Gradually in Newburyport the description of the Perkins factory has been changed from “mint” (which it was not) to “printing factory” or similar, which it was.

Really great issue. You must have spent a lot of t-i-m-e on this issue! Keep up the good work.

Mass spectrometry is ideal for separating out isotopes and measuring the ratios in which they are present. True, the ratios and types of isotopes of lead can be a signature that identifies a source of silver ore.

However, interpreting isotope analysis from silver coins can be tricky and extra caution advised in interpreting their results. The assumption that coins were generally minted from freshly mined silver may not always hold true. Quite often silver and other metals used to mint coins were refined at the mints and may well have come from other sources such as reused silver plate, old coins, foreign coins as well as freshly mined silver. So these mixed sources will also mix up the isotope ratios and render analysis unintelligible.

However, having said that, metallurgical analysis of coin series can invaluable, produce fascinating results and an insight into how they were produced. But very careful specimen preparation before testing and careful interpretation are vital.

Regarding the Coole-Kozono-Bowker Bibliography of Far Eastern Numismatology, if you look on page 150 you will see daggers on four of the listings. Page 149 explains that the daggers are for "dependable and outstanding" works. These were to be on the Japanese titles only, with Kozono doing the evaluating.

When I asked him why only four titles were marked, he said that he (or they - I don't remember which now) had decided that it would impolite to mark books when there were still authors living (whose work would presumably not make the cut). But he provided me the list of books that were supposed to have been marked.

I have intended for years to write a short article for The Asylum giving Kozono's list (he is long dead and most or all of the offendable authors are, as well), but I have never gotten around to it. Is there interest in the list?

The Bill Rosenblum June 10th auction rim-hallmarked silver Mercator medal is a mid-20th century European struck copy which comes gem prooflike, often in a plush blue case. I've owned several.

I still maintain that it strains credulity to think that the 16th century engraver Mercator produced more than one of these intricately engraved originals. The hand engraving work is profoundly skilled and detailed and , by its nature, unique - no other specimen could be closely alike. Hence the $50,000 auction price in the 1960's- today easily a Million dollars.

All other alleged "nine" specimens are either casts, electrotypes or more modern replicas. Museum curators too often cannot discern the differences.

As far as rhyming with "purple" ....Roger Miller of "King of the Road" fame...in the early '70's wrote and recorded a song of which the title escapes me...but I've always remembered one portion of the lyrics:

Roses are red, violets are purple
Sugar is sweet, and so is maple syrple

Purple rhymes with Curple. It is an English word used in Scotland and refers to the hindquarters of a horse.

The other three words (month, orange, silver) have what are called half-rhymes, such as lozenge with orange.

A full stressed rhyme (e.g. hand with stand) or a full unstressed rhyme (e.g. handing with standing) contain vowels common to both words. A half-rhyme has differences between vowels in certain syllables.