Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 8, Number 16, April 17, 2005:
an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society.
Copyright (c) 2005, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society.

2005 NBS DUES ARE DUE

NBS President Pete Smith writes: "The next issue of The
Asylum will include Karl Moulton's survey and tabulation of
19th century auction catalogs. This will be a large issue with
64 pages or more.

This is the first issue for the 2005 membership period. It will
be sent only to members who have paid their dues for the
current year. We intend to send out renewal notices by snail
mail and by e-mail to those who are not current. If you want
to receive the next issue of the Asylum, please send your
payment to David Sundman, NBS Secretary/Treasurer, soon."

[Membership is only $15 to addresses in North America,
$20 elsewhere. David's contact information appears at the
end of each E-Sylum issue, but here it is again:

David M. Sundman, Secretary/Treasurer
Numismatic Bibliomania Society
P. O. Box 82
Littleton, NH 03561
Email: dsundman at LittletonCoin.com

We also have a Life Membership category for those who
pay 20 years of regular membership dues in full in advance.

If you are not already an NBS member, please consider
joining. We'd love to have you on board! -Editor]

BRYCE BROWN NUMISMATIC LITERATURE LIST

Bryce Brown of Avon, CT writes: "I invite your readers to
browse through my latest Numismatic Auction Catalog price
list. I have just posted a large group of late 19th and early
20th century catalogs, including:

- Several scarce Ben Green sales from 1906-1913;
- W.H. Strobridge’s 1863 sale of the George Seavey collection;
- Nearly 100 Thomas Elder sales from 1906-1939, including a
1916 Miller sale handpriced and inscribed by Elder;
- Several early Wayte Raymond items from 1910-1919, plus
an Anderson Galleries (1915) and US Coin Company (1912);
- Several early Mehl auctions - from 1911, 1915, and the late
1920’s;
- Numerous early Stack’s sales starting with 1936;
- A nice group of Morgenthau catalogs, including the beautifully
plated Great American sale of 1933;
- A Special Hardbound Edition of the Federal Brand “Million
Dollar Sale” of 1963;
- A nice group of New Netherlands sales including Ryder,
Eliasberg, and Naftzger;
- Doug Winter’s sale copy of Bowers+Ruddy 1982 Clifford
auction, priced and named;
…plus early sales by Harlan Smith, John W. Haseltine,
Elliot Woodward, the Chapmans, Edouard Frossard, Ira
Reed, J.M. Henderson, Lyman Low, Quality Coin & Stamp
Exchange, and Abe Kosoff;

…along with a broad selection of more modern catalogs
(including all Eliasberg sales, Garrett, Taylor, Perkins, Norweb,
Bass, Benson, and Ford).

Lit-Sales-display-htm.htm "

FANNING BOOKS FIRST ONLINE FIXED PRICE LIST

David Fanning has announced that his first electronic fixed
price list of numismatic literature is now available. He writes:
"Unlike my three previous printed lists, this one is available
only as an electronic (PDF) document. To obtain the list,
either e-mail me at fanning32 at earthlink.net or download
it directly from my new Web site at fanningbooks. 
The list contains an assortment of old and new publications 
on numismatics, many at reduced prices."

DENMARK ENCASED POSTAGE STAMP BOOK PUBLISHED

Jørgen Sømod writes: "The third book in my big project is
now in print. The first Vol., which came out in 2003 is
Poletter og Pengetegn i Danmark indtil 1900 (Tokens in
Denmark including Greenland, Iceland and Danish West
Indies until 1900) Letter format, 278 pages more than
1000 illustrations, hardbound.

The second Vol. came out in 2004 and is about the Danish
tokens 1900-1924 including Iceland, Greenland and
Danish West Indies and Southjutland 1874-1920. Letter
format, 222 pages more than 1000 illustrations, hardbound.

May 24 2005 will be published Frimærkepenge i Danmark I
(Encased postage stamps (stamp money) in Denmark. Letter
format 168 pages 650 illustrations, hardbound.

The price for all three books is after the dollar value of to
day US$ 220,- postpaid to US excl. bank costs. Regretful
foreign personal checks can not be accepted."

THE CARDINAL SPELLMAN COLLECTION

Arthur Shippee writes: "Events like the Conclave pull trivia
out of the woodwork, like this about Cardinals and coins.

While browsing Donald Hall's "The Oxford Book of American
Literary Anecdotes" (OUP, 1981), I came across this note
about John O'Hara, recorded by his publisher, Bennett Cerf
("At Random", 1977). Cardinal Spellman had complained to
Cerf about O'Hara's language, so Cerf wanted them to meet
and get to know each other. O'Hara proved charming, and
the meeting was a success.

"They took to each other at once. We had a wonderful time
.... After lunch, the Cardinal insisted on showing us his coin
collection in the Archbishopric."

Was Spellman's collection a noted one?"

[The Cardinal Spellman collection was cataloged in two
parts by Harmer Rooke, but was eventually disposed of
by private sale. -Editor]

MINNESOTA QUARTERS DEBUT AMID CEREMONY

It isn't every day that a new coin debuts, although it may seem
that way at times. The state quarters are often rolled out with
much ceremony. On April 14th the Sun newspapers of
Minnesota published an account of the festivities surrounding
that state's new quarter design:

"Nic McKenney sat on a soggy hay bale, as Gov. Tim Pawlenty
placed a quarter in his hand Tuesday."

All of Minnesota – including a sizeable portion of Eden Prairie –
was represented at Tuesday’s official launching of the Minnesota
state quarter at the Capitol in St. Paul.

Thousands of people, including at least 5,000 schoolchildren
from throughout the state, stood in the rain to watch Pawlenty
affix an enlarged image of the Minnesota quarter to a map of
the United States.

The ceremony concluded with a convoy of armored cars rolling
up Cedar Street, so every child in the crowd could receive one
of the first Minnesota quarters."

"... U.S. Mint Director Henrietta Holsman Fore... praised
the coin as “the state’s newest, and smallest, ambassador,”
celebrating Minnesota’s natural beauty.

The Minnesota quarter was first struck March 14, and will
be minted for only 10 weeks."

To read the full story, see: Full Story

STAMPEDE FOR THE NEW BUFFALO NICKELS

Also on April 14, the Eugene, Oregon The Register-Guard
published a story about the public's reception of the latest
nickels:

"Some banks were slow to get the new nickel after it was
released to the public on Feb. 28. Coin dealers had them
soon after they became available and for a slight surcharge,
you could get the coins before they hit the banks."

"Coin dealers said the popularity of the state quarters program
has led to more awareness of all newly minted coins, but the
buffalo nickel has drawn more attention than the first two in
the series.

"I've gotten more inquiries from Joe Public about the nickel
than anything else in a while," said Alex Pancheco, owner of
Bear Creek Coin in Eugene. "The demand on the East Coast
is so high the Federal Reserve has rationed shipments. People
have always liked the buffalo nickel."

"The new nickel has sparked renewed interest in the older
ones. The old buffalo nickels - which had the image of an
American Indian on the opposite side - have some value
because of their rarity, but no one expects these commemorative
nickels to ever be worth much more than, well, a nickel."

"Carla Nash, a senior client services specialist at Pacific
Continental Bank, said her bank ordered the new nickel as
soon as possible. "We have numerous clients who asked for
them," she said. "We've had requests for them for months.
They are very popular."

To read the full article, see: Full Story

BUFFALO DESIGNER WELCOMED IN WINSTON-SALEM

The designer of the nickel's new bison reverse appeared at a
coin show this weekend in Winston-Salem, NC, as reported
in the Winston-Salem journal:

"Jamie Franki, an illustrator by trade, never thought that his art
would reach many people. But millions are seeing it now, only
this time on a nickel.

Franki, who designed a new 5-cent coin, one with an American
bison on the reverse side, came to Winston-Salem yesterday to
autograph coins during the 36th Annual Coin Show at Miller
Park Recreation Center.

A throng of people lined up yesterday to see Franki as hundreds
milled about looking at various coins. About 400 people attended
the show, which continues from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. today."

"He now teaches illustration at the University of North Carolina at
Charlotte and lives in Concord with his wife, Penny. His brother
told him about a new U.S. Mint coin program for artists in December
2003, and Franki said he decided to apply."

"Franki said, "I had a gut feeling about the bison. The nickel is a
really small thing and you need something powerful, something
that can translate visually and conceptually."

He said he was drawn to the bison image because he knew
from his studies that bison were a powerful symbol among
American Indians."

To read the full article, see: Full Story

HELL MONEY CAN BRING BAD LUCK

Regarding last week's story about hell Money, Ken Berger
writes: "I lived in Taiwan for five years and am quite familiar
with Hell Money. Quite often during the burning of the money,
pieces would be caught by the wind and carried away. I
frequently encountered unburned pieces lying on the street.
However, I was told that this money was not meant for me
and it was therefore bad luck to pick it up. Living in a country
that places a lot of emphasis on dead ancestors and the
afterlife, I had no intention of tempting fate; so (even though I
could have amassed a nice variety of notes) I never picked
one up.

However, if anyone is interested in getting some Hell Money,
it can be purchased in the U.S. at any major Asian market.
The packets of money are quite large (100s of notes) and
very reasonable (about $2.00)."

19TH CENTURY NUMISMATISTS AND LATIN AMERICAN NUMISMATICS

Al Buonaguro writes: "By way of introduction, my numismatic
specialty is Latin American coinage. For over thirty years I
have maintained and expanded a reference collection of Latin
American silver coins with which I perform selected research
projects. I recently corresponded with Dave Bowers about
some very interesting information published by his firm in the
current Eliasberg sale catalog. Below is what I wrote to him.
He advised that I post this query to E-Sylum subscribers.

Basically, I am seeking information about nineteenth century
numismatists and their activities which relate to Latin America.
For example, for the past year I have been identifying participants
at the famous Fonrobert sales of Latin American coinage
conducted by Adolf Weyl in 1878/1879. The Eliasberg catalog
mentions an individual named Harry Williams who seems to
have been a pivotal figure in the late nineteenth and early
twentieth century. He may also have been an absentee bidder
at at least one of the Fonrobert sales. Consequently, I am
specifically seeking information about him but would welcome
correspondence with any individuals who might have knowledge
of personalities and activities relative to Latin American
numismatics.

My words to Dave Bowers were:

I have been reading your superb catalog of the Eliasberg
collection. Congratulations – yet again – on an important
contribution to numismatic research. Since my own collection
and related research is almost exclusively focused on silver
issues, I am not attending the sale. However, the catalog
provides much information about personalities and pedigrees
that bear on my own research. One specific project has
been to delve into late nineteenth century numismatists
involved in Latin American coinage

Consequently, I am eager to learn more about Harry Williams
beyond the Numismatist articles which I have already read.
He seems to have had excellent contacts within South America.
He may well be involved with much more than just the extreme
gold rarities that eventually went to Newcomer and then
Eliasberg. For example, might he have been a bidder at the
famous Fonrobert sales of Latin American coinage conducted
by Adolf Weyl in 1878/1879? Interestingly, I have a copy of
the bid book for the Central American portion of the Fonrobert
sale and there is an absentee bidder whose last name seems to
begin with “Wi.” Could it have been Williams? I have found
out that Harry Williams was born in 1861 and married Emma
Magnus in February 1886 so he would have been 17 or 18 years
old and unmarried during the 1878/1879 Fonrobert sales. The
“Wi” bidder was not nearly as well heeled as most of his rival
bidders and bought only a few lower cost items after submitting
many low bids. Might you know of any source of information
that might shed light on Harry Williams very early collecting
activities? Just knowing when he began collecting and how
soon he gravitated to Latin American coins would be of great
interest.

Lastly, there is mention in the Eliasberg catalog of a body of
correspondence between Williams and Newcomer which was
graciously made available to you by its current owner. There
is surely a gold mine of information relative to Latin American
numismatic personalities and pedigrees in those letters. Might
there be any possibility of a serious researcher such as myself
gaining access to this material? Obviously, I would acquiesce
to any conditions imposed by the owner in order to have the
privilege of examining such a wealth of data.

Many thanks in advance for any assistance you can provide."

[Al adds: "By all means please publish my Email address. I
would welcome correspondence from knowledgeable researchers
and would be happy to share my findings: abuonag at msn.com
-Editor]

A PLEA FOR A NEW GOETZ MEDAL CATALOG

Dick Johnson writes: "Congrats to Scott Goodman for
negotiating and purchasing the rights to Gunter W. Kienast’s
two books, the standard works on the German medallic satirist,
Karl Goetz. You asked for suggestions; here are mine.

1) A website is fine, but plan to publish a one-volume book
as soon as possible.

2) Continue to use Kienast numbering system. But nix the
author’s request to call these "Opus numbers." Instead, these
have long been called – and this should be standard throughout
the field – "Kienast numbers" to align with the long-standing
tradition to identify numismatic items by the cataloger’s last
name. Perhaps this is an unwritten law, but it has become a
firm custom in published numismatics. The cataloger’s surname
quickly becomes associated with that collecting specialty.
"Opus numbers" could be applied to ANY group of numismatic
specimens extensively cataloged.

3) When you add new varieties that Gunter had not included,
please continue the Kienast numbering system. Add "K" to all
numbers. Resist the temptation to call these Kienast-Goodman
numbers. (In abbreviations this would be KG numbers -- Karl
Goetz initials! This extreme coincidence would cause confusion
in citing these number.)

4) Name each medal and put this in bold face in your new
catalog. As part of the name include the medallic from. (Goetz
created medalets, medals, medallions, plaquettes, charms.)
Still in bold face include the date the medal was first issued
(made, cast or struck).

5) Write an accurate description for each variety. Unfortunately,
author Kienast described the political or economic situation
which led to the subject of each medal. This is interesting
background data, but collectors require an accurate description
of exactly what appears on each medal to correctly identify the
variety.

6) Goetz medal designs are steeped in symbols and symbolism.
Be sure to identify the symbolism for even the casual observer
who may not recognize the significance right away.

7) Be on the lookout for "collector lore" – what makes a particular
variety interesting to collectors. Goetz series is loaded with these.
("Black Shame Watch on the Rhine Medal, 1920" Kienast 262
is an example of this.) Describe these with a sense of good taste
even when a penis is depicted.

8) Consider an "American catalog" format. The greatest
contribution of Americans to world numismatic literature is
creating a format of cataloging numismatic items. This has been
copied all over the world. Thank you, Wayte Raymond, who
was the first to publish coin catalogs in a tabular format in what
has become somewhat standard. In 75 years this format has
been honed to its most useful form. This tabular form of data
has a line for each variety ending the line with an estimate of
value in one or more conditions.

9) Obviously publish two versions of this catalog, one in
English, one in German.

I have the greatest respect for Karl Goetz medals and for
Kienast signal work of this medallic specialty. Kienast is to be
honored for this early work and publishing his two volumes
but a great deal of work remains. The mantle is now passed
to Scott Goodman, who has the responsibility to update
Goetz total medallic work. Medal collectors and the entire
numismatic fraternity are looking forward to a new catalog of
this fascinating series to assist our future collecting.

Scott, you must contact William Nawrocki and Rich Hartzog,
both Illinois numismatists have considerable unlisted Goetz
varieties. I also recall a group of Goetz items sold at fixed
prices by Michigan dealer Joseph Lepczyk in Spring 1982
which even contained models, galvanos, dies and hubs.

For my medal auctions I accepted a consignment of a quite
lengthy run of Goetz medals from a Philadelphia Main Line
family whose collection was built in 1924-25 by an agent in
Europe; the family kept the collection intact for 65 years!
(Collectors’ Auctions Ltd 31: 682 to 859). Because of this
sale author Kienast consigned a large group of duplicates
from his personal collection to a following sale (CAL 32:
1219-1277).

Perhaps every dealer in medallic art in the world has handled
some Goetz medals. Goetz was a master medallic satirist
whose appeal was worldwide despite his strong Germanic
themes."

[Dick Johnson is one of The E-Sylum's most prolific contributors.
The April 18, 2005 issue of COIN WORLD celebrated the
newspaper's 45th year of operations. Dick was the first editor
of the publication, and is pictured with the first staff on page 76.
-Editor]

UNREADABLE ANCIENT MANUSCRIPTS YIELDING SECRETS

Asylum Editor E. Tomlinson Fort forwarded this article about
how 9,000 year-old manuscripts are yielding new information.

"A vast array of previously unintelligible manuscripts from
ancient Greece and Rome are being read for the first time
thanks to infra-red light, in a breakthrough hailed as the
classical equivalent of finding the holy grail."

Oxyrhynchus, situated on a tributary of the Nile 100 miles
south of Cairo, was a prosperous regional capital and the
third city of Egypt, with 35,000 people. It was populated
mainly by Greek immigrants, who left behind tonnes of papyri
upon which slaves trained in Greek had documented the
community’s arts and goings-on.

Oxford’s researchers started salvaging 100,000 fragments
of papyri from the town’s rubbish dump in 1897 and shipped
some 800 containers back to Britain. About 2,000 pieces of
the papyri have been published and mounted in glass, but the
rest has remained in boxes. According to the current research
team, "the mass of unedited material represents the random
waste-paper of seven centuries of Greco-Egyptian life".

Some 10 per cent of it is literary, the fragmentary remains of
ancient books, with the rest documents of public and private
life, such as census returns, tax assessments, court records,
wills, horoscopes and private letters."

"Material ranges from the 3rd to the 7th centuries BC and
includes work by classical writers such as Sophocles,
Euripides and Hesiod. But many of the manuscripts have
decayed and blackened over time.

Those uncovered so far include parts of the Epigonoi,
(Progeny), a long-lost tragedy by Sophocles, the 5th century
BC Greek playwright, and part of a lost novel by Lucian, a
2nd century Greek writer. There is also an epic poem by
Archilochos, a 7th century successor of Homer, which
describes events leading up to the Trojan war. "

To read the full article, see: Full Story

ANCIENT COINS IN THE CLASSROOM

A local teacher has made wonderful strides in using ancient
coins in the classroom. The April 16, 2005 Pittsburgh Tribune-
Review article describes her work and upcoming "Ancient
Coin Museum" event. See the January 4, 2004 E-Sylum (v7n1)
for more background.

"Zee Ann Poerio has a hobby that makes cents.

Poerio, a third-grade teacher at St. Louise de Marillac School
in Upper St. Clair, has a collection of a couple hundred coins,
including over 100 ancient coins. Her coins span from as early
as 400 BC to modern coins. The collection started when she
wanted to introduce Latin lessons to her class three years ago.

"I just thought it was really interesting," Poerio says. "The
reverence kids have for these coins. Something they hold in
their hand is 2000 years old."

"For her work in the classroom, Poerio has won numerous
awards including the 2004 Ancient Coins for Education Harlan
J. Berk Teacher Excellence Award. One of her prizes was a
Brutus Gold Stater -- a gold coin from 44 BC. It has an
engraving of Alexander the Great on the front, and Athena
on the reverse side.

The coin was issued during the Civil War of Rome between 44
and 42 BC. It is in honor of Marcus Iunius Brutus, a Roman
senator who ruled from 85 to 42 BC."

Poerio has used her hobby to start what she calls an Ancient
Coin Museum. The "museum" runs from April 22-24 at St. Louise
de Marillac School, 312 McMurray Road, Upper St. Clair.
Ancient Coins for Education helped get coins donated from all
over the country. Poerio has even received coins from Canada
and overseas.

Poerio says she is really interested in connecting "coins with
Classics."

"Ancient coins have such an influence on coins today," she says.
"They teach about history, art, mythology and language."

Full Story

LINCOLN CENT GALVANO DIESHELL PHOTOS

Dave Lange writes: "Despite a claim to the contrary, photos
of the original copper galvanos for the Lincoln Cent do
appear on page 2 of my book, The Complete Guide to
Lincoln Cents. I own very large color photos of each galvano
that were furnished to me by the Mint. The publisher opted
to reproduce them much smaller than actual size, so it's a bit
hard to see Brenner's name in full on the reverse. The new
third printing of this book, however, features on its front cover
larger, color images of the reverse galvanos of the Wheat and
Memorial reverses. In this instance, the name Brenner is
quite readable."

[I'll look forward to the new edition of Dave's book and
the larger photos. -Editor]

FISHER MEMORIAL EXHIBIT FUND

On March 20th (E-Sylum v8n12), Bill Rosenblum notified
us of the passing of Chinese coin expert George Fisher.
The following was published in a recent issue of Your
Newsletter, and electronic publication for young numismatists
editor by Gail Baker, Education Director of the American
Numismatic Association:

"The ANA has established the George Fisher Memorial Fund
which will be used to build a traveling exhibit on Chinese
Coinage. Donations can be sent to ANA, 818 North Cascade
Ave., Colorado Springs, CO 80903, Attention: Doug Mudd,
Money Museum curator.

We will all miss George Fisher here at ANA and on the coin
collecting circuit."

FIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN COIN DEALER?

Last week I questioned Ken Smaltz' claim of being the "first
African American-owned dealer in the United States." Ron
Benice writes: "According to FORTUNE, Smaltz, age 42,
founded his business in 1997. I believe Tony Hill, who
operated Heirloom Coin and Currency in California at least
as far back as 1991, was black. Also Curtis Judge was a
vest pocket dealer in the 1980s."

Larry Dziubek writes: "John Weeks of eastern PA has been
a sole proprietor coin/token/medal dealer for well over 20
years. He has the set-up at the PAN shows just outside the
meeting room twice per year. He also does shows and flea
markets on many weekends in addition to the PAN show."

"SAHARA" AND $20 CONFEDERATE GOLD "COINS"

Joe Boling writes: "Responding to the query about the numismatic
content of the film "Sahara," I was stuck in Kansas City after
the ANA convention by the closure of Denver airport. I had
never heard of "Sahara" until I noted it on the theater marquee
in the Crown Center, and then the next day here comes the
question in The E-Sylum. So I went to it while I was cooling my
heels in KC.

One of the two story threads deals with a treasure hunt for
Confederate gold removed from Richmond at the close of the
Civil War, aboard the ironclad CSS Texas. The boat ends up
underground in a dry riverbed in Mali (of course!). I understand
that in the novel, the gold is in bullion form, but in the film it is in
coined form. In the one place in the script where the denomination
is mentioned, the coins are referred to as dollars. The one close
up shows the inscription C.S.A. 20 dollars, and the coins are
double eagle size (with reeding coarse enough to use as a comb).
There is very little mention of the coins as numismatic items - the
emphasis is on their recovery. The second story thread deals
with tracing the source of a virulent disease, which also turns
out to be in Mali. Actual filming was done in Morocco. "

JOE BOLING INTERVIEWED

By the way, the News Tribune of Tacoma, WA published
a nice article about Joe Boling recently, focusing on his
involvement with local theater. The ANA's Chief Judge
is a fixture at every convention, as well as an E-Sylum
subscriber and frequent contributor.

"I’m a collector,” he said. “In theater, I’m collecting
performances. In other areas, I collect tangibles.”

Both Boling and his collections exist mainly in the sallowly lit
basement-turned-office – his central command – of a 1960s
home in an Auburn suburb.

There he writes reviews of each show, and has posted around
2,000 of them on the Web site of the service organization,
Theatre Puget Sound, which provided its blessing for his own
TPS business card, marked “Theater Chronicler.”

Nearly every stretch of wall and countertop in his home
doubles as a filing cabinet for plaques for his foreign-currency
collections, trophies he won in shooting competitions, medals
he received on his way to becoming a full colonel (now retired),
books on anthropology and military history, laser disks, DVDs
– and then there are the actual filing cabinets, several of which
contain the most comprehensive accounting anywhere of Puget
Sound performance art since 1998, including dance, opera
and some orchestral music."

To read the full article, see: Full Story

REVIEW: SHOW ME THE MONEY!

The E-Sylum had a small role in the creation of Fred Reed's
new book, "Show Me The Money! The Standard Catalog of
Motion Picture, Television, Stage and Advertising Prop Money."
My copy arrived this week and I thought I'd write a recap of
events and a short review of the book.

Regular readers know we often discuss the numismatic aspects
of current events, and the genesis of Reed's book came
about innocently enough with a report of an incident on a
movie set in the summer of 2001, headlined "Movie Money
Falls from the Sky." I'll republish the item here verbatim:

(E-Sylum, June 10, 2001, v4n24):

From an Associated Press story datelined Los Angeles,
June 6: "Bills with phony face values totaling about $1 billion
were blown up during recent filming of the action movie "Rush
Hour 2'' in Las Vegas. Some of the bills fluttered into the
hands of people who later went to businesses and spent them,
authorities said.

"The product they were producing was just too close to
genuine,'' said Assistant Special Agent Chuck Ortman.
"Notes were successfully passed.''

The Secret Service ordered Sun Valley-based Independent
Studio Services Inc. to stop making the fake money and sent
a recall letter to every movie production company that
ordered the prop cash."

Can any of our readers point us to a web page illustrating
movie prop cash (also known as stage money)? Has anyone
ever written a reference book? It could make for an
interesting study.

The following week came this response to my question:

(E-Sylum, June 17, 2001 (v4n25):
In answer to last week's question on movie prop cash (also
known as stage money), Granvyl G. Hulse, Jr., (Librarian
Numismatics International) writes: "I am sitting on a bundle
of raw data on movie prop money sent to the NI Library.
The person who donated it thinks that it might make a good
reference and will work with anyone who is interested enough
in the subject to want to write something for publication."

In related discussions, Alan Luedeking, Tom DeLorey and
Michael Schmidt examined prop money used in the films
Titanic and Pearl Harbor. The following January, Fred Reed
told us about the project he'd begun as a result of the original
query:

(E-Sylum, January 27, 2002 (v5n4):
Fred Reed writes: "Last summer you published a note from
Granvyl Hulse, the Numismatics International Librarian,
asking if someone was interested in cataloging motion
picture prop money and offering assistance.

I contacted Granvyl and told him I was interested. He put
me in contact with John Pieratt, and I began the project by
cataloging John's collection. Six months and about two
dozen additional contributors later, our catalog effort is
coming along fine. I thought I'd send a progress report
since The E-Sylum was the catalyst."

At that point, the manuscript totaled 400 pages. Those
familiar with Fred's writings won't be surprised with the
level of thoroughness with which he attacks his subject.
But he didn't set out to write an opus. He writes in the
Acknowledgments of his book, "My expectation at the
outset was that this project would take about a week and
would produce a catalog of about 40 pages, which would
eventually find its way into the pages of Paper Money, the
bimonthly Society of Paper Money Collectors magazine.
Boy was I naive." (p197). The book as published consists
of 790 pages. The bibliography lists "Movie Money Falls
From the Sky" and other E-Sylum articles. It is very well
illustrated in black & white, with nearly every listed note
pictured full-size, along with a large number of movie
ads, posters and still shots picturing the money.

The extensive Memorable Money Shots section is a
compilation of the uses of money in film: "Money shots
traditionally include scenes such as poker games, bank
robberies, payoffs, ransoms and oldtime gangsters lighting
up stogies with $100 bills. Today, money shots of drug
buys, lap dances, and dollar bills stuffed in G-strings or
rolled to snort coke have proliferated." (p10). The
ruckus-causing notes from Rush Hour 2 are pictured
on p658-661.

Congratulations to Fred for producing this landmark
work, and many thanks to him and his contributors for
all their work in making this book a reality. Ordering
information was published in the March 13, 2005 E-Sylum
(v8n11), but I'll republish it here:

The book is available from the publisher, McFarland
Publications, 1-800-253-2187 or Box 611, Jefferson,
NC 28640

As a special offer to E-Sylum readers, they can order the
book straight from its author for $82.50 postpaid at this
address:

Fred Reed
P.O. Box 118162
Carrollton, TX 75011-8162

The book won't be autographed (note: it will be shipped
from North Carolina) but E-Sylum orders from the author
will receive an autographed, GENUINE prop note from
author Reed's personal collection that they can tip into the
book or use as a bookmark.

COINS STOLEN IN THE U.K. MAILS RECOVERED

In yet another April 14th story: "An airport worker who stole
three rare gold dollars worth £32,000 from a DHL package
then tried to sell them on eBay was spared jail today.

Teddy Ejezie, 37, was working as a cargo loader at East Midlands
airport when the package containing three US gold dollars dating
back to 1857 came through en route to Switzerland.

The coins had been ordered from the States by a Swiss collector
who had paid just over £32,000 for them. But Ejezie stole them
from the package in December 2003 and they never reached
their destination."

"They were US dollar gold coins dating between 1857 and 1882.
The coins were shipped from Minneapolis via East Midlands
airport and had been due to go on to Brussels then to Switzerland.
By the time the package got to Brussels the coins had been
removed."

"The first coin was brought by an American collector based
in Hawaii but when another one was advertised, this time
worth £27,000, he became suspicious.

An investigation was launched and the trial led back to Ejezie.
A search of his home recovered all three coins.

At first he claimed he had brought them in a pub for £80 but
later pleaded guilty to theft, converting criminal property and
attempting to convert criminal property."

To read the full story, see: Full Story

DO LIBRARIES STILL MATTER?

Joel Orosz forwarded an article on whether libraries still matter.
He writes: "... interesting conclusions from the Carnegie corporation
of New York, the foundation that helped to build 2,509 libraries
around the world!"

"In the era of the Internet, will we still go to libraries to borrow
books and do research? The answer seems to be a resounding
yes, because libraries are more than just a place to keep volumes
on dusty shelves.

Libraries are supposed to be quiet, but it’s hard to imagine a
place causing more noise than the new central branch of the
Seattle Public Library, which sits with its off-kilter geometry
and brightly colored interiors at the heart of a city mainly
associated with digital technology."

"The question now is whether this futuristic structure is
outdated already—whether, in fact, it was outdated even
while it was on the drawing board."

“Within two decades,” says Michael A. Keller, Stanford
University’s head librarian, “most of the world’s knowledge
will be digitized and available, one hopes for free reading on
the Internet, just as there is free reading in libraries today.”

"Can that really be possible? If so, where exactly does it
leave libraries? More important, where does it leave culture?
On the one hand, the digital revolution represents the ultimate
democratization of knowledge and information, of which
Carnegie likely would have approved wholeheartedly. On
the other hand, libraries perform an essential function in
preserving, organizing and to some extent validating our
collective knowledge. They are traditionally seen as a pillar
of democracy."

Nobody can reliably predict the far-off future, but for
libraries, the digital information revolution raises a host of
existential questions about the present. In this day of
Amazon, the Internet, hundreds of cable channels and
ubiquitous computing, what is the role of the institutions
Andrew Carnegie thought were so important that he
devoted himself and a good bit of his fortune to
propagating them?"

To read the full article, see: Full Story

FEATURED WEB SITE

This week's featured web site is about U.S. World War II
ration tokens.

"No longer could we eat, drink and be merry. This new edict
immediately transformed us into squirrels who must store up
their nuts against a hard winter. And store them we did,
grudgingly if not willingly.

In order to secure our personal copy of this new ration book,
every man, woman and child in the country was required to
declare in writing the exact current status of his or her pantry
shelves. We had to declare every can of processed food in
our possession — no fair skipping the hoard in the basement
or in the refrigerator either. Should we have been thrifty the
preceding fall and painstakingly canned hundreds of jars of
food from our victory garden, we were penalized, not
rewarded, for our efforts as they counted against us, too."

Featured Web Site



  Wayne Homren
  Numismatic Bibliomania Society