers and Bressett is regrettable, but would add Sear, Fitts, and Hessler (at least) to the list. But I cannot accept the premise that the former journal was too "erudite" or highbrow -- I don't go along with the "lowest common denominator" theory. I can't believe that vast numbers of readers could not cope with what David Sear had to offer in 2 or 3 pages on ancient coins. I do not collect dog tokens or beer tokens (and expect I never will), but I do not feel put upon for seeing articles about them; in fact, I feel my horizons are widened for having read them. In the "form overcoming content" category, I must remark on one of my pet peeves, that of overlapping photos of (usually) obverse and reverse images of a coin (the cute technical term being, I believe, "eclipsing") when, as is usually the case, there is no space constraint requiring it. I really get upset when what would be the best illustration I have of some particular coin is thus artsily mutilated, with partial obscuration of a reverse design or legend. The use of icons ("next page" and "end") is good, although the "end" icon should be at the very end of all text (after "learn more"). (I am not sure what the "end" icon represents, if it matters, and it is barely distinguishable from "next page.") Unfortunately, the introduction of the "learn more" caption seems to imply that there will never be any sufficiently important comment ever made which might require one of those untidy and intimidating footnotes or endnotes." MUSEUM OF FINANCIAL HISTORY Joel Orosz points out "an interesting article on a little-known museum with significant numismatic content." The article by Ralph Blumenthal titled "Museum Explores Capitalism's Feats and Follies" was published January 6, 2003. Here's an excerpt. To access the full article, see the link below. "What would John D. Rockefeller say? In the basement of his Standard Oil Building, just steps from Wall Street, where the Museum of American Financial History celebrates the wonders of capitalism, an exhibit wall is papered with gaily colored stock certificates carrying names like Enron, WorldCom and ImClone Systems. It's the dark side of the American dream. But the dot-com debacles and infamous bankruptcies of the infant millennium are as much part of the nation's financial heritage as scandals of the past and the stock market crash of 1929, says the museum, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution. Exhibits about that Black October Friday that ushered in the Great Depression, and accouterments like the plunging ticker tape record, have long been the biggest draw of this low-profile and literally underground museum, in its 15th year at 28 Broadway, where Rockefeller first moved into a smaller building in 1883, on same the site where Alexander Hamilton's law office once stood." "The stock certificates are on display until Feb. 28. Other ] exhibits now at the museum include one of the four remaining largest bills ever issued by the United States: a $100,000 gold note issued in 1934 and depicting Woodrow Wilson. It was used for monetary transfers between Federal Reserve banks." "Another exhibit displays an exquisite palette of high- denomination bills issued by other countries during periods of runaway inflation, including, from Germany between the world wars, a trillion-mark note." http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/06/arts/design/06MUSE.html WILLIAM SHARON DINNER SILVER INGOT One standout exhibit at last year's ANA convention in New York included a silver ingot made for a special dinner in San Francisco in 1876 in honor of William Sharon, a Nevada Senator and bank baron. Dealer Fred Holabird published an article on newly discovered example of the ingot in the Winter 2002 issue of The Brasher Bulletin, newsletter of the Society of Private and Pioneer Numismatics. The article contains a reference to Panamint Balls of silver, which were discussed in the E-Sylum last November (v4n47 and n48). From the article (and Holabird's web site): "Senator Wm. Morris Stewart ... headed a bunch of investors along with John P. Jones in the mines at Panamint, California. In 1875 they pulled out a million in silver, but were acutely aware of highwaymen just waiting for the bullion-laden wagons to come down the treacherous canyons out of the Panamints. The mountains are so rugged, that there is about 6000 feet of relief in just over a mile of horizontal distance. Even the mighty Wells Fargo & Co. would not dare to establish an express office there for fear the risk of robbery was too high. “They said they wouldn't run any risks at Panamint, not with that bunch of highwaymen lying around just waiting to swoop down and gobble up every dollar in sight.” Stewart needed a plan. “Finally I hit on a scheme. I had some moulds made in which a ball of solid silver could be run weighing 750 pounds. Then I began smelting the ore, and I ran out enormous cannon balls of the precious stuff that could have bombarded a battleship. When the road agents saw what I was doing, their eyes stuck out of their heads…they acted as though I had cheated them out of property…” http://www.holabird.org/americana2002/archive/Auction11/ingots.htm NONDESTRUCTIVE TESTING OF THE HUNLEY Small world: In response to last week's item about numismatic items found in the wreckage of the Confederate Submarine H. L. Hunley, David Fanning writes: "Nondestructive Testing is the somewhat arcane area of science in which I work as an editor. It's basically industrial science--physics and engineering -- involving evaluating components, structures and materials in ways which do not affect the future utility of the thing being tested. Hence, ultrasound, radiography, eddy current, infrared and electromagnetic testing are all forms of nondestructive testing (so is alloy analysis like X-ray diffraction, useful in numismatics). The journal I edit is "Materials Evaluation" and in a recent issue I published an article on the nondestructive testing of the structure of the Hunley wreckage: "The Confederate Submarine H.L. Hunley and Nondestructive Testing," Vol. 60, No. 3, March 2002, pp. 409-419 (published by The American Society for Nondestructive Testing, http://www.asnt.org/)" CARNEGIE HERO FUND MEDAL REDESIGN As part of my duties as Chairman of the local committee for the 2004 Pittsburgh ANA Convention, I visited the headquarters of the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission this week to plan a possible exhibit of hero fund medals at the show, in cooperation with the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh. 2004 will be the 100th anniversary of the fund. Officials of the fund have preliminary sketches for a redesign of the medal for the centennial year. It will bear a 1904-2004 inscription, and the die will be retired at year end. Some other small changes are being incorporated into the design, and these will continue in 2005 and beyond. For more information on the fund and its medals, see http://www.carnegiehero.org/ ARTHUR C. CLARKE COIN CACHE While we're on the subject of shipwreck coins, at a local club meeting this week, Kavan Ratnatunga brought along a copy of a nonfiction book written by science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke, with Mike Wilson. "The Treasure of the Great Reef" was published by Harper & Row, New York in 1964. The book describes a March 1961 discovery by the authors of a shipwreck at the Great Basses reef off the south east coast of Lanka, where Clarke has lived since 1956. The numismatic connection is a fabulous hoard of silver rupees dated 1701-1702 found in the wreck, which are pictured in the book. Kavan illustrates one of the hoard coins on his web site. See http://serendib.org/coins/indian/1701_surat_1r_ag.html From Kavan's web page: "The coins appeared to have been packed in coir sacks with about 1000 coins each and perhaps packed several sacks to a wood chest. The coir bags held together long enough for the silver coins to have been concreted solidly together, so that when the sacks rotted away, the coins remained in twenty five pound lumps in the shape of the sack. The coins in the middle of the lumps were in perfect mint condition. The inner side of the outer coins were similarly protected as was the reverse of the coin shown above. The Smithsonian institute was donated a 1,000 rupee lump soon after the discovery of the unrecorded wreck on the Great Basses Reef - off the south east coast of Lanka. Accession record 239761 dated December 7, 1961 describes a gift made to the Smithsonian by Arthur C. Clarke. as 1 cluster of approx. 1000 silver rupees dated 1702, found off Great Basses Reef, Ceylon by Mr. Mike Wilson." Kavan's book was signed by Clarke, whom Kavan has known since the 1960's, and visits on his trips home. WHERE'S GEORGE We've profiled the "Where's George" web site before. The site allows people to register the serial numbers of U.S. currency passing thru their hands. This week, I received in change a note that had been overstamped with the Where's George URL and other slogans. So I registered the note and shoved it back in my wallet. For those who care, it's a 1999 series $1 note, serial number K40586052D. I wonder where it'll turn up next? See http://www.wheresgeorge.com/ for more information. LYNN GLASER Last week, Bob Leonard shared some information about numismatic author Lynn Glaser. Glaser was one of the collaborators on The Fantastic 1804 Dollar book, along with Walter Breen, Eric Newman and Ken Bressett. Ken writes: "I was shocked to read Bob Leonard's comments on Lynn Glaser. I had never heard any of that story. Lynn just sort of dropped out of sight at one point and I never heard from him again." "As far as I can recall, Lynn never did autograph any books along with the rest of us. I do not even have such a copy. He did very little to assist with the writing of the book other than to offer some background notes that he had accumulated as part of his research on other projects. He showed promise as a budding numismatist and we were happy to offer him encouragement, but he quickly drifted away into other fields." [Through Walter, I contacted Lynn Glaser about ten years ago. I was hoping to have him sign my copy of the 1804 book - the other three authors already had. Walter told me the town he was living in, and through directory information I managed to locate him. He seemed quite surprised to hear from someone in the numismatic field and said he'd nearly forgotten about his work on the book. He said he didn't normally sign books, but since I'd gone to the trouble of contacting him, he agreed to do it. I sent him the book by mail, and a couple weeks later it came back with a signature. I've never met him in person. With Walter dead I wonder if my copy is the only one signed by the "Gang of Four". I should also note that I believe we had typos in earlier E-Sylum issues (v3n35 and v3n40), where Currency Auctions of America principal LEN Glaser was listed incorrectly as LYNN Glaser. -Editor] RETINAL SCANS REPLACE CASH AND SCRIP Here's a science-fiction turned fact item for you: a school in western England has turned to the use of retinal scans to determine payment for cafeteria food. From a January 8, 2003 USA Today story: "... students will be charged for their lunches with a retina scanning device to prevent poor children who eat for free from being ridiculed in the cafeteria. "... the school is concerned that if students are forced to pay for their lunches in cash the poor ones who receive food for free could be stigmatized. So officials have decided to make the entire school "cashless." The retina scanning device also will be used in the library when students take out and return books..." "But this is not a James Bond school for spies. ... This is not science fiction. This is technology that exists." http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techinnovations/2003-01-08-retina-school_x.htm FEATURED WEB SITE This week's featured web site is the Hellenic Numismatic Society of Athens, Greece. "The Hellenic Numismatic Society was founded in 1970 to serve the interest of Greek and foreign numismatists and collectors concerned with every aspect of Greek numismatics from earliest times to present day." "The journal of the society, Nomismatika Khronika (NomKhron), has been appearing since 1972. It contains articles by Greek and foreign numismatists, covering the whole range of the history of coins in the Greek world, as well as related subjects (paper money, medals and decorations, tokens etc.). It is now completely bilingual: all articles are printed in the original language (usually Greek or English) with a full translation or detailed summary in Greek or English as required." http://www.helicon.gr/hellenum/ [The web site was last updated in 2000; does anyone know if the society is still active? -Editor] 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. To join, print the application and return it with your check to the address printed on the application. For those without web access, write to David Sklow, NBS Secretary-Treasurer, P.O. Box 76192, Ocala, FL 34481. For Asylum mailing address changes and other membership questions, contact Dave at this email address: sdsklow@aol.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 (To be removed from the E-Sylum mailing list send an email message with the word "Unsubscribe" in the body of the message to: esylum-request@binhost.com) From whomren at coinlibrary.com Sun Jan 19 21:53:08 2003 From: whomren at coinlibrary.com (whomren@coinlibrary.com) Date: Wed Dec 22 19:41:52 2004 Subject: The E-Sylum v6#03, January 19, 2003 Message-ID: <20030120025308.7082.qmail@woodstock.binhost.com> Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 6, Number 3, January 19, 2003: an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society. Copyright (c) 2002, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society. SUBSCRIBER UPDATE Among recent new subscribers is Martin Logies, courtesy of W. David Perkins. Welcome aboard! We now have 514 subscribers. UPCOMING DAVIS SALE Charles Davis writes: "My next auction will include duplicates from the American Numismatic Society and others. Included are plated Chapman Lyman, Beckwith and Cleneay catalogues, a 22-plate Elder Lawrence catalogue, plated Mortimer Mackenzie sale, numerous volumes of the AJN, early issues of The Numismatist, and an early Berlin periodical containing perhaps the first published numismatic photograph. The sale will close February 15 and catalogues are now in the mail." SPRINGARN MEDAL Monday is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. day in the U.S. Dr. King was awarded a number of medals, including the Spingarn Medal. "In 1915 the NAACP initiated the Springarn Medal to be awarded annually for outstanding achievement by a black American. The first award was won by Dr. Ernest Everett Just, a 32-year old marine biologist from Charleston, South Carolina. Head of the Howard University Department of the Zoology at the time, Dr. Just was the only person to graduate magna cum laude from Dartmouth college with a degree in zoology, special honors in botany and history, and honors in sociology. Over the years the Springarn Medal has come to signify the highest honor available from the NAACP. Although the significance of the organization declined with the culmination of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, the Springarn Medal remains a coveted award. Past winners include statesmen (Ralph Bunche, Martin Luther King), musicians (Marian Anderson, Duke Ellington), authors (Maya Angelou, Alex Haley), politicians (Barbara Jordan, Andrew Young), civil rights leaders (Medger Evans, Rosa Parks), athletes (Jackie Robinson, Hank Aaron), and entertainers (Paul Robeson, Bill Cosby)." [Excerpted from "The History of the Springarn Medal" http://or.essortment.com/springarnmedal_rlwp.htm. Other web references include: http://www.lfpl.org/reference/rflksgarn.htm http://spingarn.k12.dc.us/sclub/medal.html In my searches of the web I've been unable to find an image of this medal. Has anyone ever seen one? Or know anything about the design and designer? -Editor] WASHINGTON STATE MEDALS Terry Trantow writes: "I am always amazed at the range of news and comments, search requests and informational items the E-Sylum provides. I read more than I can offer, but came across this site regarding the medals of honor and valor given by the State of Washington each year, which is currently open for nominations. A picture of the obverse[s] of the medal[s] is provided, which depicts a somewhat unattractive-looking piece. The site is http://www.secstate.wa.gov/Medals. NOTIFY YOUR HEIRS: COPYRIGHTS GOOD 70 YEARS. Dick Johnson reports: "The Supreme Count upheld, on Wednesday, January 15th, the extension of United States Copyrights by 20 years. Authors' heirs can now collect royalties for 70 years from the date of death of the author. For numismatic authors this could gain some royalty money for their estates. For numismatic publishers, you will have to wait a while to reprint that numismatic classic for free. Previously the length of an American copyright was life of the artist plus 50 years. The new legislation (upheld by the Supreme Court) introduced in 1998 and known as the Sony Bono law, changed the law to be life of the artist plus 70 years. This brings our copyright law more in line with that in Europe. For works copyrighted by corporations, it dates from year first published. Formerly it was 75 years. Now it is 95 years. Those in favor of the changing the law were concentrated in Hollywood, as early movies were approaching the deadline for this copyright protected work to pass into public domain. Had this not been approved by the Supreme Count, we could have had "Steamboat Willie" Mickey Mouse all over the internet." NEW BOOK: GREENBACK The January 9, 2003 issue of the Christian Science Monitor published a review of a new book, "Greenback: The Almighty Dollar and the Invention of America" by Jason Goodwin, published Henry Holt, 321 pp., $26. "The billions of electronic dollars zipping from computer to computer each day provoke an interesting question: What really is an American dollar? British author and journalist Jason Goodwin takes a crack at the answer with "Greenback," a biography of the buck that traces it from native American wampum to today's almighty bill. It is a riveting story with a quirky cast of early American characters that includes a few of the Founding Fathers, inventors, counterfeiters, secret agents, bankers, and swindlers, each placing their thumbprint on the young country's currency and monetary system, whether they knew it or not." For the full review, see: http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0109/p17s01-bogn.html From Publishers Weekly (published on Amazon.com, where the book is offered for $18.20): "After a strong start, this history of American money loses its thread and ends up as an entertaining collection of trivia, personality profiles and vignettes rather than the compelling narrative promised in its opening. Still, Goodwin's flair for a colorful tale makes for rich reading, covering such odds and ends as a brothel in the Treasury Department, a prayer vigil over banking deposits, exploding printing presses and even a counterfeit scheme run from behind prison bars. Goodwin (Lords of the Horizons) makes some excellent points about the role of paper money in early U.S. history-it was the earliest symbol of the new country; it helped push colonists West; it even helped familiarize Americans with their native artists-but the significance of the stories he's chosen to include isn't always clear. After presenting a single national currency as one of the holy grails of early American banking, for instance, he glosses over the moment it finally arrives, a true turning point in American financial history. Goodwin's position as a foreign observer (he is an English journalist) occasionally trips him up: no one in America, for example, says "that will be four dollars thirty six." The more I learn about numismatic history, the less surprised I am to read about various scandals. Somehow, I think I would have remembered reading about a brothel in the Treasury Department. Unless it's something new, perhaps staffed by holdover interns from the Clinton Administration... Alas, according to another Amazon reviewer, the book has no footnotes or endnotes. Does anyone know of a source for the Treasury brothel story? Perhaps he's referring to the Spencer Clark scandals. From an earlier review of the book in The New York Times, December 29, 2002: "But once in motion, the dollar rewarded fellow raconteurs like Spencer Morton Clark, who ran the currency bureau during the Civil War era like a personal harem, and tried to slip his own face onto a five-cent bill. Goodwin observes, with typical wry amusement, ''Queer things had turned up on dollar bills in the past, from Santa Claus to the Delaware rat, but nothing to match the appearance, on a U.S. note, of a bankrupt sex pest under investigation for embezzlement and fraud.'' Benny Bolin wrote a good article on Clark, originally published in Paper Money, the journal of the Society of Paper Money Collectors. It has since been posted to the web: http://www.fractionalnotes.com/spencerclarkarticle.htm "Due to the war and the subsequent shortage of available male workers, it became a necessity for a large number of women to be hired to work in the printing department. This was a new and radical idea in the workplace. The private bank note companies used this new idea, especially the fact that a large number of women were employed at night, to raise charges against the bureau. Charges of fraud and promiscuity rocked the Treasury Department. Reports of drinking, orgies and required sexual favors to keep jobs were numerous. It was widely reported that the printing bureau had been converted into a place for debauchery and drinking, the very recital of which is impossible without violating decency." FROSSARD SALE OF CLARK COLLECTION Also online is the October 1893 "Special List No. 8" of Clark's "Unique Collection of Essays & Proofs of United States Fractional Currency" http://www.fractionalnotes.com/frossardsaleofclarkcollection.htm BRAZIL REFERENCE SOUGHT Ron Haller-Williams writes: "I want to verify a reference I found. According to J A Golsalves de Mello (Rev.IAHGP vol.48, 1976), the 3rd edition of Santos Leitão's "Catálogo de Moedas Brasileiras" was published in 1941 (not 1940 as indicated in the list of earlier editions to be found at the front of the 8th edition and onwards). Can anybody confirm this? (from sight of the 3rd edition itself!) Apparently, among the "moedas obsidionais" (siege-pieces), it mentions one dated 1647, as well as the three values of 1645 & 1646. Can anybody confirm this? What does the 2nd edition (1933) say? Thanks very much. Replies direct to moedas@heraldstar.u-net.com or, of course, via The E-Sylum." SUBSCRIBER PROFILE: TERRY TRANTOW Terry Trantow writes "I joined the ANA as a junior in 1961 because I had been 'into' coin collecting with my Dad, with a short gap, since 1953. Dad had a small container of Lincoln cents from which we both built our penny collections in 1957, missing only the 1909-S VDB and1914-D cents plus some minor dates. I 'borrowed' out of that container as a kid on a few occasions to buy a nickel candy bar, and he may have been correct in 'suggesting' I spent some of those missing dates. Due to my interest in history and being a consummate collector, I discovered the field of medals, then tokens, and will always be grateful to Charlie Kappen for his collaboration in producing the work on So-Called Dollars in 1962, which set my direction into token/medal collecting and for which I will always be in debt to him. It would not surprise me to see continued works on tokens/ medals and its fraternity overshadow that of coin collecting." EUROPEAN LIBRARIES J. Moens of Belgium writes: " The following addresses might interest Mr. Knepper for his trip to Europe : - the "Cabinet des Médailles" of the Royal Library in Brussels holds one of the finest collections of numismatic books in the world. The collection can be consulted on-line at the following site : http://www.kbr.be; go to "Catalogues connectés"; information about opening hours can be found under "Départements et collections" and then under "Cabinet des Médailles" - the National Bank of Belgium has a good museum on the history of money. Information can be found at http://www.nbb.be, then "Museum" Both institutions are situated in Brussels, at walking distance (5 min.) from the Central Station." COINING A PHRASE In response to last week's question about the origin of "Coin A Phrase", David Klinger and Jess Gaylor both offered this history of the phrase from http://www.wordorigins.org "Sometimes interesting words a phrases are right under our noses. After using it countless times on this site, a reader asked me where the term to coin a phrase came from? The verb to coin originally meant to literally mint a coin. It dates to the 14th century. In the late-16th century, the sense generalized to become to create or invent something. In 1940 the specific usage of coin a phrase came into use." TOKEN MANUFACTURERS LOSING BIGGEST CUSTOMER. Dick Johnson writes: "The commonest transportation token for collectors have almost always been from New York City. For token manufacturers NYC, their biggest customer, won't be buying any more of the brass discs with the familiar grill border with the pierced centers. New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Authority said Monday, January 13th, this is the end of the line for their subway token (which also was used for surface buses and Staten Island Railway fares). It took the first step to phase out tokens and many of the booths at subway entrances that dispense tokens: so long to the curt "How many?" Also involved is the projected increase in price. Would you believe they are floating a $2 per ride price? And how many of us remember the ten-cent fare? The token changed over the years. As prices increased intermittently since 1953 so did the token varieties. Early tokens of that period had the Y of NYC pierced out. When the fare changed in 1970 the MTA kept the same design -- and the same Y-shaped hole -- but increased the size. In 1979 they introduced a solid token (with a commemorative design, really!) for a 75th anniversary. Following 1980 and a new fare increase they kept a solid token with no piercing. In 1986 incuse grill work with round center hole and finally, in 1995 raised grill with pentagon aperture. What's coming are more Metro-Cards to be swiped at the turnstiles. And $120 will give you unlimited rides for an entire month. For their centennial next year, in 2004, will the MTA issue a commemorative swipe card? No? How about a Century of Straphanger Abuse Medal then?" ST. NICK'S COINS? While looking for other things on the web I came across a reference to St. Nicholas delivering "bags of coins". Since we just discussed St. Nick on paper money a few issues ago, I thought I'd write it up. Is anyone familiar enough with the origins of the figure to confirm that he delivered coins before morphing into the modern concept of Santa Claus? The article by Richard O'Mara was published January 5, 2003 in The Baltimore Sun. Titled "An American in Turkey" it's a travelogue of a recent trip there. "At Antalya, on the Turkish Riviera, we rested by the sea. A museum there holds a relic, a bone from the jaw of a 4th- century bishop thought to be the St. Nicholas who gave rise to the legend of Santa Claus. He was known for providing dowries to impoverished young girls, dropping bags of coins down their chimneys." http://www.sunspot.net/travel/bal-tr.turkey05jan05,0,774925.story?coll=bal-artslife-travel PARANUMISMATICA DEFINED Paul Withers writes: "Those who had not heard of the term 'paranumismatica' may like to read the following, taken from "Alphabetical Classification f World Paranumismatica" by Brian Edge which was written in 1977 and published by the Token Corresponding Society - but read on and you will discover more - even who 'coined the phrase' ! The very first problem encountered at the beginning of this study was to find a blanket term, which could be adopted to cover the many coin like objects, which for many years have been loosely known as tokens. Numismatic Miscellanea, and Numismatic Oddments were terms in fairly frequent use and other collectors referred to these objects as Peripheral Numismatics, Manablins, or just plain '0 & S" (Odds and Sundries). In the United States many such items are known as Exonumia. In view of all this, it was clear that it would be necessary to coin a new word to describe this subsection of numismatics and when, after considerable thought had been given to the matter, TCS activist David Sealy mentioned a word that he had invented there was little point in searching further. The word was PARANUMISMATICA. The ultimate object of this work is to produce a classification, wherever possible under generic headings, of all items which come within the bounds of world PARANUMISMATICA. The term PARANUMISMATICA is to be interpreted as any coin-like object, which is not in fact a coin. It may be produced in metal, plastic, wood, etc , normally unofficial, bearing an inscription, either with, or without a value. It is acknowledged that many paper tokens exist, but, as they are not coin-like objects, they have been disregarded. It soon became apparent that different collectors used a variety of terms to describe precisely the same thing. In general, most of the terms were applied loosely, and without any reasoning. The result of the practice was considerable confusion and some items emerged with as many as four different terms. For example the "To Hanover Counters" were also known as "To Hanover Medalets", "To Hanover Tokens" and "Cumberland Jacks"! This problem occurred in so many cases that it became abundantly clear that some form of standardisation was necessary. In order to achieve this, all members of the TOKEN CORRESPONDING SOCIETY were contacted for their ideas in an effort to attain some form of agreement about the application of the various terms. From the resultant correspondence it was clear that there would always be a few pieces which would never conform to complete standardisation. A good example of this is the Italian Telephone Token which bears the inscription "Gettone" but which is not, in any way, a Jeton in the accepted sense of the word. Allowing for such examples, the following list of paranumismatic terms, which were generally accepted, how proved to be applicable to virtually all PARANUMISMATICA. Previous efforts to produce such a work as this by others outside the TOKEN CORRESPONDING SOCIETY seem to have been tackled without the necessary enthusiasm required for the task, and the results haw been a hotchpotch of listings. One of the main weaknesses has been hosts of entries such as "Australian tokens", "Canadian tokens", "Foreign tokens" and so on. These are, as I am sure you will agree, very wide issues. Certainly, many of the entries in this classification will have their origins in many different parts of the world. If one takes the entry "Merchants and Store Trading and Discount tokens" under SHOPS AND STORES it will be realised that items will still come under this category, whether they emanate from Australia, the U.S.A. or from long suffering Ramsbottom! It is not necessary particularly to distinguish one from the other as a separate entry in the classification. The collector may decide to sort his tokens from this particular category into, say, alphabetical order of country of issue, then subdivide these into counties, towns or cities within that country and then into particular trades or businesses completely ad libatum. You will see, therefore, that only one entry is actually required in the classification to cover the lot. We have certainly gone far since the first humble list appeared in T.C.S Bulletin Volume 2 No. 1 in November 1973, which was soon followed by No. 4 of that same Volume, in MAY/ JUNE 1974, with a piece entitled PARANUMISMATIC REFERENCES. However, in spite of the obvious progress that we have made, the listings are far from complete. There must still be hundreds of missing entries and doubtless some of these that are entered already are incorrectly positioned. However, the exercise is falling into a general pattern, which has for its skeleton about 42 generic headings so far. The very fact that the author has been puzzling, sorting and resorting for almost four years, has lead him to the conclusion that it may well be a case now of not being able to see the wood for trees! He, therefore, earnestly solicits from members their constructive criticism of the work so far together with additional entries with a view to the classification eventually becoming the most detailed in existence." Brian, as some token-interested readers may know, went on to write "The First Dictionary of Paranumismatica. All about Tokens, Checks, Medalets Counters, Tallies and Weights." GARRETT LIBRARY? In response to the query regarding possible NBS speakers in Baltimore this summer, Nick Graver writes: "One fantastic resource in Baltimore was the John Work Garrett Collection at Johns Hopkins University. It was at Evergreen House (the mansion), and was under the care of Sarah Elizabeth Freeman. I attended a great meeting there in 1960 or 1961, shortly after we moved there. (Certainly before we left in Spring 1963.) There was a very distinguished scholar speaking, and the exhibit of ancient gold was super. The collection was later auctioned by Dave Bowers, and the staff must have been put out to pasture. Who knows if any of the staff are there in retirement, and if any of the numismatic library remains at JHU?" HELLENIC NUMISMATIC SOCIETY In response to the question about the Hellenic Numismatic Society, Kerry K. Wetterstrom Editor/Publisher of The Celator reports: "The Hellenic Numismatic Society is still very active and I just recently received their latest journal. It is an excellent organization, especially important to the collector of ancient Greek coinage." Bill Daehn adds: "The Hellenic Numismatic Society is indeed still active. I am a member. HNS continues to publish an excellent annual journal, Nomismatika Kronika, devoted to all aspects of Greek numismatics, but especially strong in ancient Greek coinage. They also continue to publish monographs on Greek numismatic topics. The society has about 400 members around the world." NAME CHANGES Relating to our earlier discussions of the slight name change for the American Numismatic Association's monthly journal, Kerry adds: "By the way, in the spirit of making the ANA more mainstream, it has now been suggested that they drop the word "American" from the official organizational name. "Numismatic Association" does have a nice ring to it!" THE HOBBY OF "THE KING" According to a January 3, 2003 Associated Press article, one man says Elvis alive and collecting old coins. Here are some excerpts - follow the link for the full article. "Bill Beeny's roadside ''Elvis Is Alive'' museum serves up plenty for folks with suspicious minds over whether Elvis really ever left the building. Barely bigger than a living room, the place about 40 miles west of St. Louis is a conspiracy theorist's dream, from its government documents to the pathology reports, DNA testing results and photos, including one that purports to show Elvis shadowing Muhammad Ali in 1984." Beeny insists Elvis has surfaced in recent years--not at a Kalamazoo, Mich., Burger King or as a Miami undercover cop, as legend would have it, but as an arthritis sufferer who in 1997 sought treatment from Dr. Donald W. Hinton, a Kansas City, Mo., psychiatrist. Supposedly with Elvis' help, Hinton co-wrote "The Truth About Elvis Aron Presley, In His Own Words." Published last year, the book chronicles the years since the King's ''death,'' saying it took Elvis three years to get clean and sober. Hinton says the King--now his pal--collects old coins and American Indian artifacts, and isn't too shabby with fishing gear. http://www.jsonline.com/onwisconsin/music/jan03/107911.asp FEATURED WEB SITE This week's featured web site is recommended by W. David Perkins of Mequon, Wisconsin. He writes: "I learned of a new website this week that E-Sylum readers may want to check out. I especially enjoyed exploring this site as it is dedicated to one of my specialties, the study and collecting of the early United States silver dollars 1794-1803. Included in the site is an overview on the early dollars, with high quality descriptions and illustrations all of the major types and (Red Book) varieties of dollars. There are also "micro photographs" of key features and differences in the varieties. Also of interest to Bibliophiles are three publications, two that appear to be available now and one in the works to be published later in 2003. The two books available now are Early Dollars: A Pocket Guide to Major Varieties and An Introduction to Early Dollars, both published by the Cardinal Collection Educational Foundation." http://earlydollars.org 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. To join, print the application and return it with your check to the address printed on the application. For those without web access, write to David Sklow, NBS Secretary-Treasurer, P.O. Box 76192, Ocala, FL 34481. For Asylum mailing address changes and other membership questions, contact Dave at this email address: sdsklow@aol.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 (To be removed from the E-Sylum mailing list send an email message with the word "Unsubscribe" in the body of the message to: esylum-request@binhost.com) From whomren at coinlibrary.com Sun Jan 26 23:16:31 2003 From: whomren at coinlibrary.com (whomren@coinlibrary.com) Date: Wed Dec 22 19:41:52 2004 Subject: The E-Sylum v6#04, January 26, 2003 Message-ID: <20030127041631.32235.qmail@woodstock.binhost.com> Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 6, Number 4, January 26, 2003: an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society. Copyright (c) 2002, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society. SUBSCRIBER UPDATE Among recent new subscribers are Charles "Chick" Ambrass, courtesy of Wayne Homren, and Don Scarinci, courtesy of Dick Johnson. Welcome aboard! We now have 516 subscribers. NBS CALL FOR NOMINATIONS NBS Board Member Tom Sheehan writes: "I would like to publish a call for nominations for officers for NBS. I would like to hear from anyone interested in running for office or proposing another member for office. People should reply to me directly. Your help in this is appreciated." Tom's email address is twsheeh@attglobal.net ASYLUM WINTER 2003 ISSUE READY Tom Fort, editor of our print journal, writes: "The Winter 2003 issue of The Asylum is now in the final proofing stage and it should be on its way to the printer during the week of January 26-February 1. Readers will immediately see that the journal has a somewhat new look and I welcome comments either in The E-Sylum or sent to me directly [etfort@aol.com] The Table of Contents is as follows: "A Dissertation on the Allegorical Beings Found on the Reverses of Medals," by Edward Gibbon [A rare essay by the famous historian regarding a numismatic book he read in 1764. Unlike its only other publication, in 1815, our edition is fully annotated with modern references and illustrated with the coins Gibbon discusses.] "A Thirty-Year Retrospective of Krause and Mishler: Standard Catalog of World Coins," by William Malkmus "A Few Notes On Translations," by Robert F. Fritsch "Postcards as Numismatic Literature," by Pete Smith "Changing Perspectives on American Numismatic Literature," by David F. Fanning "David Block," by his friends and colleagues "News from the Net." [with remembrances of the John W. Adams sale] "President's Message," by Pete Smith "Letters to the Editor" (by Leonard Augsburger and Pete Smith concerning Augsberger's article in the last issue) "Editorial: De Historia et Numismatica," by E. Tomlinson Fort [in which the editor opens his big mouth] Also, we need material for the next issue. Those who would like to submit something should try to have it to me by April 1 at the latest." [I feel compelled at this point to interject an invitation for those of you who aren't yet NBS members to consider joining. The Asylum is sent only to paid-up members of NBS. As this table of contents illustrates, there is a world of great information contained within its pages. -Editor] Q. DAVID BOWERS CONTACT INFORMATION Dave Bowers reports that "All is fine in the numismatic research category and I look forward to creating a bunch of new writing projects! My good wishes to all! My life is all the richer for the many experiences and friendships I have had in numismatics, including with many members of the NBS, and I hope to be a vital part of 'the world's greatest hobby' for many years to come." He is no longer an employee of Bowers and Merena Galleries or of Collectors Universe. He can be contacted at the following addresses:" Q. David Bowers P.O. Box 539 Wolfeboro Falls, NH 03896-0539 e-mail: qdbarchive@metrocast.net LAKE BOOKS SALE #67 READY Fred Lake writes: "The 67th mail-bid sale of numismatic literature from Lake Books is now available for viewing on their web site at http://www.lakebooks.com/current.html. The 546-lot catalog contains a wide variety of numismatic material, including a long run of Ponterio auction catalogs, many issues of the "Essay-Proof Journal", early "Redbooks", Morgenthau auction catalogs, reference material on Tokens and Medals, and many other subjects. The sale has a closing date of February 11, 2003." MOULTON JANUARY 2003 FIXED PRICE LIST #1 Karl Moulton's latest fixed price list has been published. Covering American numismatic auction catalogs from 1860 to date, the list is the most comprehensive of its kind. Karl's annotations are great references in themselves. One good example is the 12/16/1880 Charles A. Besson sale by John W. Haseltine. Karl writes: "this sale .. contains an 1838-O Half Dollar. You will not find this offering of an 1838-O Half Dollar mentioned in anyone's pedigrees in any references because no one has taken the time to check. According to Haseltine's information, at this juncture, there were six examples known." For more information, see Karl's web site: http://www.coincats.com/ ANS LIBRARY ENDOWMENT DRIVE LAUNCHED John W. Adams writes: "Great News!! The American Numismatic Society has accelerated its building schedule. We now plan to complete renovations of our new downtown location by September 30th and move in by year end. What this means, in practical terms, is that the world's greatest Numismatic Library will soon become easily accessible. For bibliophiles everywhere, the move represents a major milestone. In celebration of this event, the Library Committee has launched a drive to fund the Francis D. Campbell Library Chair. Frank, as many of you know, is our all-star librarian these past 27 years; he combines encyclopedic knowledge with a rare service ethic. We have two objectives: 1) to raise $2,000,000 to endow the Librarian's position and 2) to reach out to a broad constituency to be symbolized by a minimum of 500 contributors. Where do the readers of E-Sylum fit in? We want your money, of course, in large or in small amounts. The 516 readers of The E-Sylum could by themselves fulfill our breadth objective. However, we also seek your support in spreading the gospel far and wide. The A.N.S. Library is (or should be) to bibliophiles what the World Cup is to soccer fans. We need your help in raising awareness of numismatic literature to a new level. Checks should be made payable to the American Numismatic Society and designated for the Francis D. Campbell Library Chair either on the check or in an accompanying note. Send to The American Numismatic Society, Broadway at 155th St., New York, NY 10032. For those who have an interest in playing a more active role, contact me at jadams@ahh.com or contact anyone you know on our committee: Catherine E. Bullowa-Moore Frank Campbell Dan Hamelberg George F. Kolbe Joseph R. Lasser Harrington E. Manville Richard Margolis David & Susan Tripp Anthony Terranova Randolph Zander" 1852 MICKLEY DIARY ENTRIES PUBLISHED Readers may recall last year's April Fools item in the March 31, 2002 E-Sylum (v5n14) titled "MICKLEY MYSTERY". The item implied that diaries of the great American collector Joseph Mickley had been found. For years, only one volume of Mickley's diaries was known - the 1866-69 volume found by George Kolbe and sold to Armand Champa. Your editor spent a wonderful afternoon during a visit to Louisville reading through the diary (and other great numismatic rarities) in Armand's library. It now resides in the ANS Library, courtesy of Harry Bass. One of the great mysteries of American numismatic literature is the fate of the remaining volumes of Mickley's diaries. NBS Board member Joel J. Orosz got the joke. His article on Jacob Giles Morris in The Numismatist had contained what was for me a real bombshell - Joel had managed to locate another volume of Mickley's diaries! No joke! Joel shared the story of his discovery of the volume in the April 28, 2002 E-Sylum (v5n18). While the rest of us were having fun at the 2000 Philadelphia ANA Convention, Joel slipped away to the manuscript repository of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, where he discovered the 1852 volume. Now that's MY kind of fun. The latest issue of the American Numismatic Society's American Journal of Numismatics [Second Series 13 (2001)], just published, contains Joel's newest article titled "Joseph J. Mickley's Diary for 1852: An Annotated Transcription." From Joel's preface: "William Du Bois's observation that Mickley had kept a journal "nearly all his life" suggests that there was once an unbroken string of such volumes, stretching backward from his death in 1878 to the 1830's or even the 1820's. Because our knowledge of numismatic history in the United States prior to the widespread popularization of the hobby in the late 1850s is sketchy at best, the Mickley diaries from the early years would comprise the numismatic analogue of the Dead Sea scrolls. The first-hand testimony to be found within could settle many arguments and illuminate dark corners. The only problem is that, even with the discovery of the 1852 diary, the vast majority of Mickley's volumes are still "missing masterpieces". It seems probable that other volumes of the Mickley diaries may still exist, if for no other reason than that a systematic search has never been mounted for them." Here's one excerpt from the diary: "Friday, May 28, 1852 Went to see Mr. Peale at the Mint who gave me two Proof Half Dollars of the year 1838, on the obverse is a beautiful Head by the late C. Gobrecht (then Dyesinker [sic] of the Mint) on [the] Reverse on [sic] has a Flying Eagle & the other an eagle without the Shield." Joel's annotations make the article a delight for numismatic bibliophiles and researchers. Thanks, Joel! MEDALIST MARCEL JOVINE DIED THIS WEEK. Dick Johnson writes: "Marcel Jovine, who raised the bar for American medallic art by his highly creative and detailed medallic designs, died Monday, January 20, 2003 in Greenwich, Connecticut. He was 81. Jovine was born in Italy, captured in World War II and brought to America as a prisoner-of-war. Repatriated to Italy, he returned to America in 1946, determined to make a career of his sculptural talents. He is noted for his coin designs -- the earliest of which for the 1987 U.S. Constitution $5 gold commemorative -- he was allowed to do both sides. For the half dozen other commemorative coins he was only allowed to do one side. But it was his medallic art where he truly excelled. He did two regular issues for The Society of Medalists including an oversized concave-convex "Creation" and the American Bicentennial tribute, "Yankee Doodle." No other artist made three medals for The Society. His 15-year series for the Medallic Art Company Calendar Medal Series was noted for extremely detailed designs, often running around the edge of the medal in an unbroken circle. These always had strong visual themes: American Bicentennial, Old Glory, Zodiac, Sailing Ships, Olympic Winter Games, Flight, American Automobile, Statue of Liberty, Pegasus and the American Circus. He will also be long remembered for his space medals, a twin medal set for the Viking I and II Mars Landing achievement, and the U.S. Russian Apollo-Soyuz Space Medal. The later was so creative the legend was in English on one side and in Russian on the other. He even signed his name on both sides, once in English, once in Russian. He did two medals for the United States Capitol Historical Society, and a string of medals for other American medal series. One of those was seven medals of Charles Lindbergh, and six for the Pasadena California Centennial. Among numismatists, however, his memory will exist for centuries for perhaps the most notable numismatic medallic work of the 20th century. This was the American Numismatic Society's 125th Anniversary Plaquette in which he replicated dozens of the most famous coins and medals from the Society's collections. I have chosen this work as the frontispiece of my upcoming directory of American Artists. This piece projects the essence of numismatics and vivifies the field we all hold dear in a stunning work of medallic art! Thank you, Marcel, I will miss your jolly, convivial friendship." GARRETT NUMISMATIC LIBRARY UPDATE Joel Orosz writes: "Regarding Nick Graver's query about whether the Garrett numismatic library is still in Evergreen House, I can authoritatively state that it was in residence as of March of 1995, when I paid the house a visit. The collection was mainly a working library of catalogues and the standard references of the 1880s--I don't recall seeing any special editions or sumptuous bindings. The numismatic books were not in the large library addition (below which the coin vault is located), but rather in the original portion of the house, on bookshelves in two large parlor rooms. Whether they are still there, I cannot say. I wrote up my visit, under the title of "John Work Garrett, Evergreen House, and Me," which was published in Bowers and Merena's Rare Coin Review No. 110 (March/April 1996)." GUNTER KIENAST SOUGHT Dale Krueger writes: "Does anyone know what ever happened to Gunter Kienast, author of the two books on Karl Goetz and his medals? Is he still alive? I've heard rumors that he may have passed on, and other rumors that he's down in Florida playing shuffleboard with some Guido medals. Someone's got to know. Thanks." NOTES FROM MIKE GREENSPAN Mike Greenspan writes: "Two quick items: Relative to the book review of "Greenback:...": As a former "insider," I recall that, in the recent past (not more than ten years ago or so), the IRS seized the Mustang Ranch, Nevada's notorious brothel, in a tax case, and allowed it to continue to operate (legally in Nevada). Strange things happen in government. Relative to Dick Johnson's comments on NYC subway tokens and the early ten-cent fare, let me say that he is obviously younger than I. I clearly remember using a nickel in the subway turnstile in the late 1940's and perhaps as late as 1952, prior to the use of any tokens. Now, if can remember where I put my car keys............" FANNING HUNLEY ARTICLE ONLINE David Fanning writes: "My article on nondestructive testing of the Hunley posted to my employer's Web site. It's a PDF, which people can download (we stripped the ads out, so if it looks a little weird, that's why). The article is posted at http://www.asnt.org/publications/materialseval/fanning.pdf with a link also from http://www.asnt.org/publications/materialseval/materialseval.htm. The article contains a few cool photos, including one right after Maria Jacobsen found Dixon's lucky double eagle." SPINGARN MEDAL REFERENCES Dick Johnson writes: "I sold the NAACP's Spingarn Medal twice. Once in my Johnson & Jensen auction number 11 on August 17, 1981 lot 277 where it realized $95 (against a $50-60 estimate) and again in a double auction 15-16 on March 28, 1982 lot 1309 where it sold for $71.50 against the same estimate. It was illustrated in both auction catalogs. Obverse bore a blind Justice holding aloft scales in her right hand with left hand holding the hilt of a sword point down; with sun and rays behind. Reverse is the medal name superimposed on a wreath with four lines of lettering divided by a fairly large reserve (the blank area on a medal intended for inscribing recipient's name and award details), with wings below. In both instances the medal was unsigned, unawarded and the maker was unknown to me then (and now!). I would be delighted to learn who, indeed, was the artist and who struck it (and would gladly add this data to my upcoming directory of American Artists, Diesinkers, Engravers, Medalists and Sculptors). The design is quite good and the striking exhibits an experienced maker. If I had to guess (and I shouldn't) it is in the style of Julio Kilenyi (and possibly struck by Whitehead & Hoag). Both are gone with no records surviving, so any documented data will have to come from the NAACP itself. The fact the highest award for black Americans was probably modeled by a white person is evidence of the scarcity of black medalists. In my databank of 3,350 American artists I have listed only eight black Americans that I can identify. The most famous of all was Richmond Barthe (1901-1989). Medallic Art Company struck three of his medals before World War II. (I remember our art department contacting him in the 1960s to do additional medals but to no avail.) My list also includes Selma Hortense Burke (1907-1995) who claimed John R. Sinnock stole her relief of Franklin D. Roosevelt for the design of the Roosevelt Dime. I have examined a photograph of her Roosevelt relief and it no way aligns with Sinnock's dime model. His work is entirely original. Walter Breen mentions Selma Burke in his Encyclopedia, and she must have repeated this story often, because it is mentioned in every one of her biographies. Robert Van Ryzin wrote an article on her and her relief in Numismatic News 30 November 1973." Joe Levine of Presidential Coin & Antique Company writes: "This appeared in our Auction #70, #711. I believe the correct spelling in Spingarn, nor Springard." "NAACP SPINGARN AWARD MEDAL, (1914) 62.8mm. Gilt Bronze. Unsigned. XF/AU, with a suspension loop applied at top. There is a bit of darkening on the medal immediately below where the loop was applied. The obverse features a standing figure of Justice holding balance scales aloft with her right hand and a sword in her left. A radiant sun is in the background. Inscribed at lower left is, FOR/ MERIT. On the reverse, a cartouche inscribed SPINGARN MEDAL is superimposed over a wreath enclosing the lamp of learning. Below: AWARDED TO with an empty space for engraving the name of the awardee. At bottom is a three line inscription: BY THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION/ FOR THE ADVANCEMENT/ OF COLORED PEOPLE above a pair of wings to either side of a flame. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) awards the Spingarn Medal annually to a black American who has achieved career excellence. This award was established in 1914 by Joel Elias Spingarn (1875-1939), who was then chairman of the NAACP board of directors. He was a literary critic who was one of the first white members of the NAACP. Spingarn taught literature at Columbia University and encouraged the development of black writers during the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s. As the medal is awarded in gold, we presume that this is a specimen strike. This is one of the more important medals relating to African-American history. The winners of the award read like a Who's Who of twentieth century black America. A rare medal - it is the first we have seen. (G) 7001. #711. Gilt Bronze. XF/AU looped. $219.00" Gar Travis located several web references for us, including some background on Spingarn from the online Worldbook Encyclopedia (http://www2.worldbook.com/) Gar provided links to some pictures of the medal. Unfortunately, none is a close-up of the medal itself. "Marian Anderson with Springarn Medal and Eleanor Roosevelt" http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/odyssey/archive/08/0812001r.jpg "A later image of Marian Anderson with the medal" http://home.wanadoo.nl/gregquast/imwebsite.jpg/NAACP.jpg "Bad image, but an image nevertheless and an unmentioned recipient." http://www.blackvoices.com/feature/bhm_00/science.htm ENCYCLOPEDIAS BACK FROM THE DEAD Speaking of encyclopedias, a Boston Globe article on December 30, 2002 reported that despite the pounding they took from electronic media, the good old-fashioned hardcopy encyclopedia is enjoying a revival of sorts. Long live the book! "In its knotty-pine bookcase, the encyclopedia remained a kind of home intellectual center for decades. A thousand times we heard ''Look it up in the Britannica'' when we had a question or homework assignment, even after the battered row of brown volumes was long outdated. That story is legion in America, though the brand might be Compton's, World Book, or Americana. In today's online world, however, one might reasonably consider the row of dignified volumes a quaint relic, like glass milk bottles or the slide rule. But the surprising fact is that printed encyclopedias are not only still around, they seem to be enjoying a modest revival. Publishers are rediscovering how to reach the customer who thinks a printed book is still the best source of knowledge. After a four-year hiatus, Encyclopaedia Britannica, based in Chicago, has almost sold out the new edition it released this year and is planning a revision for next year. Libraries remain the best customers, but there is still a core of people who want that row of books at home." "But just as radio survived television and records didn't kill off live performances, the printed encyclopedia stuck around. ''People were still asking about the print set,'' says Patti Ginnis, Britannica's sales director. Schools and libraries still wanted encyclopedias, and individuals like Schiebler continued to order them. ''It wasn't huge,'' Ginnis says, ''but it did make us sit up and take notice. It made us realize that people were still interested.'' Britannica began to showcase the print set on its Web site and to sell it in booths at state fairs and all kinds of professional trade shows with surprising success." "A 2002 study of research habits by Outsell Inc., a market research company based in San Francisco, found that while people will use the Internet for a fast information search, they tend to place more trust in a book." ''One significant finding was that print is the preferred format for using content, though not the preferred format for finding it,'' http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/364/living/Encyclopedias_still_speak_volumes+.shtml JETON, ZHETON, GETTONE In response to Paul Withers' note on "the Italian Telephone Token which bears the inscription "Gettone", Martin Purdy writes: "This is probably also a good example of a "false friend": "gettone" is the standard Italian word for a token or a counter, not (or not necessarily) a jeton per se. The word has spread to other countries and cultures with the meaning "token", too: just today I saw a Russian 1975 mint set that had, on the case, the words "Leningrad mint's [sic] token" in English; the parallel Russian text used the word "Zheton", quite clearly derived from French "jeton", for "token"." KRAUSE CLOSEOUTS Peter Mosiondz, Jr. writes: "I thought some of our bibliophiles might be interested in the following closeouts from Edward R. Hamilton, Bookseller (http://www.edwardrhamilton.com #2255243 Medallic Portraits of Washington, 2nd ed, $1.95 #2223961 Hard Times Tokens, 6th edition $1.95 #2218496 Latin American Tokens $1.95 #216633X Standard Guide to Paper Money, 2nd ed $2.95 Apparently Krause is cleaning (ware)house. I am told that my own book "Successful Stamp Dealing" will soon be remaindered as well. I am planning to work on a revised edition of it along with "Successful Coin Dealing" that I plan to publish through J.T. Stanton in the not too distant future." NUMISMATIC PROPHECY. Medal Maven Dick Johnson writes: "Wow! Terry Trantow, may I repeat your quote (from last week's E-Sylum)? "It would not surprise me [in the future] to see continued works on tokens/medals and its fraternity overshadow that of coin collecting." Somehow I have felt this for a long time. Terry, are you clairvoyant?" CANADIAN NATIONAL LIBRARY FLOODS (AGAIN) The Canadian National Library in Ottowa seems to have a little problem with flooding -- not a good thing for a library. On the web site of the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. is an article about the problem. Here's a excerpt. Follow the link for the complete article. "A flood cleanup wasn't on the National Library's list of 50th anniversary preparations. But the extreme cold burst a pipe Tuesday, sending staff into a salvage mode that is all too familiar. Staff at the library say they're getting good at drying out books, but it's not a skill they're proud of As staff dealt with the rogue water, retired librarians gathered for pictures to mark the library's half-century of operations. In the last decade there have been about 70 floods in the building on Wellington Street..." http://ottawa.cbc.ca/template/servlet/View?filename=ot_natlib20030123 ONE-TO-ONE LIBRARIES Document and autograph dealer Kenneth Rendell published some thoughts a couple years ago on the effect that the internet is having on bibliophiles. The article appeared in Business 2.0 (September 26, 2000). The full text is available at this address: http://www.business2.com/articles/mag/0,1640,14038,FF.html "The major libraries of the future are being formed right now, and the Internet in particular and technology in general are important ingredients. " "Few of these libraries are even slightly known to the public... While the sources of historical letters and manuscripts have always been relatively few, and collectors of original writings have been more individual in their approach, collecting books has always been greatly influenced by the supply system. If you were interested in people or subjects out of the mainstream, and there was no dealer specializing in the area, you would have a very difficult time collecting. Dealers wouldn't buy non-mainstream books for their stocks and certainly couldn't afford to risk catalog space on books of unproven interest. The Internet has revolutionized this. The books that you want to put together on a particular subject may be scattered among several hundred dealers throughout the world, and they may not be expensive enough to appear in printed catalogs, but by using the Net, you can find them in the most efficient way. " FEATURED WEB SITE This week's featured web site is the International Olympic Numismatic Federation. "The "Fédération Internationale de Numismatique Olympique", better known as FINO, is an official Olympic Federation founded by the president of the IOC on 24 March, 1993. Headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, its purpose is to bring together people and organisations with an interest in Olympism, pursuing this interest through the collection and study of coins, bank notes, medals and tokens." http://www.collectors.olympic.org/e/fino/index2.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. To join, print the application and return it with your check to the address printed on the application. For those without web access, write to David Sklow, NBS Secretary-Treasurer, P.O. Box 76192, Ocala, FL 34481. For Asylum mailing address changes and other membership questions, contact Dave at this email address: sdsklow@aol.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 (To be removed from the E-Sylum mailing list send an email message with the word "Unsubscribe" in the body of the message to: esylum-request@binhost.com)