Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 3, Number 35, August 27, 2000: an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society. Copyright (c) 2000, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society. SUBSCRIBER UPDATES We have one new subscriber this week: Gosia Fort, wife of Asylum editor E. Tomlinson Fort. Welcome aboard! This brings our subscriber count to 335. SULLIVAN BANK HISTORIES ON BLOCK Michael Sullivan reports: "Currency Auctions of America will sell the Michael J. Sullivan Collection of United States Bank Histories at public auction September 23rd in Cincinnati, Ohio. The collection, consisting of nearly 900 publications representing 75% of known related works, was assembled over the last 15 years. It represents the largest collection in the world with the second largest collection in the hands of a Midwest Collector and the third largest in the repository of Harvard University. Many of the works include photographs and historical information on notes of issue, banker's biographies, and financial history. Included in the collection is the important 12 volume set "Financing an Empire: History of Banking in California, Illinois, and Pennsylvania. For information on the sale or catalogues contact Lynn Glaser, P.O. Box 111, Forest Hills, NY, or call 718-268-3221." ANA LIBRARY EXPANSION PLANNED The August 29th issue of Numismatic News reported that "The ANA Board of Governors authorized a $1.9 million renovation of headquarters in Colorado Springs, CO, that will expand library space by over 70 percent, and the museum by 50 percent." SAN FRANCISCO MINT VISITORS RECORDS In response to last week's question about E. I. Barra's visit to the San Francisco Mint, Mike Hodder writes: "One volume of the SF Mint visitors book does survive. Entitled "Register of Visitors to the Mint, 1854-1892", it is catalogued as record 9.1 of the Preliminary (1995) Inventory of the Records of the San Francisco Mint. It's in the National Archives - Pacific Region (San Bruno, CA)." Dave Bowers notes that "Barra was a Forty Niner in the Gold Rush," and also points out that his collection was sold by W. Elliot Woodward in 1865. Your editor couldn't find a reference to Barra in Adams, Durst, or Gengerke, but did find a listing in Gengerke for a catalog by L. Keller of San Francisco (2/19/1863, 512 lots, 24 pages, available in the ANS library). Lorraine Durst lists it as containing lots of Roman coins, foreign coins, U.S. colonials, coins, and tokens. A web search turned up this entry at the Oakland Museum of California - it's a quote from Barra's journal, describing the approach to San Francisco from aboard the Urania in 1849: "on the larboard hand the green hills and deep valleys of the Marin shore came into full view, gladdening the eyes of every person on board On our starboard bow we saw a bluff jutting into the bay on the [top] of which were two or three small brass cannon. Rising far above the cannon was a tall flagstaff from the top of which waved the glorious flag of our country As we sailed into view our eyes were greeted with a sight that they never have encountered since. Shipping in such numbers that it was absolutely impossible to enumerate them; they looked to us as if they were piled up one on top of the other." http://www.museumca.org/goldrush/curriculum/4g/41110129.html Your editor smells enough tangible clues to make for an interesting research project. NBS DONATION AUCTION RESULTS Secretary-Treasurer Dave Hirt reports that the donation auction at our general meeting at the ANA convention raised $1,450 for the NBS coffers as follows. It should be noted that some of the prices reflect the fact that the authors of the works were in the room and available to provide inscriptions. [Lot] [Description] [Hammer Price] [Winning Bidder] 1. "Copy number 1 of 25 unnumbered copies" of George Kolbe's reprint of Browning on quarter dollars, $150 [P. Scott Rubin] 2. NBS, Two copies of The Asylum editor's proofs, $60 [Mike Paradis] 3. Jack Collins, FPL of Washingtonia, $60 [George Kolbe] 4. Eric Newman & Ken Bressett, The Fantastic 1804 Dollar, $80 [Glenn Peterson] 5. John W. Adams' reprint of the Chapman Jackman sale (with plates) $425 [Bob Schulman] 6. Two Stack's Guides (1940's) [Eric Newman] 7. AJN Vol II, No. 8 $25 [Ron Thompson] 8. Bowers & Merena hardbound catalogs $90 [Steve Abromowitz] 9. Eric Newman's Good Samaritan Shilling, $50 [John Huffman] 10. Newman-Mallis, Coin Scales $100 [Bill Swoger] 11. Copy No. 7 of Jack Collins' July 4 1987 sale, $35 [Wayne Homren] 12. Gilbert-Elder on 1796 cents, $35 [Dave Hirt] 13. Kolbe's John Adams sale, advance copy No. 24 of 35. $25 [Wayne Homren] (NOTE: The title page contains a typo which went unnoticed and appears in the final catalogue: "Counterfeiting" is spelled with two R's) 14. Swoger, Brasher Doubloon monograph, $50 [John Huffman] 15. Hibler-Kappen, So-Called Dollars, $50 [Ken Barr] 16. Griffiths' Story of American Bank Note Company, $90 [Ron Thompson] 17. Bowers' Abe Kosoff, Dean of Numismatics, $25 [Dick Johnson] 18. 1964 "Redbook" autographed by author R.S. Yeoman. $25 [Wayne Homren] Thanks again to our donors: John W. Adams (lot 5), George Frederick Kolbe (lot 1), Tom Sheehan (lot 15), Bill Swoger (lot 14), Wayne Homren (lots 2 & 7), Eric Newman (lots 4 & 10, and Myron Xenos (all remaining lots). VIKING BOOK DEALERS Asylum Editor E. Tomlinson Fort writes: "While doing some research upon another topic I came across the following document. It is an Old English record of the presentation of a work now known as the Golden Gospels to the monks of Christ Church Canterbury: In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I, Ealdorman Alfred and Wærburh my wife obtained these books from the Viking army with our pure money, that was with pure gold, and this we did for the love of God and for the benefit of our souls and because we did not wish these holy books to remain longer in heathen possession. And now we wish to give them to Christ Church to the praise and glory and honor of God, and in gratitude for his Passion, and for the use of the religious community which daily raises praise to God in Christ Church, on condition that they will be read every month for the sake of Alfred and Wærburh and Ealhthryth, for the eternal remedy of their souls, as long as God has foreseen that the Christian faith will continue at that place. Moreover I, Ealdorman Alfred and Wærburh beg and implore in the name of Almighty God and of all his saints that no man be so presumptuous as to give away or remove these holy books from Christ Church, as long as the Christian faith may endure. [Witnesses] Alfred Wærburh Ealhthryth their daughter The gospel book is an English work dating from the eighth century. How and where a Viking army acquired them is unknown, though they were probably taken in a raid on a monastery or church. This record is not dated, but the ealdorman Alfred is presumably the one whose last will and testament dates from sometime between 871 and 888 [The will mentions both King Alfred the Great of Wessex, who came to the throne in 871, and Archbishop Æthelræd of Canterbury, who died in 888]. Thus, Ealdorman Alfred must have made his grant during the last quarter of the ninth century. Alfred's notice that he paid for the book in gold coin is unusual since such had not been produced in western Europe since early in the reign of Louis the Pious (814-840). One wonders if the gold may have been a part of the hoard of Roman gold coins recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle [s.a. 418] and which may have inspired the types struck between c.874 and c.885 by Alfred the Great and Ceolwulf II of Mercia. Today, Ealdorman Alfred's Golden Gospels are in the Royal Library at Stockholm in Denmark. When the library acquired them is not known. But it is likely that the book was lost to Christ Church during the Reformation and that it somehow made its way across the North Sea to Denmark. By the way, the giving of books to churches and monasteries was not uncommon in the early Middle Ages. Simon Keynes, "King Athelstan's Books" in Learning and Literature in Anglo- Saxon England, ed. M. Lapidge and H. Gneuss (Cambridge, 1985), pp.143-202, records that King Athelstan of England (924-939) was not only a bibliophile, but also that a number of the books which he owned or donated still survive." VALENTINE INFORMATION SOUGHT Steve Crain writes: "I only recently joined the NBS, during the recent ANA Convention, in Philadelphia, yet I have collected early United States coins for nearly twenty years. Like many serious collectors, I have also assembled a large numismatic library to aid in my ongoing research. I am presently working to produce a comprehensive reference book on the Liberty Seated half dimes of 1837 - 1873. As part of that research, I am trying to compile any available biographical information on Daniel W. Valentine, the author of the half dime reference currently in use by most half dime collectors ("The United States Half Dimes", ANS NN&M #48,1931, NY). I would appreciate hearing from any E-Sylum readers who may any such information. I can be reached at this email address: MrHalfDime@aol.com. I look forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship with the Numismatic Bibliomania Society." AZTECA HOE MONEY Bob Dunfield (who describes himself as "A happy E-Sylum subscriber") writes: "I was fortunate to find a small paperbound book published by Sociedad Mexicana De Antropologia, entitled: Revista Mexicana De Estudio De Antropolologicos..."Antes Revista Mexicana de Estudios Historicos". Vol. XXI, 1967, which lists many examples of the Azteca Hoe Money. Hopefully more are available as reprints from the 'Sociedad Mexicana De Antropologia, Av. Revolution 1279, Mexico 20, D.F. Mostly in Spanish, but much English also!" ELECTROTYPES An undated flyer advertising "Coins, Minerals & Indian Relics" for sale by H. Klingbeil of Philadelphia has this to say about Electrotypes: "Electrotypes show the exact fac-simile of the original coins, both in silver and copper, therefore, they are much more instructive, than wood-cut prints, or empty spaces. The original of most of these pieces are so rare that they cannot be got only at a great cost, some of them not at any price. No Cabinet or Collection of Coins is complete if the proper spaces are not filled with electrotypes, and they add greatly to the beauty of the Collection, and the price is so low that any collector can procure them. A supply is always kept on hand for sale." A couple of web pages give more information on electrotypes: The first is from the Coins of Colonial and Early America, A Project of the Robert H. Gore, Jr. Numismatic Endowment, University of Notre Dame. The page pictures and describes an electrotype copy of The Washington Roman Head Cent of 1792: http://www.coins.nd.edu/ColCoin/ColCoinText/WashROMAN.html The second is an article titled, "Forging ahead: How to avoid Buying a Forgery", By Bernard Wells. The article describes how to detect electrotype and other types of copies of ancient coins: http://www.deepfield.com/anoot/forgery.htm A NEW ARRIVAL If you're wondering why last week's E-Sylum arrived a bit early, it's because your editor's son arrived a bit early, too. Tyler Seth Homren was born at 6:00pm EDT, Sunday, August 20 - 9 pounds even, 21 inches long. Mom, Dad, and brother Christopher are doing fine. On hearing the word, NBS Board member Joel Orosz wrote: "Wayne, great news! I am slightly disappointed, however, that you and Dee ignored my suggestion to name him after a wonderful numismatic author - Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Elmer!" That's one of my favorite numismatic names too, but we decided to pass on that one. We do however, sometimes refer to Christopher as "The Cincinnati Kid" in honor of our trip to the 1998 ANA midyear convention in the Queen City... Joel's comment makes for a great quiz question, though - who can tell us what numismatic book Elmer authored? FEATURED WEB SITE This week's featured web site is from The University of Melbourne (Australia), on the Preservation of Records. http://www.unimelb.edu.au/ExecServ/RMmanual/preservation.htm 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 21704 (To be removed from this mailing list write to me at whomren@coinlibrary.com)
