Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 6, Number 48, November 9, 2003:
an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society.
Copyright (c) 2003, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society.


KOLBE UPDATE

  Dave Bowers writes: "The George Kolbe situation reminds
  me once again how caring and sharing numismatists can be.
  We are all delighted that for George the scenario ended
  safely, and are sad that for others it did not. I've sent a few
  e-mails to him, and now I know that they won't be delivered
  until his service is restored.  I can just see him looking at
  his screen and finding 1,001 messages, none of them about
  bidding on books!"


  George Kolbe writes: "Dear Wayne,  When Alan Meghrig
  told me that four special issues of The E-Sylum had largely
  been devoted to providing updates on the wildfire affecting
  Crestline, I irreverently replied: "Only four?"  In truth, Linda
  and I were entirely taken by surprise over the outpouring of
  concern and good wishes expressed in the E-Sylum issues,
  voice mail messages, and emails received from all over the
  world. We did not know we had so many caring friends.
  Thank you all.

  On Saturday morning, October 25th, I received a call from
  a neighbor who said that a fire had just started in Old
  Waterman Canyon, but a few miles away as the proverbial
  crow flies. I quickly walked across the street and did see a
  small fire at the base of the canyon.  The road through
  Waterman Canyon was established in the early 1850s by
  Mormons, who, under the direction of Brigham Young,
  established a large settlement in San Bernardino, today the
  large city directly below Crestline.  Soon, sawmills were
  established in Crestline (so renamed after being inelegantly
  termed 'Fly Camp' during 1870s mining days) to provide
  lumber for the burgeoning Mormon community.  Returning
  to recent events, within an hour or less the fire was raging
  and we started packing boxes and filling the car.  Later in
  the day, my son George came by after packing his
  belongings and we packed more boxes and loaded them
  in his truck.  Early that evening we visited George and his
  wife Susy's home, a mile away, and discovered a raging
  'crown' fire a thousand feet away.  Crown fires are dreaded
  by firefighters because they are largely incapable of
  containment.  Trees well over a hundred feet high were
  enveloped in flame on the top of the mountain.  Within a
  minute or two, police arrived and ordered mandatory
  evacuation. On the way back home, several fire trucks
  passed to fight the fire [later we learned that it had been
  just set and was not part of the main fire] and, across the
  valley from us, we could see a whole convoy of police
  cars coming up the main road to Crestline.  By the time
  we arrived home, vehicles were driving by with bullhorns
  blaring mandatory evacuation orders. My daughter Jennifer
  and son-in-law Tim, who live a mile away in the other
  direction, had arrived in the interim, and the six of us, along
  with three dogs, and a cat, got in our four vehicles and
  traveled the back way out of Crestline, then back to San
  Bernardino, where we met in a restaurant parking lot.
  Lodging was already unavailable locally and we traveled to
  the nearby city of Riverside to spend the night in a rundown
  hotel. The following day, Tim's parents Claude and Margaret
  (who live in an area of San Bernardino evacuated early the
  previous day), graciously invited us to stay with them and,
  for the next few days, we watched the surrounding mountains
  burn and fruitlessly sought specific information about what was
  happening in Crestline.  Within a half mile or so of our hosts'
  home, the first day of the fire had completely destroyed several
  hundred homes.  Sometimes a house and surrounding yard
  would be entirely intact, while around it husks of cars and
  chimneys were the only things standing.  Humbling, to say the
  least. I won't go on.  From here, major events are chronicled
  in The E-sylum.  Needless to say, we've rescheduled our
  November 13th auction sale, and I'll close by citing the notice
  on our web site:

  Auction Sale 92 has been postponed

          NEW CLOSING DATE
     SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2003

  The Southern California wildfires have worked their way and
  we are grateful that we are all well and that our office, home,
  and the homes of our children are still intact.  Our deepest
  thanks are extended to all who expressed their concern during
  this difficult period.

  WE REQUEST THAT THOSE WHO HAVE ALREADY SENT
  BIDS CONFIRM THEM BY MAIL, TELEPHONE, FAX, OR EMAIL

  Wayne, we owe a special thanks to you!

  Best,
  George, Linda, and family "


WHAT WOULD YOU SAVE?

  Last week I asked, "If you could save just one item from
  your numismatic library, what would it be, and why?"  Here
  are some of your responses:

  Tom DeLorey writes: "My autographed copy of Taxay's
  "The U.S. Mint and Coinage." It is my favorite numismatic
  work.  Second choice would be Vermeule's "Numismatic
  Art in America."

  Denis Loring writes: "My copy of Penny Whimsy, which
  I 've had since I started collecting large cents in the 1960's.
  It's autographed by Sheldon, Paschal, and (with a full-page
  inscription) Breen.  The book is heavily annotated and falling
  apart from use.  It's obviously not the most valuable item in
  my library, but certainly links to the most memories."

  Bruce Perdue writes: "Regarding your question in the v06n47
  E-Sylum as to what book one might take while leaving a
  burning house:  Since I don't have any valuable numismatic
  books, or valuable books period, (although I do have a number
  of first additions) I'd grab my checkbook."

  Dick Johnson writes: "One item?   One book?   How about
  one shelf, or one bookcase?  Then I realized almost everything
  can be replaced. Then I got to thinking. What do I have that
  is unique, really irreplaceable?  My own manuscripts?  They are
  still in the computer.  Jerk the cords off the CPU and throw it
  out the window to be retrieved  later.  Grab the backup disks.

  To answer your question: The one book I would save because
  it is irreplaceable is "The Fantastic 1804 Dollar? " one of the rare
  first edition -- that was the only copy signed by both authors in
  two different cities on the same day. Sixteen copies were
  delivered to Ken Bressett at an ANA convention in Detroit. He
  gave me a copy because I was flying back to Kansas City that
  day with a stopover in St. Louis.  If Eric Newman could meet
  me at the airport I would deliver his first copy.  Both authors
  signed my copy. That's irreplaceable."

  Ralf Böpple of Stuttgart, Germany writes: "The most important
  numismatic book for me was the 1995 North American Coins
  & Prices. Although outdated, heavily annotated and earmarked,
  it still holds a special place on my bookshelf. Why?  While I
  surely cherish each and every item in my library, I would not be
  where I am today if I had not discovered the world of Mexican
  numismatics through this catalog (and this even though the
  fascinating world of Mexican Revolutionary coinage is not even
  covered!). And from there I wandered off into the world of
  auction catalogs, special references, pamphlets, die studies,
  coffee table books, mint reports, periodicals, etc. Not to forget
  the non-numismatic part of Mexican, world, economic and bank
  history.

  So while it was not the first book or catalog on coins I
  possessed, it was the one that laid the foundation of the collecting
  and study interest I am pursuing today.  And I still love to go back
  to the book and look at the innocent comments and annotations I
  made there at a time when I, as am absolute beginner, knew
  absolutely nothing about the subject."


  Bob Christie writes: "In response to the question asking which
  book to save from your library if faced with the disaster of the
  California fires; the first one that popped into my head was The
  Standard Catalogue of Encased Postage Stamps since I collect
  them and any memorabilia connected to them plus the fact that I
  like the simple easy way it's written.  But then I thought that in
  such a situation, I'd want something unique, meaningful, and
  brings back memories.  In 2000 I attended the ANA summer
  seminar in Colorado Springs, brought the American Numismatic
  Association Anthology (which was written to celebrate the l00th
  Anniversary of the ANA) with me and had many people autograph
  it.  With a clear mind, that's probably what I'd choose.  However,
  in such a situation, who thinks clearly?"

  Your editor was dying to know, so I put the question directly to
  George Kolbe, who actually lived this nightmare scenario.  He
  writes:

  "To respond to your query, not counting personal items such as
  clothing, financial records, photo albums, and other treasured
  belongings (including our two dogs), we were able to take 21
  banker's boxes of books with us.  Seven of them contained GFK
  stuff, including runs of our fixed price lists and auction catalogues.
  Early numismatic bibliographies were packed in another carton
  and, from there on, it was pretty much whatever came to view.
  The remaining fourteen boxes were packed with items from the
  John J. Ford, Jr. library, mainly the highlights of items already
  catalogued, along with an extensive run of plated large format
  Chapman sales being readied for cataloguing.  As items in both
  categories were being placed back on our shelves, many
  "shoulda taken" items were noted. I know it sounds self-serving
  but I could have stood the loss of my own material; as to the
  Ford library and other significant consignments on hand . . ."


JOHN J. FORD LIBRARY UPDATE

  George Kolbe writes: "An update on some of the more
  interesting items in the John J. Ford, Jr. Library, catalogued
  up to October 25, 2003, follows.  This report was being
  finalized two weeks ago when fate intervened, and we are
  most pleased that it remains relevant.

  The Bid Book of the Chapman brothers' 1903 Disbrow
  and Friedman Fractional Currency sale

  The Bid Book of the Chapman brothers' 1904 Ralph Barker
  sale with Plates, including two additional plates virtually unknown

  Storelli's Extremely Rare 1896 Work on Jean-Baptiste
  Nini Medals

  A 1771 Mexico City Mint Ordinance, comprising Rules and
  Regulations of the First Mint in the New World

  A fine example of S. H. Chapman's 1909 Zug sale with Plates,
  intact in the original gilt-printed pictorial paper covers

  A superb example of S. H. Chapman's 1923 Beckwith sale
  with Plates, with a letter from Chapman to Virgil Brand
  reading in part: "The plates in the Beckwith are, I think, the
  finest I have ever taken"

  A superb example of S. H. Chapman's 1921 Henderson sale
  with Plates, in Original State

  The Bid Book of Henry Chapman's 1908 A. N. A. Sale

  The Bid Book of the Chapman brothers' 1904 Charles Morris
  sale with Plates

  The Bid Book of the Chapman brothers' 1897 CM. A. Brown
  sale with one of only two surviving sets of Photographic Plates

  The Bid Book of the Chapman brothers' 1895 Chaloner sale
  with Plates

  A large collection of Heath Counterfeit Detectors, both Pocket
  and Banking & Counting House Editions, including a deluxe
  Leatherbound Edition and two Household Editions

  Works on British medals and decorations, including Creagh &
  Humphris, Tancred, Payne, Mayo, et al.

  A very fine set of Mason's Coin and Stamp Collectors' Magazine

  A very fine copy of Eckfeldt & Du Bous' 1849 Manual of Gold
  and Silver Coins, the first edition to contain samples of '49er Gold

  A set of 1945 Photographs of George Clapp's Large Cents

  A Specially Printed Second Edition of Bushnell's 1859
  "First three Business Tokens," the first we've seen

  An extremely rare Leatherbound Edition of Raymond's "United
  States Gold Coins of the Philadelphia and Branch Mints,"
  featuring a record of Waldo Newcomer's collection of double eagles

  A "Mint" example of S. H. Chapman's 1913 Lyman Sale with
  Plates; also, the Lyman Sale Bid Book with Plates

  A lovely example of Ormsby's 1852 Description of the Present
  System of Bank Note Engraving

  A Very Fine 1923 Edition of Chapman on 1794 cents

  A Deluxe Leatherbound Edition of Newcomb's Cents of the
  Years 1801-1802-1803, Ex Henry Hines and Homer Downing

  A Deluxe Leatherbound Edition of Clapp's Cents of the Years
  1798-1799. Copy No. 3, Inscribed to Henry Hines

  A superb example of F. C. C. Boyd's Deluxe Leatherbound
  Browning on Quarter Dollars, One of Only Five Issued

  An Original 1969 Showers Half Cent Inventory, No. 10 of only
  12 issued with photographic plates

  A 1944 Leatherbound Newcomb work on late dates, inscribed
  by the Stacks "To Johnie Ford."

  Copy No. 1 of the Deluxe Leatherbound Beistle Book on
  Early Half Dollars, Inscribed to Colonel Green

  An Inscribed copy of Herrera's Classic Work on Proclamation
  Medals

  Early Mint Reports and Documents, one concerning "The
  probability of the abolition of the mint establishment"

  The Bid Book of J. Schulman's 1930 Amsterdam sale of the
  Fernand David Collection of "The Coins and Medals of America"

  A Superbly Bound set of Phillips' 1865-1866 "Historical
  Sketches of the Paper Currency of the American Colonies"

  A Superb Plated Beckwith Sale With Plates, including a
  letter from Beckwith to Henry Hines, reading in part: "You
  ask why I am parting with my coins.  I am not going to try to
  pull off any moth eaten stuff about failing eyesight or interested
  along other lines. The plain unadulterated truth is I need the
  money. That is I don't feel as if I can afford to keep so much
  money tied up. I have succeeded in bringing together a
  collection which suited my fancy and I can't go much further
  without going into minute varieties and that I don't want to do."

  A "Near New" example of a Plated Alvord Half Cent Sale

  A Very Fine Copy No. 4 of Gilbert's 1916 work on half
  cents, ex libris Wayte Raymond

  The 1751 Edition of William Douglass's "Discourse
  Concerning the Currencies of the British Plantations in America"

  Five Superb American Bond Detectors: One with a rare variety
  of the coin plates; one beautifully bound in full morocco, and one
  a "Salesman's Sample"

  Thomas Elder's rare Plated 1910 Gilbert Sale, with the Coin
  Plate Legends Fully Intact

  A Very Fine Example of Thian's 1880 "Register of the
  Confederate Debt"; One of Only Five Copies, and by far the
  finest of the three that we have seen

  Homer Downing's 1945 Newcomb Cent Sale With
  Photographic Illustrations

  Spencer M. Clark's Letter Record of the National Currency
  Bureau, June 10, 1863 to March 2, 1864

  The Bid Book of Lyman Low's 1907 Hays-Phelps Sale of
  1794 Cents"


SO WHERE ARE THOSE DEUTSCHMARK COINS?

  "With kindest regards from Stuttgart," Ralf Böpple writes:
  "To the subject of the nostalgic Germans, which has been
  commented on in various newspapers over here, there is
  one doubt I have about the comparison of the number of
  coins in circulation (49 billion pieces) and still outstanding
  (25 billion pieces). Nobody I know or have spoken to set
  aside a considerable amount of deutschmark coins, while
  the lines at the Bundesbank branches with people handing
  in old coins and currency were enormous in the first months.
  So I really wonder where the 25 billion coins in discussion
  might be. The biggest part should be the millions and millions
  of commemorative coins and mint sets that were issued
  during the deutschmark decades. Or somebody out there is
  hoarding a very, very big treasure...  "


COLONIAL NEWSLETTER

  Gary Trudgen, Editor of The Colonial Newsletter, forwarded
  the following information about the upcoming issue:

  "The December 2003 issue of The Colonial Newsletter (CNL)
  has been published. This issue consists of an in-depth study of
  the money used in the 14th Colony, or Nova Scotia, during the
  years 1711 to 1783.

  Authored by Dr. Philip Mossman, the study serves as an
  addendum to his 1993 book titled "Money of the American
  Colonies and Confederation." Phil states that the monetary
  history of mainland British North America would be misleading
  if only those colonies which form the nucleus of present-day
  United States were studied.  Thus the reason why he researched
  and wrote this comprehensive paper.

  Nova Scotia, which was carved out of former French Acadia,
  is all but forgotten even though it formed an integral part of the
  Massachusetts Bay Colony from 1691 to 1749.  This study
  traces the monetary history of Nova Scotia which was closely
  linked to the New England economy for over a half-century.  It
  reviews the documentary evidence summarized by Adam Shortt
  in his 1933 work on the currency, exchange and finance in Nova
  Scotia and relates this material to other resources and the
  economies of the lower 13 colonies.  The paper describes the
  Massachusetts paper money and the various coins which were
  current in Nova Scotia during the period.  The coins recovered
  from archeological sites and old French and Loyalist settlements
  are described and illustrated.  The role of Nova Scotia in the
  American Revolution and the subsequent Loyalist migration are
  discussed.

  CNL is published three times a year by The American Numismatic
  Society, Broadway at 155th Street, New York, NY 10032.
  For inquires concerning CNL, please contact Juliette Pelletier at
  the preceding postal address or e-mail pelletier at amnumsoc.org or
  telephone (212) 234-3130 ext. 243."


REJECTING THE NEW TWENTY

  An article published October 30, 2003 in The Cincinnati Enquirer
  says that many machines are rejecting the new U.S. $20 bills.

  "The problem is that the new 20s started circulating before the
  manufacturers of slot machines, automated payment machines
  and even ATMs were able to upgrade the software in all of their
  machines to recognize the new bills.

  "This has become a routine problem in our industry,'' Larry Buck,
  general manager at the Belterra Casino Resort in Switzerland
  County, Ind., said. "It happens every time the government issues
  a new bill.''

  "It's a time-consuming process, but it's pretty much all we're
  going to be doing in the slot machine area this week and next
  week,'' Buck said.

  A spokesman for the Argosy Casino in Lawrenceburg, Ind., said
  about 80 percent of the casino's 2,200 slot machines have been
  upgraded with new software and all the machines should accept
  the new $20 bills within several weeks."

  Meanwhile, Kroger said it will take about six weeks for the
  company that manufactures its self-checkout machines to
  upgrade them.

  "There's a cashier there (at the self-checkout lanes) anyway, so
  there's really no inconvenience for our customers,'' Gary Rhodes,
  a Kroger spokesman, said. "They can go to the cashier and
  exchange their new bills for the old 20s and then use the machine.''

  "Vending machine manufacturers received test decks of currency
  to try out on their software and hardware.

  But nobody thought about the automated payment machines
  until the first calls started coming in to the bureau after the new
  currency was put into circulation."

  To read the full story, see:
  http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2003/10/30/biz_colorofmoney30.html


SOCIETY FOR INTERNATIONAL NUMISMATICS

  Len Harsel writes: "According to my membership card, it is the
  Society for International Numismatics.  Didn't they merge with
  the Organization for International Numismatics (OIN)?
  Both seem to have disappeared."

  Russ Rulau writes: "I have no idea whether the Society for
  International Numismatics still exists, but I was a member for
  many years and was the recipient of its Silver Medal of Merit
  one year in the late 1980's for "excellence in cataloging."  It
  was a Los Angeles-area club formed by the late James
  Betton, E. Carolyn Nestrick, Pauline Ney, Max Wedertz
  and other scholarly numismatists interested in world coinage
  in the 1960's when there were relatively few such groups in
  existence.

  Its periodical,  SINformation, was worthwhile. I assume
  the group may have died off, as I received no membership
  renewal notice for many years now.  SIN used to stage its
  own coin shows, some quite large and interesting. Betton and
  Ney I know are gone, but perhaps someone in the Greater
  Los Angeles area can find clues to its demise, if in fact it has
  dissolved. It was a really fine bunch of coin folks, a bit
  reserved but deeply involved in the hobby.  Its logo was a
  red devil, a play on its acronym."

  David Klinger writes: "As far as I know, this "club" is still
  active. It is listed by the ANA on their web site: www.money.org

  SOCIETY FOR INTERNATIONAL NUMISMATICS
  P.O. Box 5207, Sherman Oaks CA 91413
  CONTACT: Phil Iversen, TEL: 818-788-1129
  E-mail: phil_inversen at yahoo.com
  MEETING: 2nd Sunday 2:00PM
  Santa Monica Main Library, 6th & SM Blvd, Santa Monica,
  CA 90401

  [An email sent to that address bounced, but E-Sylum subscriber
  Greg Burns set me straight - there was a typo in the address.
  -Editor]

  Greg writes: "SIN is still active and meets the second Saturday
  of every month at the Santa Monica (CA) Public Library."
  [No reply yet from Iverson, though. -Editor]


PSEUDONUMIA

  Andy Lustig writes: "I must say that I'm uncomfortable with
  the Society for International Numismatics' definition of
  "Pseudonumia". Walk into any coin show and most coin
  shops and you are quite likely to encounter a pseudonumismatist
  or two. Invariably, these pseudonumismatists know little about
  "Pseudonumia".  [These definitions were borrowed from
  Howard Daniel's web site. -Editor]


WEB SITE AND  BOOK PRODUCTION IN VIETNAM

  From Viet Nam, Howard A. Daniel III writes: "No one will
  receive a scolding email from me, while I am here in my home
  office in Ho Chi Minh City or elsewhere, for spreading
  information to everyone.  I am very, very happy to see
  definitions in my web site's Glossary passed on to other people
.
  Speaking of the web site, I have had several people working
  on it in Virginia but none of them has produced what I want
  to see for a web site.  I am now working with a web site
  development firm here in Ho Chi Minh City that is owned by
  a Singaporean gentleman who is married to a Vietnamese lady.
  I was interviewed by him for over two hours and he sent me a
  preliminary sample that looks really, really good.  The price is
  also right so we will have a second meeting and I hope to have
  a new web site in operation before the end of the month that I
  can start filling up with more definitions I find to be more
  accurate and/or interesting than others, and, of course,
  Southeast Asian financial instruments, a Southeast Asia
  bibliography, sources, etc., etc.

  I also visited a book printer here and will be using him for my
  next book; "Socialist Republic of Viet Nam Coins and Currency."
  This printer did the completely in color "100 Years of Vietnamese
  Currency" book that was produced by the Ho Chi Minh City
  Stamp Association (HCMCSA).  He was recommended to
  me and he showed me some of his products that meet my color,
  size and quality requirements.  He did all of his calculations in
  front of me and did not hide his costs or add a large percentage
  to it.  He also showed me his shipping contact and rates for
  shipping to various cities in the United States via air or sea.  I
  am going to ship via sea to keep the costs down for the retail
  price of the book.  I am impressed with him and will be doing
  business with him.

  After I visited the printer, two of the leading members of the
  HCMCSA visited me at my home.  They offered me all of the
  support I needed in finding pieces missing from my collection
  for the illustrations, and assistance with the Vietnamese-language
  half of the book. During my visit to the printer, I also had Miss
  Yen with me.  She will be my employee and representative here
  when I am not in Viet Nam, but eventually, she will have a
  business of her own to take care of others wanting to print
  books in Viet Nam.  I have already been contacted by two
  other people requesting information about the lower printing
  costs and once I complete this book, I will contact them and
  tell them about my experience and the costs.  I think they will
  be quite surprised with the very low costs to produce a color
  book here in Viet Nam."


HALF CENT DATA SOUGHT

  Robert Yuell is seeking the some information about U.S.
  half cents from the following catalogs:

  Superior,  Shore,  1/30/88:31
  Need grade and price   (1795 C4)

  B&M, Silberman, 11/16/88:6009
  Need grade and price   (1795 C6b)

  Superior, Fraser, 2/1/82:233
  Need grade and price   (1800 C1)

  Harmer/Rooke, 9/1980:13
  Need day of sale, grade and price (1802 C1)

  Stack's, 2/1992:439
  Need day of sale, grade and price (1803 C1)

  ANA Heritage, 1995:5565
  Need full date, grade and price (1806 C1)

  Hollinbeck/Kagin#298, 9/11/1972:617
  Need grade and price (1809 C1)

  First Coin Investors, 1/1977
  Need day of sale,lot #,grade and price (1829 C1)

  Rob's email address is Robyue at aol.com


ANS BOOKS ON DEMAND

  Ed Snible writes: "I recently discovered that most of the
  'out-of-print' American Numismatic Society publications
  can be purchased in facsimile form from the microfilm
  publisher 'Books On Demand.'  I've been told (by a BOD
  customer) that the quality is similar to a xerox copy.  The
  prices start at $30, with the longer publications costing
  much more.  I haven't ordered anything yet myself, but the
  arrangement seems like a great boon to scholars having
  difficulty locating scarce originals.  I counted 181 out-of-print
  ANS titles on BOD's web page, which is
  http://wwwlib.umi.com/bod/search/basic .  (The in-print
  books are of course still available from the David Brown
  Book Company,
  http://www.amnumsoc.org/store/davidbrown.html )."

  [Ed originally published this note on the AmNumSoc-L and
  Moneta-L mailing lists.  He'd planned to mention B.O.D. on
  E-Sylum after getting more feedback, but he agreed to
  publish it now.  I should mention here that I owe Ed an
  apology for misspelling his name last week in the item regarding
  the new Amazon search feature. -Editor]

  Ed adds: "Sebastian Heath at the ANS was surprised himself
  to find out about BOD.   The ANS signed up for the program
  in 1974 when it was a microfilm-only venture.  They had
  forgotten about the program!  They are reviewing the
  agreement now.

  Jim Schell said (on Moneta-L) "My experience using Books
  on Demand for the ANS Numismatic Notes and Monographs
  series has been mixed. The copies are near original size and
  the text is clear. The plates are the quality of a rather poor
  photocopy. Eventually, I had to purchase the original works
  on the secondary market to obtain usable images.  Additionally,
  when I ordered a copy of Nancy Waggonner's dissertation
  addressing Alexander's mint at Babylon, the plates were not
  available, having been retained by her institution. Hope this helps."



WASHINGTON'S LOTTERY

  A recent Wall Street Journal book review by Alan Pell
  Crawford discusses a new book about America's founding
  fathers and slavery, titled "Great Men in Black and White"
  It mentions a lottery run by George Washington.  Often
  early colonial lottery tickets find their way into colonial
  currency collections because of their similarity to currency
  of the day.  Many were printed by the same printers who
  produced official notes.

  "In April 1769, George Washington helped set up a lottery
  to pay the debts of a fellow Virginia planter who had
  overextended himself, as large slaveholders often did. Among
  the creditors were Washington's Custis stepchildren, and it
  was as their guardian that Washington helped run the raffle,
  advertised in The Virginia Gazette.

  Among the "prizes" were people -- though slaves were hardly
  regarded as such in that time and place."

  "Thirty years later, with just six months left to live, Washington
  had come to regard such trade in his fellow human beings as a
  great evil and tried to do something about it. Alone among the
  slave-holding Founders, Washington freed his slaves, if
  posthumously."

  The following web pages discuss early lottery history and
  picture some colonial-era lottery tickets.

  http://www.naspl.org/history.html
  http://www.lotterycollectors.com/page4.html


BOOK STORAGE OPTION: THE ANA LIBRARY

  Howard A. Daniel III writes: "One of my personal projects in
  numismatics to have the numismatic libraries of several different
  societies transferred to the American Numismatic Association
  Library.  Several societies of which I am a member are without
  facilities and a volunteer member(s) must store, process and
  care for their libraries.  The libraries eventually grow too large
  for an individual member to handle and the librarian has to find
  a solution or requests that it be transferred to someone else who
  can handle all of it.  And then there is often not a volunteer
  member to take charge of the library.

  This problem happened with the USA part of the International
  Bank Note Society (IBNS) Library and Joe Boling and I worked
  on the problem and convinced the IBNS board to transfer it to
  the ANA Library.  The ANA Library is a lending library and
  we did not want the library in one where research could only be
  done in the library.

  The IBNS books are professionally shelved and cared for by
  librarians and when IBNS members want to borrow them (or
  any ANA book too!), they contact the library and request that
  they be mailed to them. I would very much like to see the
  Numismatics International (NI) Libraries transferred to the
  ANA Library.  I cannot answer Granvyl's question about the
  storage of books, but I wanted to throw out this suggestion to
  him and other NI members and hope the NI Libraries can be
  transferred to the ANA, or at least those headed for storage."


IF YOU DON'T WANT TO STORE BOOKS, GIVE 'EM AWAY

  Larry Mitchell writes: "If you love your books, set them free!"
  He included the following web address:
  http://www.bookcrossing.com/home

  From the web site:
  "What is BookCrossing, you ask? It's a global book club that
  crosses time and space. It's a reading group that knows no
  geographical boundaries. Do you like free books?  How about
  free book clubs?. Well, the books our members leave in the
  wild are free... but it's the act of freeing books that points to
  the heart of BookCrossing. Book trading has never been more
  exciting, more serendipitous, than with BookCrossing. Our
  goal, simply, is to make the whole world a library. BookCrossing
  is a book exchange of infinite proportion, the first and only of its
  kind.

  [Basically, the concept is similar to the Where's George? web
  site where people can record the serial number of U.S. notes
  that pass through their hands.   This site does the same for books.
  The idea is to pass your book along to someone else, or leave it
  in a public place where a stranger could find it.  Subsequent
  readers then record their thoughts on the web site and pass the
  book along once more.

  This would be an interesting way to distribute coin books to
  potential hobbyists. -Editor]


BLOVIATION

  Regarding the title of Joel Orosz' article in the next Asylum,
  Dave Bowers writes: "Eeek! What is this "The Printer's Devil:
  Bowers, Books and Bloviation?" I thought whenever I bloviated
  it was done in the highest professional manner. I hope it is
  presented in a nice manner. Now, to the OED to see what it
  means!"

  Joel Orosz replies: "Dave, you should rest easy.  You never
  bloviated in your life!  The article is a meditation upon the
  historical ramifications of the events of last spring.   Hint:
  does anyone remember who succeeded Lou Gehrig at first
  base for the Yankees?  "Bloviate" is a verb coined, I believe,
  by H. L. Mencken.  It connotes those who hype or ballyhoo."

  To which Dave responded: "Is that about Tinker, Evers, and
  Chance?  The Cynic's Dictionary, by Ambrose Bierce, if I
  recall correctly,gives lots of good info. Is it the one with
  definitions as:

  Bathtub for twins: Bothtub?

  So much humor, so little time!"


QUESTION OF THE WEEK

  Dick Johnson writes: "In his token books, Russ Rulau
  tells how Wesley S. Cox Sr. made a study of letter punches
  to identify which diesinker made what early American
  token by the characteristics of the punched letters on
  specimen tokens. Rulau even acquired Cox's notebooks
  of these microphotos.

  If Cox had made his study in the U.K. would he have
  studied Pinches' punches?"


FEATURED WEB SITE

  This week's featured web site is another one on the
  Maria Theresia Taler.  Some interesting pages on
  the original and restrike variants,  forgeries,  medals
  etc.

  http://www.employees.org/~groeck/en/mtt1780.html

  
  Wayne Homren
  Numismatic Bibliomania Society