Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 6, Number 20, May 18, 2003:
an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society.
Copyright (c) 2003, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society.


SUBSCRIBER UPDATE

  Among recent new subscribers are Professor Li Tiesheng.
  Welcome aboard!  We now have 558 subscribers.


EUROPEAN NUMISMATIC LITERATURE SYMPOSIUM

  Hadrien Rambach reports: "The 54th Symposium of
  Wolfenbuettel (Germany), which was consecrated on
  "European 17 Century Numismatic Literature", took place
  from 6th to 10th May 2003.  Under the direction of Drs.
  Dekesel and Staecker, this symposium was brilliantly
  organised, and allowed many scholars to discuss on this
  really interesting period of the development of the numismatic
  science.  The symposium should be published asap, and it
  will really be worth being read !"


PHILIPPINE COLLECTORS FORUM & BIBLIOGRAPHY

  Howard A. Daniel III writes: "Ken Berger's search for a
  Philippine counterstamp book is fortunately not too common,
  but it can be very frustrating to come across numismatists and
  others who will not share information about acquiring
  references.

  At this year's ANA Convention in Baltimore, there will be a
  Philippine Collectors Forum (PCF) on Friday.  I am creating
  a Philippine Numismatic Bibliography (PNB) and need input
  from all E-Sylum subscribers about these references in their
  libraries.  Even if there is only one page in a reference about
  this subject, please tell me about it.

  I will have my laptop and printer at the NI/NBS/IBNS club
  table at this convention and will print a copy of my PNB for
  anyone requesting it.

  I would like to invite everyone with any interest in Philippine
  numismatics to attend the forum.  Many collectors, dealers,
  researchers and publishers are coming to it from all over the
  world, to include the Philippines, so it will be a great event!"


NEW JUDD PATTERN BOOK

  Saul Teichman writes: "A new 8th edition of the Judd book
  will be coming out at the ANA convention.  For more
  information, see:
  http://uspatterns.com/uspatterns/newjuddbook.html"

  From the web page:  "The 8th Edition of the Judd book is
  being produced by our friends at Whitman Publishing and
  should be available by the 2003 ANA convention. The
  price for the new edition will be $29.95.

  This new edition has been completely reformatted to make
  it more usable.

  Dave Bowers, with the help of Saul Teichman and others,
  including the core of the uspatterns.com membership, has
  completely revised the text, adding much new information.
  Many more images are also included."

  Chris Karstedt of American Numismatic Rarities sent
  some additional information about the book's pre-publication
  discount:

  "In recent months, a number of America's best known
  scholars and dealers have been working apace in the
  creation of a magnificent new book on pattern coins, to be
  known as the "Judd 8th edition", but mostly in name only.
  Dave Bowers has virtually completely rewritten the text from
  1792 to the latest patterns of modern times; Robert Hughes
  and his consultants have created estimated market values
  in three grades plus auction  prices for most of the varieties;
  and Saul Teichman and others have presented historical
  research and die details."

  "This new and expanded edition includes:
    Price updates
    Population reports
    Judd identification numbers
    Rarity numbers
    Auction appearances
    Full-color hardbound cover

  You can receive this book at our special pre-publication price
  of only $25 plus $5 shipping. Call Melissa Karstedt today at
  866-840-1913 to reserve your copy.  It will be shipped to you
  immediately upon publication, scheduled for July 2003. Or, you
  can go to http://www.anrcoins.com to complete an order form
  that can be mailed or faxed  to us.  We're sure that many
  readers of The E-Sylum will want to own a copy.  Our
  complete information is as follows:

  American Numismatic Rarities, LLC
  P.O. Box 1804
  Wolfeboro, NH  03894
  email address: sales at anrcoins.com
  Fax:  603-569-3875"


THE PERSONALIZED MEDALIST

  NBS President Pete Smith writes: "I am looking for copies
  of a periodical, "The Personalized Medalist" produced by
  Jerry Remick around 1985.  A former subscriber told me that
  about a dozen issues were distributed.  Photocopies would
  be fine for my research purposes.  I would appreciate getting
  any responses forwarded to me by mail at:  Pete Smith, 2424
  4th Street NE, Minneapolis, MN 55418."


J. E. SKALB INFORMATION SOUGHT

  Pete also asks: "I am looking for information on the person
  who produced a counterstamped silver coin marked "J. E.
  Skalb / Numismatist / Boston."

  I have nothing on Skalb in my notes of references.  I would like
  to identify the era and anything of interest about Skalb."

  [In a first for The E-Sylum, Pete's submissions arrived via the
  U.S. Postal Service.  Since they were short, I typed them in for
  publication.  We aim to serve.  -Editor]


PRIVATE  MINTS  REPORT

  Dick Johnson writes: "I have just returned from a 2-week tour
  where I visited several private mints gathering last-minute data
  for my upcoming directory:  American Artists, Diesinkers,
  Engravers, Medalists and Sculptors of Coins and Medals.
  These plant tours opened my eyes; it has been 25 years since
  I worked for Medallic Art (in New York City and Danbury)
  where I was intimately concerned with medal design, die
  preparations, stamping and marketing of high-quality medals.

  Here are my comments on the current status of the American
  Medal from my recent observations:

 (1) Private Mints are vibrant, business was brisk at both plants I visited.

 (2) However, Speed is killing Art in current medal manufacturing.

  Either customers are demanding product in too quick a time
  or the medalmakers have come to offer such service that
  medallic artists are being shut out of creating the fine art
  medals of the past. The bulk of  the work is being done by
  hand operators using tracer controlled milling engravers,
  rather than reducing sculptors' oversize models on die-
  engraving pantographs. Craftsmen have won out over artists.

  (3) Medal manufacturing is now a scion of the advertising specialty field.
       

  (4) Computers are dominating medal design, and even some die preparation.
        

  (5) Every medalmaker I visited had carved out their own
      niche in the medallic field, despite competition among
      all their fellow American medalmakers.

  (6) Current medalmakers are encouraging innovation, in
       the diestruck items they produce, in some parts of their
       production (using all the old equipment I was familiar
       with a generation ago), but mostly in creative mounting.
       The later now give new clients the answer to the age-old
       question, "What do you do with a medal?"

   Too much of what I saw going through these plants,
   however, were destined for the recipients' junk drawer
   (or a melting pot!), and should any of these medals ever get
   into the hands of some future numismatic dealer would be
   tossed into their cheapest junk box.  Too many corporate
   logos, too many devices alone without any reason for their
   issuing, all of this because of the influence of the advertising
   specialty field.

  Oh, how much better would all that effort and money be put
  to creating medals in what medallic art does best -- creating
  mementos of historical importance for future generations,
  honoring, say,  an organization's anniversary or a company
  milestone. That is, striking a medal for a significant event!"


F.C.C. BOYD

  Darryl Atchison writes; "Can any of our readers tell me what
  the second C. in the name F.C.C. Boyd stands for?   According
  to publications by Pete Smith and Dave Bowers, the first C.
  stands for Cosgrove but there is no mention of the second C.'s
  meaning.  Perhaps it didn't stand for anything."

  [Boyd was a famous American collector who cataloged the
  1922 New York American Numismatic Association auction.
  He was also well known as a collector of U.S. Fractional
  Currency, and when an organization of collectors formed, they
  took Boyd's initials - FCCB now also stands for the Fractional
  Currency Collector's Board.  I've been a member for longer
  than I can remember.  The group has a web site at this
  address:  http://www.fractionalcurrency.org/. Unfortunately,
  the site does not seem to even mention Boyd.  -Editor]


ANOTHER SMALL NUMISMATIC BOOK

  Tony Tumonis of Tucson, Arizona writes: "I thought that I had
  the smallest book, but after reading this newsletter I now know
  otherwise.  I have a copy of ARRANGEMENT OF UNITED
  STATES COPPER CENTS 1816-1857 by Frank D. Andrews
  1883 / Pocket Edition 1934.  Price One Dollar.  It measures
  3 1/2" x 3 3/4", with 38 pages."


POSTAGE STAMP ENVELOPES

  Nick Graver writes: "I enjoyed the latest E-Sylum, as always.
  I almost began to mention which articles interested me most,
  and quickly realized what a job that would be.  So many were
  very interesting.

  I cannot believe I am only now reading about the "Postage
  Stamp Envelopes" after all these years in the field.  Amazing!
  Half a  century of collecting, and still such exciting things to
  read about.  E-Sylum has been the most interesting part of
  numismatics for the last several years."

  [I have three postage stamp envelopes, and took them out of
  the safe deposit box this week to show at local club meetings.
  I bought them several years ago to go with my collection of
  encased postage stamps.  I first learned of them in a visit to
  the ANA Library in 1980.  I looked up Civil War in their
  catalog, and found a 1920's article by H. Russell Drowne
  in the AJN.  Very little has been published on them since
  then, although they are cataloged now, in the Krause/Lemke
  U.S. paper money book, I believe.  -Editor]


MEDAL REFERENCES SOUGHT

  Darryl Atchison writes: "I would like ask our readers if
  anyone is aware of publications on French, Spanish and
  Dutch medals.  I am particularly interested in those which
  include medals presented to North American Indian Chiefs.
  I have all  of the major references on British, U.S. and
  Canadian medals and I am looking for publications
  covering the medals of the other three nations.  I would
  particularly interested if there are any texts such as Hawkins
  (Medallic  Illustrations of British History) or Betts (American
  Colonial History Illustrated by Contemporary Medals) for
  France, Spain or Holland.  It is not essential any such texts
  be in English."


JOSEPH MICKLEY AND THE TURK

  A letter to the Editor in the May 19th issue of COIN WORLD
  makes reference to American numismatist Joseph Mickley.
  The writer is Dr. Gerald M. Levitt, author of the 2000 book
  "The Turk, Chess Automaton."

  "The Turk" was a mysterious contraption created in 1769 by a
  Hungarian nobleman named Wolfgang von Kempelen. "The
  Turk" was a mechanical man positioned over a chessboard.
  In performances, Kempelen would open it to reveal a rat's
  nest of  gears and machinery, then challenge audience members
  to play the Turk.  Very few were able to beat it. Audiences
  were baffled and many concluded that they'd witnessed a
  machine that could think.  Napoleon and Charles Babbage,
  inventor of an early computing machine, played games against
  the Turk.  Edgar Allan Poe wrote essay about it. In 1826 a
  later owner brought the machine to America, and in 1854, it
  was destroyed in a fire.

  At the end of Levitt's letter he mentions that "Joseph Mickley,
  the noted American coin collector, is closely associated with
  Turk history."   Can anyone tell us the connection?

  A web search turned up the fact that a reproduction of The
  Turk has been created and it "will make an appearance at
  the National Open Chess Tournament at the Riviera Hotel
  in Las Vegas on Saturday, June 14, 2003.   There will be no
  charge for admission.  Performances are scheduled at 9 a.m.
  and at 4 p.m."  See http://rfeditor.tripod.com/turk0303.html


THE BOOK-SCANNING ROBOT ARRIVES

  The E-Sylum has touched on the subject of digitizing
  numismatic literature in the past.  A May 20th article in
  the New York Times may gives us a glimpse of the
  future - a book-scanning robot that can process literature
  faster than humans.

  "Putting the world's most advanced scholarly and scientific
  knowledge on the Internet has been a long-held ambition for
  Michael Keller, head librarian at Stanford University. But
  achieving this goal means digitizing the texts of millions of
  books, journals and magazines - a slow process that involves
  turning each page, flattening it and scanning the words into
  a computer database.

  Mr. Keller, however, has recently added a tool to his crusade.
  On a recent afternoon, he unlocked an unmarked door in the
  basement of the Stanford library to demonstrate the newest
  agent in the march toward digitization. Inside the room a
  Swiss-designed robot about the size of a sport utility vehicle
  was rapidly turning the pages of an old book and scanning the
  text.  The machine can turn the pages of both small and large
  books as well as bound newspaper volumes and scan at
  speeds of more than 1,000 pages an hour."

  For the full text of the article, see
  http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/12/technology/12TURN.html?th


SCANNING CHAPMAN CATALOGS

  A related exchange appeared this week in the colonial coins
  email list.  When the subject of scanning photographic plates
  came up, Neil Rothschild attempted "to explain that a Chapman
  catalog ... needs to be treated with respect."  He wrote:

  For the benefit of those that have not ventured into bibliophilia
  but are contemplating such foolishness...

  The original Chapmans were bound in white cloth and boards
  (WCB), as is mine.  The back of the sown signatures are
  heavily glued.  The glue has generally gotten brittle over the
  years.   They generally don't like to lay flat, and attempting to
  lay them flat could damage the binding and the original bindings
  have a lot of value vs a later re-bound copy.  This is especially
  true of the thicker sales, such as Earle and Jenks.   Not to
  mention damaging a plate while attempting to scan or
  photograph it.

  My plated Earle sale is considered to be a nice copy and I
  want to keep it that way. I have another Earle in it's original
  WCB binding, from the Bowers sale of the Champa library
  (not plated).  In a discussion with Charlie Davis, who
  catalogued that library, he told me that that copy was among
  the nicest white cloth and boards he had ever handled.  If
  that is true, then there probably aren't any that CAN be laid
  flat without damage.  Even that copy is very stiff, and, in fact,
  the inner binding has "creased" right at the colonial section
  (prior to my acquisition).  So that copy could possibly be
  laid flat almost anywhere except in the colonial section!.
  I should note that Charlie's comments were not directed
  specifically at the binding, or it's willingness to open, but
  applied to the general condition of the book.

  This is true of most older material in original bindings.  I recall
  a discussion with Dan Friedus about this where he mentioned
  that he had, or was contemplating, building a book stand with
  the sides at about a 90-120 degree angle so a book could be
  opened and supported without damaging the binding.

  There is a conflict between research needs and bibliophilic
  (read: economic) preservation.  The best numismatic
  literature [for research] is the ratty, disbound stuff that can't
  be hurt.  Anyone contemplating building a serious library
  should carefully consider that conflict and what they are
  going to do with that material."


ANOTHER NUMISMATIC BOWERS: GEORGE

  Following Neil's reply Stan Stephens added:
  "You are absolutely right about the conflict between research
  and preservation when it comes to rare old numismatic material.
  I only have two original Chapmans 1) plated Stickney 2) non
  plated Jenks. Both with prices neatly written in by hand. The
  cool thing about them is that I am only the second owner. They
  came from that weird estate auction in the middle of West
  Virginia three summers ago. Mr. George Bowers, the owner,
  had been dead for 40 years. It was not until all three of his
  sisters who lived in the Bower's 29 room home were finally
  dead (none ever married) did a few lucky distant relatives find
  out that a small fortune waited for them. There were essentially
  no changes made to inside of the house since Bowers died.
  There were over 20,000 books including many numismatic
  rarities.  For instance three Crosbys were part of the collection.
  When I got the Stickney home and opened it up I found
  three pages of hand written notes detailing the arrival of Halley's
  Comet in 1910. You see Mr. Bowers was also an amateur
  astronomer and yes, a very nice brass telescope was among
  the auction items."

  [Your editor heard about the Bowers auction only after the
   fact, or he would have hightailed it to West Virginia to be
   there.   The handful of coin dealers who attended had a
   field day.  Like many country auctions, low-value items sold
   to the crowd for high prices.  But the truly rare stuff went
   for a song.   A web search found two references to Bowers
   and the sale.  Excerpts appear below.  Follow the links for
   the full article

  "Businessman George Bowers, of nearby Mannington, was
  the ultimate shopper, a material man who amassed over a
  museum's worth of stuff in his 28-room home.  These effects
  could fill San Simeon, publisher William Randolph Hearst's
  massive mountaintop California retreat.

  Bowers died in the 1940s after building up the Bowers
  Pottery Co. and the Warwick China Co. His china was
  elegant. The other half of the business wasn't. Pottery
  in Mannington meant porcelain, and porcelain meant toilets
  and other bathroom fixtures.

  People in town knew the Bowers family was well off.  But
  few, if any, realized just what treasures were contained inside
  the walls of the ever-expanding house on High Street that had
  been owned by Bowers' father.

  Through the years, the collection grew, filling to fit the
  contours of the house. It seems there was nothing George
  Bowers would not buy. After he died, his three daughters
  remained under the same roof where they had grown up,
  never marrying. Their home became stuck in time, frozen
  in 1945.

  Bowers' last remaining daughter, Frances, died in March.
  In her will, she directed that all her father's belongings be
  auctioned off."

  [From The Journal newspapers, reprinted from the
  Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]
  http://www.jrnl.net/news/00/Jun/jrn95260600.html

  This page has a photo of books being previewed before
  the sale.
  http://www.labs.net/anaiselise/timlin/timlin.htm


CRYSTAL CITY INTERNMENT CAMP TOKENS

  David Klinger wrote the following item for the MPCgram,
  and with their permission we're reprinting it here.   It
  illustrates Len Augsberger's point about how fast the
  Internet is growing.  What I wrote the Money Talks article
  there was very little information to be had about the camp
  or its tokens, but now there is a nice web page picturing
  them.

  Len wrote: "I recently read about money used at a
  Japanese-American internment camp in Crystal City, Texas
  during and just after WW II. I had never seen such money
  which was described by Wayne Homren in an ANA "Money
  Talks" script as follows: "The camp at Crystal City, TX, a
  hundred miles southwest of San Antonio, was a converted
  migrant farm labor camp.  The facility housed entire families,
  and held a peak population of over 3,000 people.  Residents
  of the camp were allotted a standard sum of money in fiber
  tokens.  These tokens could be spent for food, clothing, and
  other items at the camp canteen.  The tokens came in
  denominations ranging from one cent to $5.  When the camp
  closed, all the tokens were supposed to be destroyed.  But
  a few of these tiny tokens survive today."

  These tokens are not mentioned in "WW II Remembered".
  The inscription on the reverse of each of these tokens reads:
  "Alien Detention Station, Crystal City, Texas". The obverse
  shows value in letters and numbers.

  What surprised me during my research on this topic was
  that this internment camp was not only used to house
  Japanese-Americans but German-Americans as well. I was
  not aware that over 11,000 German-Americans were interned
  during WW II.  I wonder if any of these German-Americans
  received reparations as did the Japanese-Americans?   In any
  case, you can see these tokens at the following web site, along
  with interesting info and links related to the German-American
  internees.

  http://www.foitimes.com/internment/Facesplaces.htm"


NUMISMATIC BOOKS FOR CHINA

  Howard A. Daniel III writes: "I don't know Professor Li
  Tiesheng of the China Numismatic Society, but I am personally
  very, very reluctant to send numismatic books to China
  because I have seen so many of them translated into Chinese
  and published without permission or royalty to the copyright
  holders.

  I am a specialist in Southeast Asia and have found almost
  every book about that region being published in China is a
  complete copy of another book or assembled from several
  references.

  Even though China has signed the international copyright
  laws, they are not being followed or enforced.  And many
  of the worst violators are numismatic societies and
  government museums, and they do not even mention the
  original author(s) and/or titles in their versions, so they
  appear to be original work.

  If any numismatic references are sent to the professor, I
  would suggest sending only those long out of their copyright."


S. Q. LAPIUS

  One of our few female subscribers, Ana Gram, sends this
  message:  "Ah-Haa!  You've been tricked.  S. Q. Lapius
  was really that 19th century funster, Sal Quips."


BALKAN COINAGE REFERENCES

  American Numismatic Association Librarian Nancy Green
  writes: "The ANA library  has three copies of Coinage in the
  Balkans, 820-1355, by D.M. Metcalf.  We also have one
  copy of Coinage in South-Eastern Europe, 820-1396, by
  Medcalf. The preface indicates that this is the second edition.
  It was published as Royal Numismatic Society Special
  Publication no. 11 in 1979."


LONGS-ROULLET BOOKBINDERS

  Stephen Pradier writes: "For those of you seeking a
  bookbinder I have great news for you.  I have located a
  small family bindery (10 people) located in Norfolk, Virginia.

  For a long time I used a bindery located in Illinois.  I had
  quite a number of books that I wanted to have bound and
  would prefer a binder that was local or at least in the state.

  I also wanted a binder who could do the type of work that
  I wanted where I was not limited to only what materials and
  bindings that they could do. I searched the Internet, not really
  believing I could find one here but to my amazement I did.

  The name of the bookbinder is Longs-Roullet Bookbinders,
  Inc.  I phoned and spoke to Mr. Roullet to see if he could
  perform the type of binding work that I needed.  I was
  impressed to learn that he has done work for the White House,
  Colonial Williamsburg and academic institutions here in Virginia.
   In addition to all of that Mr. Roullet schedules pick-up and
  delivery service.

  For me it means no more packing up to the post office. If you
  have ever shipped books you know what I mean. I scheduled
  a pick-up date and time with Mr. Roullet and he arrived right
  on time. I provided him with six large boxes of numismatic
  catalogues and journals.

  Today I received two bound volumes for catalogues that I
  wanted bound.  One was for the B. Max Mehl, 1941 Dunham
  Auction and the other was the four part Armand Champa
  Library Auctions, bound as one.   Both were bound with
  marbled boards and endsheets, quarter leather spines with
  raised hubs.  The B. Max Mehl volume also took advantage
  of panel lines, scripted rules, and the fleurs de lis for "breaking
  up" the imprint on the spine. Both volumes were bound with
  color-coordinated silk headbands.  Both volumes were
  gorgeous.

  Mr. Roullet has even extended an invitation to tour his facility
  as well as allowing for some actual hands-on experience.   I
  hope to take him up on.  The Roullet Bookbindery has a web
  site at http://www.longs-roullet.com/index.htm.

  There is a very interesting bio for Mr. Roullet, his wife and
  daughter on his 'About Us' link at the bottom of their web
  page.   I, for one, highly recommend Mr. Roullet's work.
  Anyone who is looking for a binder will not be disappointed."


MORE ON MARGINALIA

  Fred Schwan writes:   "I love marginalia (although I did not
  know the word until today).  Sure, there can be ugly and
  distracting writing, marks, drawings, and the like, but very
  often there is useful or at least interesting information.  The
  books that I use the most are full of annotations, corrections,
  supplements, comments, and even questions.

  In fact, I believe in this practice so much that I have
  attempted to influence others in this way. With only a few
  exceptions, books published by BNR Press are printed on
  paper suitable for marginalizing (yikes).   With the
  publication of the fourth edition MPC book, we took the
  idea a step farther by providing space specifically intended
  for note taking and the collectors' edition even included
  planning calendars!

  From the standpoint of a (numismatic) book collector, I still
  find marginalia a good thing. Indeed, I think that the ultimate
  form of a book is the personal marginalized (new meaning to
  an old word) copy. I would certainly love to have Ray Toy
  or Alfred Swail's personal copies of their respective books.
  For that matter I would like to have Neil Shafer's personal
  copy of his Philippine guerrilla or small size paper money
  books. Numismatic books owned and marginalized by
  serious collectors (in my areas of interest) have space waiting
  for them in my library.

  [I would prefer the term "annotated" to "marginalized".  Isn't
  note-taking what interleaved copies are all about?  How
  come no one ever publishes interleaved editions anymore?
  Maybe it's just too expensive, but leaving enough blank space
  in the regular edition seems like a good compromise. -Editor]


COULD MONKEYS WRITE NUMISMATIC LITERATURE?

  "Give an infinite number of monkeys an infinite number of
  typewriters, the theory goes, and they will eventually produce
  prose the likes of Shakespeare.

  Give six monkeys one computer for a month, and they will
  make a mess. "

  "Researchers at Plymouth University in England reported this
  week that primates left alone with a computer attacked the
  machine and failed to produce a single word.

  "They pressed a lot of S's," researcher Mike Phillips said Friday.
  "Obviously, English isn't their first language."

  A group of faculty and students in the university's media program
  left a computer in the monkey enclosure at Paignton Zoo in
  southwest England, home to six  Sulawesi crested macaques.
  Then, they waited.

  At first, said Phillips, "the lead male got a stone and started
  bashing the hell out of it.

  "Another thing they were interested in was in defecating and
  urinating all over the keyboard," added Phillips, who runs the
  university's Institute of Digital Arts and Technologies."

  http://www.vivaria.net/experiments/notes/documentation/


FEATURED WEB SITE

  This week's featured web site is from the Gold Rush Gallery's
  web site. "An Illustrated History of the Georgia Gold Rush
  and the United States Branch Mint at Dahlonega, Georgia"
  by Carl N. Lester.  Very well done, and includes an 1861
  inventory of the mint.

    http://www.goldrushgallery.com/dahlmint/c_history_1.html




  Wayne Homren
  Numismatic Bibliomania Society