Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 7, Number 24, June 13, 2004:
an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society.
Copyright (c) 2004, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society.


UPCOMING ASYLUM ISSUES

  E. Tomlinson Fort, Editor of our print publication, The Asylum
  writes: "Lots of good news. The Spring 2004 issue of The
  Asylum is now being proofed and should be on its way to the
  printer within a week. The contents are:

  "The Quest to Build the Set," by Stephen Pradier. In which the
   author discusses the problems of putting together a complete
  set of The Numismatist.

  "Mendacity Rears Its Ugly Head," by Myron Xenos. In which
  the author combs through the evidence to reveal the identity of
  the greatest prankster in the history of numismatic literature.

 "Numismatic Sidelights: Perry W. Fuller," by Leonard
  Augsburger. An overview of the career of the man who
  catalogued the famous Baltimore hoard.

  If you have not joined the NBS yet, shame on you.

  We are presently hard at work on our special Summer 2004
  issue. The contents will be as follows:

  "Jean Foy-Vaillant: The King's Antiquary (1632 - 1706)," by
  Christian E. Dekesel. A massive study of the life and works of
  a numismatic writer at the court of Louis XIV.  This work has a
  full bibliographic listing of all Foy-Vallant's works, including
  those which will appear in the author's forthcoming multi-volume
  bibliography of 18th century numismatic books.

  'William Frederick Mayers: A Flashing Star,' by Pete Smith.
  A short overview of the career of the man who wrote the first
  essay on numismatic literature to be published in the United
  States.

  "An Annotated Bibliography of the Published Numismatic
  Writings of Walter H. Breen" by David F. Fanning. A huge
  listing of every numismatic work published by Breen (excluding
  auction catalogues, those will be featured in a later work) along
  with comments about the contents of each.

  "Blunders, Hoaxes, and Lost Masterpieces from the
  Numismatic Literature of the Renaissance," by John Cunnally.
  A well-illustrated study of ancient coins which did not exist but
  were imagined and illustrated in 16th century numismatic works.

  "Some Reminiscences," by Q. David Bowers. One of the
  country's leading coin dealers provides us with a number
  of priceless anecdotes of his experiences in the world of
  numismatic literature.

  "Creating The E-Sylum, The Numismatic Bibliomania
  Society's Weekly Electronic Newsletter," by Wayne K.
  Homren. The early history of the award winning newsletter
  of this society.

  "American Numismatic Pioneers: An Index to Sources," by
  Pete Smith. A lengthy annotated reference to the material
  dealing with persons prominent in US numismatics before 1876.

  "Recollections of 34 Years at Spink, 1969-2003," by Douglas
  Saville. A great essay recalling the experiences of the leading
  numismatic literature dealer in Europe. (Fortunately, he does
  not recall the pesky American who first blundered into his
  office in 1986.)

  The issue will be heavily illustrated and over 200 pages in
  length and only available to those NBS members who have
  either joined or renewed their membership by July 1.

  In addition to our regular issue, we will also be producing a
  special limited edition hardcover copy.  No more than 25
  copies will be produced. The cost is $100 and payment must
  be received by the treasurer by July 15th. Copies cannot be
  reserved without full  payment. David Perkins needs your
  cheque and you must be an NBS member to get one. The
  names of the subscribers to this hard cover will appear on a
  special page that will be bound inside. This limited edition
  will be distributed (I hope) at the NBS general meeting at the
  ANA convention in Pittsburgh on Friday August 20th. We
  will mail copies to those who cannot make the meeting.

  At the NBS general meeting we will be auctioning off the
  signed manuscripts of many of our contributors to the
  anniversary issue as well as the corrected proofs, back up
  CDs  and other material related to the production of this
  important publication.  Attendees will have the chance to own
  a piece of numismatic literary history.  All proceeds will help
  defray our production costs.

  Finally, let us not forget that after the NBS meeting on Friday
  there will be the Great Numismatic Libraries of Pittsburgh Tour.
  Open only to NBS members, at a cost of $20 per person, you
  can have a chance to see the numismatic wonders of Wayne's
  and my library (not to mention my complete set of Doc Savage
  books).

  All the money concerning the above should be sent to our
  esteemed treasurer: W. David Perkins, PO Box 212, Mequon,
  WI  53092."


JOHN J. FORD LIBRARY SALE NOTES

  Phil Carrigan writes: "George Kolbe and staff conducted a
  magnificent sale including the warm hospitality provided at
  lot viewing.  I found a bounty of information looking at lots
  I did not intend to buy!  No one I've spoken to bought as
  much as they intended to buy at the sale.  This includes
  bidders present, mail bidders and particularly, me!"

  [The sale realized $1.66 million.  A front-page article by
  Dan Friedus in the June 21st issue of Coin World
  includes a nice photo of the auction room.  Some more
  photos are available on the Kolbe web site: Auction Photo's
  -Editor]

  Ray Williams writes: "I don't know if it's been the experience
  of others on this newsletter, but I find that when I generally
  place a mail bid on numismatic items, and I'm the successful
  bidder, I usually pay the maximum amount that I bid.

  That was not the case with the Stack's/George Kolbe Ford
  Library Sale!  I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised
  when I found out that I was successful in purchasing one lot
  that was important to me, and I received it for $1000 less
  than the maximum I had bid.  There's enough complaining in
  the hobby - I just wanted to share something positive that
  happened to me."


REAGAN NUMISMATIC TRIBUTES SOUGHT

  With the death of former President Ronald Reagan,
  movements by his supporters to honor him with numismatic
  tributes are gaining momentum.  On June 8th an article in
  the New York Times was headlined "Have You Got Two
  Reagans For a Twenty?"

  "Forget, for a moment, Ronald Reagan's place in the history
  books. What about his place in the nation's pocketbooks?

  Should he displace Franklin D. Roosevelt on the dime? How
  easily could Alexander Hamilton, never a president, be
  pushed off the $10 bill? How strongly is the Andrew Jackson
  lobby committed to the $20 bill?  Could the John F. Kennedy
  constituency be coaxed to give up the half dollar?

  Mr. Reagan's death has set off a flurry of debate among
  Republicans about honoring him on the nation's currency or
  coins.

  Representative Jeff Miller of Florida introduced legislation on
  Tuesday to put Mr. Reagan on the 50-cent coin. But he found
  himself bumping up against a rival contingent that is pushing the
  $20 bill.

  The Ronald Reagan Legacy Project has spent three years
  studying the currency question. The clear choice is the $10 bill,
  the organization concluded, because Hamilton was not a
  president.

  Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the No. 2 Republican
  in the Senate, favors the $10 bill. But that idea is just one of
  many, he said, emphasizing that his view is that "some
  appropriate gesture of significance" should be made to
  commemorate Mr. Reagan.

  As for the Treasury Department's position, a spokeswoman,
  Anne Womack Kolton, said in an interview on Tuesday,
  "We think it's premature at this point to discuss any
  changes to currency."

  To read the full article (registration required) see: Full Article
  [The Times had a typo in another article in the same issue,
  which noted that "The nation's first state funeral paid tribute
  to Abraham Lincoln, the nation's 16th president, who was
  assassinated on April 14, 1965."  U.S. bibliophiles know
  that date (in 1865) because the famous  J.N.T. Levick sale
  by Edward Cogan, originally scheduled for April 27-29, 1865,
  was postponed due to the assassination of President Lincoln
  on  April 14th, 1865. Lincoln was shot while attending a
  performance at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C.
  -Editor]


REAGAN'S BIRTHPLACE: ABOVE A BANK

  One piece of numismatically-related Reagan trivia is the
  fact that he was born in an apartment above a bank in
  Tampico, IL.  Is the name of the bank known?  It would
  be interesting to know if the bank issued currency in 1911.


REAGAN'S MEDALLIC ART COMPANY VISIT

  Dick Johnson writes: "The year was 1969. Medallic Art
  Company, then on 45th Street in midtown Manhattan, was
  striking the California Bicentennial Medal.  The call came
  midweek: the governor from California was in town on
  business, he has a free hour tomorrow at midday. "Could
  he come visit your plant to see their Bicentennial Medal
  being struck"?

  "Could he"?  W-e-l-l Y-e-s!  We couldn't wait. My chore
  was to get publicity photographs taken.  But by the end of
  the day, however, I hadn't lined up a photographer yet. My
  usual photographers were all busy.  We were in the center of
  the photographic industry on the East Side of Manhattan,
  amid photo studios and film processing plants, but I couldn't
  find a last-minute photographer until an hour before the
  governor's intended arrival.

  His entourage was not that large, four men as I recall. MAco
  President Bill Louth did the honors in the usual VIP tour, from
  a start in the showroom and oval gallery to his office and the
  firm's collection of fine art statues. We had a small statue of
  a bear. The Governor walked over to that statue and caressed
  it.  The California bear was the symbol on the state's
  Bicentennial Medal.

  Reagan passed the glass wall with all the office girls watching
  his every move.  He smiled and waved at them.  Was this the
  governor,  the movie star, or the man? Either way he charmed
  the ladies.

  In the plant be became fascinated with the die-engraving
  pantograph, standing in the crowded room watching the artist's
  original model being engraved into a die to strike the medals.
  When it was over, he left.

  My photographer handed me the roll of film, I rushed to the
  processing plant the next block over.  Later that day, I got the
  negatives and contact print. A quick order of prints, then I did
  something unusual.  Who in California, I wondered, could use
  these to best advantage?  Jim Miller's Coinage came to mind.
  And Lee Martin was my contact there.  I express mailed that
  contact sheet to Lee. (The events that day happened so fast I
  forgot to eat lunch!)

  Lee used it immediately in an NLG Newsletter.  I had intended
  for him to make a full page of that contact sheet.  Blow it up a
  little to fit a 8 ½ x 11-inch page. Instead he cut up the tiny prints
  and ran those exact size in an issue of NLG News. [My file of
  those newsletters has long since disappeared.  Any E-Sylum
  reader have a copy of that 1969 issue in their files?  Drop me
  an email: dick.johnson at snet.net]

  Later, we turned the tables. Medallic Art visited Reagan!
  Reagan was elected president in November 1980 and Medallic
  Art was commissioned to make his official Inaugural Medal.
  Reagan chose the artist, Ed Fraughton from Utah. Fraughton
  wanted to model Reagan live in person at his California ranch.
  We had to move fast. I contacted a PR firm in NYC, Ruder &
  Finn [Dave Finn was very active in the sculpture world].  They
  hired a photographer in California.

  The prints of Fraughton modeling Reagan were so good I later
  included them in  Joe Levine's book on Collecting Inaugural
  Medals. Reagan's memory will live on -- certainly
  numismatically -- not only in that book, but also for a long time
  in his presidential inaugural medals.

  But for me, Ronald Reagan will be remembered by the day he
  visited Medallic Art."


OSCAR SCHILKE MEHL CATALOGUES SOUGHT

  Bob Leonard  writes: "I'm still chasing pedigrees of a very
  few small California gold coins, and am looking for certain
  B. Max Mehl auction catalogs that can be identified as
  having belonged to Oscar G. Schilke.  Mr. Schilke died
  May 23, 1965, and Hank Spangenberger bought his library,
  including "a few" auction catalogs, that year.  He integrated
  the Schilke library with his own, and later sold most of his
  (Spangenberger's) B. Max Mehl catalogs to Armand
  Champa.  Champa did a similar weeding out, so a Champa
  pedigree is no assurance that a Mehl catalog came from
  Schilke (though it is a start); they could be anywhere.

  Specifically, I am interested in the following Mehl sales:
  Beldon E. Roach, Feb. 8, 1944; A Royal Sale (Renz),
  March 23, 1948; and Rovensky-Hoffecker, Nov. 30, 1954.
  I'd like to know if any of these catalogs can somehow be tied
  to Schilke (name present, copy of Mehl's invoice, etc.)  And
  I'm interested in any of these catalogs with notations or invoices
  indicating that the following lots were purchased or bid on:
  Roach lot 1255; Royal/Renz lot 3987; and Rovensky-Hoffecker
  lot 1940.

  Can any E-Sylum reader help?"


THE AITNA TETRADRACHM

  Jan Moens of Dilbeek, Belgium writes: "The famous Aitna
  tetradrachme is part of the de Hirsch collection that was
  acquired by the Belgian Coin Cabinet in the 19th century.
  More information (in French) and a picture can be found
  at the the following web page: Picture

  Kerry Wetterstrom, Editor/Publisher of The Celator, writes:
  "The Aitna tetradrachm is "the" coin in the ancient coin
  collecting world. As for the claim that it's the world's most
  valuable coin, we will probably never know unless the Brussels
  cabinet decides to purge their collection, or some of the other
  rumored specimens finally come to light!"

  Daniel Kurt Ackermann of Heritage Rare Coin Galleries writes:
  "Proving that the internet has many treasures if you dig deeply:

  I believe this is an image of the Aitna Tetradrachm:Picture

  And another image of the obverse with an article by the Israel
Museum: Picture



NEWARK MUSEUM HAS COINS, SPRINGSTEEN

  From the June 11, 2004 Newark (NJ) Star-Ledger:

  "The Newark Museum hopes it will lure a new audience with the
  upcoming photo retrospective of Bruce Springsteen's career,
  since it will be the only East Coast museum hosting "Springsteen:
  Troubadour of the Highway."

  "The Newark Museum, however, is much more than a showcase
  for the photographic album of Bruce Springsteen's career.

  Founded in 1909 on the top floor of the Newark Public Library
  and moved to its present location on Washington Street in 1929,
  the museum has grown to be one of the largest publicly held art
  collections in the state, as well as an educational institution that
  reaches out to well over 150,000 students each year through
  special programs, lending exhibits, Junior Gallery exhibitions, the
  Mini Zoo, Fire Museum and the 1784 Lyons Farms Schoolhouse
  on the grounds."

  "The museum also boasts impressive collections of Asian, Pacific,
  African and classical art, as well as coin and currency collections
  and the premier collection of New Jersey decorative and industrial
  arts."

  To read the full article, see: Full Article

  Do we have any readers from the Garden State who can tell
  us about the coins and currency on display?


EARLY COINS OF AMERICA REPRINTS

  Ray Williams writes: "I was wondering if any  E-Sylum
  subscribers know of exactly how many different reprints
  of  Sylvester S. Crosby's  "Early Coins of America" have
  been printed, by whom and the dates."

  [I know of four reprints offhand - the 1945 Ruth Green
  reprint, the 1965 Token and Medal Society reprint, the
  1970 Burt Franklin reprint, and the 1974 (and 1983)
  Quarterman reprints.  There may be a Sanford Durst
  reprint out there somewhere, but I wouldn't clutter my
  library with one.  Has The Colonial Newsletter reprinted
  Crosby in whole or in part at some point?  Can any of
  our readers supply references to other reprints?
  -Editor]


SINGLE-ZERO SLOTS NOT SO RARE

  Regarding the mention of single-zero slots in last week's
  item about the Nevada "Fitzgerald Hoard, Ron Haller-
  Williams writes: "Last I knew, most European countries
  would not allow the double-zero, figuring that the house
  should be happy with almost 2.703% (1/37 of the total
  staked, on average), and that 2/38 or 5.263% was too
  greedy.  So a wheel with a single zero slot is not exactly
  rare this side of the pond!"


WORLD COINS MAGAZINE

  John Isles of Hanover, MI writes: "I recently acquired some
  bound volumes of World Coins magazine apparently from the
  library of the late Herb Melnick.  (Three volumes have H. I.
  MELNICK in gold lettering on the front cover.)  They run
  from Vol. 2 (1965) through Vol. 13, Nos. 1-3 (January -
  March, 1976), but Vol. 5 is missing.

  I wanted to learn about the history of the magazine and
  discovered the following, which I thought might me of interest
  to our readers.

  The magazine World Coins was published monthly from
  January 1964 to March 1976.  It was a successor to World
  Coins Bulletin, whose last issue was in March 1963, and
  which was purchased by Sidney Printing and Publishing Co.
  in Sidney, Ohio.  World Coins was edited by Russell Rulau
  until May 1974, and then by Courtney Coffing.  From April
  1976 it was merged with the weekly Coin World.  (This
  information is from an editorial in the last issue of World
  Coins.)

  Melnick's obituary appeared in Numismatic News Vol. 30,
  No. 30 (July 24, 1982), p. 13, and in Coin World Vol. 23,
  No. 1163 (July 28, 1982), p. 3 ("Death claims Herb Melnick
  at home")."

  [Would anyone care to add to our history of this publication?
  I have a bound set as well.  And would anyone happen to
  know the whereabouts of the missing Melnick volumes 1
  and 5?  -Editor]


HERB MELNICK ANECDOTES

  John Isles adds: "I found some interesting anecdotes about
  Melnick on the web.  I'm not sure I'd have liked to meet him.
  Can anybody point me to an obituary notice?

  Here's an account from the PCGS web site of rather
  questionable proceedings at a coin auction:

  "I recall one instance in which a well-known specialist
  desired to purchase a rare early American coin, but was
  afraid that if others in the audience saw him bid on it, they
  would bid slightly more and take it away from him - knowing
  that he had the best idea of anyone as to what it was truly
  worth. No comparable specimen had appeared on the
  market for years. And yet he did want to bid obviously, for
  he would be in the audience and others would expect him
  to bid.

  "He set up this arrangement: Taking a prominent seat in the
  audience, he told the auctioneer that he would put his hand
  in the air and would be bidding up to a certain level. If the
  competing bidders forced him to exceed that level, then his
  hand would come down, but Herbert Melnick, a well-known
  dealer (since deceased), would be bidding on his behalf, but
  no one would know this.  If Melnick bought the lot it was to
  be charged to our client's account.  The coin opened at a
  modest figure, and my client put his hand in the air, at the
  same time looking around to see who else was bidding. Five
  or six other hands were in the air at the same time. The
  bidding progressed, level by level, until our client and just
  two or three others were bidding, when at which time the
  client lowered his hand. Everyone except the auctioneer
  thought he had dropped out. Then Herbert Melnick raised
  his hand, and our client, not being a shy type of person, said
  so that all in the audience could hear: "The price is getting
  ridiculous - it's not worth that!" He was endeavoring to
  dissuade anyone from bidding much more. However, the
  competition continued, and finally Melnick bought the lot for
  a world's record price."

  Full Article

  [You could call this arrangement with Melnick "interesting"
  or "creative", but I think "questionable" is too harsh a word.
  From time immemorial prominent bidders have sought to
  avoid showing all their cards at public auction for just the
  reasons stated.  The bidder's theatrics were designed to
  distract the audience; although it may be seen as tacky,
  rude, childish or even pathetic by others, it's perfectly legal,
  and the special arrangements with Melnick and the auctioneer
  are not unusual - deep-pocketed clients can command such
  special treatment.

  What other auction tales can E-Sylum readers share with us?
  Is it true that once there was a bidder who took the opposite
  tack, taping his bidder paddle to the back wall of the auction
  room and walking out?  Apparently the idea was to discourage
  anyone from even THINKING of outbidding him on the lot.
  -Editor]

  The next Melnick anecdote is found in an interview with
  John J. Ford, Jr. on the Heritage was site:

  "LEGACY: You were also privy to some of the goings-on at
  NASCA [Numismatic and Antiquarian Service Corporation
  of America] in the early years with Herb Melnick.

  FORD: I guess the play was named "Will Success Spoil Rock
  Hunter?" Well, in this case, "Success Spoiled Herb Melnick."
  Melnick changed from a fellow you could talk to, to someone
  who became increasingly aggressive, increasingly hostile. Even
  to the people who were trying to help him, he became hostile.
  Talk about arguments between me and Wormser, those were
  patty-cake sessions compared to the arguments between
  Melnick and Ball.  Douglas Ball is a mild-mannered, good-
  hearted, give-you-the-shirt-off-his-back type, and Melnick was
  the type that would go for your throat. When Herb still worked
  for Stanley Apfelbaum, I suggested to Doug Ball that he go in
  business with Melnick. I said, "He is a wolf, but he will protect
  you from the other wolves:" or something to that effect. But
  Melnick got out of hand. He became enamored with his own
  success. When their business hit ten million a year, he started
  to think he could walk on water. He started to take auction
  consignments with free buybacks and 90 percent advances. In
  a declining market or on material you don't know anything
  about, that can be very dangerous. He insisted on making all
  the decisions, and he started to run the company into the ground.
  In the process, he alienated me by telling me I didn't know what
  the hell I was talking about. And he started to alienate Ball.
  One day, Ball just got fed up, changed the locks on the doors,
  and threw Melnick out. It was Ball's father's money that kept
  the whole thing going. Then Melnick went into business for
  himself, and, as you know, it lasted about a year and a half
  before he died at the age of 39-which is rather young to die of
  a heart attack. I think that means he had a rather vociferous
  personality. But he was a guy with a lot of talent.  If it had been
  channeled in the right direction, he could have been a very
  successful fellow."

  Full Article



AMERICAN MEDALLIC SCULPTURE  EXHIBIT

  Tom Sheehan forwarded the following press release regarding
  a new exhibit by the American Medallic Sculpture Association:

  "32 members of the American Medallic Sculpture Association,
  AMSA, will have their medals on display at the Nordic Heritage
  Museum in Seattle from June 18th to August 1st, 2004.

  80 medals from all over the USA as well as Ireland, Canada,
  Israel, Australia and also medals by an invited artist from the
  Norwegian Mint are assembled at the Nordic Heritage Museum
  for this exhibit.

  This exhibit was made possible by the efforts of Anne-Lise
  Deering, AMSA secretary and newsletter editor. Ms. Deering
  has a special connection with the Nordic community as a native
  Norwegian and a member of the Nordic Heritage Museum.

  The purpose of the American Medallic Sculpture Association,
  AMSA is to encourage the creation and study of medallic
  sculpture in North America. All who are interested are welcome
  as members. By having exhibitions like this we hope to share this
  wonderful art form with everyone.

  The medals in this exhibit were chosen by AMSA artists
  members:  Jim Licaretz, Eugene Daub, Heidi Wastweet,
  Anne-Lise Deering and Woodinville sculptor, Lisa Sheets.

  There will be a  preview reception on June 17th and the
  exhibit will be open to the  public until August 1.

  The Museum is located at 3014 NW 67th Street, Seattle
  and is open: 10 am to 4 pm Tues - Sat and 12 noon to
  4 pm Sun. Check their website:  "Nordic Heritage Museum".

  In addition to the Nordic Heritage Museum exhibit Ms.
  Deering continues to display AMSA members' medals at
  libraries throughout the greater Seattle area. At the moment
  there is a display in the Bothell library until June 15th and
  then to the Anderson library in Edmonds in July before it
  goes to the Redmond library in August.

  For more information about AMSA visit our website
 "AMSA"  or contact AMSA secretary
  Anne-Lise Deering,  e-mail: AMSAnews at aol.com or call
  206-542-0608"


UNCUT SHEET PRANKS

  Hal V. Dunn writes: "I don't know any stories of collectors
  cutting notes out of sheets to amuse themselves at the expense
  of shocked waiters and shopkeepers. However, there are
  stories about Walter Scott, the legendary Death Valley Scotty,
  cutting notes from uncut sheets.

  One account, documented in Death Valley Scotty Told Me,
  by Eleanor Jordan Houston, the wife of a National Park Service
  Ranger stationed at Death Valley during the late 1940s, centers
  on a trip Scotty made many years before by train from Barstow,
  California to Los Angeles.  He had $4,800 in uncut sheets.  He
  purchased two bottles of wine, borrowed a pair of manicure
  scissors from a young lady and cut a bill off.  He told the couple
  he was with that the notes were counterfeit, but so good it was
  easy to pass them.  He even offered to sell the roll of bills for
  $4,000.  The husband of the young lady got off the train briefly
  at San Bernardino and notified the police.  In Los Angeles
  Treasury agents were waiting when the train arrived.  Frank J.
  Belcher, Jr., the assistant cashier for the Los Angeles bank was
  called in to settle the problem - Scotty indeed had received
  uncut sheets from the bank.  (pp. 36-39, appendix note #2;
  original copyright 1954, copyright 1985 by the Death Valley
  Natural History Association).

  As I recall there is another published reference to Death Valley
  Scotty cutting notes from sheets.  However, I am unable to
  locate it at the moment.  That story involved sheets from a
  national bank in Nevada.  He cut them off in front of numerous
  persons in Tonopah, Goldfield, or Rhyolite, Nevada,
  communities he frequented regularly."

  Tom DeLorey writes: "At the 1983 ANA convention in San
  Diego, I went out to dinner with then-fellow ANA employee
  Nancy Green and her husband Ron and their infant son,
  Andrew. Before we left the bourse area, I bought a four-subject
  sheet of deuces from the BEP booth, rolled it up and stuck it in
  my jacket. As we left, I handed Nancy a pair of scissors and
  told her to stick them in her purse.  Dinner came to just under
  $40, and by prior arrangement I took the check and gave the
  waiter a $50. He naturally came back with ten singles so that
  he could get most of them back as his tip, but I just stuffed
  them into another jacket pocket and casually asked Nancy for
  the scissors.  She did so with an absolutely straight face, and
  I took out the sheet of four deuces, carefully cut off one, and
  handed the waiter the conjoined "$6 bill."  As we calmly
  gathered up our belongings and the baby, the guy just stood
  there holding it out with a stunned look on his face. As we
  started to head towards the door, he finally said "Do you print
  your own?", to which I smiled and said "Doesn't everybody?"

  Ed Snible writes: "My favorite uncut sheet story comes from
  Steve Wozniak (inventor and founder of Apple Computer):

  "I take the sheets of 4 bills and have a printer, located through
  friends, gum them into pads, like stationery pads. The printer
  then perforates them between the bills, so that I can tear a bill
  or two away.  The bills that I'd tipped the waitress came from
  such a pad." Story

  Myron Xenos writes; "Of some humorous interest might be a
  case where a client of mine turned an uncut sheet of one-dollar
  notes sideways, and then cut the paper into some very
  odd-looking pieces of currency. It surprised me at first until I
  realized what he had done. A good bar trick for numismatists
  who like to fool their drinking buddies & probably good for a
  few drinks. But then I would get the heck out before they
  caught on."


FEATURED WEB PAGE

  This week's featured web page is from the Russ Logan
  collection site.  It pictures an 1829 U.S. Bust Half Dollar
  with a "Houck's Panacea Baltimore" counterstamp.

  "According to Gregory Brunk in American and Canadian
  Countermarked Coins, Jacob Houck operated his business
  at the corner of German and Hanover streets in Baltimore,
  and advertised in the 1842 Matchett's Baltimore City Directory.
  His product, Houck's Panacea, was prepared from vegetable
  matter and cured a variety of ailments."

     FEATURED WEB PAGE

  Wayne Homren
  Numismatic Bibliomania Society