Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 3, Number 40, October 1, 2000: an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society. Copyright (c) 2000, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society. SUBSCRIBER UPDATES We have two new subscribers this week: Cory Collins of Ocala, FL, and Jess W. Gaylor. Welcome aboard! This brings our subscriber count to 343. LAKE BOOKS 54TH SALE CLOSING Lake Books' 54th mail bid sale closes October 3rd. The catalog can be viewed at this address: http://www.lakebooks.com/current.html or you can email Fred Lake at fredlake@aol.com for more information. DAVIS NOVEMBER CATALOGUE AVAILABLE Charlie Davis reports: "I have a mail bid sale of numismatic literature, 1400 lots, with a closing date of November 4. The consignors include John W. Adams, Ed Leventhal (J.J. Teaparty to the uninitiated), Denis Loring and the estates of James Ford Clapp and George Ganter. The catalogue is posted at http://www.maineantiquedigest.com/adimg/davis.htm with about 70 photographs posted at http://members.aol.com/numislit. Catalogues will be sent out next week to those on our mailing list." COAC 14 PUBLISHED Sebastian Heath of the American Numismatic Society reports: "The ANS is pleased to announce the publication of John M. Kleeberg (ed.), Circulating Counterfeits of the Americas (COAC 14). 277 pp. Illus. Bound in cloth. ISBN 0-89722-279-2. $35.00 plus shipping and handling. The contributors are K. Davignon, R. Doty, H. Flatt, B. Karoleff, J. Kleeberg, J. Lorenzo, E. McDonald, E. Newman, P. Mossman, and C.Smith, . This volume is available for immediate purchase from the Society's on-line store at http://store.yahoo.com/amnumsoc. As always, members receive a 20% discount." FLYING EAGLET PUBLISHER DIES Numismatic News reported in the October 3, 2000 issue (p52): "On September 15, Coins Magazine co-founder and editor Frank G. Spadone died at his home in Caldwell, N.J. He was 76. Mr. Spadone launched You Name It? in 1955 with his brother, John. It became The Flying Eaglet with the third issue. It was called The Coin Press magazine when Chester L. Krause, owner of Krause Publications, purchased the periodical." The Flying Eaglet is an interesting little periodical and a difficult one to assemble in its entirety. There was an article about it by Michael J. Sullivan in the Autumn 1986 issue of The Asylum (p17-19 ). BANK HISTORIES GROW UP Bob Cochran writes: "Just a short note to let you know that bank histories "grew up" over the weekend! Currency Auctions of America auctioned Michael J. Sullivan's incredible collection of bank & banking histories, formed over a 15-year period. I was in the audience Saturday night, and so was Michael. Neither of us really knew what was about to happen, but both Lynn Glaser and Allen Mincho of CAA said they had some "strong" book bids on several lots. Well, we found out pretty quickly. CAA had listed Michael's collection with their national bank notes from each state. The first lot was the 2-volume set "Banking in Alabama 1816-1860" by William Brantley. It's a scarce SET, because copies of the first volume are quite tough to find; a large hoard of the second volume came on the market a few years ago. In the blink of an eye the lot sold for $250! A group of ten Alabama bank histories brought $95; three Arizona titles fetched $140, another AZ group of eight sold for $160. A beautiful copy of "Financial California: An Historical Review of the Beginnings and Progress of Banking in the State," bound in the standard red leather, brought an astounding $550! Right after that, Michael's deluxe four- volume set of "Financing an Empire: History of Banking in California," by Ira Cross, sold for $750. Nine Colorado bank histories and 2 references by Fred R. Hiehaus ("Development of Banking in Colorado," and "Seventy Years of Progress: History of Banking in Colorado, 1876-1949") sold to a dealer with Colorado ties for an incredible $600!" Consignor Michael Sullivan files this report: "The entire collection realized about $23,000 (I didn't calculate this to the dollar yet) which matched my pre-sale "guess" of $20-25,000. The 12-volume Financing an Empire: Banking in CA, IL, and PA in deluxe cloth realized $2050. In general, states with limited bank histories available (Colorado, District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas, etc.) did really well in the sale. The only "soft spots" in the sale were Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, driven by the sheer number of books in these states (over 100 each). In going through the catalogue there are some "old friends" that took years to locate. I would estimate that 90% of the material was offered to me only once in 15 years. However, there are a few standouts which I always thought were the best finds: 1) History of Banking in Florida, 1910 which is one of two known copies (lot 1914). 2) Banking in Hawaii, 1927 which is the only bank history from Hawaii I was able to obtain prior to the 1980s; (lot 1932). 3) History of the Bank of Kentucky, 1895 written by Civil War General Basil Duke and includes several wonderful banknote plates (lot 2113). 4) A History of the First National Bank of Marshall, TX in deluxe format with original checks from the bank laid in (lot 2608). 5) One of my favorite pieces is a history of the Planters' Bank of Tennessee, 1872 written by D. Weaver who was the bank's cashier during the Civil War. This is the only first hand account of banking during the Civil War I ever discovered (lot 2601). Most Important: Hats off to Currency Auctions of America (L. Glaser and A. Mincho) for an outstanding catalogue and sale. They handled the collection expertly. I was glad to see the collection dispersed to numerous banknote collectors many of whom now have the basis for great state collections." GENEALOGY RESEARCH TECHNIQUES BENEFICIAL. Dick Johnson writes: "Paul Schultz's recommendation for numismatic researchers to familiarize themselves with genealogy techniques and tools is an excellent suggestion. To gather data on America's 2,850 engravers, diesinkers and medalists, I took a college course on genealogy. That led me to join the local genealogy club. See their website: http://members.aol.com/genclub/nvctc.htm I thought I was a purdy gud researcher until I came in contact with a lot of little ol' grandmothers who tossed around complex genealogical concepts as Census Soundex and ahnentafel files. Their knowledge of techniques and sources was quite advanced. But they were quite willing to share their knowledge and furnished me with numerous tips. And the club's field trips revealed lots of nearby resources. These newly acquired skills led me to find data often on obscure coin and medal artists. Example: personal data on Salathiel Ellis, who created four presidential, two military and the first Lifesaving medal for the Philadelphia Mint, is quite obscure. Yet I found the names of his parents, the fact he had eight brothers and sisters, but his place of birth is, as yet unknown (it could be Vermont or Canada, as some directories say). Also he trained Joseph Willson (19 years his junior) to do cameo cutting and relief modeling. For the Mint, Ellis would design and model the obverse portraits, Willson would do the reverses. But one directory is wrong on Ellis (Groce & Wallace says he was born 1860) where it should be 1806. Genealogy research leads me to the correct data." NBS REGIONAL MEETING AT P.A.N. SHOW A regional meeting of the NBS will be held at 11am Saturday, October 14th at the convention of P.A.N., (the Pennsylvania Association of Numismatists) held at the Pittsburgh Expo Mart in Monroeville PA (Exit 6 of the PA Turnpike). Members will gather at the table of book dealer John Burns. ERIC NEWMAN ON NATURE PRINTING Eric P. Newman writes: "I was delighted to read the comments in The E-Sylum about nature printing. I have several large Bradbury prints on our bedroom wall to soothe me when I wake up thinking about a numismatic problem. Unfortunately for Bradbury and those who describe his work they had never heard of the nature printing of Benjamin Franklin beginning in 1737 and used for decades thereafter. I wrote this matter up in The Numismatist of February 1964 entitled "Nature Printing on Colonial and Continental Currency." The only reason I call this to your attention is that Ben would have wanted it that way." CATALOGING U.S. PATTERNS David Cassel writes: "Today, I received my Stack's 65th Anniversary Sale Catalog - October 17, 18, 19, 2000. I draw your attention the paragraph on page 151, just below U. S. Pattern Coins: "The following offering of U. S. Patterns contains a number of coins struck in metals of heretofore inconclusive composition. As has been the practice of modern specialists in this field, we have listed all possible corresponding Judd numbers for each coin in question. Those successful bidders who wish to perform the appropriate metallurgical tests may at such time be able to further pinpoint the actual makeup." I commend Stack's for this acknowledgment and would suggest that they add to this paragraph for future use the admonition that the possibility exists of finding coins that do not appropriately fit into the existing Judd numbering system. For example, in my area of specialization, Postage Currency Coins, the reeded edge pure copper coin previously thought to be billon (J-326) contains no silver and, has no niche in Judd's system. Likewise, the several varieties with previously unknown metal alloys such as aluminum alloyed with iron, or tin alloyed with lead, or tin alloyed with iron similarly have no niche in the Judd numbering system. Hopefully, other auction firms will follow the lead of Stack's, and other collectors will have metallurgical testing performed on their coins, and who knows, maybe discover some rarities." POLISH MANUSCRIPT AVAILABLE Howard A. Daniel III writes: "I was having a conversation with an antique book dealer in the Washington, DC area about Southeast Asian numismatics, when he mentioned that he had an unpublished draft with original photographs of a reference about Polish numismatics. After receiving the E-Sylum, I realized it could be of an interest to an NBS member. I have no further details about it, but if an NBS member is interested in it, please have them contact me at Howard@SEAsianTreasury.com, and I will find out more about it." CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM OF SANDHAM In response to the topic of "Devastating Reviews", Gilbert Ray Malone writes: "Perhaps the review discussed below does not meet all the criteria set out by Tom Fort; however, it probably falls somewhere between "constructive criticism" and "published scorn". I have assembled a small grouping of original numismatic literature to be displayed at a future show in Canada. The title of the exhibit is "Coins, Tokens and Medals of the Dominion of Canada: by Alfred Sandham -- A CRITICAL REVIEW." The centerpiece of the display is the neatly and thoroughly annotated copy of Sandham's book used by Professor Charles E. Anthon (editor AJN) in writing his detailed, scholarly and sometimes cutting review of Sandham's book in the May 1869 issue of the AJN: 1. "we intend to pay him the highest complement in our power, by pointing out the deficiencies" 2. "Looking at present edition as a first draught merely, we repeat our call for a second one" 3. "Our good Sandham must have 'nodded' over this page." At times, Anthon verged on elitism: "And to Mr. Printer we would observe that 'Boquet', as he uniformly spells it, savors not of Ville Marie, ci-devant town of Novelle France; that his Latin, in the legends of the Medals more particularly, is often lame; and his English, as to orthography and punctuation, sometimes blind." My display is an attempt to document the reaction of the numismatic community to publication of Sandham's book. In the June 1868 issue of the AJN, Sandham's book was announced with a very attractive broadside printed in color. In March 1869, a card was inserted into the AJN advertising the book - PRICE $1.00 American Currency. Many collectors haven't seen these inserts since they were frequently discarded when the AJN was bound. Sandham did not heed Anthon's call for an immediate second edition; however, he did issue a supplement in 1872 that incorporated information provided by Anthon. Sandham's numbering system would continue to be used by cataloguers of Canadian coins for about 15 years. In the November 17-18, 1879 Bangs & Co. auction of Professor Anthon's collection, Anthon catalogued his own Canadian cabinet by Sandham number. In 1884, Woodward referenced Sandham's work in cataloguing the Canadian portion of the famous J. N. T. Levick Collection. Levick was a co-editor of the AJN at the time Anthon wrote his review. A theme of the display is the parallel development of numismatics in the U.S. and Canada. Sandham, in 1872, started the Canadian Antiquarian and Numismatic Journal, which he edited for about 4 years. We don't know if Sandham was stung by Anthon's criticism. Sandham had taken full responsibility for the book including drawing all the coins for the eight full-page plates. As R. W. McLachlan notes in his sketch of Alfred Sandham (CANJ, Jan. 1911), Sandham received only a regular common school education -- cut short. In fairness, Anthon's review also contained much praise for Sandham. However, we do know that Sandham's book was not a financial success - 300 copies were printed, 250 bound and only 100 sold." IF GROUCHO REVIEWED NUMISMATIC LITERATURE "From the moment I picked your book up until I laid it down I was convulsed with laughter. Someday I intend reading it." -Julius "Groucho" Marx, 1890-1977 FEATURED WEB SITE This week's featured web site is an online exhibit of medals of Robert Burns from the Hunterian Museum Coin Gallery (Glasgow, Scotland). http://www.hunterian.gla.ac.uk/Archives/Coins/ 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)
