Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 8, Number 24, June 12, 2005:
an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society.
Copyright (c) 2005, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society.


SUBSCRIBER UPDATE

Among our recent subscribers is George Corell. Welcome aboard!
We now have 758 subscribers.


KOLBE FORD II SALE RESULTS

Taken from the press release: "The second part of the John J.
Ford, Jr. American Numismatic Library and the outstanding
Craig and Ruanne Smith Library, sold at auction on June 4 & 6,
2005, brought a total of over $571,000. This is the second
highest total ever recorded for an auction event comprised of
rare and out of print numismatic literature, exceeded only by
the June 1, 2004 Ford I sale, which brought 1.66 million dollars.
The 400 lots in the Smith Library realized nearly $383,000; the
750 Ford lots realized over $188,000.

The total amount realized by the two Ford Library sales comes
to an astounding $1,851,000. This eclipses the total of
approximately one million dollars realized by the four Armand
Champa Library sales, and the 1.25 million dollar total of the
five Harry Bass Library sales. Illustrated copies of the Ford II
and Smith catalogues, accompanied by the prices realized list,
may still be ordered by sending $35.00 to George Frederick
Kolbe, Fine Numismatic Books, P. O. Drawer 3100, Crestline,
CA 92325. A limited number of Ford I catalogues are also
available for $35.00.

Sale highlights include: a superb leather bound set of The
Numismatist, 1888-1952, including the first six original volumes
from the library of the first A. N. A. president, brought $41,400;
a complete, handsomely bound set of the American Journal of
Numismatics realized $34,500; a complete, most attractive
leather bound set of American Numismatic Society Numismatic
Notes and Monographs sold for $10,925; a handsome leather
bound set of Ars Classica auction sale catalogues of ancient
coins went for $5,750; a number of Chapman Brothers auction
catalogues with original photographic plates, along with a number
of the firm’s unique Bid Books brought strong prices, led by S. H.
Chapman’s priced and named 1916 Bement sale, which sold for
$4,830; Colonel Green’s deluxe full morocco edition of Browning’s
classic 1925 work on quarter dollars realized $12,650; several
hardbound sets of classic 19th and 20th century American auction
sale catalogues originally in the George Fuld Library mostly brought
strong prices; fascinating and historically important early
correspondence written by Walter Breen, John J. Ford, Jr., and
other important American numismatists generally sold very well,
bringing as much as five times—in one case over ten times—the
estimates; important Americana, including an extensive selection
of nineteenth century American Directories brought mixed, though
often strong, prices; eight remarkably fine original copies of
Crosby’s 1875 Early Coins of America, including John Robinson’s
superb Subscription Copy sold extremely well, the subscription
copy selling for a world record price of $10,350; a fine hardbound
set of B. Max Mehl auction sale catalogues and a set of Mehl’s
Numismatic Monthly sold for $6,325 and $2,300 respectively;
a very rare 1840 Brasseaux work on Napoleonic medals went
for $920; and Harry Bass’s annotated set of Walter Breen
monographs on United States gold coins, estimated at $2,500,
sold for $5,290."


LAKE BOOKS SALE 80 AVAILABLE

Fred Lake writes: "The 80th mail-bid sale of numismatic
literature from Lake Books is now available for viewing
on our web site at: Current Sale

Selections from the library of J.H.Cline are included in
the 518 lot catalog in addition to numerous references
relating to paper money from an old-time collector.

Bids may be sent via regular mail, email, fax, or telephone
for arrival by the closing time of 5:00 PM (EDT) on
Tuesday, July 12, 2005. Remember that the earliest bid
received wins tie bids...so, bid early! "


OHIO-DUPONT SPECULATION

Alan V. Weinberg writes about a possible connection between
the Ohio Workers Compensation Coin scandal and the 1967
duPont home invasion robbery:

"There was a speculative and tenuous connection made this
week between these two incidents. My 20+ years Los
Angeles Police Dept experience taught me to question all
coincidences. Turns out there are very few.

That two rare coins identified as having been stolen in the
1967 Willis Du Pont home invasion robbery, perpetrated
undoubtedly by organized crime (number of armed thieves
involved, the precision of the "operation", coins disappearing
for decades and re-appearing clear across half a continent),
would have been coins "stolen" from registered mail in 2003
is just too coincidental.

It is more than likely that organized crime saw an opportunity
to "launder" these expensive stolen coins, easily recognized in
the hobby, by selling them into the Ohio Work Comp
investment fund. Then, when either too much suspicion
developed about the fund or the dealers involved with the
fund recognized the nature of the coins, the coins were
suddenly "stolen".

This is the kind of coincidence that makes law enforcement's
eyebrows rise and noses twitch.

I'm certain the FBI is inquiring into the nature of organized
crime's involvement, directly or indirectly, in this Ohio coin
investment scandal."

Tom Fort forwarded a link to another article about the
"Coingate" scandal in the online Salon magazine: Full Story


HALF DISME ARTICLE

Joel Orosz writes: "You may have seen Eric von Klinger's article
in the June 13 Coin World. He reviewed the article that Carl
Herkowitz and I wrote for the American Journal of Numismatics,
"George Washington and America's 'Small Beginning' in Coinage:
The Fabled 1792 Half Dismes." Von Klinger's review was pretty
solid except that in the headline and the first sentence of his
review, he said that the authors of the article had proved that
Washington had donated the silver from which the half dismes
were struck.

Our position actually was that the preponderance of the evidence
points in that direction, but that we had failed to find the "smoking
gun" that would prove it beyond a shadow of a doubt."

Joel attached the letter he I wrote to Coin World correcting this
misimpression. Here's a lengthy excerpt:

"It is, of course, difficult to condense an accurate description
of a complex 45-page article into about a half-page of space in
Coin World, and von Klinger did an admirable job, except for
one major point: we never claim in our article that we have
proved that President Washington provided the silver used to
strike the half dismes..."

"In our article, we conclude that while the great preponderance
of the evidence points toward Washington as the silver provider,
the pieces of evidence that could prove he was—Washington’s
diary for 1792 and Acting Chief Coiner Henry Voigt’s July 1792
account book—are unavailable. Washington was a long-time
diarist, but the press of his Presidential duties prevented him from
keeping a diary in 1792. Voigt did keep an account book for
July of 1792, but it was lost about a century ago, and no one
knows where it is, or if it even still exists. Therefore, while the
authors believe that all of the available evidence points to
Washington, we cannot prove he was the donor beyond the
shadow of a doubt.

Carl and I thank Mr. von Klinger and Coin World very much
for taking the time to carefully review our article and informing
their readers about the significance of our new findings, which
dispel more than two centuries of misconceptions about the
first coin struck by the U.S. federal government."


ANA LIBRARY GOING ONLINE

Taken from a May 15, 2005 press release by library
information management firm EOS International:

"... the American Numismatic Association (ANA) located in
Colorado Springs, CO, has selected EOS.Web Express to
help improve access to their unique collection. ANA collection
data will be hosted at the EOS Global Data Center and made
available to the public via EOS e-Library Service and EOS.
Web OPAC.

“Once available, the 33,000 members of ANA and the general
public will be able to access and search one of the most complete
numismatic libraries in the world,” states EOS CEO Tony
Saadat. “Improving access to information and demonstrating
value to libraries is our core mission.”

The ANA library collection offers more than 40,000 volumes
covering such topics as coins, paper money, tokens, medals,
economics, stocks and bonds, in addition to banks and banking.
The library also maintains one of the world's finest collections
of numismatic periodicals and auction catalogs as well as a
large collection of slide and video programs. Library staff
members also provide expert research and education regarding
the study and collection of money and related monetary items.
The American Numismatic Association can be found online
at: ANA."

Full Story


COLORADO QUARTER DESIGN

Tom DeLorey writes: "For the record, the scene shown on
the Colorado quarter, though officially described as a generic
mountain scene, is a true representation of Long's Peak and
the mountains west of it as seen from Rocky Mountain
National Park."


NEW TAYLOR MORRISON BOOK

Dick Johnson writes: "A new book by Taylor Morrison
arrived in the mail this week -- "The Coast Mappers."
This highly talented author / artist scored again. Intended
for children, adults can learn the technology of his subjects,
the "how" it was done.

There is a theme that runs through his last three books --
engraving. This time he tells how maps are engraved (and
printed). The engraving is not as extensive as in his last
book, "The Buffalo Nickel," but it does reveal how important
engraving is to the printed page. (Recently in E-Sylum -- vol 8
no 20, May 15, 2005 -- I wrote of what a treasure his Buffalo
Nickel book was.)

If you have a chance to have the author / artist sign your book
do so. For "The Buffalo Nickel" he draws a picture of a buffalo,
for this book it was a paddle wheel ship among ocean waves."


MORE ON MASONIC CHAPTER PENNIES

Granvyl Hulse writes: "As a Royal Arch Mason I should
add something to the following. In the center of one side
of a Chapter penny should be a round flat area about the
size of a dime. If the penny was issued and the Mark Master
Mason followed through then there should be an engraving
on the flat area. These engravings are registered in the
Chapter issuing them and if the person finding one of these
is interested in following through he or she could find out
who the penny was originally issued to. A little bit like
collecting war medals. Those without names and citations
are of less value historically than those with."


HANS M. F. SCHULMAN

The July 2005 issue of Coinage magazine has another
interesting article by David Alexander. This one is on
dealer Hans Schulman. The article is both informative
and amusing, and recounts a story told by John J. Ford
at a Numismatic Bibliomania Society meeting a few years
ago. Do any of our readers have stories about Schulman
they'd like to share?


A DIRTY JOB

Bill Malkmus writes: "In case no one else picked up on it,
Wednesday's Wall Street Journal (June 8, 2005) had a front-
page article (pp. A1, A7) about Dunn & Co. of Clinton,
Massachusetts. Their shtick is repairing books for publishers
who have made boo-boos (like misspelling "Massachusetts,"
misidentifying an author on the title page, or dropping the last
line in a book, ...) and, rather than republishing, rely on them
to have at the books one by one and make repairs manually
(cutting out old pages, tipping in replacements by hand and
such). A dirty job and they're the ones who have to do it!"


PRAGUE COIN HOARD FOUND

Arthur Shippee forwarded the following item from The
Explorator e-newsletter. He writes: "A goblet and a bunch
of coins dating from the 15th century were found during an
excavation in Prague."

"Archaeologists unearthed a ceramic goblet and a large
number of small, silver coins in the courtyard of a house
between Stepanska and Skolska streets in the centre of
Prague last week, said Vojtech Kaspar from the Archaia
archaeological society.

The coins were minted in Kutna Hora in the middle or late
15th Century. According to experts, the finding is unique
since such a large number of coins is seldom unearthed in
Prague.

The so-called "Lostice goblet" was covered under the floor
of a Gothic stone house. Archaeologists unearthed its
foundations under the tarmac covering of the courtyard.
There were about 700 to 1,000 0.4-gramme silver coins
in the goblet.

Such coins, marked with the Czech lion, were minted in
Kutna Hora at a time when the traditional Prague Groschen
were not minted there, Kaspar said. One Grosche was
worth seven such coins.

To read the original article in The Prague Monitor, see: Full Story


UPCOMING ANA PRESENTATIONS

E-Sylum readers love information, and I suspect many of you
attending this summer's convention of the American Numismatic
Association will be attending presentations in the Numismatic
Theatre and Maynard Sundman/Littleton Coin Company
lecture series. The speak lineups have been announced, and
many E-Sylum subscribers are among the speakers.

The new Maynard Sundman/Littleton Coin Company lecture
series takes place Thursday, July 28, 2005, from 10 AM to 5 PM.
Dr. Lane Brunner is the moderator.

10:00 AM Christopher Pilliod
History of Die Making in the United States

1:00 AM Peter Huntoon, Ph.D.
The Civil War, the Comptroller's Office, and 73 years of
National Bank Currency

Noon Erik J. Heikkenen
The Battle of the Little Bighorn: Numismatic Perspectives
of the Battle and Related Military Movements

1:00 PM Wendell Wolka
The Dark Side of Antebellum Banking: The Nefarious
Purveyors of “The Queer”

2:00 PM Q. David Bowers
Great Collectors and Their Collections

3:00 PM P. Scott Rubin
Joseph Wright of Bordentown, New Jersey: His Family’s
Influence During the Early Years of the U. S. Mint.

4:00 PM Douglas Mudd
Précis for Image and Republican Sovereignty

The following is the tentative Schedule of presentations
in the Numismatic Theatre:

Wednesday, July 27

1:00 p.m.
A Presentation from the Paris Mint

2:00 p.m. Lane Brunner
Collecting Franklin Half Dollars

3:00 p.m. P. Scott Rubin
What Can You Afford to Collect in the
Age of Million Dollar Coins?

4:00 p.m. Donald R. Barsi
Jack London & the Barsi Family Connection and
Trade Tokens of Glen Ellen, California, where Jack Lived.

Thursday, July 28

11:00 a.m. Alan Luedeking and Carlos Jara:
The Early Coinage and Mint of Santiago de Chile.

12:00 p.m. John & Nancy Wilson:
U.S. Paper Money 1690 to Present

1:00 p.m. Rich Kelly and Nancy Oliver:
True Tales of the Granite Lady.

2:00 p.m. Frank Strazzarino and Michael S. Turrini
The Magic City: 1939 and 1940 Golden Gate
International Exposition.

4:00 p.m. Joel Orosz: Did George Washington Provide
the Silver to Make the 1792 Half Disme?

Friday, July 29

10:00 a.m. Robert Chandler:
Wells Fargo Moves Monies.

10:00 a.m. Greg Thompson
'Money-changers' Counting Board and Medieval Tokens

11:00 a.m. Darrell Low and Leonard Augsburger:
San Francisco and Carson City Liberty Seated Coinage.

11:00 a.m. Richard Jozefiak
Alaska Numismatics: An Overview from 1784 to Today.

12:00 Tom Sebring
A Numismatic Tribute to Two Heroic Ships.

12:00 p.m. Scott A. Travers
The Ultimate Smart Coin Consumer.

1:00 p.m. David Lange
Collecting Mercury Dimes

1:00 p.m. Craig Krueger
Population Distortion and the 1856
“Upright 5” Gold Dollar.

2:00 p.m. Hal V. Dunn
Remembering People from the Carson City Mint.

2:00 p.m. Christopher Cipoletti
The ANA, Past, Present and Future.

3:00 p.m. Arthur M. Fitts III: Alms for our King!

3:00 p.m. Nancy W. Green and Jane Colvard
Numismatic Research and the New Library Catalog.

4:00 p.m. Prue Morgan Fitts
Coins and Commerce Along the Information Highway,
5th – 7th Century CE

4:00 p.m. Sol Taylor
Cherrypicking the Lincoln Cent.

Saturday, July 30

10:00 a.m. Jeff Shevlin
An Introduction to So-Called Dollars

10:00 a.m. Herbert Miles
Numismatic Antecedents of Low 54;
“Am I Not a Woman & a Sister” Token.

11:00 a.m. Gerald Kochel
They Shot the President

11:00 a.m. Eugene Markov
The Tsar Who Never Was.

12:00 Greg Burns
The Lusitania Medal and Its Varieties

12:00 p.m. Anthony Swiatek
How Not to Lose Your Hard Earned Money
When Collecting or Investing in Coins

1:00 p.m. Kenneth Thomasma
Sacajawea, Lewis & Clark, and the Sacajawea
Golden Dollar Coin

1:00 p.m. Michael S. Fey:
Secrets of the Advanced Morgan Dollar Collector.

2:00 p.m. Frank Van Valen
How to Collect U.S. Type Coins

2:00 p.m. David Goya
Minerva’s Owl: The Commemorative Coins of
the Panama Pacific International Exposition of 1915

3:00 p.m. Joseph Ridder
Collecting National Bank Notes.

3:00 p.m. Robert Evans
The S.S. Central America: History, Discovery,
Numismatics, Legacy

4:00 p.m. Christopher F. Pilliod
An Overview of United States Counterfeit Coinage.

4:00 p.m. Garrett & Michelle Burke
The California State Quarter from
Sketch Book to Selection

Sunday, July 31

11:00 a.m. Walter Ostromecki
Tips on Getting Youth Coin Show Activities Rolling.

12:00 p.m. Lane Brunner
Capped Bust Half Dollars:
A Challenging yet Affordable Series.

Another event of interest to bibliophiles is the Numismatic
Literary Guild Symposium at 10am July 28. Panelists
David T. Alexander, Q. David Bowers, Beth Deisher,
David C. Harper and Gregory J. Rohan will discuss
"How the Internet is Changing the Coin Business and
Numismatic Writing."


MORE ON COIN REPRODUCTIONS

Regarding last week's question about modern coin
reproductions, Larry Korchnak writes: "Antiquanova
does nice work on reproductions, I have three of their
coins. They are completely above board and mark
their coins as copies.

Ashmore, on the other hand has not. He has created
forgery copies of many British rarities including siege
coins."


NEW HAMPSHIRE TURNPIKE TOKEN DEMISE

Dick Johnson writes: "The E-Sylum ran an item about
New Hampshire turnpike tokens four weeks ago (vol 8,
no 20, 15 May 2005). Their impending death is still making
news, being replaced by E-ZPass. The Concord Monitor
states the state senate and governor are still debating the
decision.

It also revealed some interesting facts. The tokens depict
the Old Man on the Mountain – you know, the rock
formation that fell off once the device was depicted on the
U.S. New Hampshire state quarter. And a metal-detector
beachcomber tried to return some of the tokens for cash
but the turnpike officials refused.

Also it costs "$13,000 a month to haul them from booth
to bank to booth and $230,000 last year to count and
re-roll them." Apparently they tried to have the toll takers
count and re-roll them in toll booths, but this caused delays
in making change. Backs up the traffic.

I suggest NBS Secretary-Treasurer David M. Sundman
buy up some of the tokens and issue matched sets with
token and NH quarters in a holder titled "New Hampshire’s
Vanishing Monuments." Go ahead, Dave, use some NBS
money if you wish. I'll buy a set.

Anyway, the Concord Monitor article is at: Full Story

[I won't speculate on how NBS funds should be spent,
but this would be an interesting pairing of items. -Editor]


POSTCARD ARRIVES NINETY-TWO YEARS LATE

[OK, it's not numismatic, and it's only barely philatelic,
but it's too good a story to pass up. -Editor]

 From the Times-Union of Albany, NY, June 11, 2005:
"In March, Alice Corbin Fitzgerald went to the rural post
office in Grafton just up the road from her home to pick up
her mail. Postal worker Anne McGrath handed her a postcard.
On the front was a watercolor bouquet of lilies of the valley,
along with a poem of a religious nature and a Benjamin Franklin
one-cent stamp. It was mailed by Fitzgerald's long-dead aunt
Myrtle Corbin in 1913.

"My aunt mailed it from Hoosick Falls 92 years ago to her
mother, my late grandmother, here in Grafton, and now it
just shows up out of the blue this many years later. I should
at least thank the post office for delivering it."

To read the full story, see: Full Story


SILVER SURFER: ALTERNATE DEFINITION

Gary Dunaier writes: "I thought someone else would
mention it, but apparently I'm the only comics fan who
takes the E-Sylum, so it falls upon me to share this
information with you.

When I hear "Silver Surfer" something completely
different (and non-numismatic) comes to mind...
Marvel Comics.

Cut-and-pasted from Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia (Silver Surfer):

"The Silver Surfer is a Marvel Comics superhero.
Created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee, he first appeared
in The Fantastic Four #48 (1966).

The Surfer was originally Norrin Radd of the planet
Zenn-La. He agreed to serve as a herald for the alien
Galactus to save Zenn-La from the planet-consuming super
being. Galactus granted Radd enormous cosmic powers and a
silvery appearance. On a surfboard-like vehicle he roamed
the cosmos, searching for new planets for Galactus to consume.
However, after an encounter with Earth’s Fantastic Four, he
betrayed Galactus, who doomed the Surfer to exile on Earth.

In a heavily philosophic late 1960s series, which was popular
in the hippie counter culture, the Surfer explored Earth.
Another, more cosmically themed series with a freed Surfer,
was published in the 1980s and 1990s and Marvel is currently
attempting another revival."


DICK JOHNSON IS AT WRONG END OF THE HORSE

Twinkly Eyes writes in response to last week’s item on nose oil:
"Dick Johnson is rubbing nose oil on the wrong end of a horse!
I’ll bet he gets on the wrong side of a horse and faces backwards.
The directions on the bottle clearly states "Rub lightly on the
horse’s knees, ankles and fetlocks."

Another reader writes: "Mr. E-Sylum Editor. Bcause your wrote
about using nose oil on coins, I bought a 15 $ botle of Copper
Penny Nose Oil from Smith & Wesson Oil from the advert in
you newsletter. i applied it to all my Lincoln Head and Wheaty
pennies. Now they smell so bad in the house I had to take my
valuable collection out in the back yard. The dog couldn’t stand
the smell of them either and he shook ‘em all over the yard.
Most landed in the tall grass. i hired the 9-year old boy next
door to find them, but he said he could only find three of them.
I did notice, how ever, the cash register smells the same way
down at the Piggly-Wiggly. I’ll bet that boy spent ‘em."


NOSE OIL OND OTHER NUMISMATIC ENHANCEMENTS

Katie Jaeger writes: "Dick Johnson wanted to know what equine
Nose Oil was for. You could put it on the rear end, Dick, but it's
supposed to go around the eyes and in amongst the braids of the
mane. It's meant to match the rhinestone-studded bridles and
gleaming silver decorations on the saddles. (The primary
consumers of groovy horsemanship accessories are girls
age 10-15).

There's another oil, called "show sheen" that gets applied to
the entire horse, to make his coat shine under the spotlights
in the ring. I have a friend who learned the hard way, you
do not put show sheen in the saddle area. As she galloped
around a sharp turn in during her first show, the saddle slid
around to the side and off she flew."

Steve Woodland writes: "As a horse owner, I got a chuckle
out of Dick Johnson's piece on Nose Oil. I was unaware of
the uses of human Nose Oil in numismatics, so I thank Dick
for pointing it out. However, as to the use of the commercial
brand of "Eye & Nose Oil" Dick found on the web, it is not
used for rubbing on a horse's derriere as Dick so tongue-in-
cheekly suggested. Rather, it is used to rub under a horse's
eyes and on its nose to make those areas appear uniformly
shiny, a feature that is seen favorably by the judges in horse
shows!

The numismatic use of nose oil begs the question of what
other interesting substances are used to enhance the appearance
of coins and currency? Aside from all the commercial chemical
dips that exist, I have heard of using olive oil, WD-40, soap
and water, and now human nose oil. Are E-Sylum readers up
to divulging their secrets on how to make their coins and
currency more appealing, or maybe just sharing stories they
heard from "the friend of a friend" about what people have
done to attempt to improve the look of their numismatic items?
Include funny or bizarre stories, successful ventures and disasters.
Let's hear from the audience, please! (I'm sure our Editor will
guarantee complete anonymity!)"

[Now that the term "curating" is around, there's less stigma
attached to coin doctoring than in the past. Some experts can
work wonders on a coin, and that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Some coins cry out for a little assistance in the beauty department.

Although I don't accept anonymous submissions, I will withhold
names on request and publish a submission anonymously if
desired. -Editor]


NUMISMATIC LITERATURE FOR $1,000, ALEX

Alan Luedeking writes: "I was surprised nobody responded to
Roger Burdette's challenge in E-Sylum v8#19 of helping his
local high school assemble a well-rounded numismatic
library for only $1000. I didn't dare venture my own paltry
suggestions, but absent any others, I now will:

Krause Publications: "Standard Catalogue of World Coins"
16th through 20th Centuries editions (5 volumes): $250.
Walter Breen: "Encyclopedia of US Coins" $100.
Humberto Burzio: "Diccionario Hispano-Americano" (3 vols.) $225.
David Vagi: Roman Coins (2 vols.): $100.
Philip Grierson: Medieval Coins $75.
Clain-Stefanelli: Numismatic Bibliography, 2nd ed. of 1985, $125.

Now then, many will cringe at my suggesting the KP books,
but hey... we've only got a grand. This adequately covers the
world from 1700, USA, Latin America, Ancient Rome,
Medieval European and numismatic literature for $875,
leaving just $125 to cover the entire Islamic, Oriental and
ancient Greek worlds (should be sufficient for that!!), not to
mention paper money.

Perhaps we can chip in a few extra books for Mr. Burdette's
school-- any school "enlightened" enough to be willing to
spend $1K on numismatic books deserves that."


HIDDEN TOKENS REDEEMABLE FOR DIFFERENT AMOUNTS?

Alan Luedeking writes: "I was intrigued by Larry Dziubek's
submission in last week's E-Sylum about the children's
book with clues to 12 hidden tokens redeemable for one
million dollars in jewels. This equates to roughly $83,333
per token/treasure. Why was Jake Polterak's dragonfly
worth just $25,000?"

[Good question! Perhaps all the tokens were not created
equal. Do any of our readers have the book? If some
of the tokens remain to be found, there's money to be made
in the hunt. -Editor]


PHILADELPHIA MINT SAFE FOR WORKERS

The following is taken from a June 6, 2005 article
in the Philadelphia Inquirer:

"Federal regulators say it's safe to work at the U.S. Mint in
Philadelphia.

Five years ago, the Mint, at Fifth and Arch Streets, had one
of the worst employee-injury records in the federal government.
In early 2002, it was shut down for six weeks for a top-to-bottom
safety review. At the time, the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration said that, had the Mint been a private company,
it would have been fined $250,000 for the violations OSHA
found."

"On Friday, the Philadelphia Mint announced that it had received
one of OSHA's top safety awards for its effort to limit injuries
and illnesses in the plant, where it employs about 500 people."

"They did their thing. They fixed their problems," OSHA
spokesman Kate Dugan said. The Mint is having a ceremony
today at 10 a.m. to mark the occasion."

Full Story


PROMOTING PIZZA WITH NICKELS

Coins and paper money are often used as part of product
promotions. The following is from a press release for an
Oregon chain using the new buffalo nickels in a promotion:

"Figaro’s Pizza announced the addition of buffalo pepperoni
to its already long list of pizza toppings. This gourmet topping
will be available at Figaro’s locations in Oregon and Washington
through July 31 when customers can take advantage of special
promotional pricing."

"Figaro’s new pepperoni is actually made with buffalo meat."

"In March, the U.S. Mint marked the return of the American
Bison nickel after a 67-year absence. The American Bison nickel
is the third design in the United States Mint’s Westward Journey
Nickel Series™. A fourth design will be released later in 2005.
To commemorate this release, Figaro’s will be giving away the
American Bison nickel as change."

Full Story

[So if scads and scads of the new coin have been minted, just
where are they going? They've been out for months now and
I've only rarely seen one in circulation. Are others having trouble
finding them in circulation as well? -Editor]


FEATURED WEB SITE

This week's featured web site is Primitive Money. an online
exhibit of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, covering:

* - Katanga or "Wife Buying" Cross
* - Tea Brick
* - Manilla
* - Canoe Money
* - Ticals and Tiger Tongues
* - Copper Hoe Blade
* - Pu (Spade Money)
* - Ch'ing (Bridge Money)
* - Short Pu (Pants Money)
* - I Pi Ch'ien (Ant Nose Money)
* - Kuei T'ou C'ien (Ghost Face Money)
* - Cowrie Shells
* - Shell Arm Ring

Featured Web Site
  Wayne Homren
  Numismatic Bibliomania Society