Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 7, Number 42, October 17, 2004:
an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society.
Copyright (c) 2004, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society.


DICK JOHNSON VISITS THE E-SYLUM

  Your Editor was pleased to host frequent E-Sylum
  contributor Dick Johnson and his wife Shirley the evening
  of Friday October 15.  They flew in to Pittsburgh that
  afternoon, and I picked them up at their hotel after work.
  We joined my wife and three kids for dinner at a nearby
  restaurant.   Later, back at the house after the kids were
  in bed, the Johnsons and I spent a pleasant few hours in
  my library looking over numismatic books and ephemera.
  Dick peppered me with questions about The E-Sylum,
  and we may see an article in the future.

  Saturday night was another pleasant affair - the Johnsons
  were in town to attend "A Century of Heroes," a gala
  celebration of the centennial of the Carnegie Hero Fund
  Commission.  Dick was a consultant to the organization
  as they sought a new manufacturer for the Carnegie Hero
  medal.  I helped the Hero Fund and Carnegie Museum
  create the special exhibit of hero fund medals at the
  American Numismatic Association convention this summer,
  and my wife Dee and I were invited to the affair as well.

  The event was opened with a speech by author and
  historian David McCullough, followed by a short film about
  the fund and its awardees.  This took place in Carnegie
  Music Hall in the Carnegie Museum complex.  Afterwards,
  a dinner was held in Architecture Hall.  Our table included
  McCullough's brother and his wife, Shirley and Dick Johnson,
  and Kendy and Luigi Badia, the sculptor who designed the
  centennial version of the Carnegie Hero Medal.

  I was pleased to meet David McCullough after dinner,
  and tell him how much I enjoyed his book on the Johnstown
  Flood, which was his first.   Local celebrities such as
  Republican Party stalwart Elsie Hillman were in attendance
  as well, making for interesting people-watching.  After the
  ANA convention, it was nice to simply attend an event
  without having to help run the darned thing.  The organizers
  did a wonderful job, creating an appropriately tasteful event
  celebrating a noble institution and the heroes it honors, many
  of who were in attendance.


SEPTEMBER 11 "COIN" SALES HALTED

  Christopher Rivituso forwarded an October 13th
  story from the Associated Press wire noting that the
  sale of the September 11 "coins" discussed in an earlier
  E-Sylum issue have been halted.   Here are some
  excerpts:

  "New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer obtained a
  court order Wednesday to temporarily suspend the sale
  of commemorative Sept. 11 coins advertised as being
  minted from silver recovered at ground zero.

  Spitzer said the sale of the silver dollars - emblazoned
  with the World Trade Center towers on one side and
  the planned Freedom Tower on the other - is a fraud.
  He's investigating whether the silver actually came from
  the ruins of the twin towers.

  "It is a shameless attempt to profit from a national tragedy,''
  Spitzer said.  "This product has been promoted with
  claims that are false, misleading or unsubstantiated.''

  "Tom Conway, head of the state's Consumer Frauds and
  Protection Bureau, said an investigation into the company
  began with consumer complaints and a referral from the
  U.S. Mint, which issued a notice on its Web site that the
  coin "is not a legally authorized government issued'' product."

  Chris Fuccione forwarded links to an additional article in
  USA Today and a page from the Attorney General's
  web site:
  USA Today Article
  Attorney General


THICKEST NUMISMATIC BOOK?

  [Regarding Pete Smith's quest to identify the thickest
  numismatic book (by page count),  I had my own guess
  as to the particular book Pete was referring to in his
  original question. "It takes a big man to write a big book!"
  Weighing in at 1,041 numbered pages is Wendell Wolka's
  "A History of Nineteenth Century Ohio Obsolete Bank
  Notes and Scrip," published this year by the Society of
  Paper Money Collectors.  -Editor]

  David Gladfeler writes: "I've got the 1041-pager too and
  it's a damned good book. Paid cash-and-carry, saved $6
  in postage and got the author's autograph and ~half-hour
  gab thrown in free (however, had a sore shoulder for a
  few days -- thanks, Wendell).

  You beat me on having the fattest numismatic book.  I
  have the 1956 Numismatic Scrapbook, 2352 pages, all
  in one ponderous volume courtesy of Stephen Harris,
  whose name is stamped on the cover. He took the covers
  off before binding which saves a few calories, but not many."

  David Davis writes: "I, too picked up an autographed copy
  of Wendell Wolka's  book at ANA.  We might also want to
  establish a couple of other categories. The largest, height by
  width?  The heaviest?"

  Scott Miller submitted this selection:
  "Storer's Medicina in Nummis has 1146 pages."

  Martin Logies writes:
  "The thickest book from my library, and my nomination
  for the record is "The Comprehensive U.S. Silver Dollar
  Encyclopedia" by John W. Highfill.  Published in 1992, this
  book has 45 pages at the front simply given Roman numerals
  plus 1,233 pages numbered using Arabic numerals -- for a
  total of 1,278 pages."

  [There are few unrare U.S. numismatic books that aren't in
  my library, and for shelf space reasons, this is one of them.
  The late Ken Lowe had a special copy - he disbound it and
  discarded all the pages he felt were irrelevant to his interests.
  Then, he had it rebound in a far thinner binding.

  A similar tactic would have greatly reduced the size of my
  Numismatist set.  There have been people who simply
  ripped out all the ads and covers, leaving only the numismatic
  articles to be bound.  As a bibliophile, I am at once sympathetic
  to the problem and appalled by the solution -- often the ads
  have a great deal of important numismatic information, and
  much of the value of the publication is lost without them.
  -Editor]

  Peter Irion writes: "Greetings from Vermont.  My nomination
  for the thickest Exonumia book is the Encyclopedia of the
  Modern Elongated by Angelo Rosato.  It weighs in at (XXVII)
  + 1732 pages which equals about 3 1/16th inches.  And it
  only covers elongated coins from the years 1960 to 1978.
  I can only imagine how thick an updated edition covering
  1960 through 2004 might be."

  Bill Burd seconded Peter's choice.  He writes: "Other books
  in my library over 1040 pages long are:  A California Gold
  Rush History - 1055 pages;  A Bibliography of 16th
  Century Numismatic Books - 1059 pages;  A Bibliography
  of 17th Century Numismatic Books - Volume 3
  - 1153 pages;  Xian Qin Huo Bi/Ch'in Dynasty Currency,
  Shanghai 1988(Chinese text) - 1181 pages.   And, of course
  I have "A History of Nineteenth Century Ohio Obsolete Bank
  Notes and Scrip", weighing in at 1041 pages."

  Bill Murray also nominated the Rosato work on Elongateds,
  and notes: "While on the subject of big, I suggest Dave Bowers'
  "A California Gold Rush History" deserves consideration as the
  weightiest tome, at 11 pounds six ounces.

  Karl Moulton writes: "As for the "thickest" book (as per
  numbered pages), I offer the following:

  Although Dave Bowers 1991 two volume set of the
  "American Numismatic Association Centennial" comes in at
  1744 pages, there is yet another "thicker" book available.
  It is a 1985 numismatic book about numismatic books titled
  "Numismatic Bibliography" by Elvira Clain-Stefanelli.  It is a
  single volume numbering an impressive 1848 pages.
  Although it is not the thickest publication ever printed (this
  is primarily due to the type of paper used and font sizes) it
  stands as one of the lengthiest publications regarding
  numismatics."

  Mark Borckardt writes: "Is this a single volume book contest,
  i.e. Hickman and Oakes, or are multiple volume publications
  to be included in this search, i.e. Dave Bowers' ANA History?
  What about other parameters: are we searching strictly for
  page count, or are we looking for physical thickness of the
  spine? If just page count, I imagine that one of the Krause
  "telephone book" world coin catalogs will certainly be in
  contention. If physical thickness, other books may take
  precedence, depending on what weight paper is used."

  [Pete started this discussion, and his criteria was page count,
  so that's what we're looking for here.  We'll allow multiple
  volumes, but recognize them as a separate category from
  single volumes.    Thickness and weight are certainly relevant,
  and perhaps worthy of further discussion in a future issue.
  Some of this week's submissions do mention these other
  attributes.  -Editor]

  Joe Boling was thinking along the same lines as Mark on
  the Krause series.  He writes: "Good grief, guys, there are
  SIX books in the current Krause Publications line that
  exceed that page count."  Mark and Joe weren't alone in
  their observations.

  Nolan Mims writes: "The thickest numismatic volume in my
  library is the "1996 Standard Catalog of World Coins" by
  Krause / Mishler with 2286 numbered pages. The heaviest,
  at nearly twelve pounds, is Dave Bowers' outstanding "A
  California Gold Rush History", but it has "only" 1054 pages.
  I wrote a review of this book when it was published and the
  only critical remark, if it could be called such, was that I felt
  it should have been two volumes to make it easier to handle."

  James Higby writes:  "My thickest book is the 32nd edition of
  the Standard Catalog of World Coins, at 2288 pages."

  Yossi Dotan agrees: "The thickest one in my library has 2,288
  + LVI (56) pages, and an insert of 16 pages, making for a total
  of 2,360 pages.  I assume many of the readers of The E-Sylum
  have this book in their library as well. It is the 2005 (32nd)
  edition of the Standard Catalog of World Coins ? 1901-Present
  by Krause and Mishler.

  I am now expecting a follow-up question to appear in one of
  the next issues of E-Sylum: What is the thinnest numismatic
  book?"


VATICAN BOOKS GET HIGH-TECH TAGS

  CNN published an interesting article about the application
  of high-tech tags to the Vatican Library book collection
  Here are some excerpts:

  "It is home to 1.6 million books, centuries-old manuscripts
  and the oldest known complete Bible. Now, librarians at the
  Vatican Library are using cutting-edge technology to keep
  track of the priceless ancient collection.

  About 30,000 books have been tagged with radio frequency
  identification (RFID) chips since implementation of the
  technology began last year.

  Two million of the 40-million piece collection will be tagged
  in the near future, allowing staff to complete the library's annual
  inventory in less than a day, something that previously forced it
  to close for a whole month.

  RFID chips, also known as tags, store information and send it
  via radio waves to a reader, in this case a hand held device
  that enables librarians to monitor the condition of the books
  and their whereabouts."

  More Info


THE COENWULF COIN

  Regarding the item last week about the sale of the Coenwulf
  penny to Allan Davisson, Philip Mernick writes: "The
  speculation at last week's Coinex coin fair was what Mr.
  Davisson was expecting to do with the coin.  To take it out of
  the U.K. will almost certainly require an export licence which
  will be challenged by the British Museum.  This would give
  sufficient time for funds to be raised to enable it to be purchased
  "on behalf of the Nation".   Does he intend to keep it
  permanently in England?"


JERRY REMICK FOUND?

  Last week Martin Purdy wrote: "I'm curious to know how
  author Jerry Remick is, or even if he is still alive."

  The October 19, 2004 issue of Numismatic News has an
  article by Jerry Remick (p38).   Could any of our readers
  from Krause Publications help put Jerry and Martin in
  touch?


LEO MILDENBERG OF BANK LEU

  On Monday, October 11, Scotsman.com published an article
  about Leo Mildenberg, who founded the numismatic auction
  arm of Switzerland's Bank Leu.

  "The late Leo Mildenberg was a world-renowned numismatist,
  collector and philanthropist, who had a most unusual passion.
  Over a period of more than 40 years he built up a remarkable
  collection devoted exclusively to models of ancient Egyptian,
  near Eastern, Greek and Roman animals.  This gentle man died
  in 2001, and on 26 and 27 October his entire collection of close
  on 1,000 animals will be offered for sale by Christie's, the fine
  art auctioneer, in London. It is expected to realise up to £2.5
  million."

  "Mr Mildenberg was born in Kassel in Germany in 1913. He
  studied ancient history and Semitic languages at the University
  of Frankfurt, until being forced out by the Nazis in 1933. His
  first stop was Leipzig, and from there he went to Estonia,
  where he received his doctorate. In the winter of 1941, he was
  sent with many others to a Russian prison camp in Kazakhstan,
  although he had done nothing wrong. It was there that he met
  his future wife, Elsie Brunner, from Zurich, in Switzerland. In
  1947, the couple, with the help of the Red Cross, fled the
  camp for Switzerland. His experiences of Nazi Germany were
  to be reflected in his animal collection, in that every animal
  which joined his collection had to be "free, peaceful and
  spirited".  This was the guiding principle of his collection.

  Mr Mildenberg began collecting animals during the 1950s,
  when he joined the venerable Bank Leu, in Zurich. As great a
  numismatist as he was a collector, he had, within a few years,
  set up a specialist numismatic department within the bank,
  which later became the world's leading auction house for
  ancient coins.

  By the 1970s, his animal collection had grown into a
  veritable zoo, and, in 1981, he held his first public exhibition
  of his ever growing collection at the Cleveland Museum of
  Art in the United States. From there, the collection traveled
  extensively throughout the United States, Israel and Europe
  - being shown in 14 cities across three continents."

  To read the full story, see: Full Story

  [Do any of our readers have recollections about Mr.
  Mildenberg?  -Editor]


CHITTY'S TREATISE ON BILLS OF EXCHANGE

  On his visit, Dick Johnson gave me a copy of the February
  1970 Harmer, Rooke numismatic literature sale, and in
  flipping through the catalogue one item stood out as something
  I hadn't seen before.  Lot 544 is described as "one of the
  earliest legal works in America on banknotes."  The author
  is J. Chitty, and the title is "A Practical Treatise on Bills of
  Exchange, Checks on Bankers, Promissory Notes, Bankers'
  Cash Notes, and Bank Notes."  It was published in 1817.
  Are any of our readers familiar with this work?  Is there
  worthwhile numismatic content?  Has it been reprinted?


ROCKER & ROLLER COINING PRESSES

  Michael Schmidt writes: "I made a slight error here -- I should
  have referred to the press used for the early Williow and Oak
  Tree coinages as a rocker press.  The rocker press used a pair
  of dies with curved oval faces and the planchet was squeezed
  between them with a rolling motion as they were rocked back
  and forth using a lever and gear arrangement.  Coins struck
  on a rocker press have a characteristic "S" shaped bend in
  their planchets.  (As the tree coinages do.)"

  Dick Johnson writes: "I purposely did not mention the roller
  press in my capsule history of coining press because of their
  inherent failure. In response to Michael Schmidt?s comments
  to my previous item on Coining Presses I can give the history
  of the attempts of a roller press to supplant the screw press
  (and later the Uhlhorn and Thonnilier coining technologies
  which not only are successful, but have been in continued use
  for over 190 years!).

  The roller die was invented by Kaspar Goebels in 1550 in
  Augsburg, Germany. The word for the roller die process is
  "taschenwerke" and the roller mill was called "walzenwerke."
  He attempted to get it accepted in Denmark, and later Spain
  without much success.

  In France Nicolas Briot in 1637 tried a similar roller press at
  the Paris Mint, failed there, took his technology to the Tower
  Mint in London, failed there, then was finally named mintmaster
  at the Edinburgh Mint in Scotland. He did have some success
  there in producing some large diameter coins on the roller press.

  The concept of roller production of coins - roll on the impression
  of both sides of a coin on a ribbon of metal, then blank it
  afterwards, that is, to cut out the circles after the design is in
  place. This was so alluring that it was tried again in the 20th
  century, by no less an industry than General Motors!  But they
  tried in the1960s and it failed again.  The process raised the
  temperature enough to melt the design off the face of the dies!
  This experiment is related by Eric M. Larson in an account
  published in Coin World (May 29 and June 5, 1995).

  There is also the concept of "upsetting" that is missing in roller
  die production.  Cutting out a circle leaves a burr on the trailing
  edge of any cut metal. Cut out the circle from the impressed
  ribbon of metal and you will always have a burr around the
  edge of one side. Upsetting prepares blanks not only by
  removing this burr, but makes the blanks completely round,
  and also slightly thickens the edge. (Collectors call blanks
  Type 1 before upsetting, Type 2 after upsetting).  An upset
  blank aids coining by making uniform circles and prevents
  jamming in a press.

  Someone may invent a better way to strike coins in the future,
  but don't look for this to be a roller press."


ANOTHER MICHAEL GRANT OBITUARY

  "MICHAEL GRANT was one of the few classical historians
  to win respect from academics and a lay readership.
  Immensely prolific, he wrote and edited more than 50 books
  of nonfiction and translation, covering topics from Roman
  coinage and the eruption of Vesuvius to the Gospels and
  Christ.

  "I have always wanted people to be better informed," he once
  wrote, "and having absorbed over the years a certain, limited
  amount of information myself, I have wanted to pass it on as
  palatably as I can - first through academic channels, of which
  I have had the good fortune to be able to avail myself, and
  then through my own publications." Such a prescription found
  shape in his books and in his career outside writing; he was
  for many years active in the British Council's project to promote
  British culture overseas, and he taught classics at the universities
  of Cambridge and Edinburgh.

  Michael Grant was born in 1914. Educated at Harrow, he
  went up to Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1933 to read classics.
  After graduating, he took up a research fellowship to write the
  thesis that he would publish as his first book, From Imperium to
  Auctoritas, in 1946. Perhaps surprisingly, he began his writing
  career in academic numismatics. Over the ensuing decade he
  wrote four books on Roman coinage, arguing that the conflict
  between imperatorial eccentricity and the traditionalism of the
  Roman mint made coinage, used as propaganda and currency,
  a unique social record. Later he would become president and
  honorary fellow of the Royal Numismatic Society."

  To read the full article, see: Full Article


ILLUSTRATING NEW U.S. CURRENCY

  Regarding the anti-counterfeiting features built into new
  copiers and scanners, Yossi Dotan writes: "A better idea
  would be to make a picture of the paper money by digital
  camera!"

  Larry Gaye writes: "I was thinking about Dick Johnson's
  question regarding the photocopying of currency.  I think
  we just might have to revert to that wonderful invention,
  photography.  Will it be a pain? Of course.

  Be that as may, I have found a great reason not to upgrade
  PhotoShop -- I can still scan currency for literature and art
  purposes.  I can upgrade one computer and leave the other
  alone.

  Dick might want to find someone who hasn't switched to
  a newer version of PhotoShop.  Should still work as if you
  don't upgrade, life is still good.

  Great edition of E-Sylum.  Thanks for all your hard work."

  Bob Neale notes: "There may be quite a difference between
  scanning original notes vs scanning images of them. How to
  get images if the scanners don't work? Try a digital (or even
  film!) camera. There's no software in those babies to prevent
  imaging for publication purposes. Once printed, the question
  is whether the images now produced via cameras will retain
  the coding that triggers recognition by scanner software. I'd
  guess not."

  Mark Borckardt writes: "At Heritage, we have already had
  a run-in with this technology. We purchased a new scanner
  to use for paper money scanning for our auction catalogs.
  When using the new scanner for the first time, in a past
  deadline situation, there were no usable images. As a result,
  currency had to be scanned on the older equipment that we
  already had, causing further delays to a late catalog."


EZECHIEL SPANHEIM, PROFESSOR OF ELOQUENCE

  Regarding the query about Ezechiel Spanheim, Ron
  Haller-Williams writes: "I must admit I had not heard of him
  either, but a quick internet search  reveals several things,
  including that he had in 1670/1 written a book on the
  symbology of ancient coins.

  A web page on Louis XIV suggests as "additional reading"
  "Ezechiel Spanheim, Relation de la cour de France en 1690
  (1704; Account of the Court of France, 1900)."

  He seems to have been born in Geneva, Switzerland, on
  18th (or 7th?)  December 1629 and died in London on 7th
  December 1710.   Created a baron in 1701.  At some stage
  he seems to have been ambassador of  Brandenburg (in Paris?),
  and later the first Prussian ambassador in London.
  See Additional Info

  I could offer plenty more (by cheating, of course!),
  including details of his religious dispute with Richard Simon.

  In order NOT to pick up recent items on Brian's research,
  I asked "Google" for Ezechiel and Spanheim but not Ogilvie,
  and was offered some 187 items.   Try clicking on Google Search

  I hope this helps, and can offer further data if requested."

  Gar Travis also did some web searching, but did not exclude
  Ogilvie's work.  He writes: "... this link (below) seemed the
  most interesting to read, which by the way, is the work done
  by Olgivie. One wonders if he was feeling "obscure" and
  needed to stir up some press to be recognized as he is being
  endowed for $40,000?

  Brian W. Ogilvie  (journal article).
  Ezechiel Spanheim and the learned culture of
  seventeenth-century Europe (book project).
  U Mass Book Project

  Scott Miller writes: "Ezekiel Spanheim is listed as follows in
  "A New Biographical Dictionary" by James Ferguson, 1810:

  SPANHEIM (Ezekiel), a learned writer and statesman, was
  the eldest son of the preceding, and born in 1629 in Geneva,
  where he was appointed professor of eloquence at the age
  of 20.  He soon after became tutor to the son of Charles
  Louis, elector palatine who employed him in several
  important missions.  After the Peace of Ryswick he was sent
  to France, and from thence to England, where he died in 1710.
  His principal works are, De Prestantia et usu Numismatum
  antiquorum, 2 vols. folio; Letters and Dissertations on Medals;
  an edition of the Works of Julian, with Notes folio.

  The entire entry was copied into Appletons' Cyclopaedia of
  Biography, American edition edited by Francis L. Hawks,
  D.D.,  LL.D., 1856, which was based on the "Cyclopedia of
  Biography" edited by Rich."

  Ferdinando Bassoli, of Torino, Italy writes: "Ezechiel
  Spanheim (1629-1710) was in fact a numismatist, a diplomat
  and ambassador to France and England. He wrote a book on
  "De praestantia et usu numismatum antiquorum". The thirteen
  discourses addressed to his friend Ottavio Falconieri, a Roman
  antiquary,  represent the seventeenth  century peak of classical
  numismatics. Spanheim meticulously (and not without
  digressions) records every image and inscription shown on
  ancient coins that could be made out.  This weighty tome,
  highly esteemed by the scholars of the time was republished
  following the first edition (Rome 1664) in Paris, London and
  Amsterdam (Elsevier 1671)."

  Bill Daehn writes: "Ezechiel Spanheim (1629-1710) was one of
  the most significant numismatists in the 17th century. This Swiss
  scholar spent many years in the capitals of Europe and spent
  twelve years as a special envoy of Frederick William I.

  Clain-Stefanelli writes, "At the home of the Duke of Aumont,
  Spanheim would meet with a group which can be designated
  a coin collectors' club, convening weekly to discuss numismatic
  problems."

  Information on Spanheim can be found in Ferdinano Bassioli's
  Antiquarian Books on Coins and Medals (Spink/Kolbe, 2001),
  Elvira Clain-Stefanelli's Numismatics: An Ancient Science, and
  the recently published Ancient Numismatics and Its History,
  Including a Critical Review of the Literature by Ernest Babelon,
  newly translated by Elizabeth Saville (Kolbe/Spink, 2004)."


PUBLISHING TOOLS

  John Regitko writes: "I was just reviewing the past issues of
  The E-sylum and read Dan Gosling's request for information
  on publishing programs.

  When I was editor of the Ontario Numismatist, official
  publication of the Ontario Numismatic Association, I used
  MS Publisher. It might not be a "professional" program, but
  it did the job in putting out 36-page bulletins complete with
  illustrations.

  Awards are usually won not by just content, but also by eye
  appeal and layout, and MS Publisher helped in winning the
  best Regional/National Bulletin Award for the bulletin."


MICKLEY A STATIONER?

  Regarding last week's question by Terry Stahurski, Karl
  Moulton writes: "Mickley was not a stationer.  He had no
  equipment at hand to print or publish anything.  His first
  publication "Dates of United States Coins and their Degree
  of Rarity" was published by Auner printers in the summer
  of 1858.  Even his business cards were printed elsewhere,
  according to his daily business journal.

  Also, his fame stemming from restrikes of American coinage
  is unfounded.  Although he had various old dies that were
  obtained at the Mint as scrap metal, there is no evidence
  that he was the one who created any of the restrikes that
  have been popularly attributed to him.  Professor Montroville
  William Dickeson and William Ewing DuBois, curator of the
  Mint cabinet are the prime candidates."


ANS BUILDING NAMES QUIZ CONTINUES

  Pete Smith writes: "No report about names on the
  ANS building in this issue?"

  Actually, we had no responses to the previous
  week's quiz question regarding the numismatic
  luminaries whose names are chiseled in stone on the
  old American Numismatic Society building in New
  York.  You folks are slipping!  Surely, someone can
  tell us the name of this "Russian numismatist, [who] is
  credited with the creation of the interest in oriental
  numismatics throughout Russia and is considered the
  founder of modern Islamic Science in Russia.  [He]
  wrote more than 143 publications and manuscripts .."

  Pete added: "I spent quite a bit of time trying to identify
  the Russian numismatist.  I checked the ANA on-line
  library catalog and the ANS on-line library catalog. I
  also looked through the Clain-Stefanelli bibliography. I
  found several names but none with the volume of items
  I expected.

  I understand that the Moscow Numismatic Society
  wanted to put the names of Aleksei Vasilevich Oreshnikov
  and Aleksyei Konstantinovich Markov on the front of their
  building but there wasn't enough room. Markov wrote
  about oriental and Islamic numismatics but had only five
  items listed in C-S. Based on my limited resources, he is
  my best guess."

  [Nice try, but wrong.  We'll wait another week to see if
  anyone can guess the name of the Russian numismatist,
  and with or without a correct answer, we'll publish the
  full list of names next week. -Editor]


JOE BOLING'S SHOW RETURNS

  E-Sylum subscriber, ANA Chief Judge, numismatist and
  all-around nice guy Joe Boling will be on stage for a
  benefit performance of his one-man show, "What Is It Like
  To Be Joe Boling?" in Seattle, WA:

  "It's the return of Joe Boling! To help raise rent money for
  Theatre Babylon, Mr. Boling has agreed to revive his show
  for a one-night only performance at the Union Garage.
  Performance is Friday, October 22 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are
  $12 in advance and $15 at the door."

  "The man who sees over 300 theatrical shows each year is
  back- only this time he's the one performing. A hit at the 2003
  Fringe Festival, "What Is It Like To Be Joe Boling?" is a solo
  show about a local theatre legend. To help raise rent money
  for Theatre Babylon, Mr. Boling has agreed to revive his
  show for a one-night only performance at the Union Garage.

  Boling, an obsessive theatre attendee, internationally known
  numismatist (coin collector, that is), and self-appointed "do a
  good turn daily" community service agent, spent 13 weeks
  chronicling his daily activities in a diary. From this diary, he
  created this highly original solo show. This is not an evening
  of grandstand acting or fiery theatrics. It's an evening with a
  man who is not afraid to be himself.

  Created in 2003 in Susy Schneider's Original Works class,
  Joe Boling was inspired to write this piece when a fellow
  student asked "What is it like to be Joe Boling, to live in your
  skin and do all the things that you do?"

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FEATURED WEB PAGE

  This week's featured web page is the Catholic Encyclopedia's
  entry on the Papal Mint.
  Featured Web Site

  
  
  Wayne Homren
  Numismatic Bibliomania Society