Multiple documents have been rediscovered at both the National Archives and Records Administration, and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. These documents provide the contemporary evidence that answer the questions that have plagued numismatists for over 150 years.

2017 ORDERS &amo; MEDALS SOCIETY CONVENTION

This year's annual convention of the Orders & Medals Society of America will be held in Grand Rapids, Michigan from Thursday, August 10 until Sunday, August 13, about one week after the ANA convention. Like the ANA's summer meeting, OMSA’s annual convention moves around the country enabling regional members the opportunity of attending without traveling long distances.

Known colloquially as OMSA (ahm-suh), members of the numismatic specialty group collect, research and preserve Orders, Decorations & Medals (ODMs), often generically called "decorations" by the general numismatic community. Items of interest include American and worldwide award medals of all kinds, such as Orders of Knighthood insignia, Decorations for gallantry or distinguished service and Medals for various types of service, both military and civilian. The vast majority of such award medals are of the portable variety, that is, medals that can be worn by the recipient, often on a uniform, though award medals of the non-portable variety, called table medals, are also enthusiastically collected. Once acquired, researching the history of the circumstances surrounding awarded medals plays an important part of the hobby and is a value-added aspect that cannot be overstated. Simply put, discovering the many fascinating tidbits of information about the medals and their recipients is great fun!

The OMSA convention is perhaps unique among specialist numismatic events insofar as it is a collector financed affair, the costs of the convention being paid by registered attendees, rather than primarily commercial bourse table holders, the latter method most common in the numismatic community. OMSA attendees pay a registration fee, this year $170 ($195 for registrations after July 1). For that amount, they have access to the convention floor for the four day bourse and exhibits, two days of seminars on faleristic (ODM related) topics, a donation auction, several excellent meals and cocktail parties, including a lavish annual banquet. As members subsidize the event, inexpensive bourse tables are available to any registered OMSA collector or dealer at only $60 each, enabling members of all means to participate as a seller. Exhibit tables are always available at no charge to the exhibiter.

The convention will be held at Hilton's Amway Grand Plaza Hotel, 187 Monroe Ave NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49503, (616) 774-2000 from August 10 through 13, 2017 for registered OMSA members. The convention bourse floor and always fascinating exhibits will also be open to non-registered OMSA members and the general public one day only, Saturday, August 12, 2014 from 9am to 5pm, for a modest admission fee. Those presently, or potentially, interested in learning about medal collecting are cordially and enthusiastically invited. For more information about OMSA, see www.omsa.org. Those wanting more information about medal collecting or attending monthly meetings of the Southern California Orders & Medals Society, should email Frank Draskovic, President, Southern California Orders & Medals Society at fdraskovic@hotmail.com.

VOCABULARY TERM: TABLE MEDAL

Table Medal. A medal not intended to be worn, as is a decoration, pin or badge, and therefore "lie on the table." Table medals, obviously, do not have loops for suspension or any device for attaching to a garment. By extension a table medal could be any medal, awarded or not, that has no suspension and cannot be worn (this could include many kinds of medals - historical, commemorative, commercial, even art medals - so table medal is not a precise term). The term is widely used in the field of orders, decorations and military medals. Collectors of these medals called non wearable medals by this term.
CLASS 12.6

Last week we revealed the meaning of the word CLASS and a number at the end of every term as the outline of all terms in An Encyclopedia of Coin and Medal Technology. There are 14 such classes. This week we list the sub-classes for the first half of these classes. Next week we will list those of the second half.

01 -- Physical Forms

02 -- Design

      02.1 Design, Drawing, Sketches
      02.2 Allegory &amo; Symbolism
      02.3 Background, Field, Texture
      02.4 Base Lines, Center Point &amo; Exergue
      02.5 Borders, Dentiles &amo; Rims
      02.6 Devices, Emblems &amo; Foreground
      02.7 Edges
      02.8 Elements, Ornaments &amo; Wreaths
      02.9 Human Figures &amo; Portraits
      02.10 Lettering, Dates &amo; Reserves
      02.11 Openwork
      02.12 Perspective
      02.13 Shapes &amo; Silhouettes
      02.14 Obverse/Reverse Relationship
      02.15 Design Errora

03 -- Sculpture, Modeling, Signatures, Editing

      03.2 Sculpture, Relief, Style
      03.4 Modeling &amo; Plaster Casting
      03.6 Signatures &amo; Mintmarks
      03.8 Editing
      03.9 Modeling &amo; Editing Errors

04 -- Engraving, Diemaking, Proving

      04.1 Engraving, Hand Engraving
      04.2 Computer Engraving
      04.3 Pantographic Reduction, Machine Engraving
      04.4 Dies
      04.5 Punches, Puncheons
      04.6 Diesinking, Hubbing
      04.7 Proving
      04.8 Proof Dies, Proof Finish
      04.9 Die Anomalies, Errors

05 -- Composition, Media

      05.1 Composition
      05.2 Fineness, Tolerance &amo; Seigniorage
      05.4 Metal Elements &amo; Alloys
      05.5 Impressed, Relic &amo; Multiple Metals
      05.6 Clad, Bonded &amo; Other Metals
      05.7 Bimetal, Ring Technology
      05.8 Nonmetallic Media
      05.9 Metal Anomalies

06 -- Blanking, Upsetting, Striking, Coining

      06.1 Milling &amo; Rolling
      06.2 Blanking
      06.3 Upsetting &amo; Whitening
      06.4 Setup &amo; First Strikes
      06.5 Striking, Presses, Presswork
      06.6 Collars
      06.7 Coining
      06.8 Scales &amo; Weighing
      06.9 Blanking &amo; Striking Errors

07 -- Casting, Electroforming, Repoussé , Etching

      07.2 Casting
      07.4 Electroforming
      07.6 Repoussé
      07.8 Etching, Niello &amo; Other Methods
      07.9 Casting Anomalies

GEORGE HARINGX (1873-1957)

George Haringx was a carpenter, sash &amo; door manufacturer, dance teacher, and a coin and stamp dealer in Rochester, New York. Rochester has been a hub for coin and stamp dealing since the time Haringx was born in 1870's; resulting some forty years later in the establishment of the Rochester Numismatic Association (R.N.A.), founded in 1912. Haringx joined the R.N.A. in 1917 since he was already a stamp and coin collector and dealer since at least 1914. There he was contemporary with George Bauer, Dr. George French, and the Canadian immigrant Joseph Hooper, to mention just a few whose biographies appear on this website. He knew Henry Chapman, Wayte Raymond and other numismatic notables who frequented meetings and events of the R.N.A.

George Haringx (1873-1957), was born in Rochester, New York in 1873, son of Christian Francis Haringx (1835-1898), and Julia Schlitzer Haringx (1849-1921). His father was born in Holland and came to America settling with his family in New York in 1848.

In January 1900 he opened Haringx Dance School with his studio in the Powers' Mirror Hall, Powers Building, Rochester, New York. He was known as Professor Haringx.

He married Martha Louise Large (1872-1945), and they had four children.

He began as a stamp dealer in 1914 publishing advertisements in Mekeel's Weekly Stamp News. Shortly afterwards he added coins to his business inventory.

In 1917 he joined the Rochester Numismatic Association (R.N.A.)

His advertisement in the Democrat and Chronicle, Sunday, October 26, 1941, page 51 lists him as the owner of Haringx Stamp Shop, 501 Cox Building, Rochester, New York, where he sold stamps and coins.

His wife died on October 9, 1945 and was buried in the Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.

His advertisement in the American Philatelist Vol. 60, 1946, page 246, lists him as the owner of The Stamp Shoppe, 36 St. Paul Street, Rochester, New York.

He died at the age of 85, on New Year's Eve, December 31, 1957, in New York.

To read the complete article, see:
HARINGX, GEORGE (https://sites.google.com/a/numismaticmall.com/www/numismaticmall-com/haringx-george)

ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS KRAUSE FOUNDATION EFFORTS

Pat Klug and Clifford Mischler

Just more than one year after he passed away, the generosity of Chet Krause lives on and will continue to do so for some time.

Founded in 1987, the Krause Foundation can afford to give roughly $100,000 a year to numerous groups in and around Iola with the goal of improving the quality of life for everyone.

The foundation has recently supported local daycares, provided funds for training for the fire department, helped repair a school sign, donated to a school locker room project, donated to upgrade the baseball field, given to the American Legion, as well as provide $9,000 annually in scholarships.

“We think we are doing things the way he would want them to be done and support things in the way he would want them to be supported,” said Pat Klug, Krause’s niece and board member of the Krause Foundation.

The foundation board consists of Klug, Bruce Meagher, Mark Sether, Dale Bestul and Heather Hoyord.

The group had roughly five years in which Krause was heavily involved before he turned the operations and decisions over to the members.

It was his upbringing as one of six children and then as a World War II veteran that formed the man many remember. After the war, he went home and took care of his father, who was ill at the time, and later he took care of his aunts, Klug said.

“He had a family responsibility and it extended then, it became part of his personality to take care of things,” she said.

It just so happened that after his business success, Krause ended up taking care of an entire town.

“Almost any part in Iola, when you walk out the door, you will be able to view something he contributed to to make Iola a better place,” said Clifford Mishler, Krause’s long-time associate and best friend.

Krause was a self-made man and founded Krause Publications, which was based in Iola and became an empire for hobbyist magazines.

“We were in essence a small metropolitan daily newspaper and when I say we were small, we probably had presses running more than the Milwaukee Journal,” Mishler said.

“Chet was the kind who would give money for anything that was worthy, and he didn’t even necessarily want his name on anything. He just wanted to help them out,” said Dave Lindsay, a decade’s long friend.

Lindsay knew Krause since they were half-grown youth, back when they both attended elementary school in Manawa.

“The biggest bulk of the time, he never got any credit and he didn’t want any,” Lindsay said. “He was just a very generous man and a gentleman who liked humanity.”

Krause also kept a down-home attitude. His office during retirement served as a gathering place for people to shoot the breeze and catch up on happenings.

“I usually got there in time for the coffee and the donuts, and there was usually a crowd of Iola people sitting in there, and they just visited,” Lindsay said. “He was one of the boys.”

Even though he was “Just Plain Chet,” as a book about him was titled, his legacy will live on due to the Krause Foundation.

To read the complete article, see:
Foundation maintains one man’s generosity (http://www.waupacanow.com/2017/07/18/krauses-legacy-endures/#_)

To read the an earlier E-Sylum article, see:
IOLA REMEMBERS CHET KRAUSE (http://www.coinbooks.org/v20/esylum_v20n28a19.html)

MORE ON THE BANK OF CANADA MUSEUM

Despite having only a quarter of the artifacts compared to the former Currency Museum, the newly redesigned Bank of Canada Museum offers a complete story about Canada’s economy and everyone’s role within it.

Its interactive approach blends 1,400 carefully selected artifacts alongside interactive exhibits, games and other displays to teach visitors about the economy’s “immensity and intricacy.” Along the way, visitors learn about their role in the system and are given an opportunity to “grasp the multi-faceted role played by the Bank of Canada.”

Berry said among his favourite new pieces on display is a 1914 Keirstead and Mersereau Fox and Fur Company of Canada share certificate, which he purchased for the National Currency Collection in 2015.

“Prior to purchasing it, I had not heard about the North American craze for fox furs during the early 20th century. Canada was a world leader in the black and silver fox husbandry industry,” he said, adding shares were worth $10 each. Fox breeding farms were located in Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick, and breeding pairs, which could cost upwards of several thousand dollars, were sent from Canada to other countries around the world.

Another subject left unexplored by the former Currency Museum was payment cards, of which Canadians are among the world’s most frequent users, Barry said.

“They are not money per se, but they are heavily used by Canadians to procure goods and services,” he added. “Like cash or cheques, they are a link between the individual and the economy. Given their importance in daily transactions and given the ever-increasing reliance of Canadians upon electronic means of payment, it is appropriate that payment cards be displayed.” Berry said there are also many “unique and historic items” on display at the new museum that would “make a numismatist salivate,” such as a 1911 silver dollar; French regime card money; a Prince Edward Island holey dollar; and a 1936 10-cent “dot” coin.

“To that, we have added hundreds of items never before put on display including such Canadian classics as the 1862 B.C. $20 gold pattern, an 1858 double specimen set of Canadian coins in their original case, and the ‘holy grail’ of Canadian coins, a specimen 1936 dot cent,” he said, adding the latter example was “eagerly sought after” by collectors who came of age in the 1950s and ’60s, “but never found.”

“Thanks to a recent donation we can now display not only the dot cent but the entire 1936 specimen set – the only surviving example – including all three denominations of dot coinage.”

To read the complete article, see:
New artifacts at Bank of Canada Museum offer complete story (http://canadiancoinnews.com/new-artifacts-museum-offer-complete-story/)

To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
BANK OF CANADA MUSEUM REOPENS (http://www.coinbooks.org/v20/esylum_v20n28a22.html)
BANK OF CANADA'S MONEY MUSEUM (http://www.coinbooks.org/v20/esylum_v20n26a20.html)

BRITANNIA COPYRIGHT NIXES FALKLANDS COIN

The Pobjoy Mint on July 18 announced that a trademark infringement necessitated the firm to remove the word BRITANNIA from the Reverse Proof 2017 .999 fine silver 1-ounce bullion coins minted for the Falkland Islands.

The change during production means that a total of 7,329 coins have been issued with the inscription, creating a relatively low-mintage version of the coin.

“We will be restarting production of these coins without the inscription for the remaining 42,671 of the issue limit,” according to a statement from the Pobjoy Mint.

Pobjoy Mint “was not aware” that Britannia is trademarked on coin, according to the firm. It was later confirmed that the trademark resides with the Royal Mint, based on a search with the United Kingdom’s Intellectual Property Office, but a representative of the Royal Mint had not responded to an inquiry at press time July 18.

The image of Britannia will be retained on the reverse, but the inscription BRITANNIA RULES THE WAVES will simply be removed and no legend will replace it.

The coin in its initial version went on sale June 13.

Within hours of the announcement about the inscription change, online auction sellers reacted, acknowledging the design type change and adjusting prices upward or halting sales of the coins temporarily.

To read the complete article, see:
Falklands' commemorative coin will have to remove “Britannia rules the waves” (http://en.mercopress.com/2017/07/20/falklands-commemorative-coin-will-have-to-remove-britannia-rules-the-waves)

1977 GASPARRO LIBERTY DOLLAR REPRODUCTIONS

1942 EXPERIMENTAL GLASS, PLASTIC, ZINC CENTS

A group of experimental amber glass cents and experimental plastic and zinc cents from a 1942 effort to replace the U.S. copper cents will cross the block Aug. 4 in Heritage Auctions’ American Numismatic Association (ANA) Convention event. 28 items will be offered, including one of two uncirculated finished products known to exist.

“Following the success of Heritage’s $70,000 sale of a rare glass cent in January of this year, we were delighted to be presented with several high-grade examples inherited from the manager who worked on this unusual experiment,” said Mark Borckardt, Senior Cataloger and Numismatist at Heritage Auctions.

The collection comes from the Theodore Glynn family, whose father was a manager for Tennessee’s Blue Ridge Glass Corporation. Items from the Glynn Collection include a (1942) 1C Amber Glass Token, RB 42-70-T-1, R.8, MS64, NGC, a beautiful, 1C Cyan-Aqua Glass Preform (Blank), RB 42-70-T-3, R.8, MS66, NGC, and a 1942 1C Experimental Amber Glass Cent, RB 42-70-X-4, R.7, MS64, NGC, which exhibits complete impressions of the obverse and reverse dies with the details in rounded relief. Additional pieces exhibit the company’s efforts to create the glass cent.

“These trial impressions were crucial to the development of the finished product,” Borckardt said.

Depicting design elements, legends, and date all clearly visible – an Experimental Amber Glass Cent, RB 42-70-X-4, R.7, MS64 NGC – is a high-grade complete trial impression in yellow-amber glass. An interesting array of bubbles and a noticeable group of linear cracks at the upper obverse and others at the lower reverse are indicative of the glass composition prototypes. The entire Glynn Collection may be viewed here.

Outside of The Glynn Collection, Heritage is offering another selection of trial cents includes a 1942 1C Experimental Amber Glass Cent, Judd-2069, RB 42-70, R.7 -- Broken -- PCGS Genuine. Unc Details. Impact Strength Test. This important piece illustrates the finished product, the 1942 experimental cent as it would look if the glass cents had been chosen to replace the bronze composition during World War II. A previously unknown and unique reverse-image trial cent in plastic has never previously been offered. Two zinc-coated steel cents bearing the experimental design were struck inside the Philadelphia Mint in 1942. Also offered is an extremely unusual impregnated paper cent, one of only four known, made by the Colt Firearm Company.

The entire selection of experimental cents will be offered during Heritage Auctions’ American Numismatic Association (ANA) Convention event Aug. 4 in Denver.

For more information, see:
1942 1C Experimental Amber Glass Cent, RB 42-70-X-4, R.7, MS64 NGC. ... (https://coins.ha.com/itm/patterns/1942-1c-experimental-amber-glass-cent-rb-42-70-x-4-r7-ms64-ngc/a/1258-5380.s)

QUERY: A POSSIBLE U.S. PATTERN COIN?

I was doing a quick preliminary sort of a very large mixed lot of tokens and world coins when I spotted an unusual bronze piece and put it aside thinking that it was a modern world coin that I hadn’t seen before. After a couple more days of sorting I started cataloging what I had pulled out and eventually ran into this piece again. Immediately it was apparent that it was not a world coin but it did start the wheels turning as it looked familiar to me. I recognized the arms of Pennsylvania on the reverse but since I am not a mainstream U.S. coin dude the nonsensical legends on the obverse made me grab my copy of ‘Magicians Tokens And Related Items” by F. William Kuethe Jr. which lists a number of tokens with gibberish legends. After having no luck with that catalog, I headed to my “go to” online favorites, the Heritage Auctions archives and the Newman Numismatic Portal.

General Motors Roller Press Cent pattern

As soon as my search of the top legend (Lippe Es Mysor) came up, the “duh” alarm went off in my head as I recognized the obverse as that of the GM roller die pattern cent (Pollock-4060) with which I am somewhat familiar. That search solved my initial identification problem but as I reviewed the materials that I found it also added more questions than answers. Since I was headed out to the June Long Beach Expo the next day, I decided to take the piece along and get some experienced opinions from people I trust.

I first showed the piece to John Dannreuther (JD as he is known to all), a casual friend who has always been very helpful when I’ve had other questions about U.S. coins, patterns and related items. JD studied the piece then noted the size (26mm, 7.4 grams) which is much larger than the GM roller die cent patterns (19.1mm) and the completely different reverse. He also noted the lack of scratched in letters and numerals, roller die position notations, which occur on most if not all of the cent sized GM patterns. JD said he had never seen the piece before and asked if he could send images to Saul Teichman at uspatterns.com. Saul’s reply indicated that he had never seen the piece either. JD suggested that I show it to Fred Weinberg who has also been good about sharing his knowledge with me in the past.

Fred also took some time studying the piece, noted the same differences, then gave me a very technical but clear review of the piece concentrating on the edge reeding - what he refers to as “the reeding within the reeding” – and the shape and details of the dentiles (denticles). He said that neither detail would preclude the piece from being a U.S. Mint strike. He also had never seen the piece before. Fred’s tablemate (sorry, but I didn’t catch his name) then looked at the piece and found something that everyone had overlooked up to then – it appears to be struck on a clad planchet.

The reverse is where I could finally add something to the discussion as I had recognized the Pennsylvania coat of arms from the start. That center portion is used on the reverse of Julian CM-42, the Pennsylvania Bicentennial commemorative featuring William Penn (“Medals Of The U.S. Mint, The First Century 1792 – 1892” by R.W. Julian). The CM-42 medal includes the reverse legend “Distributed By Employees Of U.S. Mint During The Celebration Of Pennsylvania’s Bicentennial Oct. 24 1882” in an outer ring around the arms in the center.

The medals were actually struck on a steam press on a wagon pulled by six horses in the bicentennial parade with the medals then thrown to the crowd. Medals honoring President Grant (Julian CM-18) were struck and distributed in a similar manner three years earlier in 1879 during another parade.

Because of the similarity in design, size and time period, I have always thought that the Julian CM-42 and Julian CM-18 reverses were made from a two-part die although I don’t recall seeing that mentioned anywhere in the literature. This piece may confirm my observation as the Pennsylvania Bicentennial CM-48 in the modern yellow bronze composition was still available for purchase from the U.S. Mint at least up to 1969 (Mint List No. 613). That means that the CM-48 dies (more likely their younger brothers) were still available for other uses (such as this piece) during the 1960s.

CM-18 and CM-42 are both 25mm in diameter as are the 20th Century strikes (Julian is in error on CM-18) but my piece is 26mm. The coat of arms is 15mm in diameter on all the pieces so apparently that available die part was used on a new reverse die to strike this 26mm piece, omitting the outer wording band.

That is where things stand right now with many questions still unanswered. Is it a U.S. Mint product as the evidence so far tends to indicate? Is it a pattern and if so, for what - clad coinage, a small dollar coin, a world coin, a pressure or other test piece? How does it fit with the GM roller die cent or are they not related beyond sharing an obverse motif? Is the medal center piece on the reverse meaningful or just an on-hand die to use for balance opposite the obverse die for trial strikes? Is it a “pattern of a pattern” as someone suggested only half in jest?

One thing that JD, Fred and I agreed on is that sharing the piece with the E-Sylum readers presents the best chance of gaining further information. I will have it at my ANA table in Denver for the first two days of the show.

HOAGY CARMICHAEL'S KENNEDY ASSASSINATION HALF

Carmichael frequented the desert through the 1940s with the rest of the affluent Hollywood crowd and looked at purchasing land. By the time he did actually purchase, prices had gone up ten times. He settled on a stunning midcentury home designed by William Cody, located on the 8th green of the prestigious golf club with gorgeous views.

He was a regular on the links, along with his movie star friends. He continued to write individual songs, collaborating with many different lyricists, most notably Johnny Mercer who lived down the way in Palm Springs. Carmichael was comfortably earning some three-hundred thousand dollars a year in royalties.

He was an avid coin collector, having guests at his Thunderbird house sift through piles of coins on the floor after dinner looking for buffalo nickels. Carmichael prized a coin given to him by Jacqueline Kennedy that the President had in his pocket when he was shot in Dallas.

To read the complete article, see:
Hoagy Carmichael: A music man's days in the desert (http://www.desertsun.com/story/life/2017/07/21/hoagy-carmichael-music-mans-days-desert/501133001/)

Joel writes:

Len writes:

Joel writes:

Joe writes:

To read the earlier E-Sylum articles:
THE COINS FROM LINCOLN'S EYES (http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v08n47a25.html)
THE COINS PLACED ON LINCOLN'S EYES (http://www.coinbooks.org/v20/esylum_v20n11a09.html)

To read the New York Times articles, see:
A SON RECOLLECTS HOAGY CARMICHAEL (http://www.nytimes.com/1982/01/03/nyregion/a-son-recollects-hoagy-carmichael.html)
COINS; HOAGY CARMICHAEL'S COLLECTION (http://www.nytimes.com/1985/12/08/arts/coins-hoagy-carmichael-s-collection.html?pagewanted=all)

KENNEDY COMMEMORATIVE COIN ACT LEGISLATION

Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.), and Reps. Kevin McCarthy (CA-23) and Joseph P. Kennedy III (MA-04) today introduced legislation calling on the Secretary of the Treasury to issue a President John F. Kennedy commemorative coin. The lawmakers, members of the John F. Kennedy Centennial Commission, introduced the legislation as part of this year’s President Kennedy Centennial celebration. The silver $1.00 coin would honor President Kennedy’s legacy of courage, service, innovation, and will be a reminder to future generations of the importance of service to one’s country. Partial proceeds from the sale of the coins will be devoted to the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation to support the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.

“I was inspired to enter public service because of President Kennedy, and now, more than ever, I hear and heed his message of aspiration and inspiration with a heart and mind renewed,” said Senator Markey. “I am honored to serve on the John F. Kennedy Centennial Commission and to introduce this bipartisan legislation with my colleagues to honor President Kennedy’s legacy of public service with this commemorative coin.”

“President John F. Kennedy’s commitment to public service and iconic leadership have left an indelible mark on our nation that continues to inspire future generations of Americans,” said Senator McCain. “I’m proud to join my colleagues in introducing this legislation to honor President Kennedy’s legacy of service on the centennial of his birth.”

“I am honored to be introducing this legislation with my colleagues to mint a silver dollar coin in honor of President John F. Kennedy,” said House Majority Leader McCarthy. “Whether it was asking what we can do for our country or challenging NASA and our nation to reach the moon, President Kennedy’s legacy is etched in history, and this coin appropriately recognizes his many accomplishments and service to our country.”

To read the complete article, see:
News Release Senator Markey and McCain, Reps. McCarthy and Kennedy Introduce President John F. Kennedy Commemorative Coin Act Legislation (https://www.jfklibrary.org/About-Us/News-and-Press/Press-Releases/2017-John-F-Kennedy-Commemorative-Coin-Act-Legislation.aspx)

NUMISMATIC NUGGETS: JULY 23, 2017

Jahangir Silver Zodiacal Rupee

Jahangir (1605-1628 AD), Silver Zodiacal Rupee, Ahmedabad, 11.3 g, 20.27 mm, AH 1027. Obv: Sign of Gemini (Twins), Farsi inscription Sanah 13 below. Rev: Farsi inscription 'Jahangir Badshah Akbar Badshah Zarb Ahmadabad'. (KM # 150.7). Extremely Fine, Rare.

To read the complete lot description, see:
http://www.imperialauctions.com/view-lot.aspx?lid=6185&aid=8

1796 Woodbrodge Alms House Penny Token

To read the complete lot description, see:
Lot 62: 1796 Loder Thomas Sekford Wood Bridge Alms House Penny token GEF (https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/-1-c-33B47EB809)

917 India One Rupee Banknote

Particular banknote issued in India in 1917. Size in cm: 12.5 x 6.8.

To read the complete lot description, see:
India - 1 rupee 1917 - Pick 1b (https://auction.catawiki.com/kavels/12727231-india-1-rupee-1917-pick-1b)

Parachute Troops Medal

Bronze Medal allusive to the parachute troops Magnificent medal with 60 mm of diameter and with 98 grs

To read the complete lot description, see:
Bronze Medal allusive to the parachute troops (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bronze-Medal-allusive-to-the-parachute-troops/263100597143)

1900 Exposition Universelle Medal

This bronze medal was given out as a prize at the 1900 World's Fair held in Paris, France. This is a well stored example with beautiful toning! They are nearly impossible to find in this condition.

To read the complete lot description, see:
1900 BRONZE Large Medal Worlds Fair Exposition Universelle J.C. Chaplain #13777 (http://www.ebay.com/itm/1900-BRONZE-Large-Medal-Worlds-Fair-Exposition-Universelle-J-C-Chaplain-13777/322607751019)

A NEW UNITED SOUTH TOKEN DIE VARIETY

It's always great fun to discover something new, but to find two at the same time is exciting! A previously uncataloged reverse die has now brought to three the known varieties of the rare A UNITED SOUTH token. At just 12.9mm, they are slightly smaller than the 14mm US silver three-cent pieces.The obverse is silver with A UNITED SOUTH at top, 1861 below, and a Confederate flag in the center. The reverse has 15 stars around a cotton plant with stalk, leaves and bolls in center. With a mere dozen or so specimens known, the discovery of a new die variety is quite significant.

The two examples were brought to my attention by Mr. Jon Sullivan (www.sullivannumismatics.com) in an email about them. Jon also noted that the two specimens (shown here) had very faint reeded edges as opposed to the plain edges usually reported.

Over the years I've noted perhaps four or five of the B861-116, only one of the 116a, and now two of the 116b. Under the heading of "treasures are still out there", the ringed token shown was found by a metal detectorist near Stones River Battlefield in Tennessee!

A detailed history of the token may be found in Confederate Numismatica - Part 1 pg 37-38, available at www.ConfederateNumismatica.com .

A LIST OF COIN BLOG WEB SITES

A Gift for Polydektes
Ancient Coin Collecting
Ancient Coins
Coin Collectors Blog
Coin World Blogs
CoinThrill.com
Gerry's Daily Blog
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RESEARCHERS COMPILE COIN DIGIT IMAGE DATABASES

Xingyu Pan and Laure Tougne have published a paper describing their database of digits extracted from scans of modern coins.

The database of 3000+ images itself cannot be directly downloaded. They explain here that you may request it from them.

The paper is good! The databases discussed are

• 606 digit images manually cropped from high-resolution photographs of well-conserved coins
• 1,200 digit images automatically extracted from a subset of a PCGS database containing coins in different states of preservation
• 1,200 digit images manually extracted from the same coin photographs as above

Although the new dataset only contains digits from modern coins the authors discuss the literature of recognition of ancient coin lettering. There are as yet no public databases of images of the digit or letters extracted from images of ancient coins.

To read the complete article, see:
Database of Digits Extracted from (modern) Coins (http://digitalhn.blogspot.com/2017/07/database-of-digits-extracted-from.html)

Since the release date struck on a coin is important information of its monetary type, recognition of extracted digits may assist in identification of monetary types. However, digit images extracted from coins are challenging for conventional optical character recognition methods because the foreground of such digits has very often the same color as their background. In addition, other noises, including the wear of coin metal, make it more difficult to obtain a correct segmentation of the character shape. To address those challenges, this article presents the CoinNUMS database for automatic digit recognition.

Nowadays, character recognition methods have been widely implemented into various applications in our daily life like license plate recognition system, mail sorting machine, and Google Instant Camera Translation. For each category of application, appropriate databases are essential requirements to develop adapted algorithms. Even a large amount of applications are developed on a small set of private data collected by researchers, public databases play more and more important roles for developing generalized methods and launching competitions of different approaches.

characters having the same color in foreground as in background, like characters on coins, draw our attention. As a matter of fact, such characters are seldom studied in character recognition issues but they are largely presented in sculptures, industrial products, coins, artworks, etc. Let us call “hollow-type font” such characters have the same color or texture in foreground as in background. Up to now, there is no specific database of characters in hollow-type font.

As image-based coin recognition has become an active research topic for recent decade, various algorithms based on training global features (Fukumi et al., 1992; Huber et al., 2005; Van Der Maaten and Poon, 2006; Reisert et al., 2007) or matching local features (Kampel and Zaharieva, 2008; Arandjelovic, 2010; Pan et al., 2014) have been proposed.

At the beginning, studies were limited in classification of modern coins where legends were treated no differently as other patterns in relief. In our opinion, there are two reasons why researchers were not interested in reading coin legends. First, detection and recognition of coin characters in hollow-type font is a real challenge to obtain good results because of their hard-to-segment foreground, not to mention their extremely high variations in terms of font, size, tilt, etc. and, the possible overlap with other decorative patterns (see Figure 2). Second, most legends may stay unchanged among different coin types of one country at the same period, for example, “LIBERTE EGALITE FRATERNITE” on different French franc coins. Thus, the differences in terms of overall appearance are easier to differentiate different coin classes than local legends.

First attempts to deal with characters in hollow-type font were made by researchers trying to classify ancient coins. To classify manual struck ancient coins, the overall appearance is sometimes confusing due to a high intra-class difference. For example, in some cases for ancient coins with an emperor portrait as the main pattern, the different portraits can be the same emperor and the similar portraits can be different emperors. Therefore, reading legends indicating the emperor’s name can assist a lot to classify those ancient coins. To solve such challenges within characters extracted from ancient coins, researchers have opted for solutions rooted in object recognition rather than character recognition methods.

Recently, several databases of coin photographs have been built mainly for image-based coin recognition issues. Establishing such a database with a decent data scale is much more difficult than building one for face recognition, for example, due to availability of rare coins and highly required photograph quality. Therefore, most online amateur photographs taken by coin dealers and collectors cannot be used as eligible data. It requires that museums, numismatic companies, and research institutions make effort to collect coins and take photographs under strictly controlled conditions. Meanwhile, how to shoot quality coin photographs through a structured and systematic approach is still an open field for professional photographers.

Interestingly, even among professional coin photographs, criteria of quality could differ in different application contexts. To display an esthetic and shiny coin appearance to coin dealers and collectors, one or more angled lighting could be applied; however, to analyze small details on coins, a quasi-uniform light condition is expected. In general, a quasi-uniform background, a minimal shadow, and constant controlled light conditions are main characteristics of numismatic databases used in computer vision-assisted applications.

Conclusion and Perspectives
A database consisting of digit characters having indistinct foreground and background has been described in this article. It is built from professional coin photographs provided by numismatic companies. We propose this database based on two motivations. First, those characters with “hard-to-segment” foreground in hollow-type font have been less studied in previous work of character recognition. Second, due to lack of effective algorithms to deal with characters in hollow-type font, legends on coins are difficult to read precisely by computer vision, which make numismatic community still relies on expensive human investigation.

Due to the availability of professional coin photographs, the current version of our database has not a huge amount of data and equal data distribution. Our future work is to continue our effort to further enlarge the database with help of numismatic companies: with the availability of more professional coin photographs in better quality, in next versions CoinNUMS will be largely increased in scale; furthermore, we aim at extending CoinNUMS little by little to a more comprehensive database, perhaps renamed as CoinLEGENDS, that will include letters, foreign characters, and short words as well. We hope CoinNUMS will become an initiative to draw attentions of researchers studying on character recognition to some complex cases which rarely happens in general situations but could be common in a specific domain. For a numismatic perspective, we hope automatic reading legends on coins will become as fast and precise as nowadays matured OCR applications.

To read the complete paper, see:
A New Database of Digits Extracted from Coins with Hard-to-Segment Foreground for Optical Character Recognition Evaluation (http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fict.2017.00009/full)

ANNANDALE COIN SHOW KIDS PROGRAM JULY 2017

On Saturday July 22, 2017 Tom Kays and I ran the Kids Club event at Wayne Herndon's Annandale Coin Show (Tom assisted greatly with this writeup as well). We had a nice large room across the lobby from the coin show entrance, which was held at the Ernst Cultural Center at the Northern Virginia Community College campus.

We always scramble a bit to get set up in an hour, but things worked out well this time. We arrived early and our speaker was already getting set up. Professor William (Bill) Wright is an adjunct history professor at Lord Fairfax Community College. Bill collects and spoke about Greek gods and heroes pictured on ancient coins. He brought along many beautiful ancient coins and had the fortitude to hand them out to the children on little trays with magnifying glasses to pass around the audience. He impressed upon the children that they must be good caretakers of these ancient artifacts so that people hundreds of years from now may be able to do just what these lucky kids did, to see and hold coins that have passed down to us from antiquity.

No corroded bronzes here, but nice, high-grade silver Athenian Owls, coins with Zeus and Alexander, quadriga and lightning bolts, and worth many hundreds of dollars, passed throughout the room in the hands of the children. We saw parents taking photos of their children holding the ancient coins in a rapture of concentration and high regard. None precipitated from their little trays and all returned to their owner without blemish. We may have been holding our breath just a little for that outcome.

Before Bill spoke we told him he might award a few extra Action Bucks to children for especially good answers or for earnest participation. Bill would ask what symbols, what characters, what meaning the kids saw on the coins before handing them out, having projected them on a big screen to explain them and their context. Little children, apparently watch and remember movies like the Percy Jackson series that feature Greek Mythological figures and their sagas, because some of the most amazing “two-dollar answers” poured forth from even the smallest kids to the amazement of the adults.

We had to run all over the room handing out about fifty extra auction bucks as the little scholars knew things way beyond what we knew in third grade. Looking at what I would call a “seahorse” one boy properly named it a “Hippocampus.” Others began a deep discussion about family relations among the gods and heroes. By the end, we heard the professor respond with “that is a sound conjecture” which could have been code words for needing to go look something up, or perhaps needing a beer. Toward the end of the lecture we had even awarded an auction buck to one of parents as many were so animated with the talk they forgot their place and were raising their hands too, trying to keep up with their little scholars, not always succeeding.

Tom and I set up the registration and auction lot tables. Albums and coin books were awarded as door prizes to encourage all to register. Those who do will receive a reminder card in the mail for the next event. All the dozens of lots for auction are donated by generous Nummis Nova members and some coin dealers on the bourse floor. Popular lots included silver dollars, proof and type coins, obsolete currency, tokens, medals, and even official Disney pins.

Lots must be worthy of the collections of these budding coin collectors who do know values and quickly questioned the authenticity of one mint medal, and do their homework on unfamiliar items, polling value estimates to obtain consensus from many of the coin collecting adults in the room. Tom helped find some chalk for the blackboard and ordered some additional chairs for the audience, which came in handy. People started trickling in right at 11:00 am but we soon had a full house.

Bill Wright did a fabulous job connecting with the kids and quizzing them in return for auction dollars. Here are some pictures Tom and I took. I didn't manage to get one of Tom (behind the scenes), who did a great job calling the auction while I acted as the runner. Sorry!

Registration table

Auction lots

Speaker Bill Wright; Helper Wayne Homren

Enjoying the presentation

Buying coins from the Treasure Box

We had our usual mix of regulars and newbies. The crowd was engaged, and clearly enjoyed the presentation. Everyone participated in the auction, and a lot of kids came up afterwards to spend some of their remaining auction dollars on coins from our "Treasure Box."

We were done by about 12:30 and packed everything up for the next show. We do this again in December, and we have an odd feeling that we will see some of that flood of auction bucks given for participation will come back to us in due course, perhaps under a dynamite family pooling strategy where that new group of five siblings, who sat in back, observing the scene but not bidding, could dominate the room in December with a hundred auction bucks between them.

Another consortium of boy scouts up front also gave me the impression they will “be prepared” next time too. Other old hands (fifth grade) have been attending for a couple of years and no telling what wealth they have amassed, who will return as proto-teenagers with auction bucks to burn.

Worthy numismatic donations to further the education of these sharp children, who may soon be bidding, winning, and likely dominating future coin auctions using real dollars from their allowance (boo-yah!) may be accepted by any participating Nummis Nova member.

SLOW SUMMER FOR 1714 FLEET TREASURE SALVORS

The seas have not been kind this summer to treasure hunters looking for gold off the coast of Wabasso.

So far, the crew of the Capitana has recovered only one gold coin, an Escudo minted in Mexico about 1714. Diver Grant Gitschlag and diving partner Cole Smith made the discovery July 10 as part of the salvage operations underway for the 1715 Fleet-Queens Jewels LLC. Other items uncovered last month include silver coins, pottery and musket balls.

“It has been one of the worst summers weather-wise that we’ve ever experienced,” said Capitana Capt. Jonah Martinez, of Port St. Lucie.“But we’re getting through it day by day, and we’re working in an area where we found items before so we’re optimistic.”

On July 10, Gitschlag had a hit on the metal detector, dug some holes on the ocean floor and the gold coin just popped out, Martinez said. He thinks many more items will be found in the debris field known as Corrigan’s wreck, located between Wabasso and Indian River Shores.

The coins are part of the lost treasure from the 1715 Fleet shipwrecks. Twelve galleons laden with treasures from the New World were bound for Spain but 11 were lost during a hurricane off the coast of Florida on July 31, 1715. Most of the treasure still lies beneath the ocean.

The 1715 Fleet-Queens Jewels LLC, a historic shipwreck salvage operation, owns the rights to the remains of the 1715 Treasure Fleet.

Former owner Brent Brisben acquired the salvage rights from legendary treasure hunter Mel Fisher and has since sold the controlling interest in the salvage company. But he remains in touch with Martinez, checking in regularly to see how the treasure hunt is going.

To read the complete article, see:
Salvagers recover 1715 Fleet gold coin but say treasure hunting has been tough this summer (http://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/local/indian-river-county/2017/07/20/salvagers-recover-1715-fleet-gold-coin-but-say-treasure-hunting-has-been-tough-summer/495070001/)

EXHIBIT: GEORGIA - AMERICA’S FIRST GOLD RUSH

Buckhead resident Bob Harwell’s golden touch is on display as part of a new exhibition in the Hargrett Galleries of the Richard B. Russell Special Collections Library at the University of Georgia in Athens.

The exhibition, “Gold Digging in Georgia: America’s First Gold Rush,” highlights the history of north Georgia gold mining from the 1820s to the Civil War. It had its grand opening July 13 (with a soft opening June 5) and features photos, historical documents, artifacts and more.

A key part of the exhibition is a complete set of gold coins produced at the Dahlonega Mint prior to the Civil War. The set was accumulated by Harwell, president of Hancock &amo; Harwell Rare Coin and Precious Metal Co. in Buckhead.

The set on display in Athens was accumulated over a six-year period from across the United States for Atlanta collector John McMullan. McMullan donated his set of Dahlonega coins – called the Reed Creek Collection – to the university for its permanent collection. The set is valued at nearly $1 million. There are 62 coins in the collection on display.

“Coins from the Dahlonega Mint are a unique and lasting relic of an important part of Georgia history,” Harwell said in a news release. “Dahlonega predates the California Gold Rush and spawned the first industrialization of North Georgia.”

In addition to the set on display at UGA, there are sets on public display at the Dahlonega Gold Museum in Dahlonega and at the Federal Reserve Bank in Atlanta.

The exhibition at the Richard B. Russell Special Collections Library will run through Dec. 5.

To read the complete article, see:
Buckhead resident’s collected coins on display at library (http://www.mdjonline.com/neighbor_newspapers/northside_sandy_springs/buckhead-resident-s-collected-coins-on-display-at-library/article_5e6be0be-6bce-11e7-8055-2329a4e01672.html)

CANADA'S DIEPPE COMMEMORATIVE CONTROVERSY

A new silver coin honouring the anniversary of the Dieppe Raid will be released next year by the Royal Canadian Mint, an announcement coming two months after a previous coin drew the ire of veterans.

The first coin to commemorate the 75th anniversary, released in May, labeled the raid as a “battle.” As a result, veterans urged the mint to take the coin back and correct it, no matter the cost.

The original coin was produced as part of the mint’s “Second World War Battlefront Series.”

On Aug. 19, 1942, Canada suffered heavy losses in the raid at Dieppe, France, which was carried out in an effort to breach enemy defences.

Members of the Dieppe Military Veterans’ Association, based in Dieppe, N.B., objected to the labelling of Dieppe as a “battle” instead of a “raid,” telling Global News it had never been known as a battle.

Now, two months later, even after the mint originally defended the coin, saying the word “battle” was appropriate, Moncton-Riverview-Dieppe MP Ginette Petitpas Taylor says a new silver coin will be released on a date in 2018 to be announced later.

A release by Petitpas Taylor, said she had reached out to the mint to support a request for a new commemorative coin.

To read the complete article, see:
New Dieppe Raid commemorative coin to be released next year after controversy (http://globalnews.ca/news/3616327/new-dieppe-raid-commemorative-coin-to-be-released-next-year-after-controversy/)

But the mint defended its coin, saying the word “battle” was appropriate.

Military historian David O’Keefe doesn’t feel the same way.

“Battles take place over days, weeks, months, whereas a raid like Dieppe was, happens in a matter of hours,” he told Global News.

“In and out. And in this case, it was incredibly costly.”

The mint has said that changing the name of the coin would be impossible because thousands have already been sold.

But that’s of little concern for veterans who say that would just be the cost of being respectful and making sure it’s right.

To read the complete article, see:
Veterans see a big problem with this coin honouring the ‘Battle’ of Dieppe (http://globalnews.ca/news/3508411/battle-of-dieppe-coin/)

YALE UNIVERSITY ELIZABETHAN CLUB MEDAL

Medallic artist and CCAC member Heidi Wastweet has completed a new work for Yale University’s Elizabethan Club. The medal, to be given in recognition of extraordinary service to the club, is not available for purchase—which is unfortunate, because it is truly delightful.

Founded in 1911, the Elizabethan Club (affectionately called “the Lizzie”) is dedicated to “the appreciation of literature and the arts and of the social intercourse founded upon such appreciation.” Tea is an afternoon ritual, and over cups of the club’s own blend the conversation flows, often swirling around the collection of rare original manuscripts housed in the club’s vault. These include Shakespearean folios, one of the three known 1604 copies of Hamlet, and first editions of books such as Milton’s Paradise Lost and Spenser’s Faerie Queene. Since its founding more than a century ago, the club has become home to scores of such treasures, along with such items as a lock of Byron’s hair and a life portrait of Queen Elizabeth I.

Ms. Wastweet was among several medalists invited to submit designs for the medal, and she visited the club personally to do her research. On her website she writes that she was struck by “the combination of deep history and lighthearted sense of humor.” She also noted that, for its own publications, the club uses a clean and contemporary typeface and presentation. “I sought to portray that balance of reverence with jest,” she writes, “and old with new”:

The recipient of the first medal was Stephen Parks, the club’s retired librarian and “dedicated defender of the vault.” Himself a collector, Mr. Parks was awarded his silver medal on June 24, 2017. On her Facebook page Ms. Wastweet wrote, “Such a pleasure for me to witness that ‘wow’ moment when he first sees his medal!”

Struck by the well-known Medallic Art Company, the silver medal is 3 inches in diameter and weighs 10 ounces. In addition to Mr. Parks’s medal, an additional 20 copies were struck and set aside for future recipients.

To read the complete article, see:
Artist Heidi Wastweet blends history with whimsy in Elizabethan Club medal (http://news.coinupdate.com/50900-2/)

For more information on Heidi Wastweet's work, see:
http://www.wastweetstudio.com/

JANE AUSTEN BANKNOTE UNVEILED

The new £10 note featuring Jane Austen has been unveiled on the 200th anniversary of the author’s death, complete with a quote about reading – said by one of her characters who has no interest in books.

Austen becomes the first female writer (following in the footsteps of William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens) to feature on a banknote.

The note, launched by the Bank of England at Austen’s resting place, Winchester Cathedral, includes an image of the writer and one of her most beloved characters, Elizabeth Bennet.

There are also illustrations of her writing table and her brother Edward Austen Knight’s home, Godmersham Park in Kent, thought to be a source of inspiration.

But it is the quote that will raise eyebrows among Austen enthusiasts. At first glance the line from Pride and Prejudice – “I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading!” – seems a good choice.

However, the words were spoken by one of Austen’s most deceitful characters, Caroline Bingley, who has no interest in books. She is sidling up to Mr Darcy, whom she would like as a husband. He is reading a book, so she sits next to him and pretends to read alongside him.

Austen fans will have to wait until later this year before they can begin to use the notes. They will be issued on 14 September and the public will begin to see them in the following days and weeks.

The Bank hopes featuring Austen will help it counter accusations of sexism for not featuring more women on notes. The author follows Florence Nightingale and Elizabeth Fry in featuring on notes.

Tuesday’s banknote launch is one of a series of events taking place to mark the 200th anniversary of Austen’s death, including the unveiling of a statue in Basingstoke, near her birthplace.

Austen, who wrote keenly about money, might have been interested in research from Aviva claiming that the £10 pound note has a relative purchasing power of only 13p compared with what it could buy in 1817.

To read the complete article, see:
Jane Austen banknote unveiled – with strange choice of quotation (https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/jul/18/jane-austen-banknote-unveiled-with-strange-choice-of-quotation)

JANE AUSTEN BANKNOTE VIDEOS

To view the complete video, see:
Jane Austen fans give verdict on new £10 note (http://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-40649721/jane-austen-fans-give-verdict-on-new-10-note)

To view the complete video, see:
Jane Austen centre gets fiver worth £50,000 (http://www.bbc.com/news/av/entertainment-arts-40649712/jane-austen-centre-given-5-note-worth-50000)

To view the complete video, see:
Was money a preoccupation for Jane Austen? (http://www.bbc.com/news/av/business-40647121/was-money-a-preoccupation-for-jane-austen)

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