Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 11, Number 08, February 24, 2008: an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society. Copyright (c) 2008, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society. WAYNE'S WORDS: THE E-SYLUM FEBRUARY 24, 2008 No new subscribers this week - our count holds at 1,113. Our number grows primarily by word of mouth. If you know a numismatist who might enjoy reading The E-Sylum, please send me their email address and we'll enter a subscription for them on your behalf. For better or worse, this week's issue is another whopper. Lots of interesting stuff. This week John and Nancy Wilson review "Striking Change" by Michael Moran, and we have announcements of the ANS' duplicate catalog sale, a new book on the Fugio coppers, a "Biography of the Dollar" and a new book about Joseph Florimond Loubat. In responses to items in last week's issue, several readers set us straight about the "Lombat Prize" - it's the "Loubat Prize"! Other responses cover topics such as the late Sam Pennington, Things Found in Books, numismatic holdings of the Library of Congress, the Tompkins "Counterfeit House" and the numismatics of the Lincoln Highway. New queries this week include porcelain copies of medals, the 1943 ANA business session / convention, and WWII "Torpedo Club" bills. Also in this issue we have Katie Jaeger's 2005 interviews with executives of The Franklin Mint, Alan Weinberg's recollection of his visit to Evergreen House, the Johns Hopkins University home of the legendary Garrett coin collection, and Dick Johnson's discussion of the striking of large medals. My numismatic diary includes a great story from David Schenkman on the provenance of the famous J.H. Polhemus counterstamped $20 gold piece. In the news, numismatic author Milton R. Friedberg has passed on, ransom notes from the infamous 1971 “D.B. Cooper” skyjacking have been certified by PCGS Currency, a gang leader involved in negotiating the return of New Zealand's stolen war medals has been released from prison and 'The Counterfeiters' won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar at tonight's Academy Awards ceremony. QUICK QUIZ: Who can spot the error in the story about the gold coin dress from Japan? To learn about Bois Durci and Torpedo Peggy's Short Snorter, read on. Have a great week, everyone. Wayne Homren Numismatic Bibliomania Society HOWARD DANIEL TO MAN NBS TABLE AT PHOENIX ANA As noted earlier, Howard A. Daniel III plans to man a club table at the upcoming American Numismatic Association National Money Show in Phoenix, AZ March 7-9. He will represent the Numismatic Bibliomania Society, Numismatics International, International Bank Note Society and Philippine Collectors Forum. Howard requests that NBS members bring any surplus numismatic publications with them so he can give them to new and young collectors along with an NBS application form. NUMISMATIC LITERATURE IN THE LOCKDALE MARCH 16TH SALE >From Viet Nam, Howard A. Daniel III writes: "I received an email from Lockdales in England about their March 16 auction. Lot 2389 has some 19th century books that could be interest to some NBSers. There are other lots that might be of interest as well, but 2389 seemed like a good one." To view the Lockdales catalog, see: Lockdales catalog FIXED PRICE LISTS: AMERICAN NUMISMATIC SOCIETY DUPLICATE CATALOG SALE Andy Meadows of the American Numismatic Society writes: "The ANS duplicate auction catalogue lists have been posted on the ANS website (www.numismatics.org). "In preparation for the move to new premises, the ANS is disposing of quantities of duplicate auction catalogues, accumulated over a number of years. The aim of this is both to find good homes for unneeded catalogues, as well as to raise funds for the ANS library acquisitions budget. "Two lists of duplicate sales catalogues have been created. One contains details of sales catalogues produced by US-based dealers, the other those of dealers based outside the US. While we have made every effort to ensure that the lists are accurate at time of issue, this has been a substantial task and we ask for patience with any errors that may emerge. Likewise, we will do our best to maintain an accurate list of available volumes on the website, but there will inevitably be cases where sales listed are no longer available. We apologize in advance, and suggest that if there is something you really want, then you send in your order early. "Orders should be addressed by email only to orders@numismatics.org, as should any enquiries. There is one price for all catalogues: $2 per volume, with a minimum order value of $20. Shipping will be added at cost. Payment is accepted by check or credit card. "Please bear in mind when ordering that you are not just acquiring books for your own library; you are also contributing to the future of the ANS. "A separate list of numismatic and non-numismatic journals will be posted shortly." To view the ANS fixed price lists, see: ANS fixed price lists NEW BOOK: UNITED STATES FUGIO COPPER COINAGE OF 1787 BY ERIC NEWMAN The latest new title on early U.S. coinage comes from the quill pen of nonagenarian Eric P. Newman of St. Louis. 'United States Fugio Copper Coinage Of 1787' is a 176-page expansion of his original article on the subject published by Wayte Raymond in the Coin Collectors Journal of January 1949. This is perhaps the longest period between a published numismatic research study and its revision by the same author (nearly 60 years)! Eric writes: "Major important cooperating contributors to the book are Bill Noyes for the images; John Kraljevich for the refinement of the 18th century history; Kenneth Bressett for the clue to John Curtis as the Horatio Rust collaborationist in the distribution of the 19th century Fugio copper, silver and gold copies (falsely called New Haven "restrikes"); and Jon Lusk, the publisher and a stimulator for the project. Charles Davis is the distributor and promoter of the book." Charlie Davis writes: "In 1869 Sylvester Crosby put together a committee to write the "Early Coins of America." Within several years the committee had done little to move the project along, and Crosby found himself alone with the project, substantiating the maxim that when work is assigned to a committee, either no work is done or one person does it all. "With the 'United States Copper Fugio Coinage of 1787,' a committee of Newman, Noyes, Kraljevich, Lusk, and myself began the work at the 2007 EAC convention in St Louis. Dispelling the above theory, the work progressed rapidly, and drawing on the superb photo file of Bill Noyes, and the able assistance of specialists like Brian Greer, and Tony Terranova, the book was on press eight months later. The group was so pro-active we were even able to include the new variety discovered by Stack's in December 2007 and sold in their January 2008 sale. "Those who have seen the book will immediately recognize the Noyes/Lusk format with 3x color photographs of obverses and reverses with diagnostic pointers placed around the circumference, with rarity levels and commentary for each variety. Eric has even written sections dealing with errors and patterns, areas not covered before. A final touch is the inclusion of a reprint of Eric’s 1949 work from the Coin Collector's Journal. The book is available in two versions: blue cloth at $125.00 (plus $7.00 shipping to U.S. addresses), and half Morocco with a signed bookplate at $550.00 (plus $15 shipping). Each may be ordered from us at Box 547, Wenham MA 01984." [Eric was born May 25, 1911, and he's an inspiration to us all. Congratulations on the latest publication! I'll look forward to getting my copy, and invite other readers to contribute their reviews. -Editor] NEW BOOK: BIOGRAPHY OF THE DOLLAR BY CRAIG KARMIN [Tom Fort forwarded this review of a new book from The Economist. Written by Craig Karmin, the book is "Biography of the Dollar: How the Mighty Buck Conquered the World and Why It's Under Siege." The review opens with an anecdote about the BEP's Mutilated Currency Division. -Editor] A man's angry wife once ran $30,000 of his life savings though a paper shredder. Fortunately the nest-egg was in dollars and help was at hand in a little-known corner of America's federal bureaucracy. Since 1862 the Mutilated Currency Division of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing has pieced together partially destroyed American currency. So long as 51% of a bill remains and can be proved genuine, Uncle Sam will refund its full value. With magnifying glasses, tweezers, scalpels and many gallons of disinfectant, the mutilated-currency specialists can spend up to two years analysing a single bill. "We don't care if it was in a fire, buried underground or water-damaged," says one. "Maybe your dog ate it. Came out the other end. Clean it up a bit. We'll take care of it." In 2006 the currency forensics handled about 20,000 cases and sent out cheques worth $66m. This tale is one of the many fascinating titbits that Craig Karmin, a reporter for the WALL STREET JOURNAL, has compiled in his "biography" of the dollar, a book that tells the story of America's national currency. The approach is partly historical. Mr Karmin describes the dollar's wild youth. In the era of free banking between 1837 and 1863, for instance, more than 700 banks could issue their own notes, and as many as one-third of all bills were fake. He documents the greenback's gradual rise as an international currency after the creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913, and its global dominance after the second world war. It is a series of lively stories, full of first-hand reporting, deftly woven together. You meet the hedge-fund honcho whose firm is one of the world's biggest currency-trading specialists; the Ecuadorean hotelier who had to change everything after his country dollarised; the president of an online bank that offers Americans foreign-currency accounts. Mr Karmin has not written an important book about the dollar but he has written a jolly entertaining one. To read the complete article, see: Full Story BOOK REVIEW: STRIKING CHANGE BY MICHAEL MORAN [John and Nancy Wilson, NLG, submitted the following review of 'Striking Change: The Great Artistic Collaborations of Theodore Roosevelt and Augustus Saint-Gaudens by Michael Moran. -Editor] The recently released 480-page hardcover book by Michael Moran tells about the life of Augustus Saint-Gaudens from his birth in Ireland through his partnership with President Theodore Roosevelt to produce some of America’s most beautiful coinage to rival ancient Greek coinage. The author corrects many errors that have crept into prior books. The book tells of Saint-Gaudens’s early struggles to develop his artistic genius. His working with the 1893 Colombian Exposition, followed by his rise to national prominence as well as his growing close to the Roosevelts were well documented. On January 12, 1905, at the Annual Diplomatic Reception, President Roosevelt asked Saint-Gaudens to help him redesign the nation’s coinage to more reflect the high-relief coins of ancient Greece. With Saint-Gaudens’s 1905 unofficial Roosevelt inaugural medal the stage was set for him to design the gold-coin series and the one-cent piece. The actual designs as well as the events leading up to the minting of the gold coins and subsequent events are well documented by the author. The book has a cover price of $24.95 and was published by Whitman Publishing. The book is available bookstores, numismatic literature dealers and online at www.whitmanbooks.com. NEW BOOK: THE MAGNUM OPUS OF JOSEPH FLORIMOND LOUBAT ... A LEAF BOOK George Kolbe writes: "The Amos 'n Andy 'nickelectomy' mentioned in last week's E-Sylum brings to mind what I consider a very funny line in a new book printed by Henry Morris/Bird & Bull Press entitled 'The Magnum Opus of Joseph Florimond Loubat ... A Leaf Book.' It reproduces articles originally appearing in The Asylum and, yes, I am currently offering copies for sale (they can also be ordered directly from the printer/publisher). "Two original leaves of illustrations taken from an original 1878 edition of Loubat are included in the book, for which Morris offers a 'mea culpa' to librarians and curators who generally decry the practice. Although he makes a spirited defense, Morris observes: 'This I know will be regarded by some as bibliophilic sacrilege, and for what it's worth I did feel I was committing a barbaric act.*' The footnote reads: "*In bibliophilic language, this would be called a Loubatomy." [The new book is priced at $200. George will distribute a photocopy of the flyer with his March 20 numismatic literature sale catalogue. -Editor] ON COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY'S LOUBAT PRIZE Regarding Dave Lange's query, Douglas Mudd writes: "I believe that the 'Lombat' prize is actually the 'Loubat' prize - I wonder when/where it was first misspelled - it is identified in Wikipedia as: The Loubat Prize was a pair of prizes awarded by Columbia University every five years between 1913 and 1958 for the best social science works in the English language about North America. The awards were established and endowed by Joseph Florimond, Duc de Loubat. The awards were given "in recognition of the best works printed in the English language on the history, geography, archaeology, ethnology, philology, or numismatics of North America." Pete Smith, Ron Abler, Dan Demeo and Dr. Ute Wartenberg Kagan of the American Numismatic Society also spotted the error. Pete Smith was among the first to report the mistake. He writes: "I don't know who made the spelling error but that should obviously be the Loubat Prize. I found that when I was doing research for my article on Loubat in The Asylum. I found several references to it being awarded but I could not confirm why awards stopped." Dave Lange writes: "The article in Naval History did spell it 'Lombat,' and this may have been a scanning error. These are becoming increasingly common in this age of electronic media and spell-checking programs run amok." IN MEMORIAM: MILTON R. FRIEDBERG John and Nancy Wilson of Ocala, FL write: "We were saddened to hear from Benny Bolin of the passing of our friend Milton R. Friedberg. He passed away on February 8th, with his wife JoAnne at his side. Milton R. Friedberg was one of the greatest collectors of U. S. Postage and Fractional Currency that ever lived. He was a founding member of the Fractional Currency Collectors Board and author of 'The Encyclopedia of United States Fractional & Postal Currency' published in 1978. "He wrote many articles not only on fractional currency but also related items. He was a prolific exhibitor, winning many awards with his fractional currency exhibits. Milt's complete collection of U. S. Postage and Fractional Currency and many other related rarities were sold by Currency Auctions of America, Inc. on January 10, 1997. "Before becoming ill some years back, Milt and his wife JoAnne rarely missed a paper money show. His enthusiasm and love of fractional currency inspired many dealers and collectors including ourselves. He will be missed by his many friends throughout the hobby, and his memory will live on forever. Our deepest sympathies to his wife JoAnne and the Friedberg family." THOUGHTS ON SAM PENNINGTON Ben Weiss writes: "I note with great sadness the death of Samuel Pennington. Sam was a tireless supporter of numismatics, running his own feature, Medals Collector Page of the Maine Antique Digest, as well a being a regular contributor to several other numismatic ventures on the web and in print. Although I have known him only for a couple of years, I feel we had developed a personal friendship and I greatly appreciate that. Sam never failed to provide help in any request made of him. He gave unstintingly of his time and effort and never asked for anything in return. Such generosity! I feel not only a great personal loss but a professional one as well as he was of enormous help in contributing his expertise to the Medal Collectors of America website. He will be sorely missed." [Gar Travis forwarded the following articles on Sam Pennington. -Editor] Samuel Pennington III, who launched Maine Antique Digest from his kitchen table and grew it into a national publication, has died at the age of 78. In 1973 Pennington and his wife, Sally, wrote the 28-page first issue on a typewriter and distributed it to five people. It now averages more than 250 pages and is distributed nationally to about 20,000 subscribers. Pennington was born in Baltimore and joined the Air Force after graduating from Johns Hopkins University. While stationed at Dow Air Force Base in Bangor in the 1960s, he and his wife ran an antiques shop on the side, but grew frustrated when they couldn't find reliable information about the early American furniture pieces they were buying and selling. For years, Pennington searched antique shops and attended auctions throughout New England, writing about items that were for sale and how much dealers paid for them. "Some dealers didn't like that because they couldn't jack up their prices," his wife said. "But the readers liked it." To read the complete article, see: Full Story In an article in Johns Hopkins Magazine, Wendell D. Garrett, senior vice president of Americana at Sotheby's and editor-at-large for The Magazine Antiques, said of Sam, "The brilliance of Sam Pennington is that this was a market that wasn't being taken care of before M.A.D... What Sam created is like the People magazine of the business." "There are people who adore him," Lita Solis-Cohen, senior editor of M.A.D., said of Pennington, in the same article, "There are people who are furious at him because he's so honest. And there are people who are afraid of him because of the power of his pen." In spite of poor health in the last few months, Pennington faithfully went daily to his office at the Maine Antique Digest to oversee its' operation and work on his ongoing projects, television show and philanthropies. To read the complete article, see: Full Story ON THE RETIREMENT OF ANS LIBRARIAN FRANK CAMPBELL Granvyl Hulse writes: "With the retirement of Frank Campbell from the American Numismatic Society the numismatic world has lost another outstanding and dedicated librarian. I hope that his replacement will be as prepared to offer the same thoughtful service to numismatic club librarians as he did. In my 25 odd years as librarian to Numismatics International I found his help invaluable and he will be missed." ED SNIBLE ON LITERATURE CATALOG ORDERING FORMATS AND KOLBE 105 [In his blog this week Ed Snible commented on the catalog of George Kolbe's 105th numismatic literature sale. Here are a couple excerpts. -Editor] Lot 29 was a surprise to me. It's a CD-ROM of the Library catalogue of British and Royal Numismatic Societies. I wasn't aware of this title, although The ANS library has a copy (in the multi-media section — also new to me). The ANS entry implies the disks were a supplement to the 2003 Numismatic Chronicle. [I don't recall hearing about this bibliographic resource before either. Has anyone made use of it in research? -Editor] Catalog 105 follows the usual Kolbe format of being first divided into consigners, then arranged alphabetically by author within each consignment. I don't understand the arrangement; I'd prefer to see it first arranged by subject. So ancient coin books can be found in lots 1-447, and also 582-623. Perhaps this is a good arrangement for future scholars tracing back ownership of books? [George's catalogs (and those of other numismatic literature dealers) adhere to various arrangement schemes. The consignor orientation makes a lot of sense for both the auctioneer and consignor. It would be much harder to track a consignment if it were split up and mixed with other books scattered throughout a catalog. While this has a benefit of enabling the tracing to a consignor, I suspect it's a secondary consideration. I also recall a discussion on lot ordering I had with Ken Lowe of The Money Tree, and he told me there was another method to this madness. If all the lots on a given topic were grouped neatly into sections, bidders would tend to read only a few sections of the catalog and not look at the rest. But by plowing thru the catalog in search of material of interest, bidders often discover other useful items that they might have missed otherwise. So again we have the catalog order (or lack thereof) being driven more by the practical concerns of marketing the material rather than the ease of later use of the catalog by researchers. -Editor] To read Ed Snible's original blog post on Kilbe sale 105, see: Full Story TAMS OFFERS SCHENKMAN TOKEN BOOKS AS MEMBERSHIP PREMIUM I thought I'd remind our readers that the Token and Medal Society (TAMS) has a special promotional offer for new or renewing members. Members who renew for three years (or new members joining for the same period) may receive a copy of David E. Schenkman’s standard catalog, Bimetallic Trade Tokens of the United States. This is a large format, 163 page, profusely illustrated catalog, with price guide, which retails for $40 plus shipping. Those paying for five years are eligible for a copy of Dave’s Merchant Tokens of Hard Rubber and Similar Compositions, another heavily illustrated standard hard cover catalog with value guide, which retails for $57.50 plus shipping. This is an excellent way to support a great organization and at the same time add a book to your library. To obtain a membership application or request additional information, contact David E. Schenkman at dave@turtlehillbanjo.com. SCOTT SEMANS ON WHITMAN'S CATALOG OF MODERN WORLD COINS, 14TH EDITION Scott Semans writes: "I recently got my contributor's copy of the "Brownbook,", 'A Catalog of Modern World Coins' by R. S. Yeoman (Whitman Publishing). The E-Sylum published Whitman's promotional copy and a review by James Higby. Neither piece mentions one very useful feature of this 14th edition: the inclusion of KM numbers from the rival Krause/ F&W "Standard Catalog" series. These are given in a second column after the Y number, providing a complete concordance up to 1964. "Yeoman's Brownbook was my first love among numismatic books, and I still prefer its clear formatting, chronological listings, and logical numbering system over the Standard catalog of World Coins approach. I've always assumed that the infelicities in the SCWC format represented second-best choices made to avoid copyright problems or to appear distinctive from the Whitman series. There is no quicker way to get a clear sense of a nation's coinage, or to look up basic information on a particular coin, than the Brownbook, and with the ubiquitous KM numbers cross-referenced, it's even easier." NEW BOOK: 'A CATALOG OF MODERN WORLD COINS, 1850–1964', 14TH EDITION esylum_v11n06a03.html REVIEW: 'A CATALOG OF MODERN WORLD COINS, 1850–1964', 14TH EDITION esylum_v11n07a07.html INTERESTING ITEMS IN THE STACKS RICH UHRICH SALE [The February 26-27, 2008 Stack's auction of the Rich Uhrich collection includes a number of interesting numismatic items. I thought I'd mention a few which caught my eye. Bibliophiles should be sure to note that the sale include some items of numismatic literature, two of which I highlight here. -Editor] LOT 3694: MCKINLEY-HOBART MECHANICAL GOLD BUG, 1896 Hake MAC 189. Pressing the lever on the back releases wings which display photographic images of McKinley on the left and Hobart on the right. The images show some wear but are relatively complete. A decent example of this colorful campaign curio. Full Story [Related to Bryan Money and other political items from the 1896 election, this "gold bug" pin is among the most unique and interesting. It may not be strictly numismatic, but it's sure a great conversation piece. -Editor] LOT 3750: PILGRIM LANDING TERCENTENNIAL MEDAL, 1920 Bronze, 69.7mm. By G.L. Turner. Uncirculated. Obv. Landing boat grounding on Plymouth Rock, first Pilgrim debarking, 21 December 1620. Rev. Mayflower at sea. Deep red patina. Full Story [This one is listed here simply because I like it - I was impressed by the image of this medal and think it's beautifully designed and executed. Check it out. -Editor] LOT 3758: AMERICAN JOURNAL OF NUMISMATICS 1866-1924 Bound in 17 half-leather octavo volumes (with gold-stamped spines showing five raised bands, each inscribed AMERICAN/ JOURNAL OF/ NUMISMATICS, VOLUME X-X, dates and place of publication below, NEW YORK, BOSTON, BOSTON-NEW YORK, NEW YORK. Side boards are maroon cloth of great distinction. The earliest issues are printed on a lighter-weight paper than the glossy stock adopted later and the first issues show the expected but virtually imperceptible aging. Nearly all covers were well preserved and free of careless handling or damage. AJN is a basic research tool for anyone working in the field of American numismatics or seeking insights into American understanding of ancient and world coins, medals, tokens and paper money over some 80 years. The present set offers in addition sumptuous bindings that have been conserved in virtually pristine condition. Bibliophiles estimate that not more than 20 sets exist today, and finding a finer set might well prove impossible. Extremely Fine, what in the world of coins would be called About Uncirculated. (Total: 17 volumes) (15,000-17,500) Full Story [Complete sets of the AJN rarely come up for sale, and even more rarely in nice bindings. The lot is not pictured, so potential buyers should arrange for a viewing, but this is a great opportunity for a serious and deep-pocketed bibliophile. -Editor] LOT 3767: ZABRISKIE CATALOGUE OF LINCOLN POLITICAL AND MEMORIAL MEDALS A Descriptive Catalogue of the Political and Memorial Medals Struck in Honor of Abraham Lincoln, Sixteenth President of the United States. New York, Printed for the author, 1873. Octavo lavender paper covers, 32 pages. Very Fine. This is one of only 75 copies printed by this future American Numismatic Society President and Lincoln pioneer of Lincolniana, a rare seminal work sought by many collectors but seldom seen on the numismatic market. The cover shows light fading near the top. Ex 14th Kolbe-Spink Auction, December 1995, lot 376. [As we approach the Lincoln birth bicentennial, collectors should be reminder of the debt owed to early collectors like Zabriskie who cataloged and published their holdings of Lincoln material. I'm very fortunate to have a copy of this very rare monograph in my library. -Editor] MORE (BAD) THINGS FOUND IN BOOKS Last week George Kolbe wrote: "A cautionary note - I have learned not to inhale when first opening a book. Once or twice I have become ill after breathing in mold, mildew, or who knows what other noxious airborne pollutants, some perhaps lurking in old books for ages." David Lange writes: "This is so very true. You can imagine the hazards I face collecting old coin albums. One particular group did make me very sick. Last fall I purchased a hoard of 80+ coin boards that had been in idle storage since about 1940. These were still in original wrapped bundles of ten boards apiece, and I preserved one such bundle intact to show how they were delivered by the publisher. The other wrappings were in pieces, exposing the topmost boards to decades of filth. "In my eagerness to start exploring, I simply dusted them off within an enclosed room. The particles flew off in clouds, and in less than an hour I realized my mistake. My throat burned for days, and my sinuses locked up for nearly two weeks. I had to air out my coin album room every weekend for months, and it's still a rather musty place into which my wife (and other sane persons) rarely venture." Harry Waterson writes: "I knew a writer in New York in the late 60s by the name of Pat McCormick. Pat was 6'8" and not adverse to occasionally dropping his pants while crossing Park Avenue. I recall an incident when he and three others were writing a script and Pat could not leave the writer's room. So he asked the Associate Producer to run around the corner to his apartment and write down a reference that was bookmarked in a volume on the kitchen table. He duly did as asked only to discover when he opened the book that Pat had used a rasher of raw bacon as a bookmark. The reference was a greasy smudge. And the Associate Producer had been had. I repeat this story as a tribute to Pat who could always make me laugh." GEORGE KOLBE ON THINGS FOUND IN BOOKS esylum_v11n07a14.html EDWIN JOHNSTON'S GALLERY MINT MUSEUM COIN CABINET Edwin Johnston of Houston, Texas writes: "I've recently completed a collection of small pewter medalets issued by the Gallery Mint Museum. They were created on the mobile mint screw press that was transported around to various coin shows and other events over the years from 1996-2006. They are all hand engraved original designs and many depict versions of historically significant coin designs. "The online cabinet itself features small scans of 42 different types, chronologically arranged. And each piece is linked to a larger and higher resolution scan with additional information about it, as well as related links of interest. Some of the links lead to scans of similar pieces that are off-metal strikes and other curiosities. "I began my collection of these in 1997 when the Gallery Mint Museum participated at the Money Show of the Southwest in Houston. I added to the collection in a piecemeal fashion when I could find them. In late 2004 I began the online collection with a couple of dozen pieces. Through patience and persistence I was able to find all the rest of the known types during the ensuing years. "I have intended this collection to be an educational reference of a single aspect of the Gallery Mint Museum's vast output. It encompasses many areas of interest to students of numismatics. The designs are fantastic, mostly created by noted engraver Ron Landis, with occasional collaborations. The subject matter is historical, referencing numerous coins, both popular and rare. The pieces themselves are often lighthearted and humorous. They also serve as a record of events around the country during a period of just over a decade. "In my opinion, this collection represents a legacy of numismatic fellowship and goodwill, captured in the combined use of art and technology." To visit Edwin's Coin Cabinet, see: Full Story NUMISMATIC COLLECTIONS OF THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Douglas Mudd writes: "Another great issue - and you were right - a whopper! I am glad I persevered in reading through... In answer to Alan Weinberg's question about the Library of Congress, I know that some parts of the original Smithsonian collection came from the Library of Congress - including numismatic objects - this would have been at the time of the foundation of the Smithsonian. After that, I believe some items were transferred during the 19th century, but I do not know (or remember) of any transfers in the 20th century. I will see if I can find any further information on that. "As for what the LOC currently has, unfortunately, I never had the privilege to visit their collections - and I was not aware that they had very much. Most of my contact with the library was via the web - they have fantastic resources available online and have had for over a decade." COINS AND MEDALS AT THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS esylum_v11n07a22.html MORE ON THE OHIO TOMPKINS 'COUNTERFEIT HOUSE' Regarding last week's items about the Ohio 'Counterfeit House', Steve Tompkins writes: "I have always been intrigued about the story behind this house, as my last name happens to be Tompkins. Whether I am related to this family is something I have not been able to determine, but wouldn't that be interesting! "I first learned of the counterfeiter house due to my collecting of Capped Bust Half Dollars. I collect more than just the main series of coins and have for many years gravitated to the extraneous or odd items related to the bust half series. These items include Love Token or engraved pieces, errors of all types, counterstamped examples and contemporary counterfeits. "I, along with many other bust half collectors, was delighted when a book was published specifically about the counterfeit pieces. Money Tree Press published “Contemporary Counterfeit Capped Bust Half Dollars” by Keith R. Davignon, in 1996. This was a first attempt to document and catalog the many examples found by collectors over the years and explore some of the history surrounding these enigmatic pieces of Americana. " 'The Legend of The Counterfeit House' begins on page 29 and includes a picture of the house itself as well as a picture of Oliver and Ann Tompkins. While this section is somewhat brief, it refers the reader to an original story by John W. Hansford printed in the Wonderful World of Ohio magazine that was reprinted in Hearthstone Collection of Folklore, Nostalgia, and History published by Infinity Press and publications, Ironton, Ohio. "While this may not be the authoritative publication about the house, it is the only reference in a numismatic publication that I am aware of. "On a side note, Keith has been working towards a second edition, hopefully to be published soon, and perhaps there will be an expansion of the counterfeit house story!" STORM DAMAGE HITS LANDMARK OHIO 'COUNTERFEIT HOUSE' esylum_v11n07a27.html EXCERPT: THE COUNTERFEIT HOUSE FROM BRIAN STARK'S 'GETTING TO THE POINT' esylum_v11n07a28.html [You people know too much! You expose me as One Who Doesn't Remember All the Great Stuff In His Own Numismatic Books. A hardbound copy of the Davignon book was sitting on a shelf beside me. Mocking me! Mocking me, I say! I pulled it down and read the brief story. Nice pictures, although I'd love to see more. -Editor] INTERVIEWS WITH JOE SEGEL AND CHARLES ANDES OF THE FRANKLIN MINT Katie Jaeger writes: "The last two E-Sylums reminded me of my conversations with two Franklin Mint executives while researching my upcoming 'Guide Book of U.S. Tokens and Medals.' I have my transcripts of that conversation, which I did not get to put in the book, and thought I'd share them here with readers of The E-Sylum.] Franklin Mint founder and CEO Joe Segel and his successor, Charles Andes, agreed to meet me for interviews in September 2005. They took me to a very nice lunch, and after that we went to Segel's home to finish the conversation (he and Andes lived a few blocks from each other in a very nice Philadelphia suburb). Before our meeting, I'd requested a transcript of the 1978 60 Minutes show from Burelles. I had asked the men if they'd like copies and Segel, who is amassing an archive of articles about his former company, said yes, and was excited to have it, but Andes said, "No, I remember it quite well, thank you." That is because he was the one interviewed on camera for the segment. I found both of these men to be gracious, frank and open about their mint and its history, and I asked them some fairly searching questions. One of them was directed at Andes: Were you part of the decision to stop minting your own medals? If so, can you recall the reasons for it? No, it was after my time. (He left the firm in 1985.) Andes and Segel both felt it was a mistake to quit making ANY numismatic products. They agreed that public interest in medal series had begun to decline after 1976, the bicentennial year. Andes said, “it was such a huge year for historical commemoratives, for Franklin Mint medals and across the board, and it was difficult to follow that with more of the same thing. 1977 was the first year the company ever showed a down quarter, and it prompted us to branch out into other lines of collectibles, which brought a rapid recovery.” Segel and Andes felt it was not necessary to give up the medal business altogether – the best few series should have been retained, along with the minting of coins of the realm for various countries. Tell me about the fallout from, and your reaction to, that fateful 60 Minutes news segment (1978). First let me tell you about the show, then I’ll tell you about the fallout. You know, they write a book – a script of how each segment will go, before they even do their first interview. Content is decided beforehand, and scenes are orchestrated to fit. We knew this, and we knew 60 Minutes wanted an interview with us, so we kept refusing. No one has ever had a successful 60 Minutes interview! But they started coming to the coin shows, setting up their cameras in front of our booth at the ANA convention and so forth, quizzing our collectors as they walked by and generally hassling our staff. This went on for quite some time and I knew I had to do something, so we collected all the data assembled by Numismatic News for their valuation guide [the annual Guidebook of Franklin Mint Issues by Chet Krause and Virginia Culver, the final issue of which was published in 1981], dealers’ reports of asking prices, etc. for the past few years, and furnished this to 60 Minutes. These data were not manipulated by us in any way, they just represented established industry research. They showed that about 1/3 of dealers were selling FM medals below original subscriber cost, 1/3 selling at cost, and 1/3 selling above cost. 60 Minutes excerpted the part that showed dealers selling below cost. They based their entire story on the gripes of a New York City dealer who detested us (and there were others who did too, but not that many). By the way, 60 Minutes tapes all their interviews first, with just one camera aimed at the interviewee - then they shoot the interviewer posing questions and reacting to the answers, in the studio at home afterwards. This way they can script better reactions from the commentator, as to facial movements, expressions of surprise, etc. Of course the show did have an impact on orders, but as I said, we had already had a down quarter in 1977 and this show wasn’t until November 1978. It has been said that most Franklin Mint coin medal collectors began losing interest as the market became saturated not only with FM issues, but issues of copycat companies like the Lincoln Mint and the Danbury Mint. Was there an abrupt ending, or did it taper off? Well, let’s say it tapered off abruptly. What amazes me still to this day, is the number of subscriptions to our many series that were completed – that 200-medal History of the U.S. Series, issued over 100 months, was completed by more than 50% of the original subscribers. That is an amazing statistic. Most of our series shared that success or did better. There was a nice moment when Andes said, “you know, if you want to write the history of the Franklin Mint, it’s him” (jerking a thumb toward Segel). The company Andes took over from Segel in 1972 and operated for 14 years was a monstrous huge operation, with fingers in pies all over the world. It owned mints in Canada, Japan, Britain and France. Andes built a book bindery and eventually kicked off dozens of other lines of handmade, home produced collectibles like repro period furniture, ceramic plates, crystal cameos, die-struck pewter spoons, die-cast cars, you name it. He either bought the companies who made these things or built the production facilities from the ground up. But Andes handed all the credit to Segel, in a quick sentence. I thought that was classy. To Andes: Tell me about your career after leaving the Franklin Mint. He handed me two versions of his biography – one in resume format and one a feature/profile in Business Philadelphia. He went on to become Pro Bono CEO of the Franklin Institute, and had a lot to do with its renaissance. His resume listed directorships of 17 companies besides the Franklin Mint, and 21 nonprofit directorships. Among those, he served as chairman of PICA (PA Intergovernmental Corporation Authority) which pulled the City of Philadelphia out of bankruptcy, and PAFA, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. To Andes: What would you most like to be remembered for? “Trying.” Expanding on that, I mean "really trying.” If it doesn't work the first, second or third time-- try again. I don't mean do the same thing over again each time, that's just foolish making the same mistake. But change something, do something different but keep working at it. Most things in life that WORK are different than they started out, but they are the result of persistence. I've found this is true in all the big adventures in my life - The Franklin Mint, The Franklin Institute, Venture Capital and PICA . I asked Segel the same question. He said: "Creating thousands of jobs. Paying people well, encouraging them to do their best, getting them to reach beyond themselves." (Every company Segel has led, has been characterized by this. He went on to found QVC and then an international conference center in Switzerland, and several others. He has come to be known as "the King of the Startups.") I asked both: Have you designated where your papers are to go? Not formally, I’m thinking about it. Neither Segel nor Andes could believe there would be any interest in their papers. I told them to reconsider, and at least designate what should happen to them. Charles Andes passed away in August of 2006, and I feel so lucky to have met and talked with both of those men. It was a memorable day! MORE ON 60 MINUTES AND THE FRANKLIN MINT esylum_v11n07a17.html To view Katie's photo of Charles Andes and Joseph Segel, see: Full Story NUMISMATICS OF THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY Jeff Starck writes: "I was reading 'The Lincoln Highway' by Michael Wallis, with photographs by Michael S. Williamson, and numismatics popped up several times. The highway, named for President Lincoln, spans the nation, from New York to San Francisco. It's an interesting read, and though I'm only halfway finished, I've found three items related to numismatics that I thought I'd share with E-Sylum readers. "In Jersey City, N.J., appears a statue of Lincoln by James Earl Fraser 'the artist who designed the nickel with a buffalo head on one side and an Indian head on the other,' as the author writes. (page 27) "Later, the book mentions a park near Chicago where visitors can 'rub for luck the big Lincoln penny mounted on top of the fountain.' This is the Arche Memorial Fountain in Arche Memorial Park in Chicago Heights, at the intersection of U.S. 30 and Illinois Route 1 (the Lincoln and Dixie highways, respectively). Has anyone been there and seen this? How large is this 'big Lincoln penny?' [I found one image of the Arche Memorial Fountain on the Internet showing Fraser's Lincoln: Full Story -Editor] "Finally, the third mention comes in Boone, Iowa, where young Kate Shelley, a 15-year-old Irish immigrant saved a train filled with passengers in 1881. When a bridge went out one rainy July night, she fled to the nearest depot to warn the express passenger train due to pass over the washed out trestle within the hour to stop. 'Hundreds of articles about the young heroine appeared around the world, and the state of Iowa presented Kate with a gold medal made by Tiffany's.' Shelley died at 46 in 1912. I wonder where the medal is today. "This article talks about her money woes, as she couldn't make her house mortgage. Given her money troubles, maybe she had to sell the medal?" Full Story "This site even mentions the medal: Full Story "I just did a search and there are many sites that mention Kate Shelley. desmoinesriver.org/kshelley.html americanfolklore.net/folktales/ia.html "There's even been a book about her: amazon.com/Kate-Shelley-Robert-San-Souci/ " THOUGHTS ON FRED REED'S NEW LINCOLN BOOK Regarding Fred Reed's upcoming book on images of President Lincoln, Ginger Rapsus writes (from the Land of Lincoln!): "I am delighted to hear about the new Lincoln book! I have a collection of Lincoln coins, medals and tokens (which I have exhibited at the FUN show) and this reference has been needed for quite a while. When was the last update of Lincoln in Numismatics--1966 or so?" [As I noted last week, the last reprint of the King reference on Lincoln in Numismatics was the 1966 TAMS publication. But that was simply a reprint of the earlier Numismatist articles, and not an updated listing. -Editor] Dick Johnson writes: "How creative of Fred Reed to come up with the title for his forthcoming book, 'Abraham Lincoln, the Image of His Greatness: Ideal, Idol & Icon.' I love the alliteration of the repeated 'I' initials. I'll bet in print, however, in the future this will be shortened to: "Lincoln IIII," and perhaps in conversation to 'Lincoln eye four.' " BOOK IN PROGRESS: ABRAHAM LINCOLN, THE IMAGE OF HIS GREATNESS BY FRED REED esylum_v11n07a10.html LINCOLN IN NUMISMATICS esylum_v11n07a11.html NPR COMMENTATOR'S 'GETTYBURG ADDRESS' TAKE ON ELIMINATING THE CENT Regarding our recent discussion of the '60 Minutes' segment on the cost of making cents and nickels at the U.S. Mint, Chick Ambrass forwarded a link to a video snippet of the segment. Mint Director Ed Moy is interviewed. To see the video, go to: Full Story [Perhaps inspired by the 60 Minutes publicity of the cent problem, National Public Radio Commentator Dan Drezner says inflation and high zinc and copper prices have made the penny too expensive for the U.S. to produce. The text of his segment, forwarded by Arthur Shippee, is a marvelous takeoff on Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. Here it is. -Editor] Four score and nineteen years ago, our national mint brought forth on this country a new coin, conceived to honor Abraham Lincoln, dedicated to the proposition that all coins bearing his image would be worth exactly one penny. Now we are engaged in a great spike in the price of zinc and copper, testing whether this nation, frankly, can afford the penny any longer. In 2006 it cost more money to produce a penny than its face value; the U.S. Mint had to issue new regulations designed to prevent the melting down of coins. With inflation on the rise, the penny cannot long endure its diminished status. Today, a single penny can't buy anything. It is altogether fitting and proper that we question whether the penny deserves a final resting place. Perhaps it should go the way of other outdated concepts, like the half-cent coin, which was abolished in 1857. Economists across the political spectrum think this is a promising idea. In a larger sense, however, we cannot determine - we cannot divine - we cannot decide - this question. The historians, who have struggled to burnish Abraham Lincoln's legacy with, well, Lincolnesque properties, have unintentionally consecrated the penny far above our poor power to debate this issue rationally. Public radio listeners will little note, nor long remember what I say here, but you should never forget the massive amount of change jingling in my pocket. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated now to the unfinished work of bettering the country that Lincoln so nobly advanced. We must be dedicated to the great task remaining before us - the preservation of sensible and sound money. Switching Lincoln's iconic image to, say, the nickel would ensure that the penny would not have died in vain - that change jars across this nation shall have a new birth of freedom - and that meaningful coins manufactured by a government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. CBS 60 MINUTES ON ABOLISHING THE CENT esylum_v11n06a13.html CORRECTION: DWIGHT MANLEY ATTENDED THE WALT HUSAK SALE Alan Weinberg writes: "Due to my 'advanced age' (64) and the rush to get my Husak report into Sunday's E-Sylum, I inadvertently mentioned John Manley (a Pueblo, CO coin dealer I know) instead of Dwight Manley. Sorry - John was not there, but Dwight was, sitting next to Larry Goldberg and Tony Terranova. ALAN WEINBERG ON THE HERITAGE WALT HUSAK EARLY LARGE CENT SALE esylum_v11n07a15.html Katie Jaeger adds: "I was driving my kid to school and heard the National Public Radio news report on the Husak sale. They closed their brief report with a jazz piano rendition of 'Pennies from Heaven,' which I am sure will jingle through my head for the rest of the day." Arthur Shippee also pointed out the NPR report. To listen to the NPR report on the Walt Husak early large cent sale, see: Full Story ALAN WEINBERG ON THE GARRETT COLLECTION AT EVERGREEN HOUSE [Alan V. Weinberg notes that his mixup of John and Dwight Manley in his write-up of the Husak sale reminded him of a time he did a double take over a different Dwight. The event took place in Evergreen House, the Johns Hopkins University home of the legendary Garrett coin collection, later dispersed in a number of landmark sales in the late 1970s / early 1980s. His story follows. -Editor] In 1967 I was attending George Washington University law school in D.C. and on a Saturday I traveled to Baltimore and Johns Hopkins University to visit Evergreen House and hopefully view the Garrett Collection there. As I walked in, uninvited, I saw someone looking amazingly like Dwight D. Eisenhower looking at books in the Evergreen Library. It was Dwight's brother Milton Eisenhower, then President of Johns Hopkins University. I introduced myself. I then requested to view the Garrett coins and medal collection and was escorted to a massive desk in a large, dark, somber room where curator/author Sarah Freeman brought me tray after tray after tray of the most incredible American rarities - this was well before certain numismatic luminaries convinced later JHU Garrett curator Carl Carlson to "trade" pieces out of the collection but that's a story another E-Sylum reader will have to write. The coins and medals were unprotected in little wooden squares of much larger trays which you reached into and just manually lifted out. No gloves, nothing to lay the pieces on, no supervision whatsoever. Who was I? Just an anonymous person come in off the street! I was there for several hours and, to this day, I wonder about the total lack of any supervision or security over priceless rarities that in 1979-81 appeared in four auctions - which I attended. I remembered many of the coins and medals, having held them in 1967. It reflected what I experienced in the summer of 1966 when I first visited the British Museum numismatic vault rooms and, for five days, handled the rarest of the rare without any supervision, discovering along the way the many U.S. rarities that had been switched and were missing - like a Gem Uncirculated 1792 half disme gifted in 1800 by world traveler Sir Joseph Banks and replaced with a circulated 1829 half dime. But that's another story, too. GALLERY MINT MUSEUM DIES AND MOFFATT & CO. STRIKINGS Edwin Johnston writes: "You posted a query this week in your reference to the Moffatt & Co. press release on whether limited edition Gallery Mint Museum products could be jeopardized due to restrikes by Moffatt & Company. It would be my opinion that they would not restrike limited edition GMM products, since Tim Grat, now with M&C, has previously stated (when with Striker Token & Medal, M&C's previous incarnation), that he would honor the limitation (linked below). "What is noteworthy in the press release is the aspect of using 'design elements' to create custom coins and medals. (see quote from press release linked below) I have a couple of pewter show tokens struck by Greg Franck- Weiby for the Pacific Northwest Numismatic Association's 2007 coin shows. (see link below) These were made from patrix hubs of elements from Ron Landis' half dime designs." "This agreement will also allow Moffatt & Co. to utilize design elements of these classic US coin replicas so that professional numismatists, and numismatic clubs and organizations can also create custom coins and medals with these original Gallery Mint classic US coin designs." Full Story “If it was a limited edition coin made by Gallery Mint, we will honor that limitation and not produce any more of those specific reproductions.” - Timothy Grat, Dec. '06 Full Story Elements of Ron Landis dies on newly minted items by Greg Franck-Weiby Full Story MOFFATT & CO. REACHES AGREEMENT TO PRODUCE GALLERY MINT PRODUCTS esylum_v11n07a32.html [I hadn't heard the term "patrix hubs" before, so I asked Edwin for further explanation. -Editor] Edwin Johnston adds: "A matrix hub would be like a regular coin die, with the design elements incuse, and the patrix hub is the impression from that (when they are "married") where the elements are in relief, or as they would appear on the coin. Sculptor/engravers work on either type hub to refine their designs. "A die engraver could use a patrix hub of a design element, like a bust profile, and sink that into a blank hub, then individually sink the letters surrounding the bust to create either a matrix hub or even a working die. "The first time I saw the term referenced was by Greg Frank-Weiby, which he relates specifically in the fourth paragraph of his Subject topic concerning using Gallery Mint Museum hubs at Verne Walrafen's "Ron Landis' Workbench" website: Full Story" QUERY: KRYLON MAKE IT ACID-FREE SPRAY OPINIONS SOUGHT Dave Kellogg writes: "The subject of preserving or even conserving paper products, whether book pages, prints or documents, is frequently of concern to bibliophiles. Professional conservation can be quite expensive. Recently, the product described in the following link was suggested by a local church group trying to preserve some old documents. Full Story "Does anyone have experience with this Krylon acid-free spray? I'd like be a responsible collector but, at the same time, not do anything harmful. "If anyone is interested in a top notch conservator, try these people: westlakeconservators.com " QUERY: INFORMATION ON PORCELAIN COPIES OF MEDALS SOUGHT Dick Hanscom writes: "Does anyone out there know anything about porcelain copies of medals? I have seen scans of one for the large Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition of 1909 and one for Alaska Statehood 1959." MORE ON THE DANGERS OF TALKING TO REPORTERS Responding to Gar Travis' item on talking to reporters, Tom DeLorey writes: "In one of his books, Jack Parr complained about a piece that the New York Times had done on him. The reporter had visited his home up in Connecticut, made from a wonderfully remodeled barn, only to say in the story that Parr 'lived in a barn.' When he complained to the paper, Parr was told that the description of the property had been shortened due to lack of space. In the book he said that his response to the Times was something to the effect of: 'So what you are saying is, All The News That Fits You Print?' " ON THE DANGERS OF TALKING TO REPORTERS esylum_v11n07a18.html MORE ON GOING PAPERLESS Regarding the New York Times article on going paperless, Les Citrome writes: "I have gone paperless and scan as much as I can all things numismatic. The Krause DVDs were a godsend. Attached is what I do in my professional life as a research psychiatrist." [Les attached a copy of his paper, "Creating a more productive, clutter-free, paperless office: a primer on scanning, storage and searching of PDF documents on personal computers". Below is an excerpt from the article's introduction. -Editor] Clinicians and researchers typically amass large quantities of documents over time. These journal articles and other written educational resources must be filed in some manner, allowing easy retrieval. All too often this consumes many linear feet of shelf space or several file cabinets. Invariably, important journal articles or other educational resources are misplaced, leading the individual to either mourn their loss or proceed to replace them, wasting valuable time. At times the burden is shifted to the librarian who has to re-request an obscure work from another library. NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE ON GOING PAPERLESS esylum_v11n07a34.html DICK JOHNSON ON MULTIPLE STRIKING FOR LARGE MEDALS Dick Johnson writes: "Collector Tony Lopez had acquired a double struck Edward Preble Medal (Julian NA-3) and was asking questions about it. Every collector should do this -- learn as much as possible about items in their collections. Tony wants to prepare an article on this medal. This week he asked 'I am curious as to the minimum number of strikes which can be attributed to creating this medal.' Here was my reply: ”There is no fixed rule on the number of strikes for any medal. There are so many factors involved --pressure of the press, hardness of the metal blank, height of relief in the die, thickness of the blank -- are the most important factors in order. A pressman will keep striking a medal until he brings up all the relief in the die. (He examines the high points like a collector does for condition.) "But you must realize with each blow it WORK HARDENS the struck metal. After perhaps one or two blows any further striking would not move any more surface metal. Striking freezes the molecules in a fixed position. The partially struck medal must be RELIEVED by HEAT TREATING -- this allows the molecules in the metal to break that fixed position, to be able to move around again. This is called ANNEALING. "Iron has the amazing property that when heated and with slow cooling, it REDUCES the hardness. Heating and rapid cooling (like quick immersion into water, oil or molten salt) HARDENS the iron. For this reason dies are always made of iron. Items struck in metal have similar but their own properties. Medals in bronze or silver, the most common medal composition, are RELIEVED in a similar heating and slow cooling manner. "The relieved medal must be placed back on the press. It must SEAT in the exact position of the previous blows, the surface relief must line up exactly. For this reason a pressman will usually place the die with the side of greatest relief -- usually the obverse with a portrait -- in the lower position in the press to aid in seating the medal back in the press to be struck again. "When a pressman is sloppy and does not seat the medal exactly he will get a DOUBLE STRIKE with a double image. You can easily observe both the relief from the latest strike, and the UNDER RELIEF of the previous strike. If he is really sloppy and places the partially-struck medal back with the wrong side down, he will get the opposite side's under relief. What you are calling a flip-over strike. (When this happens in a coining press it is called a flip-over double strike). "In modern times large medals from one-eighth to one-fourth inch thick (metalworkers measure thickness by GAUGE, in this case gauge 3 to gauge 8) can usually be struck up in from four to eight blows in a KNUCKLE-JOINT press of 1000-ton pressure capacity. There are presses with lesser and greater capacity and this will effect the number of blows. With modern HYDRAULIC presses the pressure can be regulated and this relief can be achieved with fewer impressions, say two or three. Again, medals must be annealed between strikes for either press. "What press the medal maker will use depends upon what press he has, or what press is available when the medal needs to be struck. Once a medal die is made it can be used for either press. You cannot tell by inspecting a struck piece whether it was struck on a knuckle-joint press or a hydraulic press. "Medal presses use only OPEN FACE DIES, called BOX DIES in England. They are more suitable for large medals. (Dies for coining presses are different -- not only does a coin die have to be made to fit within its collar it must be compatible with the housing of the press where the die is locked in position.) Generally, open face medal dies can strike any size up to 6-inch diameter. Generally, coining dies can strike up to 2-inch diameter. However, in recent times the industry has been pushing these limits upwards for both methods. "Your medal, made in 1806, was struck on a screw press. All the conditions described above apply to items struck on a screw press. The major difference: the screw press was powered by man (horse, or water power). Modern presses are powered by electric motors of course (since 1890)." WAYNE'S NUMISMATIC DIARY FEBRUARY 19, 2008 The regularly scheduled meeting of my Northern Virginia numismatic social group was to be held Tuesday the 12th, but due to weather and road conditions we decided to cancel. An ice storm reduced traffic to a crawl. I reached Roger Burdette on his cell phone and he was stuck in gridlocked traffic just blocks from his office. Joe Levine, our host for the evening couldn't get out of his own driveway because of the ice. Tom Kays made it home and stayed there. Dave Schenkman, who was already on the road from Maryland, pulled off and went back home. Chris Neuzil was the only one who actually reached the restaurant, but he headed home, too. I ended up staying in my office until 8pm before heading home myself. The weather on the 19th was beautiful and we reconvened. As I drove to the restaurant I had a nice conversation with Tom Fort on my cell phone. Tom's a good friend from Pittsburgh who lived within blocks of me at one time. For several years he served as editor of The Asylum, our quarterly print publication. The restaurant had been picked by our host, Joe Levine. Vespucci's was a great choice - their Italian food and desserts were marvelous. Fueled with wine and other drinks me, Roger, Joe, Dave and Tom had a great evening sharing numismatic jokes and stories. Dave and Joe go way back in the coin business, and you can tell by listening to their banter. Dave loves to "rub it in" with the story of one of the most famous counterstamped U.S. coins, the J.H. Polhemus stamp on a $20 gold piece. The Sacramento, CA pharmacist stamped a number of U.S. coins, but only one gold piece. Counterstamps on gold coins are rare. The numismatic trail of this piece began when Joe Levine purchased it decades ago from another dealer for a little over the spot price of gold at the time. Joe sold it to Dave at a small profit. Dave and Joe were starting a column on exonumia for The Numismatist and they decided to write up this piece in the very first column. Dave liked the piece quite a bit and had no plans to sell it. At a coin show one day a gentleman walked up to Dave's table and asked if he still had the coin. It was Ray Byrne of Pittsburgh, a regular customer, and he wanted to buy the piece. Dave kept insisting it wasn't for sale, but Byrne persisted. Overhearing the conversation Joe leaned over and told Dave, "put a price on the damn thing, will you!?" So Dave looked at Ray and said "$15,000". Ray said "OK." Joe nearly spit out his dentures, and I don't think he had any. Long story short, Dave sold the coin to Ray. Ray's counterstamp collection was later bought by Dave and Roy H. Van Ormer of Washington, PA. So the coin returned once again to Dave's hands. The better pieces, including the Polhemus gold piece, were consigned to a Bowers auction. The Polhemus brought $11,200. Dave Schenkman later got a phone call from a man asking about the Polhemus piece. It turned out to be the buyer of the coin. Dave learned that the man didn't collect counterstamps and didn't collect gold coins. He had nothing else like the Polhemus gold piece in his collection. So why did he buy it? He thought the catalog description (written by Q. David Bowers) was interesting, and said he had been willing to bid as high as $20,000 - such is the power of good cataloging. By now I was into my second glass of wine and my memory of stories is fuzzy. But in keeping with the theme of Lincoln's birthday from our originally scheduled date, everyone passed around something numismatically related to Lincoln. Tom Kays, the class act of our group, pulled a Lincolnesque black top hat from a bag and put it on, offering a toast to our 16th President. Our glassed clinked. Tom passed around a small display of Lincoln tokens. He also asked if any of us had seen a 'Torpedo Club' bill, but none of us had even heard of one. I encouraged Tom to submit a query for The E-Sylum, and a very interesting submission appears below. Roger passed around a sheet with an image and description of James Fraser's Lincoln pattern, designed in the 1940s and struck and dated in 1952. Nothing came of the proposal, although 150 patterns were struck. Joe had with him a large-size Brenner plaque of Lincoln and several other Lincoln tokens and medals including a choice 1860 Rail Splitter token, an 1860 Lincoln-Hamlin "Donut" Ferrotype campaign portrait, and an undated 115mm Bois Durci plaque of Abraham Lincoln. Joe provided a link to a nice set of web pages on Bois Durci maintained by E-Sylum regular Harold Mernick of London: wanadoo-members.co.uk/Bois_Durci David Schenkman passed around an inscribed Civil War dog tag with Lincoln’s bust on reverse, a Lincoln token by Merriam made from copper taken from the ruins of the Turpentine Works, Newbern, NC, a Lincoln relic piece by Bolen which says, on the reverse, A PIECE OF COPPER TAKEN FROM THE WRECK OF THE REBEL RAM MERRIMAC. IN 1862 BY J. F. PRATT A.A. SURG. U.S.A. ONLY TEN STRUCK, and a mint medal from the Northwest Sanitary Fair, 1865, with Lincoln on the reverse. I hadn't seen any of these pieces before. All were impressive, but I found the Bolen Merrimac relic by far the most significant, for both the connection to the Union ship and its rarity. Dave told us the piece was struck in 1868. When my turn came I passed around my copy of the 1966 King book on Lincoln and Numismatics, a copy of the book "The Lincoln Centennial Medal" (published in 1908 by Robert Hewitt and containing a bronze Lincoln medal by Jules Edouard Roine) and a binder of pamphlets on political items including the rare 1873 Andrew Zabriskie monograph. It was a lovely evening but all too soon it was time to break up and head home. Numismatics is huge in terms of the diversity of material, but a small world in terms of people - I've had meals with Harry Mernick and visited his home in London. I knew Roy Van Ormer in Pittsburgh; it was one of his talks at a meeting of the Western Pennsylvania Numismatic Society that inspired me to collect counterstamps, and I later purchased some from that Bowers sale. And although I never met Ray Byrne I own his set of WPNS medals. Although they didn't realize it, all of us present that night owe a debt to Ray Byrne, for the inspiration for our monthly gathering was The Sphinx Society (of which I am also a member), which was started in Pittsburgh in 1960 by none other than Ray Byrne. F&W / KRAUSE PUBLICATIONS LIBRARY PHOTOS [In September 2007 Howard Daniel visited the library of F&W Publication (the former Krause Publications library). He forwarded some photos, but I only now got around to uploading them for viewing - sorry for the delay. The library is on about ten movable units of about 20 foot long shelves, back to back. -Editor] To view Howard's photos of the F&W Publications library, see: Photo's Photo's HOWARD DANIEL VISITS THE F&W PUBLICATIONS LIBRARY esylum_v10n35a03.html USING COINS AS TIRE GAUGE RARELY ACCURATE Regarding last week's item from Consumer Reports on using a coin to gauge tire wear, Dave Lange writes: "Such advice is so harmful, because no one takes into account how much the distance from a coin's edge to the top of the president's head has varied in recent years. Since the 1980s the U. S. Mint has steadily moved alllegends and devices further from each coin's borders to reduce die erosion. Using a 1968 cent to measure a tire's wear will produce a very different result than using a 2008 cent. The same is true for other denominations and, as you pointed out, the state quarters will produce a radically different result, since the head of Washington was so reduced in size to accommodate text formerly included on the reverse." UPDATE ON USING COINS AS TIRE GAUGE esylum_v11n07a35.html DOCUMENTATION OF THE 1943 ANA BUSINESS SESSION SOUGHT Darryl Atchison writes: "I have recently been doing research on J.D. Ferguson's term as President of the American Numismatic Association (1941 - 1943) and have been in touch with numerous collectors to compile information. "Thanks to David Sklow, I now know that the 1943 (Chicago) convention was cancelled due to the pressures and demands of World War II. However, a three-day business session was still held and there was even an auction conducted by William Rayson - although this is considered by some to be an "unofficial" ANA sale. "I would like to know, if anyone can tell me, is whether there an 'official' photograph of the delegates who did show up for the business sessions and also, was there a convention program that year - or at least a document that outlined the itinerary for those in attendance? I am sure that there was nothing as elaborate as the 1941 and 1942 programs due to wartime constraints... but I can't believe that there was nothing at all. How would the executives have known when each of the meetings was supposed to start otherwise? "If anyone has any information on these questions, I would appreciate if they would contact me at atchisondf@gmail.com" INFORMATION ON WWII 'TORPEDO CLUB' BILLS SOUGHT Tom Kays writes: Are any E-Sylum readers familiar with 'Torpedo Club' bills? Margaret Bourke-White, a photographer and survivor of a torpedo attack during World War II was rescued near the coast of Africa after fourteen days in a life boat. As she first walks the deck of a destroyer after rescue she recounts: Then everyone began fishing in his pockets...I found I still had my Short-Snorter bill. Anyone who has flown across an ocean is entitled to carry a signed dollar bill indicating membership in the Short-Snorters. When a Short-Snorter can catch another member without his bill he is entitled to collect a dollar fine. In the six months since my initiation, my bill has been signed by Generals Spaatz, Clark and Doolittle, Prince Bernhard and Eddie Rickenbacker. I looked up to see WAAC Ruth Briggs from Westerly, R.I., one of the first five WAACS sent on overseas service. I knew these five WAACs were members, having been sent over by Clipper. "Do you have your Short-Snorter bill?" I shouted. "Bet your sweet life," said Lieutenant [now Captain] Briggs. So on the deck of the destroyer we signed each other's bills. Most of us carried the special currency issued on board the troopship by the British military authorities, to be used in North Africa where regular British and American currency is kept out of circulation so it can't find its way into enemy hands. We decided that a new organization, even more exclusive than the Short-Snorters, should be formed - the Torpedo Club. Membership bills would consist of ten-shilling notes of the military currency. Only people who had been torpedoed would be permitted to join. One of the WAACs started my bill by lettering on the top, "Property of Torpedo Peggy," meaning me, and we went around exchanging signatures." - from The 100 Best True Stories of World War II, New York, Wm. H. Wise & Co, Inc., 1945, Acknowledgements: Women in Lifeboats by Margaret Bourke-White, (LIFE, Copyright by TIME, Inc.) [Bourke-White was an amazing person, as shown by the below excerpts from her Wikipedia biography. -Editor] Bourke-White was the first female war correspondent and the first woman to be allowed to work in combat zones during World War II. In 1941, she traveled to the Soviet Union just as Germany broke its pact of non-aggression. She was the only foreign photographer in Moscow when German forces invaded. Taking refuge in the U.S. Embassy, she then captured the ensuing firestorms on camera. As the war progressed, she was attached to the U.S. army air force in North Africa, then to the U.S. Army in Italy and later Germany. She repeatedly came under fire in Italy in areas of fierce fighting. "The woman who had been torpedoed in the Mediterranean, strafed by the Luftwaffe, stranded on an Arctic island, bombarded in Moscow, and pulled out of the Chesapeake when her chopper crashed, was known to the Life staff as 'Maggie the Indestructible.'"[6] In the spring of 1945, she traveled through a collapsing Germany with General George S. Patton. In this period, she arrived at Buchenwald, the notorious concentration camp. She is quoted as saying, "Using a camera was almost a relief. It interposed a slight barrier between myself and the horror in front of me." After the war, she produced a book entitled Dear Fatherland, Rest Quietly, a project that helped her come to grips with the brutality she had witnessed during and after the war. To read the complete article, see: Full Story [Her papers are archived at Syracuse University. I submitted an information request to see if her Torpedo Club note resides in their archive. Their reply is below. -Editor] "Thank you for contacting the Special Collections Research Center at Syracuse University Library regarding your inquiry. We have Margaret Bourke-White's Short Snorter dollar bill, but not the Torpedo Club bill. If you wish to come to Syracuse to see this item, you are welcome to do so." [The library will make photocopies or digital scans for researchers and authors. -Editor] For an inventory of the Bourke-White Papers at Syracuse University, see: Full Story PCGS CERTIFIES BRIAN INGRAM'S D.B. COOPER LOOT [One popular E-Sylum topic (with your Editor, anyway) is the mystery of the ransom loot of airline hijacker "D.B. Cooper". The serial numbers of Cooper's ransom cash are known but to date only a few have been found. The finder of these notes, Brian Ingram, had them certified by PCGS and they were on display at the recent Long Beach show. I stumbled upon the PCGS press release too late to publish it in time for the show but wanted to reprint it here. Did anyone view the exhibit? Does anyone know how and where the certified notes will be sold? What do you think they're worth in today's market? -Editor] Nearly two dozen $20 denomination notes from the infamous 1971 “D.B. Cooper” skyjacking have been certified by PCGS Currency on behalf of the owner who found them a quarter-century ago. The bills belong to Brian Ingram, 36, of Mena, Arkansas who was eight years old in 1980 when he found the only ransom cash ever recovered from the infamous skyjacking. “Even though the notes were damaged from apparently being in the Columbia River for years, we were able to match serial numbers with those on the FBI’s list of the $200,000 in $20 bills the skyjacker had when he jumped from the jetliner. There was even a Series 1963A star note,” said Laura A. Kessler, Vice President of PCGS Currency (www.PCGSCurrency.com) of Newport Beach, California, who headed the certification team. Ingram personally brought the notes to California for certification and will attend the opening of the Long Beach Expo on Thursday, February 14. “I was eight years old and on vacation with my parents on February 10, 1980, when I found about $5,800 of the ransom money along the banks of the Columbia River near Vancouver, Washington,” Ingram recalled. “We were going to make a fire along the river bank. I was on my hands and knees smoothing out the sand with my right arm, and I uncovered three bundles of money just below the surface. My uncle thought we should throw it in the fire.” His family turned the money over to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Eventually, the FBI returned 25 bills to them along with dozens of fragments that contained little or no trace of serial numbers. Most of the notes have lightly written initials of FBI agents who inventoried and examined the items soon after they were discovered by Ingram. To read the complete article, see: Full Story BLACK HISTORY MONTH TOPIC: BLACK HISTORY ON MONEY [This item was published this week in a publication of the University of Southern California. -Editor] In celebration of Black History Month, Black Alumni Programs, in collaboration with USC Libraries Special Collections and the Center for Black Cultural and Student Affairs, hosted "Black History on the Money" on Tuesday night. The event featured a presentation of currency-related historical artifacts and a discussion with the original collector of these materials, John E. Collins, in an effort to raise awareness about blacks' role in designing and producing U.S. currency. "Even though this has been information that's been suppressed and excluded, all of us have held dollar bills and coins in our hands," said Susan Anderson, managing director of L.A. as Subject at USC Libraries. "This collection gives us a sense of the history of the United States, the history of slavery, and how the history of African Americans has been reflected in U.S. currency." The collection showcases several notable artifacts, including Confederate currency, a cancelled check from the Freedman's Savings and Trust Company and silver dollars adorned with the reliefs of famous black people. Collins, a numismatic historian, first became interested in collecting currency as a teenager, when his friend and mentor showed him a piece of Confederate money that featured vignettes of slaves. He has shared his knowledge on the subject in various ways, most notably by convincing the ANA to officially recognize Isaac Scott Hathaway as the first black American to design and sculpt an American coin, a silver dollar. "I encourage everybody: Get in those libraries. I've been to the Library of Congress, the National Archives, because I wanna know," he said. "If there's something out there, I wanna know it and verify it and be able to talk about it with authority." USC Libraries Special Collections is in the midst of talks with Brian Turner, the collection's current owner, about acquiring the collection for USC's archives, Anderson said. To read the complete article, see: Full Story COIN DESIGNER ISAAC SCOTT HATHAWAY [The previous article mentioned Isaac Scott Hathaway as a designer of two U.S. coins. Which two? His first coin was the Booker T. Washington commemorative half in 1946, and his second was the George Washington Carver half in 1951. Below are some links with more information on Hathaway. -Editor] Full Story Full Story Full Story NEW YORK TIMES MOVIE REVIEW: THE COUNTERFEITERS [We're been following the making and release of the film 'The Counterfeiters", based on the true story of talented Nazi concentration camp prisoners forced to counterfeit British and American currency during WWII. Arthur Shippee forwarded this review of the film from The New York Times. -Editor] In exchange for their labor Sally and his colleagues are given extraordinary privileges: civilian clothing, weekly showers, sheets and pillows on their beds. And this fragile good fortune provides “The Counterfeiters” with its ethical center of gravity. The questions Mr. Ruzowitzky poses are both stark and complicated. How much cooperation with evil is justified in the name of survival? How can the imperative to stay alive compete with the obligations to help others, and to oppose injustice? Sally, played by a remarkable, hatchet-faced actor with the striking name Karl Markovics, approaches these conundrums not with the discipline of a philosopher, but rather with the self-protective instincts of an outlaw. He does, nonetheless, adhere to the rudiments of a thief’s code of honor, surveying every new situation for possible risks and advantages and refusing, under any circumstances, to squeal on a comrade. Burger, whose wide brow and upright carriage stand in Pronounced contrast to Sorowitsch’s darting eyes and spidery movements, is the film’s designated man of principle. A left-wing activist, he was imprisoned for printing anti-Nazi leaflets, and he struggles to maintain a clear view of the political implications of his and the others’ actions. He decides to slow down Operation Bernhard by sabotaging the counterfeiting process, a delay that threatens the lives of his co-workers and brings him into conflict with Sorowitsch, who sometimes seems to view their assignment as a professional challenge more than anything else. To read the complete article, see: Full Story [The Counterfeiters won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar at tonight's Academy Awards ceremony! -Editor] OPERATION BERNHARD FILM RELEASE: THE COUNTERFEITERS esylum_v10n40a16.html VICTORIA CROSS RECORDS NOW AVALIABLE FOR RESEARCHERS ONLINE [For researchers of military medals, a gold mine of new information in now available on the Internet. -Editor] The heroism of millions of Britain's First World War servicemen, from ordinary foot-soldiers to actors and future prime ministers, is disclosed on the internet for the first time from today. The records of 5.5 million troops awarded medals between 1914 and 1922 - the most comprehensive Great War collection in existence - are being released by the website, Ancestry.co.uk. It will give people an unprecedented opportunity to trace the wartime achievements of their ancestors as most of the official service records from the First World War were destroyed during a German air raid in 1941. Fifteen different medals were awarded, from the Victoria Cross to campaign honours such as the Victory Medal, to British and Commonwealth troops. The online files are based mainly on index cards recording each serviceman's medals, reason for decoration and corps, unit and regiment. "This collection will be relevant to just about anyone with ancestors living in the UK during World War One and is both a rich source of military information and a means of ensuring that the exploits of these brave soldiers are remembered for generations to come." To read the complete article, see: Full Story "Quite simply, this is the most complete first world war collection of what we are calling heroes' exploits," said Simon Harper, managing director of the genealogy website Ancestry.co.uk, which has digitised the archive. "There are other records already online which capture parts of the service record, but unfortunately a lot of records no longer survive, so to have a collection this complete is extremely important." Though other organisations, notably the National Archives at Kew, allow users to order specific microfiched records for a fee, this is the first time they can be browsed online. The records take the form of colour scans of handwritten cards, on which details of the medals awarded are recorded, along with soldiers' addresses, rank, regiment and details of their service history. The cards carry references to mentions in dispatches, where appropriate. More than 50,000 records include details of covert operations. Alongside the ordinary Tommies are a large number of medal-winners who were or would go on to be well known - among them Oswald Mosley, AA Milne, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Lord Louis Mountbatten. Ernest Shackleton, newly returned from the South Pole in 1917, was considered too old for the western front but sent to South America on a propaganda mission, for which he was awarded the 1914 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. The young Noel Coward was awarded the Silver War Badge, having served briefly before being discharged for ill health. Britain's last surviving western front veteran, Harry Patch, is also represented. The website, which operates commercially and requires users to pay a subscription, also allows users to search first world war pension records, held at the National Archives, and the remaining military service records. To read the complete article, see: Full Story STOLEN SENTIMENTAL COAL SCRIP TOKEN RETURNED TO ILLINOIS WOMAN [A newspaper in Benton, IL published a story this week about a woman who was reunited with a coal scrip token that had been stolen along with her purse. The article refers to the token as "script" rather than scrip, but correctly (and amazingly to me) uses the term "exonomia". I'm not familiar with values of coal scrip tokens but know many or not most are common. Can anyone tell us if the $5,000 value quoted in the article is on the money? -Editor] A Benton woman was reunited with her unique and cherished keepsake Friday, thanks to the goodwill of a Rend Lake College administrator. According to 72-year-old Jean Bishop, her purse was allegedly stolen from her shopping cart at the Benton-West City Wal-Mart SuperCenter. It ended up on a Highway 37 shoulder about five miles south of RLC where it was apparently thrown from a moving vehicle by the alleged purse-snatcher. When she went to the Ina campus Friday afternoon, she explained that inside the purse was one of her most prized possessions. Tucked in a velvet jewelry box was a $5 piece of script, more than 100 years old, issued by the Coal and Lumber Company of Stearns, Ky. Scripts were used to pay coal miners. The coal employer would issue scripts as wages to miners and they would trade them for goods and services in a mining community. This particular coin-like keepsake was given to her in 1972 by her late husband. She plans to pass it down to her daughter, a mine inspector in Kentucky. The script - once worth a mere $5 - is now much more valuable, particularly to collectors of exonumia. “I've already been offered $5,000,” Bishop explained. “I cannot believe its still in there. They could have taken anything else, I don't care.” In the meantime, Bishop is going to work on a finding a safer place for her sentimental script. “It's going on a chain around my neck,” she said. “The next person who wants to take my keepsake from me is going to have to pry it from my dead body.” To read the complete article, see: Full Story GOLD COIN DRESS UNVEILED IN TOKYO The biggest bullion house in Japan, Tanaka Kikinzoku Jewellery K.K., presented on Thursday a shimmering gown enriched with hundreds of gold coins. The total weight of gold coins is 8 kilograms. The gown is valued at 30 million yen or about $275,000. The Japanese bullion house has made the dress using 325 Australian gold coins issued to honor the Vienna Philharmonic, which it will feature for a whole week at its shop in Ginza, a district in Tokyo. "It's not exactly created to float gracefully around," mentioned Tomoko Ishibashi, a Tanaka Kikinzoku spokeswoman. To answer the question about the appropriate occasion where the gown could be shown off, the Tanaka Kikinzoku spokeswoman answered: "You might want to wear it when you have been invited to meet the emperor, such as to the annual garden party." The Japanese model, Mayuka, having a height of 178-cm and a weight over 50 kg, outlined that the dress seemed quite heavy and that she had serious doubts linked with dancing in it. Besides gold coins, there is also a wide range of goods made of gold. For instance, Tanaka Kikinzoku offers an 18 carat gold bathtub, created for a Japanese hotel. It is worth mentioning that the bathtub made it to newspapers headlines twice, the first time when it was presented and the second time when the bathtub was stolen from the seaside hot springs. To read the complete article, see: Full Story JAPAN'S FINANCE MINISTRY AUCTIONS COINS An 1880 Japanese gold coin, 16.97 mm in diameter and weighing 3.33 grams, is expected to fetch a record high price of around ¥20 million when the debt-ridden Finance Ministry puts it on the auction block this Sunday. "The coin is quite rare. Only 87 of them were produced in that year and probably less than 10 of them still exist," said Toshio Takeuchi, chairman of Ginza Coins Co., a noted dealer based in Tokyo's Ginza district. The ministry started auctioning its old coins — which are still considered modern — in 2005 as part of efforts to reduce the government's snowballing debt. In the 12 auctions held so far, 24,500 coins have been sold for a combined ¥4 billion. The 1880 coin is well-known among collectors. When Ginza Coins auctioned one of the same coins in November, it sold for ¥27 million. To read the complete article, see: Full Story To read the complete article, see: Full Story [The coin brought ¥32.1 million. -Editor] NEW ZEALAND GANG LEADER RELEASED AFTER BROKERING RETURN OF STOLEN MEDALS A leading gang figure was released from jail after negotiating the return of New Zealand's stolen war medals. The Herald can reveal Daniel Crichton was granted bail on serious drugs charges after acting as the "conduit" with the thieves of the 96 medals. His release is another part of the deal that saw the thieves paid an undisclosed amount of the $300,000 reward. Crichton is a former Black Power member now linked to the feared Headhunters gang. Crichton and others still face trial on the drugs charges. Amanda Upham, daughter of Charles Upham whose VC and Bar were among the stolen medals, last night described the deal with Crichton as "disgraceful". "This deal is becoming more farcical by the day. We can just be happy we got the medals back," she said. The medals stolen included nine Victoria Crosses, as well as two rare George Crosses, an Albert Medal and a Distinguished Conduct Medal. Police say the return of the medals does not mean there will be immunity from prosecution. To read the complete article, see: Full Story BALI BOMBING HERO TO SELL RARE CROSS OF VALOUR MEDAL [The market in certain medals is so hot right now that not even living recipients can resist the urge to sell. -Editor] Bali bombing courage will go on sale in Brisbane today with the auction of a Cross of Valour, Australia's highest peacetime award. It was awarded to Tim Britten, who acted heroically after the Sari Club attack in which 202 people, including 88 Australians, died in 2002. Constable Britten has put the medal up for sale because it brings back too many painful memories of the time he spent pulling a victim out of the wrecked nightclub. He refuses to comment on the reason for selling the award that will be auctioned by CJ Medals along with his West Australian Police Award for Bravery that he received for disarming a man. Clive Johnson, whose firm is auctioning the medals, said he understood Constable Britten wanted to put the Bali episode behind him by selling them. Mr Johnson said only five Crosses of Valour had been awarded since 1975 when the medal replaced the imperial honour, the George Cross. This made it rarer than the military Victoria Cross and therefore it appealed to private rather than institutional buyers. "This is the Ferrari of metal crosses," Mr Johnson said. To read the complete article, see: Full Story To read the complete article, see: Full Story [Queensland's Military and Colonial Museum paid $175,000 for the medal. -Editor] LINCOLN'S PORTRAIT IN 2,400 PENNIES [Tom Fort forwarded this item from The New York Times. -Editor] Finally, a way to get rid of some of those pennies! Jeff Haber and his teen son Danny used $24 worth to make a portrait of -- who else? -- Abraham Lincoln. Inspired by a similar portrait that Jeff Haber had seen in a Florida museum, the effort took nearly two months of gluing pennies in the right positions to make the image. They used pennies both for the obvious symbolism and because pennies can be found in different shades, thanks to wear and tear. The portrait, the third one they've done, is being donated to Danny Haber's high school. To read the complete article, see: Full Story LIBRARIES BUILT INTO STAIRCASES AND BEDS [We bibliophiles struggle to find enough space to store our literary treasures. Here are two examples of creative use of space for shelving books. -Editor] The stairs going up to the attic room of a Victorian row house in London have been fitted with books that line each riser and wrap around the edges. As someone who lives in small places with lots of books (and no matter what I do, no matter how ruthless I am, I always seem to have lots more books that I have room for) this kind of thing is sheer aspirational porn for me. The flat occupies part of the shared top floor of an existing Victorian mansion block. Our proposal extended the flat into the unused loft space above, creating a new bedroom level and increasing the floor area of the flat by approximately one third. We created a 'secret' staircase, hidden from the main reception room, to access a new loft bedroom lit by roof lights. Limited by space, we melded the idea of a staircase with our client's desire for a library to form a 'library staircase' in which English oak stair treads and shelves are both completely lined with books. With a skylight above lighting the staircase, it becomes the perfect place to stop and browse a tome. To read the complete article, see: Full Story Bruce Perdue also came across the story and forwarded this link to more photos: Full Story And here's another interesting way to store books - a Tokyo bed turned into a book igloo! To read the complete article, see: Full Story FEATURED WEB SITE: LINKS FOR COIN COLLECTING BEGINNERS This week's featured web page is suggested by John and Nancy Wilson. It is a page of links to useful numismatic sites from the "Coin Collecting for Beginners" site. It's a mix of commercial and non-commercial sites. Even advanced collectors may find something of interest. Full Story Wayne Homren Numismatic Bibliomania Society
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