From esylum at binhost.com Sun Jul 1 19:25:27 2007 From: esylum at binhost.com (esylum@binhost.com) Date: Sun Jul 1 19:26:09 2007 Subject: The E-Sylum v10#26, July 1, 2007 Message-ID: <005e01c7bc37$1c90bfe0$2b0110ac@corp.cmdinfo.com> Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 10, Number 26, July 1, 2007: an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society. Copyright (c) 2007, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society. WAYNE'S WORDS: THE E-SYLUM 1 JULY, 2007 Among our recent subscribers are Ron Pope and Robert T. Manning MD, courtesy of Dave Bowers, also Rickie Rose and Dan Burleson. Welcome aboard! We now have 1,145 subscribers. This week we open with good news about (and a review of) a long-awaited numismatic publishing project - the Canadian Numismatic Bibliography. Also of interest to bibliophiles is the SPMC Author's Forum at the upcoming Memphis Paper Money show. In research queries this week, a new subscriber seeks information on Wayte Raymond's Standard Catalogue. In response to a question last week, E-Sylum readers come through with a flood of great information on the Laura Gardin Fraser Better Babies Medal. Also, John Meissner provides the answer to his 1960's classified ad quiz, but not before Dick Johnson takes a crack at solving it. Dick also provides us with insight into the creation of the classified advertising schemes used in weekly American numismatic publications. My London Diary is up next, with a look at life during a tense weekend of terrorist activity. Numismatic activities continued with a visit to Westminster Abbey and a spy-movie-style rendezvous at Heathrow airport. In the news, the Canadian "medal detector" has been nominated for an award for his efforts to unite Canadian war medals with families and museums, the Indian coin shortage continues, and the Royal Canadian Mint manages to sell a few of the Million Dollar gold coins. To learn what the American Eugenics Movement, razor blades and the "Pyx Chamber" have to do with numismatics, read on. Have a great week, everyone. Wayne Homren Numismatic Bibliomania Society CANADIAN NUMISMATIC BIBLIOGRAPHY READY FOR PRINTING Canadian Numismatic Bibliography Project chairman Ronald Greene writes: "We are pleased to be able to report that the work is completed as follows: i) all text is complete ii) all photographs have been inserted iii) the final formatting has been done iv) the index has been checked against the entries v) photo credits compiled "All that remains is to compile the computerized, press-ready disc that will go to the printer. This will be delivered to me at the Canadian Numismatic Association convention and I will take it to the printer when I return from the Niagara Falls. "At the convention Darryl Atchison, Paul Petch and I will have available photocopy quality print-outs for those interested in a preview. If the odd error that may have slipped past the proof-readers is spotted those will be correctable, although additional entries will not be possible as they impact on all following work and force re-formatting... With luck we should have books ready to ship in early September." [Those of us who ordered the bibliography at its pre-publication price are getting a bargain. Since then the book has grown considerably along with printing and distribution costs. Addressing pre-publication subscribers, Ron adds: "If you have moved in the last four years and are not certain that you have given me your new address please do so within the next month. I feel quite confident that you will approve of the final product and agree that the lengthy wait has been worthwhile." I can attest that the book has indeed been worth the wait. Darryl Atchison passed through London's Heathrow airport yesterday on his way from Ireland to Canada for the C.N.A. convention; we met there while he was waiting between flights and I had the pleasure and privilege of reviewing the page proofs, housed in an ungodly thick binder. The manuscript will be published in two volumes. The entire CNB is 1246 pages, with 606 pages in volume one and 640 in volume two (which includes a 96-page index section to be printed on a different coloured paper). There are illustrations throughout, with one or more pictures for every two pages. The illustrations are not just of numismatic literature, but of many important numismatic items as well. The illustrations and the inclusion of a number of exclusive essays, special listings, and biographical compilations make this publication far more than "just" a bibliography. To read it is to gain an education in the whole of Canadian numismatic history. It is also a marvelous starting point for anyone hoping to do new research in the area; in addition to the bibliographic listings, the book includes contact information for virtually every major research institution and archive across Canada and the world with any connection to Canadian numismatics. At one point the authors considered naming it the "Canadian Numismatic Research Handbook", but it's far too massive to be a mere "Handbook". I won't reproduce the entire table of contents here, but topics cover the entire numismatic map from card money to modern cheques, including coins, tokens, medals, ration books, P.O.W. currency, War of 1812 Army promissory notes, private banknotes and everything in between. The original essays include Peter Moogk's "Historical Introduction to Canadian Currency and Numismatics", J. Graham Esler's "Brief History of the Bank of Canada Numismatic Currency Collection," Moogk's essay on "French Regime Coins, Currency and Counters" and Chris Faulkner's volume-by-volume synopsis of Fred Bowman's unpublished Encyclopedia of Canadian Numismatics (now at the Bank of Canada). Chapter 12, "Collectors and Collections" consists of about 60 pages of biographies, obituaries and photos of prominent collectors of Canadian coins. Which brings us to the illustrations - a large number of numismatic books, catalogues and price lists are pictured, old and new. These alone make the book a pleasure to browse. But in addition to the images of literature are many images of numismatic items themselves, some common (like a 2004 Poppy Quarter) but many quite rare. The authors went to great lengths to obtain the illustrations and permissions to publish them. In the numismatic world, among those generous in providing images were Dan Hamelberg, Stack's, Heritage, American Numismatic Rarities and Richard Doty of the Smithsonian Institution. A prime example of their taste and persistence in choosing and securing images is the frontispiece: The Royal Charter of the Hudson's Bay Company. Dated May 2, 1670, the document is the company's trademark and much communication was required to secure the rights to publish it. Other examples of images include: * The only known example of a specimen banknote for Magdalen Island, 1815 (from a 2002 Morten & Eden sale) * A leather banknote from Prince Edward Island * A photograph of registrants attending the 1909 American Numismatic Association convention in Montreal, Quebec, including P. N. Bretton, Thomas Elder, Ludger Gravel, J.C. Mitchelson, Edgar Adams, Frank Higgins, Waldo Newcomer, William Poillon, Frank Duffield and Ben Green. * Depression scrip of the Kitchener-Waterloo Mutual Aid Association, a "time certificate" in the denomination of one hour. (I found this quite interesting following my recent purchase of an 1830s British co-operative society note, also in the denomination of "one hour"). * The U.S. Congressional Gold Medal awarded to Canadian Ambassador Kenneth Taylor March 6, 1980 for his role in spiriting six American hostages safely out of Iran. A final example of the team's persistence is the inclusion of a photograph of Bert Koper, who established the first national Canadian numismatic organization. No picture of him was known to have been published. Through an old-time collector in Winnipeg, contact was made with Koper's family, who provided a photograph. (Incidentally, Koper produced Whitman-style coin boards for Canadian coins in his kitchen for sale to collectors). OK, we get it - the book includes everything, right? Is nothing missing? Well, with any project of this scope there are bound to be omissions. Many items with only a marginal Canadian connection are deliberately skipped. And while there are a couple significant inclusions from 2005, the book effectively stops at 2004. The biggest omission is that no articles from Canadian Coin news are included - the authors were unsuccessful in obtaining a complete run of the publication, and decided not to include a partial run. The brochure for the Annual SPMC Author's Forum (see below) includes a colorful (and insightful) quote from Benjamin Franklin, currency engraver & printer: "If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are dead & rotten, either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing." This certainly applies to the accomplished Author's Forum speakers, but it applies as well to Darryl Atchison, Ron Greene and all those associated with the Canadian Numismatic Bibliography Project. This twelve-year labor of love, like most worthwhile numismatic publishing projects, has been a thankless task replete with late nights and long weekends of unpaid labor, and various project setbacks and disappointments. But the finished work will live for the ages; henceforth every numismatic researcher and collector with an interest in Canadian numismatic history will be indebted to this team for their Herculean efforts. According to Ronald Greene, the retail price of the Canadian Numismatic Bibliography is expected to be Can$225.00 (about US $212) plus postage. Sound like a lot of money? Not for what you're getting. Luckily, many of our readers are among those who subscribed at the much lower pre- publication price. About 250 of the planned 300 copies are already spoken for. For more information or to place an order, contract Ron at ragreene@telus.net. Please show your support for the project and help ensure that the book is distributed widely. If you have even the slightest interest in numismatic research in general or Canadian numismatics in particular, purchase a copy for your library, or raise funds from your fellow club members to add a copy to your club's library. Mention the book to your favorite dealers. Encourage your national associations, libraries and numismatic museums (especially outside of Canada) to acquire copies as well - no institutional library will be complete without one. Even those of us who are "in" at the prepublication price should consider adding a donation for the good of the project. This was no boondoggle funded by a grant from a wealthy benefactor. Those involved with the project have donated not just years of toil, but buckets of hard cash as well. I'll be sending a check, and I hope many of you do as well. The project is an extraordinary effort, and deserves the support of every numismatist. -Editor] BOOK: THE GUIDE TO COINS AND BANKNOTES OF YUGOSLAVIA In March of this year we published an announcement of a new book on the coins and banknotes of Yugoslavia and its successor countries titled 'The Guide to Coins and Banknotes of Yugoslavia, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia'. Author and publisher Zlatko Viscevic writes that "The interest for the book is very large and the book will be out of stock soon. The price of the book is: 25 EUR (or 32 US$) + shipping. Shipping: 7,10 US$ (ordinary mail), 10,30 US$ (registered). The book can be ordered via e-mail: zviscevic@pravri.hr or mobile: +385 91 727 5837. The necessary data about the book can be found on my webpages." http://www.pravri.hr/~zviscevic/catalog2.htm English version: http://www.pravri.hr/~zviscevic/catalog2.htm#e2 [Zlatko has produced what looks to be a very useful reference. The web site shows sample pages of the book and lists the contents in detail. He also publishes a blog on Croatian numismatics: http://hrvatskanumizmatika.blog.hr/ -Editor] BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT: THE GUIDE TO COINS AND BANKNOTES OF YUGOSLAVIA http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v10n10a05.html JULY 6 SPMC AUTHOR'S FORUM SPEAKER LINEUP Fred Reed, editor of Paper Money, the official journal of the Society of Paper Money Collectors, forwarded a press release with details of the Fourth Annual SPMC Author's Forum to be held at the Memphis Paper Money Show July 6th. Wendell Wolka will emcee the event featuring the following stellar lineup of numismatic authors: * R. Shawn Hewitt, author of "Minnesota Obsolete Bank Notes and Scrip" * Doug Murray, author of "The Complete Catalog of United States Large Size Star Notes 1910-1929)" * Art Friedberg, "Updating Paper Money of the United States and other projects" * Ray and Steve Feller, authors of 'Silent Witnesses: Civilian Camp Money of World War II" * Pierre Fricke, author of 'Collecting Confederate Paper Money - Type Edition 2007 e-Book' * Mary Counts and Q. David Bowers, 'An overview of paper money book publishing, including current and future projects' * Wendell Wolka, 'CD revised edition of Indiana Obsolete Notes and Scrip' The event brochure notes: "This forum was conceived as a way for authors and prospective authors of paper money books to exchange ideas, "tricks of the trade," and form mutual support on the long road between conception and publication of a worthwhile book. This Forum, in tandem with our Society's George W. Wait Memorial Prize which supports research of book length paper money projects, is part of SPMC's outreach to hobbyists by supporting numismatic education. Our Author's Forum is unique in the hobby. We invite all prospective authors and others interested in paper money books to attend and participate in this event. As in the past, this year's presenters' works cover a wide diversity of paper money topics, so you should find something of interest to you. All presenters are experienced and well known in the hobby, so I'm sure you will benefit from their talks. Stick around to the close of the forum for a time to meet & greet our illustrious panel." PBS HISTORY DETECTIVES TO FEATURE CONTINENTAL CURRENCY Dick Johnson writes: "U.S. readers should check their local listings this week for an episode of PBS History Detectives, one segment of which will be on Continental Currency." [Dick provided a link to the show's web site, which is excerpted below. -Editor] "CONTINENTAL CURRENCY AIRING: Season 5, Episode 2 THE DETECTIVE: Gwen Wright THE PLACE: New York City THE CASE: Between the pages of a book, a family in Omaha, Nebraska has found a puzzling $6 bill dated February 17, 1776. "The bill's text and designs are replete with mysteries and clues. How could it claim to be federal currency when it's dated five months before the colonies actually declared their independence? Why does it say it's backed by "Spanish milled dollars"? What do the strange images on it mean? "Britain rightfully considered these monies sheer provocation, and reacted by flooding the market with counterfeit bills. Is our bill real - or perhaps real fakery? "History Detectives investigates an artifact that could represent America's first declaration of its independence." For more information on the program, see: http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/investigations/502_continentalcurre ncy.html [As noted in last week's London Diary, I recently purchased examples of the Nazi WWII "Operation Bernhard" counterfeits of British banknotes. I know colonial U.S. paper money was often counterfeited, and recall reading of some British efforts to counterfeit notes of the revolting colonies, but don't recall reading about any "flooding" of the market with British- made counterfeits. Were the Brits more successful than the Nazis in wartime counterfeiting? Can anyone point us to particular resources for information on this topic? -Editor] WAYTE RAYMOND STANDARD CATALOGUE INFORMATION SOUGHT Dave Bowers forwarded the following query from Ron Pope, who writes: "I read with interest a recent article in 'Coin World' wherein you mention the old 'Standard Catalogue' by Wayte Raymond. "I like non-traditional stuff. Therefore, instead of trying to assemble a complete of 'Red Books,' I am trying to obtain a complete set of the 'Standard Catalogue,' a task I believe to be more difficult to achieve than the 'Red Book.' "Can you give me any information on the start and end (1st edition-last edition, etc) of this book? I always thought the 18th edition (1957) was the last edition but I believe you mentioned a 1958 edition. Also, were the first two editions (1934 and 1935) in paperback? Thanks for any help you may be able to give me." [For a long time I worked on completing a set of these myself, and had a very nice group of top-condition volumes, some of which were from the James O. Sloss library. But with my last house move I ran out of space and sold them in a Lake Books sale. Since I'm away from my library I don't have access to my bibliographic references - can anyone fill us in on what constitutes a complete set? -Editor] LAURA GARDIN FRASER BETTER BABIES MEDAL Regarding the Laura Gardin Fraser 'Better Babies' medal, Dick Johnson writes: "It was stuck by Medallic Art Company in 1913 and carries the catalog number 13-5 in MAco archives. The inquirer had only to look at the edge of the medal to find the Medallic Art name. It did not come from a 'foundry', of course - it was not cast, but struck in bronze in two sizes: 2-inch (51mm) and 1 5/16-inch (33mm). "The medal was sponsored by Woman's Home Companion magazine (they paid for it and their name is on the reverse). However, it was prepared for a quasi-governmental U.S. organization (which generally do not patent or copyright their products). This is one of the few medals that was issued such protection -- Design Patent D46,399 issued 15 September 1914. "The application was filed by Laura Gardin Fraser herself, who, undoubtedly, had a hunch this could have been an important creation that deserved protection. (She took this precaution inspired by husband James Earle Fraser's experience, who, early on, had several of his creations commercialized by others where he earned no royalty.) "The American Numismatic Society has two of these medals in their collections. Anyone can go to their website and find this medal described by clicking on 'collections' and entering the name Better Babies. Or click on these URLs: http://www.numismatics.org/lookup.cgi?string=1914.33.1 http://www.numismatics.org/lookup.cgi?string=1976.263.27 "The medal was exhibited the year it was created at the National Academy of Design in New York City. It was item #51 in their Winter 1913 exhibition. It was illustrated in a catalog of a National Sculpture Society exhibit, also in New York City, in 1923 (page 298). "It has been widely illustrated, appeared in articles and cataloged several times. It is Baxter (Beaux-Art Medals) 355, it appears twice in Storrer (Medical Medals) 4384 and 5624. It was reported and illustrated in 'Medal In America,' edited by Alan Stahl (1988) page 212. "While the medal is not common, an example does come on the medal market every year or so. As for value, I sold one once in one of my auctions, but Joe Levine has sold them at least a dozen times, the latest of which was in his auction 73 in 2005 (lot 664) where it brought $143.75. "You might also hear from Fred L. Reed in answer to this E-Sylum appeal. Fred has done some fantastic research on the Frasers' medallic work and can undoubtedly add something interesting." [According to our next submission, at least one example struck in gold exists. -Editor] Harry Waterson and Donald Scarinci forwarded information from Joe Levine sales of the medal. Harry writes: "This medal is known in two varieties, 34mm in Gold and 51mm in Bronze. The one Gold example was sold by Joe Levine in Presidential Coin and Antiques Auction #69 Lot 384. It sold for $759. The medal is signed Laura Gardin, Sculptor. In the auction catalogue, Joe Levine wrote: 'This medal was executed in 1913 just before Ms. Gardin married James Earle Fraser and changed the signature on her medals. Elaine Leotti, in her paper, 'The American Woman Medalist', comments as follows: "Fraser's Better Babies Medal done in 1913 for the Woman's Home Companion is her only piece which can truly be called feminine. It is a well balanced medal, nicely executed if a bit on the sentimental side. The babies' bare flesh is soft, almost palpable, their curls and dimpled elbows invite touch, thus appealing to exactly the audience the medal was meant to impress.' "The bronze version of this medal is fairly common. I have tracked it since 1999 and Levine has sold 5 examples and 8 examples have sold on eBay to date. The average price has been $166, although the eBay prices have almost all been below the average. One medal was unawarded and only two were awarded to males. The bronze medals are edgemarked Crowell Pub. Co. and they are all edge dated starting in 1912, with the bulk dated 1913 and two dated 1916. The Gold medal is dated 1913 on the edge and 1922 in the cartouche. I would conclude that the medal was in active use for about 10 years ending in the mid twenties and that there are probably hundreds of bronze examples extant. "It was in the mid twenties that these Better Babies Contests were transformed into Fitter Families for Future Firesides competitions under the auspices of the American Eugenics Society and took on a more racist overtone. It was no longer just looking for "A sound mind in a sound body" I refer you to a paper by Steven Selden which chronicles this change. And you can track this change obverse to obverse because in 1927 Julio Kilenyi did a Fitter Families Medal which is illustrated in Selden's paper." To read the Steven Selden paper on the American Eugenics Movement, see: http://www.aps-pub.com/proceedings/1492/490205.pdf Harry also forwarded a link to a picture of Laura Gardin working on the obverse of her Better Babies Medal: http://www.nationalcowboymuseum.org/research/images/r_a_fras_imag_babe_lg.jp g Roger deWardt Lane of Hollywood, Florida writes: "I was intrigued by the reference to the Better Babies Medal. I had once written about a Better Babies medal that I found at a flea market three or four years ago, I and dug around to find the article. Then I went back to The E-Sylum to read the information you had and was very surprised to see that it is not the same medal." [Roger's medal is a Better Babies Contest medal from 1931, and it's a product of Whitehead & Hoag, not Medallic Art. It is NOT Fraser's design. Roger describes it as "BETTER BABIES CONTEST - Conferred By - THE INDIANAPOLIS NEWS, around a chubby baby. The other side - INDIANA STATE FAIR - INDIANA - SEPTEMBER 1931, around center figures of a ball player and a buffalo. In very small letters, below - W & H Co. Newark, N.J." To read Roger's article on the http://www.geocities.com/dewardt/flcc/muttjefftoohot.html TOM ELDER PHOTOS - WERE THERE DINNERS IN BOTH 1908 AND 1910? Regarding the Tom Elder banquet picture discussed recently, Dave Hirt writes: "I am writing from Budapest, away from my library, so these are the facts as I remember them. The banquet was not in 1910, but rather 1908, following the ANA convention in Philadelphia, just prior to Elder's James Wilson sale. An account of the banquet is in The Numismatist of October/November of that year. I have a copy of the picture, and in addition to Mr. Virgil Brand, I have identified 5 or 6 others." [Karl Moulton's analysis of the photo in question last week seems definitive in placing it in 1910 at Keen's Chop House in New York. Lacking library access, Dave may be recalling a different Elder photo. -Editor] 1910 ELDER DINNER PHOTO IDENTIFIED http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v10n25a14.html ABNCO HAWAIIAN BANKNOTE SOUVENIR CARD SERIES ANSWER In response to Don Cleveland's question last week about American Bank Note Company Hawaiian currency cards, souvenir card dealer Ken Barr writes: "The complete ABNCo Hawaii currency set consists of eight cards, namely (listed by Souvenir Card Collectors Society numbers): SO 14 ANA 1981 Midyear face 1895 $5 Silver Certificate SO 57 ANA 1987 face 1895 $10 Silver Certificate SO 58 NWPMC 1987 face 1895 $20 Silver Certificate SO 60 IPMS 1988 face 1895 $50 Silver Certificate SO 61 ANA 1988 face 1895 $100 Silver Certificate SO 62 FUN 1989 face 1895 $5 Gold Certificate SO 67 IPMS 1989 face 1895 $10 Gold Certificate SO 68 ANA 1988 face 1895 $20 Gold Certificate The ABNCo representatives never offered a clear reason as to why cards featuring the 1895 $50 and $100 Gold Certificates were not issued to round out the set." ABNCO HAWAIIAN BANKNOTE SOUVENIR CARD SERIES INFORMATION SOUGHT http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v10n25a12.html ON NUMISMATIC EPONYMS Dave Bowers forwarded this query from Robert T. Manning MD, who writes: "I am a retired physician and a latecomer to numismatics. Medical history has long been a subject of great fun and education -- particularly in the search for stories behind eponymic disease, for example -- Who was Alzheimer? "Interest in eponyms and coins made we wonder if there are eponymic coins. I see that a number of collections, e.g. Eliason, are noted by the name of the collector." Dave replied: "The spelling is Eliasberg, as in the Eliasberg Collection. There are no coins specifically called Eliasberg coins, unless used as a pedigree. There are Gobrecht dollars, named for Mint engraver Christian Gobrecht, who cut the dies, the Paquet reverse $20 gold coin (for Anthony Paquet, Mint engraver who created the dies), etc. Hope this helps!" [Certain high-profile coins are known by the name of the earliest known (or most prominent) collector in its pedigree chain. One example is the Dexter 1804 Dollar; another is the Jefferson Davis Confederate Half Dollar. Dealers of course, have been known to coin names for merchandising purposes. Some of these may quickly go by the wayside, but others may "stick"; only time will tell. The "stickiness" does seem to increase with the rarity and value of the item. The "Wayne Homren 2007 Dime" won't stick, but the "Lee-Homren-Bowers Sand's Ale Encased Postage Stamp" might someday (and it's not even a coin). -Editor] NUMISMATIC NEWS QUIZ ANSWER Last week John Meissner posed the question, "It's the early 1960's. You have $100 to spend. Which of the following regular or semi-regular advertisers in "Coin World" or "Numismatic News" might it be best to avoid?: 1. Miczek & Co., Corry, Pennsylvania 2. Loser's Coin Store, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 3. Ned Davis Coin and Toy Shop, Reading, Pennsylvania 4. H.C. Buell, Lone Tree, Iowa 5. Buell and Son, Washington, Missouri 6. Daniel J. McBride, Atlanta, Georgia 7. Norman "Poor Ole Broke" Brock, San Antonio, Texas 8. Fred Johnson, Camden, New Jersey 9. Toivo Johnson, Brewer, Maine 10. W.E. Johnson, Santa Barbara, California Extra-credit for details of why it might be best to avoid your choices." Dick Johnson writes: "Please thank John Meissner for his quiz. This brought back memories. I would spend all $100 with Norman Brock. He ran a bookstore and dealt in coins (and tons of other stuff). "He called himself 'Poor ole broke Brock.' But he was broke like a fox. This was actually a brilliant marketing ploy. He often said he lost three fortunes before he got into the book / coin business. This could have been true (in Texas real estate? oil? other high risk ventures?). "His San Antonio bookstore was piled to the rafters. He also said he could never sell anything since he could not find it. True! There were piles of everything everywhere. He kept buying and added new purchases to the piles of old. Had he been in existence today his store would have been a delight to browse for any eSyluminary. "The three Johnsons (8, 9, and 10) also had to be good guys. Tovio Johnson issued the Coin Designer Medal Series of six medals struck by Metal Arts of Rochester. "The name Buell on two choices were aliases of a teenager gone bad. He offered scarce coins at bargain prices in both Coin World and Numismatic News and never shipped the coins. This quickly caught up with him. We had suspicions of him when his ads came into Coin World at the time. I ran into him at a coin show and came up behind him and called out the name he had given us in the ads. No response. He didn't turn around nor acknowledge my greeting, adding further suspicion. When the complaints came in we alerted the postal inspectors. "I don't remember his real name but the postal inspectors did arrest him and he went to prison. Many people who wanted a coin bargain lost money. I have often wondered what happened to him after he got out of prison. Had he learned a lesson, or was this his first act in a life of crime?" John Meissner writes: "The 'bad' dealers include numbers 1, 3, 5, 6, and 8. Numbers 1 and 5 were the same individual (number 5 was a shell company set up by number 1, John Miczek. While in Corry, the teenage Miczek was at least a somewhat honest dealer if slow, but by late 1960 he was wanted by Corry police for passing bad checks). Numbers 3 and 6 were also a single individual. Number 3 was an alias used by Daniel McBride, wanted for mail fraud in Atlanta and almost caught when members of a coin club recognized him in Reading, Pennsylvania. Number 8, Fred Johnson (an alias) actually sued two local banks, saying that they were hurting his business by not providing him with an unlimited supply of mint sealed bags at face value. When he lost the case, he disappeared, having bilked collectors and other dealers out of thousands of dollars in undelivered Philadelphia mint rolls and bags. Federal authorities charged him with mail fraud, and eventually turned up working at a used book store in Hawaii, again flushed out by a savvy coin club member." EARLY HISTORY OF CLASSIFIED COIN ADS Dick Johnson (founding editor of Coin World) writes: "Here are some further comments on John Meissner's study of classified ads. Numismatic News existed before Coin World and their format was largely the tiny ads placed by individual collectors to buy, sell or trade numismatic items. Strictly speaking, these were not "classified ads" but were instead, "word ads" as NN did not arrange them under any classification system. I believe they had only three different headings at the top of any column: For Sale, Wanted, For Trade. They were placed indiscriminately under one of these three columns. "Before I started Coin World I had studied those NN ads. How could this be improved? I had been classified ad manager on the Kansas City Kansan so I was familiar with the concept of classified advertising pages. Also I had created a scheme of arranging ads for numismatic items under useful categories. Basically these were denominations that were collected by the readers, or subjects of collector interest. "These were spelled out in the Pilot issue of Coin World. The concept stuck and was used right from the beginning. I chose numbers for these categories under 100 and left room in this schedule for new categories to be added where I thought this could occur (called "open numeric"). The ads came in from readers and the text was pasted on forms that had the classification number in the upper right hand corner. "The forms were arranged by this classification number. When the deadline came, the new ads were sent to the typesetter who set the text from the original copy. Meanwhile pages from the previous week were marked up as to those to kill and those that would run again. "A compositor would merge the old and new ads as he laid out the columns. Remember this was metal type he was handling. The entire operation was highly manual, labor intensive. Oh, what a contrast today! Today classified ads are all handled by computer -- not only setting the text image -- but also arranging them in the proper classification. "It can be said I invented the classification system for coin ads as it appeared in the first issues of Coin World. The schedule remained in use, and was modified from time to time as new classifications were needed over the years (like, "bullion items" when these came on the scene). The basic scheme is still in use 46 years later. "A requirement of classified ads is accuracy. In addition to editorial duties in the early Coin World days, I processed all the classified ads. I prided myself in this accuracy. When I left CW the processing of the classified ads was turned over to someone who did not have this concept. For months afterwards CW ran a form in the classified ad pages for an advertiser to use to correct a missfiled or misclassified ad (or ad with any other error). "Later, Numismatic News followed Coin World's innovations, not only moving up to weekly publication but also creating their own classification system for their individual ads." WAYNE'S LONDON DIARY 1 JULY, 2007 Last week's E-Sylum was published from Pittsburgh, where I was visiting relatives over the weekend. I arrived back in London Wednesday afternoon. So it's been a short week with few numismatic events, but it's been interesting nonetheless. On Friday morning I turned on the television during breakfast and the big story seemed to be the Royal Mail strike - postal workers throughout the country had walked out in a labor dispute. There was a much shorter mention of "potentially viable" explosive device found in a car in London overnight; the report seemed inconclusive and almost routine. If a location was mentioned, I didn't notice. I took my usual tube ride to the office and everything seemed quite normal. A television monitor in the building lobby showed a news report with more information and a more serious tone. The "potentially viable" device was now being described as a bomb, which had been disabled by police. The car was in Haymarket, but I didn't know just where that was. As it turned out, it was only three or four blocks away from the office, near Piccadilly Circus. By coincidence, my officemates had scheduled a lunchtime outing - a walking tour including a visit to Westminster Abbey. A phone call confirmed that the tour was still on, and midmorning we ventured out toward Piccadilly. Soon we encountered police crime scene tape blocking the sidewalk and road. Police were directing crowds and traffic away from Piccadilly Circus. Down a side street we saw more police tape blocking out the entire area. The center of Piccadilly with its famous fountain was empty. Normally teeming with people, the sight was eerie and disturbing, reminiscent of the recent horror film "28 Weeks Later", which depicts a deserted London in the aftermath of a deadly epidemic. Other than the area immediately around the crime scene, London life went on as normal. It was cloudy and cool, as normal. With dozens of others our guide led us through Green Park toward Buckingham Palace. Huge crowds of tourists were on hand for the changing of the guard ceremony. We waited at curbside to watch the uniformed guard march down the street toward the Palace, led by a marching band. Next we walked along St. James Park and ended up at Westminster Abbey. By now it was pouring down rain. We gladly entered the Abbey. Site of coronations since William the Conqueror in 1066, the magnificent living church symbolizes the endurance and lasting power of London. The present building was begun in 1245 by Henry III and has survived centuries of political and economic upheaval, and the Nazi bombings of World War II. I was unable to take notes, but was pleased to see a number of engravers (probably not coin engravers) honored with burials in the Abbey. The most famous numismatic resident of Westminster Abbey is Master of the Royal Mint Isaac Newton, whose tomb is adorned with a huge sculpture including a globe, alluding to his non-numismatic fame as an astronomer and mathematician. On the way out I noticed a sign for the "Pyx Chamber" and quickly scooted inside. My tour was unplanned, but I recognize a numismatic term when I see one. The chamber became a treasury in the 13th century. There are two large rectangular chests in the Chamber dating to the 13th and 14th centuries which were apparently built inside the room. For numismatists, this room is "best known as the home of the wooden boxes, called Pyxes, where a sample of the coinage of the realm was kept to await the "Trial of the Pyx". This was a public demonstration to show that the coinage was pure and samples of coins were "tried" by being melted down and the silver content measured. The Trial itself was never held in the Chamber but in the Palace of Westminster. It still takes place today in Goldsmiths' Hall in the City of London." (text from the Westminster Abbey site) We took a taxi back to the office, grabbed sandwiches and got back to work. By now the street in front of our office was half blocked, preventing traffic from heading toward Piccadilly. All afternoon various sirens rang out around London, although that's not unusual. We heard reports of other suspicious cars, but nothing yet definitive. About 6pm we grabbed a taxi back to our hotel. After dropping off our bags we walked to a nearby pub for a pint. All of London seemed to proceed as usual. Our excursion was uneventful, but historic in another way - it was the next-to-last night when smoking would be permitted in pubs, restaurants and other enclosed public spaces in London. As of today, 1 July 2007, London pubs are be smoke-free. As a nonsmoker the change is a welcome one - the clothes I wore that night still reek of cigarette smoke. I understand sales of beer kegs have risen dramatically, though - the pubs could be in for a slow time for a while. Back at the hotel television and Internet reports explained that two rigged cars had been parked near Piccadilly. The second one, illegally parked, had been towed by police to a pound near Hyde Park, not realizing what was inside. For a time Hyde Park was emptied by police while the bomb was disarmed. Thankfully, neither car caused any injuries. Saturday morning I got up and worked a bit on The E-Sylum, then went out for lunch (the hummus and warm pita were divine). Walking to Paddington Station, I caught the Heathrow express train to the airport and found a table at a coffee shop. I was waiting for a plane from Cork, Ireland carrying Darryl Atchison, editor of the Canadian Numismatic Bibliography project. We'd never met in person before and it was a pleasure to finally put a friendly face to the name. I knew I'd like him right away - he was carrying his airline reading material - a bound copy of Out on a Limb, the house organ of numismatic literature dealers The Money Tree. Written and edited by the late Ken Lowe, Out on a Limb was (and still is) a bibliophile's delight. E-Sylum readers should remain on the lookout for back issues in literature sales. Darryl and I talked about Ken, whom he'd never had the chance to meet. Soon after I learned the answer to my one burning question - how did an Irishman get hooked on Canadian numismatics? Well, it's simple - Darryl is a Canadian who married an Irish woman. Out of his bag Darryl pulled the real star of our meeting - a very thick binder holding the complete Canadian Numismatic Bibliography manuscript. We poured over it for a couple hours, with me taking notes for today's E-Sylum issue. I just can't stop gushing over what I saw. The project is well worth every minute of waiting, and as I said above, subscribers and any numismatist interested in research should consider making a cash donation to the project to help cover the increased costs. Reversing my steps when it was time to part, I took the train back to Paddington. The rain was pouring down outside, so I waited a bit and browsed in the shops. Once the rain slowed I put up my umbrella and walked back toward my hotel. It was nearly dinnertime. I browsed in a nice little art gallery on Westbourne Grove Road and when the woman asked if she could help, I explained that I was interested in artworks relating to money. She referred me to the nearby Bankrobber Gallery for one upcoming graffiti artist who has done some things on a money theme. She hadn't heard of J.S.G. Boggs, but I left a card. So far I haven't bumped into anyone in the numismatic or art worlds who'd encountered Boggs in his time in London. I'd like to add one of his Bank of England "Boggs Bills" to my collection. Simon Narbeth knew about him but had never handled one of his bills - he said the art world is where they tend to land. But if the art dealer directory I picked up at the gallery is any indication, my search will be for a needle in a haystack - the 70-page booklet was crammed with hundreds of listings for British dealers. I had dinner at a Brazilian Grill, but went vegetarian instead of having beef sliced fresh by waiters at my table. Go ahead, call me a wimp (this means YOU, John Burns!), but the sight of dripping blood on a plate in front of your face is enough to make a vegetarian out of anyone. The salad bar and veggie casserole were great. Stopping in a grocery store for some bottles of water and juice I saw a television monitor covering the latest news. At 3 pm, while I had been talking with Darryl at Heathrow, a flaming car was driven into the arrivals terminal at Glasgow airport in Scotland. The bollards did their job, keeping the car at the curb. The rest of the evening the news stations covered the unfolding story. Two people were arrested at the scene, one with critical burns. Luckily none of the innocent public was hurt. So it's an interesting and uneasy time to be in London. We're nearing the two-year anniversary of the 7 July 2005 bombings which killed 52 people and injured some 700. Below is a link to an E-Sylum article following the attack with an account from Doug Saville. Doug was working at Spink at the time, and one bomb was very near their location. But life goes on. So far the 2007 score is +7.5 million Londoners and visitors, -5 terrorist suspects (three more were arrested today in connection with the recent attacks, but at least one suspect remains at large). We'll see what next week brings. Last night the government raised the security level to its highest point (Critical), meaning further attacks "are expected". SPINK NEAR LONDON BOMB SITE, BUT UNAFFECTED http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v08n30a02.html To view images of Isaac Newton's Westminster Abbey tomb, see: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=1277 For an online tour of Westminster Abbey, see: http://www.westminster-abbey.org/tour/ For more information on the modern Trial of the Pyx, see: http://www.thegoldsmiths.co.uk/company/trial.htm For a history of the London Assay Office, see: http://www.thegoldsmiths.co.uk/assayoffice/ For more on the Bankrobber Gallery, see: http://www.bankrobberlondon.com/ MORE ON THE TYPOGRAPHIC SYMBOL FOR COIN REVERSE Three weeks ago week Ed Snible asked: "Perhaps E-Sylum readers can help me locate the name and origin of a typographic symbol meaning 'coin reverse'. The symbol usually looks like mismatched parenthesis: )(" Harry Waterson writes: "The opposing parenthesis is also used in the film industry. Directors and editors mark their scripts with a slightly overlapping reverse parentheses to indicate a dissolve. I have always found that to be a very appropriate symbol to indicate a cross fade from one picture to another. Maybe there is some linkage here with the concept of going from an obverse to a reverse." [The Internet is a wondrous place, with experts on just about any topic within easy reach. But whether they will respond to you is always a question mark. In a fit of curiosity a couple weeks ago I fired off email queries to the Gutenberg Museum in Mainz, Germany, The Type Museum here in London, the International Printing Museum near Los Angeles, the Museum of Printing in North Andover, MA and the JAARS Museum of the Alphabet in Waxhaw, NC. Only one replied, but was unable to help. Duncan Avery of the Type Museum suggested the St. Brides Printing Library, also in London. I haven't had time to call (during the day work has a pesky habit of getting in the way of numismatic fun). But today I dashed off an email. Like any library or archive, one can't expect the staff to do one's work for you, but it's worth a try to at least see if anyone can tell us where to look for an answer. -Editor] USING FLICKR AND OTHER WEB IMAGE STORAGE SITES Dick Johnson writes: "You haven't told us enough about Flickr and the E-Sylum Photostream. You have linked to this before -- and again last week with photos of the Better Babies Medal by Laura Gardin Fraser -- but we need to be reminded about this valuable resource. "It is a great idea to be able to add photos to E-Sylum text only items. Among the ten illustrations on this site already you have color photos and a clipping. I assume black-and-white photos are acceptable, as well as drawings and a variety of art prints. "But tell us how to use it. Send you the image, and you place it on the site? How about charts? Is there any image that is NOT acceptable (as long as it illustrates an E-Sylum article)? How about color slides and DVD discs? How about video? Any copyright protection for photos? Clue us in, please." [Well, Flickr was a spur-of-the-moment experiment when I was investigating a web-based blog publishing site. It asked for a link to a personal photo, and I needed someplace to put one. Flickr is just one of many free web sites that allow users to upload and host photographs. I could have used the NBS web site, but I'd forgotten how to update it since Bruce Perdue and John Nebel have stepped up to those tasks. Sites like Flickr require no webmaster tools or special access - anybody can create an account and manage their photos through an easy-to-use web interface. It's just the right way to go in 2007. Once I had a Flickr account in place (which took only minutes), it was easy to add new photos when I wanted to link to them in an E-Sylum issue. Early on I made the decision that The E-Sylum would be text-only. This was for two reasons. Primarily, it's difficult to determine image copyrights. While I can be confident that the text excerpts I publish fall within the fair use provisions of the copyright laws, you can't exactly excerpt an image - it's all or nothing. So as much as I'd love to include images, they involve too much uncertainty. The second reason is simply the effort involved, and this is partly due to personal aptitude and preference. I'm a Word guy, not an Image guy. I'll happily stay up late getting the text just right, but adjusting, clipping, sizing, placing and captioning images just isn't my cup of tea. When a reader emails me images for publication (such as the Fraser Better Babies medal or President Bush's personal Challenge Coin) or when I feel confident that the publisher wouldn't object (such as with photos in Press Releases), AND I HAVE THE TIME, I will upload the images to Flickr. But I do this only rarely. I don't want E-Sylum subscribers to start emailing me images willy-nilly. It's so easy to use a site like Flickr that I would encourage any submitter who would like to include a picture to upload it themselves and simply include the URL in your email submission to me. If you send me a Flickr link for publication, you have to make it a PUBLIC link, available to anyone. If you wish to retain copyright to your image be sure to mark it as such and be aware that anyone on the Internet could still copy and reuse it regardless. Any appropriate image that a site like Flickr will host (no porn or kids under 18) is fine for inclusion in The E-Sylum. As for videos, sites like YouTube are fair game as well; if a public web site will host it and you send me the URL, I'll publish it. We have included links to YouTube videos on at least one occasion in the past. -Editor] The E-Sylum Flickr Photo Archive http://www.flickr.com/photos/93563538@N00/ CANADIAN "MEDAL DETECTOR" DAVE THOMSON HONORED A number of earlier E-Sylum articles covered the efforts of Canadian Dave Thomson to purchase important medals for survivors' families or various Canadian museums and institutions. Many of the medals were purchased via eBay, and this week eBay Canada nominated Thompson for an award of his own. "eBay Canada has nominated Canadian military history enthusiast Dave Thomson for the prestigious Governor General's Caring Canadian Award. eBay Canada's nomination is in recognition of Thomson's patriotic and altruistic efforts at preserving Canada's war heritage. "Thomson, who has been called Canada's 'medal detector,' uses the Online marketplace to source and retrieve Canadian war medals. He then returns the medals to the families or communities of the fallen soldiers. Using his eBay auction skills, Thomson has bid on and won more than 65 medal groups that are now in the hands of the soldiers' remaining relatives or community museums. "'I am honoured that eBay is acknowledging me for what essentially is a hobby,' said Thomson. 'I was already an avid eBay user for my car parts business, but when I stumbled upon that first war medal, I found a new purpose for the site. I believe in preserving our country's history and respecting the soldiers who sacrificed so much to make Canada what it is today, and I am happy to help safeguard Canadian history.' "In 2006, while working on a project to restore a First World War Memorial plaque in St. George, Ontario, Thomson found his first war medal up for sale. After researching and sourcing the town from which the honoured soldier came, he bought the medal and donated it to the Princeton Museum. Since then, Thomson has reunited families and communities with lost First and Second World War Victory medals, Memorial Crosses, and Military Crosses. "The Governor General's Caring Canadian Award was established in 1996 To honour Canadians for their work in unpaid voluntary activities and Recognize their extraordinary help to individuals, communities and to the country. More information on the Caring Canadian Award can be found at www.gg.ca/honours/awards." To read the complete article, see: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/June2007/28/c9830.html SALE OF BLACK SOLDIER'S MEDAL CAUSES UPROAR http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v10n08a10.html TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS FOUNDER'S WWI MEDAL SOUGHT FOR HOCKEY MUSEUM http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v10n12a17.html INDIAN COIN SHORTAGE CONTINUES; COINS BEING MADE INTO RAZOR BLADES Stephen Pradier forwarded this BBC news article about the shortage of small coins in India: "Millions of Indian coins are being smuggled into neighbouring Bangladesh and turned into razor blades. And that's creating an acute shortage of coins in many parts of India, officials say. Police in Calcutta say that the recent arrest of a grocer highlights the extent of the problem. They seized what they said was a huge coin-melting unit which he was operating in a run-down shack. "'Our one rupee coin is in fact worth 35 rupees, because we make five to seven blades out of them,' the grocer allegedly told the police. 'Bangladeshi smugglers take delivery of the blades at regular intervals.' "Police say that initially the smugglers took coins into Bangladesh and then melted them down, but as the scale of the operation has increased, more and more criminals in India are melting them down first, and then selling them as razor blades. "To deal with the coin shortage, some tea gardens in the north-eastern state of Assam have resorted to issuing cardboard coin-slips to their workers. The denomination is marked on these slips and they are used for buying and selling within the gardens. The cardboard coins are the same size as the real ones and their value is marked on them. "'We will commit an offence if these cardboard slips go out, but we have to use them in our gardens because there are hardly any Indian coins in circulation here,' said a manager of a tea garden in northern Assam. "In Calcutta alone, India's central bank - the Reserve Bank of India - has distributed coins worth nearly six million rupees ($150,000) to overcome the shortage in the last two weeks, bank treasurer Nilanjan Saha said. "Shopkeepers ask customers to buy more to make it a round figure so that small change does not have to be given out." To read the complete article, see: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6766563.stm [So is anyone actively collecting examples of these cardboard money substitutes for numismatic collections? How about some of the razor blades? The time to gather these artifacts is NOW, while the event is happening. The U.S. Civil War era cardboard scrip and postage stamp envelopes that I collected were only available because some astute collectors in the 1860s put them aside. If no such actions are taken, future numismatists will only be able the read about these items in old newspaper accounts, but will never be able to examine the actual artifacts. -Editor] POW-MIA LOGO STAMP INFORMATION SOUGHT Recently we discussed and discovered the origin of the "I Am Not Terrorized" stamp on U.S. paper money. In his blog this week David Kranz of Numismatic News asked about another less mysterious stamp: "The stamped design shows a person's head in silhouette with a guard tower behind, what might be a strand of razor wire running horizontally near the chin, and the letters POW*MIA above... Given the design elements and familiar acronyms for "Prisoner of War" and "Missing in Action," a military theme is clearly intended. "I suppose it was stamped onto the note to encourage people to remember those who have been prisoners of war or who have been categorized as missing in action. "But this is a Series 1999 $5 bill. Isn't it unusual that this overstamp appears on this note?" To read Dave's original post, see: http://www.numismaticnews.net/watermark/PermaLink,guid,8454f221-02a1-491b-af 21-cc29b4775a57.aspx [The stamp looks to be identical to the official logo for the American "POW/MIA Freedom Fighters" organization. The goal of the nonprofit organization is "to bring all Americans home, alive or dead, from where ever they may be held, or lay lost." Founded many years ago (following the Vietnam War, I believe), the group is apparently still active. The latest post on their site concerns Spc. Ahmed K. Altaie of Ann Arbor, MI, who was declared missing-captured in Baghdad, Iraq on Dec. 11. -Editor] http://www.powmiaff.org/ http://www.powmiaff.org/mission.html To view the "I AM NOT TERRORIZED" note, see: http://www.foundmagazine.com/find/208 "I AM NOT TERRORIZED" STAMP SOURCE: ARTIST DAVID GREG HARTH http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v10n25a10.html HOUSTON ARTICLE DISCUSSES MILLS Dick Johnson writes: "Leon Hale, who writes for the Houston Chronicle, received an Oklahoma mill token in the mail from one of his readers this week. This was the first mill he had ever seen. His June 26, 2007 column recounted this event plus a remembered story of saving cents in his youth, each of which his family told him was worth 10 mills. "Leon's correspondent stated that a mill in 1940 was worth more than a cent today. Boy, is this ever an invitation to tout my plan to abolish the cent coin! Not only is the cost of the metal composition in each cent coin wavering above the value of the cent denomination, but his correspondent is correct in that the purchasing power of the cent has diminished. "What's more important, we don't need pennies for a dynamic American economy anymore. And that's good. Our economy has advanced so far that a dime can be our smallest denomination coin. "Thomas Jefferson invented our coin denominations -- cent, dime, dollar, eagle -- and of course, the mill. But we did not need a coin valued at one mill, even in 1792 when the first U.S. coins were struck. The mill was a money of account then, as it still is a money of account now. Yes, we did have a half cent then, but it was abolished in 1857 for the same reasons the cents are destined to be abolished today -- the rising cost of the metal in the coin and the increase in the American economy. "As E-Sylum readers may remember I suggested the Treasury Department abolish both the cent and five-cent nickel, and revalue all these coins in circulation to ten cents. This would prohibit any coin shortage that would result from inaction or any other proposed solutions. This plan was outlined in the September 26, 2006 E-Sylum and the March 26, 2007 editorial in Coin World. "Independently, a Federal Reserve Bank economist, Francois R. Velde (an E-Sylum subscriber!), came to the same conclusion to revalue the coins, but he called his plan "rebasing" and he wanted to revalue the cent only. He based his conclusion after an exhaustive scholarly study, and published a book with co-author Thomas J. Sargent on "The Big Problem of Small Change" (published by Princeton University Press). He said it better than I did. He publish his plan in the February 2007 Chicago Fed Letter "What's A Penny (or a Nickel) Really Worth?" See: www.chicagofed.org/publications/fedletter/cflfebruary2007_235a.pdfe "As for the mill that Leon Hale received in the mail, this was struck here in Connecticut at the Scovill Manufacturing Company, in aluminum, as were most of the metal tax tokens for other states. Sales taxes were enacted in the Great Depression and tokens were ordered to facilitate collecting these taxes when citizens really had to pinch their pennies. "At first, states employed a variety of paper receipts and cardboard tokens to collect these fractions of a cent. As a teenager I visited a plant in Kansas City that normally made the cardboard caps that fit on glass milk bottles. They manufactured the first Missouri Mills of cardboard on the same machinery that made the milk bottle lids! "State tax officials realized the sales tax would be permanent (when is a tax ever not permanent?) they turned to metal tokens. But when aluminum became a war metal in the early 1940s, states had to have their mills made of something else. Plastic was an obvious answer. So decades later sales tax tokens are a delight for numismatists to collect for their variety of compositions, sizes, center holes, and different colors of the plastic tokens. "Those states that had a sales tax but did not issue mill tokens used a tax schedule, rounding off and collecting only whole cents. In the future when Americans abolish the cent and nickel -- which we must do at some time! -- we will do the same, but round off to the nearest dime. To critics who say this would be more costly need only look back to the success of those wartime years when sales tax charges were rounded off. That plan is still in use today, a half century later, to collect sales tax. Today cash registers automatically round off the tax to the nearest cent. "That Oklahoma tax token is an artifact of the past, but a precursor of something yet to come, a change for America's small change." To read Leon Hale's published article, see: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/features/4922663.html DICK JOHNSON'S DRAMATIC SOLUTION TO THE RISING COST OF CENTS http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v09n39a13.html ROYAL CANADIAN MINT REPORTS SALES OF NEW MILLION-DOLLAR GOLD COIN There have been at least a few takers for the massive new Canadian gold coin: "The Royal Canadian Mint has sold five of its $1-million gold collector coins, and at least four of them are headed where the money is - to the West Coast. 'But as the mint and the dealers disclosed, a million bucks is just the face value of the 100-kilogram, 99.999-per-cent-pure gold coins. "The mint sold them for at least $2.3 million apiece based on market values... "But J & M Jewellery Ltd. of Vancouver confirmed it did purchase one - after paying the mint $175,000 down - but has already sold it to a wealthy buyer who remains anonymous. "An official with A-Mark Precious Metals Inc. of Santa Monica, Calif., confirmed his firm bought three of the coins, but he would not discuss their fate." To read the complete article, see: http://www.stpauls.co.uk/page.aspx?theLang=001lngdef&pointerid=169345dwprEOV ViTRLd8xXbHBDHGbzge VDB? I HADN'T HEARD THAT FOR DECADES Dick Johnson writes: "Man gets cent in change, dated 1917. Man tells brother about cent. Brother asks if he has a VDB. 'VDB? I hadn't heard that for decades.' "Funny, once you have collected coins in America you never forget those initials. And we all remember that monogram and who the initials identity. The lore of the story of Brenner's signature being ripped off the cent in 1909 reverberates from the 9-year-old who first collects coins to the seasoned numismatist who long since advanced to other series and coins to collect. "Treasury officials who ordered the initials removed from the reverse of the 1909 cent unknowingly cemented Brenner's fame. (His original model had "Brenner" in script on bottom reverse; the famed initials were a replacement to that.) I have studied American sculptors and medallists. Brenner's work, while prodigious as a medallist, was not that top drawer as a sculptor. Yet he is included in most every list I have found of American sculptors. Included, perhaps, because of the story of that one unthinking act of removing an artist's signature. "And the reply to the brother's question: "Any boy worth his salt 40 or 50 years ago would recognize those initials." And they still do. "Here's a charming story by news editor Richard Lodge for the Waltham, Mass, Daily News Tribune. It will trigger memories perhaps of your own early days finding an unusual cent in circulation: http://www.dailynewstribune.com/opinion/x1421522198 " PRE-1982 CENTS MASQUERADE AS QUARTERS IN DENVER PARKING METERS Until someone let the cat out of the bag, students at Colorado State University enjoyed a nice discount on campus parking. "'If you put pennies from 1980 or before in the gray parking meters, they count as quarters,' an anonymous item in the campus paper, The Rocky Mountain Collegian, advised. "That led the university to contact the meters' manufacturer, POM Inc. "The Russellville, Ark.-based company agreed to replace any of the 674 meters with the glitch, a process that should be complete by the end of summer. "In its more than two centuries, the American penny has been made of mostly copper - until 1982. "It is the pre-1982 pennies - and many from 1982, as coins of both compositions appear in that year - that are treated like quarters on some of the meters at CSU. "It's unclear if it's the copper-heavy composition, weight or another factor that causes the coins to fool the meters. "Briana Daughenbaugh, a CSU graduate student, lamented: 'I wish nobody ever said anything.' " To read the complete Denver Post article, see: http://test.denverpost.com/news/ci_6228614 Dick Johnson forwarded a link to the article as well, plus an Associated Press account of the story on the Forbes web site: http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/06/26/ap3859200.html FEATURED WEB PAGE: GOOGLE ANSWERS ON MAGDALEN ISLAND HALF PENCE TOKEN This week's featured web page is a lengthy discussion on Google Answers initiated by an earlier item in The E-Sylum. A reader asks: "I would like to see proof & an image (jpeg) confirming the reported existance of a halfpence token from the Magdalen Islands (Iles de la Madeleine)." http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=759796 The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. For more information please see our web site at http://www.coinbooks.org/. There is a membership application available on the web site at this address: http://www.coinbooks.org/club_nbs_member_app.html To join, print the application and return it with your check to the address printed on the application. Membership is only $15 to addresses in the U.S., $20 elsewhere. For those without web access, write to: David M. Sundman, Secretary/Treasurer Numismatic Bibliomania Society, P. O. Box 82 Littleton, NH 03561 For Asylum mailing address changes and other membership questions, contact David at this email address: dsundman@LittletonCoin.com To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, just Reply to this message, or write to the Editor at this address: whomren@coinlibrary.com Those wishing to become new E-Sylum subscribers (or wishing to Unsubscribe) can go to the following web page: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum All past E-Sylum issues are archived on the NBS web site at this address: http://www.coinbooks.org/club_nbs_esylum_archive.html Issues from September 2002 to date are also archived at this address: http://my.binhost.com/pipermail/esylum From esylum at binhost.com Sun Jul 8 18:03:57 2007 From: esylum at binhost.com (esylum@binhost.com) Date: Sun Jul 8 18:04:29 2007 Subject: The E-Sylum v10#27, July 8, 2007 Message-ID: <007101c7c1ab$e81a13e0$2b0110ac@corp.cmdinfo.com> Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 10, Number 27, July 8, 2007: an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society. Copyright (c) 2007, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society. WAYNE'S WORDS: THE E-SYLUM 8 JULY, 2007 Among our recent subscribers are Brett D. Irick, courtesy of John Nebel, Rickie Rose, Dan Burleson, David Kahn, John P Andrew, Anthony Portner and Julian Brook. Welcome aboard! We now have 1,150 subscribers. This week we open with news on the disposition of John J. Pittman's numismatic library. Dick Johnson reviews the recent History Detectives segment on Continental currency and contributes a number of items related to the Lincoln Cent, including an extraordinary photo in Popular Science magazine. Bill Snyder presents a mystery box for storing U.S. half dollars, and Alan Weinberg reviews the recent Presidential Coin & Antique Co. medals auction in Baltimore. In response to earlier queries, David Gladfelter provides background on Wayte Raymond's Standard Catalogs, and we learn about the origin of the POW/MIA stamp on U.S. paper money. In a new research query, Roger Burdette seeks information on William Ashbrook of the 1908 Assay Commission. My London Diary this week includes a visit to the London Numismatic Club, dinner with Coin World London correspondent John Andrews, and visits to the Savoy Hotel and le Tour de France. Next weekend I'm traveling back to the U.S. to visit my family. Please send any submissions early in the week to ensure they make it into the next issue. To learn how to explode a post-1982 Lincoln cent, and where to find Euro notes falling from the sky, read on. Have a great week, everyone. Wayne Homren Numismatic Bibliomania Society KOLBE TO SELL SELECTIONS FROM THE JOHN J. PITTMAN LIBRARY George Kolbe writes: "We are pleased to announce that important works from the Numismatic Library of the late John Jay Pittman will form a part of our fall 2007 auction sale. Many rare American numismatic works will be featured in the sale, among them a dozen plated Chapman brother catalogues, other 19th and early 20th century auction catalogues featuring photographic plates, classic works on American coins, and extremely rare ephemeral publications. "Also featured in the sale, from various other consignors, are rare and important works covering the numismatic spectrum, including an example of the first illustrated numismatic book, published in 1517. Catalogues may be ordered by sending $15.00 to George Frederick Kolbe, P. O. Drawer 3100, Crestline, CA 92325. The catalogue will also be accessible at our web site: www.numislit.com." LANGE COIN BOARDS BOOK In our June 17th issue we reported that David Lange's book 'Coin Collecting Boards of the 1930s & 1940s: A Complete History, Catalog and Value Guide.' had been completed. This week Dave writes: "I've found a printer, and the book is a go. The price is $39.95 plus $5 for shipping, and I'm now taking orders for delivery in mid-August. "Interested persons can view sample pages at my website. They will also find complete ordering information there." To visit Dave Lange's Coin Collecting Boards web site, see: http://www.coincollectingboards.com DAVID LANGE'S COIN COLLECTING BOARDS BOOK COMPLETED http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v10n24a04.html For more information, see the publisher's web site at: http://www.zyruspress.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=16 CHICHESTER 2007: CURRENCIES IN CRISIS Yesterday (Saturday 7 July 2007) was the Summer Meeting of the British and Royal Numismatic Societies, held in Chichester and titled "Currencies in Crisis". I wasn't aware of the conference in time for later week's newsletter, but it's worth noting. Perhaps one of our readers can give us a report next week. The following description is from the British Numismatic Society web site: "This year?s will be a day of lectures examining the origins and impact of crises that have affected British and world currencies. From major debasements to abortive reforms, from the aftermath of wars to the decline of empires, currencies have suffered and failed and been rejuvenated. The changing fortunes of monetary systems have themselves also visited periods of economic and social disruption on the countries and regions within which they operated. "The lectures will span numismatics from the Roman world to the twentieth century. The speakers are Paul Cavill of Merton College Oxford (16th-century debasement), Kevin Clancy (17th and 18th centuries) and Graham Dyer (20th-century currency) of The Royal Mint; Professor Edmund King of the University of Sheffield (English coinage 1138-1153), Barbara Mears of Spink (early colonial Indian coinage), and Sam Moorhead (Roman currency) and Helen Wang (Tang dynasty coinage) of The British Museum." For more information on Chichester 2007, see: http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/dept/coins/britnumsoc/meetings/chichester2007.html FUN SHOW EVENTS AND THE SUNKEN TREASURE LITERATURE CLUB One event we're not late in reporting is next week's Summer FUN show. Cindy Wibker of Florida United Numismatists writes: "This is just a quick reminder to all bibliophiles that the first-ever Summer FUN show is next week, July 12-14, in West Palm Beach, Florida. We (FUN) hope to see many of you there! The list of dealers and schedule of events is on our website. "There are four educational seminars, two on Thursday and two on Friday. None of the topics are directly literature-related, but there is a club meeting of the Sunken Treasure Literature Club on Friday from 3:00-5:00 PM." [Here are a couple of the seminars that might be of interest to E-Sylum readers. -Editor] Thursday July 12 2:30 PM: Educational Seminar. ?EARLY AMERICAN COPPERS,? by CHUCK HECK. Charles ?Chuck? Heck is a recognized expert on the early copper coinage of the United States. He is a frequent lecturer on this subject at club meetings and coin shows across America. Chuck?s program will provide in-depth analysis of early U.S. Large Cents, Half Cents and Colonial coinage. Friday July 13 2:30 PM: Educational Seminar. ?COINS OF THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY,? by ROBERT LeNEVE. Palm Beach Coin Club member Bob LeNeve is a serious student of the Southern Confederacy ? its history, traditions and its coinage. In this program, Bob will give a short background on the events leading up to the Civil War, the shutting down of the southern mints and a detailed look at the regular coinage and restrikes of the Confederacy. To visit the FUN web site, see: http://www.funtopics.com To view the Summer FUN show schedule, see: http://www.funtopics.com/coinshow_events_S.html [A web search reveals that there is an online bibliography of over 950 "Sunken Treasure & Underwater Archaeology Books plus Shipwreck Auction Catalogs, National Geographic Shipwreck Articles & Shipwreck Coin Books" from the collection of Dave Crooks. -Editor] To view Dave Crooks' Sunken Treasure Bibliography, see: http://www.sunkentreasurebooks.com/ REVIEW: HISTORY DETECTIVES TV SHOW NUMISMATIC SEGMENTS Dick Johnson writes: "I caught the TV show History Detectives segment on the Continental currency this week. It was pretty much what I expected. It did feature interviews with two numismatic personalities, Glenn Jorde, chief authenticator of the Paper Money Guaranty authentication service and Bob Hoge, curator at American Numismatic Society. "E-Syluminiaries will recognize the scene in the ANS library with their mobile bookcases. (I have mentioned these in E-Sylum before, and have nightmares of being crushed by these someday). Most all the statements were accurate, save for one segment at the end, kind of a summary of coin collecting. They had to tell the story of the bare breast design of Harmon McNeil's 1916 type I quarter, but their misstatement was that all these were 'recalled.' They weren't, of course. "It was followed by a segment on short-snorters, also of interest to currency collectors. If you missed the show here is a transcription of the audio portion (with Bob Hoge's name misspelled): http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/pdf/502_continental.pdf [Actually, I think that link is broken. Here's a link to the page for the episode. -Editor] http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/investigations/502_continentalcurrency.html ANS LIBRARY MOVE STATUS REPORT http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v07n21a06.html WAYTE RAYMOND STANDARD CATALOGUE INFORMATION Regarding Ron Pope's question last week on the Wayte Raymond Standard Catalogs, David Gladfelter writes: "See entry #867 in Charles Davis's 'American Numismatic Literature' for information on this series of catalogs. "The 1935 edition (published in 1934) was the first, and it continued annually through the 1945 edition (published in 1944) except for 1943 when only a 16-page supplement was published. The 1946 edition was the first numbered one, the 11th, and thereafter this catalog was published irregularly through the final 18th edition of 1957, of which Olga E. Raymond, Wayte's widow, was the editor. In that edition only, the substantial contributions of John J. Ford, Jr., and Walter H. Breen were recognized, although the 1938 edition and all subsequent to it did list names of the contributors. "The contents of the catalogs, as well as the titles, varied somewhat from year to year. The 1940, 1941 and 1942 editions had extensive merchant token supplements and for that reason are desired by token collectors. Others included listings of colonial, obsolete and confederate paper money. "None of the editions are particularly rare, but a precursor, titled 'United States Coins & Currency' and consisting of five separate WR publications bound together, is quite scarce. This precursor was advertised for sale at $2.50 on the inside front cover of the first five issues of Raymond's 'Coin Collectors Journal' in 1934. The separate publications included are 'The United States Copper Coins' (1931), 'Silver Coins of the United States Mints' (1933), 'United States Gold Coins of the Philadelphia and Branch Mints' (1933), 'Private Gold Coins Struck in the United States, 1830-1861' (1931) and 'United States Notes, 1861-1923' (1933). "As you can see, Raymond's topical catalogs as well as the 'Standard Catalog' had quite an influence on the development of the coin hobby in the U.S. in the early to mid 20th century. Raymond also influenced the collecting of world coins, publishing five editions of 'Coins of the World -- Twentieth Century Issues' through 1955 and two of 'Coins of the World -- Nineteenth Century Issues' through 1953, in a similar format. "For the specialist, interleaved copies of these catalogs, as well as fancy bindings can be had. Plain brown paper dust jackets were provided for the early issues, and illustrated ones for the last few. "Now for a trivia question: What rather prominent mistake can be found in each and every edition of the 'Standard Catalog of United States Coins' from the first through the 18th?" [I was stumped on this one. Can some eagle-eyed reader give us an answer? -Editor] WAYTE RAYMOND STANDARD CATALOGUE INFORMATION SOUGHT http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v10n26a06.html MYSTERY HALF DOLLAR BOX INFORMATION SOUGHT Bill Snyder writes: "I am wondering about this small, dove-tailed wooden box. It is marked '$250$ HALVES' on all four sides and on the sliding lid. Here are links to three images of the box: http://web.infoave.net/~bsnyder/box/box1.jpg http://web.infoave.net/~bsnyder/box/box2.jpg http://web.infoave.net/~bsnyder/box/boxlid.jpg The Dimensions are: interior - 6 1/4 x 6 1/4 x 1 7/8", exterior - 6 7/8 x 6 7/8 x 2 9/16". You can lay a five-by-five pattern of fifty cent pieces in the bottom of the box and have about 1/4" left over each way. The box easily accommodates stacks of twenty coins. So, who made it, when, and for whom?" Bill adds: "Per my Red Book, all U.S. Half Dollars (Seated Liberty to Kennedy) have the same diameter specification (30.6 mm). Unfortunately, the lid on this particular box in so warped that it will not slide completely into place." REFERENCES ON BRITISH COUNTERFEITING OF U.S. COLONIAL PAPER MONEY In an earlier E-Sylum I recalled reading of some British efforts to counterfeit notes of the revolting colonies and wondered if the Brits were more successful than the Nazis in wartime counterfeiting. Bob Neale writes: "You may be in the perfect place to look up an article by Eric Newman in Brit. Numis. J. 29 (1959) pp 174-87: "The successful British counterfeiting of American paper money during the American revolution." I cannot access this for free. I don't know that the article specifically addresses the amount of counterfeiting that took place on a ship in New York harbor, but I'll bet it is interesting. "Jason Goodwin also has a relevant quote in his book, Greenback, on p 134, and Richard Doty seems to agree in his book 'America's Money America's Story', p 49." [Many thanks - I'll start tracking down some of these resources. -Editor] MORE ON THE LAURA GARDIN FRASER BETTER BABIES MEDAL Last week helpful E-Sylum readers responded to Lynn Tice's question on Laura Gardin Fraser's Better Babies medal with an avalanche of information. Dick Johnson noted that these were produced by Medallic Art Co. and were so marked on the edge. But Joe Levine's cataloging indicated that they were also marked by Crowell Publishing company. To learn which version Lynn has, I asked her to take a look for us. This week, from the foothills of the Blue Ridge, Lynn writes: "Many thanks to you and your readers for the information and research. Our medal is edgemarked with a copyright Crowell Pub. Co. 1913. Not a glimpse of Medallic Art Company on the edge or elsewhere. My eagle eye husband confirms this with a loupe. It's about 2" wide. "My dad's brother Alfred was born Sept. 2, 1915, died Feb. 12, 1918. His picture hung in our grandmother's parlor and we have a lock of his hair. When we think of state fairs, beauty contests, etc, we tend to think of ribbons being awarded, not medals. Your interest in an old family mystery has been making the rounds of our family emails." LAURA GARDIN FRASER BETTER BABIES MEDAL INFORMATION SOUGHT http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v10n25a16.html LAURA GARDIN FRASER BETTER BABIES MEDAL http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v10n26a07.html REVIEW: PRESIDENTIAL COIN & ANTIQUE CO. 77TH AUCTION Speaking of Joe Levine, Alan V. Weinberg writes: "Joe Levine of Clifton VA conducted his 77th Presidential Coin & Antique Co. medals and tokens auction in Baltimore June 30 in connection with the Baltimore coin show recently acquired by Whitman Publishing Co. of Atlanta. "This token, medal and political ephemera auction is now an annual affair as Joe is now semi-retired. His catalogues, going back to the early 70's, are notable for not only very rare material but the historical background emphasized with each lot. Like Q. David Bowers, Joe has always rightfully felt that an educated and informed client is a stronger bidder, a long term collector and potential future consignor. "While PCAC was unlisted in the show's roster of bourse dealers and Joe's booth was ignominiously isolated in a dark, extreme rear corner of the huge convention hall bourse room (while centrally located booths were unoccupied and unassigned), Joe's booth had a multiple-lamped exhibition table away from the main bourse floor's maddening crowd and bourse noise. So there was some benefit to the isolation. "There was some eye-opening action Saturday night at the PCAC auction in a quiet room on the 3rd floor of the convention center. The sale featured a collection of American Agricultural and Mechanical Society medals. This was the finest and largest collection of these often aesthetically pleasing award medals ever sold at auction. Thus, the catalogue will serve as a reference work on the subject until someone produces a more comprehensive study. "Aside from a decidedly strong bid book (mail, emailed and telephoned absentee bids), there were some fierce floor battles between some determined dealer/collectors and collectors on the floor. No bidder collusion here although two of the main bidders were close friends and sat across from each other. New price levels were set as some medals soared over $1,000 apiece. "The sale also featured the collection of Henry Clay political and historical medals and tokens of the late Pittsburgh coin dealer and collector Charles Litman, an unrivaled assemblage of over 100 pieces. Several pieces soared over $2,000 each. "But the highlight of the sale was the finest known Augustus Saint- Gaudens 1905 Theodore Roosevelt bronze inaugural medal with accompanying letter that sold for $44,850 to a prominent New York City numismatist, a world's record price for this official medal, 1 of only 125 struck by Tiffany & Co. It might well have gone higher but for the tactical error of the underbidder admittedly not realizing that his "cut bid" was his final bid. This was also a new world's record for any non-gold inaugural medal. "Shortly afterward, the even rarer but less famous silver Warren Harding inaugural medal sold for $40,825 to the aforementioned floor bidder who was so disappointed in losing the Roosevelt medal. This is the 2nd high world's record price for a non-gold inaugural medal. Inaugural medals have been a specialty of PCAC for decades and the field is what it is today largely because of Joe Levine's input. "Throughout the auction, there was humorous banter both from the auction podium manned by Joe himself and from the audience members which led to a relaxed and entertaining three hours." [I have a copy of the catalog with me here in London. Of additional interest to bibliophiles are lots 365 and 367, two different examples of the 1909 Lincoln Centennial medal and Book. The book in lot 367 is titled "The Lincoln Tribute Book". Joe notes that "This is the second and scarcest of the two books of the period with medals bound in." -Editor] POW/MIA STAMP MYSTERY SOLVED Last week I referenced a blog entry by David Kranz of Numismatic News asking about a POW*MIA stamp he'd encountered on U.S. paper money. Curious, I did a web search and emailed Sjana Bauer, Founder and President of POW/MIA Freedom Fighters. He writes: "The logo itself is a public domain graphic. The wording itself says, 'You are not Forgotten"' or 'Let Us Not Forget', or something similar to that will be found on the graphic. "Many POW/MIA organizations and members and the general public continue to use this logo and fly the POW/MIA Flag, which itself is flown as mandated by Federal law on certain days throughout the year, in memory of those men and women that were left behind and are waiting to return home for burial. "For the families of these men and women, they are simply waiting for the government to give the answers as to what happened to their loved ones. No one expects unrecoverable remains to be returned, but there are questions yet to be answered and it is time for the families and the public to be told the truth. It is time for the men and women that can come home, to come home. It is time for the remains that are available to be returned to American soil, to be returned and buried here. "Why is the logo showing up on American money? To make sure the American people don't forget!" To visit the POW/MIA Freedom Fighters web site, see: http://www.powmiaff.org/ POW-MIA LOGO STAMP INFORMATION SOUGHT http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v10n26a18.html WILLIAM ASHBROOK 1909 FIXED PRICE LIST AND CATALOG SOUGHT Roger Burdette writes: "I am searching for the following items for research and hope someone can direct me to copies. Many thanks. 1. Fixed price list dated February 1909 issued by William Ashbrook, Johnstown, Ohio. 2. Auction catalog Ohio State Numismatic Association, October 28-29, 1909. Auctioneer was Ray Patton. 745 lots. "There will be an article in Coin World (written by Jeff Reichenberger and myself) in a month or so that lists most of the original owners of the 1907 $10 with normal rim and periods - only 50 survived melting. Jeff examined all of Ashbrook's 40-year-long personal diary and discovered quite a trove of numismatic information. "William Ashbrook acquired more than 1/5 of the total available during the 1908 Assay Commission meeting. He also had a huge run of gold proof sets bought from a Delaware estate. The private sale and auction were of duplicate pieces from his collection. I'd like to know more about what he sold in 1909 so I can try to trace a couple of the pieces or proof sets to institutional or possibly private owners." BOSTON GLOBE ON THE JACOB PERKINS NEWBURYPORT BUILDING As Karl Moulton noted on July 24, media descriptions of the Jacob Perkins Newburyport, MA building as a former 'mint' are incorrect. In a lengthy article this week, the Boston Globe gets it right. "Commonly referred to as the "Mint Building" -- a misnomer because it was paper currency, not coins, that it produced -- the structure is adjacent to the Caleb Cushing House Museum, the Federalist building that serves as the society's headquarters and features rooms furnished in the style of the early to mid-1800s." "At age 12, Perkins apprenticed with a goldsmith. Later he was employed to make dies for the production of the copper coin used in Massachusetts. "In 1795, he invented a machine for manufacturing nails. He followed that in 1804 with the discovery of a new technique for making steel engraving plates for printing currency. The discovery was significant because it allowed for more detail to be included on the paper notes, which made them less susceptible to counterfeiting. "At first, Perkins and his brother sold the plates to banks. But after opening the Mint Building, they began to print the currency. The Mint Building, where the printing took place, is believed to have been part of a complex whose other buildings are now gone. "Mack said the new museum would display artifacts from Jacob Perkins's life, some of which it has already accumulated over the years, and from the early currency printing industry." To read the complete article, see: http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/07/01/collaboration_will_restore_historic_mint/ KARL MOULTON ON THE JACOB PERKINS BUILDING http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v10n25a20.html CORRECTION: COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY LOCATION A headline in last week's issue was incorrect, as Dick Johnson pointed out. Colorado State University is in Fort Collins, not Denver. PRE-1982 CENTS MASQUERADE AS QUARTERS IN DENVER PARKING METERS http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v10n26a22.html LEN AUGSBURGER ON CHRISTIAN GOBRECHT'S WOODCUTS [With permission I'm reprinting from the July 2007 issue of The E-Gobrecht (Volume 3, Issue 7, Whole Number 28) the following article on "Christian Gobrecht?s woodcuts" by Len Augsburger. See the original article for illustrations. -Editor] I recently purchased, via abebooks.com, an old volume that contains woodcuts executed by Christian Gobrecht while he lived in Baltimore. "A Key to French Conversation and French Idiom," published by Warner & Hanna in Baltimore in 1812, is a primer to the French language, with numerous woodcuts illustrating the text. Many are unsigned, but probably most are the work of Gobrecht. The engraver cleverly hid his signature within the base of the cuts, some indicating "G", others "Gobrecht". Three of these images were rendered in the Hanover Numismatic Society series of medals from 1966-1981 honoring Christian Gobrecht and are illustrated here, scanned from the 1812 volume. Some of these woodcuts apparently originated in an earlier volume, "The Baltimore Spelling Book : Containing Easy Lessons in Spelling & Reading, Ornamented with Elegant Cuts", this also published by Warner & Hanna in Baltimore, and thought to have been published in 1811. This volume was referenced at the Maryland Historical Society. Warner and Hanna published anumber of other books, and it is quite possible that Gobrecht woodcuts could be located in these as well." POPULAR SCIENCE MAGAZINE: HOW TO EXPLODE A LINCOLN CENT Dick Johnson writes: "There is a photograph in the July 2007 Popular Science magazine that is worth the cost of the entire magazine. It shows a 1999 Lincoln cent. What's so special about that? Let me tell you! "It is an 'exploded' view of the thin copper shells -- obverse and reverse -- that covers the zinc core of the struck cent. I have never seen the zinc core of a Lincoln cent before, nor the shells separated from a cent. "There is a simple technology for doing this columnist Theodore Gray explains in his column, 'Gray Matter,' this month. 'Turn your cheapest coins inside out,' he states, 'using some hardware store chemistry.' "The copper shells are formed by dissolving away the zinc core. This is done by carefully grinding away the smallest amount from the edge until the zinc is exposed. Then place this cent in hydrochloric acid -- that's muriatic acid you can get in the hardware store (for cleaning concrete). "After the zinc is completely dissolved the shells remain but will be extremely thin -- like foil -- but if done properly will exhibit the intact surface of the cent. "To get the zinc core you have to dissolve the copper away with cyanide and Gray does not recommend anyone do this because cyanide is so poisonous. [See the link below for previous E-Sylum discussion about the numismatic uses (and misuses) of cyanide. -Editor] "Popular Science hired a professional chemist to do this. Likewise we don't recommend any collector try this as well. "Take a peak at this web site, view the photo and the YouTube video and see if you don't agree with me. Amazing!" [It's a wonderful photo that ought to find its way into future numismatic books on the cent. It would be interesting to see if a similar process can be applied to split the layers of higher denomination clad coinage such as the U.S. dimes and quarters. On the downside, the existence of this recipe for the manipulation of coins will undoubtedly lead to the marketing of coin components in the guise of mint errors. Be aware! Here are a couple excerpts from the article. -Editor] "Looking for something more interesting to do with that jar of pennies than just cash it in? One word: acid. "In most years before 1982, American pennies were 95 percent copper. Then the price of copper went up until you could get $100 worth of pennies at the bank, melt them down, and sell the metal for more than $100. So the government started using a core of cheap zinc with only a thin plating of copper. "The fact that pennies are made of two different metals opens up the interesting possibility of separating them. "... these two methods let me prepare this real-life exploded view?proving that what the U.S. Mint has joined together, an Icelandic chemist and an American teenager may put asunder." To read the complete article, see: http://www.popsci.com/popsci/how20/0091804df3c83110vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html QUIZ ANSWER: NUMISMATIC USES OF CYANIDE http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v09n32a14.html WAYNE'S LONDON DIARY 8 JULY, 2007 Regarding my stay in London, Roger Burdette writes: "When do you begin spelling words with extra letters and taking the 'lift' to your hotel room? I replied that "I?m already taking the tube and the lift every day, and using colourful phrases!" Roger's retort was: "Bilmey, let's hope you don't come down with 'pub elbow' from lifting all those pints. That would put the cotter in the hill! If you're driving, be sure to stay off the vergis - driving there could land you in gaol for a fortnight." Well, I haven't driven in London and don't plan to. And I doubt I'm in danger of getting pub elbow - this week brought some late nights in the office. We even put in a full day and then some on the Fourth of July, which strangely, the Brits don't seem to celebrate. Work keeps getting in the way of fun, but I try. Although I missed the first half, on Tuesday I made it to the meeting of the London Numismatic Society. I wasn't the only late arrival. Outside the Warburg Institute on Woburn Square I met David Dell, a well-dressed older gentleman who introduced himself as a 50-year member of the club. I learned that he collected the short cross coinage. But we were both locked out of the building. David reached through the bushes and tapped on the meeting room window, which was conveniently on the first floor just off the lobby. It's the same room where the British Numismatic Society meets. After an officer of the club had some cross words with the building guard who had left his post with the door locked inside and out, we were let inside. Harry Mernick was finishing up his presentation on "The Royal Mint Centenary Medal Series, 1986-1999". Counting myself, there were seventeen attendees. Beautifully illustrated with images projected from his computer, Harry's talk was quite interesting. Examples of all the medals were laid out for viewing on the table at the front of the room. The series commemorates important British events. Mintages were 5,000 in bronze, 2,500 in silver and 25 in gold. The series was discontinued after 1999 for lack of public interest. It's a shame, for many of the medals are quite well executed. Harry suggested that the problem could be due to the availability of so many commemorative coins in circulation and the high prices charged by the Mint for the medals. He noted that the Royal Mint is testing the waters with a new series, priced at 1,495 GBP for a set of six silver medals. One attractive medal honored the Llantrisant Longbowmen. The Welsh archers changed the course of warfare forever when their technological advances ended the reign of Knights on horseback which had dominated battlefields since the later years of the Roman Empire. At 100 yards their bodkin-tipped arrows could pierce not only chain mail, but plate armour. In a famous battle in 1346, "the French sent in wave after wave of cavalry, hoping to overwhelm the English line. It held. Each time the longbowmen made terrible slaughter from the protection of their ditches and caltrops. As supplies of arrows ran shot, they sallied out in groups to drag arrows out of dead and living, horses and men; and took prisoners for later ransom. "By midnight, Philip's brother, Charles II of Alen?on and his allies, King John of Bohemia and the Count of Flanders, Louis II of Nevers, as well as 1,500 other knights and esquires were dead." [Taken from the web site listed below. -Editor] How events from 1346 ended up commemorated on a modern Centenary medal I don't know, but I deserved to be confused for arriving late. It was an elegant medal regardless. I learned more than just the story of the archers - I finally learned how to pronounce the name of the town of Llantrisant, Wales. Harry explained that it means the "Land of Three Saints" - Llan/Tri/Sant. QUIZ QUIZ: What is Llantrisant's numismatic connection? Harry's vocabulary also includes the word "penultimate", which I remember is also a favorite of numismatic author Q. David Bowers. Harry used the term correctly, but many of us misunderstand. So what does it mean? Other medals in the series are proper centenary medals, commemorating events occurring 100 years earlier. The 1994 Tower Bridge medal commemorates the 1894 opening of the iconic London landmark. A majestic composition with extraordinary detail, the medal is a delight. If you're in London and looking for a souvenir, pass up the trinkets and get something like this. I also enjoyed the beautiful art deco-style design of the 1997 Women's Institute medal, commemorating the founding of the organization in 1897 (in Canada, actually). In the question-and-answer session following Harry's talk, Frances Simmons spoke about the Royal Mint's efforts to attract new engravers, and another member noted that the remains of John Harrison (a renowned clockmaker commemorated on one of the medals) are interred near Royal Mintmaster Isaac Newton in Westminster Abbey. Following the meeting I was delighted to be invited to dinner at a usual post-meeting haunt. Our party included Phil and Harry Mernick, David Powell, Anthony Portner, and Robert H. Thompson, who edits a bibliography of the British Numismatic Journal. We walked down Tavistock Place past a nice a pretty public square, eventually stepping into a little Indian restaurant. Starters and a round of cold Cobra beers was served. Conversation was a delight, and covered topics in and out of the numismatic realm. I noted that the pound coin seems to be the real workhorse, with most examples I've seen being well worn. Phil Mernick said that apparently 1% or more of all pound coins in circulation are actually counterfeits. Apparently the high face value and worn condition of most of the genuine coins makes it ripe for fakery. Phil told us about some of the diagnostics, which are mainly on the edge. He pronounced the two coins I drew from my pocket as genuine. I looked at them through a borrowed loupe to view the details. When I asked Phil why the words "One Pound" were backwards, he politely informed me that I was looking at the coin upside down. OK, no more Cobras for me tonight. We exited the restaurant after a great meal and walked toward the Russell Square tube station. On July 7, 2005 a train traveling to Russell Square from the next station (King's Cross's St. Pancras) was violated with the explosion of a terrorist's bomb, killing 26 people. Built in 1906, the station has many interesting original architectural features, including mosaic tile signage. Harry pointed out to me the blast doors, large heavy safe-like doors used to seal the tunnels against Nazi bombs in WWII. Life goes on. We boarded a train and said our goodnights as we exited at our stops. By Thursday the pace of work cooled down a bit and I was lucky to be able to go through with my planned dinner with John Andrew. Numismatists in the U.S. know him as the London correspondent of Coin World. We met about 6 pm in the lobby of my building. I had my laptop open to check a phone number and offered to show him the draft of this week's issue. It's not necessarily a pretty sight - like software and sausages, one is better off not knowing how it is made. The draft is a very long conglomeration of unedited and unformatted text. Since Monday morning I'd been plopping in emails from subscribers and the entire text of newspaper articles from the web. To keep things straight every item is separated by a draft headline in the same format as the finished product. If you think the final issues are big, you should see a draft. But disk space is cheap, so everything under the sun gets thrown in to the pot. I was shocked, shocked! to learn that John was not already a subscriber. Sacrebleu! But we remedied that quickly and walked down Shaftesbury Avenue in the London drizzle to Bali Bali, an Indonesian/Malaysian/Thai restaurant. We had a wonderful dinner, sharing tales of our collecting experiences. John has over 30 years experience in banking and has published over twenty books on topics ranging from personal finance to Faberge, and has contributed to all of the major U.K. newspapers including The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, The Times, The Independent, The Financial Times and The Scotsman. He has written extensively on numismatics in numerous countries and is Consultant Editor of the U.K.'s Coin News. He has a healthy numismatic library and offered to make me a copy of the item Bob Neale recommended - Eric Newman's 1959 article in the British Numismatic Journal on "The successful British counterfeiting of American paper money during the American revolution." Two thousand miles away and I'm still trodding in Eric's footprints on the numismatic landscape. John doesn't actually collect coins anymore, just books and information. He decided to stop collecting when he began writing about numismatics professionally. His collecting passion is post-WWII British silver and gold. Not coins, but tableware and decorative pieces. A few years ago he sold a collection of Faberge pieces he'd assembled over the years, including elegant gold cigarette and match cases set with precious stones. The collection included a number of pieces in their original presentation boxes including gifts from the Tsar of Russia. Walking into a London jewelry exhibit recently he spotted a piece on loan from comedienne Joan Rivers and exclaimed "That's my brooch!" A good friend of John's is Gerald Hoberman, known numismatically for his beautiful 1981 Spink publication, "The Art of Coins and Their Photography". Hoberman has published scores of books of photographs. John wrote the text for one on London which he showed me at dinner. The photographs of London landmarks and quintessential sights (local pubs, cheesemongers etc) were stunning. A number of shots of palaces, parks and gardens were taken from the air, offering a heavenly perspective. Having spent time around London I could really appreciate the book's charms - it's highly recommended for non-numismatic reading. Our conversation lasted throughout our long dinner which included appetizers and dessert. We talked about Stephen Fenton (who lives near John) and the 1933 Double Eagles, and my collection of J.S.G. Boggs material. At John's request, back at my hotel I emailed him citations for some of the books on the topics. It was a delightful evening and I look forward to visiting him again before my time in London is done. Together we'll work on a piece about The E-Sylum for Coin News. Friday morning I had to be up bright and early for a breakfast meeting with Tom Patterson, CEO of my company, Command Information. Tom is a pioneer in Internet security and formed the company to jumpstart commercial use of the next generation of the Internet (IPv6). He had with him a new T-Mobile phone which can switch from the standard cell phone network to faster Wi-Fi connections. The phone uses IPv6, as does the new iPhone from Apple. The meeting was at the Savoy Hotel. Hopping into a cab at 7am, we passed preparations for the Tour de France in Hyde Park and Trafalgar Square. Once at the hotel we were greeted by a chatty top-hatted doorman. The lobby of the Savoy is huge, topped by a large decorative plaster border unlike any I've ever seen before. The restaurant was equally immense and framed in marble. Our table was at the window, overlooking the Thames. I chose the buffet. It was an absolute delight to the eye - the food was presented meticulously. There were three kids of marinated smoked salmon, dozens of types of sliced fruit, and usual breakfast fare of eggs, sausage, bacon, etc. The waitress poured glasses of fresh orange- mango juice. It was a far cry from my usual breakfast of cereal and O.J. from a supermarket-brand carton. After work on Friday a colleague and I walked the few blocks down Charing Cross Road to Trafalgar Square where the opening ceremonies of the Tour de France were being held. No cars could get near - the streets were closed. It was fun to walk down the center of Charing Cross Road, normally jammed with traffic. Police were out in force, but I saw no one being stopped or searched. Together with throngs of people we strolled right past the security barriers. The square was packed with thousands of people on temporary bleachers and chairs. From my spot on Charing Cross I could see the stage through the trees. The head of operations for the Tour introduced himself and then the crowd was treated to a history of the bicycle as people pushed or rode antique bicycles across the stage. One of the earliest was an example of the classic Victorian style with no gears and one huge wheel in the front. A large video screen made it easier to see the action on the stage, but where I stood it was all very noisy and difficult to hear, as people squeezed past us holding conversations and vendors hawked T-shirts from a truck behind. We watched a man climb atop a bus shelter to take a photo - after he was in place someone handed him up a backpack and a camera with a huge zoom lens. I didn't stay long and walked back toward my tube stop. I don't mind crowds, but my nervous family wants me to stay away from them. That's easier said than done in Central London. I stopped for a haircut and then walked to my tube stop at Oxford Street. Had the weather been better I would have walked all the way home, and that would have made for a much more pleasant journey. The sidewalk at Oxford Street was jammed with people, and officials were turning people away from the entrance to the underground. I assume it was because of the traffic generated by the Tour; this entrance was now an exit only - I would have to cross two streets to get into the station. Crossing those streets took a while - there were mobs of people. Finally I reached the train platform and it was also quite crowded. A train arrived soon but was already jammed with passengers. Two people got off, three people squeezed in, and off the train went with me and hundreds of others still stranded on the platform. Somehow I managed to get on the next train which was equally packed nutztobuttz with people. What was that about avoiding crowds? When I reached my stop at the Queensway station I squeezed off the train. The Central Line is deep underground at that point and to get to street level riders have to take a lift (elevator) or brave the stairs. I chose the stairs. Normally I'm the only one but tonight there were dozens of people hoofing it up the 123 steps. No, I didn't count them, but there's a sign to warn the faint of heart. It was a relief to reach the street and breathe the cool evening air. While the rest of London was out and about Friday night, I was quite content to have the hotel laundry facility to myself to take care of the weekly washing. While waiting I read some email and popped a few more submissions into this week's E-Sylum draft. Saturday morning brought a strange sight to my windows - blue skies and sunshine. It had been at least a fortnight since we had such a nice day. I faced the day with mixed emotions, though. It was the anniversary of the London bombings which killed 52 people on the London transportation system. Checking email at breakfast I got a note from ANS Executive Director Ute Wartenberg Kagan who was traveling in Berlin. She writes: "Two years ago on July 7 I was in London and just about to enter Edgeware Road, one of the stations where a bomb went off on a train. Later I heard that one of my numismatic colleagues from the British Museum was on one of the trains, but was unharmed. But in London people expect this sort of thing, I am sure you noticed." Although I had been invited to attend, I decided not to go to the 'Currencies in Crisis' conference in Chichester. I also passed up a chance to visit Wimbledon for the playoffs. It had been a long week and I wanted to complete my E-Sylum chores at a leisurely pace and take a few casual walks in the warm sun. I opened the windows wide to let in the fresh cool air. After having some lunch I went for a long walk in Hyde Park, home base of the London leg of the Tour de France bicycle race. Hundreds of trucks and buses were parked three deep along one long road. I soon came across the People's Village, basically a peddler's fair piggybacking on the Tour. There were booths selling T-shirts, all manner of food and drink and traditional French products. I saw a few of the racers whiz by to the cheers of the crowd. This was only the prologue race - the official race starts Sunday and goes on and on. One rider described it as "the only sporting event in the world where you need a haircut halfway through." On Sunday I worked some more on The E-Sylum in the morning and after lunch set out on another journey. My cross-town destination was Sotheby's, to view lots in their 12 July sale of English Literature and History. It was a quiet afternoon. I checked my backpack in the cloakroom and entered the book room for lot viewing. There were only three others viewing lots. I filled out a lot viewing sheet, but was never asked for identification. Viewers are not allowed to copy or transcribe any part of the documents in their notes, but the staff was quite helpful and I had free reign to handle the items. I was particularly interested in just one lot, and only for viewing since it would be too expensive to buy. Here's the lot description (estimate 2,000-3,000 GBP): "Newton, Sir Isaac. Collection of documents relating to the Royal Mint including a receipt for plate taken from three ships, subscribed ("recd the plate above mentioned ... by me") and signed by Newton as master of the mint, 1 page, folio, 28 May 1703, endorsed on verso, tear resulting in loss of half of signature, professionally restored. "[together with:] a group of 16 documents relating to the Royal Mint including: letters to and from various correspondents, some being copies, on such subjects as the use of an iron screw press "that may be used for forginge or Counterfeiting the current monies and coyne of this Kingdom", the discharge of goods seized from a pirate by the Hull mint, building work at the Chester mint, and a patent held by Sir Talbot Clarke for the smelting and refining of copper; receipts including sums received in taxes by various county receivers, the costs of assaying and transporting plate brought from Vigo, and the salaries of officials at the Exeter mint; in total 22 pages, various sizes and locations, 2 December 1682 to 23 December 1712, professionally restored and strengthened, waterstaining (17)" That the document is missing part of Newton's signature is a shame. Only "Isaac" remains. An interesting group, particularly the pirate item. I recall the spelling as "Pyrate". They're not for me at that price level, but I hope they find a good home. While I was there I took a peek at a few other items. Lot 15 is a very nice large autographed photographic portrait of inventor Thomas Edison, suitable for framing. Lot 44 is a two-volume, first edition set of Adam Smith's 1776 treatise, "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations." It was a treat to hold the first edition of this landmark work. Chapter IV is titled "Of the Origin and Use of Money". Lot 92 is a two-volume first edition of Charles Dickens' "Sketches by 'Boz'" with sixteen wood-engraved plates by George Cruikshank, known numismatically for his famous "hanging" satire note. Lot 105 is an 1849 edition of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's "Frankenstein: or The Modern Prometheus". Not all of the lots were centuries old. Lot 282 is a 1997 first edition of J.K. Rowling's first Harry Potter book, "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", estimated at 1,000?1,500 GBP. The book carried a marking from the Portsmouth City Council Library Service and a date of 8/97. The original cover price was 10.99 GBP. My neighboring lot viewer questioned why the book didn't been marked as a discard, since "a lot of these get nicked from public libraries." Leaving Sotheby's I continued walking down Bond Street, London's upscale shopping district comparable to LA's Rodeo Drive or New York's Fifth Avenue. Since it was a Sunday the shops were closed. I turned left on Piccadilly and wandered into the Royal Academy of Arts. Situated on a beautiful plaza together with the Astrological and Geological Societies and the Society of Antiquaries, the setting is similar to the American Numismatic Society's former home on Audubon terrace, only in a civilized neighborhood. I had seen my fill of Impressionist Paintings and passed on the summer exhibit, "Impressionists by the Sea". I was disappointed that the library was closed - I would have liked to ask the librarians about works pertaining to coin designers. Established in 1768, the Academy's library is the oldest institutional library in the U.K. I walked through the public galleries viewing paintings and some interesting artifacts such as Sir Joshua Reynolds' palette. Making use of my E-Sylum vocabulary, I recognized the word "Tondo" in the exhibit guide, and made my way upstairs to view what the Academy considers its greatest treasure - the marble sculpture the Toddei Tondo: The Virgin and Child with the Infant St. John by Michelangelo (1503-1504). Leaving the Royal Academy I walked through Mayfair past Shephard's Market and other landmarks, making my way into Hyde Park near Apsley House at Hyde Park Corner. The park was still full with the Tour de France, and I climbed up a temporary staircase and bridge to cross over the racecourse on Serpentine Drive. Stopping to buy some water (1.65 GBP for a 500ml bottle), I continued along the far side of Serpentine Lake, past the Diana Memorial Fountain and Round Lake back to my Bayswater neighborhood. It was about a three mile walk in all - time to rest my weary feet. To visit John Andrew's web site, see: http://www.johnpandrew.com To read more on the Llantrisant Longbowmen, see: http://www.llantrisant.net/crecy.htm To view images of counterfeit British one-pound coins, see: http://www.coinauthentication.co.uk/newsletter1.html To learn some diagnostics of fake one-pound coins, see: http://wiki.chiark.greenend.org.uk/HowToSpotAFakePoundCoin http://blog.alism.com/fake-one-pound-coins-part-one/ To view Sotheby's lot description http://www.sothebys.com/app/live/lot/LotDetail.jsp?lot_id=159370901 LONDON POLICE DOG AWARDED MEDAL FOR BRAVERY London newspapers reported on Tuesday that "Heroic hound Jake the cocker spaniel is to be honoured today for his bravery after the 7/7 London bombings. "Handler PC Bob Crawford and two-year-old Met police dog Jake (full name Hubble Keck) formed part of the emergency services response after the attacks. "They were sent to Tavistock Square and later Kings Cross. "At Tavistock Square, injured people were in need of urgent medical attention but the bus was believed to contain a further suspect device. "Jake and PC Crawford searched a safe route to the device ensuring that it was safe for paramedics to reach the passengers. "They then searched an area close to the bus so a make-shift field hospital could be set up. "Afterwards they set about searching a mile long route underground from Russell Square tube station to Kings Cross to ensure people could be rescued safely. "Today, Jake will be given the animal equivalent of the George Cross by HRH Princess Alexandra at St James's Palace." To read the complete article, see: http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2007300563,00.html [We've discussed previously in The E-Sylum about medals awarded in Britain to animals. A related article published last year notes that Bamse, the canine mascot of the Norwegian Forces during WWII received a postumous PDSA Gold Medal (the 'animals' 'George Cross') for saving the lives of two crew members of his ship. The PDSA Gold medal (called the equivalent of the George Cross) seems to be different than the Dickin medal (called the equivalent of the Victoria Cross). Can anyone confirm this? -Editor] To read about Bamse, the life-saving Norwegian dog, see http://www.norway.org.uk/edinburgh/events/bamsemedal.htm DICKIN MEDAL: THE VICTORIA CROSS FOR ANIMALS http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v07n48a15.html SPY PIGEON'S MEDAL FETCHES ?39,200 http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v07n49a05.html FAKE COINS ABOUND IN CHINA Britain isn't the only country plagued with counterfeit coins. A Friday article in China Daily notes that "Fake coins can now be found in several Chinese cities. Many convenience stores, snack bars, and newspaper stands are buying them and giving them as change to customers, who then spend them in other places, according to Nanfang Weekend. "Two employees of a fake coin retailer in Guangzhou, capital of southern Guangdong Province, who gave their names as B Zai and A Wei, told the paper that many local convenient stores and snack bars buy from them. "Their boss buys fake coins, valued at 1 yuan each, from a wholesaler and sells them to shops at 35 fen. "Retailers stick posters on walls and lampposts, and also advertise on the Internet. "'Most coin identification machines cannot detect them from genuine ones,' he said." "'Coins are simple to copy as they do not have anti-counterfeit safeguards,' he said. "In the first eight months of last year, Hubei Province confiscated more than 10.52 million counterfeit coins with 1 yuan face value." To read the complete article, see: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-07/06/content_911167.htm STILL MORE ON THE TYPOGRAPHIC SYMBOL FOR COIN REVERSE For a while now we've been following Ed Snible's quest to learn more about the typographic symbol for coin reverse with limited success. In his July 1 blog Ed speculates on why use of the symbol died out. He writes: "The )( symbol is a new obsession of Wayne Homren, who reports in today's e-Sylum that he has contracted the Gutenberg Museum in Mainz, Germany, The Type Museum here in London, the International Printing Museum near Los Angeles, the Museum of Printing in North Andover, MA; the JAARS Museum of the Alphabet in Waxhaw, NC; and the St. Brides Printing Library in London. "No useful replies yet. "In a June 3 comment here, Dr. Robert J. O?Hara pointed to an 18th century list of alchemical symbols, Medicinisch-Chymisch- und Alchemistisches Oraculum (1755), which includes both )( and ?. Both symbols abbreviate words beginning with RE (Realgar and Recipe). If one needed to abbreviate ?reverse? down to a single character to save space it makes sense to use a symbol which had already served that purpose. )( was such a symbol, but would numismatic readers in the 18th century have understood it? "The earliest numismatic use that I know of is from 1758, in a book published in Vienna, Prague, and Triest by Ioannis Thomae Trattner. However, I just haved looked. I don't have any 17th or 18th century books, and Google has scanned only a few. I would be curious to find earlier citations of the symbol. It would be interesting if the symbol started with publishers known for printing alchemical works. I have before never considered a connection between numismatics and alchemy. "It is interesting that the symbol died out. It was used by Eckhel, who is the father of numismatics as a science. It seems logical that authors would want to make the works look more like Eckhel's, so why did the symbol die out? Possibly type setters didn't have the symbol, but perhaps even in the 19th century no one knew the name of the symbol or its exact meaning?" To read Ed's original July 1 blog entry, see: http://digitalhn.blogspot.com/2007/07/more.html TYPOGRAPHIC SYMBOL FOR COIN REVERSE http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v10n23a17.html TYPOGRAPHIC SYMBOL FOR COIN REVERSE HAS E-SYLUM READERS STUMPED http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v10n24a14.html NOTES ON THE TYPOGRAPHIC SYMBOL FOR COIN REVERSE http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v10n25a21.html [Ed raised a very interesting question, which could be destined to remain a numismatic mystery. Thanks to Karl Moulton we have some additional background on the symbol's use in the U.S., but little proof of where it came from originally, what it was called or why it died out. Perhaps someday an answer will turn up. Meanwhile, researchers should keep an eye on Ed's blog for his regular updates on numismatic literature being added to Google Book search. The latest include three titles in the BMC Greek series: Vol. 16 Ionia, by Head, 1892. Vol. 17 Troas, Aeolis and Lesbos, by Wroth, 1894. Vol. 19 Lycia, Pamphylia and Pisidia, by Hill, 1897 -Editor] STEPPING THE MAST COIN CUSTOM TAKES TO THE SKIES Dick Johnson writes: "If you are an aircraft mechanic raise your hand. I don't see many hands raised among E-Sylum readers. This story is about a 75-year-old (best guess) custom with Lincoln cents. Even though I have collected and written about Lincoln cents for almost an equal time (68 of those 75 years) this story is new to me. "The custom is to place a Lincoln cent -- which automatically becomes a 'lucky penny' and extending that luck to every thing it touches -- on the engine of an airplane. Specifically, one kind of aircraft engine, Pratt & Whitney engines, which are manufactured here in Connecticut. "It seems the mechanics who make these engines place a Lincoln cent of the current year on every one made. When an engine is restored or overhauled at some later date, the mechanic has the option of retaining the original cent bearing the date of manufacture, or, use one of the current year. "A contributing writer for Aircraft Maintenance Technology magazine, Giacinto Bradly Koontz, wrote an article, published this week, where the writer wanted to track down the origin of this curious custom and how long this has been going on. Learning the answer wasn't easy. "The best guess would be the 1930s, since the 'engine pennies' were found on one type of engine, R1340 WASP, which was first manufactured in 1940. One mechanic the author interviewed listed two other engines in which the custom could have started. "An aircraft owner stated he picked up the custom from a crop duster, who wouldn't think of flying without a penny on his own P&W. 'It's just one of those things some of us do, but probably don't know why.' He speculated it could be placed there to signify the last overhaul, like a date stamp. Other mechanics said they did it because their fathers and grandfathers did. The custom continues today. Fly safely!" [The lengthy article relates the custom to the ancient shipbuilding custom of placing a coin under the mast in a ceremony called Stepping the Mast. We've written about this in previous E-Sylums. -Editor] To read the complete article, see: http://www.amtonline.com/publication/article.jsp?pubId=1&id=4204 NAVAL COIN CUSTOM IN THE NEWS: STEPPING THE SHIP'S MAST http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v10n11a26.html UPCOMING JAEGER ARTICLE ON STEPPING THE MAST http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v10n12a19.html ON ELIMINATING THE CENT Tim Shuck writes: "Dick Johnson?s comments on why we no longer need the cent are persuasive, and I agree that ?deficit? minting of coins needs to end. However, if rounding to ten cents is implemented he might want to reconsider removing cents and nickels from circulation, either physically or by revaluation. [Revaluation has been one of the options proposed. -Editor] "Under such a scenario, if I use quarters to pay for a purchase ending in 20 cents (using one quarter), 60 or 70 cents (using three quarters), how would I get the five cents in change back? Forced use of dimes would be an inconvenience that, along with political (and practical) issues related to revaluation, will make elimination of the nickel a non-starter in my opinion. And we might need those cents as well to make up five cents in change. "I could suggest, tongue halfway in cheek, that if cents and nickels go, the quarter also needs to be replaced with a new 20 cent piece; history in the making and a host of new collecting possibilities. If that happened all circulating coins would then be an even multiple of the lowest denomination coin, which is needed to avoid the five-cents- in-change problem. This seems too obvious; am I missing something here?" ABOLITION OF CANADIAN CENT PROPOSED Dick Johnson writes: "Canada is getting serious about abolishing the cent denomination. Last week the national bank issued a statement endorsing its demise. This week a member of parliament, Pat Martin, is drafting a bill to accomplish just that. The $30 million is the amount the Canadian Mint would save annually by abolishing the penny, says a study by the Library of Parliament, whose facts Mr. Martin is using to bolster his argument that the penny should no longer "nickel and dime Canadians." "Canada is not facing the problem, as does the United States, that of the U.S. cents costing more for its metal composition than its face value, since Canadian cents are made of steel. The Royal Canadian Mint manufactures steel cents for 0.7 cents each, which means a penny is still actually worth something, but not much. The problem with pennies is that Canadians lose them, throw them away or store them in buckets by the millions. Last year the mint stamped out 815 million pennies. At 2.35 grams each, they are in weight as they are in value -- pretty much nothing. But together, they weigh almost two million kilograms. Moving all those coins from the mint to banks alone costs about $33 million. "By abolishing the cent Canadians would have to do some rounding off. Not all prices, just the final tally. An editorial in the Winnipeg Free Press noted this has already been done in Australia, New Zealand, France and Spain. We could add Finland to that list." To read the Winnipeg Free Press editorial, see: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/editorial/story/4001387p-4616055c.html LOBBYIST HIRED FOR ZINC BLANK MANUFACTURER Dick Johnson writes: "Congress can expect a lot of pressure from a lobbyist hired this week by Jarden Zinc Products. They manufacture the copper-coated zinc blanks the U.S. Mint purchases to strike into Lincoln cents. "Since the cent's existence is vulnerable -- because the market price of its two metal components is waverying above the coin's face value and the importance of the cent to the American economy is declining -- this poses a tremendous loss of business to this company should the coin be abolished. "In addition to the U.S. Mint, Jarden supplies zinc coin blanks to the Royal Canadian Mint as well as other countries. Canada has advanced further in their plans to abolish their cent coin; their national bank recently endorsed the cent's elimination. U.S. Mint officials are mute on the subject. "Jarden Zinc Products is a subsidary of Jarden Corp, headquartered in Rye, New York. Their zinc processing plants are located in Tennessee and elsewhere." To read the original Associated Press report, see: http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/07/05/ap3887237.html THE TOKENS OF THOMAS CHURCH [Last week's discussion of the Canadian Numismatic Bibliography illustrates the vast number of topics under that umbrella. One interesting Canadian item that I learned about from my friend Larry Dziubek are the privately-made tokens of Thomas Church. He gave a presentation on the topic at a local Pittsburgh club meeting one month, based on a Canadian Numismatic Journal article by Fred Bowman. Larry gave me permission to republish the text of his presentation for the benefit of E-Sylum readers. -Editor] Thomas Church was born in 1843 in Ireland. His father was an artist that painted murals, some of which are in the Canadian Parliament. The family lived in Ottawa since 1851 and Tom got in his career field as a lumberman by 1860. He eventually became the manager of the mill. He lost his left hand in an industrial accident a few months before the entire lumber yard and town was destroyed by fire in 1900. Mr. Church had no children by his first two marriages, but had seven with Margaret Spratt his third wife. In his mid-thirties he became a serious collector of Canadian coins and tokens. He began to experiment in cutting his own dies in the 1880?s. Many of the dies had the style of early Canadian tokens found in the Breton series. He built a forge and workshop near his home and began to cut and harden steel dies. This hobby and his love for growing roses seemed to consume all of his spare time. Some of the talent needed for this task was inherited from his father, the artist. Although his first attempts were on the crude side, the quality of his workmanship continually improved until it was near the level of a professional die cutter. Most of his early issues were in soft metals that were melted, and used later to make bullets. A few strikes were done over existing coins or tokens. Some small mintages were due to the short life of inferior dies when striking harder metals. Later Thomas began to roll sheets of different metals for his planchets. These were not always made in a uniform thickness and add to the variety and weight of his products. His personal amusement and recreation turned into a minor business. He made milk check tokens for C. W. Barrett of Leitrium, Ontario, the brother-in-law of his second wife. These were the only issues struck in quantity. He also made several personal tokens for himself, as well as some for the Central Canada Exhibition in 1896. He made tokens for Louis Laurin who owned and operated a general store and was also a serious collector. When a fire destroyed Laurin?s collection in 1899 he began to specialize in collecting Communion Tokens. Early articles (1903) on the subject of Thomas Church listed only twenty eight varieties in all metals, using some twenty of his dies. Now the thinking is that there are some fifty-five combinations or mulings from fifty-eight different dies. There would be another fifty-two varieties if you counted all the pieces struck in various metals. Many of these would be LEAD strikes that were only intended to be ?die trials? that got into some early collections. Leading Canadian collectors of the day such as F.R.E. Campeau, R.W. McLachlan, Joseph Leroux, and F.X. Paquet had standing orders to purchase Church issues as soon as they were made. After the great fire of April 1900 that destroyed all of Ottawa and Church?s home on Victoria Island, he never resumed any efforts to make tokens. He died on March 7, 1917 at age 74. The most definitive report on Church?s output was the October 1959 Fred Bowman article in The Canadian Numismatic Journal. CALIFORNIA'S 'PENNY KING' AND THE MYTH OF THE MILLION DOLLAR PENNY Dick Johnson writes: "This is one of the strangest stories I ever read. And it is one of several on 'pennies' this week. A man in California gives a dollar bill to strangers for every cent they have. But that's not all. The stories he tells are stranger yet! "Freelance author Alex S. Gabor tells of the gentleman who calls himself the 'Penny King.' He states he was cheated out of a $70-million dollar company 34 years ago and for the last 15 years he has been giving away his dollar-for-cent exchanges. "He states there is a million-dollar penny out there somewhere and he hopes to find it. His son found a trunk of cents he cashed in for $4,000 so he has been quite active in this rater strange preocupation. The rest of his statements range from unusual to unbelievable so you will have to read the author's own words. He calls it 'The Myth of the Million Dollar Penny.' "The article was published in the American Chronicle this week. Go read for yourself." [Here are a couple short excerpts from this wacky article. -Editor] "There are many articles on the subject of this mythological penny that could fetch over a million dollars. Supposedly the United States Mint made only one of these pennies and it somehow managed to slip out of the garbage bin and into circulation through some former government employee?s deliberate attempts to cash in on what could now only be deemed a tiny diamond in a global haystack. "?The Penny King? likes to tell the story of how he once put up a golden penny for auction on eBay with a minimum bid of $1 million and someone successfully bid and won. "He was all set to cash in his spray painted gold penny and buy hundreds of thousands more and make a global business of it when the person who won the auction backed out thinking it was altogether a joke. To read the complete article, see: http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=31393 WHY DO PEOPLE LOVE TO THROW COINS INTO FOUNTAINS? A June 30 New York Times article addressed another age-old coin custom, throwing coins into a fountain. "Dionysos, standing there in his sandals with his arm over that woman, knows. He spends his days watching everyone in the room and everything they do. "He knows it cannot be Aphrodite, on his right. She has no arms. "He knows it cannot be Hercules, also on his right. No arms on him, either. "So who is dropping all the coins in the fountain in the Metropolitan Museum of Art?s new Greek and Roman galleries? "Not David Mendez, though he knows more about coins in fountains than anyone else at the Met. That is because he takes the coins out, once a week, every week, using an old wiper blade and napkin-size pieces of thin white cloth. "The Met says that the fountain, in the Leon Levy and Shelby White Court, was not planned as a receptacle for discarded dimes, pennies and quarters, not to mention euros, Mexican pesos and Taiwanese dollars. ?The fountain was designed to recreate the ambience of a Roman court,? said Harold Holzer, a spokesman for the Met, ?but you know, it?s inevitable. From Trevi to Dendur, water attracts coins.? To read the complete article, see: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/30/nyregion/30coins.html MONEY FALLS FROM THE SKY IN GERMANY According to a Reuters report, "A German motorist surprised by euro notes swirling in the air around her car hit the brakes and collected a "substantial amount of money" before turning it over to police, authorities in Worms said on Thursday. "A police spokesman in the small western town said the 24-year-old woman saw the money flying through the air in her rear view mirror late on Wednesday. She pulled over and tried to collect all the notes, unsuccessfully. "When police went with her to the scene they could not find any more cash. "A spokesman at Worms city hall said police were withholding details on the exact sum and location of the find in the hope of learning more about the money's origin." To read the complete article, see: http://tinyurl.com/yofp9x FEATURED WEB PAGE: CHRISTIAN GOBRECHT This week's featured web page is on Christian Gobrecht, at the U.S. Patterns web site. "The name of Gobrecht, the third person to occupy the post of chief engraver at the Philadelphia Mint, is well known to collectors today and is reflected in such popular terms as Gobrecht dollar and The Gobrecht Journal, the latter being the publication of the Liberty Seated Collectors Club." http://www.uspatterns.com/chrisgob.html The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. For more information please see our web site at http://www.coinbooks.org/. There is a membership application available on the web site at this address: http://www.coinbooks.org/club_nbs_member_app.html To join, print the application and return it with your check to the address printed on the application. Membership is only $15 to addresses in the U.S., $20 elsewhere. For those without web access, write to: David M. Sundman, Secretary/Treasurer Numismatic Bibliomania Society, P. O. Box 82 Littleton, NH 03561 For Asylum mailing address changes and other membership questions, contact David at this email address: dsundman@LittletonCoin.com To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, just Reply to this message, or write to the Editor at this address: whomren@coinlibrary.com Those wishing to become new E-Sylum subscribers (or wishing to Unsubscribe) can go to the following web page: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum All past E-Sylum issues are archived on the NBS web site at this address: http://www.coinbooks.org/club_nbs_esylum_archive.html Issues from September 2002 to date are also archived at this address: http://my.binhost.com/pipermail/esylum From esylum at binhost.com Sun Jul 15 19:57:52 2007 From: esylum at binhost.com (esylum@binhost.com) Date: Sun Jul 15 19:57:59 2007 Subject: The E-Sylum v10#28, July 15, 2007 Message-ID: <00b301c7c73b$f4f2a8d0$72524b4b@corp.cmdinfo.com> Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 10, Number 28, July 15, 2007: an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society. Copyright (c) 2007, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society. WAYNE'S WORDS: THE E-SYLUM 15 JULY, 2007 Counting one anonymous new subscriber, we now have a total of 1,151. This week we open with an announcement about Rusty Goe's new book on James Crawford of the Carson City Mint, and a correction to an error in last week's issue. Next, Dr. Ute Wartenberg Kagan discusses the American Numismatic Society library and archives and their status in the move being considered by the society. In the news, Dwight Manley is working on a couple new projects and we speculate on possible numismatic connections. My London Diary continues with visits to Spink and Dix Noonan Webb, and newspapers in Britain are buzzing with word of the theft of a landmark collection of Scottish coinage. Have a great week, everyone. Wayne Homren Numismatic Bibliomania Society BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT: JAMES CRAWFORD: MASTER OF THE MINT AT CARSON CITY Marie Goe writes: "After suffering through many trials and shedding many tears it appears as if Rusty's new book, 'James Crawford: Master of the Mint at Carson City - A Short Full Life' is ready for distribution. Whereas Rusty initially thought the book would contain approximately 400 pages, it has swelled to 658 pages. Below is the table of contents and a copy of the press release for the book: Introduction Book One: The Early Years: Hardinsburg, Kentucky to Littleton, Illinois Book Two: The California Years: La Porte in Sierra County Book Three: The Lyon County, Nevada Years: Como to Dayton Book Four: The Carson City Years: 1874 - 1885 Epilogue Appendix Selected Bibliography Index "A new biography on the life of James Crawford, fourth superintendent of the Carson City Mint from 1874 to 1885, is now available in hardcover, from the award-winning author of The Mint on Carson Street, Rusty Goe. Packed with more information about an officer in the Bureau of the Mint system than any other reference, this 650-page book, entitled James Crawford: Master of the Mint at Carson City ? A Short Full Life, traces this historic figure from his birth in Kentucky to his rise to fame and authority at Nevada?s venerated coin factory in Carson City. "While a small minority of coin collectors are familiar with the name James Crawford, this great man?s legacy has unfortunately been obscured in the passing pages of time. Until now, that is. For, author Rusty Goe, employing the tedious tenacity of a skilled researcher, has reconstructed James Crawford?s life, primarily through excerpts from hundreds of pages of newspapers spanning the second half of the nineteenth century. From stories of California?s Gold Rush to a probing chronicle of Nevada ?s Comstock Lode, readers will be transported back in time to one of the most colorful eras in American history. "Even readers that are unfamiliar with James Crawford, or the mint at which he served, will enjoy the experience of learning about how some of the most famous coins in history were produced; and about how political chicanery affected the monetary system of the United States. But aside from coin making and political rascality, readers will appreciate the many human-interest stories scattered throughout the pages of this enchanting biography. "James Crawford loved life and certainly lived it to its fullest measure. Whether out in the woods on a hunting expedition, participating in a sporting tournament, attending a masquerade ball, vacationing at beautiful Lake Tahoe, escorting a dignitary around town, presenting a speech at a Republican rally, or playing a practical joke on a friend, Crawford always found himself at the center of attention. And, just as those who were close to him admired, respected and loved him, readers will also become enamored with him by the time they have turned to the last page in this exhaustive volume. "Complementing the absorbing narrative is a virtual visual-feast of images, including dozens of coins from the Carson City Mint, and numerous pictures of persons, places, and old newspaper clippings. Rusty Goe spiced up his first major work, The Mint on Carson Street, which won Book of the Year honors from two prestigious numismatic organizations (PNG and NLG) in 2004, with a similarly profuse presentation of images, and he has not detoured from this award-winning style in this new biography on James Crawford. "This riveting book will appeal to a diversified readership, including lovers of Nevada history, Old West history, U.S. monetary system history, U.S. Mint history, and biographies of famous Americans. "Anyone interested in the Carson City Mint, the coins produced there, Nevada history, or even U.S. history will greatly enjoy reading this book. It is filled with interesting facts and inspiring anecdotes. "The book, available in hardcover, will be distributed at all major outlets. The suggested retail price is $89.95 (Discounts will be offered). For more information, please contact Southgate Coins at 5032 S. Virginia St., Reno, NV 89502 ; or phone (775) 322-4455." [I've already sent my check. Anyone with an interest in U.S numismatics, minting, or the Old West should buy or borrow a copy. As many of our readers know (since they are authors themselves), authoring a book is a long, difficult and often thankless task. Show your support! -Editor] CORRECTION: LANGE COIN COLLECTING BOARD BOOK AVAILABLE ONLY FROM AUTHOR Through a cut and paste error on my part, last week there was an extraneous link to the Zyrus Press web site following the item on Dave Lange's Coin Collecting Boards book. Sorry! Dave's book can only be ordered from Dave's own Pennyboard Press. LANGE COIN BOARDS BOOK http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v10n27a03.html ANA, ANS PLANS DRAW COMMENTS AND ANS REBUTTAL George Cuhaj recently contributed a controversial Viewpoint article to Numismatic News about the differing museum and library planning trajectories of the American Numismatic Association (ANA) and the American Numismatic Society (ANS). It was reprinted on George's blog this week - here are some excerpts: George writes: "What interesting news from two major U.S. museums. The American Numismatic Association launches a plan to expand and go bi-costal while the American Numismatic Society?s goal is to crawl under a rock. "The American Numismatic Association recently announced a 40 million dollar expansion program and plans for public museum satellite locations in Washington, D.C., and San Francisco, Calif. "On the other hand, the American Numismatic Society in New York City, nearing its 150th anniversary, is adopting a long-range plan that is tantamount to cold storage. "So, what is the ANS about to do? Sell the newly acquired Fulton Street property, and accept a 20-year lease and move into part of the 11th floor of a recent factory conversion on the far west side of Manhattan. The plan is to have the library on closed shelves, and very limited access to the collection material. Therefore, the collection will for all intents and purposes be in storage for 20 years!" To read George's complete blog entry, see: http://www.numismaticnews.net/currency/US+Numismatic+Museums+Make+Varied+Pla ns.aspx [As of this writing, the ANS had not yet publicly announced their plans. ANS Executive Director Dr. Ute Wartenberg Kagan will provide us with the press release as soon as it is ready and I'll publish it in The E-Sylum. I asked her for some additional information on how the move might affect access to the ANS library and archives, a key point of concern for bibliophiles and researchers. -Editor] Dr. Kagan writes: "I read George Cuhaj?s comments in Numismatic News with both interest and surprise. It is not clear where his information comes from, but he is clearly misinformed. I want to assure E-sylum readers that the new ANS location will have slightly more useable space than we are using currently. Moreover, we have essentially the same library and archives whose public area is almost identical to the current setup. "Exactly as now, some books will be housed in compact shelving in open, fully accessible areas. There will be an additional reading room, and a slightly larger rare book room. The vaults and coin viewing area will accommodate more visitors, and there will be an exhibition gallery with c. 12 museum exhibition cases. The entire space will be welcoming and filled with ambient light. Not exactly ?cold storage?. "Why are we selling our building and moving to a new home? As obliquely referred to in Cuhaj?s column, it will put the ANS on a solid financial footing now and into the future. Expenses will be predictable; donations will go towards endowing more positions, paying for exhibitions, lectures at the ANS and elsewhere, increasing membership services etc. - an ideal position of strength from which to grow bigger and be more responsive to the members, Fellows and the public. Hardly what I call crawling under a rock. "Once the ANS is sure of its current plans, which are still not finalized, a press release with more detail will be issued." U.S. MINT CHIEF COINER REFERENCE SOUGHT Bob Merchant writes: "I am trying to find information on the chief coiners of the U.S. Mint during its history. Is there a book that covers this topic, or a known list of the chief coiners somewhere? Thank you." [I'm away from my library, so we'll have to rely on our readers for answers. The Mint Directors and Chief Engravers tend to get most of the attention from numismatic researchers. Chief coiners are lesser known. I believe there was typically one chief coiner for each branch mint, although Bob tells me he is only researching the chief coiners who worked at the Philadelphia mint. While I know that COIN WORLD Almanac and other publications publish lists of Directors and Engravers, I'm not aware of any listing of Coiners. Can anyone point us to a comprehensive list, or at least name some of the chief coiners, such as Henry Voigt, Adam Eckfeldt, Franklin Peale, A. Loudon Snowden etc.? -Editor] HENRY CLAY WARMOUTH PAPERS HOLD NEW ORLEANS MINT INFORMATION While looking up other things I came across a reference to an archive that may hold some information of use to U.S. numismatic researchers. It's the inventory of the Henry Clay Warmoth Papers and the Manuscripts Department, University Library of the University of North Carolina Warmouth was a plantation owner and governor of Louisiana. Archive folders 89, 94 and 96 contain the following: Folder 89: 1891: July-September: Correspondence with E. M. Halford and Secretary of the Treasury Charles Foster regarding appointments to the United States Mint in New Orleans. Folder 94: 1892: May: Of note is correspondence and other items related to the administration of the United States Mint in New Orleans. A List of Coiners and Adjusters at the U.S. Mint dated 6 May 1892 records names of employees, party affiliations, and comments on work ethic. Folder 96: 1892: 1-15 July: Correspondence mostly concerns administration of the United States Mint at New Orleans and Republican Party politics To access the complete Warmoth archive listing, see: http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/htm/00752.html NUMISMATISTS MANLEY AND MARSHALL IN A MOVIE DEAL? This week the Orange County Business Journal's OC Insider columnist Rick Reiff reported that "The Insider touched base with Newport Coast businessman and sports agent Dwight Manley. He?s working on a movie script with Penny Marshall, developing a reality TV show and advocating for jockeys (?getting minimum mount fees raised?). And friend Jesse Jackson was on hand at Mastro?s Ocean Club Fish House to help Manley?s girlfriend Bella Tatarian celebrate her birthday." Manley is a well known numismatist who's been discussed in The E-Sylum several times before. We've also reported that actress and director Penny Marshall is known to be a coin collector. Could the coin connection have anything to do with their getting together on a movie project? Will they sneak any numismatic references into the script? How about a numismatic connection in the reality show? If anyone has anything to report on these two projects of Manley's, we'd be curious to know. For fun though, it couldn't hurt to speculate on possible numismatic ideas for film and TV. One property I've always thought ripe for a film treatment is the story of "The Man Who Stole Portugal", possibly the world's greatest counterfeiting scheme. A con man who duped a British bank note printer into believing he was an official of the Portuguese government, Alves Reis obtained millions of dollars worth of real but unauthorized banknotes. Rather than pass them through shills and share the profits, he instead opened a bank and quickly undercut his competitors' rates. Business boomed and he ALMOST got away with it. I think it would make the basis for an ideal caper movie. Does George Clooney need a follow-up for the Ocean's 11/12/13 etc series? As for a numismatic reality show, why not send two teams of youngsters to the ANA's Summer Seminar? Let them sign up for any courses they want. Then set them loose in the numismatic marketplace with a small grubstake. Who can wheel and deal their way to the top like Manley did? ROBERT LOVETT GRAVESTONE PLAQUE DEDICATED The Zanesville Times Recorder reported last week that "Due to the efforts of Harold Levi and George Correll in finding the grave site of Robert Lovett, Levi and Correll were enshrined in the American Numismatic Association Hall of Fame 2006. A plaque will be placed by the grave-stone of Robert Lovett, the designer of the Confederate cent, in McConnelsville Cemetery at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, July 14." Harold Levi writes: "I found Robert Lovett, Jr.'s gravesite in September of 2004. This was with help from Katie Jaeger. She had a copy of the November 1879 obituary published in the McConnelsville Herald. In 2005, George Corell and I restored Lovett's grave and those of his family. We had two plaques made that are the obverse and reverse of the Confederate cent, which were mounted in front of Lovett's headstone. We had a dedication ceremony in July of 2005. "Later in 2005, I wrote a nomination for Lovett to the ANA Hall of Fame, and George Corell seconded the nomination. Robert Lovett was inducted in 2006. Katie Jaeger and I attended the ceremony at the ANA Convention in Denver in August 2006. George and I had a bronze plaque made to commemorate RL's induction into the Hall of Fame, which will be mounted on RL's grave this weekend with a small ceremony. McConnelsville has their annual Civil War reenactment this weekend, the reason for having the dedication this weekend. I will wear my Confederate uniform with a red sash and sabre, I am a Sergeant-Major in my reenacting group." MORE ON THE MYSTERY HALF DOLLAR BOX Regarding Bill Snyder's mystery half dollar box, Tom DeLorey writes: "I suspect that it was something privately made for the banking trade. The interesting question is when. The fact that it is slightly oversized for a 5x5 grid of modern halves makes me wonder if perchance it was made for Lettered Edge halves made up until 1836." "Five capped bust halves measure 6-3/8 inches. Five modern halves measure 6.0 inches. I doubt we could ever prove it was intended for bust halves, or a mixture of bust halves and seated halves during the time they circulated side by side (which, as I understand, was up to the Civil War), but it is a possibility. Another possibility is just that they wanted to leave room for the bank teller or cashier to dig them out of the box easily." Bill Snyder rechecked his measurements: "Measured with a ruler (my calipers only extend to 150mm), the interior is basically 160mm by 160mm. (Divided by 25.4, one gets 6.3", a bit more than the 6.25" I reported earlier)! "However, measurements at some points deviated from 160 by as much as 2mm +/-. That is, the width (for example) at the mid-point is not exactly the same as the width near either end." MYSTERY HALF DOLLAR BOX INFORMATION SOUGHT http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v10n27a08.html QUIZ ANSWER: WAYTE RAYMOND STANDARD CATALOGUE MISTAKE Last week David Gladfelter asked, "What rather prominent mistake can be found in each and every edition of the 'Standard Catalog of United States Coins' from the first through the 18th?" Kenneth Bressett writes: "My guess is their listing of the Good Samaritan Shilling. It continued right through all 18 editions even though it was a well known concoction, and not a pattern or genuine coins." David Gladfelter provided this answer to his question: "The reverses on the 1798 small eagle 15-star dollar and 13-star dollar are transposed in all editions. Maybe this isn't as obvious as I thought since both reverses have small (not heraldic) eagles." ON THE DIFFICULTY OF COMPLETING A SET OF WAYTE RAYMOND STANDARD CATALOGS Ron Pope writes: "David Gladfelter's information in last week's E-Sylum is just what I needed concerning the Wayte Raymond Standard Catalogs. Thanks! Even though it is stated that none of the editions is particularly rare, it is my assumption that a complete set of these would still be tougher to assemble than a complete set of "Red Books," though, like many coins, the demand for the Standard Catalogue must certainly be much lower. Does anyone know if this is so?" [What do our readers think? I would tend to agree with Ron on the challenge of assembling a complete set of the Raymond guides. Far more of the Red Books were printed. Although the early editions are expensive, they do appear regularly for sale. The challenge for collectors of both books is getting examples in top condition. These were handbooks meant to be used, and they were. -Editor] QUIZ ANSWER: LLANTRISANT'S NUMISMATIC CONNECTION Last I asked about the numismatic connection of Llantrisant, Wales. Jeff Starck of Coin World was the first to answer. He writes: "Llantrisant is home to the Royal Mint." I also asked if anyone knew the proper definition of "penultimate", a favorite word of Q. David Bowers who, like me, had misunderstood it for years. Jeff also got this correct. He writes: "Penultimate means second to last, i.e., not the ultimate, but the one preceding the ultimate. Stack's Part 27 of the John J. Ford collection might be the penultimate, with Part 28 being the last. (I jest about the number of sales, though!)." Joe Boling also came through with correct answers to both questions. WILLIAM ASHBROOK 1909 CATALOG FOUND; EDWARD BRINGHURST CONSIGNMENT SOUGHT In response to Roger Burdette's query, P. Scott Rubin writes: "The Ohio State Numismatic Society auction of October 29, 1929 was catalogued by Henri E. Buck. William A. Ashbrook was the Secretary of the O.S.N.S. Lot 2. Eagle. 1907 St. Gaudens, with periods one of the 500 lot, unc., record above $50. Lot 377 Eagle. St Gaudens 1907, with periods 500 lot unc. Rare. Under the heading "An Invoice from Akron, Ohio. Eagles. Lot 404 1907 $10 First issue of the St. Gaudens eagle with wire edge and periods. Unc. Only 500 issued. Record $50. Lot 405 1907 $10, second issue of the St. Gauden's eagle with milled edge and periods. Unc. Mint Lustre. Only 50 issued and they are mostly in Museums, or the cabinets of collectors who are not sellers. Extremely rare, and has record of $225. Lot 406 1907 $10, third issue, edge milled, but no periods and in lower relief. The commercial coin, unc. (note). Bids will be received for the three foregoing pieces as one set or seperately." [Many thanks to past NBS President Scott Rubin for digging into his vast U.S. catalog archive to locate this scarce little catalog. E-Sylum readers come through again! -Editor] Jeff Reichenberger writes: "I'd like to follow up on Roger Burdette's inquiry about the Ashbrook sales with one of my own. Also stemming from my Ashbrook study, I'm looking for any information about a collection of gold coins, possibly a consignment, from the name Edward Bringhurst of Wilmington, DE, or from his daughter, Mrs. Galt Smith. Unfortunately, I can only speculate an approximate range of the decades 1920 to 1950 that these coins may have surfaced in a sale or auction, if at all. Any such information would be greatly appreciated. "In addition, I am self-publishing a short run of my manuscript on the Ashbrook diaries in pamphlet form. Entitled: Charter Legacy, Numismatic chronicle from the diaries of William A. Ashbrook 1905 - 1920; it covers an interesting period in numismatics from the Congressman's point of view as Chairman of the House Coinage Committee, the ANA and it's Federal Charter, as well as some national historic events. I anticipate completion in a few weeks. If anyone is interested in receiving a copy, I'd be pleased to send one for the cost of postage. Just send me a mailing address. jkreichenberger@hotmail.com" WILLIAM ASHBROOK 1909 FIXED PRICE LIST AND CATALOG SOUGHT http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v10n27a13.html [Thanks also to Jeff for sharing his research in Ashbrook's diaries. I've already requested my copy. -Editor] THE HUNGARIAN MINT Howard Daniel writes: "I am researching the origin of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam 100 Dong 1997 KM-60 silver non-circulating legal tender coin. It is the only one known to me without the National Seal of Viet Nam, so I started to look into it. At first, I assumed it was minted by the Havana Mint in Cuba but through several contacts, the Hungarian Mint Ltd (Magyar Penzveryo Rt.) was suggested to me. "I could not find the Hungarian Mint on the web but I did find their national bank. I sent an email to their "info" and requested it be forwarded to the mint. It was, and I received a reply from Ms Zsuzsanna Asztalos. After another email, she forwarded all of the technical details to me. This was the first great response from a mint in a VERY long time. The website is at www.penzvero.hu and Zsuzsanna's email is Asztalosza@Penzvero.hu. She can also put you in contact with the coin shop in the national bank in Budapest. "My previous information was that Paramount International Inc. in Orlando, Florida created the set of coins this coin was part of. It was called the UNESCO Children of the World Set with about 25 coins in it. All were dated in the mid-1990s. But Zsuzsanna told me Spink in London originated the order for the Vietnamese coin. "The Modern Coin Department of Spink has been sold since this coin was minted and further information about it was not available at Spink. So I contacted the buyer, ATS Bullion of London, and they said a Geoff Kitchem of GMCC Ltd. now has all of the information. His email did not work for me and I am hoping someone reading The E-Sylum knows him or how to contact him so I can continue my research. I can be contacted at HADaniel3@man.com." HARMER ROOKE MILLION DOLLAR SALE CIVIL WAR TOKEN SESSION PRL SOUGHT Steve Butler writes: "I am looking for the prices realized for the Harmer Rooke 'A Million Dollar Sale' of November 17, 1969. I have not been able to locate it - neither the American Numismatic Association library or any of the other coin & book dealers I contacted have it." The sale contained seven sessions, over six days. The fourth session was Civil War Tokens & Masonic Pennies from the Virgil Brand collection. Being a collector of CWT's, I am always researching any token I purchase as to origin. I just purchased a token sold in that auction and the seller included the original receipt. The catalog I already own, but I'd like to learn the selling price of the lot. Thanks in advance." WAYNE'S LONDON DIARY 15 JULY, 2007 Monday morning brought this nice note from Jim Duncan of New Zealand. He writes: "Your letters from London are excellent. Just like "Letter from America" by broadcaster Alistair Cooke! Keep up the fantastic work - numismatic and otherwise." I've gotten a number of great compliments on my London diaries. Thanks to all for their interest and support. I'll do my best to keep them coming. I actually didn't think I'd get much numismatic activity in this week, but on Tuesday I was able to sneak away at lunchtime and set off toward Spink. Founded in 1666 by John Spink as a goldsmith and pawnbroker shop, it narrowly escaped destruction when the Great Fire of London swept through the City. By 1770 Spink and Sons had developed a jewellery and coin dealing business. In the 1880s Spink purchased the Soho Mint in central London and started to design and produce medals. The company now holds three royal warrants for medal services to Queen Elizabeth, the Duke of Edinburgh, and the Prince of Wales. These are the three crown logos that adorn the company's business cards and letterhead. In 2000 Spink moved to a renovated four story building at 69 Southampton Row in Bloomsbury. I'd heard from several of my London contacts that Spink had invested a great deal in their facility, and this was easily confirmed by simply stepping through the front door. The lobby alone was spacious, far larger than any mere coin shop. More typical in the high-priced real estate market of London was the tiny shop of Colin Narbeth and Sons, a single small room shared with another dealer. A dozen Narbeth shops would fit in the Spink lobby alone. Off to the left was a large display of numismatic literature for sale, both new titles and used and antiquarian works, case after case, floor to ceiling. A freestanding case exhibited an antiquarian numismatic work. Beyond was a wide showroom, dim, but with spot lighting highlighting exhibits and counter space. On the left wall were glass exhibit cases displaying numismatic items of all kinds, including coins, medals and paper money. There was a nice set of Palestinian Mandate banknotes I'd never seen before. Here too, in the center of the room was a freestanding exhibit case with more numismatic items. On the right was a counter with chairs. A salesman talked with a client. They seemed lost in the huge room. I walked back toward the front door and stepped up to the reception desk. My mission was to visit Philip Skingley, head of Spink's Publications Department. We'd met briefly at the meeting of the British Numismatic Society on 22 May. I'd been wanting to visit for some time. Due to the rescheduling of a planned meeting I had some time over lunch. This visit was completely unplanned and I hoped to surprise him. Surprise! - he wasn't in. The receptionist informed me that Philip was at the warehouse, where all their modern publications are stored and shipped. But she called up Philip's assistant Catherine Gathercole and handed the phone to me. I introduced myself and apologized for the unscheduled visit. She was quite helpful and offered to come speak with me. Within minutes we met and she was showing me around the book department. First we reviewed the works for sale on the lobby shelves. I pointed out a copy of the 2004 Anniversary issue of The Asylum, noting that I edited the electronic companion, The E-Sylum. Next she showed me an upstairs room lined with more shelves of books. Time was getting short, and I didn't want to overstay my welcome. I accepted her gift - a copy of the 2006 edition of Coins of England. I'd mentioned that I was interested in getting a copy to learn more about the modern coins I was seeing in circulation, and perhaps learn how to recognize genuine examples from the counterfeits. I thanked her again and made plans to read it on my flight home Thursday. Before leaving Spink I took the lift to the basement auction room where a sale of musical instruments was going on. Another auction firm uses the Spink space when available. Some fifty bidders of several nationalities crowded the room. On tables beyond a number of violins and other stringed instruments were displayed. The auctioneer called the lots from the front of the room, and along a side wall were arrayed several assistants representing phone and internet bidders. Three Japanese men huddled over a catalog, consulting on bids. Feeling like an interloper, I stayed only a few minutes and was soon on the street heading back to the office. I amused myself by reading the names of businesses along the way. I chuckled at the sign of "Moon, Beever, Solicitors". I picked up a boxed salad at a street vendor, and rushed back to the office. Enough numismatic fun for now - tomorrow's another day. When Wednesday dawned I faced little but the prospect of work. I donned my suit for a planned afternoon meeting. But as luck would have it I wouldn't need to attend, allowing for a bit of slack in my schedule. Having completed a good number of tasks before noon, I made a phone call. Dialing the number of Dix Noonan Webb, I asked for Peter Preston-Morley. I'd never met him, but a couple years earlier I'd recommended to Mary Ann Spence, widow of my late friend Dr. David Spence, that she contact Peter and other dealers about the sale of David's Conder token collection. David and I were members of Sphinx, a Pittsburgh-area coin club founded in 1960 by Ray Byrne. Mary Ann talked with a number of dealers, and eventually settled on Dix Noonan Webb. They sold David's collection in two sales. Peter was busy at lunchtime, but offered to see me around 2pm. I brought in lunch and finished a few more tasks. About 1:45 I set out on foot. Soon I was passing through Piccadilly Circus, then past the Ritz Hotel. Along the way a Middle Eastern woman motioned to me and pointed to the baby she was pushing in a pram. She didn't seem to speak English (or wanted me to think that). She gestured again and held out a hand filled with coins. She was begging for change. I didn't quite know what to do; if it was a scam she'd found a despicable prop. I felt a bit guilty but moved on. But my journey got stranger yet. Just past Bond Street, a tall young man in a suit looked toward me, opened his arms and said, "Sir, Let's become friends!". I thought, "You're in Mayfair pal, Soho's the other way," thinking of the neighborhood close to our office known for its gay bars and entertainment. I wish I'd said it, but by then I'd motored far past him and was still quickening the pace. I arrived at DNW just about 2pm. The Dix Noonan Webb office is in a row of classic London homes on Bolton Street off Green Park, which leads to Buckingham Palace. After ringing the bell the door unlocked and I stepped inside. The front parlour held a reception desk. I asked for Peter and browsed through a set of DNW auction catalogs while waiting. Soon Peter came downstairs to greet me, and we stepped into a nearby room to talk. Lined with book shelves, the room held a library of biographies and many years worth of government publications such as The Army List and The Navy List - all useful for cataloging military medals and decorations. I had told Peter I was a friend of the Spences, but he assumed I was a family friend - he didn't know I was a fellow numismatist. We ended up talking for about half an hour. I told him about The Sphinx Society. We talked about David and fellow Sphinx member Charlie Litman, who helped David acquire the core of his Conder collection from a collector in the Boston area. We also talked about the sale of the Carnegie Museum of Pittsburgh's numismatic collection. I was only a budding numismatist at the time the sale was announced (1978), when I was taken under the wing of Glenn Mooney and his fellow members of the Western Pennsylvania Numismatic Society. We also talked of Glenn's friend and mentor, William W. Woodside. At the time of the Spink Carnegie Museum sales Peter was with Spink and cataloged parts of the collection, including the encased postage stamps. I had let him know about my interest in U.S. Encased Postage Stamps, and he noted that the Carnegie collection was a superb collection. By an unfortunate happenstance, the U.S. encased pieces were sold by Spink in London, a terrible venue for the collection. They had been included with a large group of material shipped to London. They would have sold much better in New York, but the mistake was to my benefit. I told Peter that I'd bid in the sale though a dealer, and had gotten a great bargain on one of the pieces. I noted that when Glenn Mooney died I'd helped the family liquidate his coin collection. Along with the collection were some numismatic books, including a ledger of Bill Woodside's collection that his widow had given to Glenn. I placed it in a George Kolbe sale where it brought over $2,000, more than any single coin in the collection. The thick binder held rubbings and provenance data on Woodside's coins. Peter said that over the years a number of Woodside's collections had come to market and while cataloguers knew that some of the pieces had come from prominent collections, they were at a loss because of the lack of documentation. It's a shame that the information had gotten diverted, but at least the ledger survived and could perhaps be of use to researchers in the future. Our time had come to an end, but before I left Peter gave me a present. I'd mentioned my recent acquisition of Operation Bernhard notes from Simon Narbeth, so Peter dug out a copy of the 16 March 2006 DNW sale of British and World Banknotes, which included a very comprehensive collection of these notes formed over many years by a knowledgeable collector. Simon had attended the sale, and perhaps some of my notes had come from this collection - I'll try to follow up. I walked back to the office, this time uneventfully. On Thursday I flew back to the U.S. for a weekend visit with my family. I read through much of Coins of England and parts of Burn's 'A Descriptive Catalogue of the London Traders, Taverns, and Coffee-House Tokens Issued in the Seventeenth Century'. The original 1853 book I'd purchased from Douglas Saville is probably not what one would typically see on a flight across the Atlantic. I also typed up the bulk of this diary entry and watched all or part of three movies (it's a loooong flight). I?d highly recommend two of the films for viewing. "Amazing Grace" is the true story of the fight to abolish slavery in England, and "The Illusionist" is an excellent fictional mystery/love story featuring a talented magician in turn-of-the-20th-century Vienna. It was great to see my family again. On Saturday my wife and I made an overnight trip to Alexandria, VA (along the Potomac River near Washington, D.C.) to celebrate our recent 10th wedding anniversary. We had a nice dinner at the Union Street Public House and walked past Gadsby's Tavern on North Royal Street, a favorite haunt of George and Martha Washington - his birthday parties were held there until his death. We took a carriage tour around town (more of a donkey cart, actually) and saw a couple numismatic landmarks. The Old Dominion Bank Building on Prince Street is a fine unaltered example of Classical Revival architecture. It closed in 1862 when Union forces took over the city. The cashier buried the bank's assets, keeping the institution solvent during the war. We also saw the Bank of Alexandria on North Fairfax Street. Founded in 1792, George Washington was one of the bank's directors. It failed during the panic of 1834, but the building again houses a bank today. I enjoyed imagining the interesting numismatic items that must have passed through the banks' tills in those early days of the country. That's all the numismatic activity for this week. I've been signing much of my email "Cheerio from London" recently, but I can't say that today. This note is coming from U.S. soil. But by the time many of you read this I'll be on my way back to London and hoping to find time for some more numismatic adventures. Stay tuned, everyone. To visit the Spink web site, see: http://www.spink.com/ To visit the Dix Noonan Webb web site, see: http://www.dnw.co.uk/ LORD STEWARTBY SCOTTISH COIN COLLECTION STOLEN A coin collection theft has British newspapers buzzing. "One of Britain's most important historic coin collections has been stolen from the home of a former government minister. "Antique coins worth more than half a million pounds, including one struck under the reign of Robert the Bruce, 900 years ago, were taken in the raid. "Police believe around 1,000 coins, collected over more than 50 years, were removed from the home of Lord and Lady Stewartby in Broughton, in the Scottish Borders. "Nick Holmes, curator of numismatics at the National Museums of Scotland, added: ?It has always been made available as a resource for people researching coins and to lose so many coins from this period is a tragedy. "?Of course, for poor Ian this must be awful and he has devoted more than half a entry to this collection. "?He is the acknowledged expert in this field and is the one we all turn to when we want to know something.? Lydia Pretzlik, 38, the Tory peer's daughter, said he was devastated by the loss. "The theft happened a month ago but police only released details of the incident yesterday." To read the complete article, see: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/07/09/ncoins109.xm l John Andrew forwarded a BBC article on the theft: "Nick Holmes, senior curator in numismatics at the National Museums of Scotland, said the theft had dealt a devastating blow to the study of historic coins in Scotland. "He added: 'In terms of that period, Lord Stewartby had more coins in his collection than the National Museums of Scotland have. "He had managed to collect a number of very rare pieces which were previously unknown. "It wouldn't be putting it mildly to say that this theft has put the study of numismatics back 50 years because if the collection is not recovered all of the work Lord Stewartby has put in over the past half century will be lost.'" To read the complete article, see: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/south_of_scotland/6283688.stm Dr. Ute Wartenberg Kagan also forwarded an article, this one from The Herald: http://www.theherald.co.uk/display.var.1531789.0.0.php?utag=42427 Dick Johnson forwarded this article from the daily record: http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/news/tm_headline=the--pound-500k-great-coi n-robbery--&method=full&objectid=19431430&siteid=66633-name_page.html The Financial Times also chimed in on the theft: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/3d0fe79e-2e4e-11dc-821c-0000779fd2ac.html [The Scotsman's web site allows reader comments, and they picked up on the reporters' error in stating that Robert the Bruce reigned 900 years ago: "So Robert the Bruce reigned 900 years ago, did he?" "Robert the Bruce, was King of Scots from 1306 until his death in 1329. 1329 subtracted from 2007 = 678. Does that look like 900 to anyone??" "Mr. Stewartby's collection is so well known and catalogued that selling this stuff is going to be difficult and whatever is sold will most likely eventually be identified as stolen - even 20, 80, 200 years from now. This theft just goes to show the follow of keeping highly valuable items at home, especially when their presence there is so widely known among the collecting fraternity..." To read the complete Scotsman article, see: http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=1072332007 WOMAN STABBED NEAR DENVER MINT On Tuesday the Rocky Mountain News reported an incident near the U.S. Mint in Denver: "A man with an ice pick stabbed a young woman today as she was walking to the Denver courthouse. With their guns drawn, Denver sheriff?s deputies caught the alleged attacker as he attempted to flee, Sgt. Frank Gale, the sheriff?s spokesman, said. "Deputies said they don?t believe the alleged assailant and his victim knew each other, and investigators were trying to figure out a motive for the assault, the sergeant said. "Gale said the stabbing occurred about 10:30 a.m. in the 1400 block of Cherokee Street, between the U.S. Mint and the courthouse. To read the complete article, see: http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5622125,0 0.html MINT APPOINTS HOUGHTON TO CITIZENS COINAGE ADVISORY COMMITTEE According to a press release this week, "The United States Mint announced ... that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Jr., has appointed Arthur A. Houghton, III, to the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee (CCAC). "Mr. Houghton, who was selected as the CCAC member appointed to serve by virtue of his qualifications as a numismatic curator, will serve a four-year term. His experience includes tenure as Associate Curator and acting Curator-in-Charge at the J. Paul Getty Museum from 1982 to 1986, where he gained national recognition for his role in building the museum?s extensive collection of antiquities, including its early collection of ancient coins. Mr. Houghton has authored or co-authored four books and more than 50 articles on ancient coins, history and economics. "Mr. Houghton served as president of the American Numismatic Society (ANS) from 1995 to 1999. He was also president of the consulting firm Arthur Houghton Associates, Inc., from 1995 to 2000. Currently, Mr. Houghton serves on the boards of the Corning Museum of Glass, American Near East Refugee Aid and the ANS. To read the complete press release, see: http://www.usmint.gov/pressroom/index.cfm?flash=yes&action=press_release&ID= 797 SPAIN BOARDS ODYSSEY SHIP Dick Johnson forwarded the latest story in the saga of Odyssey Marine's latest salvage effort: "The Spanish Civil Guard has intercepted a boat operated by a US company amid a row over treasure from a shipwreck. The guard had been ordered by a Spanish judge to seize the vessel as soon as it left the British colony of Gibraltar. "Gibraltar officials and Odyssey Marine Exploration, which owns the ship, said Spain had boarded the ship illegally as it was in international waters. "In May, Odyssey said it had found $500m (?253m) in coins from a 17th Century wreck somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean. "Madrid suspects the sunken galleon may either have been Spanish or have gone down in Spanish waters." To read the complete article, see: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6896645.stm ARTICLE PROFILES PETER YEUNG OF PANDA AMERICA A question-and-answer style interview in the Daily Breeze of California spotlights Peter Yeung of Panda America. "When Peter Yeung was about 10 years old, his cousin gave him a rare coin. That helped spark a passion for coins that lasts to this day. Yeung, 40, is president and co-owner of Torrance coin trader Panda America. The Torrance resident has owned the shop with his partner, Kitty Quan, since 2005. "Growing up in Pasadena, Yeung would visit his local bank to exchange dollar bills for rolls of pennies. Then he would sift through the piles of pennies in search of valuable coins, using a collector's book as a reference. "He would return the ordinary pennies to the bank for bills and keep the more valuable coins. The next day, he would return to the bank to exchange the bills for more pennies. "By ninth grade, Yeung was working part time at a coin shop. His passion led him to skip school on many Fridays. He started traveling to coin shows in Las Vegas and New York. "What challenges do you face? "Helping all the government mints around the world sell as many coins as possible. Each country issues more and more variants of coins. It's like car manufacturers. They don't want to sell just one model. They want to sell many models. "What foreign country mints the most popular coins? "China. They're the most popular, and they have the best long-term value. They have a growing population and a very large collecting base. The Chinese are savers in general. Collecting stamps and coins is a huge hobby in China. They've got a large secondary market to keep the values. "Who are your customers? Mostly people in their mid-30s and up. Collecting coins has always been referred to as a king's hobby in the old days. Traditionally, it's been doctors, lawyers, people with high incomes. Now we're finding a lot of people who are middle income. Because of the explosion of the Internet, it has made collecting coins a lot easier. "What's your favorite coin? "It's a U.S. coin from 1796, a $2.50 gold piece. "What's the best part of your job? "Having people bring coins that they thought had no value and having me tell them it's of great value. Once in awhile, it's like telling people they've won a small lottery. It's satisfying to be able to help people. "What's the worst part of your job? "The opposite of that. Telling people their coins are not worth anything, that their pennies are just regular pennies. To read the complete article, see: http://www.dailybreeze.com/business/articles/8404282.html ON THE PROPOSED ABOLITION OF CANADIAN CENT COINS Regarding last week's item on the proposed abolition of the Canadian cent coin, Michael Schmidt writes: "If that .7 cent figure doesn't include the shipping cost then they do need to go ahead and discontinue the cent. 815 million coins is 81.5 million dollars. At .7 cents each they cost 57 million dollars to make, and shipping is 33 million for a total cost of 90 million dollars for 81 million dollars worth of coins. Can politicians do simple math? Of do we need to explain it to them in language like that used in tax legislation?" ABOLITION OF CANADIAN CENT PROPOSED http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v10n27a24.html DICK JOHNSON ON FUTURE COIN DENOMINATIONS Dick Johnson writes: "Thank you, Tim Shuck, for your comments on eliminating small coin denominations in last week?s E-Sylum. In answer to your scenarios of purchases of 20 cents (or 60 or 70 cents) where you have only quarters, you would lose the five cents. That is part of the ?rounding up or rounding down? in the ?rounding off? process where the smallest coin is a dime. (I like what the Canadians call the final transaction price, the ?tally amount.?) "Five cents is a minor amount ? and it would only be for a short time ? until all prices are established in multiples of ten cents. Today the average factory worker earns $88 a day. Five cents is one-1,760th part of a day?s wage. Not that much to get upset over. That factory worker earns five cents in one and a half seconds. Rather insignificant loss, wouldn?t you say? (Did you buy a lottery ticket today? Far greater loss!) "For the frugal person, Tim?s proposed transaction would be better accommodated be proffering two quarters or a dollar to obtain the exact change. "Eliminating the cent and nickel is the first step to a complete overhaul of our coins. The quarter would indeed be eliminated a few years later but must remain in circulation because there would not be enough half dollars around at first. Halves would take on far more importance under this plan. The mint would strike halves on presses that formerly struck cents and nickels. Meantime the quarters would circulate in pairs. "Tim, your sights are not raised high enough in suggesting a 20-cent piece. (It would shortly go the way of the same coin of last century or the 2-cent piece ? abolishment ? because it does not have that much usefulness in the overall scheme of the rising economy.) "To understand all this I must reveal more of my plan for Future Coins. Here are the coin denominations for the greatest efficiency in American commerce in the coming years after, say, 2010: "Dime. Half Dollar. Dollar. Five Dollar. Ten Dollar. "There is an optimum number of coin denominations for the most efficient cash commerce. Think of it as the number of coin compartments in a cash register drawer. Four denominations is too few. Six or more is too many, as so many European countries have learned after switching over to the euro with all their fractional denominations. Low denomination coins in Europe are proving unnecessary ? some merchants are even refusing them ? five coin denominations are the most ideal number. "Obviously we do not have enough high denomination coins in America, and coins below ten cents are unnecessary in a dynamic, growing American economy. We cannot keep on issuing the same low value coins of 200 years ago when bread was a nickel, and today is several dollars. The cent and the nickel are just unnecessary in the 21st century, as was a mill coin in the 19th century. "You may say the dollar has been devalued over 200 years but this is countered as earnings have risen. It is relative. Eliminating the small denominations would save billions, however! "If I get enough inquiries asking about these proposed coins I will reveal some characteristics about these coins in a future E-Sylum: Size, Composition, Color and Why. Email editor Wayne Homren or me at dick.johnson@snet.net "This is what you will be collecting in the future, our Future Coins. Are you interested?" COIN POLICE ACTIVE IN INDIA Dick Johnson writes: "'In India, where the steel in their rupees can be sold for up to 35 times that [face] amount, India's has deployed a paramilitary force along their border with Bangladesh to prevent coin smuggling. Like most governments, India also makes it illegal to introduce substitute currency.' So comes the news from India, reported this week in the blog "Hodakvalue," on the Internet. "Rising costs of the metals in coins is affecting nations worldwide. Apparently the most rampant coin melting for their composite metal value is in Bangladesh. Next-door neighbor India is vulnerable. The same report gives some comments about the stringent coin situations in India: "'In Calcutta alone, India's central bank - the Reserve Bank of India - has distributed coins worth nearly six million rupees ($150,000) to overcome the shortage in the last two weeks, bank treasurer Nilanjan Saha said.' "'Long queues form outside the bank's regional office in the city centre every time this happens.' "'Unscrupulous touts set up makeshift shops and collect as many of the coins as they can, only to sell them later at a premium.' "Nations don't seem to realize that rationing coin distribution -- or hiding from the situation -- won't solve the problem. It won't go away and the cost of the metals are surely going to rise. "The solution is to eliminate small denomination coins, strike coins of higher denomination and round off transaction prices above the value of those low-denomination coins. This is necessary for large and small countries as well. The longer they wait, Treasury officials will find even greater problems. "Here's the report from India "Preventing the flight of pennies with armed border guards": http://www.hodakvalue.com/blog/2007/07/preventing_the_flight_of_penni.html A THEFT IN NEW ZEALAND OK, it's not even remotely numismatic, but here's a joke for this week, about a theft in New Zealand: "Police in New Zealand were mystified by the apparent theft of a complete toilet bowl from a police station in Auckland. "When a local news reporter asked the police sergeant if they had any leads, he replied, 'At present we have nothing to go on.'" Credit this one to the Good Clean Funnies list: http://www.gcfl.net/archive.php?funny=20070711 LIBRARY BEING DEMOLISHED FIGHTS BACK This is also non-numismatic, but perhaps bibliophiles will appreciate this story from Meadville, about 90 miles north of Pittsburgh. While demolishing an old library building, "A 1,500-pound wrecking ball broke loose from a crane cable and raced downhill, smashing into several cars and injuring three people before coming to rest in the trunk of a car at an intersection Monday. "The wrecking ball, about 3 feet across, was being used to demolish part of a library at Allegheny College when the cable snapped, police said. The crane operator tried to stop it, but it rolled nearly three- quarters of a mile downhill, damaging more than a dozen vehicles as it bounced from curb to curb, police said. "The ball lodged in the trunk of a car, pushing the vehicle about 20 feet." To read the complete Associated Press article, see: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,,-6768784,00.html FEATURED WEB SITE: CHINESE SYCEE This week's featured web site features Chinese Sycee coinage. It was highlighted by Numismatic News' Tom Michael in a blog post this week on Milled Chinese Coins. The site pictures cast sycee, chopmarked coins and other Chinese numismatic and financial subjects. http://www.sycee-on-line.com The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. For more information please see our web site at http://www.coinbooks.org/. There is a membership application available on the web site at this address: http://www.coinbooks.org/club_nbs_member_app.html To join, print the application and return it with your check to the address printed on the application. Membership is only $15 to addresses in the U.S., $20 elsewhere. For those without web access, write to: David M. Sundman, Secretary/Treasurer Numismatic Bibliomania Society, P. O. Box 82 Littleton, NH 03561 For Asylum mailing address changes and other membership questions, contact David at this email address: dsundman@LittletonCoin.com To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, just Reply to this message, or write to the Editor at this address: whomren@coinlibrary.com Those wishing to become new E-Sylum subscribers (or wishing to Unsubscribe) can go to the following web page: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum All past E-Sylum issues are archived on the NBS web site at this address: http://www.coinbooks.org/club_nbs_esylum_archive.html Issues from September 2002 to date are also archived at this address: http://my.binhost.com/pipermail/esylum From esylum at binhost.com Sun Jul 22 19:21:24 2007 From: esylum at binhost.com (esylum@binhost.com) Date: Sun Jul 22 19:21:46 2007 Subject: The E-Sylum v10#29, July 22, 2007 Message-ID: <001e01c7ccb7$06218510$2b0110ac@corp.cmdinfo.com> Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 10, Number 29, July 22, 2007: an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society. Copyright (c) 2007, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society. WAYNE'S WORDS: THE E-SYLUM 22 JULY, 2007 Among our recent subscribers are Dan Griffin and Howard Cohen. Welcome aboard! We now have 1,157 subscribers. No more Wayne's Word's this week - there are too many of them already in the London Diary. While I was off having my numismatic adventures this weekend, several emails and new submissions arrived, but too late for this issue. I'll respond tomorrow and will work the submissions into next week's issue. Have a great week, everyone! Wayne Homren Numismatic Bibliomania Society MOULTON HENRY VOIGHT BOOK NOW AVAILABLE Karl Moulton's long awaited "Henry Voigt and Others Involved in America's Early Coinage" will be available for purchase at the American Numismatic Association 2007 convention in Milwaukee next month. Karl Moulton writes: "This 230 plus page, hardbound book describes in detail the history and drama of the first United States Mint. It outlines the problems the people who worked there encountered in producing the coinage that was so needed and wanted. Many original source documents from the National Archives were utilized. The 1792 issues are well chronicled by letters from President George Washington, Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, and Mint Director David Rittenhouse. Those coins were not patterns, but rather were the first circulating federal currency made after the Mint Act of April 2, 1792, was signed into law by President Washington. A color picture of the finest 1792 half disme previously owned by David Rittenhouse is displayed on the front cover. Subjects include Henry Voigt's involvement with steam engines, numerous pages from his 1793 daily U.S. Mint work ledger, the 1793 Yellow Fever epidemic, America's first coin dealer, the 1796 Quarters, John Reich, Electrotypes, the "E" and "L" counterstamped quarters, and one titled "Modern Misinformation" (of which there has been plenty). Many illustrations found in the Henry Voigt book have never been seen in any other numismatic text. Some of these include Patience Wright and the 1793 Liberty Cap Cent, Mint Treasurer Tristram Dalton and pages from his 1793 account ledger, the U.S. Mint's 1792 coinage expenses, a visitor register page with Adam Eckfeldt's signature, David Rittenhouse's 1794 silver ingot deposits (these were made into 1794 dollars), and a wonderful 1795 portrait of Anne Bingham (the model seen on the Draped Bust coinage) done by artist Gilbert Stuart. Respected numismatist and author Q. David Bowers wrote the foreword. Some of his comments include, "Henry Voigt and Others Involved with America's Early Coinage is a tour de force...this is the finest first-person (so to speak) account I have read on the subject...I learned a lot while reading this book, correcting many impressions I had earlier." This historically important book was published by the Cardinal Collection Educational Foundation, which supports research and publications about early American money. Copies of this 6x9 book will be available for $79. ppd. Checks should be made payable to CCEF. For those unable to attend the ANA this year, we will ship them out after returning from the ANA show. For further information and ordering addresses, please check www.coincats.com or www.Earlyuscoins.org. As a treat for the dedicated bibliophile, plans are in the works for a deluxe leatherbound, large paper, and extra illustrated version to be ready later this year. Stay tuned." BOOK REVIEW: THE AUTHORITATIVE REFERENCE ON BUFFALO NICKELS, SECOND EDITION I've been far behind on my book reviewing duties since I've come to London. My library is far away and it's difficult to bring many books along for the trip. But this week I take a look at the 2007 Second edition of "The Authoritative Reference on Buffalo Nickels" by John Wexler, Ron Pope and Kevin Flynn. Multi-author books are something I'm typically wary of - it takes the vision of a single lead author to pull a publishing project together. But most books of value are the product of multiple contributors, and when contributors have a particularly large role it's only fair to extend authorship credit. The book also has a two-page Acknowledgements section crediting (among many others) Roger Burdette, Ken Bressett, Dave Bowers, Tom DeLorey, David Lange, Bill Fivaz and John Dannreuther. It is interesting (and not at all unusual in numismatics) that the contributors include authors of competing books on the series (David Lange and Dave Bowers). I don't have the Lange Buffalo Nickel book with me, nor do I have the 1st edition of the Wexler book, so I'm at a disadvantage here. But I did manage to squeeze a copy of the softbound Bowers "A Guide Book of Buffalo and Jefferson Nickels" into my luggage for comparison, even though it doesn't have the same focus on die varieties. Both editions of the Wexler book focus on Buffalo nickel die varieties. According to the introduction to the second edition one new feature is a date-by-date analysis of the series. Also new to this edition are a number of new varieties. The second edition has a 2007 copyright date, but population totals provided by grading services PCGS and NGC are copyrighted 2005 and may be outdated. Red Book values are shown in the date-by-date section. The copyright date is not mentioned and perhaps these are outdated as well. With any book on die varieties, the quality of the photos is paramount. I'll give the book a "B" on this score - the photos are generally good, but some are a bit fuzzy. All of them could benefit from a better glossy paper stock. If I were to sum up the differences in quality and size of photos between the Zyrus-published Wexler book and the Whitman-published Bowers book, I'd use a restaurant analogy - the food is OK, but the portions! The Wexler book has lesser quality photo printing, but far more photos, and most are a good bit larger. Now remember, the Bowers book isn't focused on varieties and doesn't require as many photos. But I did find the larger photos of the Wexler book (particularly in the date-by-date section) much more satisfying. In the Whitman book, the photos are smaller and the details are harder to see. As my wife would say, maybe I'm just getting old... Another peeve with the production quality of the Wexler book is that the perfect-bound covers lack a scoring line. This detail would be overlooked by many, but it's present in the Whitman books and evidence of a higher production standard. There's not a lot of reading material in the Wexler book, although it does have some good essays on proof issues and cameo or satin strikes, and a couple chapters explaining die varieties in general and doubled dies in particular. But if I'm not mistaken this same general text appears in Flynn books on other coin series, so it's nothing new for readers with access to those other titles. Despite its shortcomings I would certainly recommend the book for any specialist in Buffalo Nickel varieties. But for historical background and any other information beyond varieties, be sure to have the Lange and Bowers books on your shelf as well. For more information, see the publisher's web site at: http://www.zyruspress.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=16 BOOK REVIEW: BUFFALO NICKELS: THE ABRADED DIE VARIETIES BY RON POPE Ron Pope is an E-Sylum subscriber and co-author of "The Authoritative Reference on Buffalo Nickels" reviewed above. He was kind enough to send me a copy of his own self-published book, "Buffalo Nickels: The Abraded Die Varieties", now in its fifth printing (June 2007). The softcovered, spiral-bound 204-page book covers in great detail the sub-specialty of Buffalo Nickel varieties "produced by abrading or polishing of the die(s)." Pope notes that "The elimination of clash marks is the commonly accepted reason for the abrading of the dies, but otherwise good dies that have suffered from rust certainly can't be ruled out. This is the possible explanation for the 1937-D 3 legged variety (this was first theorized nearly forty years ago in one volume of 'The Whitman Numismatic Journal')" The book is printed on a flat-finished paper, and like the Wexler book it could benefit from a higher quality glossy paper stock. But nonetheless the photos seem quite good. Many of the coins are illustrated with enlarged photos augmented with black arrows pointing out the key diagnostic areas. Creating these photos must have been a very painstaking and time-consuming task, and the book greatly benefits from the effort. I was also quite impressed with the nearly full-page photos of two different die clashed obverses (p10-11). Pope's book is very well organized and his attention to detail is obvious. The book includes a date-by-date strike analysis "based on the author's observation of over 150,000 coins on the Internet and from other personal observations." As with the Wexler book, I would recommend Pope's book to any specialist in Buffalo Nickel varieties. Further, I would recommend it as a model for other books in the genre. Pope's detailed, annotated photos and methodical record keeping are commendable. My only suggestions for improvement are minor - other than an improved paper stock, I would recommend experimenting with a different typeface to soften the computer-printout look. To order the Abraded Die book contact author Ron Pope at coinquest_sixtyone@yahoo.com - he prints them on demand. The price is $16.50 + $3 shipping. ROBERT DUPHORNE AND THE 'OTHER' BUST QUARTER BOOK Members of the John Reich Collectors Society receive the group's quarterly publication, the John Reich Journal. I picked up my copy on my visit home last weekend. One of the featured articles is "Robert Duphorne and the 'Other' Bust Quarter Book." by Louis Scuderi. The eight-page article is a trove of information on this relatively obscure title. I've had a copy in my library for years but never knew much about the author, and I doubt that any bibliophile knew much until now. Scuderi purchased a copy of the Duphorne book at the 1996 American Numismatic Association convention. The book was published in 1975 and had been disparaged by Walter Breen and others. For example, Karl Moulton has written that "Bergen lent his notes about corrections and new varieties not listd in the original Browning work to R. Duphorne for his rather worthless book about Early Quarter Dollars that was published in 1975. If Mr. Duphorne does indeed exist, he has never come forth to accept the credit or blame for this particular volume." http://www.coincats.com/BUST%20ARTICLE.pdf Through a chance discussion with a coin dealer, Scuderi learned that Duphorne was from Albuquerque, NM. Since that's where Scuderi lives too, he pulled out the phone book and found a listing for a Robert Duphorne. After a number of failed attempts, he finally reached the octogenarian author. Bob had specialized in collecting bust quarters and in the early 1970s he decided that the 50th anniversary of the publication of Browning's book would be a fine time for a new reference on the topic. Some 90% of the coins pictured in the book were from his own collection, which he'd pieced together primarily by searching dealer stocks, augmented with an occasional auction purchase. The book was a compilation of all the information Duphorne had gathered on the series. Since Duphorne did his collecting outside of the mainstream numismatic scene, "his book came as somewhat of a surprise and was viewed with some suspicion. However, in terms of his use of attribution information, he was far ahead of what was normally used in 1975 for capped bust silver. His obverse and reverse identification charts ... contain information that is now commonly found in the newer books..." "Since Robert Duphorne was such an unknown in numismatic circles, it was easy for a few comments on the part of Walter Breen to color the views of subsequent collectors. It is also quite clear that Breen's dismissal of the D92 coin was based on a conversation that never occurred." [Congratulations to Scuderi and JRCS on a great article. What other outside-the-mainstream numismatic authors are out there awaiting discovery? Can anyone suggest other mystery writer worth researching? -Editor] GLEANINGS FROM RECENT NUMISMATIC PERIODICALS In recent weeks a number of interesting items have been published in the numismatic press; there's not enough time or space to cover them all in detail, but I'll summarize a number of them - please comment if you have something you'd like to add to the discussion. ROBERT LOVETT GRAVESTONE PLAQUE DEDICATION REPORT Last week we excerpted a report from the Zanesville Times Recorder about the recent dedication of an American Numismatic Association Hall of Fame plaque for Robert Lovett, Jr. Harold Levi was there for the ceremony and sends us this report. He writes: "A bronze plaque was made to commemorate Robert Lovett, Jr.?s induction into the Hall of Fame, which was mounted forward of the headstone between the two halves of the Confederate cent. The July 14, 2007 dedication ceremony was attended by the President of the Ohio Department of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, Civil War reenactors, and several others. "At the dedication, George Corell gave a short history of our work. I explained that RL was inducted into the Hall of Fame for the depth and breadth of his artistic talent and the body of his work, not just for creating the Confederate cent. The ANA award was displayed during the ceremony, thanks to Katie Jaeger. I wore my Confederate uniform with red sash and sabre. At the end of the ceremony, I performed a sabre salute with the coordinated firing of a musket salute by Confederate reenactors. A cannon salute had been planned but we were unable to get it organized. "For those who may have seen the newspaper report, let me assure you that George Corell and I were not inducted into the ANA Hall of Fame, infamy maybe. The Zanesville and Morgan County (Ohio) newspapers reported that George and I had been inducted into the Hall of Fame not Lovett. While in McConnelsville, I discovered the source of the reporting error. It was a misunderstanding by someone that was about three tiers out from the source. It was a bit like a rumor, the farther from the source the more it distorts." ROBERT LOVETT GRAVESTONE PLAQUE DEDICATED http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v10n28a08.html HARMER ROOKE MILLION DOLLAR SALE CIVIL WAR TOKEN SESSION PRL FOUND Responding to Steve Butler's query in last week's issue, Bill Rau offered to send Steve a copy of the Harmer Rooke 'A Million Dollar Sale' of November 17, 1969, and I put the two of them in touch. Bill adds: "The ANA library should have two copies of this too. Amber may have been looking in the wrong place, or they may have been misfiled. I inventoried their auction catalogs for them, finishing the project last December." HARMER ROOKE MILLION DOLLAR SALE CIVIL WAR TOKEN SESSION PRL SOUGHT http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v10n28a15.html MORE ON THE PROPOSED ANS MOVE Regarding last week's discussion of the proposed move of the American Numismatic Society's headquarters, Dan Hamelberg writes: "George Cuhaj's information was clearly from an inaccurate source. I think Ute did a fine job in putting the record straight regarding the ANS move to Hudson Square. More information will follow as the move takes shape. "Regarding the Hudson Square building, the build out will be first class. Some of the other tenants in the building include a University and the Jackie Robinson museum. The immediate area borders the Tribeca district to the south, and the Village area to the north. New York University is nearby, and some future exchange opportunities may be possible. "To describe Hudson Square as 'a recent factory conversion' is extremely misleading. The main lobby at Hudson has won architectural awards. The tenant base is diverse and upscale. This is not just another office building. Each build out will be distinctive and first class. The ANS will be accessible and usable. In addition to dedicated visitors, I expect that we will get visits from the general population and other visitors to the building - hardly cold storage." NUMISMATIST WILLIAM BENTLEY AND ALLEGHENY COLLEGE Regarding last week's item about the runaway wrecking ball, Katie Jaeger writes: "I'm proud to say I am a graduate of Allegheny College, where the wrecking ball decided to take leave of its cable. I heard the people in the car in the AP photo were spared more grievous injury because they'd carried a trunkful of soccer balls. "A small correction; they weren't knocking down the old library (or if it is old, then I am REALLY old). They were making room to add onto the new one; new in 1979, that is, my senior year. It had been under construction for the first three years I attended. "Allegheny was founded in 1815. William Bentley, one of the earliest U.S. coin collectors, was a benefactor. He willed half his library to Allegheny and the other half to the American Antiquarian Society; a description of his book collection is at the Allegheny website, the link being http://library.allegheny.edu/Special/ObservationsPt1.htm " [William Bentley's name has come up before in The E-Sylum, as apparently the very first coin dealer in the U.S. His main customer was Judge James Winthrop. He sold Judge Winthrop Swedish Plate Money on August 26th, 1787. -Editor] LIBRARY BEING DEMOLISHED FIGHTS BACK http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v10n28a26.html OLDEST COIN COLLECTION RECORDED IN THE U.S.? http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v03n46a08.html TRACKING CHIEF COINERS OF THE U.S. MINT Regarding Bob Merchant's query about the Chief Coiners, Dave Ginsburg writes: "Because the Mint Officers are filled by Presidential appointment, with the advice and consent of the Senate, one can track their appointments in the Senate Executive Journal available on the Library of Congress' website (at http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lawhome.html). The many volumes of Congressional activities are searchable, so with a little effort, he'll be able to see when Mint Officers were appointed and confirmed (or not, as the case may be). "I recently searched the Senate Executive Journal to compile a list of the Officers of the New Orleans Mint from 1838 to 1861 and it was a fairly simple process. "Unfortunately, the Senate Executive Journal only goes up to 1875, but at least he'll be able to track the first hundred years (or so) of appointments." 1857 MINT REPORT SOUGHT Dave Ginsburg writes: "Does anyone have a copy of the Annual Report of the Director of the Mint for 1857? (It's included in the Secretary of the Treasury's Annual Report on the Finances for 1857 and only covers the first half of the calendar year.) The copy that I have is missing the first half of Table A, which shows the sources of the deposits (foreign coin, foreign bullion, etc.) of gold and silver in the various mints and should be on page 61. I'd really appreciate it if anyone can help by providing a copy of the page or the information on it. Thanks!" MANLEY-MARSHALL MOVIE SPECULATION: THE S.S. CENTRAL AMERICA STORY? Donn Pearlman of Las Vegas, NV writes: "In reference to an item in the July 15, 2007 E-Sylum, I do not know the specifics of any reported movie project involving Dwight Manley and Penny Marshall. However, one possible topic is the story of the SS Central America, the legendary 'Ship of Gold' that sank in 1857 carrying tons of California Gold Rush coins and ingots. I believe there was an option picked up some years ago for a potential motion picture project based on the best-selling book, 'Ship of Gold (in the Deep Blue Sea)'. "The Central America treasure has several wonderful -- as they say in Hollywood -- "back stories" besides the ship sinking in a hurricane in 1857: a newlywed couple on board survived -- she in a lifeboat, he clinging to debris for hours until another ship rescued him; the ensuing financial panic in New York City when the gold was lost; and other human interest angles to the saga. There was a History Channel one-hour documentary about the sinking and recovery, but a feature length film would be a truly exciting project. "Several times I've joked about a possible movie with the convivial Robert Evans, the chief scientist and historian on the Columbus-America Discovery Group mission that found and retrieved the treasure in the 1980's. 'Who do you want playing your role in the film?,' I'd ask. I believe Bob's first choice was either Robert Redford or Harrison Ford..... Maybe we could have George Clooney and call the film 'Ocean's 1857'...." NUMISMATISTS MANLEY AND MARSHALL IN A MOVIE DEAL? http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v10n28a07.html UPDATE ON HOWARD BERLIN'S NUMISMATIC TRAVELS Fellow Numismatourist Dr. Howard Berlin writes: "My last numismatic trip was in May to Dusseldorf, Cologne, and Frankfurt. While in Frankfurt I was escorted around the Deutsches Bundesbank museum and their numismatic library. "All of my trips to museums around the world having numismatic exhibits will be the subject of my regular column (with pictures) in the soon-to-be-released WorldWide Coins, a bi-monthly magazine of Amos Press, which will be available at next month's ANA show. I think the leadoff issue will deal with the coins at the Roman Baths of Bath, England. Other cities visited for subsequent articles include Berlin, London, Oxford, Cambridge, Dublin, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Cologne, Frankfurt, Athens, and St. Louis. Many of these museums also have numismatic libraries, and most are available to the public for research. "On tap later this year In November is a trip to Venice and Milan. I understand there is a coin collection on display at the Sforzesco Castle (Milan). I'm not aware of any numismatic exhibits in Venice though. Does anyone know of any? From Milan I go to Monte Carlo and visit, besides the casino, the Museum of Stamps and Coins. "In December I go to Stuttgart and Munich. Not much in Stuttgart for me except the Mercedes Benz and Porsche car museums. In Munich I have an appointment to meet with the Director of the Bavarian State Numismatic Museum in the museum complex called the Residenz. The medieval Bavarian mint is close by as well as the BMW car museum. "In many of my trips throughout Europe, I have found that the local city museum often has an exhibit consisting of a few display cases of coins and banknotes. Sometimes, the treasury of cathedrals, such as the Cologne Cathedral, has coins on display. The Cologne Cathedral treasury, two levels below ground, had a display of 29 gold coins from the approximately the 10th to the 18th century whose obverse had the portrait of the archbishop of Cologne. "In March of next year I have reservations for Copenhagen and Stockholm. Both cities have well-known numismatic museums which I will visit and photograph for future columns. "Does anyone know specifically of any numismatic museum or permanent exhibit in Paris and if so, if it has a web site? There are a number of reasons why I have no great desire to visit France and in the many years of traveling, I have never been in France. However I would bite my tongue when I'm in London in the future, take a 2-1/2 hour train ride to Paris to visit the museum to gather material and pictures for a future column, and head right back to London without staying in France. "Not all the museums I will visit are outside the US. There will be some places that I probably will never get to, such as the some of the numismatic museums in Russia, and other parts of the former Soviet Union. I was once there 40 years ago, and am not sure if I want to go again. I might have to write about certain places without having been there. "However, I encourage anyone to suggest a venue worthy of my going there and writing about. Perhaps I have already been there and written about it and it is waiting to be published. Perhaps I have been considering it but haven't bought airplane tickets for there yet or am waiting for opportune time to group several places on the same trip. If you e-mail Wayne with your suggestion, he'll pass it onto me. I will do my best to answer all e-mails. If you read the magazine or my column and have any suggestions feel free to drop me a line." WAYNE'S LONDON DIARY 22 JULY, 2007 Bob Neale writes: "I, too, enjoy reading of your adventures in merry England. I wonder whether there is anyone in the numismatic world that you don't know, or know of and recall?" Well, it only seems that way. I've only actually met a small number of my E-Sylum readers in person, but back in my single days I made it a point to seek out and meet the U.S. numismatic luminaries of the day. Sadly, a number of them are gone now, including collectors John Pittman, Harry Boosel, John Ford, Walter Breen, Jules Reiver and Donald Miller and bibliophiles/literature dealers Armand Champa, Frank Katen, Ken Lowe, Jack Collins and John Bergman. I'm not that old (really), but I'm starting to feel that way. My London assignment has given me the opportunity to resume that quest in England while I have some time away from my family obligations. Once back in the U.S. my numismatic activities will shrink back to email interactions. Regarding my translation of "Llantrisant", Peter Gaspar writes: "I thought others would write you about your definition of "llan" = land. During my nearly 20 years visiting the Mint at and working with Graham Dyer I have always heard that "llan" means "church", i.e. Llantrisant "the church of the three saints." I don't have a proper Welsh dictionary, but my Welsh grammar book does refer to llan as church. You might want to check it out." [I was paraphrasing my recollection of Harry Mernick's discussion of the Llantrisant Longbowmen medal, so I'm not surprised that I may have gotten something wrong. Thanks for setting us straight! -Editor] My numismatic adventures began on Tuesday this week. I'd received a submission from Dick Johnson about an upcoming exhibit on the famous philatelic portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. Dick wondered if the exhibit had a connection to coins as well as stamps. It turned out that it did, and when I noticed that the exhibit was about to open in London, I went on a scouting trip after work. The exhibit was at the London College of Art. I poked around to find an address and could only find a listing on "Kensington Gore". I didn't know if that was a street, a building, a campus or what. There was no street number, but maps showed a Kensington Gore street winding for a few blocks near the Royal Albert Hall. I'd seen the Albert Hall on my earlier walks through Hyde Park. Along the Kensington side of the park is the immense Albert Memorial built by Queen Victoria to honor her late husband who had died at 42 of typhoid fever. Across the street is the Royal Albert Hall, a concert venue built in 1871. If you're familiar with the Beatles' "A Day in the Life", you'll remember the lyric, inspired by a mundane news report about filling potholes: "Four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire / They had to count them all / Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall" Anyway, it was a beautiful evening and I decided to walk home again along a different route, in search of the Royal College of Art. I set out toward Piccadilly Circus again, but this time winding up and down various arcades, alleys and sidestreets. I cheated a bit by taking the tube two stops to a point near Harrods's department store. Harrod's is synonymous with luxury. I had been nearby before but hadn't bothered to stop in. My wife teased me and said I should at least take a look. So I did. Outside, a crowd was gathered. A bored-looking woman was modeling clothes for a photographer. He snapped his camera while another man filmed with a video camera. The crowd snapped shots of their own. Supermodel? a nobody? I didn't know or care - in I walked to the store. I passed through an enormous room offering nothing but perfume. I didn't check the prices. Then I entered a room full of purses and gave her a call on my cell phone. I told her about a nice one on sale for 365 GBD (over $700). She wanted five of them, but she was teasing again (I think). Exiting Harrods I kept walking toward Hyde Park. I came across the Brompton Oratory, a huge Catholic Church. Next to the Oratory was the Victoria and Albert Museum (or V&A as it's known locally). Beyond that were the Natural History and Science museums. I found Kensington Gore Street and started walking, keeping an eye out for the Royal College of Art. I eventually found it, right next to Albert Hall. A banner attached to a fence announced the exhibit: "The Timeless & Classic: Elizabeth, Queen & Icon" (see the next item for more information). It wouldn't open until Thursday, but at least know I knew where to find it. I marched across the street into Hyde Park and crossed over to my neighborhood for dinner (Indian again, and one more Cobra beer). If felt good to get to my hotel and change out of my suit and dress shoes. Wednesday turned out to be a long day at the office, but we had a pleasant lunch meeting at Kettners in Soho. Just yards from our office, it's one of London's oldest restaurants, founded 140 years ago by Auguste Kettner, former chef to Emperor Napoleon III. Kettner's Book of the Table: A Manual of Cookery was published in 1871 and remains one of the world's most famous cookbooks. Luckily we ate well, because I didn't get out of the office until 9:30 that night. I met my colleagues for a beer at Prince Alfred in Bayswater near our hotel. Dinner was a bag of potato crisps and two cool pints. Having worked so late the night before I didn't feel too guilty ducking out at 4:15 Thursday. It was opening day of the "Timeless & Classic" exhibit, and it closed at 5:00. I hailed a cab and said "Albert Hall, please". After slogging through rush hour traffic I arrived with only about 20 minutes to spare. The exhibit was in the lobby of the Royal College of Art building. I grabbed some brochures, pulled out my notepad and started furiously writing as I marched through the exhibit. I skipped the philatelic parts to concentrate more on the numismatic aspects. It was a beautiful exhibit (see the review below). But at 5pm I was given the bum's rush out the door. Fittingly, it was now raining. I put my notes in my packpack and pulled out my folding umbrella. Across Hyde Park I walked again, this time stopping for Chinese food before returning to my hotel. That evening I worked on the E-Sylum draft while doing laundry. Friday brought a hellacious rainstorm to central London. Just before noon the sky darkened until it looked like night. Soon the skies opened up and just poured. Too hungry to postpone lunch I reached for my handy folding umbrella, but it wasn't there - I must have left it at the restaurant Thursday night. Luckily, we have some spares in the office. I crossed the street through heavy stop and go traffic and gladly entered a nearby restaurant. The waiter told me there was already flooding in many towns. In a number of areas water rose to people's knees. Later, portions of the underground closed due to flooding. Not long after lunch the sun came out again. At 7pm my colleagues and I left the office to join some friends at the Lowlander Pub on Drury Street in Covent Garden. Belgian beer flowed and for dinner I had the Belgian version of a British staple - Bangers and Mash (sausages and mashed potatoes). This version used Wild Boar sausage and apples in a bowl of smooth potatoes and gravy. About 9:15 my gravy-stained white polo shirt and I headed back to the office to pick up my bag. I passed a number of only-in-London sites. Big as life on the outside of three different buildings, were life-size reproductions of Old Master paintings, frames and all, along with those ubiquitous museum-style description plaques. They were part of a twelve-week publicity program by the National Gallery called The Grand Tour. Coincidentally, the first painting I came across was John Constable's 'The Hay Wain'. At my last job in Pittsburgh the gang put up a copy of the painting and called it "Hey, Wayne!" (I am not making this up!). Next I passed through Seven Dials, an intersection where seven streets converge on a circle. At the center is a tall stone monument sporting at the top six sundials (the original 1690s plan was for six streets, but one more was added for good measure). By the time of Charles Dickens the area was a notorious slum. The original column was pulled down in 1773, but replaced in 1989 with a column matching the original design. Why build a crazy intersection with seven roads? The developer wanted to maximize the number of houses to increase his profits. See, in The E-Sylum everything eventually comes back to money, if not coins. Passing several book stores, many of them had signs saying they would reopen at midnight to sell the seventh and final book in the Harry Potter series. Television showed lines of young people, many dressed in Potter-inspired outfits, waiting in line at a Piccadilly Circus store. I'm hoping that's why one young man in the subway had his face covered in green makeup. After stopping for some groceries I went back to my hotel where I organized my backpack for Saturday's journey. On Saturday morning I took the tube to King's Cross Station and boarded a train to Cambridge. Ten minutes from London and I was viewing fields of cows and horse. The trip took about 45 minutes altogether. Disembarking at the Cambridge Station, I bought a local map from a vending machine in exchange for a one pound coin. But the map turned out to cover only the city center didn't show me the complete journey. I asked a young lady for assistance, and she was very helpful. Up the street to the war monument I went, then turned right. Once I was deep into the city I realized I'd missed my turn - the street I wanted hadn't been marked with a sign. But with map in hand I managed to wind my way closer and closer to the Fitzwilliam. When I turned onto Trumpington Street, I couldn't help but notice the running water in channels at along the stone curbs. Later I would learn that these were the part of the original means of transporting water into the town and they'd never been covered over or replaced. In places the channel was clogged with leaves leaving a stagnant pool of water, perhaps a remnant of yesterday's downpours. Hobson's Conduit was built from 1610 to 1614 by Thomas Hobson to bring fresh water into the city (see links below for more information). The channels travel right past the front of the stately Fitzwilliam Museum building. I climbed the steps to the front entrance and asked for Professor Buttrey in the Coin department. Soon we were shaking hands in the grand marble lobby. Ted was quite welcoming and gave me a short overview of the history of the museum and its collections. The original core holdings of art and literature began with an 1816 bequest to the University of Cambridge by Richard Fitzwilliam (Richard, VII Viscount Fitzwilliam of Merrion, thank you). Today the museum is one of Britain's finest, holding masterpieces of painting from the fourteenth century to the present day, drawings and prints, sculpture, furniture, armour, pottery and glass, and of course, coins and medals. The grand main building opened in 1848 and has been added to since then. Just off the mail lobby is the Founder's Library which includes a number of numismatic works. It being a Saturday, that room was unfortunately closed. Ted guided me back to the coin department and unlocked the door. Inside was a wondrous sight - a large rectangular room with twelve-foot ceilings and all four walls lined with floor to ceiling shelving holding coin cabinets and numismatic literature. The long walls each hold about forty mostly small wooden coin cabinets. The short wall to the left holds about twenty coin cabinets of mixed sizes, including two 16th-century leather coin cabinets; in front of it is a double-sided freestanding bookcase topped with decorative coin cabinets including one stunning custom-built cabinet in the form of a Roman temple, complete with columns. In front of the final windowed wall are a set of desks and additional shelving. In the center of the room is a long library working table. Along the top of the short wall is this inscription: "This room in which are kept the Greek coins given and bequeathed by John Robinson McClean, M.A. of Trinity College was built at the cost of his brother William Newsam McClean, M.A. of the same college in 1923." Atop a set of new freestanding bookshelves in front of the desk area is an inscription reading "The bookcase were built at the cost of grandchildren and a great grandchild of William Newsom McClean M.A. in 2006." Buttrey introduced me to Assistant Keeper Dr. Martin Allen, who was hard at work at one of the desks. We sat at the library table and Ted explained some of the history of the collections. Cambridge University is a collection of many small colleges, independently founded and functioning as separate organizations. Each college had its own libraries and collections. A number of the Dons collected coins and bequeathed their collection to their college. A modern day example of this tradition is the late Professor Philip Grierson, who died last year at the age of 95 and left his numismatic library, notes, and collection of Medieval European coinage to the University. One of the earlier donors was William Martin Leake, an early 19th century British topographer and antiquarian. He traveled to the middle and far east to map the territory for the British, and he used numismatic evidence to enhance his knowledge of the history of the areas. He published Numismata Hellenica in 1854 and bequeathed six cabinets holding 10,000 Greek coins to Cambridge University. At the time it was the largest collection ever acquired by any University to date. Another donor, Mr. Lewis, gave six cabinets of coins, including the Roman temple cabinet. Christopher Blunt donated a large collection of Anglo-Saxon and early Norman coinage. Today the collection consists of about 250,000 coins and medals, about 20,000 of which are viewable online. Professor Buttrey has been associated with the department for nearly twenty years. He was appointed Keeper of the Department of Coins and Medals in 1988 and was the first to hold a doctorate. Today a staff of eight (both paid and volunteer), oversees the collection. All eight hold doctorates. Buttrey retired in 1991 but continues as a volunteer. Every year he teaches an introductory course in Greek and Roman numismatic with Assistant Keeper Adi Popescu. Dr Mark Blackburn has been Head of the Department of Coins and Medals since Buttrey's retirement in 1991; his particularly interest is with the Medieval and Oriental coins and historical medals. Updating Roman Imperial Coinage Volume II, Part 1 is Buttrey's primary research project. He has traveled the world visiting collections to verify and update information on the known specimens of the coins of Titus, Vespasian and other rulers covered in the volume. The revised work will not only be much larger, but more accurate and better annotated. A related project of interest to bibliophiles is Buttrey's work in acquiring and cataloging numismatic auction catalogues of the world. When he arrived at the Fitzwilliam there were about 5,000 catalogues in the holdings; today the total is about 40,000. The main room where we were sitting was only one part of the coin department. Ted led me on a tour before we took a break for lunch. Behind the main room were a series of smaller rooms and the office of Keeper Blackburn. Beside a window stood a stand for taking photographs of coins. Everywhere was lined with shelving holding more numismatic books. One room held periodicals on both fixed and moveable shelves. The British Numismatic Journal were present, as was the Armenian Numismatic Journal. A stairway led upstairs and I just had to ask what in the world was the purpose of a metal crank sticking out of the stairway wall. It's there to close the iron shutters - every night the building is locked up tight as a drum, and thankfully, there has never been a break-in. The cramped room upstairs holds the catalog collection on sets of fixed and movable shelves. The catalogs are stored in labeled boxes placed on the shelves. Near the door is a shelf holding an absolutely beautiful group of about 150 leatherbound 19th century catalogues. Most came from a 1933 donation by J. S. Henderson. The earliest of the group was a priced and named 1756 Martin Folkes sale; also present was an 1811 Leigh & Sotheby sale. Recently a visitor from a bank in Cologne, Germany provided a photocopy of an obscure catalogue of German numismatic auction catalogues prior to 1945. Some much information, so little time! The list would be ideal for entering into a database. Buttrey updates his catalog of catalogues daily as new acquisitions are logged. Each month an updated version is posted to the museum's web site. Despite the size of the collection, there are numerous holes. A number of donors have come forth to help fill the gaps; occasionally packages will arrive with a note stating that they'd noticed a gap in the online catalog and shipped some catalogues to donate to the collection. You can view the online catalogue at http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/coins/ We stepped outside for some fresh air and lunch. The genial Buttrey insisted on buying. We walked down the street to Martin's Coffee House, proudly named once as one of Britain's "finest greasy spoons". Looking forward to his usual jacket potato (stuffed baked potato for those in the U.S.), Ted expressed mock horror on being told that the last potato had just been sold. We ordered chicken and mayonnaise sandwiches, his on plain bread and mine on a baguette. Conversation topics included the project I'm working on for my employer, and my background in the software industry. We talked a bit about John Ford and the Western bar controversy, but that hubbub has fortunately died down for him. We also talked about the 2006 Chinese Vase incident at the museum, and on our way back in he showed me the staircase where it occurred. A visitor, claiming he'd tripped on a loose shoelace, knocked over and smashed three Qing dynasty vases. The museum does have a sense of humor about the unfortunate incident. Pulling me into the gift shop, Ted bought me a souvenir, one of the shop's best sellers - a jigsaw puzzle picturing the three vases! Back at the coin department I asked for a quick look at some of the coins, and Ted quickly obliged. After taking a quick look in Crawford to get a reference number, he opened one of the coin cabinets and slid out a tray, placing it on the table. I pick up and examined a gorgeous example of the Brutus Ideas of March denarius. The accompanying slip indicated that it came from the Hart collection at Queen's college. The coin is one of the few specifically mentioned in ancient texts. To view the Ideas of March denarius, see: http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/dept/coins/exhibitions/CoinOfTheMoment/Ides/ Next I reviewed a tray of Ceasar portrait coins, including one in gold. After putting the trays away, I spent some time making notes while Ted went about his regular work. I noted some of the handy volumes on shelves in the main room, including a set of BM Greek and SNG (the Sylloge Nummorun Graecorum). A well-worn set of three volumes comprised the Catalogue of the McClean Collection of Greek Coins (S. W. Grose, 1923-1929). The volumes were prepared in 1914 but publication had been delayed until after WWI. The collotype plates illustrate two-thirds of the coin in the collection. Lying on the library table was a draft of a work researched partly at the Fitzwilliam: The Coinage of Offa and his Contemporaries by Derek Chick, edited by Mark Blackburn and Rory Naismith. It is to be published by Spink for the British Numismatic Society later this year. Before long we said our goodbyes and I went off to explore a bit of the Fitzwilliam Museum and Cambridge. I marveled at the collection of armour on display, one of the finest collections in the world. After I left the Museum I wandered around the courtyards of some of the colleges, and took a tour of King's Church. Finally it was time to catch my train home and grab some dinner. Sunday morning I worked a bit on The E-Sylum, then walked the few blocks from my hotel to Paddington Station. I boarded a train and called Doug Saville from my cell phone to let him know I was on the way for the second visit we'd arranged. He met me at Reading Station and we drove to his office. Since my last visit, Doug had purchased a 1,000-volume numismatic library, and the books were neatly arranged on shelves. Many standard works on ancient numismatics were there, including a beautifully bound reprint of Corpus Nummorus Italicorum. Another item I'd never seen before was Numismata Cromwelliana: Coins, Medals and Seals of Oliver Cromwell by H.W. Henfrey. It was printed in an edition of 250 copies in 1877. Manville's Numismatic Guide to British and Irish Printed books 1600-2004 lists three titles by Henfrey, a numismatic prodigy who died in 1881 at the age of just 29. A working library belonging to a dealer-collector, there was understandably little relating to U.S. numismatics, although Doug did point out a bound copy of the 1954 Sotheby Farouk sale with a few annotations about American coin lots. Taped to the inside back cover was a newspaper article noting that the Egyptian government was refusing to pay Sotheby's, complaining that "buyer's rings" kept sale prices artificially low. For price list, email Doug at info@douglassaville.com. Next we hopped back in Doug's car and drove to Oxford, about half an hour away. We passed a number of picturesque farms and villages, including at least three homes with thatched roofs. We parked along a busy street in Oxford. It was time for lunch and a pint of beer, and we stepped into the Eagle and Child pub, a favorite haunt of J.R.R. Tolkien. We weren't disappointed - our sandwiches (and beers!) were excellent. Our first stop was Britain's first museum, the Ashmolean. Now undergoing a major expansion, the Ashmolean's Heberdon coin room was closed for the duration of the construction. We did see a few numismatic items on display among the collections. The hall of Egyptian artifacts was very interesting. Other rooms displayed a disparate mix of objects. The first numismatic items we encountered were "two of the surviving casts" of a medal of Federico da Montefeltro, thought to be made by Florenine sculptor Pietro Torrigiano. The same room displayed a violin by Antonio Stradivari, made in 1716 and purchased from Paolo Stradaveri in 1775. One room held a group of objects traceable to the first days of the museum. Numismatic items here included a gold medal of Henry VII minted at London in 1545, and gold presentation coins of Persia circa 1795-1796. Also on display was a clay pot with a hoard of Viking-era bronze coins. One item I found very interesting was "Powhatan's Mantle", a 17th-century deerskin with shell decorations from "Virginia, USA". After exiting the Ashmolean we visited the nearby Sheldonian Theatre, the ceremonial hall of Oxford University. It was the first major design by Christopher Wren, built 1664-1668. Graduation ceremonies are still held here. We walked up the steps to the rooftop cupola and looked out at the architecture of the city. Back on the street we walked into the Museum of the History of Science to view an astonishing collection of antique scientific instruments such as telescopes. Astrolabes and orreries. Finally, we toured Christ Church cathedral and the Christ Church College dining hall. The hall and other parts of the college were used in filming the first two Harry Potter films. We next walked back to Doug's car and drove to his home in Reading, where his wife Sue was busy preparing a dinner of pheasant and venison sausage. Doug took over for a few minutes while Sure showed me their peaceful garden. Soon Doug appeared and placed a glass of wine in my hand. The three of us had a wonderful dinner, finishing up with fruits and cheeses. All too soon it was 9:30 and time to catch the next train to London. Doug dropped me off at the station. I got back to my hotel around 11pm and worked on The E-Sylum before calling it a night. It had been a long but pleasant weekend of numismatic fellowship. Many thanks again to Professor Buttrey and Doug and Sue Saville for all their friendship and hospitality. To see a picture of London's Friday downpour, see: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/07/20/nweather220. xml For more information on the National Gallery's Grand Tour, see http://www.thegrandtour.org.uk/ http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/gallery/2007/jun/12/art.artnews?picture=33001 5552 For more information on Hobson's Conduit, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobson's_Conduit For an image of Hobson's conduit, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Hobson%27sconduit3.JPG For more on William Martin Leake from the 1991 Encyclopedia Britannica, see: http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/William_Martin_Leake WHY I DON'T COLLECT CHINESE VASES http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v09n06a26.html For more information on the Wren's Sheldonian Theatre, see: http://www.sheldon.ox.ac.uk/ For more information on the Museum of the History of Science at Oxford, see: http://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/ ARNOLD MACHIN'S QUEEN ELIZABETH II COIN AND STAMP ARTWORK EXHIBIT Dick Johnson forwarded this article about a London exhibit featuring artwork used as the basis of stamp and coin designs picturing Britain's Queen Elizabeth II. In 1964 sculptor Arnold Machin was chosen to design a new effigy of the Queen for the decimal coinage; this effigy was used for all British coins until 1984. In 1967 Machin designed a similar portrait for British stamps. "A classic image of the Queen which has featured on some 200 billion stamps is being celebrated in an exhibition. The British Postal Museum and Archive (BPMA) show opens at the Royal College of Art in London on Thursday. "Arnold Machin's headshot of Queen Elizabeth II marks its 40th anniversary this year and is thought to be the most produced stamp portrait of all time. "The Timeless & Classic: Elizabeth, Queen & Icon exhibition, which runs until 15 August, includes original portrait photography and plaster casts. Douglas Muir, curator at the BPMA, said: "This is a marvellous and unique opportunity to see the Machin design process in its entirety from the development of the coin effigy through the many stages of different designs to the final, timeless icon." "Mr Machin's image was chosen from five artists asked to submit renderings of the Queen's head for a new stamp design. It first appeared on a 4d value stamp issued in June 1967." To read the complete article, see: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/6899429.stm [I visited the exhibit on opening day, 19 July 2007. I only had a limited time, but took some notes on the numismatic elements of the exhibit. These are summarized below, along with some additional information gleaned from the handouts I picked up. -Editor] 1952 - Artifact: Plaster model by Mary Gillick for the first coinage of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II January 1963 - Artifact: Machin's original wax model relief for the new Queen Elizabeth II head. June 1963 - Artifact: Drawing from Life by Arnold Machin showing the Queeen in a three-quarter back profile October 1963 - Artifact: original reduction punch (die) for coin obverse, and a 5 pence coin obverse reduction punch and working punch October 1964 - Postmaster Tony Benn encouraged stamp designs without the Queen's head, but this introduced a new problem - without the Queen's head to identify the country of origin, an alternative was needed. "Great Britain" and "U.K. Postage" were tried, but at the time the correct name of the nation was actually "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (and the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands). That doesn?t fit well on a postage stamp! Initial work for Machin's stamp design was based on his "Coinage Head" design March 1966 - Artifact: plaster cast of Machin's "Coinage Head". The plaster is very large, about 20" in diameter. Related artifacts include the final plaster model for Machin's coin effigy and a metal electrotype. [While viewing the exhibit I couldn't help but think, 'Wow, somebody ought to put all this great information together in a book." Well, somebody did. Among the handouts I picked up at the exhibit were the May and June 2007 issue of the British Philatelic Bulletin which included the 2nd and 3rd installments of a three-part article by Douglas Muir, "an abridged chapter from his book, 'A Timeless Classic: The Evolution of Machin's Icon', published this month." The book is available at the Royal Mail web site (www.royalmail.com). The description reads "This 248 page, fully illustrated book is written by Douglas Muir, curator of the British Postal Museum and Archive and an expert on the development of the Machin image." The cost is 19.95 GBP. Because of the close connection to British coins and the good amount of numismatic information within, this could be a useful book for coin collectors. -Editor] To order the Douglas Muir book "A Timeless Classic" see: http://tinyurl.com/2ehfwa To read an interview with Muir about his work and the Machin exhibit, see: http://www.icons.org.uk/theicons/collection/queen-s-head-stamp-design/featur es/douglas-muir-curator-of-philately CZECH BANKNOTE ARTIST OLDRICH KULHANEK'S WORK EXHIBITED IN CHICAGO "Czech artist Oldrich Kulhanek's career has taken some bizarre twists, from time in a Communist jail to designing banknotes for the new Czech Republic which are part of a new U.S. exhibition of his work. "The exhibition includes the first display of his prints for the current Czech banknotes he designed in the early 1990s, large lithographs of nude figures, and a series of works devoted to Czech-born writer Franz Kafka who wrote about a nightmarish world of isolated and troubled individuals. "The exhibition is one of the attractions in 'Prague Days in Chicago,' a series of events this summer to mark Chicago and the Czech capital's pairing up as sister cities back in 1990. "The exhibition 'Oldrich Kulhanek - drawings and prints' runs to July 31 at the International Currents Gallery of the John David Mooney Foundation at 114 West Kinzie Street, Chicago. The gallery is open Tuesday to Thursday from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m., or by appointment. Tel. 312 822 0483, http://www.mooneyfoundation.org To read the complete article, see: http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSN1036931520070713 NEW LIBERTY DOLLAR FEATURES LONGSHOT PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE RON PAUL According to an article published by Congressional Quarterly, "He?s still a long shot for the presidency, but Republican Rep. Ron Paul of Texas has leapfrogged into a distinction usually reserved for chief executives ? and dead ones, at that: His visage now graces a coin. "To be sure, the disks were not struck by the U.S. Mint. They are, rather, a rival currency called the Liberty Dollar, which lately has been fighting a court battle over a mint consumer advisory not to use the dollar coins ? which are designed for barter transactions ? as legal tender. "Paul is a natural choice to grace the Liberty Dollar ? as well as the steeper $20 silver and $1,000 gold editions of the currency ? because he shares the Indiana company?s preference for currency backed by precious metals. Paul?s campaign spokesman Jesse Benton says his boss supports ?legalized competition between Federal Reserve notes and other specie currency? by allowing people to pay for goods and services with gold or silver." To read the complete article, see: http://news.yahoo.com/s/cq/20070716/pl_cq_politics/ronpaulgainsnewcurrency_1 [Paul's spokesman notes that "however flattering the homage may be, Paul isn?t endorsing the use of Paul dollars." The campaign wants donations in U.S.-backed funds. What happened to rendering unto Caesar? Gold, Silver and Copper versions are planned. A blog entry on the Paul web site pictures the silver version. One supporter plans to distribute copper versions as campaign promotion items in November: "They are inexpensive enough to distribute in small quantities as handouts to potential voters. Many paper handouts (for any candidate) are likely to go (probably unread) into the nearest wastebasket. But few, if any, copper coins are going to get thrown away. People just can't bring themselves to do it. The deep-seated archetype of coins as money, even if those coins aren't "legal tender", is too powerful to allow it. A one dollar copper could potentially have a greater impact than a dollar's worth of paper." -Editor] To read the complete Ron Paul Liberty Dollar blog item, see: http://www.dailypaul.com/node/527 For ordering information, see: http://www.libertydollar.org/ld/ronpauldollar AGRICULTURE LEADER NORMAN BORLAUG TO RECEIVE CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL The student newspaper of Texas A&M noted this week that "Norman Borlaug, distinguished professor of international agriculture, Nobel Peace Prize winner and father of the Green Revolution will receive the Congressional Gold Medal Tuesday for his work to counter famine. "The Department of Soil and Crop Sciences said Borlaug is responsible for saving more lives than any person who has ever lived. His most notable achievement is the development of a high-yielding, disease-resistant wheat. The wheat helped counter starvation in Mexico, India, China and Pakistan. "The Congressional Gold Medal is the highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions. All Congressional Gold Medal legislation must be cosponsored by at least two-thirds of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives before it is submitted to the respective committee. "The medal is created on an individual basis by the United States Mint to reflect the recipient and their contributions. Previous recipients include George Washington, Thomas Edison, Mother Teresa and Rosa Parks." To read the complete announcement, see: http://tinyurl.com/2tertl The newspaper published a longer profile on Borlaug last week: "Through the National Youth Administration, a depression-era program designed to provide work-study jobs to college students, Borlaug enrolled at the University of Minnesota, where he studied forestry. It was in Minneapolis that he was exposed to the hunger he would combat his entire life. "When I got to Minnesota, to my horror, I saw hundreds of people go downtown to Minneapolis - people with their hands up - young, middle-aged people asking for a nickel to buy bread. That's how things were." "Borlaug's most well-known work started in Mexico and came in the form of a genetically modified, semi-dwarf wheat plant. Working with local Mexican and American scientists and farmers, he was able to create, culture and spread a shorter and stouter wheat plant that was stronger, resisted disease and yielded more. It quickly turned around Mexico's status as a wheat producer. "But Borlaug wasn't done. While experts were predicting famine in the 60s for India and Pakistan, he was working to bring the same success to the warring nations. It wasn't safe work, and the Indian-Pakistan war sometimes crept close to where he was planting. "It's not hard for Borlaug to keep himself motivated, though, as he can state his central passion in clear terms. "'I hate suffering and human misery,' Borlaug said." To read the complete article, see: http://tinyurl.com/2ssnx9 HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE AUTOMATED TELLER MACHINE David Sundman forwarded the following article about the birthday of the automated teller machine forty years ago. Last month an historical plaque was dedicated at the site of the world's first ATM. "The world's first ATM was installed in a branch of Barclays in Enfield, north London, 40 years ago this week. "Inspiration had struck Mr Shepherd-Barron, now 82, while he was in the bath. "'It struck me there must be a way I could get my own money, anywhere in the world or the UK. I hit upon the idea of a chocolate bar dispenser, but replacing chocolate with cash.' "Plastic cards had not been invented, so Mr Shepherd-Barron's machine used cheques that were impregnated with carbon 14, a mildly radioactive substance. "The machine detected it, then matched the cheque against a Pin number. "However, Mr Shepherd-Barron denies there were any health concerns: 'I later worked out you would have to eat 136,000 such cheques for it to have any effect on you.' "One by-product of inventing the first cash machine was the concept of the Pin number. "Mr Shepherd-Barron came up with the idea when he realised that he could remember his six-figure army number. But he decided to check that with his wife, Caroline. "'Over the kitchen table, she said she could only remember four figures, so because of her, four figures became the world standard,' he laughs. "But even though he invented the machine, Mr Shepherd-Barron believes its use in future will be very different. He predicts that our society will no longer be using cash within a few years. "'Money costs money to transport. I am therefore predicting the demise of cash within three to five years.' "He believes fervently that we will soon be swiping our mobile phones at till points, even for small transactions." To read the complete article, see: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6230194.stm [Thanks to Dr. Martin Allen for pointing out that although the Barclay's ATM was the first ot thetype we know today, "a mechanical cash dispenser was developed ... and installed 1939 in New York City by the City Bank of New York, but removed after 6 months due to the lack of customer acceptance." See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automated_teller_machine -Editor] U.S. IMPOSES RESTRICTIONS ON IMPORTING CYPRIOT COINS The New York Times reported this week on the latest development in the tug of war between over the importing of ancient coins into the United States. "In a move that some coin collectors fear could eventually make it difficult to pursue their passion, the United States government has imposed import restrictions on ancient coins from Cyprus. It is the first time the United States has limited trade in a broad category of coins as part of an effort to guard the cultural heritage of another country. "The new rules, which were adopted last week and went into effect on Monday, would essentially bar the importation of any ancient coin from Cyprus unless authorized by the Cypriot government. The limits are part of a broader agreement between the United States and the Republic of Cyprus to extend for five years existing restrictions on the import of pre-classical, classical and Byzantine art and artifacts from the island. "Cyprus has said the restrictions are necessary to combat the looting of cultural and archaeological sites, particularly in the northern part of the island, which has been divided from the south since Turkey invaded in 1974. "?We are very pleased coins have been added to this,? said Cyprus?s ambassador to Washington, Andreas Kakouris. ?Coins constitute an inseparable part of our own cultural heritage, and the pillage they are subjected to is the same as other archaeological material.? "Numismatic associations had argued before a State Department advisory committee that import restrictions on ancient coins could not fairly be enforced. Coins minted in Cyprus were found throughout the ancient world, the collectors asserted. They said it would be impossible for customs officials to determine whether a coin came from Cyprus or elsewhere and whether it had been legitimately excavated." To read the complete article, see: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/18/arts/design/18coins.html The following details appeared in the Federal Register last Friday, July 13, 2007: "The Assistant Secretary for Educational and Cultural Affairs, United States Department of State, has determined that conditions continue to warrant the imposition of import restrictions. Accordingly, the restrictions will remain in effect for an additional 5 years..." "Note that one subcategory, Coins of Cypriot Types, has been added to the category entitled Metal. EFFECTIVE DATE: July 16, 2007." "Coins of Cypriot types made of gold, silver, and bronze including but not limited to: 1. Issues of the ancient kingdoms of Amathus, Kition, Kourion, Idalion, Lapethos, Marion, Paphos, Soli, and Salamis dating from the end of the 6th century B.C. to 332 B.C. 2. Issues of the Hellenistic period, such as those of Paphos, Salamis, and Kition from 332 B.C. to c. 30 B.C. 3. Provincial and local issues of the Roman period from c. 30 B.C. to 235 A.D. Often these have a bust or head on one side and the image of a temple (the Temple of Aphrodite at Palaipaphos) or statue (statue of Zeus Salaminios) on the other." To read the Federal Register for Friday, July 13, 2007, see: http://www.savingantiquities.org/pdf/CyprusMOUFederalregister.pdf HOW ANCIENT COINS FOUND THEIR WAY TO ENGLAND The Hemel Gazette of Hemel Hempstead, England published an article about a local coin find that includes an interesting note about many ancient coins found their way to England and elsewhere in modern times. "The receipt of an ancient coin from a Gazette reader created great interest recently when it was handed over to Berkhamsted Local History and Museum Society, as requested by reader 84-year-old James Fellowes, of North Walsham, Norfolk. "The coin is a Billon Tetradrachm from the mint of Alexandria in Egypt. "This is a very common coin and if sold to a collector today would fetch about ?12. "Peter says: "Take no notice of the provenance - it was probably brought back and lost by a Second World War serviceman who had visited Egypt. "A friend of mine, stationed in Egypt during the war, told how, like many servicemen, he was inveigled into climbing the Great Pyramid at Giza (you could then!) "Halfway up with his guide he stopped for a breather at which point the guide produced a handful of these coins, explaining that they were 'very ancient genuine Roman coins, very valuable' and that most people bought their coins at this point on the pyramid. "As Frank, my friend, remarked, looking down some 250 feet, he could see reason in buying coins at that point. Many did likewise. He never did tell me how much he paid - no doubt an exorbitant sum then, in relation to service pay." To read the complete article, see: http://www.hemeltoday.co.uk/heritage?articleid=3037137 HOUSTON PRESS ARTICLE RECOUNTS BOILER-ROOM COIN SALES TACTICS The week the Houston Press published an in-depth article about the lawsuit against Michael Fuljenz' numismatic marketing companies. Here are several excerpts, but there is much more to be found in the original article. "The 2004 magazine ad for Silver American Eagles that caught Maureen O'Neill's eye included a thumbnail history and some mumbo jumbo about the coins being "certified gem brilliant uncirculated" and "sonically sealed in a tamper-evident holder." But the 74-year-old widow and retired nurse didn't understand or care about any of that. "O'Neill just figured that filling out the coupon would save a trip to the mall: "I thought they would make nice Christmas presents for my son and son-in-law." "Two weeks later, O'Neill received a phone call from the Beaumont-based company that sold her the silver. The salesman was extremely personable, eager to hear all about her newly adopted grandson. The salesman also learned that she lived alone in Connecticut, and that her family resided out of state. It seemed he had all day just to chitchat. She enjoyed the attention. "So, what the heck, she bought some more coins. "I spent a couple thousand here, a few thousand there." And her phone kept ringing. "O'Neill would return home from shopping to several urgent messages on her answering machine. 'I told them I didn't want any more; I wasn't a collector,' she says. 'I cried on the phone; I hung up; but they just kept pushing.' "Following the salesman's advice, O'Neill eventually moved her money out of stocks, bonds and IRA accounts and put it all into rare coins. She maxed out her credit cards and took out a $50,000 home equity loan, all for coins she knew next to nothing about. Only that the salesman assured her they were safe, stellar investments. And that she needed to buy them ? now. "During the next 15 months, O'Neill invested more than $180,000 in coins ? her entire life savings. Appraisers later revealed her collection had been overvalued by about 50 percent, she says. "Today O'Neill is a plaintiff in a lawsuit against several related Beaumont-based companies with very official-sounding names: 1st National Reserve, 1st American Reserve, First Fidelity Reserve and Universal Coin & Bullion. The rare-coin companies gross more than $100 million a year, almost exclusively in phone sales. All operate out of the same nondescript property. "Michael Fuljenz trains his salespeople that customers do three things: lie, puke and say no. It means they lie about personal finances, puke excuses and ultimately say no to purchasing rare coins. "His staff of several dozen salespeople, who call thousands of people across the country every day, are taught to overcome these obstacles by 'isolating objections' and 'finding out where the money is.' "But Fuljenz is uncomfortable with the notion that he promotes high-pressure sales. He prefers to call his employees by another name: enthusiastic. "Fuljenz writes the esteemed monthly newsletter Investor's Profit Advisory and has authored several self-published books that have won awards from the Numismatic Literary Guild, a national trade group based in New Jersey. "Some say we have too many awards, that we give one to everybody," says Ed Reiter, executive director of the guild and senior editor of COINage magazine. "In depositions taken last summer, Rollins and several other former salespeople provided a description of the inner workings of the Beaumont-based coin companies that contradicts Fuljenz's claims and provides support for the scores of former customers seeking redress." To read the complete article, see: http://www.houstonpress.com/2007-07-19/news/texas-coin-companies-target-elde rly-investors VIKING TREASURE HOARD CONTAINS 600 COINS David Sundman forwarded the following story: "The most important Viking treasure find in Britain for 150 years has been unearthed by a father and son while metal detecting in Yorkshire. David and Andrew Whelan uncovered the hoard, which dates back to the 10th Century, in Harrogate in January. "The pair kept their find intact and it was transferred to the British Museum to be examined by experts, who said the discovery was 'phenomenal'. "The pair, from Leeds, said the hoard was worth about ?750,000 as a conservative estimate. "The hoard contains 617 silver coins and 65 other objects, including a gold arm-ring and a gilt silver vessel. "Dr Jonathan Williams, keeper of prehistory in Europe at the British Museum, said: '[The cup] is beautifully decorated and was made in France or Germany at around AD900. "'It is fantastically rare - there are only a handful of others known around the world. It will be stunning when it is fully conserved.' "The British Museum said the coins included several new or rare types, which provide valuable new information about the history of England in the early 10th Century, as well as Yorkshire's wider cultural contacts in the period." To read the complete article, see: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/north_yorkshire/6906107.stm A WALLETFUL OF TWO-DOLLAR BILLS Dick Johnson forwarded this amusing article: "A wallet full of two-dollar bills is like carrying around a wallet of joy. People get excited with unexpected encounters of two-dollar bills, and for some people it's just the regular course. The two-dollar adventure unfolds many personality traits. "First I walk into my bank and deposit a check like normal. After taking care of official adult business, the cashier asks the typical 'is there anything else I can do for you today, Mr. Maldre?' For all those times I've been asked that question, I finally have a 'yes' reply, and this time the request is a fun one! "'Actually, I would like to take all the money in my wallet,' as I pause while I notice that the cashier is starting to smile now, 'and convert it it all into two-dollar bills. "First place to spend the two-dollar bill? Sportmart. To get my baseball to have everyone I know sign. And wouldn't you know it? They have baseballs there for two bucks. Perfect! "The cashier rang up my ball, and I go into my wallet and pull out a crisp two-dollar bill. The cashier was astonished, 'Are you sure you want to spend this?' I showed him the inside of my wallet. 'Look inside, I just went to the bank and exchanged out ALL my money for two-dollar bills. I certainly have plenty.' This cashier dude was so excited to have a two-dollar bill, he asked his boss (who was standing right there) if he could exchange it out with his own money (his boss did). Then the other three cashiers were all curious and came over to see what was happening. They all found it very amusing and we swapped two-dollar bill stories. "I highly highly (yes, that's a double recommendation) anyone to exchange all your money in your wallet for two-dollar bills. It's like carrying a walletful of joy ready to unfold adventures where you'll get your two-cent's worth." To read the complete article, see: http://www.spudart.org/blogs/randomthoughts_comments/4163_0_3_0_C/ FEATURED WEB SITE: COINS OF YEMEN This week's featured web site provides an overview of the minting of coins in Yemen. http://yementimes.com/article.shtml?i=1068&p=culture&a=1 The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. For more information please see our web site at http://www.coinbooks.org/. There is a membership application available on the web site at this address: http://www.coinbooks.org/club_nbs_member_app.html To join, print the application and return it with your check to the address printed on the application. Membership is only $15 to addresses in the U.S., $20 elsewhere. For those without web access, write to: David M. Sundman, Secretary/Treasurer Numismatic Bibliomania Society, P. O. Box 82 Littleton, NH 03561 For Asylum mailing address changes and other membership questions, contact David at this email address: dsundman@LittletonCoin.com To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, just Reply to this message, or write to the Editor at this address: whomren@coinlibrary.com Those wishing to become new E-Sylum subscribers (or wishing to Unsubscribe) can go to the following web page: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum All past E-Sylum issues are archived on the NBS web site at this address: http://www.coinbooks.org/club_nbs_esylum_archive.html Issues from September 2002 to date are also archived at this address: http://my.binhost.com/pipermail/esylum From esylum at binhost.com Sun Jul 29 21:38:48 2007 From: esylum at binhost.com (esylum@binhost.com) Date: Sun Jul 29 21:39:02 2007 Subject: The E-Sylum v10#30, July 29, 2007 Message-ID: <00cc01c7d24a$601e9ba0$6b5f4b4b@corp.cmdinfo.com> Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 10, Number 30, July 29, 2007: an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society. Copyright (c) 2007, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society. WAYNE'S WORDS: THE E-SYLUM 29 JULY, 2007 Among our recent subscribers are Peter Mosiondz, Jr. (a returning subscriber) and Richard O. Thomas. Welcome aboard! We now have 1,164 subscribers. This week we open with a reminder of the NBS activities at the upcoming ANA convention, and news of the results of the ANA Board of Governors election. On a sad note, a longtime officer of the Civil War Token Society has passed away. In new books this week we have the release of Ken Bressett's 'Milestone Coins" book, a revised edition of 'United States Pattern Postage Currency Coins' by David Cassel, and a new publication by Pierre Fricke on Collecting Confederate Paper Money. In the research question department we have a query from Dick Johnson on how obsolete U.S. coin denominations are retired, and a call for information on an emergency currency prepared for the continental United States in World War II. Other topics this week include glass coin weights, numismatic trading cards, and U.S. coins in worldwide numismatic collections. My London Diary focuses on the devastating flooding in England this past week. In the news are a number of interesting reports, including the return of a family's long-lost 1907 High Relief double eagle, the cross-country transport of the 1894-S dime, and a profile of Canadian coin designer Chris Jordison. Have a great week, everyone. Wayne Homren Numismatic Bibliomania Society NBS ACTIVITIES AT THE MILWAUKEE ANA CONVENTION Outgoing Numismatic Bibliomania Society President Pete Smith writes: "This is a reminder for NBS members who will be attending the American Numismatic Association convention in Milwaukee. Our numismatic literature symposium is scheduled for Thursday, August 9, at 11:30 A.M. Speakers will be John Adams and Harold Welch. "Adams will be speaking on "How Comitia Americana Came To Be - A New Way to Make a Book." Welch will talk about "British Token Literature - Putting Together the Pieces of the Puzzle." "The NBS general meeting is the following day, Friday August 10, at 11:30 A.M. Our speakers will be Len Augsburger and Joel Orosz talking about "Frank Stewart and Artwork of the Furst U.S. Mint." We will have out annual benefit auction during the NBS meeting. Items for the auction may be left with Howard Daniel at the NBS table. Howard will be promoting our club throughout the show." [I've forwarded something to Pete for this year's auction - a set of my notes for various E-Sylum London Diary items. Those with genuine English beer stains may cost extra. -Editor] 2007 ANA ELECTION RESULTS As many of you may have heard by now, the results of the American Numismatic Association election are in. New officers will be installed during the annual ANA Awards Banquet Saturday, Aug. 11, at the World?s Fair of Money in Milwaukee. In his Wednesday blog, Dave Harper of Numismatic News commented on the results which had just been released by the ANA: "It was a clean sweep for the anti-incumbent slate in a tension-filled election campaign to select the 2007-2009 American Numismatic Association board of governors. "Voted into office were seven newcomers led by veteran hobby publisher Clifford Mishler, with 4,609 votes; followed by Chester L. Krause, 4,518 votes; Edward C. Rochette, 3,541 votes; Joseph E. Boling, 3,442 votes; Radford Stearns, 3,073 votes; Walter Ostromecki 2,882 votes, and Wendell Wolka, 2,850." [The new board, like every new board, has a lot of work ahead of it. Best of luck to everyone, particularly the E-Sylum subscribers! One reader (not a candidate) forwarded the following quote - "As Bette Davis said in 'All About Eve', 'Fasten your seat-belts, it's going to be a bumpy night'." -Editor] To read Dave Harper's blog item on the ANA results, see: http://www.numismaticnews.net/buzz/Newcomers+Take+Over+ANA+Board.aspx DALE CADE, CIVIL WAR TOKEN SOCIETY Larry Dziubek forwarded an announcement made Thursday by Civil War Token Society (CWTS) Treasurer Susan Trask. She writes: "It is with great sadness that I report the death of our colleague and friend, Dale Cade this afternoon. He was indeed a major part of the foundation of our group and a mentor to many of us." [I remember Dale from a long-ago ANA convention meeting of the CWTS. He lived in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA and dutifully handled the CWTS token auction year after year. Stalwarts like Dale are the backbone of our hobby organizations, leaving behind big shoes to fill. Our condolences to Dale's wife Ruth and their family. Larry forwarded the following note from Sterling A. Rachootin, another longtime CWTS stalwart. -Editor] Sterling A. Rachootin writes: "I have to go outside of the English language to find a word to describe Dale Cade and that word is ?mentsh?, a yiddish word meaning an upright honorable, decent person - someone of consequence, someone to emulate; of noble character. A personification of worth and dignity, requiring the highest respect and approbation; totally trustworthy. "Those of us in the ?know? realize the many hats Dale wore while serving the Civil War Token Society. He will be sorely missed. Thanks for your excellent service, Dale. ?D? Devoted - Whatever needed doing, Dale was Johnny on the spot and whatever it was to be done, it was done! ?A? Able - And whatever he did, it was done in the best way possible. ?L? Loyal - Making the Society run well was Dale?s concern and it came to pass. ?E? Efficient - Dale took on the major jobs and they were done in the best way possible and on time, all the time. "Take any letter in the alphabet, and there are positive words that apply to Dale Cade and the many roles he managed for the Society and its members. It will take many volunteers to step into the shoes Dale worked for the Society to make it function as it should, and to think one person, Dale did it all in the way it had to be done! For example, it might be manning the table at an ANA convention for the CWTS, or running the auction, or collecting dues, or aiding the publication of the many books, we published, or giving reports to our group at the Long Beach coin shows, or writing articles for our Journal, or serving on the board of the CWTS, etc. "A million thanks for being there for us these many years. We memorialized Dale in our CWTS HALL OF FAME MEDAL PROGRAM when he was an honoree. We knew a good thing when we had it!" LAKE BOOKS SALE #89 PRICES REALIZED AVAILABLE Fred Lake of Lake Books writes: "The prices realized list for our sale #89 which closed on July 24, 2007 is now available for viewing on our web site. Please go to http://www.lakebooks.com/archive.html "Many thanks to our bidders and consignors in making this an enjoyable sale and our next mail-bid sale of numismatic literature will be held on October 2, 2007." NEW BOOK: MILESTONE COINS BY KEN BRESSETT Dennis Tucker of Whitman Publishing writes: "I'm pleased to announce that Kenneth Bressett's new book, 'Milestone Coins: A Pageant of the World's Most Significant and Popular Money', has arrived from the printer." Dennis attached the press release, which I've excerpted below: "Whitman Publishing will debut a new book by Kenneth Bressett at the ANA World?s Fair of Money in Milwaukee, August 8. Milestone Coins: A Pageant of the World?s Most Significant and Popular Money (176 pages, full color, hardcover) will retail for $29.95. "Milestone Coins shares the interesting stories behind more than 100 famous coins and tokens, as told by the award-winning author and longtime editor of the Guide Book of United States Coins (the best-selling ?Red Book?). In ten chapters Ken Bressett covers the breadth of civilization as seen in coinage?exploring every time period and geographical area from ancient Greece to modern America. "?Each of these coins has a story that appeals to collectors,? said Bressett. ?Some are rare ?keys? needed to complete a set. Others are desirable for their beauty or historical connection. In a sense, they are all classics that never go out of style.? "The book?s chapters include: The Ancient World ? owls of Athens, Aeginean turtles, ancient dekadrachms, and other artifacts of antiquity Biblical Coins ? the Widow?s Mite, coins of the Jewish revolts, and others from the Old and New Testaments The Roman World ? coins of Julius Caesar, Brutus, Nero, and other famous Romans Money in Medieval Europe ? early Christian coins, Byzantine copper, coins of Genghis Khan and Richard the Lionhearted, and more The World of Islam ? coins of Saladin, glass money of Egypt, coins of the Mamluk slave kings, and others Merry Olde England ? Celtic gold and tin coins, William the Conqueror, Henry VIII and his wives, and more from ?across the pond? The Reign in Spain ? gold coins of Ferdinand and Isabella, pieces of eight, pirate coins, gold doubloons, and other Spanish treasures Cathay and the Orient ? knife money, square - hole cash, Automobile dollars, and more from the mystical East Emerging Concepts in Coinage?beard - tax tokens of Russia, Britain?s giant cartwheel twopence, and other unique coins Money in America ? Pine Tree shillings, Civil War tokens, pioneer gold of the Old West, Morgan dollars, and other classics." NEW REVISED EDITION: U.S. POSTAGE CURRENCY COINS BY DAVID CASSEL David Cassel authored 'United States Pattern Postage Currency Coins' in 2000. This month he has updated and improved his publication with a revised July 2007 edition. He writes: "The new hardbound 262 page edition with 30 mostly color plate pages of Postage Currency coins includes several coin pictures not present in the previous edition. Additionally, the new edition includes eleven more SEM-EDX coin elemental analyses (67 in all). "The Concordance of catalog number entries includes the updated 8th and 9th Judd numbering system as found in United States Patterns. I was a contributor to those editions. My discoveries were the basis of several changes to the previously believed entries. For example, I disproved the existence of J-325a. Judd-326 as it stood in the 7th Edition of Judd was disproved and modified in the Judd 8th and 9th Editions. Judd-326b was discovered by me and included in the updated version, never before known in the Judd 1st thru 7th Editions. Judd-331 was modified as was J-332. Judd-640 and J-643 were declassified. Judd-714 was modified. I also discovered that the name associated with J-716, Koulz?s Alloy was in fact incorrectly attributed for more than 130 years. The actual metallurgist was Montchal Ruolz. This is explored in depth. "The revised edition includes in full Douglas Winter?s 1985 Coin World article which is the most historically significant study of the Postage Currency coins as it related to the Civil War period. "The book?s presentation of the coins? progressive die cracks portrays the actual striking of these coins. Remarkably, it turns out that the coins J-644 thru J-646 dated 1868 were actually struck in 1863. This is demonstrated visually by obverse die?s cracks? progression as well as knowing from original Mint records that the striking of these Dies 1-A (J-325 thru J-330) coins, over just a nine day period, occurred on May 19, 1863, May 20, 1863, and May 27, 1863. "A valuable resource is the Bibliography of roughly 700 numismatic auction catalogue entries of Postage Currency coins in chronological order, many with provenance. Each coin variety is categorized unto itself chronologically by auction appearances. The groups of varieties are then grouped by type. "United States Pattern Postage Currency Coins in 2000 was limited to just 110 numbered and signed copies. The new numbered and signed edition will be similarly limited. Individuals may request a copy at the pre-publication price of $245, ppd. (to US address) thru August 17th. Availability is anticipated in September 2007. Please send your check to David Cassel at 5995 S.W. 97th Street, Miami, FL 33156 if you are interested in receiving a copy. Please furnish your name and mailing address." NEW E-BOOK: COLLECTING CONFEDERATE PAPER MONEY - TYPE EDITION 2007 Pierre Fricke forwarded the following press release for his latest publication: "Building on the success of the award-winning Collecting Confederate Paper Money - Comprehensive Edition 2005, Pierre Fricke and R.M. Smythe have collaborated to bring to collectors of Confederate paper money Collecting Confederate Paper Money - Type Edition 2007 (called Type Edition subsequently) which includes a getting started guide, a full color grading guide, and a full color type identification and value catalog. The Type Edition enables an easy on-ramp into the world of collecting Confederate Paper Money in the 21st century. With an introduction to collecting Confederate paper money, types of collecting, and some financial history of the Confederacy that drove the creation of these notes, the Type Edition provides a foundation to understand the Confederate collecting world." The Type Edition, like the Comprehensive Edition before it, delivers critical real-world grading and pricing guidance based on real transactions to help collectors make informed purchase and sales decisions on the 21st century bourse, on-line and dealer price list market places. This is a book written from a collector's view point, but one who also has sat behind the table as a dealer. Bringing his experience to others, he helps people get started, and now is helping type and variety collectors build large scale or more focused historically significant Confederate paper money collections. Additionally, working with R.M. Smythe, he is publishing the Collecting Confederate Paper Money family of books and tools including the web site - www.csaquotes.com ." Pierre adds: "The Type Edition 2007 is contained in two Adobe Acrobat files for download or on a DVD. Download is Adobe PDF - 13 MB . 1 to 3 minute download time on typical Cable or DSL. For the download, people pay $10 through Paypal or by Check/M.O. in the mail. I send them a link to a private page to download. The private page URL will change frequently for security reasons. Nevertheless, the honor system on the copyright is employed as I want to make it easy to get this e-book. The DVD is $20 and is created and mailed upon payment as a simple DVD in a plastic or paper case with the two files containing the front-end and the catalog sections of the eBook. Pierre Fricke, P.O. Box 52514, Atlanta, GA 30355; pfricke@attglobal.net ; www.csaquotes.com. " PRODUCTION DELAY FOR LANGE'S COIN COLLECTING BOARDS BOOK Dave Lange writes: "My coin board book is finally at the printing stage. The first color proofs were not accurate, and I insisted that they be tweaked to get the colors correct. This cost me yet another week, but the importance of color in identifying the various coin board varieties made it necessary. "It's certain now that I won't have the printed books in time for the Milwaukee American Numismatic Association convention, which is very disappointing to me, but I will bring along a laser print of the book for anyone who wants to see it at the NGC booth." [As the old advertisement used to say, "The quality goes in before the name goes on!" The book will be well worth waiting a bit longer for, I'm sure. Many thanks for Dave for his attention to detail. -Editor] BURN'S CATALOGUE OF THE LONDON TRADERS, TAVERN, AND COFFEE-HOUSE TOKENS When I noted that I'd purchased a copy of Burn's 1853 work on London tokens, David Gladfelter wrote: "Have you gotten to pages lxxix-lxxx? No fair skipping ahead." Well, I resisted temptation and didn't skip ahead. On my previous flight home to the U.S. I took the book along and did some reading. Here are a few notes. My copy is a spineless reading copy that coincidentally, had been discarded by the coin room of the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. The full title is "A Descriptive Catalogue of the London Traders, Tavern, and Coffee-House Tokens Current in the Seventeenth Century; Presented to the Corporation Library by Henry Benjamin Hanbury Beaufoy, Citizen and Distiller, Fellow of the Royal and Linnaean Societies, and Corresponding Member of Numerous Continental Literary and Scientific Associations. The book makes marvelous reading; no mere catalogue, it provides an extensive overview of the history and use of tokens in the period, highlighted with many interesting anecdotes. I'll publish a few from the extensive preface here. (page iv) "In 1279, King Edward the First determined on a reformation of the coin, and the Jews being found delinquents as clippers, two hundred and sixty-seven of them, declared guilty of that offence, where executed." (page v) "Leaden tokens are noticed early in the reign of King Henry the Fourth ... at the beginning of the fifteenth century. In 1402, the extreme scarcity of small coins among the poorer people induced the Commons to petition King Henry the Fourth in parliament, for some remedy for the pressing mischief amongst the poor people, occasioned by the want of half-pennies and farthings of silver..." (page xvii) "... the mint-house, well stored, was locked up until his returne. The sickness being then in London, and poore people wanting their coine, some knave or other, in the night, clapped a redde crosse upon the dore, and underwritt it thus - 'Lord have mercy upon us, for this house is full of tokens.'" "The mint-house, or office for the issue and change of these farthings, was on the north side of Lothbury; hence the name yet retained of Tokenhouse yard." [The name Tokenhouse Yard lives on today - the small street, just off Lothbury Street, is in the financial district of London. Page 192 of Burn lists a token struck for a merchant in Tokenhouse Yard. -Editor] (page xix) "... to suppresse these farthing tokens that so they may advance their owne tokens, stamps, seals, names, signes, and superscriptions, if not images, as now appears, though they be far inferior to Caesar's." (page xxi) "... every tavern and tipling-house, in the days of late anarchy among us, presumed to stamp and utter for immediate exchange, as they were passable thorough the neighbourhood, which, though seldom reaching farther than the next street or two, may happily, in after times, come to exercise and busie the learned critic what they should signifie." So what about pages lxxix-lxxx? In my copy, the preface stops at page lxvii. It?s the 1853 first edition. I wrote to David, who responded: "I have the second edition of 1855. I came across a reference to it doing a literature search for an article on the Carolina Elephant token and others linked to it, for the Colonial Newsletter some years ago. That was prompted by having acquired a flip-over double strike specimen. Burn discusses these tokens on the pages cited and concludes that 'nothing has yet been discovered to afford any elucidation' of them. That's still true today, by the way." JOE BOLING'S PAPER DOLLAR BOYCOTT Inspired by last week's item on spending two dollar bills, incoming ANA Governor Joe Boling writes: "For several years I have declined to carry or use paper dollars. I believe the paper single should have been retired twenty-five years ago. I carry $2 notes (and higher denominations), metallic dollars (now up to four types, with a fifth coming shortly), and half dollars. I tailor my tenders so that I don't get paper singles in change. (For instance, if I owe $23 and change, I hand over a twenty and two deuces; a bill for $18 has me paying $20+$2+$1 and getting a fiver back.) All the theaters in town know when I've been at a performance - they have weird money in the concessions till. I have never had a metallic dollar refused, and the new presidential dollars are quite popular." [In England the smallest paper denomination is 5 GBP. My pockets fill with small change and one-pound coins. Less often I receive two-pound coins in change. The pound coins are thick and easily identifiable by touch. As I've mentioned before, these are the workhorses of daily commerce and are typically found very well worn. What does amaze me though is that the one pence coin also circulates. It's not that often that I get one in change. I've not been paying close attention, but a number of items I regularly purchase for cash are often priced in multiples of ten pence. At current exchange rates the one pence coin is worth less than half a U.S. cent. -Editor] A WALLETFUL OF TWO-DOLLAR BILLS http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v10n29a25.html THE 99 PENCE COIN Related to all our recent discussions on coin and paper money denominations is this item I came across while looking for other things. According to a 2005 BBC article, a man named Mark Wilkinson "invented the 99p coin": "A Leicestershire man has come up with a novel way to get rid of loose change. Mark Wilkinson has invented the 99p coin, saying it could help to solve a growing problem. "It mirrors an election pledge of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party, which included a 99p coin 'to save on change' in its manifesto. "Mr Wilkinson has contacted chancellor Gordon Brown and the Royal Mint asking them to adopt his new coin - or "the cornet" - as he calls it. "He said: "Hopefully it will solve a lot of problems with all these pennies." "Mr Wilkinson said people cannot buy a lot with a penny, but so many were given out in change." To read the complete article, see: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/leicestershire/4575945.stm HOW WERE OBSOLETE-DENOMINATION AMERICAN COINS RETIRED? Dick Johnson writes: "In a communiqu? received last week from Tim L. Shuck in response to my reply in the previous week's E-Sylum, he comments on eliminating small denomination coins in America and asks a question I cannot answer. But I would propose the collective intelligence of E-Sylum readers would know the correct response. "Tim writes 'I wouldn?t however revalue the ?penny,? but let it continue to circulate in commerce at face value until gradually withdrawn as returned to banks or put away by the public (is this how half, two, and three-cent coins disappeared once the Mint stopped producing them?).' "Good question. I don't know the answer. Too often a non-numismatic public (and news account writers) would respond 'the coins were recalled.' Recalling is a serious act ordering the public to turn in to a proper authority certain coins. This has happened so infrequently in U.S. history, that I wonder why the term 'recall' is so widely used. Even the pre-1964 silver coins were not 'recalled.' Neither were the gold coins in response to president Roosevelt's order 6260 to close the banks in March 1933 and the April 19, 1933 law to go off the gold standard. The only recall I can think of was for the 1933 $20 gold piece. "But you hear unknowing statements from the public like 'Joseph Stalin's initials are on all the Kennedy half dollars and the government is going to recall them.' "Okay, so America's obsolete-denominations coins were not recalled. But tell us, E-Syluminaries, how did these coins retire?" RESEARCHER SEEKS RECORDS OF 1943 U.S. FEDERAL RESERVE BANK NOTE ISSUES Writing in the Friday July 20, 2007 MPC GRAM, Jim Downey discusses some interesting new information on U.S. WW II emergency paper money issues. With permission I'm republishing his article here: "Most military paper money collectors are familiar with the North Africa and Hawaii notes that were printed during WWII. The North Africa notes are Federal Reserve Notes and Silver Certificates with yellow seals; the Hawaii notes have brown seals and were overprinted on face and back with the word Hawaii. The purpose of these notes was to create a currency that would be used in the areas of conflict that could be segregated from the domestic US currency in case it should fall into the hands of the enemy. "Information from the Bureau of Engraving suggests the United States may have issued an emergency currency in the continental United States. "A Bureau report from 1946 indicates that in fiscal year 1943 (July 1, 1942-June 30, 1943) $450,800,000.00 in Federal Reserve Bank Notes was delivered to the Federal Reserve for circulation. Federal Reserve Bank Notes (FRBN) are different from Federal Reserve Notes (FRN). FRBN were first issued as large size notes in 1914. The small size FRBN were printed in 1933 and 1934. These were printed and issued as a result of the Bank Holiday of 1933. The Federal Reserve needed to get currency into the banking system quickly. FRBN were printed on unfinished stock of sheets for National Currency Notes and are titled "National Currency" at the top. "They have brown seals like Nationals but carry the identification of the Federal Reserve Banks and signatures of officers of the branches of the Federal Reserve Banks. "The FRBN notes that were released in 1943 were notes that had been printed for the 1933 banking emergency but were unissued during this time because the crisis passed and these notes were excess. They remained at the BEP awaiting further order for their disposition. "The BEP documents indicate that these notes were delivered to the Federal Reserve because of the urgent need for new currency and to conserve labor and materials. This suggests that they would not have been otherwise issued except for the exigency of the wartime circumstances. "This information on these notes is only now coming to light. At this point it is unknown whether there are records of the serial numbers for the FRBN that were issued in 1943. It is very probable that these records exist. If so, it would be possible to distinguish between the notes issued for the 1933 banking crisis and those issued because of the wartime necessity." Editor Fred Schwan added: "I knew about this issue of FRBNs. That may or may not be a surprise. What I think is surprising (or at least interesting) is how I knew about it. "For many years the Treasury issued a pamphlet titled Know Your Money (or something VERY close). It is possible that this same pamphlet is still published. "Anyway, I collect these pamphlets for the war years (no surprise there, I am sure). I became interested when I learned that the 1943 (or was it 1942) version included HAWAII notes. I thought that that was wonderful, important, and even interesting so I started looking for all of the war years' pamphlets. In doing that I found mention of the FRBN use described by Jim. Researching it further was on my (growing) list of things to do. Thank you, Jim, for doing it for me!" [Can any of our readers provide additional information on these emergency notes? -Editor] INFORMATION ON ROMAN MONEYER PUBLIUS CREPUSIUS SOUGHT Aldor Balazs writes: "I am currently writing an article for the local museum about a coin of roman moneyer Publius Crepusius, and I was surprised to see that it is very difficult to find any information about him or his family, Gens Crepusia. If anybody has some old articles, or could point me to the right direction where to search for any kind of information about him or his family, I would appreciate any help." GLASS COIN WEIGHTS AND THE CORNING MUSEUM OF GLASS Chick Ambrass writes: "On the way home from our recent annual family vacation we stopped and visited the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, NY. I was anticipating spending an hour or so there. We left four hours later, having still not seen everything. It was very impressive. They had a chronological history of glass, starting about 6000 BC. Many items reminded me of my ancient coin collection, including ancient Greece, the Egyptian, including the Ptolemy eras, Roman, Byzantine, and Medieval glass styles. Many pieces resembled medals - again, reminding me of coins. "I saw something that I never knew existed....glass coin weights. These are molded pieces of glass, with inscriptions denoting the correct weights of various coins. The comment was made that the glass coin weights may have been more reliable than their metal counterparts, because it would be easier to see if someone had made an alteration to a glass coin weight. "I have several coin weights, by far not an extensive collection, and I have only one reference, and that is PONDERA MEDICINALIA by Daniel Vangroenweghe and Tillo Geldof. Looking thru their work I see no mention of glass coin weights. Can anyone add to the story of glass coin weights, and suggest further reading? "Getting back to the visit to the Corning Museum of Glass, if you are in the Finger Lakes region of New York, the time would be a great investment, the history, and the experience was well worth the $12 admission price." UPPER DECK NUMISMATIC TRADING CARDS DEBUT Dick Johnson writes: "Announcement was made Wednesday this week of the latest innovation that unites two collectables: coin collecting and trading cards. This is destined to be a sure winner. "Sharp, color illustrations of prominent coins, often in top condition, are illustrated in the card format similar to sports cards. Since many coin collectors -- and coin dealers too -- have an interest in both collectables this is a natural marriage. The idea is the creation of Les Fox, who partnered with Upper Deck, leading trading card producer. "The cards will be packaged in foil wrapped packets of ten, randomly inserted. In addition each packet will be a BU Lincoln cent (in a die-cut card), plus a bonus card where more than 10,000 coins are offered in a vast sweepstakes. A handful of the top prizes are PCGS coins encapsulated and autographed by past presidents Gerald Ford or George Bush, or the American Bicentennial coin artists. "The first series will contain cards of 500 different coins. Included among these will be all U.S. type coins and every gold and silver commemorative coin. The remainder are spread across all American coin denominations and periods. We can envision collectors assembling the cards much like they do their own coins -- in sets, by artists, by composition, by denomination, or by any topic that whets a collector's fancy. "The cards show the coin obverse on the front of the card, and obviously, the reverse on the back. The cards will be available in coin, hobby, and some mass marketers, as Wal-Mart or CVS. Retail price will be $5 to $6. Rollout date is November 1, 2007. "I talked with Les Fox this week. He told me the startup cost for this project is approaching two million dollars. I mentioned he should keep the high quality of cards and illustrations, and stress the educational aspect. He assured both are high on his list of priorities. The first with possible gold printing. For the second he has offered half a million cards to the ANA if they would oversee the distribution to American school children. "The cards are reminiscent of the German cigarette cards a century ago that depicted world coins, or perhaps the A.J. Blumel postcards discussed here in E-Sylum before. [See link below. -Editor] Will sets or albums of the coin trading cards find their way into future numismatic libraries? Perhaps so. "I asked Les about numismatic books. He said he and wife Sue have authored six books, the one most known in numismatics is "The U.S. Rare Coin Handbook for Collectors and Investors" which hit the New York Times best seller list. His name for the card series is "Eagles of America Rare Coin Trading Cards." His corporate name is West Highland Fine Art & Publishing LLC. "Do visit his website for more information on the coin trading cards, a dozen or more of which are illustrated (but you will not be able to download illustrations of the coin cards, I get the point! -- you will have to buy those!). Web site: http://www.eaglesofamerica.com/. "I first read about this on the PRWeb Newswire. Here is that article: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2007/07/prweb541873.htm ." [This is certainly a commendable project that I hope will go a long way toward educating the general public and casual collectors alike in new aspects of numismatics. But I wouldn't go so far as Dick in calling it innovative or "groundbreaking" as the press release describes. There have been similar projects in the past, although probably not marketed to the same extent. Readers can tell us if they know of others, but I can point to two in Pennsylvania alone. The Pennsylvania Association of Numismatists introduced "PAN Decks" in the 1990s, sets of printed cards picturing various coins that were given to young numismatists. They were a hit with the kids, who often wrote in to ask for more. But this was a non-profit educational item, not a commercial venture. But Wayne J. Decroo of Pittsburgh, PA currently produces and sells sets of numismatic trading cards in a similar format, and has been doing so for several years. He provided a large number of packs gratis to PAN for distribution to attendees of the club's Coins4Kids events. I forwarded to him the Eagles of America Rare Coin Trading Cards press release. Wayne Decroo writes: "Thank you for sending the release. It is surprisingly similar to my idea that I spent a substantial amount of money developing, producing and attempting to legally protect. "My Coin Trading Cards were intended to educate young collectors in the field of Numismatics. This so-called groundbreaking product is extremely similar to my product. The biggest difference is they enlisted Upper Deck who has the marketing capabilities and a great reputation. It is somewhat upsetting to me that this happened. They appear to be producing a great product on a much grander scale than my cards. "Our cards have been around since the year 2000 and are still available in packs, and beginner sets. Anyone interested can still call 724-335-8264 as we still run it as a family operated business from my home. "Our web page is cointradingcards.net for any dealer interested. My thoughts are that once the upper Deck cards hit the market, mine will look inferior. They are also offering a chance to win some nice coins which will attract customers. I hope they help the hobby." To view the Numismaticards, Inc. Coin Trading Cards web page, see: http://www.cointradingcards.net NUMISMATIC POSTCARDS http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v08n02a14.html HARMER ROOKE MILLION DOLLAR SALE PRL FOLLOW-UP Regarding his quest for a copy of the November 17, 1969 'Million Dollar Sale', Steve Butler writes: "Mr. Rau not only sent me the price's realized photocopied, but on a CD as well. He took the time to scan the pages, then burned the CD. Thanks to Mr. Rau!" HARMER ROOKE MILLION DOLLAR SALE CIVIL WAR TOKEN SESSION PRL FOUND http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v10n29a08.html RESEARCH QUERY FOLLOW-UPS FROM JOHN KLEEBERG John Kleeberg writes: "About two months ago you forwarded an inquiry I had to Dave Ginsburg. I just want to tell you that I got some marvelous data from him in response, and also from Len Augsburger. Their responses came very promptly, in only a week - I've just taken my own time telling you about it. "I have also had some very good data sent me from Howard A. Daniel III and Merle Pribbenow - I inquired about a hoard of US currency ($50s) discovered in the Vinh Thanh Mountains of Vietnam in July 1968 by a platoon, and Pribbenow sent me some translations of terrific articles from the Vietnamese press, discussing how US currency was smuggled by the Vietcong into the south in order to buy weapons and other war materiel. The Vietcong used some South Vietnamese currency, but normally avoided it, preferring US currency - they didn't trust the stability of the South Vietnamese government and its currency." A NOTE ON THE AUTHORITATIVE REFERENCE ON BUFFALO NICKELS, SECOND EDITION In my review of "The Authoritative Reference on Buffalo Nickels" last week I wrote: "The second edition has a 2007 copyright date, but population totals provided by grading services PCGS and NGC are copyrighted 2005 and may be outdated. Red Book values are shown in the date-by-date section. The copyright date is not mentioned and perhaps these are outdated as well. Uriah Cho of Zyrus Press writes: "Actually, Kevin did this on purpose. He wanted to draw attention away from prices, and focus more on varieties and date-by-date analysis." BOOK REVIEW: THE AUTHORITATIVE REFERENCE ON BUFFALO NICKELS, SECOND EDITION http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v10n29a03.html ALAN WEINBERG ON U.S. COINAGE IN WORLD NUMISMATIC MUSEUMS Regarding Howard Berlin's notes on his travels to worldwide numismatic collections, Alan V. Weinberg writes: "In 1966 I crossed over into East Berlin and visited a numismatic exhibit in a then-Communist museum. It was extensive and I distinctly recall being shocked to find a seemingly gold George Washington Baker 61 Manly medal on display. "Also, with respect to the Royal numismatic collection on display in Copenhagen...there was in 1966 an extensive public display of coinage there, perhaps the most extensive numismatic display of any museum I've ever visited. I was invited into the back offices to see some US coinage and was shocked to be able to examine 'in hand' dozens of utterly exquisite early US coins including a Gem Unc 1652 Noe 1 Oak Tree shilling (even then specializing in Mass silver, I distinctly recall the variety and condition), a splendid Unc 1795 bust dollar, a proof (yes, proof) early Bust quarter, most with accompanying tickets revealing very early source donations. "It very much reminded me of the Sir Joseph Banks donations and tickets in the British Museum where, that summer, I'd spent five days in the vault rooms, discovering among other things a circulated 1829 half dime replacing a Jos. Banks-donated presumably Gem Unc 1792 half disme." AN E-SYLUM FAN LETTER Jim Wiley of McMurray, PA writes: "First off, I want to thank you for providing the E-Sylum to us "ordinary" folks. I can appreciate in a very small way the amount of time, patience and ---mostly-- love that it takes to produce it EVERY WEEK. Yikes!! The more I read, the more I realize what I don't know. There are some subjects into which I want to delve further; others have only a passing interest. Just like everyone else in the world, I guess. "Secondly, I want to provide a compliment that I am certain that many others would like to provide as well. You are fantastic with words. The stories of your various adventures are so well described and so very well written that I just can't wait to get to that particular part of the E-Sylum to see what you have been investigating, where you have been and who you have seen. You are very gifted and thank you for sharing your adventures." [Thanks, Jim. I've gotten a number of great compliments on the London Diaries. Once I get back home from this assignment, it will be a little less interesting to write things like, "Today I had a burrito for lunch and read this week's Coin World". But we'll never run out of interesting topics in numismatics. That's what really drives The E-Sylum - the endless connections between coins, money, history, politics, economics, ordinary people and collectors. -Editor] WAYNE'S LONDON DIARY 29 JULY, 2007 Dave Lange writes: "I enjoyed your London journal, as always. It must be nice to be in town long enough to actually see all the many hidden places of historic and collector interest. The few times I've been there were always mad dashes to hit just the highlights." Yes, it's been a very enjoyable several weeks. I've been in London long enough to give good directions to strangers, and be unafraid to walk for many blocks along unknown streets with only a general sense of "it's over this way somewhere." Navigating the tube and rail system has become almost second nature. But I miss my family very much, and will be glad when the project and my long commute is over. I'm looking forward to this week, when I go to Virginia Beach with the whole crew for a beach vacation. This issue is being published from U.S. soil. Regarding last week's visit to the Fitzwilliam, Howard Berlin sent the following link to a web page with four pictures he took while visiting there in January: http://www.drberlin.com/fitz.htm 1. outside of the museum 2. the Roman temple coin cabinet 3. a group of coin cabinets atop a bookcase 4. an unusual coin cabinet shaped like a Greek amphora vase Look for Howard's future WorldWide Coins article about his visits. Last week I mentioned the Friday downpour in London. All weekend waters rose throughout England, flooding a number of areas, particularly in the west and south. Although the areas I visited were unaffected, the disaster continued to spread. It had already been an inconvenience for Doug Saville, who was unable to go into town to buy needed packing supplies to ship books to a client. By Monday morning hundreds of thousands of people were affected. Many were without power and in some areas water treatment plants had been inundated. The armed forces moved in to evacuate people, some by helicopter. As I left the office Monday evening reports stated that the Thames could soon overflow its banks - the flooding had become the worst in half a century. By Tuesday morning newspapers were predicting that at many as one million people could be affected. The Thames was "perilously high" but had not yet overrun its banks. One of the areas worst hit was the medieval town of Tewkesbury, 110 miles northwest of London, where the cathedral and a few blocks of nearby houses where the few parts NOT under water - the town was completely cut off. The flooding had now exceeded the previous benchmark, a snowmelt-fueled flood in 1947; that flood had been the worst in 200 years. I emailed some of my local numismatic contacts to see how they were faring. Fortunately, all were well. John Andrew wrote: "It is the worst flooding I have known in this country." Doug Saville wrote: "We are above any risk (office and home), but if the Thames at Caversham breaches its banks, then Reading will in parts be under water as well as lower Caversham. The last time Caversham was affected was in 2003. In 1947 it was a disaster area like much of the rest of the country, I am told. Locally, we are being told that it will be about as bad as 2003? Apparently the high risk is between midday and late this evening when water from the hills between Oxford and Reading seeps through the granite into the Thames..." Phil Mernick wrote: "We have no problems with flooding as we only live about three miles due east from the very centre of London (at Bow) and anyway we are about 50 feet above river level!" Christopher Eimer wrote: "Mercifully, we live on a hill in north London and have thus been saved the misery endured by many over these very wet summer days." Caroline Holmes of Baldwin's wrote: "Fortunately nobody here has been directly affected, although some relatives have had to be relocated. It does look now as though the water levels are receding so hopefully the worst is now over." By Wednesday morning about 100 houses had become flooded in Oxford as rivers peaked. In areas hit earlier, the water seemed to be receding. Although many were thankfully unaffected, our good wishes go out to all of the people and business owners in the flooded areas. That's all to report from London this week, although I did pick up two more Robert Owen notes from Simon Narbeth and began reading John Adams' new book on the Comitia Americana medals on Thursday's flight back to the U.S. - more in a subsequent issue. The London Diary will go on hiatus for a week while I hit the beach with my family on the U.S. side of the Atlantic. WHAT'S THE IDEA? LONDON DIARY TYPOS I don't know how they slipped in - perhaps a combination of a wayward spell-checker and too much beer and wine on Sunday. But Ken Berger pointed out a glaring typo in last week's E-Sylum - the "Ides of March" coin was referenced twice as "Ideas of March" Sorry! We've fixed this in our online archive. ROYAL MINT EXHIBIT AT THE TOWER OF LONDON John P Andrew forwarded the following press release on the Royal Mint's new display as part of the Tower of London's 'Hands on History' exhibition. Situated in the Arms and Armouries section of the exhibition, the Royal Mint display will celebrate its connection to the Tower and the role coin design has played in reflecting British military life throughout the ages. "A fascinating new exhibition, 'Hands on History', celebrating ten centuries of the Tower's history and the Royal Armouries' collection, which will incorporate a key display on the Royal Mint, its history, and the manufacture and symbolism of selected coins. "Coin collectors may want to make a point of visiting the Tower of London this summer. Starting from 26 July, the Tower plays host to a fascinating new exhibition, 'Hands on History' a celebration of ten centuries of the Tower's history and the Royal Armouries' collection, which will incorporate a key display on the Royal Mint, its history, and the manufacture and symbolism of selected coins. "'Hands on History' encourages visitors to go beyond the usual static museum experience by allowing them to touch and feel items including bows, swords, muskets and helmets. Visitors will also have the chance to handle enlarged coinage portraits of William I, Edward III, Edward VI, Charles I and George II, and also view replicas of the coins, while being guided through a 500 year history of the Royal Mint. "In addition, the Royal Mint's section of the exhibition will demonstrate the role that coin design has played in British military history by explaining the symbolism of several coinage designs through the ages. Visitors will also learn about the skills and methods involved in the manufacture of coins, from the hammer-struck techniques of Norman times to the screw presses of the eighteenth century. "Kevin Clancy, Royal Mint Museum Curator, said: 'Over the centuries the Tower of London has enjoyed many different roles ranging from record office to observatory, and from a place of execution to a zoo. Having spent 500 years at the Tower of London, the Royal Mint is very much part of its history. We are delighted to be involved in such an innovative and engaging exhibition which highlights the Royal Mint's strong links with the Tower. "The longevity of the Tower of London's role as home to the Royal Mint is only surpassed by its relationship with the Royal Armouries. The histories of the Royal Mint, the Royal Armouries and the Tower of London are inextricably linked which helps to explain why these organisations have come together through Hands on History.'" "The Royal Mint has a history dating back over 1000 years. By the late thirteenth century the organisation was based in the Tower of London, and remained there for over 500 years. In 1810 the Royal Mint moved out of the Tower to premises on London's Tower Hill. In 1967 the building of a new Mint began on its current site in Llantrisant, South Wales." [Sometimes procrastination is a good thing. I was at the Tower of London in my first week in town, but didn't go in for the tour. I'm frantically trying to schedule activities for my final weeks in London, and I hope to get into the Tower to see and report on this new exhibit. -Editor] ROOSEVELT DOUBLE EAGLE RETURNED TO PANAMA HEIR According to news reports, "A rare gold coin once thought to be lost was reunited Thursday with the family of Panama's first president, who is believed to have received the $20 piece from former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt. "Florida state officials returned the 1907 St. Gaudens Double Eagle, which found its way into the state's unclaimed property program, to Phyllis Childers. Her mother, Terri Claiborne, inherited the heirloom valued between $25,000 (?18,218) and $90,000 (?65,588). "Items abandoned in safe deposit boxes are turned over to Florida's unclaimed property program after three years. State officials spend up to two years searching for the rightful owners or heirs. "Childers finally found the missing coin on the state's unclaimed property Web site." To read the complete article, see: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/07/26/america/NA-GEN-US-Missing-Coin.php "Phyllis Childers believed the 1907 rare $20 gold coin that has been in her family for nearly a century was gone for good after her mother died seven years ago without telling anyone where it was. "It took nearly a year for Childers to track down the coin, a beautiful ``high relief" piece designed by famed sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens at the request of Teddy Roosevelt. "Childers, a petite woman who drove to the Capital with her son on Wednesday and planned to head back to Lake Worth as soon as the transaction was completed, grew tearful and trembled as Rick Sweet, a bureau chief in the Department of Financial Services Bureau of Unclaimed Property, placed the heavy coin in her hand. "'Oh gosh. Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. Excuse me. I'm speechless. That's it,' said Childers." To read the complete article, see: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/state/epaper/2007/07/26/0726Flcoin.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=0 NEWSPAPER RECOUNTS 1894-S DIME'S CROSS-COUNTRY JOURNEY Other news reports recounted the journey of another rare coin: "John Feigenbaum flew out of San Jose this week in first class, with flip-flops on his feet, a T-shirt on his back and a dime worth $1.9 million in his pocket. 'All the way across the country I didn't sleep,'' Feigenbaum said. 'I didn't eat and I didn't sleep. You wouldn't, either.'' Feigenbaum is a rare coin dealer, and the dime he was carrying across the country, from San Jose to New York, is an 1894-S dime, one of only nine known to exist, and one of only 24 known to be coined that year in San Francisco. It was his job to pick up the dime from the seller's vault, in Oakland, and deliver the dime to the buyer's vault, in midtown Manhattan. But the dime's cross-country trip was the stuff of intrigue, of that there is no mistake. The logistics of moving a $1.9 million dime across the country turn out to be at least as staggering as the notion of paying $1.9 million for a dime. It was on Monday afternoon that Feigenbaum, a 38-year-old coin dealer from Virginia Beach, donned his best grubby clothes to meet the seller's representative at an Oakland bank vault. Feigenbaum was slumming it so as not to attract attention, he said. He was too nervous to sleep, he said. He did not watch the in-flight movie, which was 'Firehouse Dog.'' He turned down a Reuben sandwich and sensibly declined all offers of alcoholic beverages. At Newark airport, he was met by another security guard in another ordinary sedan. The two men drove to Manhattan, arriving an hour before the opening of the buyer's bank vault. The buyer was waiting at the curb for Feigenbaum, however. With an hour to kill, the two men went into a nearby Starbucks. Neither man dared to take out the dime and look at it. They sipped their beverages and stared at their watches. At 9 a.m., the vault opened. The two men and the guard went inside and, for the first time, the buyer got to hold his dime." To read the complete article, see: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/07/27/DIME.TMP Arthur Shippee forwarded a link to a National Public Radio interview with Feigenbaum about the dime. It aired on 'All Things Considered' July 28, 2007: "Rare coin dealer John Feigenbaum just sold a dime for nearly two million dollars. Host Jacki Lyden talks to Feigenbaum about why coin collectors are so excited by this particular dime." To listen to the NPR interview with Feigenbaum, see: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12329317 PHILADELPHIA MINT 1798 DOLLAR DIE TRIAL According to firm publicity, "Stack?s August Milwaukee sale will include two pieces recently discovered in the soil of Center City Philadelphia, including a previously unknown copper die trial for a 1798 dollar. Two metal detectorists, working with permission on a construction site whose location abutted that of the First Philadelphia Mint, discovered the 1798 dollar struck on copper scrap along with a 1793 half cent in the spring of 2006. Now, a year later, the coins have been authenticated by American Numismatic Society curator Robert W. Hoge, among others, and will be offered for public sale for the very first time. The pieces will be sold as separate lots, slated for sale on August 5 at the Hotel Metro in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. "Hoge called the piece ?one of the most exciting items to have been brought to my attention? in his column in the Spring 2007 issue of ANS Magazine. The cataloguers of the piece described it as ?incredible? and termed the condition of the piece ?sharpness as struck, condition as found,? while noting some of the sedimentary buildup the trial acquired during 200 years in the Philadelphia soil." The following is from the lot description: "This remarkable and unique trial is a discovery of impressive historical importance and dramatic interest. It was found with a metal detector on a privately owned lot that adjoined the site of the First United States Mint in Center City, Philadelphia, along with a 1793 half cent, found on the same site on the same day, that is offered elsewhere in the present catalogue. "The reason this scrap of copper was struck is clearly subject to speculation?as dollars exist from this marriage in an earlier state, it is not a "trial" in the proper sense, but is perhaps better referred to as an off-metal strike. Of course, these largest productions of the First Mint were struck on the largest press and apparently fed by hand, thus it is not an error either. Its unusual nature and ability to provoke conversation, to our mind, add to the attraction of this piece, which must be included among the great rarities in both the Bust dollar and U.S. pattern coin fields." To view the complete lot description, see: http://www.stacks.com/lotdetail.aspx?lrid=AN00067474 HALF DOLLAR SAVED MAN'S LIFE An article about a donation to a local museum describes how a coin saved the life of a WW II soldier: "A single coin may have saved a local soldier's life. Now, more than 60 years later, the World War II veteran finds a way to give back. "Fay Anderson turns 85 next week. To mark the occasion he's donating his war memorabilia to the Pecatonica Historical Society. His Army dog tags and purple heart medal will be on display at the library there, as will what he says was the simplest, yet most important thing he carried with him while on duty. "What sounds like the start of another common war tale is anything but for Fay Anderson. His great nephew Jeff Eckburg knows the rest of the story by heart. "He was shot in the eyes and at the same time was shot in the heart." "Fay lost his sight that day in 1944, but one thing kept him from losing his life. "I don't know how many days I was in the hospital and the orderly brought my billfold and personal stuff. I said that's not my billfold. It wasn't ripped like that." "But the wallet had his initials on it. And a bent half-dollar coin inside was what blocked Fay's heart from the bullet. "By that time I forgot that half dollar was even in that side, but it was and I guess it might have saved my life." Jeff says, "It's quite amazing to think he was saved you know with that half dollar in his chest pocket and to go on and live with this disability. To me that's a superhero." To read the complete article, see: http://www.wrex.com/News/index.php?ID=19938 PROTEST AGAINST CANADIAN COIN INUIT IMAGE The Globe and Mail and other Canadian newspapers are reporting on a fuss over the image of a native Inuit on a new $20 coin. "It was a dark moment in Canadian history: English explorer Martin Frobisher lured an Inuit kayaker onto his ship during his 16th-century Arctic expedition and abducted him for display back home in England, where the unnamed man eventually died of disease. "Today, a new Canadian silver coin that is an eerie reminder of that infamous episode has raised eyebrows among the country's Inuit population. "The Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami in Ottawa is asking that the Royal Canadian Mint consult it about any future coins that depict their people. "'We do appreciate the fact that the Mint does depict Inuit in coins,' spokesman Stephen Hendrie said in an interview yesterday. 'But we think the Mint should consult with ITK in the future when it depicts Inuit.' "On one side of the coin is a portrait of the Queen. The other side features Frobisher, who in 1576 was the first to attempt to discover the Northwest Passage, aboard the Gabriel. A ship appears on the coin alongside a 16th-century compass and an Inuit paddling a kayak. "A Mint spokesman said yesterday that the kayaker on the coin is meant to recognize the Inuit people as the first explorers of the North, and is in no way meant to represent the unnamed man abducted by Frobisher. "It's about polar exploration and nothing else," Alex Reeves said. "It's not about Sir Martin Frobisher's first meeting with Inuit people." To read the complete article, see: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070720.COIN20/TPStory/National [John Regitko, Editor of the C.N.A. E-Bulletin of the Canadian Numismatic Association discussed this item in the July 27 issue. His comments are excerpted below. -Editor] John Regitko writes: "I personally cannot see any relationship between any kidnapping and the design depicted on the coin, and I find it quite attractive. I am sorry to hear about some Inuit?s reaction, but the Mint did consult various groups, including archeologists and polar experts. "I wonder how they would have felt if the Inuit and the kayak were completely ignored and only Frobisher and his ship surrounded by water and ice floes were shown?" CANADIAN COIN DESIGNER CHRIS JORDISON PROFILED The Regina Leader-Post published an article Saturday July 21st about a local artist and coin designer. "Regina artist Chris Jordison is making a big splash with his design on the colour photographic hologram which graces the Royal Canadian Mint's latest series of collector coins. "Jordison was commissioned by the mint to create a collector series coin design for a $30 sterling silver coin and a $300 14-karat gold version. This is the second time the Regina-based illustrator and graphic designer's work has graced the backs of mint-issued coins. In 2005 his design of the Western Red Lily was selected in competition for use on a limited edition pure gold coin. "'I didn't come up with the hologram to tell you the truth. It was the Royal Canadian Mint that had the plan for doing that. They came to me with a design problem,'' Jordison said. "The mint knew it wanted to put the Canadian Rockies on the gold coin and the Niagara Falls on the silver coin and then put the hologram on, he said. "'The problem they had is how do you cast a carved coin and then put the hologram on it. Generally you look up at the Rockies and you usually look down on the Niagara Falls. They had a problem with the horizon line,'' Jordison said. "What he came up with was a pair of hands with a modern panoramic camera which allowed for a floating horizon. Looking at the design one can't tell whether the hands are pointing up or down. "The Rocky Mountain Panoramic Camera gold coin will be produced in a limited mintage of 1,000, while the Niagara Falls Panoramic Camera sterling silver coin has a limited mintage of 15,000. Both coins were released for sale earlier this week. "When asked whether he was paid for his labour in silver and gold coins, Jordison laughs and confesses that he had to buy his own copies of the collector coins." To read the complete article, see: http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/story.html?id=0fbad932-7256-4f86-8816-ebfc422c3e6e MONSTER CANADIAN GOLD COIN TO BE AUCTIONED "Teletrade, an Irvine company is selling the world's largest gold coin, a sale that could enter the record books in several categories: ?At 100 kilograms or about 220 pounds of gold, the coin ? the first of at least five planned by the Royal Canadian Mint ? holds a world record for weight. The previous record was 31 kilos set by the Austrian mint in 1994. Teletrade will take a 12 percent commission above the hammer price. "'It will set a record for Teletrade and, to our knowledge, be the most expensive coin offered at online auction,' said Ian Russell, president of the Irvine-based online coin auction house. 'Obviously, this takes things to a new level.' "A-Mark Precious Metals, a Teletrade affiliate that specializes in coin wholesaling, bought three of the five 100-kilo coins from the Royal Canadian Mint. "The 100-kilo coin is stored at an undisclosed location guarded by shotgun-armed Brinks security guards. Earlier this week, a group of guards unpacked the coin from a foam-lined strong box to display it for photographers. None of the guards, who are used to handling lots of money, dared touch the gold, which is tough to tarnish but easy to dent. "'It won't be getting dented,' Roberts said." To read the complete article, see: http://www.ocregister.com/money/coin-gold-canadian-1789418-teletrade-auction [Dick Johnson echoed my own sentiment on this. He writes: "Don't you think anyone who has that kind of money is smart enough to know you can buy this from the Canadian Mint direct and pay $970,000 U.S. instead of the bid price plus 12 percent vigorish?" -Editor] WELSH METAL DETECTORIST AWAITS WORD OF HIS AWARD John Andrew forwarded the latest article about the recent Welsh coin hoard find, noting that the finders are waiting to learn how much their discovery will be worth. "A metal detector enthusiast who discovered a treasure trove of nearly 600 Roman coins in a field is waiting to hear how much he will receive. After four hours' digging near Newport, Brian Stephens found 587 silver denarii dating back some 2,000 years. "At the treasure trove hearing, Gwent coroner David Bowen described it as "a particularly significant find," and the small coins were showing little wear. "Edward Besly, a numismatist at the museum, said: 'Llanvaches lies between the fortress of the second Augustan legion at Caerleon and the local tribal capital, Venta Silurum, at Caerwent. "'At the time, these coins would have represented about two years' wages for a legionary soldier - and would have taken much longer to save.' But Mr Stephens will have to wait to discover the value of the coins. They will be assessed by experts before he finds out how much reward he will receive. To read the complete article, see: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/south_east/6917481.stm MALTA'S EURO COINS INCORPORATE MALTESE CROSS DESIGN MOTIF The Malta Independent published an article on Monday headlined "Wily Malta leaves unique mark on euro coins." Here are some excerpts: "As Malta?s first euro coins rolled off the production lines on Friday ? with images of the Maltese cross, Malta?s coat of arms and the Mnajdra Temple gracing their obverse sides ? one minute and barely discernable detail of Malta?s EUR2 coin spoke volumes. "The outside edge around the circumference of the EUR2 coins, 10 million of which are being produced at the Monnaie De Paris, bears small images of the Maltese cross instead of euro stars. Under the strict European Central Bank coin design rules, euro coins have one common face while only the design of the obverse side of the coins minted by individual countries is at the individual countries? discretion. "Wily Malta, however, found another way to leave Malta?s unique stamp on Europe?s coinage, by replacing the euro stars on the coins? outside edge with a succession of Maltese crosses ? the only country to have deviated from the norms in this respect. "The otherwise discerning ECB specifications had only stipulated that stars could be placed on the outside edge, without furnishing the exact specifications of the stars themselves." To read the complete article, see: http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=54746 FRENCH PROTESTORS CROSS OUT TURKEY ON EURO NOTES "A recent propaganda campaign started by a French group against Turkish membership in the EU has begun to raise eyebrows in Ankara. The campaign has targeted Euro banknotes, calling on those in opposition to Turkish EU membership to cross out the depiction of Turkey that exists as a part of the map in the lower right hand side of the banknote. "The crossing out of Turkey is meant to underscore Turkey's different geographical, sociological, historical, cultural and religious status from the rest of Europe, according to this group. Located at the internet site www.rayezlaturquie.com, the group is broadcasting its call for the crossing out of Turkey in 8 different languages." To read the complete article, see: http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/6931282.asp?gid=74 [The web site referenced within the article (www.rayezlaturquie.com) seems to be no longer active. But have any of our readers seen these defaced Euro notes, or heard of this protest? -Editor] THE E-SYLUM MENTIONED IN FRENCH PUBLICATION Hadrien Rambach wrote (last Sunday): "I just arrived in Paris and I'm going to Sicily in a few days. There is a small (8 lines) article on The E-Sylum in the latest issue of "Numismatique & Change", a French monthly numismatic magazine. Hope it brings some new subscribers!" [It's always nice to learn we've getting some publicity. We do have a few subscribers in France, and I?d love to pick up some more. Perhaps some of them could tell us more about the campaign to use Euro notes for anti-Turkey propaganda mentioned in the previous item. -Editor] HUDSON INSTITUTE WRITER SEES LITTLE HOPE FOR DOLLAR COIN Dick Johnson writes: "A fellow of the Hudson Institute, Richard Miniter, in an editorial in a Buffalo newspaper this week relates that Americans are too intrenched with using the dollar bill that the use of a dollar coin circulating widely has little chance. "He sites, of course, the failure of the Sacagawea dollar coin between 1998 and 2001 when the Treasury department spent $67 million in promoting it. The public just did not accept it. "He also sites an interesting point. Americans tend to toss coins aside and not return them to circulation immediately. "This may sound innocuous until you consider that the money in your piggy bank doesn?t accrue interest. Some argue that switching to coins could allow Uncle Sam to ?find? an extra $8 billion while avoiding around $400 million worth of interest. When the government borrows money, it pays 5 percent interest. So wouldn?t it be better to just create money [read coins] without that interest expense? Well, not really. "He gives three reasons why the taxpayer always gets it in the end. In this case it is the cost of striking dollar coins, promoting them and lost interest." To read this editorial in the Buffalo News: http://www.buffalonews.com/149/story/126632.html ON BOILER-ROOM MARKETING TACTICS Regarding last week's item on numismatic boiler-room sales tactics, Ginger Rapsus writes: "I had a bad time with a certain firm, a few years back. I filled out a coupon from a numismatic publication to receive a free catalog. Under the space for phone number, I carefully printed "unlisted--do not phone." You guessed it... over the next five months, they called me and called me, no matter how many times I asked them to stop. I never did get the free catalog. "One guy from this firm wouldn't give up. When he called one day, I hung up. He called right back. This went on a few times, till I finally asked him, "What do I have to do to get you to stop calling?" He growled at me, "Pay your bills! Trying paying your bills!" And hung up. After some doing on my part, they did stop calling me. I still don't get the "pay your bills" part. Someone told me they may have checked my credit rating, for ordering a free catalog, but I have never had any problem with bills. I wonder if they looked up the credit rating for a person who does not exist...my last name is constantly misspelled, and Ginger is a nickname (not a nickname for Virginia)." HOUSTON PRESS ARTICLE RECOUNTS BOILER-ROOM COIN SALES TACTICS http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v10n29a23.html COPPER CENTS AS AN INVESTMENT On July 22 MarketWatch.com published an article about the case for investing in U.S. cents as production costs rise. "A penny saved may still be a penny earned, but the real question for investors is whether a penny purchased is actually worth a nickel when it comes time to figure their return on investment. "Plenty of small-time investors are betting that the penny will someday be valued like its larger cousin, and so they are snapping up pennies. Taking pennies out of circulation and collecting them is one thing, but paying a premium to buy pre-1982 pennies for their copper value is another and, for most investors, it would be a Stupid Investment of the Week. "The case of the penny is compelling, because everyone has pennies and can relate to the most common of coins. Moreover, the math behind the move to buy pennies looks compelling. The real question is one of practicality. The case for buying pennies goes like this: "The rising price of copper has made it so that the metal content of pre-1982 one-cent pieces is now worth more than the one cent the coin represents, falling somewhere around 1.2 cents. You need roughly 155 of the pre-1982 coins to make a pound of copper. And with copper trading for more than $2 a pound -- and as much as $4 a pound a little over a year ago -- there's definitely some economic merit in hoarding the coins if every $1.55 is worth $2 or more. "But there's a difference between taking pre-1982 pennies out of circulation and putting them in a special place -- the way some people, myself included, have saved the so-called "wheat ear" pennies from the early 1900s for decades -- and plunking down investment dollars to buy pennies at a premium in order to cash in on their value as a commodity. "Then there's the problem of storing all of those pennies. A $50 bag of pennies weighs a bit more than 30 pounds. So a $10,000 investment in pennies -- even if it buys just $5,000 worth of coins -- weighs north of 1.5 tons. "Having four or five shoeboxes of 'wheaties' is one thing, but the cumbersome nature of really investing in pennies for their melt value makes this idea just insane on any larger scale," says Bret Leifer of Bret Leifer Numismatics in Wayland, Mass. To read the complete article, see: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/thought-your-pennies-they-not/story.aspx?guid=%7BB762997F-8A09-4205-BA7B-769A91DD3F4C%7D THE REAL GOLD 'GOLDEN DOLLARS' GO ON DISPLAY Dick Johnson forwarded this new item about the specially struck gold Sacagawea dollars to be exhibited at the upcoming ANA convention: "Six months before the U.S. Mint issued the first Sacagawea dollar coins on January 27, 2000, 12 specially-minted 22 karat gold Sacagaweas made a launch of a very different type. "The dozen dollars were carried in to orbit aboard the space shuttle Columbia to commemorate the flight of Eileen Collins, the first female U.S. astronaut to command a spaceflight. "Originally, the Mint had planned to exhibit the gold coins at museums to promote the release of the Sacagawea dollar and potentially the sale of similar gold versions to the public. The gold coins' creation however, hadn't been to regulation, and the marketing program was canceled. "Instead, the 12 space flown coins were moved to the Fort Knox Bullion Depository in 2001, where they have been in storage since. "That is, until August 10, 2007, when the U.S. Mint plans to publicly display the dozen doubloons for the first time. The 12 gold versions of the circulating golden dollars will be unveiled at the American Numismatic Association's World's Fair of Money in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the largest coin show in the nation. "Unlike the 12 gold coins, which were minted from 9167 (half-ounce) fine gold, the Sacagawea circulating dollars are only golden-color. The issued coins are comprised of a three-layer clad construction: pure copper sandwiched between and bonded to outer layers of manganese brass." To read the complete article, see: http://www.space.com/news/070721_usmint_spacecoins.html [I thought the whole gold striking from the beginning was too much of a gimmick. The Mint should have known the striking was illegal, but I wonder what makes it OK to exhibit them now? If they?re illegal why were they kept and not destroyed? If the Mint sent the Secret Service to fetch the ?illegal? 1933 Double Eagles, why shouldn?t the Secret Service seize and destroy these fantasies? -Editor] FEATURED WEB PAGE: COMBATING COUNTERFEITING This week's featured web page is recommended by John and Nancy Wilson of Ocala, FL. They write: "While doing research on counterfeiting in America we came across an excellent University of Utah web page. It is somehow connected to the Hinckley Journal of Politics. The story is in the Utah University Autumn 1998, Vol 1, No. 1, pp. 13-20 issue. The author of the article is: Anissa Beecroft, and the title is 'Combating Counterfeiting: The Treasury's Perpetual Partnership with the Public'. Though the copyright is 1999, we think the information is still useful and informative." http://www.lib.utah.edu/epubs/hinckley/v1/beecroft.html The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. For more information please see our web site at http://www.coinbooks.org/. There is a membership application available on the web site at this address: http://www.coinbooks.org/club_nbs_member_app.html To join, print the application and return it with your check to the address printed on the application. Membership is only $15 to addresses in the U.S., $20 elsewhere. For those without web access, write to: David M. Sundman, Secretary/Treasurer Numismatic Bibliomania Society, P. O. Box 82 Littleton, NH 03561 For Asylum mailing address changes and other membership questions, contact David at this email address: dsundman@LittletonCoin.com To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, just Reply to this message, or write to the Editor at this address: whomren@coinlibrary.com Those wishing to become new E-Sylum subscribers (or wishing to Unsubscribe) can go to the following web page: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum All past E-Sylum issues are archived on the NBS web site at this address: http://www.coinbooks.org/club_nbs_esylum_archive.html Issues from September 2002 to date are also archived at this address: http://my.binhost.com/pipermail/esylum