Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 6, Number 16, April 20, 2003:
an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society.
Copyright (c) 2003, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society.


SUBSCRIBER UPDATE

  Among recent new subscribers is Carl Binder, courtesy of
  John and Nancy Wilson.   Welcome aboard!  We now have
  543 subscribers.


APRIL 20TH BIRTHDAYS

  Today is April 20th, the birthday of Roman Emperor Marcus
  Aurelius (born 121AD).  It is also the birthday of Adolph
  Schickelgruber (born 1889), who later took his mother's maiden
  name of Hitler.

  Has anyone ever done a "numismatic birthdays" article or
  exhibit?


ANS GROVES FORUM / COAC 2003

  The American Numismatic Society has issued press releases
  for the upcoming Groves Forum and Coinage of the Americas
  Conference 2003.   Please note: the Groves Forum and COAC
  are two separate events and must be signed up for separately.
  The Groves Forum is free of charge.  COAC is $25 per person
  (lunch will be served).  For further information or to RSVP,
  contact Juliette Pelletier at (212) 234-3130 ext. 230 or
  pelletier@amnumsoc.org.

  "Groves Forum - Friday May 16, 2003
   Harvard Club, 27 West 44th Street, New York

  Graham Dyer. "The Royal Mint and North Carolina, 1754."
  The paper will examine the response by the authorities in
  London, and particularly by  the officers of the Royal Mint,
  to a proposal in 1754 by the Governor of North Carolina
  for a coinage of copper halfpence, pence and twopences.
  An attempt will be made through contemporary documentation
  to place the response in the context of Mint attitudes towards
  the coinage of copper at that time, both for Great Britain and
  for Ireland.

  COAC - Saturday, May 17, 2003
  Fraunces Tavern, 54 Pearl St., New York

  David T. Alexander. "Hessian 'Blood Money': the History
  and the Myth." The paper will explore the legendary
  "bloodthalers," their Hanoverian context, and the strange
  career of Rudolph Erich Raspe in the era of the  Revolution.

  Brian J. Danforth. "New Interpretations on Irish Coppers in
  the American Colonies:  The St. Patrick, Wood's Hibernia
  and Voce Populi Series."   Based on original research
  conducted in Ireland, England and America, this paper
  presents a new perspective on selected Irish coppers that
  contributed to the circulating medium of colonial America.
  The highlights of the presentation shall include:  the minter
  and production sequence of St. Patrick coppers, the
  circulation of Wood's Hibernia coinage in Ireland and the
  American colonies, and the events surrounding the issuance
  of the Voce Populi series.

  Margi Hofer. "Recent Discoveries in the New York
  Historical Society." As a result of cataloguing in preparation
  for opening a new study center, displaying the vast majority
  of its permanent collections long held in storage, significant
  numismatic discoveries have come to light at the New York
  Historical Society.  This presentation will focus on two
  groups of exciting finds: five very early medals of the Society
  of the Cincinnati, and a pair of United States pattern quarters
  from 1792.

  John Kraljevich. "Annapolis Silver: The Coinage of John
  Chalmers."  This will cover the currency context into which
  the Chalmers coins were issued, including archaeological
  finds of coins in the Chesapeake Bay region and contemporary
  paper money.  It will examine the place of Annapolis in the
  nation in 1783, when it was our first peacetime capital,
  through a look at documents from Washington and Jefferson
  among others. Finally, it will include John Chalmer's
  biography and the specifics of the coins he issued.

  Syd Martin. "The `Georgius Triumpho'/Danish West Indies
  Mule." The paper will examine the two newly discovered
  Georgius Triumpho/DWI mules in terms of (a) their physical
  characteristics and (b) where and when they were produced.
  This examination will tie together a number of loose ends
  with respect to an important addition to American colonial
  issues.

  Kent Ponterio.  "The First Coinage of the New World:
  Coins of the Mexico City Mint Struck during the Reign of
  Charles and Johanna." The paper will analyze recent
  discoveries in the sequences of issues and their assayers,
  based upon hoard study and original documentation."


ISRAELI ARCHAEOLOGISTS DISCOVER RARE COIN

  Dick Johnson writes: "My local paper ran this story today
  without any date or byline."

  Jerusalem -- Israeli archaeologist excavating caves near the
  Dead Sea have found nine rare silver coins believed to date
  back to a failed Jewish rebellion against the Romans in the
  second century.

  The coins add another layer to the story of the families
  Shimon Bar Kochba led into hiding in the caves of the
  Judean Desert -- what turned out to be the end of the
  second Jewish uprising against the Romans, which resulted
  in their exile.

  About 2,000 coins from the rebellion are known to exist,
  and this is only the second time archaeologists have found
  such coins on a dig, said Hanan Eshel, who led the digs
  and is the head of the Jewish Studies and Archaeology
  Department at Tel Aviv's Bar Ilan University.

  Of particular rarity is the largest Jewish coin ever issued,
  a half-ounce silver coin known as the Petra Drachma.


BOOKS SOUGHT

  Ralf W. Boepple of Stuttgart, Germany writes: "As I have
  successfully done a few months ago, I would once again like
  to address the E-Sylum readership with a request concerning
  recent numismatic publications. In the latest Ponterio catalog
  (Sale #125), Stewart Westdal describes a number of books
  that have arrived at his desk.  Some of them are of highest
  interest for me. I would be very grateful for information about
  where and how the following items might be obtained:

  "Os Recumbos de 960 Reis - The 960 Reis Overstrikes" by
  David Andre Levi, published in 2002

  "Philippine Counterstamped Coins, 1828-1839", by Quint Jose
  Oropilla y Fortich, published in 2001.


COIN WORLD NOTES

  The current issue of COIN WORLD (April 28, 2003)
  includes some items of interest to bibliophiles.

  Dan Freidus' "Colonial Americana" column (p62) highlights
  Sylvester Crosby's 1875 work, "The Early Coins of
  America."   He writes: "While some 19th century novels
  remain popular, that's shocking longevity for a reference
  book.  Historical research is rarely still current after a
  generation, let alone a century.  Sylvester Crosby's
   "The Early Coins of America" remains an essential item
  on the bookshelf of any numismatist interested in pre-
  federal coinage."

  On p82 is a short item about a new club for colonial
  collectors who specialize in Massachusetts silver.
  "A group of people interested in Massachusetts silver
  coinage has founded an informal club called the New
  England Shilling Society."

  "The purpose of the club is to promote correspondence
  and discussion of the historic series from the
  Massachusetts Bay Colony."

  "Anyone who owns a piece of Massachusetts silver
  is invited to join.   There will be no dues or obligations.
  For additional information, contact Geoff Noe at
  Noe14oak@yahoo.com

  Eric von Klinger has a nice illustrated article on U.S.
  Assay Offices, an overlooked byway of American
  Numismatics (p72).  Wouldn't it be nice if someone
  published a book or monograph on the subject?
  Has a comprehensive article or pamphlet been done
  before?


BOOK QUERIES

  Rusty Goe of  Southgate Coins, Reno, Nevada writes, "Does
  anyone knows why the following two reference works are not
  available:

  - Krause's 1991 Auction Prices Realized (Listing prices for
    auctions held in 1990)
  - Gobrecht Journal Collective Volume #3"

  [Well, the Gobrecht Journal volume 3 has indeed been
  published - I have copies of volumes 1,2,3 & 4 on my
  shelf.   Can anyone tell us about the 1991 APR?
  -Editor]


BARTH STUDY OF GERMAN NUMISMATIC JOURNALS

  Ralf Boepple continues: "Concerning Tom Fort's idea of a
  list of recent publications on numismatic literature, I fully
  support this task. It might be difficult, however, to draw up
  clear definitions of what should be included and what not.
  For a start, I would like to mention the following reference
  to a non-English article, which clearly falls within the range set
  by Mr. Fort:

  Barth, Matthias: "'Erscheint so Gott will Montags' - Deutsche
  numismatische Zeitschriften aus fünf Jahrhunderten", in:
  Numismatisches Nachrichtenblatt, September 2002, 51.
  Jahrgang, pp. 350 - 387.

  This is an exhaustive study of 500 years of numismatic
  journals in Germany and was published in the 50th anniversary
  issue of the journal of the Deutsche Numismatische
  Gesellschaft. The author counted about 200 publications,
  concentrating on Germany alone and only occasionally
  touching Austrian or Swiss journals!

  I will go back to my library and see if I can come up with
  more references from this side of the ocean!"


MORE JOHN FORD COLLECTION SALES

  As a follow up to Bob Lyall's note on sales from the John J.
  Ford Jr. collection,  Rich Hartzog adds: "And, of course,
  Stacks sold his Slave Tags a few years ago."


NUMISMATICS ON THE RADIO

  Our items on numismatic radio shows prompted Dave
  Lange to write: "I've been interviewed a number of times for
  radio shows about coins. All of these were done live via
  telephone. I have some of these shows on tape in my
  library, while one is still available online. Here's the link:

  http://12.162.161.64/cart/ProductDetail.asp?PR_ProductID=993


COLLECTION INVENTORIES

  In response to Ray Williams' item about collection inventories,
  Nancy Green, ANA Librarian writes: "The ANA library would
  also be happy to preserve collection inventories. Please don't
  forget about the rest of the country, i.e. the part outside of the
  east coast."


CORRECTION: CONSIMILAR COINS

  As a follow-up to our earlier discussion of consimilar coins,
  Ken Berger writes: "It's been too many years since I've looked
  at part my collection.   The Palo Seco Leper Colony Tokens
  do not have the same obverse & reverse.   I apologize for the
  misinformation."


TAKE MY BOOKS, PLEASE

  Ray Williams writes: "I was actually given a small library from
  a woman whose husband passed away.  I was assisting the
  Trust Dept of the bank where Diane works, with the dispersal
  of the collection.  While at the widow's house, she invited me
  into a room where her husband studied his coins.  She asked
  me if I needed any books and looking through, I said that
  there were about a dozen that I'd like to make an offer for...
  She said "NO" and said that there was only one way I was
  getting the books and that was that I MUST take all of the
  books and do it right now.  It was all immediately, or nothing.
  So Bill and I loaded them into the back of my car and I was
  riding a little low on my springs all the way home.  She was
  aware that some of the books had value, but just wanted to
  do something nice for me."

  [Your Editor had a somewhat similar situation one time.  I
  had purchased the bulk of one gentleman's library from his
  widow, and she asked me to return a few years later to
  make an offer on the remaining books. There weren't a lot
  of books, but some were quite desirable.  A fair offer could
  have been as much as $3,000, but finances were tight and
  I apologetically said, "I'm afraid I can only offer you $2,300,"
  which was the sum total of my available funds at the time.
  She replied, "Oh, I wouldn't think of accepting an offer
  like that.  I won't take a penny over a thousand dollars -
  that will be plenty."  -Editor]


FEATURED WEB SITE

  This week's featured web site is suggested by Joe Levine,
  who writes:  "Here's an interesting new site, for Ben Weiss's
  medallic collection."

     http://www.historicalartmedals.com/




  Wayne Homren
  Numismatic Bibliomania Society