Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 8, Number 10, March 6, 2005:
an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society.
Copyright (c) 2004, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society.


SUBSCRIBER UPDATE

Among our recent subscribers are Marilyn Reback, Senior
Editor of the ANA's Numismatist, and Patrick McMahon
of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Bill Panitch and William
Whitener. Welcome aboard! We now have 731 subscribers.

Reminder: to manage your E-Sylum subscription, don't
email me - go to the following web page:
https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum


MOULTON FEBRUARY 2005 FIXED PRICE LIST READY

The February 2005 Fixed Price List from Karl Moulton has
recently been published. "United States Numismatic Literature
1859 to Date" features 19th and 20th century U.S. auction
catalogues from a wide range of cataloguers. For more
information, see his website at coincats.com or
write to Karl at numiscats at aol.com


DELUXE RED BOOK SOLD OUT

According to a report in the March 8, 2005 issue of
Numismatic News, the 2005 deluxe leatherbound edition
of "A Guide Book of United States Coins" (also known as
"The Red Book") "is no longer available." I'm not sure
if that means the issue was truly sold out, or if they've
simply stopped selling them. The article notes that
3,000 copies were produced. The 2006 edition is
scheduled for release in June of this year.


COLONIAL NEWSLETTER PUBLISHED

CNL Editor Gary Trudgen, writes: "The April 2005 issue of
The Colonial Newsletter (CNL) has been published. This
issue begins by reprinting a review that was published in The
British Numismatic Journal concerning Dr. Brian Danforth's
recent paper in CNL on the St. Patrick coinage. The reviewer,
Harrington Manville, agrees with Brian's historical analysis of
when and by whom the St. Patrick coppers were struck but
disagrees with his claim that they were struck with a collar that
marked the edges during striking. The reviewer also takes
exception to references that the gold and silver pieces were
intended for circulation. Brian responded to the review with
a paper titled "St. Patrick Coinage Revisited." This paper
follows the review and presents in-depth counter arguments to
Manville's assertions. It all makes for very fascinating reading
as we begin to understand this enigmatic coinage which was
imported into early New Jersey and played a role in our
colonial monetary system.

Next is a paper updating the known varieties of Virginia halfpence.
It is authored by three enthusiasts of the series: Dr. Roger A.
Moore, Alan Anthony, and Eric P. Newman. Approximately five
decades ago, Eric researched and authored the standard reference
on Virginia halfpence. His work was so complete that little has
been written since on the series. A few new Virginia halfpenny
dies have been discovered, however, since Eric's work. This
paper reports on these new discoveries and provides a new die
interlock chart of all the known varieties today.

In CNL-108, the August 1998 issue, Dr. Philip Mossman
provided the most comprehensive study of the Stepney Hoard
to date. His study wasn't the final word, however, on this
subject and the debate continues. Our last paper in this
issue discusses this subject again. Authored by associate
editor Dr. John Kleeberg, his paper publishes several
interesting posts from the Internet with added commentary.
Following the posts, John provides a comparanda of other
copper coin hoards and then presents an interesting method
of determining the number of varieties in a coinage based
upon those found in a hoard. John ends the paper by studying
the weight of the coins found in the Stepney Hoard in an
effort to determine if it was a savings or emergency hoard.

CNL is published three times a year by The American
Numismatic Society, 96 Fulton Street, New York, NY
10038. For inquires concerning CNL, please contact
Juliette Pelletier at the preceding postal address or e-mail
pelletier at amnumsoc.org or telephone (212) 571-4470
ext. 1311."


NEW ANS LIBRARY CATALOGER HIRED

>From the American Numismatic Society E-news for March:
"Enrique "Rick" Eugene Gildemeister, started at ANS on
February 14 as Library Cataloger. He has 25 years of
cataloging experience in a wide variety of libraries,
including the Port Authority of NY & NJ Library. He reads
or speaks 9 languages with various degrees of proficiency."


ANS LIBRARY WANTS

Also from the American Numismatic Society E-news for March
is a want list of items needed to fill holes in the ANS library:

"The Essay-Proof Journal." vol. 2, nos. 1,2 ; vol. 3, nos. 1,2;
vol. 7, no. 3 ; vol. 10, n. 2 ; v. 42, n. 3. (The last issue received
by the ANS Library was vol. 49, n.2 (1992). Whole No. 194)

NASCA (New York) Sales No. 63,64,67,71,77,80 (1986 -
1989).

If you have any of these items, contact librarian Frank Campbell at
Campbell at numismatics.org.


WHAT TO CALL E-SYLUM READERS?

Recently I suggested the term "E-Sylumites" for readers of this
electronic newsletter. Dick Johnson suggested "E-Syluminaries"
(pronounced e-si-loom’i-nar-ies).

Larry Gaye writes: "Regarding what we call ourselves, or what
it's worth, I prefer "inmate." It adds real cache and not everyone
can or wants to be known as aspiring to the vaunted title of
biblio-inmate."


HOWARD DANIEL REPORTS FROM HANOI

Howard A. Daniel III writes that he was in Hanoi from March
2nd to the 5th: "I spent most of my time with the best numismatic
dealer in the city, Mai Quang Thieu. Thieu is the only dealer in
Hanoi who will tell me that something is a copy/fake in his
inventory. All of the other dealers will first try to sell it to me as
authentic. I bought several excellent pieces from Thieu to expand
the information and illustration in the book I am now writing;
Socialist Republic of Viet Nam. I also found some older pieces
to fill in some research holes in my Vietnamese collection.

I also bought some fortune telling/amulet type pieces from the
Northern Highland Tribes of Viet Nam for Craig Greenbaum,
who is constantly updating his book; Amulets of Viet Nam.
And Craig is in Viet Nam too, but down in the Mekong Delta
most of the time with his wife and her family. But he will be in
Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) Sunday AM for the "stamp club"
meeting at the old French coffee museum and I will meet him
there. Stamp, coin, paper money, token, etc., collectors and
dealers show up around 9AM and stay around to about noon
every Sunday. It is a great place to sit down in the shade and
drink a soft drink while you talk at length with the collectors
and dealers. I highly recommend attending this "get-together"
when you are in Ho Chi Minh City.

Thieu took me on a walking tour of the downtown shops in
Hanoi. The fakes of silver US and world coins are EVERYWHERE
and some of them are in proof-like condition! The greedy
tourists and novice collectors are being taken for a bundle.
We did not find any fake US gold and did find one 1924-D $20
in EF+ condition. The owner wanted US$1500 for it but I only
collect Southeast Asia. There are many fake Chinese sycee
(bullion) pieces but one authentic Pack Saddle was found. The
owner wanted US$300 for it because I was there but Thieu said
he will come back in a week and buy it for US$60-75.

I also had an appointment with someone in the Western financial
community in Hanoi who will try to obtain the address of the
mint that is under construction, and its director. Krause Pubs.
has asked me to find two more persons for the COTY panel
and I want to nominate the Vietnamese and Thai mint directors.
The information is now a state secret so I am having difficulty
finding the man, but he I find him. I am now back in Ho Chi Minh
and planning a visit to Vientiane, Lao. If you want to contact me,
my email is HADaniel3 at msn.com."


REUSING EPOXY GALVANOS

Last week, Dick Johnson wrote: "In addition to being sturdy,
galvanos are long lasting. Medallic Art Company once made
new dies from 65-year-old galvanos Calverley Lincoln Medal
of 1909 reissued in 1975 -- with perfect definition of detail,
no loss of original integrity. The jury is still out if this could be
done with an epoxy pattern."

Michael Schmidt writes: "I doubt that it would be possible.
Back in 2000, the History Channel broadcast a program on
the US Mint in which they showed the reduction process being
used to create a 2000-W (yes W) Sacajawea master hub from
an epoxy pattern. In the close ups it was possible to see that
the pattern was being seriously damaged/scored by the tracing
point.

(The 2000-W die was used to strike the gold Sacajawea
dollars that were sent up on the space shuttle. Also in the
same program they showed production runs of 2000-S
BUSINESS STRIKE Sac dollars! It took awhile to find out
what that was about. It seems that since the mint was using an
alloy they hadn't used before and striking a new coin design
they needed to do full scale press run tests to know what setting
they needed, or what problems they could expect. Rather than
use the regular dies they created the 2000-S dies so that the
products could be instantly identified as being for the test runs
and not production coins. I can't help but wonder if some day
some of these will turn up in the marketplace.)"


JUDD HANDWRITING SAMPLE SOUGHT

Mitch Ernst of Omaha, NE writes: "I was given your address
by a member of Collector's Universe forums. Last Friday I
purchased a 3rd Edition copy of J. Hewitt Judd's "United
States Pattern, Experimental and Trial Pieces" at the
Omaha Public Library book sale.

In the book were 2 sheets of paper. One, about 81/2 x 11,
had a heading that said "Childrens Memorial Hospital History
Sheet" and had hand writing listing numerous coins and prices.
On the other sheet (about the size of a note pad) "Laboratory
Notes" and in hand writing listed various denominations and
Judd #'s, what appears to be quantities and prices. Both
pieces of paper appear to be pretty old. Omaha's Children's
Hospital hasn't been called by the name on the sheet for a
number of years and the "Laboratory Notes" references to
196_ for the year to be filled in. I know Judd was a M.D.
here in Omaha so the discovery of those sheets in the book
and the hand written notes, made me curious as to who the
author of the notes may be?

I was told that if I contacted you that there was a possibility
that if anyone had a copy of Judd's handwriting they might
send a copy of it to me so I could compare it to the writing
on the 2 pieces of paper I found in my book.

If that is not the case that's fine. I know it's a long, long,
long shot that I might have found Judd's own book with
some of his notes in it. It's just that the coincidence of him
being a M.D., the notes being written on older medical
note paper and finding in the city he lived, my curiosity is
piqued about what I might have found. Thank you for
your time."

[Mitch's email address is mkernst at webtv.net. -Editor]


LEPAGE ERROR CAUGHT BY WEB VISITOR

Elizabeth Rosenberry writes: "I came across your website while
looking for information regarding Bois Durci. While I know
next to nothing about numismatics, I found your site to
be interesting and informative.

However, I did notice one error on the site. In Vol 7, No. 4
of October 3, 2004 you gave information regarding "Catalog
Data for Thomas Medal in Bois Durci." In this article you
mention that Charles LePage, the inventor of the Bois Durci
manufacturing process is the person for whom LePage glues
are named. This is incorrect. The LePage glues come from
William N. LePage of Prince Edward Island, Canada who first
made his glues in 1857. Here's a link to the glues website:
glues website

It's a common misconception. My plastics professor told me
the same thing, but through my own research, I am pretty
certain that there is no connection between the French and the
Canadian LePages.

Anyway, I just thought you might like to know, and congrats
again on the well done site."

[The original posting was from Dick Johnson in response to
Philip Mernick's inquiry about the George Thomas Medal
esylum_v07n40
-Editor]


ANOTHER HOARD FOUND

Arthur Shippee sends the following link from the Explorator
newsletter to an article in Finnish about a major medieval coin
hoard found Finland.

Full Story


DICKIN MEDAL HELP SOUGHT

I'm writing an article on the Dickin medal for the American
Numismatic Association's Numismatist magazine.
The Dickin medal is awarded to animals for bravery and
was written up in The E-Sylum late last year. See
v07n48
>From some web searches, and kind assistance from Mark
Quayle of Spink, I have the following references to sales of
Dickin medals:.

Christie's, 13-Apr-83, Mercury, a pigeon;
Spink, 23-Sep-93, Simon the Cat
Spink, 30-Nov-04, Commando, a red chequer cock pigeon

If anyone can help me locate the sale and lot number for
any other Dickin medal, I'd appreciate it. I also still need to
get a copy of the lot description from the Spink, 23-Sep-93
sale; the ANA and ANS libraries were unable to supply
them. Thank you. -Editor

I unfortunately sent ANS Librarian Frank Campbell on a
wild goose chase looking for Mercury in a Spink sale, when
if fact it was in a Christie's sale. Sorry!!

Frank writes: "Your inquiry struck a responsive chord when
I noted that you were in search of a medal awarded to Mercury,
the pigeon. Had Mercury been a Canada Goose, a goldfish, or
a squirrel monkey I would have probably said to myself, "Is he
kidding?" But no, Mercury was a pigeon and I hold pigeons in
high regard. So, I set off in search of Mercury, whose name
was buried somewhere in a 1983 Spink auction. I started with
London, moved to America and ended in Australia. While I
can't say I read each lot with extreme care - and there were
lots of lots - Mercury was not to be found. There were a few
Mercury dimes along the way, but no Mercury, the pigeon.
I'm not going to tell you how long I pursued Mercury but, let's
just say, I could have flown to Australia in less time.

In my youth, I bred and flew homing pigeons, which I would
occasionally bring to the Society, where Geoffrey North (then
Librarian) would take them from me on a Friday afternoon
and set them aloft on one of his weekend trips to Vermont.
They always returned to a small bathroom window located
on West 162nd Street, where I lived at the time."


LITTLE NUMISMATIC BOOKS

Neil Shafer writes: "I always enjoy the E-sylum. Some time
ago there was a discussion of tiny books, as I recall it. Purely
by serendipity I came across several items I had forgotten were
here: first, a booklet measuring 2 5/8 x 2 1/8 inches titled
Chase National Bank Exhibit of Moneys 50,000 Specimens, etc.
There are 20 pages, each with an illustration of some great coin
in the museum (last page is a 3 pence note of 1764 printed by
Franklin). No publication date is given, but location is given as
46 Cedar St.

The next two are really not books but they come close. One is
a "Red Book" with date 1947 and in the darkish wine-red color,
full design of the original cover, but it's actually a 2-page coin
folder with places for two cents, a 1946 at left and 1996 at right.
Text inside is about the 50th anniversary of the Guide Book;
size of the folder is 3 3/8 x 2 1/4 inches.

Last is a blue Lincoln Cent coin folder for 50th Anniversary of
the Coin Folder 1940-1990. Left page holds a 3-pc. set of
1940 cents for Our First Year, center page has a 1965 hole
for Our 25th Anniversary, and third page the 2-pc. 1990 set
for Our 50th Anniversary. The little flap page of information
covers the third page as with the regular folders. Dimensions:
3 3/4 x 3 inches. Are most of us familiar with these already?
I have no idea how widely they were distributed, or even
how I obtained these."

[The mini-"Red Book" was given out by the publisher at the
1996 American Numismatic Association convention in Denver,
according to recollections of myself and John Burns. We were
both at the show and I recall picking one up, but don't know
were it ended up. John picked up some of the remainders at
the end of the show and may have some in his inventory
somewhere. -Editor]


LIBERTY SEATED COLLECTOR'S CLUB E-NEWSLETTER ARTICLE SEEKS LOCATION OF AHWASH BOOK COPY #001

Len Augsberger reports that "the Liberty Seated Collector's Club
now has an email newsletter, which can be subscribed to via this
address: wb8cpy at earthlink.net."

Len writes: "I thought the item below about McCloskey's copy
of the early Ahwash book might be worth mentioning in the
E-sylum."

[The item is by John McCloskey, President of the LSCC
and Editor of its Quarterly Journal. - Editor]

"My search for information quickly led me to Kam Ahwash
who was one of the few dealers of his time who actually
studied his coins and noted their special qualities. We
exchanged information on Seated dime varieties for several
years and I worked with him in identifying new varieties.
I remember one time in 1974 when he came to my home
and we studied the dimes in my collection and compared
their characteristics to the notes that he had gathered over
the years. I then had Gordon Harnack take close up pictures
of the dates for coins representing new varieties that Kam
had not yet identified. Most of these pictures appeared in
the Ahwash encyclopedia when it was published a few
years later.

In recognition of my contributions to his research, Kam
gave me a copy of the Premiere Edition of his encyclopedia
when it was published in 1977. This book has a padded blue
cover that is stamped with the title Encyclopedia of United
States/ Liberty Seated Dimes/ 1837 - 1891 in bold silver
lettering. The author's name "Kamal M. Ahwash/ 1977" is
printed below the title. In the lower right corner of the cover,
my name "John W. McCloskey/ LSCC 89" is stamped in
the same silver lettering. The books in this edition are
numbered in the lower right corner of the first page in the
text. My book is designated as "No 002."

I presume that book "No 001" was Kam's personal copy
of the encyclopedia. Does anybody know who owns that
book today? Does anybody know how many numbered
copies were printed in the Premiere Edition of the
encyclopedia? Did you buy a copy of the Premiere Edition
when it was published in 1977? If so, what is its number?
Did you buy a copy of the Premiere Edition second hand
from another collector or dealer? If so, who was the copy
initially registered to and what is its number?

Kam Ahwash passed away more than twenty years ago but
he is still remembered for his important work on die varieties
in the Seated dime series. His books are undoubtedly still in
the numismatic library of many currently active club members.
I would like to recommend that we document the location
of these classic reference books on Seated coinage. Any
information that you can provide on the Premiere Edition of
the Ahwash encyclopedia will be greatly appreciated by the
collecting community."


CHRISTIAN GOBRECHT FILES FOUND

From the Volume 1, Number 2 issue of The E-Gobrecht
newsletter, the electronic publication of the Liberty Seated
Collector's Club (March 2005):

"Thanks to some great detective work by Len Augsburger,
approximately 100 items from 1795 to1844 relating to
Christian Gobrecht have been located in Philadelphia, PA.
Supposedly, miscellaneous correspondence of Christian
Gobrecht, relating to his inventions and improvements in
the art of engraving, other activities in the field of his
profession, and a few items of personal and domestic
character are included. Len and Bill Bugert are planning
a visit to inventory the papers on March 9th. More on
this excursion to follow later."

[Congratulations, Len! The numismatic world needs more
detectives. We'll await the report of your findings. -Editor]


LIBRARIES AND BASEMENTS

Coin World News Editor William T. Gibbs writes: "Until this
past January, my library contained a copy of "Carnival
Panorama: New Orleans Mardi Gras Medals and Krewes"
by Jay Guren and Richard Ugan. This interesting hardcover
book bears a die cut cover in which rests a Mardi Gras
doubloon. The medal is the 1966 New Orleans Carnival
Schedule Medal, struck in "golden" aluminum. This version
of the medal only appears with this book.

Jay personally inscribed a copy to me about more than a
quarter century ago, when he was features editor and I was
a new staff writer on the staff of Coin World. Jay had cataloged
the medals for the book, which was published in 1966 by
Anderson Publications, New Orleans, and printed by Sidney
Printing & Publishing Co. Inc., publishers of Coin World,
World Coins and Numismatic Scrapbook Magazine. Jay's
work on the book helped catch the attention of Coin World's
owners, who hired him for the editorial staff.

Unfortunately, this book was among the library materials in
my basement in January when a power failure of five days
duration shut down my sump pumps and allowed 41 inches
of ground water to creep into the basement. I lost a number
of common "Red Books," numerous Stack's and Bowers
and Merena catalogs and a few other books and magazines
from my numismatic collection (plus various other books
and items from other collections, like my James Bond
soundtrack LP collection). Fortunately, most of my library
was upstairs and unharmed.

The Guren-Ugan book was beyond salvage, having spent
the better part of five days submerged.

I have learned my lesson: I will never store my library in
the basement if I can help it."


TRANSLATION WEB SITE

John and Nancy Wilson, of Ocala, FL write: "While looking
for something on Google we ran across this great google link:
Google Language
This is probably one of the best language translation sites on
the web. "


DREAM LIBRARY MUST HAVE A TABLE

Dick Johnson writes: "What hasn’t been mentioned yet, but
is sooo important – the library table. I have just finished setting
up a library room with book shelves on all four walls next to
my home office. In the center of the room is a very large work
table.

I was fortunate to get a divider panel from a retail store which
was closing and discarding this. I had this cut down in the shape
of a work table – it is heavy, sturdy and has a hard smooth
surface. I placed two 2-drawer file cabinets under each end to
support it leaving space where I can sit at a chair under the
center to work.

I can pull one or more books off any shelf and lay it on this
work table. Plus retrieve files out of any cabinet. Works well!"


NEWSPAPERS AS NUMISMATIC LITERATURE

Dan Gosling forwarded a set of inquiries on several topics.
We published the first four previously. Here's item #5:

"Should newspapers form an important role in a reference
library? How should they be stored or housed and what
precautions should be taken to preserve the contents?
Is binding the best method to preserve them or is it acceptable
to simply stack them up. Is it better to place them in standard
size or specially made cardboard boxes? I would appreciate
any ideas on how best to acquire missing issues."


NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY OPENS IMAGE GALLERY

The March 3, 2005 New York Times had an article about
the new gallery of images on the New York Public Library
web site:

"So far, about 275,000 items are online, and you can browse
by subject, by collection, by name or by keyword. The images
first appear in thumbnail pictures, a dozen to a page. Some
include verso views. You can collect 'em, enlarge 'em, download
'em, print 'em and hang 'em on your wall at home. All are free,
unless, of course, you plan to make money on them yourself.
(Permission is required.)

Despite the Web site's great richness, sleek looks and fast
response to a mouse click, it does feel a bit musty. The digital
gallery is modeled on an old-fashioned card catalog, with all the
attendant creaks. Doing a search is like going into a library and
opening file drawers."

"The digital gallery has a big collection from the Civil War,
including pictures of the dead taken by Alexander Gardner
and pictures of the wounded kept by the United States Sanitary
Commission. It has thousands of rare photographs of Russia
and the Soviet Union, including funny shots of a day nursery at
a Moscow factory, and thousands of color pictures of every
block in Lower Manhattan taken in a single year, 1999, by
one man, Dylan Stone."

"This grand, eccentric collection has uncountable strengths,
but the late 20th century is not among them. That's the way it
has to be for a library that is completely accessible to everyone
on earth. Only items that date before 1923 are in the public
domain, free for the plucking. That's why there is no image
from 2003. And for the year 2004, you will find only one
entry, made in error. It's a clothing ad from a page of a
1904 Scribner's Magazine."

"For the weary wanderer, the library has included a special
heading on the opening page of its Web site, "Explore,"
divided into seven neat subject areas. If you don't know
what you're looking for, it's good to start here.

But if you feel like burrowing, you might try searching inside
the individual collections and libraries within the New York
Public Library. Rummage through the rare books division
(pausing a moment to reflect how incredible it is to be
rummaging in a rare books library) and you will find George
Catlin's "North American Indian Portfolio," J.-J. Grandville's
"Les Fleurs Animées," William Blake's illuminated book
"Milton" and Alvin Langdon Coburn's book of portrait
photographs, "Men of Mark."

To read the full article, see: Full Story

To visit the NYPL image gallery: Image Gallery

[Using the simple search terms "coin," "coinage,"
"numismatist" and "mint" one can locate a few items of
interest to numismatists, such as a lyric sheet for the 1896
chart-topper, "Let us have free coinage, boys at sixteen
to one," with words and music by Albert P. Schack.
The song was an anthem during the Presidential debates
of that year, which also saw the creation of "Bryan Money"
medals and tokens (ID: 1165958).

Another image is of a poster from the Bryan era:
"Have you gone to the bottom of the Silver Question?"
(ID 1259271).

Another image is a page from a scrapbook of "America's
First Illustrator," Alexander Anderson (1775-1870). The
page shows drawings of early U.S. and colonial coins
(ID: T000148).

Or how about an image of a book page illustrating a
gold medal awarded to Nathaniel Greene (1742-1786)
(ID: 420802)?

Or an image of an April 28th, 1826 letter from Richard
Riker, John Agnew, Thomas Bolton and William A. Davis
informing recipient of the awarding of medals from the
Corporation of the City of New York at the celebration of
the completion of the New York canals
ID: 54675 )?

What numismatic goodies can YOU find?
-Editor]


LUCKIEST DOLLAR BILL IN THE WORLD?

The Press & Dakotan of South Dakota published an
article this week about a local man planning to sell
a bill with a special serial number:

"Is it the luckiest dollar bill in the world?

A Yankton man who owns a 1977-issued $1 bill with all
sevens in the serial number is willing to make that argument,
and he hopes that someone is willing to buy it.

Randy Johnson, president of First National Bank South
Dakota, says he isn't a superstitious person, but he can't
deny that he's been rewarded with a "lovely wife, two lovely
children, good health, good communities to live in and good
jobs" during the years he's had the bill in his possession.

Now, he plans to sell the "Lucky 7" bill on eBay, an Internet
auction Web site. Johnson said he got the idea after reading
an article about all the "strange and unusual" objects being
sold there.

"People were even selling potatoes that looked like somebody,"

"Johnson came across the bill in 1980, while doing some
routine bill-sorting at a bank in LeMars, Iowa.

"When I got to the bundle (of bills), I just happened to look
down and saw all the sevens and the 1977 series," Johnson
said. "It was just a strange anomaly to me. I looked at it and
said, That's worth keeping.' I purchased it from the bank
and have had it ever since."

Originally, Johnson had the other nine one-dollar bills in the
series with all sevens except for the last digit as well, but
over the years he's given them away to friends, he said."

To read the full article: Full Story


FILTHY LUCRE

David Menchell writes: "Taken from a personal help newsletter
I receive called Bottom Line Personal is this mention of an item
Included in a book entitled "100 Most Dangerous Things in
Everyday Life and What You Can Do About Them" by
researcher Laura Lee of Rochester, Michigan.

"Researchers from the Medical Center at Wright Patterson
Air Force Base in Ohio found that 87% of dollar bills in
circulation carry bacteria, including strains that cause sore
throats, urinary tract infections and food poisoning. There's
no way to tell how many people get sick from handling
money-people rarely know where they picked up a germ
when they get ill-but this evidence suggests that money is
an often overlooked culprit.

Self-defense: Wash your hands frequently when you handle
cash. To be ultrasafe, adopt a strategy used by a Chinese
bank during the SARS epidemic. When you receive money,
put it in a safe place, wash your hands, and don't touch it
again for at least 24 hours. This should be long enough for
most germs to die."

Any other reports of health risks associated with handling
money? I believe that coins are safer due to the
electrochemical properties of metals inhibiting bacterial
growth, but maybe other readers may have more information."


FEATURED WEB PAGE

This week's featured web page is an index of small size solid
serial number U.S. notes, compiled by dealer Mike Abramson.

Featured Web Site



  Wayne Homren
  Numismatic Bibliomania Society