Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 3, Number 4 January 23, 2000: an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society. Copyright (c) 2000, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society. SUBSCRIBER UPDATES Andy Bennett dropped out, but we have four new subscribers this week: J.P. Martin of ICG (Independent Coin Grading Co.), James Castledine of the U.K., French numismatic author and journalist Bruno Collin, and Robert Galiette, referred to us by Fred Lake. Also, the "Jim N", who joined us last week, is Jim Neiswinter. Welcome aboard! This brings our subscriber count to 275. RICHARD STOCKLEY BOOK LIST AVAILABLE Richard Stockley writes: "Anyone wanting an email copy of my numismatic book list can request one at stockley@total.net. For those who requested one before and had trouble decoding it, it is now in plain text format." ANGLO-BOER WAR CURRENCY BOOK PUBLISHED A new book by John Ineson, "Paper Currency of the Anglo-Boer War, 1899-1902" has been published by Spink and Son. According to an article by George Cuhaj in the January 2000 issue of Bank Note Reporter, "For over 30 years, Ineson has been researching this historic group of paper money, postage stamps, and emergency tickets issued during the Anglo-Boer War. His work culminates with this publication." For more information contact Spink and Son at 5 King James Street, London, SW1 1YT 6QS, United Kingdom, for 30 ANS ACQUISITIONS The Fall 1999 Museum newsletter of the American Numismatic Society includes these notes of interest to bibliophiles: "... the Society had received the numismatic library of the late Charles A. Hersh, a collection which reflects Mr. Hersh's own interests, namely, the Roman Republican coinage and the coinage of the Macedonian kings." The following note may be of interest to U.S. collectors: "In closing his report on acquisitions, the Librarian mentioned that the Society had just received the Garrett Numismatic Archives, an outstanding donation about which he would have more to say at a later date." Could this be the archives of the Garretts of Baltimore, MD stored at Evergreen House? The archives were discussed in The E-Sylum v2#35, August 27, 1999, after Michael Berkman described his visit there. At the time, it was suggested by some that the archives be donated intact to an organization such as the ANS, rather than allowing them to be destroyed or dispersed. NUMISMATIC BIBLIOGRAPHIES In reference to Fred Lake's talk at the recent NBS meeting at the FUN show, Jan Monroe writes: "I attended Fred's talk and he hit the main sources for printed material quite well. He did not discuss however, the ANS Numismatic Literature series of publications, nor did he mention that the ANS is putting its library catalogue on CD-ROM. It would also have been appropriate to mention the NUMISMATIC INDEXES PROJECT (NIP) by the Harry W. Bass, Jr. Research Foundation (HBRF) which I have found to be quite useful along with the printed ANA library catalogue." BIBLIOGRAPHY UPDATE The following new sections on modern coinages have been added to the NBS online numismatic bibliography by Larry Mitchell. The bibliography resides on our web site: http://www.coinbooks.org/ 78. ITALY, PAPAL STATES & MONACO 79. SPAIN & PORTUGAL 80. AUSTRIA AND THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE 81. GERMANY 82. FRANCE & THE LOW COUNTRIES PRINTING THE E-SYLUM REVISITED W. David Perkins writes: "re. Harold Welch / "Printing the E-Sylum," try highlighting the document, then "right click" and "copy." Then paste into a word processing (new) document. You will get a much better left margin, or can play around with it until you get it looking pretty good, then print. It worked pretty well for me when I tried." BACK ISSUES OF THE E-SYLUM Harold Welch writes: "Is it possible to receive back issues of The E-sylum online? Or do you have a disk with all issues? Is their a way to allow someone to go back and download all past issues? Just wondering." Well, the back issues are archived on the NBS web site, and have recently been brought completely up to date. Go to http://www.coinbooks.org/ and click on "E-Sylum Archive". WHO'S KIDDING WHO? An advertisement on p84 of the January 31, 2000 issue of COIN World reads: "$25,000 REWARD for the location and legitimate recovery of my 1804 SILVER DOLLAR. The coin was stolen from my upstate New York home. Remarkably, this coin has extensive circulation wear and has (or had) three initials deeply cut into its surface. All replies confidential. FRANK A. BROWN, P.O. Box 924, Clearwater, Florida, 33757" Among the rarest and most valuable U.S. coins, the 1804 silver dollar provides perennial fodder for pranksters, crooks, and the less-informed collecting public, who think they have a fortune on their hands when all they really have is a replica of the famous coin. The new ad recalls the now-famous ads by Samuel Brown, beginning in the December 1919 issue of The Numismatist, offering to buy examples of the 1913 Liberty Head nickel. Brown had worked at the Philadelphia Mint, and after running his series of ads he unveiled an example of the coin at the 1920 Chicago ANA convention. Only five examples of the coin are known, and all originated with Mr. Brown. Eric Newman wrote in 1963: "I still have the special leather case made for these nickels and had the opportunity to study all five coins at one time.... Samuel Brown, original owner of all five nickels, was guilty of deceptive practices from which one could conclude that the coins were improperly or unlawfully acquired by him." (As quoted in Adventures with Rare Coins, Q. David Bowers, 1979, p13) At the time of his ads, Samuel Brown lived in North Tonawanda, N.Y. Hmmm, same last name (Brown), and towns in upstate New York. Coincidence? There are at least four possibilities: 1. some wag is setting up the hobby for an April fools' joke. 2. someone is trying to legitimize a fake 1804 dollar. 3. Frank Brown is for real and once had a fake 1804 dollar 4. there really exists (or at least existed) a heretofore unknown specimen of the coin. With the recent issue of reproduction 1804 dollars by The Gallery Mint, it was inevitable that they would fuel an new round of tomfoolery. The coins are all marked "COPY" on the reverse, in compliance with the Hobby Protection Act. I wonder if the three initials on the mystery coin will turn out to be "COP" or "OPY"...? FEATURED WEB SITE This week's featured web page is from the library of the American Numismatic Association. The first in a planned series of web pages featuring high-resolution images of rare books, it shows digital images of one of the rarest works in American numismatic literature, Perkins' Bank Bill Test. Printed in 1809, the book "offered the public original impressions of Massachusetts paper currency whereby they might determine a note's authenticity." http://www.money.org/library/perkins/main.html Wayne Homren Numismatic Bibliomania Society The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. For more information please see our web site at http://www.coinbooks.org/ There is a membership application available on the web site. To join, print the application and return it with your check to the address printed on the application. For those without web access, contact Dave Hirt, NBS Secretary-Treasurer, 5911 Quinn Orchard Road, Frederick, MD 21701 (To be removed from this mailing list write to me at whomren@coinlibrary.com)
