Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 4, Number 21, May 20, 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 
   Robert Yetman.  Welcome aboard!   Subscriber Nelson 
   Wolbert has been  found, thanks to Ken Barr.  Our 
   subscriber count is now 396. 
  

GEORGE FREDERICK KOLBE SALE 84 

   George Frederick Kolbe's 84th Auction Sale of Important 
   Numismatic Literature closes on June 16th, 2001. 
   Highlights include complete sets of Revue Numismatique, 
   Revue belge de Numismatique, and Numismatische 
   Zeitschrift.  In American numismatics, featured are a 
   plated 1890 Parmelee sale and the 1869 Maris work on 
   "Varieties of the Copper Issues of the United States' Mint 
   in the Year 1794"    A copy of the catalog is available online 
   at  http://www.numislit.com/.  For more information, write 
   to:  Numislit@compuserve.com 
  

ANA EXHIBIT DEADLINE APPROACHES 

   June 11th is the deadline for applications to exhibit at this 
   year's convention of the American Numismatic Association 
   (Atlanta, Georgia, August 8-12, 2001).   In 1991, the 
   Numismatic Bibliomania Society raised and donated $3,000 
   to the ANA to establish the Numismatic Literature category 
   and endow the Aaron Feldman Award, to be given each 
   year to the top numismatic literature exhibit.  Please support 
   your hobby and promote numismatic literature by placing 
   an exhibit this year. 
  

COCHRAN PAPER MONEY BOOK SALE 

   Bob Cochran of St. Louis writes: "I continue to enjoy the 
   "E-Sylum," and applaud you for all your efforts in producing 
   it for our enjoyment! 

   I've signed up for a table at the International Paper Money 
   Show in Memphis next month.  I'll be offering a LARGE 
   selection of U.S. currency references, including - a complete 
   set of PAPER MONEY, the journal of the Society of Paper 
   Money Collectors; a near-complete "set" of Obsolete 
   Currency reference books produced by SPMC (including the 
   now-rare Texas volume by Bob Medlar) and other privately- 
   published references (Bowen Michigan, Garland Tennessee, 
   and others), a long run of nice Friedberg "Paper Money of the 
   US" books, several dozen bank histories, old price lists and 
   catalogs (including the Mehl Grinnell sale, a LARGE group of 
   NASCA, Smythe and other obsoletes listings, old Hickman 
   & Oakes listings and mail bid catalogs; many other reference 
   books, auction catalogs, and other works covering U.S. 
   currency and banking. 

   I think I'm the FIRST person to have a table at Memphis 
   dedicated almost exclusively to reference books.  I'd love to 
   have my fellow NBS E-Sylum subscribers stop by and see 
   me if they're going to the show.   If anyone is looking for specific 
   items, I'll be happy to let them know if I have anything available. 
   THANKS!" 
  

PATTERN PUZZLER 

   Saul Teichman writes: "Here is a puzzle for the E-Sylum folks. 
   The trial piece below, struck on cardboard, was part of the 
   Charles Barber estate and was given by Stacks to the 
   Smithsonian in 1967 along with 2 other cardboard trials which 
   are much better known - Pollock 3512/15 and Pollock 3518/21. 
   The latter two are illustrated on the uspatterns.com website 

   It appears to be a trial piece for a token of some sort 
   containing a portrait and the words "Wolfe Tone" and "1798" 
   around.   Does anyone have any idea what this is or if there 
   are any tokens out there that ever used this design?" 

      http://uspatterns.com/uspatterns/whatisthis.html 
  

THE SPANISH INFLUENCE 

   Related to last week's announcement of the extensive study by 
   Thomas A. Kays on Spanish pistareens uncovered in hoards and 
   by metal detectors (Colonial Newsletter, April 2001), E-Sylum 
   subscriber Nolan Mims has an article on "The Spanish Influence" 
   on local money along the U.S. gulf coast in the April 2001 issue 
   of "Numismatic Views" (journal of the Gulf Coast Numismatic 
   Association). 
  

SUBSCRIBER PROFILE: JIM KENDALL 

   Recent subscriber Jim Kendall writes: "I believe I 
   learned of your organization through the American 
   Numismatic Association website.  I am also a member of 
   the ANA and I have restarted collecting along with my 
   eight year old son.  I wanted to get him interested in 
   collecting something that goes up in value unlike Pokemon 
   cards etc.  He has a natural interest in history so I try to tie 
   collecting to studying history to make it more interesting. 
   I had collected coins as a  kid and we used that as a 
   starting point.  We are now working on Morgan Dollars, 
   Walking Liberty Halves, Franklin Halves, Standing Liberty 
   Quarters, State Quarters, Mercury Dimes, Buffalo Nickels, 
   Indian Head Pennies and Lincoln Pennies. 

   I have collected historical books for years so, I thought your 
   organization might be of interest to explore further as we 
   pursue our coin collections. 

   I look forward to learning more about the organization. 
   Also, I live in the Boston area and wondered if there are 
   any bookstores that you know of that would be worth 
   investigating." 
  

TAMS LIBRARY UPDATE 

   E-Sylum subscriber and Token and Medal Society 
   librarian Peter Irion of Vermont published a report 
   on the TAMS library in the April 2001 issue of the 
   society's journal.  "... I am finally back from my project 
   in Penang, Malaysia, and can now devote much more 
   time to your library.  In addition to returning home, I have 
   also just recently moved in to a larger home.  The new 
   home is only about three miles away from my previous 
   home, but moving all of these books was a back-breaking 
   job.  I do not want to move again in the near future.... 
   During my travels in southeastern Asia I was able to 
   purchase several very interesting books and pamphlets on 
   the local tokens and medals and coinage.  Several books 
   have beautiful photos, but unfortunately are written 
   entirely in Thai or other local languages which I can not 
   read at all..." 
  

THE GIMELSON REPRINT 

   U.S. copper collectors may be familiar with the "Gimelson" 
   reprint of Crosby and Gilbert.  While sorting through the 
   clipping files of Glenn A. Mooney, your editor discovered 
   a Coin World ad dated June 1, 1962, offering the book 
   for sale.  "A must for every numismatic library / Reprints of / 
   Coinage of 1793. Cents & Half Cents / by S. S. Crosby / 
   United States Half Cents / by Gilbert / Two Books in One 
   Volume / With Nine Original Plates / All copies numbered 
   1-500 / Beautifully Bound / The Complete Volume $10.00 
   Postpaid / Bernard Gimelson / Coins & Currency, Inc. / 
   Telephone LO 3-4232 / 37 S. 18th Street / Philadelphia 3, 
   Pennsylvania" 
  

HACKEL'S MINT RECORD DESTRUCTION 

   In response to our discussion of library deaccession (and 
   sometime destruction) of runs of periodicals, Henry Bergos 
   writes:  "Let's not forget what Hackel did!!! Who said the 
   Vandals died out ..?     She destroyed the government Mint 
   records!!!   We, the numismatic community, went berserk - 
   there were a few groups who wanted to take them if the 
   government couldn't store them, but NO !!!!!!  - 
   She ordered them destroyed -- and so they were." 

   [Henry is referring to Mint Director Stella Hackel 
   (November 1977 - April 1988), who ordered the 
   destruction of a large group of U.S. Mint records. 
   Can anyone give us more information on what was 
   destroyed, or the circumstances of the action? - Editor ] 
  

MICKLEY INFORMATION OFFERED 

   In his May, 2001 fixed price list of American Numismatic 
   Literature, Karl Moulton offers a single bound photocopied 
   reprint of the Mickley Family Genealogy, compiled by 
   Minnie F. Mickley in 1893. "Found within is a 26-page 
   biography of Joseph Mickley written by his close friend, 
   J. Bunting.  This well detailed account of Mickley may have 
   been written in response to several earlier stories and myths 
   presented by A.M. Smith and W.E. Woodward. 

   I have written an article for one of Dave Bowers' upcoming 
   Rare Coin Reviews, which presents for the first time a 
   detailed account of Mickley's life along with his involvement 
   in American numismatics.  One of the major surprises is the 
   discrediting of the story having to do with Joseph Mickley 
   obtaining four over-dated quarters from the Mint in 1827." 
  

BOOKS ARE BOOKS 

   The following quote attributed to S. Laman Blanchard 
   appears in George Kolbe's 84's Sale catalog (p60): 

   "Books are books, but they are also men speaking to 
   present and future - human extensions beyond locality and 
   grave.  They are records, documents, sources, heritage, 
   literature, creative ideas given life and clothed with form. 
   They are the recorded sum of human wisdom and folly, 
   learning and ignorance, beauty and ugliness, nobility and 
   sordidness, faith and despair." 
  

FEATURED WEB SITE 

   This week's featured web page is "Poems on Libraries and 
   Books: A Librarian's Mini-Anthology" by Roth Publishing. 

      http://www.rothpoem.com/minianth.html 

   Included are the full text of the following poems: 

      "My Books" by Francis Bennoch 
      "The Library" by John Greenleaf Whittier 
      "In the Library" by Clinton Scollard 
      "In the Library" by Anne C. L. Botta 
      "Too Many Books" by Robert Leighton 
      "A Nook and a Book" by William Freeland 
      "The Art of Book-Keeping" by Laman Blanchard 

   The Blanchard poem is a bibliophile's lament about 
   books borrowed, but never returned.  Here's an 
   excerpt from Anne Botta's poem: 

      "In the Library" 
       By Anne C. L. Botta 

       Speak low - tread softly through these halls; 
       Here genius lives enshrined, - 
       Here reign, in silent majesty, 
       The monarchs of the mind. 

       A mighty spirit-host, they come 
       From every age and clime; 
       Above the buried wrecks of years 
       They breast the tide of time. 

       And in their presence-chamber here 
       They hold their regal state, 
       And round them throng a noble train, 
       The gifted and the great. 
  

   Wayne Homren 
  Numismatic Bibliomania Society