Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 7, Number 48, November 28, 2004:
an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society.
Copyright (c) 2004, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society.


SUBSCRIBER UPDATE

  Among recent new subscribers is token and medal specialist
  Steve Tanenbaum, courtesy of Larry Dziubek.  Welcome aboard!
  We now have 700  subscribers.


SPINK LE RIDER LIBRARY SALE ANNOUNCEMENT

  Hadrien Rambach writes: "We are pleased to announce that
  Spink has purchased the major numismatic library of Professor
  Geeorges Le Rider, and will be issuing a fixed price catalogue
  of almost 1000 items in February 2005. The Le Rider library
  contains many important standard references on ancient Greek
  numismatics, as well as many other books relating to Roman
  and Byzantine coinages, and the books will be offered for
  sale at fixed prices.

  The catalogue we are preparing will be in the tradition of
  those issued by the booksellers and publishers Hiersemann
  and Gustav Fock of Leipzig, pre-eminent in the 1920s and
  1930s. The latter offered for sale the numismatic library of
  Haeberlin in 1937 (Kat. Nr. 714) and that of Professor.
  Dr. Pick in 1934 (Kat. Nr. 695), whilst Hierseman issued
  a number of fixed price catalogues of "Numismatik" books,
  the best of which was probably his Nr. 605 issued
  in October 1930.

  We are honoured to be able to offer this large selection of
  books from Professor Le Rider's library. His reputation in
  his chosen field of Greek coinages is unsurpassed amongst
  his own generation, and his influence will live on through
  his publications, many of which are justifiably recognized as
  standard works.  He follows in the footsteps of Ernest
  Babelon and Louis Robert, in his own country, Barclay
  Head and Stanley Robinson in Britain, Edward Newell in
  the United States, and Imhoof-Blumer and Kurt Regling in
  Germany, and of others in many parts of the world.

  The condition of the books in the library is particularly fine.
  Notable items deserve special mention: the complete set
  of Revue Numismatique, a long run of Numismatic Chronicle,
  Babelon's masterwork, the Traité, the fine catalogues of
  the Bibliothèque Nationale, those of the Berlin and the British
  Museums, the Hunter and Grose Catalogues, Waddington's
  Recueil Général, Imhoof-Blumer's Die Antiken Munzen der
  Nord-Griechenlands, Newell's huge contribution to the
  subject in his series of monographs, and of course the
  complete international series of the Sylloge Nummorum
  Graecorum, in the publication of which Georges played
  such an important role in progressing Sir Stanley Robinson's
  original visionary work.

  Notable early works include a fine and complete set of
  Pellerin's Recueil (1762 - 1778) and Eckhel's Doctrina
  (1792 - 1828), amongst others.

  This catalogue will not be sent to our general mailing list.
  Anyone who would like to receive a copy is asked to
  contact the Book Department at Spink by email
  books at spink.com or by telephone: (0044) (0) 20 7563
  4056 fax: (0044) (0) 20 7563 4068.

  The catalogue will be sent free of charge to anyone
  who requests it."


ARMY MEDICAL MUSEUM MEDAL COLLECTION

  Ira Rezak,  M.D. of New York writes: "Regarding the
  Allemann article and the collection of medals gathered by
  John Shaw Billings at the Army Medical Museum and
  Library, both referred to in last week's E-Sylum, let me
  make the following few remarks.  First, quite apart from
  Allemann, Horatio Storer frequently attributed specific
  medals to this collection in his long running series on
  medical medals, which ran in the American Journal of
  Numismatics from 1889-1912. Then, of course, his son
  Malcolm, who published Medicina in Nummis in Boston
  in 1931, based on his father's work and on the major
  collection in the Boston Medical Library, did the same.

  The Army Medical Museum, which had been founded in
  1862 as a medical pathology museum, to preserve
  specimens useful in the understanding of diseases (and thus
  only incidentally a repository for historical objects like
  medals) was renamed the Army Institute of pathology after
  the Second World War, and in 1949 became the Armed Forces
  Institute of Pathology (AFIP). In 1955 the collections were
  Moved to the grounds of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
  The Museum was later called the called the Armed Forces
  Medical Museum after 1974 and became part of the National
  Museum of Health & Medicine in 1989 which however still
  remains on the grounds of the Walter Reed Medical Center
  in NW Washington near the Maryland line and the
  Bethesda campus of the National Institutes of Health.

  The medal collection remains, as it always has been, a
  minimal section of the larger Medical and Pathological
  enterprise. But it's still there and I have visited it briefly
  on several occasions. There is not a readily accessible catalog
  and the collection has never been published. The medals are
  not on regular display, but photo images of specimens from
  the collection are used from time to time in publications of
  the National Museum, for instance their calendars.

  I value your efforts on E-sylum and the contributions of
  many others. Thanks."


  Bill Murray writes: "The Army Medical Museum Medal
  Collection still exists.  The Army Medical Museum now is
  located at Fort Sam Houston here in San Antonio, but when
  it moved here from Walter Reed Hospital in Washington,
  D.C., certain of its holdings were withdrawn to be placed in
  the Museum of Health and Medicine, still at Walter Reed.
  Alan Hawk, whose title is Collection Manager, told me today
  that the collection is still in existence with about 3000 items.
  That is the same number referenced in the latest The E-Sylum.
  He said he would be glad to show the collection to interested
  numismatists, but would need an appointment to do so.  His
  direct telephone number is 202-782-2205.  I'm not sure if his
  first name is spelled Alan or Allen, but Hawk is correct.  Boy!
  would I like to be the one to get involved with it!  Good luck,
  someone!"


COMPANY DEACIDIFIES BOOKS FOR LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

  A company we've mentioned in previous E-Sylums, Preservation
  Technologies, is highlighted in a new article about the
  company's contract with the Library of Congress:

  "In a heavily guarded building in Cranberry, a battle is
  being waged around the clock to save the world's super
  heroes.

  The enemy? The relentless forces of time and nature.

  The weapon of choice to ensure our heroes' survival?
  An antacid.

  The site of the war is Preservation Technologies, a
  company that has developed a revolutionary process to
  save paper, including comic books.

  The process earned the firm a five-year contract from
  the Library of Congress to save about 100,000 comic books,
  including Superman and Spider-Man, as well as not-so-super
  characters such as Richie Rich.

  "Comic books are a challenging type of material," said
   Mark Sweeney, chief of the preservation reformatting
  division at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.,
  which houses the largest comic book collection in the
  United States.

  Because comics are printed on highly acidic wood pulp
  paper, similar to newspapers, even the utmost of care
  won't arrest their eventual decay, he said, and other
  preservation methods don't work well for comics."

  "Preservation Technologies uses a gentle, nontoxic process
  to apply microscopic particles of magnesium oxide -- the
  same ingredients found in over-the-counter antacids "
  to neutralize the acid in paper.

  "Our chemist predicts that the treatment will make the
  average book last between 300 and 800 years," said Ken
  Harris, preservation projects director for the Library of
  Congress. Untreated, books degrade and become brittle in
  50 to 100 years, he said, "but we can avoid that now."

  "One reason this process is catching on throughout the
  world and is so popular with the Library of Congress is
  because it's so cost-effective," Harris said. He estimated
  that books can be deacidified for about $16 each,
  including shipping. "If we reformatted the same book, it
  would cost between $85 to $120 to microfilm and about
  $300 to $1,900 to digitize," he said.

  Since 1999, individuals have been able to buy Archival
  Mist, a spray developed by Preservation Technologies,
  to preserve items such as newspaper clippings and
  scrapbooks.

  To read the full article, see: Full Article

  [The company's web address is Preservation Technologies
  They do not sell their consumer products directly, but
  Offer them through a reseller, EK Success (800.524.1349).
  According to the web site, "Archival Mist and its
  companion, Paper Bright, help paper resist the effect
  of age by neutralizing acid, absorbing UV light,
  protecting colors, and retaining brightness in paper
  keepsakes. They preserve and protect paper-based
  materials including letters, envelopes, newsprint,
  certificates, artwork, and pamphlets. Paper Bright and
  Archival Mist are environmentally safe and their
  ingredients are non-toxic."

  Do any of our readers have recent experiences to share
  with us regarding the use of deacidification products in
  numismatic literature?  Periodicals and auction catalogs,
  particularly those of the early 20th century seem
  especially vulnerable.  -Editor]


AFGHAN GOLD PORTRAIT COIN COUNT DISPUTED

  William Bischoff writes: "Not to nitpick , but it seems
  highly unlikely that there were "2,000 gold and silver
  coins depicting Afghan royalty as early as 500 BC" in the
  recently (and miraculously!) recovered Kabul Museum
  holdings.  Until its conquest by Alexander the Great,
  and his death in 323 BCE, Baktria (as it was then known)
  was a Persian satrapy far off the beaten track for coinage.

  Coins struck by Alexander's successors are a subject for
  scholarly debate, but until now no one has claimed that
  coins with portraits of Afghan rulers were struck before
  the terminus ad quem at issue here.  To clinch the
  argument, consider the fact that even the portraits of
  Alexander were initially understood (if that is the right
  word) as pictures of a god in his [Alexander's] image: up
  to that time the Greeks had not pictured mortals on
  their coinage.  Roman republican coinage down to the
  imperators traced a similar trajectory.

  P.S. I hope the preservation of these treasures, against
  all expectations, will somewhat cool the ardor of those
  who relentlessly press to sell off numismatic collections
  held by museums.  Hail to the professional dedication of
  those unknown, underpaid, conscientious curators in Kabul!"

  [If our readers didn't pick nits, I'd have a lot less to
   publish each week.  -Editor]


BANK OF JAPAN BANKNOTE SERIAL NUMBER SCHEME HALTED

  On November 24, Dow Jones newswires published a report
  that The Bank of Japan said Wednesday had punished five
  employees for illegally obtaining new banknotes with
  special serial numbers such as a specific number lineups.

  "The BOJ said the four female and one male rank-and-file
  employees are from the section in charge of issuing
  banknotes at the central bank's Maebashi branch in Gunma
  Prefecture. They cooperated and obtained 11 new notes with
   special characters between Nov. 5 and Nov. 15 by
  exchanging them for new notes with non-characteristic
  serial numbers they had obtained earlier, Kyodo reported.

  The five said they wanted to have the special notes for
  the sake of "commemoration" and denied intending to sell
  them on the collectors' markets at higher prices, the
  central bank said, Kyodo reported.

  The BOJ punished them by suspending them from the office
  or by cutting their salaries."


LATENT HOLOGRAM AS CURRENCY SECURITY MEASURE

  The following article by Mark Hartford is reprinted
  from the November 25, 2004 issue of the MPC GRAM,
  covering the entire World of Military Numismatics.
  See papermoneyworld.net

  "New anti-counterfeiting method discovered! At least
  by me. Yesterday, I showed a Romanian 2,000 Lei
  solar eclipse commemorative (Pick 111) to two friends
  at work. They are both really smart Physics experts,
  particularly in the field of visual, optics, coatings,
  and infrared technologies. One noted that there was a
  square in the middle of the clear window. We all
  looked at it with a magnifier. One of the gentlemen
  suggested that it could be a latent hologram. I asked
  "what in the world is that?" He reads lots of journals
  on optics and lasers, so I was surprised when he
  started looking for a laser pointer used in briefings.
  (Strangely, I had just bought my first laser pointer
  on Saturday the 20th, in order to give my talk to
  Aviation banknote talk at the IBNS meeting at the St.
  Louis PCDA show.)    When we found one, he pointed the
  laser through this square. What was projected onto the
  wall was awesome. It looks like a crescent moon with
  rays emanating from the outside of it. This is clearly
  the Sun with rays being occulted by the moon during a
  solar eclipse. This works best in a darkened room. If
  you try this, be careful not to stare directly at the
  laser. I don't think staring at the reflection off of
  white surfaces is very good for your eyes either. My
  friend tells me that this is probably put on with a
  heated metal micro-mold that contains all of the
  interference patterns imbedded, so that when strong,
  coherent light (i.e. a laser) transmits through it an
  image is created.

  I had always assumed this square was melted onto
  the surface as an additional step that counterfeiters
  would have to take. A minor additional task for a
  counterfeiter, but still a bit of a hassle. After all,
  this note catalogues for $1.50 and has a face value of
  six and a half cents (ER on 25nov04 is 30,818 lei per
  U.S. dollar). This is quite an advanced
  anti-counterfeiting technique for such a cheap note. I
  don't think making and applying these latent holograms
  would be easy for counterfeiters. The low cost of
  applying these (less than 6 & 1/2 cents in large
  quantities) is clearly an indication that polymer
  notes have yet another benefit over paper notes.

  I haven't checked what other polymer notes
  contain this feature. It will be fascinating to see
  what other beautiful images emerge from my notes and
  laser pointer in the next few days!

  Hope this wasn't already known by the community,
  otherwise, this is old news to everyone except me.?


"NUMISMATIC" SKIN DISEASES

  Ken Spindler (disability benefits attorney, numismatist)
  writes:  "The numismatic-sounding disease about which you
  inquire is probably nummular eczema, a skin disorder in
  which the lesions are round, coin-like; thus the name.
  Per the Merck Manual:  Nummular eczema is a persistent,
  usually itchy rash and inflammation characterized by coin-
  shaped spots with tiny blisters, scabs, and scales."

  Lane J. Brunner, Ph.D., Director of Numismatic Curriculum,
  American Numismatic Association writes: "In reference to
  Tom Delorey's inquiry regarding the name of a
  Dermatological condition using the Greek root "nummis",
  he may be referring to nummular dermatitis. An idiopathic
  skin disorder that presents as discrete, round plaques,
  it affects about 1 in 2000 people. It is also known as
  nummular eczema. Tom suggested a very rare disorder and
  thus may have heard about a different skin disorder as
  nummular dermatitis is relatively common."

  Jack Wadlington and Martin Purdy also suggested these
  Terms.

  Ron Haller-Williams writes: "I can't help with this one,
  but I have located the following "near-misses", where I
  quote or adapt from search results:

 1. Nummular or discoid lesions are round (coin-shaped)
  lesions, as e.g. in Discoid Lupus Erythematosus.

  2. Psoriasis nummularis is a form of psoriasis where
  the marks are as big as coins.

  3. Nummular eczema is frequently confused with, and
  misdiagnosed as, ringworm [tinea corporis]. The term
  nummular derives from the Latin nummularius, which
  means "like a little coin" (a coin collector is a
  numismatist). Typically, tinea corporis is annular
  [ring-shaped] and nummular eczema lesions are coin-shaped,
  but there are many exceptions.

  4. Numis med soap and shampoo appear to be mild and with
  balanced pH [i.e. not excessively alkaline], and used
  for some skin conditions, I think including ringworm,
  but I don't know whether the name derivation is what we
  think it might be ...

  By the way, Tom's "Greek root nummis" appears to be a
  hybrid of the Greek NOMISMA and the Latin NUMMUS,
  though it would be the valid Latin for such phrases as
  "for coins" or "with the coins"."


GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINES FOR SALE

  No, not the X-rated kind.  "Gentleman's Magazine" is a
  periodical which numismatic bibliophiles have found to be
  a trove of interesting contemporary articles about British
  and early American numismatics.  In my library I have a
  set of the numismatic articles cut from a complete set by
  a dealer.   For those interested in adding individual issues
  to their library, we note that newspaper dealer Timothy
  Hughes (http://www.rarenewspapers.com ) has some for sale.
  In his latest mailing he writes: "We have added a complete
  run (1731-1840) of Gentleman's Magazines to our inventory.
  If you have been looking for particular issues, we now have
  them.  Contact us if you do not see a particular issue of
  interest listed on our website."


MORTON COUNTERMARKED CENT A SLAVE COIN?

  Rich Jewell writes: "I read the article about slave money in
  The E-Sylum and I imagine every large cent with a hole in it
  wouldn't necessarily be a slavery memento (probably not the
  politically correct term), but wouldn't it be interesting to prove
  or disprove?

  I have in my possession a 1823 Large cent, with a punched hole
  in it between the last two stars and touching the following hair of
  Miss Liberty. The odd thing about this cent is it is counterstamped
  across its cheek and earlobe with "A Morton New York 1858".

  Imagine the possibilities for this coin, if it did in fact belong to
a
  slave at one time!

   A) Freed slave by the name of A.Morton lives in New
        York in 1858
   B) Escaped slave A.Morton living in freedom in New York
         in 1858, slavery still exists in other parts of USA

  None of the above may be even close to the truth.....but would
  any of your readers be interested in researching the facts as
  provided. I myself wouldn't even know where to begin (that's a
  little inaccurate, I did try to find an A. Morton in New York
  during 1858 on the Internet and came up with nada)!
  Just some more food for thought!!"

  [According to Gregory Brunk in his "Merchant and Privately
  Countermarked Coins" (2003), "According to the 1856 New
  York Commercial Register, A. Morton made gold pens and
  their cases at 25 Maiden Lane. The 1857 in this countermark
  is probably a patent date."

  The book lists four known specimens with the "A. MORTON /
  NEW YORK / 1857" COUNTERMARK   (two large cents
  dated 1843 and 1854, and two Half Dimes dated 1832 and
  1857).  If Rich reported the date incorrectly, and it's "1857",
  then his coin would be the fifth reported specimen.  If his coin
  really is "1858" then it would be the first reported specimen of
  that type.

  Could A. Morton have been a freed slave?  It's an interesting
  speculation, but we'll probably never know.  -Editor]


USE OF COPYRIGHTED IMAGES

  Douglas Mudd, Curator/Director Money Museum,
  American Numismatic Association writes:

  "With regards to the questions of copyrights and the use of
  images last week's E-Sylum, basically, it comes down to
  usage - personal use is OK in most cases - commercial use
  is subject to restrictions. If the book of publication was from
  1929 or before, the images may be in the public domain
  (unless if has been re-published) in which case there are no
  restrictions on use - otherwise, you must request permission
  to use images from published material, including websites,
  unless free-use permission is explicitly given in the publication
  (almost never done).  So - you need to start checking - in
  most cases it is very easy and straightforward.  Some
  publishers will not publish a book without information on the
  source of the images and written permission."

  Howard A. Daniel III writes: "I am currently working on
  another book and have bought all but seven coins that will be
  described in it.  For those seven images, I will write to the
  authors and/or publishers and request permission to use their
  image(s).  I have only been turned down a couple of times
  and that was very early in my numismatic "career" when no
  one knew me.

  In my request, I tell them that each image or group of images
  will have "Courtesy of (name)" on the page.  This has been
  very satisfactory to everyone.   I also add those people to my
  Acknowledgments and/or List of Contributors, and this has
  proven to be very, very satisfactory.  And the top ten
  contributors receive a special signed edition of my books as
  another  thank you.

  I hope this is of assistance to Yoissi Dotan, who has assisted
  me many times and I am anxiously awaiting his "Watercraft
  on World Coins, 1800-Present" book!"


ACROSS THE EDITOR'S DESK

  Random notes on items I've recently come across:

  COIN WORLD Editor Beth Deisher had a nice article titled
  "The Story Behind The Story" in the Autumn 2004 issue of
  the NLG Newsletter, the official publication of the
  Numismatic Literary Guild.  The article recounts the behind-
  the-scenes action leading up to last year's bombshell discovery
  of the long-missing fifth 1913 Liberty Nickel.  Kudos to
  Mason Adams, the reporter for The Roanoke Times, whose
  sleuthing led to the coin's rediscovery in a long-forgotten
  corner of a closet.

  Nick Graver forwarded to me a very interesting illustrated
  article about Louis E. Eliasberg and his famous U.S. coin
  collection, published in the March 25, 1962 Sunday Magazine
  of Baltimore's The Sun newspaper.

  The November 2004 issue of Penny-Wise, the official
  publication of Early American Coppers, Inc., has an
  article by NBS President Pete Smith updating his research
  on the Starred Reverse Cent.    In passing Pete mentions he
  is now "writing a book on Personal Tokens and Medals of
  American Numismatists.  I have identified about 6000 items."

  In the December 2004 issue of Bank Note Reporter, Mark
  Hotz describes and illustrates several interesting National
  Bank Notes with rubber-stamped oriental "chopmarks,"
  similar to the chopmarks placed on U.S. Trade Dollars.
  Have these been written up anywhere in the literature of
  National Bank Notes (or U.S. Paper Money in general)?

  While sorting through my library this weekend I came
  across the September 1882 issue of The Magazine of
  American History.  Beginning on page 635 is an
  contemporary article about the sale of the Bushnell
  collection "lately knocked down at auction in New York."
  "The three thousand specimens in the Bushnell collection
  brought something over $11,000, which speaks well
  for the interest taken in purely American numismatics."
  Three of the specimens were the unique Lord Baltimore
  penny, a Brasher Doubloon, and Good Samaritan
  Shilling.   We can only imaging what the Bushnell
  collection might bring if it were sold in today's market.

  Another item unearthed was the January 1993 issue of
  COINage magazine, with an article by Kari Stone
  titled "Heading For the Top,"  featuring the 15-year-old
  John Kraljevich, Jr., who is now an NBS Board member
  and cataloguer for American Numismatic Rarities.


NEED MORE ROOM FOR BOOKS? KNOCK OUT A WALL

  Local officials have given landmark preservation protection
  to the eight-bedroom house in Oxford, southern England, which
  was home to author J.R.R. Tolkien when he wrote his fantasy
  tales of The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings.  As a recent
  Reuters story noted, the author had the same problem faced
  by many bibliophiles: not enough room for his books.

  "The house -- at 20 Northmoor Road, Oxford -- was built by a
  local architect in 1924 for Basil Blackwell, then the owner
  of a now famous bookshop Blackwells.

  Tolkien lived there from 1930 to 1947 and is known to have
  written The Hobbit and most of The Lord of the Rings trilogy
  in the drawing room.

  The interior structure remains largely unaltered from the
  original plan, except for one wall which was removed by
  Tolkien himself between the former study and drawing room.

  Heritage experts say Tolkien wanted to increase the size of
  his study to accommodate the growing number of reference
  books he needed to write his epic works."

  To read the full article, see: Full Article


BOOKS: WEIGHING HEAVY ON HOMES?

  Nick Graver writes: "Relocating book shelves following carpet
  replacement caused me to ponder: just what considerations
  folks observe installing heavy book cases in homes?  Since
  average homes are built for typical room occupancy, most book
  collections place a much heavier strain on them, long term.
  Has dealing with such loads been discussed?  Have homes
  sustained cracks or damage due to the weight of collections?"


DICKIN MEDAL: THE VICTORIA CROSS FOR ANIMALS

  We've discussed the Victoria Cross recently, but was
  anyone aware that there is a corresponding British medal
  for animal war heroes?  No, I am NOT making this up, not
  even the glow worms and pigeons.  From a November 24
  Reuters story:

  "Britain's most unusual war heroes -- including glow worms,
  elephants and monkeys -- will be honored Wednesday for their
  devotion to duty under fire.  Princess Anne will unveil a
  war memorial in London's Park Lane dedicated to all the
  animals and insects that endured hardship with the nation's
  armed services."

  "Among those honored will be glow worms whose light was
  used by soldiers to read maps during the trench warfare of
  World War One."

  "In 1943 the founder of the PDSA created the Dickin Medal
  to honor acts of outstanding animal bravery. The medal,
  dubbed "the animals' Victoria Cross" -- Britain's highest
  award for human bravery -- has been granted to 60 animals.

  One distinguished holder of the medal was Rob, the "para dog"
  who made over 20 parachute drops while serving on top secret
  missions behind enemy lines in World War II."

  Article

  [The People's Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) is an
  animal charity founded by Mrs. Maria Dickin.  From the
  PDSA web site, which has a photo of the medal:

  "Between 1943 and 1949 PDSA awarded 54 Dickin Medals:
  32 pigeons, 18 dogs, three horses and one cat - "Simon"
  the mascot of HMS Amethyst during the Yangtze Incident
  in 1949 - received the Medal for displaying conspicuous
  gallantry and devotion to duty while serving with the
  Armed Forces or Civil Defence units during World War II
  and its aftermath."

  "The Dickin Medal, a large bronze medallion, bears the
  words 'For Gallantry' and 'We Also Serve' all within a
  laurel wreath. The ribbon is striped green, dark brown
  and pale blue representing water, earth and air to
  symbolise the naval, military, civil defence and air
  forces.

  Several PDSA Dickin Medals have been put up for auction
  in recent years. The auction of "Simon" the cat's medal
  caused great excitement in 1993 when it went under the
  gavel for £23,000! "

  PDSA

  This page has photos of the Dickin medal being awarded in
  1947 to two Australian pigeons: Photos

  With only 54 WWII-era medals awarded, they are certainly
  rare. Have any of our readers seen one?

  The medals are still being awarded, and not just in
  British Commonwealth nations.  Three Dickin medals were
  awarded at New York's "Ground Zero" on March 5 2002:

  "Guide dog "Salty" owned by Port Authority employee Omar
  Rivera and Guide dog "Roselle" owned by Guide Dogs for
  the Blind (California) representative Michael Hingson will
  receive their PDSA Dickin Medals in recognition of their
  devotion to duty as they led their owners down more than
  70 floors of the World Trade Center to safety.

  "Appollo" a German Shepherd from the NYPD canine unit
  and his handler, police officer Peter Davis, will accept
  the PDSA Dickin Medal on behalf of all the Search and
  Rescue dog teams that worked at the Ground Zero site
  and in Washington.
  Ground Zero Award

  BBC Radio produced a five-week documentary series about
  Dickin medal Awardees which aired beginning June 27, 2004.
  The shows are available online at: Online Documentary

  On November 4 Spink offered a Dickin medal "Awarded to
  Commando, a red chequer cock pigeon, for gallantry with
  the Resistance and Special Operations Executive in France
  during 1942, this superb medal is expected to fetch
  £5,000-7,000."

  The web page includes a photo of the pigeon and medal,
  Along with previous Spink prices realized for Dickin
  Medals (1983: SOE Pigeon, £5,000, 1993: Simon the Cat,
  £23,100)  Skink Press Release

  So, can anyone tell us the price realized for Commando's
  medal?  Have Dickin medals been written up elsewhere in
  numismatic literature?
  -Editor]


FEATURED WEB SITE

  This week's featured web site is EuroCoinage.info,
  "a Euro Coins Collector Guide":

     Featured Web Site

	 
	 
  Wayne Homren
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