Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 4, Number 10, March 4, 2001:
an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society.
Copyright (c) 2001, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society.
SUBSCRIBER UPDATES
We have one new subscriber this week, NBS member
Dave Petrashek. Welcome aboard! Our subscriber
count is now 372.
EARTHQUAKE REPORT
Seattle-area resident and NBS Vice President Tom Sheehan
filed this report on Wednesday's earthquake: "I was at the
kitchen counter when the quake hit. Then just like the prepared
person I am, did everything wrong. Just as I thought the quake
was over I decided to check on a neighbor and went to the front
door under our skylight, which is about eight feet wide and fifteen
feet long. Not too smart.
Anyway, I just read an e-mail from my sister in San Francisco.
If I would take what she read in the newspaper down there the
quake must have been "The Big One" If you look at a map you
will see that Renton is south of Seattle and Edmonds where I live
is north of Seattle. Her paper had Renton north of Seattle. I
will have to go outside and see just how close I am now to the
Boeing Renton plant. Moving an entire city 30 or 40 miles would
have to qualify as a major earthquake.
In my own situation I don't think anything has moved. It would
have been great if a few numismatic books could have moved into
my shelves, say some from George Kolbe or maybe from that
collector DH.
Overall though, parts of the state have been declared a disaster
area and the estimate for damage is now running at 2 billion.
Only one fatality, due to a heart attack. We are very lucky."
Tom's daughter Erika provided a link to this moving account of
the earthquake:
http://www.memail.com/fotos/Shaker.html
Another Seattle-area resident, Large Cent researcher Del
Bland, reported by phone that his home suffered only
minor damage, such as some new hairline cracks in
ceilings. When the quake hit, his wife wisely moved under
a doorjamb. But not Del - "I had to hold up my
bookshelves to make sure they didn't fall over..."
We bibliophiles really ARE nuts, aren't we?
MORTENSEN NUMISMATIC LITERATURE SITE
Longtime NBS member and E-Sylum subscriber
Morten Eske Mortensen of Copenhagen, Denmark
has unveiled a new web site devoted to literature on
Roman coins, ancient coins, Islamic coins, World coins,
Scandinavian coins, Viking age coins, Medieval coins,
and coin hoards.
The site offers new books, used books, old books,
out-of-print books, antiquarian books, and book
reviews. Mortensen is the publisher of Coin Price
Yearbooks, a compilation of auction prices realized.
http://home.worldonline.dk/~mem/
MOULTON CATALOG OF CATALOGUES 1990-2000
Karl Moulton has compiled "A Listing of Sales by the
Major American Auction Companies" of the last decade.
Picking up where Martin Gengerke's listing ended,
Moulton's "United States Numismatic Auction Catalogues
1990-2000" is available from the author at $29.95 plus
$4 shipping & handling.
The 60-page spiral-bound softcover reference lists
all catalogues issued during the period by forty major
firms, including Stack's, Bowers & Merena, Classical
Numismatic Group, and Currency Auctions of America.
Numismatic literature dealers are listed as well, including
Remy Bourne, Charles Davis, Function Associates /
Lake Books, Orville Grady, George Kolbe, and The
Money Tree.
For each catalogue, the date and name of the sale are
listed, along with the number of pages and lots, and
the names of the listed consignors. Where appropriate,
there is an indication of the type of material offered for sale.
. Unfortunately, there is no index of consignors - this would
be a useful addition for a future update. Karl has done a
great service to our hobby; numismatics doesn't stand
still, and even the greatest references need to be brought
up to date periodically. He can be reached at this email
address: numiscats@aol.com
NBS WEB SEARCH BEING DISCONTINUED
The full-text search service now available on the NBS
web site will be discontinued on or before April 15,
2001. Searchbutton.com, which provided the service
for free in return for displaying ads on the search results
page, will no longer offer the search to sites like ours
(and we can't afford the $5000 "corporate service"
they're trying to sell us).
This is unfortunate, for the search service was a great way
to locate information in past issues of The E-Sylum.
Have any of our readers tried compiling an E-Sylum index?
Anyone care to try? It would be time-consuming to create,
but would be a very useful tool to have.
CRIME OF 1873
Bob Van Ryzin provided the following information on his new
book. "This is the book I long wanted to have published and,
with 25 chapters, it covers a lot of territory.
'Crime of 1873: The Comstock Connection', just released by
Krause Publications, culminates research I have been doing
into the history of the Coinage Act of 1873 since the 1970s.
Along the way, I had the good fortune to uncover a series of
previously unpublished letters that show conclusively that not
all was above board with the passage of this important act.
The book begins with William C. Ralston’s death under
mysterious circumstances one day after the collapse of the
Bank of California, of which he was a founder and president.
By the late 1860s much of the Comstock Lode was
controlled by Ralston and his “bank ring.”
Early chapters cover the discovery of the lode and the dire fate
of its locators, the beginning of deep mining, hazards of mining
the lode, the great Gold Hill fire of 1869, the building of the
bank-controlled Virginia and Truckee Railroad, and Adolph
Sutro’s tunnel. The book then moves into the heart of my
research, detailing Ralston’s early career in Panama and as a
San Francisco shipping agent (he was on hand for the departure
of the ill-fated treasure ship the Yankee Blade), followed by
his involvement in early California banking, the formation of the
Bank of California, and his rise to power on the lode.
By the late 1860s Ralston had come in contact with Dr. Henry
R. Linderman. This relationship was first observed by John M.
Willem Jr. in The United States Trade Dollar, but Willem could
find no evidence of Ralston’s involvement in anything related to
coinage. Willem also concluded, logically (considering the
known source material at that time), that Linderman had little
to do with the mint bill until shortly before its passage.
This proves, however, to be incorrect. In some very candid
letters written by Linderman to Ralston from 1871-1873
(including one signed under the alias “Guyescutes”), the
Treasury agent reveals not only his behind-the-scenes role in
key provisions of the mint bill that would benefit the silver
interests but also that he was taking payments from Ralston
in return for his efforts.
I was able to obtain a photograph of a $3,500 bill of
exchange made out to Linderman, the supporting letter in
which Linderman requested that sum, and Ralston’s
response, agreeing to pay an additional $5,000 for
Linderman’s continued vigilance. The letters and Bank of
California sight draft are reproduced in the book with
complete documentation as to source.
Additional letters show that Linderman and Ralston were
aware of the coming decline in silver nearly a year prior to
the bill’s final passage and worked to place the nation on a
gold standard (through passage of the mint bill) before it
could be flooded with silver, while securing provision for the
Trade dollar and making plans to replace fractional currency
with subsidiary silver coins to support silver prices.
Linderman would continue to act on Ralston’s behalf after
taking over as Mint director in 1873, though evidence of any
additional payments is lacking. Through his “Old Man” letters
of 1874 and early 1875, it is clear he helped Ralston to secure
some previously blocked provisions as part of the Specie
Resumption Act.
Just prior to his death, Linderman was under investigation in
Congress for, among other things, taking stock payments from
the lode’s Bonanza Kings. The book includes what is known
of the investigation, the story of Linderman’s coin collection,
and his estate records.
Later chapters focus on Ralston’s fall from power on the lode,
the discovery of the Big Bonanza, the collapse of the Bank of
California, and Ralston’s death in San Francisco Bay. The rise
of the Free Silver Movement is also detailed as are the myths
of foreign intrigue surrounding the Crime of 1873 developed
by free silver writers.
Sandwiched in and around this story are chapters dealing with
collecting Morgan and Trade dollars (including current pricing
and a timeline for each date), the Carson City Mint, the GSA
silver dollar sales, and William Jennings Bryan’s 1896
presidential bid and the Bryan Money it spawned.
The book is hard cover, 304 pages, 8.5” x 11.” It includes
more than 300 photos (many Comstock or coin related), and is
priced at $34.95. It is available directly from the publisher or
at major bookstores."
SUBSCRIBER PROFILE: TONY CARLOTTO
Tony Carlotto of Sheffield, MA writes: "I look forward to
The E-Sylum every week. This week was especially
enlightening and educational. There is always some new bit
of trivia or plain old solid information to be had. I know this
takes a great deal of your time each week and I appreciate it.
I am sure all recipients feel the same as I do.
I collect primarily literature on early copper and anything
relating to the manufacture of coins. In the coin department
Vermonts are my favorite followed by Nova Constellatios
and Nova Eboracs. Newspapers and documents of
1770-1800 are high on the list too. I also dabble in British
with a George III main focus and some ancients."
Carlotto's book on "The Copper Coins of Vermont' was
published in 1998 by C-4, the Colonial Coin Collectors Club.
AN AUCTION LOT TO DYE FOR
Former NBS President Michael J. Sullivan chimes in about
the Dye's Counterfeit Detector discussed in recent issues
of The E-Sylum. He writes: "Regarding the Dye item sold
on E-Bay for which I was the underbidder, the reckless
bidding relates to the absolute rarity of the item. The only
source listed in OCLC for the item is the Western Reserve
Historical Society. I contacted the WRHS and they are
unable to locate it; sometimes impounded items just die and
get buried!
Despite being produced in Cincinnati, no local library nor
historical society owns a copy despite two Ormsby's being
in town! Go Figure! Well, to make it real simple - I was
attempting to take it back home to Cincinnati. In reality,
the item is worth $200 or so."
SHEDDING LIGHT ON THE SUBJECT
Doug Owens writes: "I am aware that books should be
kept out of direct sunlight. How bad is it to keep books
in a room that it brightly lit by sunlight, but with no direct
light hitting the books? I want to keep the spines from
fading."
Can any of our readers supply an answer? Obviously,
direct sunlight is much harsher than indirect, but just
how much of a problem can indirect sunlight cause?
MORELOS MONOGRAPH REPRINT FOUND
Adrián González Salinas of Monterrey, N.L. México writes:
"I would like to congratulate you for your extraordinary effort
to structure The E-Sylum week after week and very punctually
...with a lot of valuable information for all of us. Every Monday
morning I enjoy reading it with a good coffee cup. It has a lot
of information unknown to me. In my case, I have a very
humble library of Mexican numismatic books, plus the latest
books of Mr. Q. David Bowers.
According to your very interesting article titled "A Chronology
of Lyman Low's Treatise on Mexican Revolutionary Coinage"
(The Asylum - Volume XIV, Nos. 2-4 - Fall, 1996), I would
like to inform you that in December 2000 I obtained a copy
titled: "La Moneda del General Insurgente Don José María
Morelos" Ensayo Numismático - Lyman Haynes Low y Dr.
Nicolás León - Tipografía del Gobierno de Morelos - Dirigida
por Luis G. Miranda - Cuernavaca - Año 1897.
This is a facsimile publication printed in Morelia, Michoacán,
México on December 21, 1981 by Ediciones Casa de San
Nicolás (Morelia, Michoacán). This edition is totally in Spanish.
Until now, I couldn't find any better reference of this treatise.
At very recent numismatic auctions (in USA, Spain and Mexico)
I remember some of the Morelos coinage has appeared, and in
many cases, some of them uncataloged.".
NUMISMATIC WORKS OF FRED REINFELD
Leonard D. Augsberger published "The Numismatic Works
of Fred Reinfeld: A Biography and Bibliography" in the
November-December 2000 issue of Rare Coin Review
(#138).
"Although the name of Fred Reinfeld is not in the forefront
of American numismatics today, decades ago he played a
very important part in the popularization of the hobby.
His books about rare coins were sold widely and received
a very appreciative audience."
Numismatic bibliophiles may not be aware that Reinfeld
is also "considered the most prolific author of American
chess books, with over 200 titles to his credit....
Reinfeld's strength as a chess author was his ability to
explain abstract ideas in layman's terms."
Augsberger's article details information on all of Reinfeld's
nineteen numismatic works, including population data
derived from numismatic literature auctions and fixed
price lists.
QUIZ QUESTION
Asylum Editor Tom Fort writes; "Here is a trivia question for
your readers: Who is the only numismatic author ever to win
the Nobel Prize for Literature?"
Your editor is stumped, but to help the rest of you, here's
a link to a comprehensive list of past prizewinners:
http://www.nobel.se/literature/laureates/
STRING FLING
[The following story is taken from this week's Featured
Web Site]
"An 80-year-old man in Frankfurt-on-Main protected himself
from thieves in an amazingly simple way by attaching his
wallet to his jacket with 2 metres of string. This safety measure
worked excellently. Immediately after a pickpocket's attack
the thief tried to flee but was captured by the crowd, since the
clever old pensioner had attached a little bell to the string to
draw attention to his situation."
FEATURED WEB SITE
This week's featured web site is maintained by
Zurich-based coin collector Jorg Conzett. It was
recommended to us by E-Sylum subscriber Ralf W.
Boepple. Below is the URL for the English version.
The site holds many pages of interesting stories about
money and coinage, including "Silver In A Dung Heap"
(about Silver Coins artificially aged in a manure pile).
http://www.moneymuseum.com/index_english.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,
Terry White, Treasurer Numismatic Bibliomania Society
P. O. Box 634, Canal Winchester, Ohio 43110
(To be removed from this mailing list
write to me at whomren@coinlibrary.com)
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