NBS E-Sylum: Volume 11

Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 11, Number 13, March 30, 2008: an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society. Copyright (c) 2008, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society. WAYNE'S WORDS: THE E-SYLUM MARCH 30, 2008 Among our recent subscribers are Christopher Bolton and Shawn Hewitt. We now have 1,141 subscribers. This week we open with NBS annual meeting news, an update on the ANS duplicate book sale, and upcoming Chicago convention events. Next up are announcements of new books on the numismatics of Mexico, Canada and Jersey, and a new archive of online numismatic books. In follow-ups to topics from prior issues we discuss coin rebasing, protecting libraries from fire, coin-inspired architecture, arras tokens and the dumbing-down of stage money. Web site visitors this week bring word of a 94-year-old Better Baby medal winner and a curious note without serial numbers. In the news, the ANS has been hit with a lawsuit, a group of companies proposes a new system for electronic payments, and Iraqi citizens return coins to a museum in a Baghdad ceremony. As if that's not enough, for fun we introduce a new game for bibliophiles. To learn about Swedish Rounding and the Peek Frean's Teddy Bear Biscuits token die, read on. Have a great week, everyone. Wayne Homren Numismatic Bibliomania Society NBS EVENTS AT THE 2008 BALTIMORE ANA CONVENTION The American Numismatic Association's World's Fair of Money will be held in Baltimore, MD July 30 - August 3, 2008. The Numismatic Bibliomania Society holds its annual meeting at the convention and often hosts a numismatic literature symposium as well. NBS President John Adams writes: "Syd Martin and David Lange have agreed to speak at our symposium on Thursday, July 31st at 11:30. Both showed great creativity in architecting their books. Anne Bentley will speak at our meeting on the following day, describing the many numismatic items to be found in the publications of the Massachusetts Historical Society." [The convention dates will be here before you know it, and I encourage all numismatic bibliophiles to make plans to attend the convention and NBS events. -Editor] THE ANS DUPLICATE BOOK SALE HAS BEEN EXTENDED Joanne Isaac of the American Numismatic Society in New York writes: "We have had great success with the duplicate book sale, but there are still many duplicates available for sale on our premises at 140 William Street. Prices have now been reduced by 50% or more. The sale hours are: Mon, March 31, 10:00am - 4:00pm Tue, April 1, 10:00am - 4:00pm Wed, April 2, 10:00am - 4:00pm Thu, April 3, 10:00am - 4:00pm Fri, April 4, 10:00am - 4:00pm "Also, the sale of the duplicate journals and auction catalogues listed on our website has also been incredible. Thousands of items were requested. We want to thank all those who have placed orders and are waiting patiently to hear about the fulfillment of their order requests. We are working hard to fill requests in the order in which they were received. It is taking some time but if you have not yet heard back from us, please know that you will." For more information on the ANS duplicate book sale, see: ANS duplicate book sale NUMISMATIC LITERATURE DEALER GRADY AT THE APRIL 2008 CENTRAL STATES SHOW Orville Grady writes: "I will have a table at the Central States Numismatic Society show in Chicago. CSNS is at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center (Hall G) 5555 North River Road, Rosemont, IL, not too far from O'Hare International airport. The dates for the show are April 16-19th." Julian M. Leidman adds: "E-Sylum readers and their guests are invited to attend PNG Day, April 16, 2008, 10AM-5PM in Hall G of the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center preceding the Central States Numismatic Society convention." AUTHOR BERK WILL DISCUSS ANCIENT COINS BOOK AT 2008 CHICAGO COIN FAIR [Dennis Tucker of Whitman publishing forwarded the following press release relating to an upcoming publication. -Editor] Harlan J. Berk, one of the nation's premiere coin dealers and author of Whitman Publishing's new 100 Greatest Ancient Coins, will give two presentations in Chicago on Saturday, April 26, 2008. Berk will talk about his new book, which covers numismatic antiquities from Greece, Rome, the Byzantine Empire, and other parts of the ancient world. His first presentation will be at 11:00 a.m. at the 33rd annual Chicago International Coin Fair, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel (River Road, Rosemont, Illinois), for the meeting of the Chicago Ancient Coin Club. His second presentation is an "Antique Show Booth Talk" at the Artropolis International Antiques Fair at the Merchandise Mart in downtown Chicago, at 3:00 p.m. In 100 Greatest Ancient Coins, Berk tells the stories behind 100 coins ranked by collectors, dealers, historians, and researchers as the most significant. He also describes how to collect and enjoy ancient coins, aspects of the marketplace, grading, conservation, and smart buying. The book is coffee- table-size, 144 pages, with enlarged full-color photographs. Retail price is $29.95. 100 Greatest Ancient Coins is available for pre-order at www.whitmanbooks.com, and will be sold at hobby shops and bookstores nationwide starting in late April. NEW BOOK: BIBLIOGRAPHY OF MEXICAN NUMISMATICS BY CHRISTOPHER BOLTON Christopher Bolton writes: "Recently I self published a small bibliography of Mexican numismatics. The publication is soft cover, digitally printed and has 915 references to Mexican numismatics (with some Latin American crossover). The bibliography is divided into Mexican numismatic eras, with an author index at the end. It is by no means complete, however, I do believe it to be a good first step. The commentary and notes are in Spanish although the references themselves are easy enough to understand. If demand warrants I will publish a bilingual edition sometime later this year." [The author is willing to supply a review copy - would any of our readers like one? If you're willing to write a review for The E-Sylum, just send me your mailing address and I'll forward it. -Editor] NEW BOOK: THE CANADIAN DICTIONARY OF NUMISMATICS BY SERGE PELLETIER Serge Pelletier writes: We are starting to take advance orders for my Canadian Dictionary of Numismatics. AmEx, MasterCard, VISA and PayPal are accepted. I've attached a review by World Coin News columnist Doug Andrews. Please note that the hardbound copies will be numbered and signed by the author. Orders can be placed by email to: bonavita@eligi.ca, by fax at: 1.613.599.7630, or by mail at: Bonavita Box 11447, Station H Nepean, ON K2H 7V1 [The full text of Doug Andrews' review follows. Prices are in U.S. dollars. -Editor] Dictionaries tend to be dull recitations of definitions peppered with a few facts and examples. "Enjoyment" is not a word that often comes to mind when thinking about reference books. Until now. Readers will be surprised as to how they refer to The Canadian Dictionary of Numismatics, the latest book by world-renowned coin writer, Serge Pelletier. The result of about a decade of research, this work is as meticulously documented as it is entertaining to read. Entries are crisp, informative, and provide revealing insights into the collection and study of coins, tokens, and paper money. The book is completely bilingual (with French and English entries cross-referenced) and ably fills a void that has always existed in Canadian numismatic publishing. This all-new volume is 6" x 9" in size with 320 pages, 40 of which are colour plates. It is available in three formats : hardbound @ $90 post-paid (ISBN 978-0-9808944-1-7) with an initial run of 25 copies; perfect bound @ $45 post-paid (ISBN 978-0-9808944-0-0) with an initial run of 500 copies; and perfect bound with CD-ROM @ $60 post-paid (ISBN 978-0-9808944-2-4). The CD-ROM contains a PDF copy of the dictionary. Although the focus is on Canadian coin collecting, there is extensive coverage of American, British, and French coinage. The book is authoritative and thought provoking, and is sure to become an eagerly sought after reference for both beginning and advanced collectors, or those with everyday questions about Canadian currency and its fascinating history. Pelletier is the award-winning author of several books including A Compendium of Canadian Municipal Trade Tokens and the six-volume Standard Catalogue of Canadian Municipal Trade Tokens. He has served as President of the Association des numismates francophones du Canada and as Vice President of the Canadian Numismatic Association. He was a contributor to the Canadian Numismatic Correspondence Course, Parts One and Two, and has been published throughout the world in most of the major numismatic periodicals. NEW BOOK: PRE-DECIMAL COINS AND TOKENS FROM THE ISLAND OF JERSEY Harold Fears writes: "I just published my book, "Some Notes and Observations Concerning the pre-decimal Coins and Tokens from the Island of Jersey." It contains 325 pages total with many images. It is on 8x11 paper and is coil bound with full color printing. The price is $69.99 plus shipping from the Lulu.com web site. The URL is Pre-Decimal Coins and Tokens from the Islands of Jersey ." [Harold will make an electronic review copy available - would anyone like to write a review for The E-Sylum? Self-publishing via Lulu and other print-on-demand sites is gaining some ground in the numismatic world. Harold Fears' book is the latest; Harold Levi's book on the Confederate Cent and Eric Leighton's NUmiS Worthy were among the first. By the way, the March/April 2008 issue of Paper Money (the official journal of the Society of Paper Money Collectors) has a great article by Michael McNeil of "The Pros and Cons of Self-Publication". McNeil authored a great book on The Signers of the Confederate Treasury Note 1861-1865. His article includes a step-by-step how-to guide for using InstantPublisher.com to prepare and publish a book. -Editor] PRINT-ON-DEMAND PUBLISHING esylum_v09n34a09.html BOOK REVIEW: NUMIS WORTHY - OLD NUMISMATIC NEWS 1752 TO 1800 esylum_v09n53a03.html TOKENS AND MEDALS GUIDE BOOK AUTHOR THANKS E-SYLUM COMMUNITY Katie Jaeger writes: "Last week, Dennis Tucker announced my upcoming Guide Book of United States Tokens and Medals and said, 'valuations editors [were] Steve Tanenbaum and Steve Hayden, with assistance from Anthony Terranova, Paul Cunningham, and others.' I really wanted to make sure that Alan Weinberg's assistance as valuations editor was also mentioned. He did a ton of work on this project. "Come to think of it, probably half the members of this group have helped me, one way or another, in the writing of this book! It seemed OK that a beginner to exonumia (me) would write a book for beginners to exonumia, but it meant I had a million questions and had to seek expert advice countless times. I did formal telephone interviews with Joe Levine, David Gladfelter, and Cindy Wibker. I called Dick Johnson probably 20 times, and we went on a research trip together, to the Tiffany Archive in Parsippany, New Jersey. Dave Bowers, Russ Rulau, John Adams, Anne Bentley, George Fuld and John Coffee were always a phone call or email away, and always responded promptly to my queries -- what authors do this? I hung out at Charlie McSorley’s table at the Allentown (PA) shows for hours at a time, to catch earfuls of lore. Ditto John Burns, at his table in Baltimore. "The above-mentioned valuations editors, and many others, answered countless questions across their show tables. A dozen people read the manuscript, or sections of it (among them Ken Bressett, Cliff Mishler, Dave Bowers, Bob Julian, and Bob Leonard) and sat down to write me point-by-point critiques. Dozens more furnished medals, tokens, and altered coins for photography. Through Dave Bowers and Vicken Yegparian at Stack’s, I was able to get my hands on those fabulous images from the Ford sales, and the ANS allowed Tom Mulvaney and me to come for three days last October, so Tom could shoot over 500 items from their collections. He shot hundreds more besides those, and perfected each photo in his studio at home in Kentucky. Thanks Tom! "This has been a team effort all the way, and such a tremendous learning experience for me. Above all, I discovered that numismatists are good, generous-hearted people who show patience and tolerance to the newbie, and are willing share their own hard work and research, asking nothing in return. (This is a far cry from the mainstream historical research community.) As I sit today reading the page proofs, I realize I owe a huge debt of thanks to all of you, and to everyone else named in the credits of the book. I hope you all know how much I value your help, and how much I enjoyed working with you." NEW ZEALAND COIN ISSUING AUTHORITY: A CLARIFICATION In last week's E-Sylum Martin Purdy stated, "The correct issuing authority for current New Zealand collector issues is: New Zealand Post". Kerry Rogers writes: "In point of fact The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has the sole authority to approve any issue of New Zealand currency. Currently, the Bank has a commercial contract with New Zealand Post. This contract allows New Zealand Post to design, procure and sell collectors coins and coin sets that may also include circulating currency. However, all proposals by New Zealand Post for any New Zealand legal tender circulating or non circulating coins require the approval of the Reserve Bank in whom the ultimate authority is vested by law. This same condition would apply if the contract were to be held by any other commercial entity in the future - such as the private New Zealand Mint. And I gather the contract is up for grabs later this year!" [Thanks to both Martin and Kerry (who contacted the Bank on Tuesday) for their assistance in finding and correcting the error. I forwarded the clarification to Dennis Tucker at Whitman Publishing. -Editor] NEW ZEALAND ERROR SPOTTED IN 'MODERN WORLD COINS' 14TH EDITION esylum_v11n12a03.html PUBLIC DOMAIN NUMISMATIC BOOK PUBLISHING EXPERIMENT J.C. Spilman of the Colonial Newsletter Foundation (CNLF) has been experimenting with posting large book files on the Internet to ease access to source materials for researchers. To date at least eight books have been posted; I've listed them here in order of file size. A History of the Bank of New York 1784-1884 (Domett, 1884) History of the Bills of Credit or Paper Money Issued by New York The American Numismatic Manual (M. W. Dickeson, 1865) History of the U.S. Mint (Evans, 1890) Coins Medals & Seals. (W. C. Prime, 1860) History of the United States (E. Benjamin Andrews, 1894) Dye's Coin Encyclopedia Life & Times of John H. Hickcox (Stimson, 1995) Some of the files are from Project Gutenberg. Others are from Google's library digitization project. Others are from various university libraries, each of which has its own eBook system. These can sometimes be located directly on various sites, but the CNLF experiment provides a convenient single location for finding specific items of numismatic interest. The 367-page .pdf file of Dickeson's American Numismatic Manual was scanned from a copy in the University of Michigan library. It had been donated to the University by H.S. Jewett of Dayton, OH. Spilman adds: "I also plan to include a wish list for members to indicate worthwhile eBooks that they would like to see included in our 'Library'. We must then locate them, if they exist, and that is where members can really help -- in searching. These eBooks are scattered all over the country -- especially in university libraries that do not particularly advertise the fact that they have them available. Donations of eBooks to CNLF will also certainly be appreciated." To access the book archive, become a member of the CNLF Google BLOG here: CNLF Google BLOG " John Nebel notes that "A Kirtas book scanner for $150,000 can scan 1,000 pages per hour. Let's install a scanner at the ANA library and put on-line everything that is out of copyright." [If I were the Executive Director of a numismatic association, I'd definitely consider proposals for doing just that. Digitization is an unstoppable force - better to get ahead of the curve than behind it. There are also lower-cost (but more labor-intensive) solutions, and these would probably be preferable for the rarest books. John graciously hosts the NBS web site on his servers, and he tells me he'd be willing to host a digitized numismatic library. What do other bibliophiles think of digitization? Godsend or Gomorrah? How will it affect the value of our research libraries? While I realize there's a big downside I think there's also a possible upside. Greater access to and awareness of rare numismatic literature could help increase demand by bringing more potential book collectors into the market. After all, reprints of many important numismatic works have been available for years yet the originals are still very much in demand. -Editor] To view a video of the Kirtas machine in action, see: Video of the Kirtas machine THOUGHTS ON AN ANA ONLINE NUMISMATIC REPOSITORY [By complete coincidence, few hours after writing the above item about digitized numismatic books I received a copy of an email from Benjamin Keele to the chairs of ANA Committees on Publications & Communications, Technology & Website, and Library regarding an Online Numismatic Repository. Ben offered his letter for publication in The E-Sylum for comment.] I am semi-dormant numismatist attending law school in Indiana. I have been an ANA member since I was twelve. Through my experiences publishing my undergraduate thesis and serving as an editor on a law journal, I have seen the great benefits of electronic archiving of scholarly materials. This led me to think that an online archive of open-access numismatic scholarship would be an immense resource. Many of these online repositories are being established at universities. I think it would outstanding if the ANA could make a repository of archives in ANA publications, especially the Numismatist. Perhaps other journals could offer their content for preservation in the repository as well. Of course, these sorts of projects require resources that the ANA may not have at the moment. However, I think such a project would greatly further the ANA's educational and scholarly goals. Free, open-source software for institutional repositories called DSpace is also available. DSpace was developed by MIT for its repository. I also know that copyright over the articles may be an issue. While it would perhaps be too ambitious to convince every author to consent to his or her work being archived and published online, I am sure many authors would be willing and future authors could be asked to agree as part of being published in the Numismatist. I, for one, would be delighted to sign a consent form for the two articles I have published in the Numismatist (or any other numismatic publication, for that matter). Such a project would take a long time, but I thought I would offer it up for your consideration. Perhaps the ANA is already doing something similar that I was not aware of. I do know that a few articles from each Numismatist are published in PDF on the ANA website. I think this is great, but a more comprehensive and searchable archive would be an even greater resource. THOMAS CUNNINGHAM: PIONEER RESEARCHER ON POSTAL AND FRACTIONAL CURRENCY [Jerry Fochtman published a nice article recently on Thomas Cunningham's landmark Postal and Fractional Currency article in the American Journal of Numismatics. It appeared in the 2008 Winter Newsletter of the Fractional Currency Collector's Board (FCCB). The article's title is "Thomas Cunningham – First Fractional Collector/Author." Jerry kindly forwarded the text and images for reprinting here in The E-Sylum. I posted two of the images on the E-Sylum photo gallery - see the links below. Thanks! -Editor] By all accounts, the first real collection of Postage and Fractional Currency was probably formed by Thomas Cunningham. He owned a dry goods store in Mohawk, N.Y., where he spent his entire life. He also happened to be a neighbor and a close friend of Francis E. Spinner, who is called the Father of Postage and Fractional Currency. Even after Spinner left office and retired, they corresponded for many years, with Spinner even giving many of the proto-types and other materials to Thomas Cunningham. It is the Cunningham collection that became part of the Herman Crofoot collection, which was donated to and now resides in the Smithsonian. By 1893 very little postage and fractional currency remained in circulation. In April, 1893 Thomas Cunningham wrote what is thought to be the first paper on this part of our numismatic history, published in the April, 1893 issue of the "American Journal of Numismatics", which was a periodical published by the American Numismatic Society. I had been searching for a copy of this article to include in my library for some time. One day I happened to stumble onto an auction which offered several old black leather books on numismatics. What caught my eye was one listed as a reprint by author Thomas Cunningham. Fortunately I was successful in my bidding. In arranging shipment of the material I learned that the books came from the library of William A. Philpott, Jr, who was a well-known Texas banker and numismatist. His collection of early Texas documents resides in the Special Collections at the University of Texas Library. Cover of William Philpott's Cunningham AJN Offprint Cover of William Philpott's Cunningham AJN Offprint Title page of William Philpott's Cunningham AJN Offprint Title page of William Philpott's Cunningham AJN Offprint BOLIN ON FRACTIONAL CURRENCY LITERATURE esylum_v09n08a30.html QUERY: THOMAS CUNNINGHAM ARTICLE SOUGHT esylum_v10n51a10.html <************************** BOOK BAZARRE **************************> DAVID F. FANNING NUMISMATIC LITERATURE offer fixed price lists on our Web site at . In stock: John Hull, the Mint and the Economics of Massachusetts Coinage, by Lou Jordan. 4to., hardcover. xx, 348 pages. An important and well-done work. New. $43 postpaid. e-mail <******************************************************************> HISPANIC SOCIETY SUES ANS OVER CONTROL OF COLLECTION On February 12, 2008 the Hispanic Society of America filed a suit against the American Numismatic Society over control of a collection of some 37,000 Spanish coins formed by Archer Huntington, who was a major benefactor of both the Hispanic Society and ANS. It was Huntington's largesse that enabled the construction of Audubon Terrance at 155th and Broadway in New York, where the two societies resided for decades until the ANS's recent move to lower Manhattan. I checked the ANS web site description of its Latin American coin cabinet, which it says numbers only 20,000 pieces in total. In addition to acquisitions from the Greenwood, Guttag, Echenique and Herz collections made possible by Henry Grunthal, Harry Bass and other donors, the site says that "In the 1950s, the Hispanic Society of America agreed to place on permanent loan its unsurpassed collection of coins of Spain and all Spanish dominions." I was aware that the ANS had the Hispanic Society collection but am not aware of the loan conditions. These cases can be complicated to settle – since half a century has passed, the original parties to the transaction are gone and the contracts and paperwork may be missing or incomplete, enabling both sides to plausibly interpret the situation in their favor. The HSA's argument will likely be "what part of the word LOAN don't you understand?" The ANS's likely response will be, "What part of PERMANENT don't YOU understand?" Having been down this road before when the Carnegie Museum of Pittsburgh decided to deaccession its extensive collection in the late 1970s, I can guess what this is really about: raising money. The Hispanic Society will make all sorts of public noise about how the coins don't fit with their core mission, but suggestions that the coins be donated to a more appropriate venue will fall on deaf ears. In Pittsburgh the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania came forward with a plan to take over the collection and display significant parts of it, but in the end, of course, the Carnegie sold the collection in a series of sales in London, New York and Zurich. Instead of handing clear title to the ANS and walking away, the HSA is trying to regain control of the collection so it can sell it. Auctioneers worldwide have likely already been contacted. I can also guess what the reaction of the collecting community will be - "Stop the sale! Protect the collection!" Editorials will be written and petitions may be circulated. But petitions unaccompanied by a passing of a big hat to raise funds are often a lesson in futility. I learned that, too, having gone door to door collecting hundreds of signatures on a petition to stop the Carnegie sale. Oh, to be young and idealistic again. But still, I hope and pray for the sake of numismatic scholarship that the collection will somehow remain with the ANS. So what are the facts? First, I consulted the best information source I know - the "The American Numismatic Society 1858-1958" (Edited by Howard Adelson, 1958). The book, scheduled for an updated edition this year, is a very detailed history of the organization, its collections, and benefactors. The Hispanic Society collection is discussed on p278-279. By far the most outstanding collection to come to the Society was that of the Hispanic Society of America, brought together originally by Archer M. Huntington. It consisted of 30,355 pieces when first placed into the custody of the American Numismatic Society but has since been materially increased by about 7,000 pieces. The actual ownership remained in the hands of the Hispanic Society but the study and publication was to be carried out under joint auspices. Dr. Herbert E. Ives, President of the American Numismatic Society in 1946, had carried on the negotiations with Mr. Huntington regarding the deposit of these coins and the provision for their publication... Once all these arrangements had been reduced to writing by Mr. Huntington they were sent in the form of a letter to President Ives, and all the members of the council signed a copy of that letter at the meeting of June 21, 1946, as a token of acceptance. The ANS has taken on a considerable amount of expense over the years caring for, studying and documenting the collection. Would those expenses have to be reimbursed by the Hispanic Society? Do the documents specifically state that the transfer was a PERMANENT loan? Does the Hispanic Society have a case? Next, I naturally checked with ANS Executive Director Ute Wartenberg Kagan. Here's what the ANS is able to say at this point: "The Huntington collection is probably the most comprehensive collection of Iberian and Iberian-related coinage outside Spain. In some areas, such as the Visigothic gold, it may be the finest anywhere. The ANS is committed to trying to trying to preserve this collection in so far as it can. It is a highly important scholarly tool and educational resource, of obvious relevance to many Americans. It is clear to us from his correspondence that Archer Huntington, the most generous benefactor in the history of the ANS, intended this collection to remain whole and in the hands of the ANS. He regarded the formation of the collection and its deposit alongside the foremost numismatic collection in the US as a service he had performed for his country. For the past 60 years the ANS has been cataloguing and researching the collection itself, and has been facilitating the work of others on the collection. Like other parts of our collection, Huntington’s coins are an important resource in our educational program, including the annual Summer Seminar. While the ANS may not have clear title to the coins, we are negotiating as strenuously as we can with the HSA to try to preserve the most important areas of the collection for future generations of students and scholars." Regarding the web site's Latin American item count, Ute writes: "The 20,000 figure on the ANS site doesn't refer to the HSA collection, which is primarily ancient, medieval, Islamic, with some Latin American pieces." Andrew Meadows of the ANS adds: "On the question of the date, although the portion that Huntington personally transferred to us came in the 1940s, after his death in 1955 a further portion of his collection was discovered in the basement at HSA and transferred to us under the same conditions as the first batch. So technically it is only since 1957 that we have had the whole collection. I believe that’s what the website text refers to." An article about the suit appeared in a Spanish publication. I used Altavisa.com's Babelfish translator to get a crude English version. One excerpt reads: The Hispanic Society has indicated that 'we want to recover the pieces because the American Numismatic failed to fulfill the loan agreement'. And it is that the Hispanic knew that the Numismatic was going to change its location a year ago without to have requested the pertinent permission I read this to mean that the Hispanic society is using the ANS' move from Audubon Terrace as a reason to nullify the permanent loan agreement. The case is before the Supreme Court of the State of New York (case index number 600423-2008, Justice Charles E. Ramos). The documents are public records, available on the court's web site. The ANS' move is relevant to the lawsuit, if only as a pretext for the suit. In their complaint, the Hispanic Society states that when the ANS moved from Audubon Terrace in 2004 a new one-year agreement was made with the ANS to enable the transfer of the collection to the new location at 96 Fulton Street. The agreement was to be renewable yearly. When the ANS announced its latest move from Fulton Street to Hudson Square, the Hispanic Society declined to renew its agreement. On March 4th, the ANS was given 20 days to respond to the suit. As of today a response has not been posted to the court's web site. To read a newspaper article about the suit (in Spanish) see: Full Story To access the New York Supreme Court web site, see: New York Supreme Court For a description of the ANS Latin American collection, see: ANS Latin American collection For more information on the American Numismatic Society, see: American Numismatic Society For more information on the Hispanic Society of America, see: Hispanic Society of America [There is an informative article about the ANS in the April 2008 issue of COINage magazine. "An Enduring Society" by Dom Yaunchunas explores the organization's 150-year history and plans for the future. The article also notes the planned publication later this year of a book titled "The 150 Greatest Treasures of the ANS." ON REBASING COINAGE In response to our recent discussions of the U.S. Mint's problem with high metals prices, Martin Purdy wrote: "I've heard of lots of countries that have abolished their lowest denomination but never any that have actually revalued their one-cent coins to circulate as fives - if any country has, I'd love to have the details since it would make a great quiz question." I put the question to François Velde of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Velde is an E-Sylum subscriber and he has proposed rebasing our lowest denomination coins as a solution to the situation. He was not aware of any countries that had actually done this, though. It's an interesting and novel solution nonetheless. DICK JOHNSON: STEEL CENTS WON'T WORK! esylum_v11n11a20.html COUNTERPOINT: STEEL CENTS COULD WORK esylum_v11n12a14.html PROTECTING LIBRARIES FROM FIRE AND WATER DAMAGE Responding to Acting American Numismatic Association Executive Director Ken Hallenbeck's recent query about protecting the ANA's rare book room from fire, Anne Bentley of the Massachusetts Historical Society writes: "I admit, as a former paper conservator, I still have nightmares about disaster recovery case studies presented at professional meetings, where we were shown slides of un-sprinklered libraries in complete disarray after the fire: wooden furnishings and art splintered beyond recognition from the force of the water hitting them and piles of waterlogged books hurled from shelves, boards and papers ripped out, again from the force of the water stream directed at the fire. "We have a gas fire suppression system in our building, but probably the water-based systems are the less expensive route for smaller organizations. I sound like an ad for fire sprinkler systems but as a conservator, I could always deal with wet items -- there's not a thing to be done with ashes or objects that have been pulverized by fire hoses." "I understand the anxiety about water near rare collections... but even if the odds are greater that a sprinkler system would accidentally discharge before they'd ever have a fire in their library, I'd personally still prefer to have a sprinkler system --especially given the relatively inexpensive water incursion alarms and super-efficient micro-mist sprinkler heads now available. "I'd also like to point out that, as far as water damage to libraries is concerned and ignoring floods, you don't necessarily need a sprinkler system to have a water incident in your building. Water pipes running through walls and ceilings could leak at any time. We had a weekend steam leak back in the late '70s that resulted in drenched archives, which we dried out and reboxed without adverse effects. "From the Northeast Document Conservation Center, here is Nick Artim's Introduction to Fire Detection Systems -- very useful to understand how the systems are designed to work together Full Story "I'd recommend any librarian to lookup this National Park Service site National Park Service where they can download the following program: Culture Shock: Fire Protection for Historic and Cultural Property. Boston University, Preservation Studies Program, 1995. VHS video. "A 23-minute color video that provides a persuasive argument for the importance of fire detection and suppression systems for cultural collections. Diagrams illustrating dry, wet pipe, gaseous and water mist systems aid in understanding technical and operational differences. The last few minutes focuses on fire protection needs for historic structures and strategies for concealing sprinkler heads to maintain the aesthetics of a historic building "For overall disaster planning, they might find the following helpful: Brooks, Constance. Disaster Preparedness. Washington, DC: Association for Research Libraries, 1993. A Preservation Planning Program resource guide that is a useful compilation of hard-to-obtain resources to use as a starting point when beginning the disaster planning process. Full Story "In addition, a simple internet search under such terms as 'disaster planning,' 'Library conservation,' and using the Conservators On Line (CoOL) website at Conservators On Line (CoOL) will open an endless array of material available online. That should be plenty to chew on for starters!" QUERY: PROTECTING THE ANA RARE BOOK ROOM FROM FIRE esylum_v11n10a05.html CENTURY OF PROGRESS EXPOSITION CHICAGO 1933-34 Rich Mantia writes: "The 'Public Enemy #1' articles are interesting and timely. The filming of the movie has made the local news here in Chicago in 'snippets' because of the celebrities involved and the location sites. Chicago is prime for film locations when it comes to gangsters and vintage period architecture. "The unheralded connection to Chicago, beyond the many bank robbery sites of the Midwest is that this year is the 75th anniversary of the Century of Progress exposition held here in the city from 1933 thru 1934, which is the exact same time period with which the film centers. John Dillinger was the recipient of the moniker of "Public Enemy #1" and he was shot and killed while exiting the Biograph Theater here in Chicago on July 22nd, 1934, but his death wasn't the only event of the year! "The Century of Progress expo opened on May 27, 1933 and closed on October 31st, 1934 during the height of the Great Depression and it made a profit! It was only scheduled to run for the year 1933, but because it was making unexpected profits it was kept around for 1934. With violent crime being in the news, Chicagoans came out in droves to spend their few dollars and cents on the lakefront and the result is a plethora of numismatic material and ephemera for us today. "Century of Progress tokens, medals, exonumia, and ephemera are catalogued in many books and sources, but the most common ones known to numismatists are Martin and Dow 'Yesterday's Elongateds' and Hibler and Kappen's 'So-Called Dollars'. Both of these are the standard reference books for their specific topics and cover the majority of the most easily collected items. They are the first source for getting started, with a long awaited new updated edition to the Hibler and Kappen book available now. This book is a MUST HAVE for even the occasional collector. "There are other sources for ephemera that are little known. The best source is the archives of the Century of Progress Expo held at the University of Chicago which is fully catalogued and digitized and the holdings at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. Both collections come from archived material collected during the Exposition itself. The Museum of Science and Industry is unique and remarkable in that it is also the only temporary building from the Columbian Expo of 1893, then called The Palace of Fine Arts, that was made permanent and reopened and expanded for The Century of Progress Exposition of 1933! Chicago is truly a numismatic GEM of a city! "The 75th anniversary World's Fair show is going to take place on March 30th in Elk Grove Village here in Chicago. 1933, the year Roosevelt took us off the gold standard, the 1933 St. Gaudens became legend, and the Century of Progress opened. John Dillinger and company are just a footnote, for our entertainment." To visit the University of Chicago's Century of Progress site, see: University of Chicago's Century of Progress COLLECTING NUMISMATIC ASSOCIATION ITEMS Pete Smith writes: "Today (3-30-08) I attended a local bottle show with related advertising items. This is something I did regularly 15-20 years ago but haven’t done lately. Also at the show was Robert (Bob) Smith, great-grandson of A. M. Smith. I first met him years ago when Remy Bourne sold items from the A. M. Smith library. Bob and I are the two most serious collectors of A. M. Smith memorabilia that I know of. As I was driving home I got to thinking about what I collect. "It falls under the general category of "association items," that is, items associated with a numismatist. In the case of A. M. Smith, these are advertising promotion items for his other business, the California Wine Depot. Are there other numismatists who also had advertising items for other businesses? A great example is an advertising mirror I have for Grinnell Brothers, associated with Albert Avery Grinnell. "I have a box labeled, "I collect weird stuff." Among the contents are a campaign button for William Woodin and a wooden postcard from Farran Zerbe. I have tobacco scrip for the Lewisburg Tobacco Company signed by Waldo Moore. I have a Civil War patriotic envelope printed for A. S. Robinson and addressed to W. Elliot Woodward. I also have a piece of scrip for Woodward’s Mount Pleasant Apothecary Store. "Although I keep this in a box, I have trouble putting a "box" around what I collect. I can’t describe what fits the collection and what does not. I would be interested to hear from other E-Sylum readers who collect association items. Can you define what it is that you collect? How much of it is there? " ELEPHANTS FOR MR. LINCOLN: CIVIL-WAR ERA DIPLOMACY IN SOUTHEAST ASIA Howard A. Daniel III writes: "I recently finished reading the book, 'Elephants for Mr. Lincoln, American Civil-War Era Diplomacy in Southeast Asia'. Co-author Dr. Anita Hibler is an old friend and she has spent a lot of her adult life in Southeast Asia; she loves the people who live and work in the region and is currently living and teaching in Jakarta while her husband Will Tuchrello heads the Library of Congress office for the region. "The book is not going to keep you up overnight to finish reading it, but if you are interested in Southeast Asian history, economics and American activities in the region just before, during, and after the Civil War, you will find many different tidbits of information and sources in it. "There are also quite a few instances of the Confederate Navy operating in the region and its affects on American shipping and trade so researchers interested in this area will want to read about them. One of the war supplies needed from the region was hemp so the competition to acquire it dramatically raised the prices to purchase it. There are a few items about the French taking over Viet Nam and Cambodia in the late 1850s and early 1860s that are interesting to me and I will research those sources. "This was a time when the King of Siam (Thailand) offered elephants to President Lincoln to fight the Civil War. A previous president sent the infamous King of Siam Proof Set to a Thai king, but coins are not mentioned in the return gifts. A gold sword to the king and a silver sword to the second king are mentioned. I bet another proof set and other gifts are itemized in the references listed in the extensive Notes and the Selected Bibliography. "I have found some interesting information in my research of Catholic missionaries in the region but I did not think of the Baptist missionaries from the United States, like these authors did. There are many, many currency transactions with the monies received from the Baptist Churches in the United States and the locals in Southeast Asia. I am sure I will not live long enough to go through the hundred or more missionary references listed! "The other author is William Strobridge, and the ISBN 10 is 0-8108-5762-6. The publisher is The Scarecrow Press in Lanham, Maryland, and it is available through Amazon.com." [The King of Siam proof set is believed to have been presented to the King on April 6, 1836 by Edmund Roberts on behalf of President Andrew Jackson. -Editor] LAURA GARDIN FRASER BETTER BABIES MEDAL RECIPIENT FOUND Web site visitor Judith B. Martin writes: "I am in possession of a two-inch bronze medal sculpted by Laura Gardin Fraser and awarded to my father in a Better Babies contest that took place in March of 1915 in Los Angeles, CA. My father will be 95 years old in November of this year. Inscribed on the back is my father's name and that he was 100% perfect. We tease him about this 'perfection' as often as we can. I was very interested to read about Mrs. Fraser and her many accomplishments. Thank you for posting the information about her." LAURA GARDIN FRASER BETTER BABIES MEDAL INFORMATION SOUGHT esylum_v10n25a16.html MORE ON THE LAURA GARDIN FRASER BETTER BABIES MEDAL esylum_v10n27a10.html NUMISMATICS AND TEDDY BEARS: PEEK FREAN BISCUIT TOKEN Inspired by our articles on the late Milt Friedberg's collecting obsessions with currency and Teddy Bears, Philip Mernick of London writes: "There is a UK advertising disc (aluminium, 1930s?) for Peek Frean's Teddy Bear biscuits showing, naturally, a Teddy Bear. Peek Frean is a very well known London biscuit maker. I just happen to have the actual reverse die, showing aforementioned bear, picked up from a flea market years ago. The maker is Wright & Son of Edgware. The maker's name also appears on the die but its alignment is slightly different to that on my 'coin' indicating the use of several dies." Peek Frean's Teddy Bear Biscuits token Image of Teddy Bear Biscuits token Peek Frean's Teddy Bear Biscuits token die image of Teddy Bear Biscuits token die NUMISMATICS AND TEDDY BEARS esylum_v11n10a10.html CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER OBITUARY OF MILTON R. FRIEDBERG esylum_v11n09a23.html COIN-INSPIRED DECORATIONS IN ARCHITECTURE: READING, PA Bob Merchant writes: "I read the E-Sylum article about coin decorations in bank building architecture. About two months ago I was in Reading, Pennsylvania when I noticed a bank building that had some beautiful copper decorations around the front windows, including a Walking Liberty Half Dollar (both sides). I took some photos." [Bob provided links to several photos - thanks! I've put four of them on the E-Sylum photo archive - here are the links. There are other U.S. coin decorations on the building; look close and you'll see a Buffalo Nickel, Standing Liberty Quarter and others. Are any of our readers near Reading? Some close-up photos of these other decorations would be nice to see. -Editor] Bank Decoration Images Bank Decoration Images Bank Decoration Images Bank Decoration Images MORE COIN-INSPIRED DECORATIONS IN ARCHITECTURE esylum_v11n12a11.html ON THE DUMBING-DOWN OF STAGE MONEY Regarding the filming of "Public Enemy #1", last week I wrote: "There's certain to be a need for stage money in filming; hopefully what the producers come up with will closely resemble the circulating cash of the day." Joe Boling writes: "I recently watched all three seasons of 'Deadwood.' In season one the notes were amazing. By freezing the action and stepping through the money-handling scenes a frame at a time, you could make out brown backs and original series nationals (or series 1875, which used the same designs). In the second season, the money got much more like what Fred Reed has in his 'Show Me the Money' book - you could make out the Sonora notes in one scene. By the third season, the money did not resemble anything I am familiar with. "I surmise that someone got in Dutch over the accurate reproductions used in season one, and the accuracy went downhill fast after the props-master was visited by some supercilious federal agent." Fred Reed adds: "There's been a real tug and pull over on-screen depictions of federal currency for more than a century now. I chronicle a wide variety of real currency used in films in my book SHOW ME THE MONEY! The Standard Catalog of Motion Picture, Television, Stage and Advertising Prop Money (McFarland, 2005). "In fact, the history of money in films predates the silver screen and Hollywood. Thomas Edison's c.1895 kinetoscope movie of a cock fight clearly shows the two young men in the background passing money, wagering on the result of the action. Often genuine U.S. notes are used as 'flash' for close-ups, while the imitation prop notes are used more generally in mid- and long-shots. "The first use of 'flash' I noted in my book was a saloon scene in the 1920 William S. Hart western 'The Toll Gate.' In a scene in which Hart's character Black Deering is down on his luck and looking for a quick score, he spies a dish on the back bar filled with change and some currency, the most prominent of which is a Third Charter $10 National Bank Note. Other real federal currency is shown prominently in Harold Lloyd's 'Safety Last' (1923), and Edward G. Robinson's 'Smart Money' (1931). "Real German high-value notes are prominently shown in John Barrymore's 'Grand Hotel' (1932). In recent years very realistic movie prop money has brought visits from the feds several times. I show these notes in my book, but if you want details you'll have to read about it there." ARRAS TOKENS DEFINED In last week's preview of upcoming Whitman numismatic books, I asked about a term mentioned in Katie Jaeger's new Guide Book of United States Tokens and Medals: Arras tokens. Pete Smith writes: "Arras tokens are used in Mexican wedding ceremonies. A group of 13 tokens is given by the groom to the bride as a symbol of his ability to provide for her. They are also used in some other countries. Sometimes they are called 'wedding souvenirs.' " Ralf W. Boepple of Stuttgart, Germany writes: "Arras tokens are part of a Spanish or Hispanic wedding tradition. The groom presents 13 coins or tokens to his bride during the wedding ceremony. The tokens are blessed by the priest. They are handed over to the bride as a symbol of the groom's intention to provide for her well-being and are accepted by her as a symbol of her trust in his pledge. I assume the number 13 stands for Jesus Christ and the 12 apostles, not for the bad luck usually associated with this number. "Arras are traditionally made of gold, which means most arras are gilded. Out of pure curiosity, I once asked around among my Mexican wife's friends (they found it quite funny that anybody would actually be interested in these details. I guess, they translated my explanation that I'm a 'numismatist' with 'crazy, but harmless') .They described their arras to be tokens with religious motives, depicting praying hands or the pope. In one instance, they were gilded five centavo coins from Guatemala. My mother-in-law's arras were lost in a robbery, but she remembered them to have been the tiny 2 pesos gold coins the country produced in the 1940s. Must have been quite some dowry at that time." PREVIEW OF UPCOMING WHITMAN NUMISMATIC BOOKS esylum_v11n12a04.html 1794 CENTS DEACCESSIONED FROM THE GARRETT COLLECTION Regarding coins deaccessioned from the Garrett collection at Johns Hopkins, Dan Demeo writes: "In 1982, Bowers and Ruddy Galleries issued a fixed price list of the Celebrated John W. Adams Collection of 1794 U.S. Large Cents. Similar to some recent collections, John Adams assembled a collection traceable to early collectors (Maris, Hays, Beckwith, et al). Of the coins, 17 were from the Garrett collection, most from the Stack's (1976) and Bowers and Ruddy (1979) sales, but also a number obtained by private treaty from the Johns Hopkins University before the public sales. No mention of Richard Picker or other dealers was made in connection with these coins; Adams, Bowers, and Bagg were all involved with the catalogue and could comment further. The coins obtained by private treaty were: 5. S18b, the finest known, graded in the catalogue as MS65, $55,000. 6. S19b, "acquired...directly...in 1973". Choice VF35, $7,500. Incidentally, the photo of the reverse of this coin was inadvertently switched with the S20 in the catalogue. 19. S26, third finest, and plated in the Frossard and Chapman texts, $9,000. 30. S40, finest known, MS-63, not bad for a coin considered R6 at the time, $22,500. 35. S43, tied third finest. AU50, $3,750. 45. S50, AU50. "Acquired by John Adams in a transaction with The Johns Hopkins University nearly a decade ago." $10,000. 67. S66, only F12, but still tied for 6th finest. Obtained in 1973, traded back and forth with Denis W. Loring. $1,500. (Why didn't I buy any of these?) 74. S71, 3rd finest. AU55, from the Frossard collection. $8,000. "Surprisingly, despite the large format and one coin per page in the catalogue, previous owners are only mentioned, and detailed pedigrees (or provenances), with dates and venues, are lacking, though there is a short biographical sketch on many past collectors and dealers in an appendix. In looking at a short catalogue (there are 75 coins in the collection), it is certainly impressive how many had been owned by the giants of large cent history, from Dr. Maris to Dr. Sheldon." MORE ON THE DEACCESSIONING OF COINS FROM THE GARRETT COLLECTION esylum_v11n12a08.html THE CASE OF THE MISSING SERIAL NUMBERS Drew Nyman of Florida furnished a partially obscured image of his curious $100 bill lacking serial numbers. Obtained from the Bank of Palm Beach several years ago, it has been examined by some knowledgeable people at a FUN show who believed it to be authentic, but there are still questions about how this error occurred. Drew found us by reading an earlier E-Sylum item on our web site (see link below). In that article I wrote: "I was naturally curious when I noticed an ad which showed a U.S. dollar bill that did NOT have any serial numbers. Even more curious was the fact that the Treasury Seal WAS present, an impossibility since both the seal and the serial numbers are printed together in the overprinting process." The image in the ad turned out to have been altered deliberately to avoid Secret Service scrutiny. I don't recall seeing a real note with such an error. As the article states, such an error is thought to be impossible. Although I have a small collection of error notes, I've not studied the area in detail. Was I correct in saying that the serial numbers and Treasury Seal are printed simultaneously? If so, how might have this error occurred? To view an image of Drew's note, see: image of Drew's note CASE OF THE MISSING SERIAL NUMBERS esylum_v02n45a06.html INDUSTRY COALITION ANNOUNCES NEW PAYMENT TECHNOLOGY It hasn't hit the mainstream papers yet, but a group of technology companies is circulating a proposal that could solve a number of sticky problems relating to electronic payments and revolutionize the way money and even coinage is used. Working groups from such diverse organizations as Apple, eBay, Google, Linden Labs, MIT's Lincoln Laboratory, Mastercard, Bank of America, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the U.S. Treasury spent months working out the details of a highly secure, privacy-protected national (and someday international) electronic payment mechanism. Why eBay? Because eBay owns PayPal, the most successful online payment company. PayPal technology links credit card accounts to email, allowing shoppers to pay for online purchases (such as eBay auctions) with the click of a mouse. Why Linden Labs? Because Linden owns and operates Second Life, the most successful "virtual world", a kind of game where players mimic real life - buying and selling virtual real estate, holding down virtual jobs, and creating online businesses. Second Life residents use "Linden Dollars", a virtual currency that is actually convertible to and from real U.S. dollars. Why Lincoln Laboratory? For over half a century Lincoln Labs has been at the forefront of computing and defense technology. Lincoln built the DEW Line (Distant Early Warning), a radar surveillance system protecting the U.S. borders from missile attacks. Working with other key partners worldwide, the core group of researchers, computer scientists, engineers, bankers and economists and have designed a new system to cleanly integrate all manner of electronic payments and accounting systems. The interesting part of this for numismatists is how the system would integrate banknotes and even coins. The quotes to follow are extracted from a .pdf copy of the proposal my boss received last week. "We reached an epiphany early in our brainstorming sessions when we realized just how much people distrust electronic money. Although we use it all the time, we never feel completely comfortable. There's just something about the feel of a physical object," said Marissa Mayer, Google's Product Manager and spokesperson for the group. "So what we came up with is a bit of a throwback, but one with a complete update for the 21st century," she continued. Instead of carrying a walletfull of credit/debit cards and having to remember dozens of different passwords or PIN codes for our accounts, we would carry a pocketful of special new coins which (using a highly secure data protocol) would know who we are and link seamlessly to our accounts. Developed by Lincoln Labs scientists, these new universal coins will be called UbiquiCoins (or Quoins for short). The obverse of the Quoins would carry the standard official Federal emblems and insignia, but in another throwback will also include the name of an issuing institution, such as your local bank or credit card company - not unlike the old National Bank notes. This private-issue connection made me think immediately of Liberty Dollar proponent Bernard von NotHaus. I reached him on his cell phone, and he's intrigued with the idea. We both had a laugh at the thought, though - it's not likely that the Fed would allow it, but Bernie's going to talk to his bank about issuing a Liberty-dollar affinity Visa card. The reverse side of many Quoins would carry Federal emblems, but commercial and personal images would be permitted, as long as they fall within FCC decency standards. The commercial part is where Google comes in. Like John Gault, who sold advertising on the back of his encased postage stamps in the Civil War, Google will sell ads on the back of Quoins, splitting revenue with both the government and individuals. "It's a win-win-win for all parties," said Marissa Mayer. "Individuals basically get a small rebate for every coin they use, and the government gets funds to help support the infrastructure. And course, business is helped by getting their message out to the right people at the right time." I can see it now - you're about to drop a coin in a vending machine and an ad appears: "Buy Coke! Here's a 10-cent-off coupon!" Individuals could opt out of the program and in fact, could program their Quoins to display personalized images or photos on the reverse. Check-printing companies will get into the game with web sites that allow bank customers to choose from galleries of standard designs or create their own. A member of one of the focus groups testing the product already had an idea: "My Quoins will show Mt. Rushmore, only the faces will be me, my wife and our two kids." Ubiquicoins could be used anywhere, for anything. They display a nominal denomination just like coins today, but they're more versatile. Suppose you want to buy a 50-cent can of Pepsi from a vending machine. Drop in a $1.00 Ubiquicoin, and watch it slide down a clear chute. It comes right back to you in the coin return, only now it's a half dollar. The design and value change before your eyes. "We liked this feature so much we installed vending machines in one building at our Mountain View campus. It's weird - food and soft drinks are free for Google employees, but so many people used the machines instead that we made over $2,500 in a week." Environmentalists like the feature too, reckoning that by immediately recycling coins over 35 million tons of carbon emissions would be saved annually because vending machine operators and banks no longer have to transport and count coins. Al Gore claims to have invented the feature. They also have a sort of overdraft feature, so you never have to run out of coins as long as you have money in the bank. Need to pay a toll? Just drop in one of your coins. If there's any leftover money on the coin it will be deposited in your account. If you're short, your account would be debited for the difference. What could be easier? All manner of electronic devices would be outfitted with "Quoin slots" to accept payments. Buying on eBay? Just pump your coins thru a slot on the side of your computer. Daughter running low on her wireless minutes? A friendly voice chimes in saying "Deposit 50 cents for the next three minutes. Please deposit 50 cents." She would have to stick a coin in the slot on the side of her cell phone, just like it were an old-fashioned pay phone. "This back-to-the-future stuff is so retro it's cool," said another member of a focus group testing the product. "And they've thought of everything - they're even waterproof so you can toss them in a fountain." The coins actually shimmer MORE underwater. U.S. Mint Director Ed Moy practically beams at the prospect. "I'm so sick of talking about the high cost of metal. We're hoping to shut down all our facilities and outsource manufacturing to my cousin's semiconductor fabrication plant in Taiwan." But the Mint isn't going out of business. The creative work would go on. The Mint's coin designers would have their hands full dreaming up commemorative and custom designs for all these new coins. "We don't get our hands dirty with engraving tools anymore anyhow," said Sculptor-Engraver John Mercanti. "All my folks use computers now, so I thought, what the heck." Mercanti's team would relocate to rented office space elsewhere in Philadelphia. I understand negotiations are underway to sell the building to an electrical supply company. And what about the Bureau of Engraving and Printing? They'll shut down production, too. High-denomination Quoins eliminate the need for paper. This could to save another 48.3 million tons of carbon emissions annually. Director Larry R. Felix emphasized that the security and anti-counterfeiting goals of the Treasury Department would remain the same - "Our engineers are the best in the world at what they do, and have always adapted to changing technologies. Being one step ahead of the counterfeiters is our only mission. With these innovations, we figure we'll be at least one and three-eighths steps ahead." A NEW GAME FOR BIBLIOPHILES: BIBLIO BATTLESHIP Dr. Sheldon, in the final chapter of his book "Early American Cents" describes the game of "Old Cent Whist" invented by collector George French (p338-339). In the game, collectors compare their sets of large cents one by one, scoring points for ownership of varieties and the best condition specimens. The game foreshadowed today's Registry Set craze, and could be adapted to virtually any collecting field, even numismatic literature. But our field is so broad that I doubt any two libraries would have a common basis for comparison. But if bibliophiles were to have their own game, what might it be? I've mulled the idea over off and on for a couple years. Finally something occurred to me that might be an interesting feature for The E-Sylum. Remember the game "Battleship" from when you were a kid? You'd set up your ships in a hidden grid and call out positions to your opponent. "B9" - Miss! "G4" - HIT! Etc. The game goes on until all of someone's fleet is sunk. Well, in Biblio-Battleship, players call out random coordinates that lead to an item in another player's library. That player tells us something interesting about the item, then has the chance to fire a shot at the next player's library. Nobody's boats get sunk, but we all get treated to some discoveries, which could well generate some interesting threads of discussion. To kick things off, I asked a bewildered Peter Gaspar (our first official E-Sylum subscriber) to think of three random numbers between 1 and 12. His response led me to a couple of interesting items described in the next articles. AN UNUSUAL DEVICE FOUND ON AN UNDERTAKER'S STORECARD [This item is the first in what I hope will be a series of articles submitted by our readers as part of the Biblio-Battleship game discussed above. Peter Gaspar's number sequence {2,5,7} led me to bookcase 2, shelf number 5 in my numismatic library. A little past the halfway point on the shelf (7 out of 12) I found a set of Numismatic Gallery Monthly, complete from Volume 1, No, 1 through volume 5, no. 8). The house organ was published by Numismatic Gallery (dealers Abe Kosoff and Abner Kreisberg) beginning in May, 1948. The set came from dealer John Bergman and was given to me by NBS member Bob Wester when he stayed at my house in Pittsburgh during the 1989 ANA convention. I plucked an issue from the middle of the pack - September 1950. On page 10 I found a short article contributed to the publication by reader Edward C. Briggs titled "An Unusual Device" -Editor] On the majority of all coins, we see images of great leaders, devices representing our ideals or the scenes of some great historic event. The coin which I write about, however, is none such. The engraving which it bears is no great leader, no place where much history was made, and I hope it is not a symbol of our ideals! The main design is devoted to ... a coffin. This unusual item is one of the series of hard-times tokens issued by individual merchants during the Civil War period. This piece was issued by J. J. Diehl, an undertaker, of 133 Essex Street, New York City. It is dated 1863 and made from copper. It is truly one of my most interesting pieces. [It's interesting that the article refers to the civil war as a "hard-times" era. That's an apt description of the economic climate of the time, but today U.S. collectors think of only the 1830s/1840s tokens as "Hard Times Tokens." John Bergman passed away and I lost touch with Bob Wester some years ago. I met him at the legendary Invasion of Louisville trip to Armand Champa's home. It was Bob's visit during the 1989 ANA that spurred me into action to build my numismatic library. The phone rang one morning before the show. Larry Dziubek of the Western Pennsylvania Numismatic Society knew that Bob was a big coin book collector and told me about a rare book he'd seen at dealer Hank Spangenberger's table the day before. I had a good numismatic library but was not a big spender on rare books yet, so (like an idiot!) I passed the word to Bob. When we arrived at the show, Bob went to Spangenberger's table and bought the book for about $300. It was a copy of the Newlin work on half dimes. Within an hour or so Bob turned around and sold it to George Kolbe for $1,000. To this day my library still lacks an original Newlin, but I vowed that my library shelves wouldn't remain bare for lack of trying. Right after the convention I put out my shingle as a numismatic book dealer. I remember showing John Burns my new business cards and he said, "Since when are you a book dealer?" I said, "Since I printed these cards." I placed ads in various publications and began purchasing numismatic literature from book and ephemera dealers across the country. I also purchased several complete libraries which I incorporated into my own, consigning the duplicates to various sales. So - does anyone know what became of Bob Wester? George Kolbe writes: "I knew Bob from seeing him at a few ANA's and his participation in my sales for a short period. I lost touch years ago. His enthusiasm, though brief, was certainly infectious and I expect he spurred others on to expand their numismatic libraries." And who was Edward C. Briggs? Isn't this fun? Another Biblio-Battleship item from the same Numismatic Gallery Monthly issue follows. -Editor] B. MAX MEHL TESTIMONIAL DINNER, AUGUST 26, 1950 [This item is the second part of this week's Biblio-Battleship game discussed above. It's an excerpt from Numismatic Gallery Monthly, September 1950, p10). -Editor] Over 100 friends of B. Max Mehl greeted "Mr. Coins" at a Testimonial Dinner in his honor on August 26th at the Schroeder in Milwaukee. Col. Joseph Moss was a grand toastmaster and old-timer George Bauer and William Philpott spoke briefly about B. Max and their experiences with him. President Sheldon announced that the ANA had awarded our honored guest an Honorary Life Membership in the Association. The Max was presented with a beautiful plaque to commemorate the occasion. A swell fillet mignon dinner accompanied by the strains of popular and classical tunes was followed by songs by the Hi-Lo Barbershop Quartette. All in all a grand time for a grand guy. [It's interesting that this random library selection would bring us back to Dr. Sheldon, whose account of Old Cent Whist inspired this game. And William Philpott shows up for the second time in this issue. Can anyone tell us more about him? -Editor] CHARLOTTE MINT MUSEUM ANNIVERSARY ARTICLE [An E-Sylum reader forwarded this article from the Charlotte Observer about the anniversary of the first coins struck at the old U.S. Mint building in Charlotte, NC. The Mint's first gold coin was struck 170 years ago, on March 28, 1838. -Editor] It was a beautiful coin, with a profile of a crowned Lady Liberty on its face surrounded by 13 stars, one each for the original colonies. And it shone brightly, made of pure gold, gold likely taken from the ground under Charlotte. On March 28, 1838, the first gold coin -- a $5 Half Eagle -- was struck at the U.S. Mint branch. It was on West Trade Street where the federal building now stands. The old mint, moved in the 1930s, now houses the Mint Museum on Randolph Road. "This was a small courthouse town around a trading crossroads," said Tom Hanchett, historian at the Levine Museum of the New South. "Having the mint here drew people from literally around the world." The 1849 discovery of gold in California eclipsed Charlotte. In 1861 the Confederacy took control of Charlotte's mint branch and it ceased production. One of four statues at the Square is a miner holding a pan and spilling gold onto the head of a banker modeled on former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan. Fated to be torn down, the U.S. Mint was salvaged by a devoted group who scraped together $950 to buy the building. Its stones were numbered so it could be reassembled, and dumped on donated land near Briar Creek. Through a federal program, the building was re-erected and opened as the state's first art museum in 1936. The Mint has an exhibit of gold coins made in Charlotte, Half Eagles ($5), Quarter Eagles ($2.50) and One Dollar ($1) coins with the tiny "C" mint mark. To read the complete article, see: Full Story For more information on the Mint Museum and exhibit, see: Mint Museum BAY STATE COIN SHOW ARTICLE QUOTES HOBBY FIGURES [Dick Johnson submitted the following notes on a Boston Herald article by a team reporting from the recent Bay State show. -Editor] A father-son team -- both named Ted Ancher -- attended the Bay State Coin Show this weekend. The father is the narrator/ photographer, the son is the writer/producer. They interviewed and photographed Harry Miller of Miller's Mint of Patchogue, NY at his bourse table who said: "collectors feel confident they have assets of real value and appreciation" in the coins they own and purchase. "It was not so long ago that we had the first million-dollar coin," he said. "Now it is almost a common event." Miller cautions anyone eager to launch into coin collecting to study up on the field and become familiar with possible pitfalls, such as overpriced coins and even fakes. "Go, look, ask - speak to reputable people and look into areas you need to know about," he said. Both Beth Deisher of Coin World, and Doug Mudd, ANA curator, were also quoted in the article, recounting recent events in the field leading to the popularity of collecting coins, both in new coins from the Mint and current economic factors. As a sidebar article they wrote on the Lincoln cent, with a photo of an S VDB. They told of early events of the cent and the anticipated four new reverses in 2009. I was impressed with the accuracy of the information in both articles. Main article on the show: Full Story Sidebar article on the Lincoln cents: Full Story BOOK ON THE ROYAL MAUNDY COINAGE BY BRIAN ROBINSON Yossi Dotan writes: "In The E-Sylum of March 23 I liked the item on the distribution of Maundy money in Ireland. I have printed the article and added it to my copy of Dr. Brian Robinson's book 'The Royal Maundy' (London: Kaye & Ward, 1977). Maundy money is a fascinating, typically English, subject." [I have a copy of the Robinson book as well. Wondering if a book or monograph on the topic had been published more recently than 1977, I did a search and found a 1992 Spink publication, also by Brian Robinson, titled "Silver Pennies and Linen Towels: Story of the Royal Maundy" -Editor] Yossi adds: "I have also a monograph on the topic written by Charles R. Hosch in 2005: Great Britain Maundy Coinage Since 1822: A Guide to the History, Ceremony and Coinage of the Royal Maundy. Now updated to 2008, the monograph can be found at Full Story . [Yossi reminded me that we discussed Hosch's web site in The E-Sylum on January 27, 2008. -Editor] QUEEN ELIZABETH DISTRIBUTES MAUNDY COINS IN IRELAND esylum_v11n12a15.html CHARLES HOSCH PUBLISHES NUMISMATIC WEB SITE esylum_v11n04a09.html MORE ON THE RARE 1878 LONDON TEMPLE BAR MEDAL FOUND IN NEW ZEALAND Last week we published a story about a rare British medal discovered by a New Zealand man named Kevin Homan. Martin Purdy writes: "Upper Hutt is a pretty small town by world standards (30,000 or so), though it counts as a city here in New Zealand. As it happens Kevin Homan and his wife are friends of my in-laws, so I popped round for a visit after the story made the front page of our national newspaper during the week. I took some photos of both sides of the medal and posted them here, along with the text of the newspaper article: Full Story Here's an older story on the find on the Temple Bar research website: Full Story " RARE 1878 LONDON TEMPLE BAR MEDAL UNEARTHED IN NEW ZEALAND BACKYARD esylum_v11n12a16.html SWEDISH ROUNDING AND THE ELIMINATION OF LOW-DENOMINATION COINS Kerry Rodgers forwarded an article about the elimination of the lowest denomination coin in Malaysia beginning April 1. He notes "However, the report perpetuates misinformation in its reports of the rounding system practised in a number of countries that have ditched their lower denomination coins. I have noted this same misinformation appearing in North America the debate over whether the US and/or Canada should dispense with their one cent coins. "Australia and New Zealand use 'Swedish rounding'. This is not the rounding up to the nearest 5 cents stated in the article. If a cash sale is involved, places such as supermarkets, gas stations and even corner shops have a sign saying something along the following lines: all sales ending in 1c, 2c, 6c, 7c are rounded down to the nearest 5 cents; all sales ending in 3c, 4c, 8c, 9c are rounded up to the nearest 5 cents" "Of course sales ending in 0c or 5c remain unchanged. Essentially what we gain on the swings we lose on the roundabouts. No one is aggrieved. It works very well. And if you want to pay the exact $19.99, then use plastic. "Someone else may have stated all this but I continue to see a confused version of the situation, whether the on is deliberate or not I can't tell but have become highly suspicious! " Kerry adds: "I was in a supermarket last evening and now that we have dumped the 5 cent coins the notice simply said: all sales ending in 1c, 2c, 3c, 4c and 5c are rounded down to 0 cents; all sales ending in 6c, 7c, 8c, 9c are rounded up to 10 cents" COINS AMONG ARTIFACTS RETURNED TO IRAQI MUSEUM Ordinary people have surrendered 2050 artifacts to antiquities officials in southern Iraq, according to a senior Antiquities Department archaeologist. The pieces were handed over to the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities in a ceremony in Baghdad, said Ali Kadhem. Kadhem heads the Antiquities Department’s branch in the southern Province of Nasiriya, home to some of the most fascinating remains of the Sumerian civilization, including their fabulous capital city of Ur. He said 1100 pieces were metal coins belonging to various Mesopotamian epochs. "The collection is bound to enrich the magnificent possessions of Iraq Museum’s numismatics gallery," he said. To read the complete article, see: Full Story WILL RUSSIA ELIMINATE THE KOPECK? [An article published this week by the Russian news agency Novosti implies (but doesn't seem to specifically state) that Russia will cease production of its smallest coin, the kopeck. Here are some excerpts from the article, which focuses more on economics and inflation than coinage. -Editor] The ten-year history of the Russian kopeck has come to an end. Arkady Tkachuk, Director of Goznak Association in charge of printing banknotes, said, "Kopecks cost more than their nominal value and do not return to banks. This is why there is no point in minting them." This verdict and the start of the mass minting of ten ruble coins, which was also announced by Tkachuk, mean that the government has acknowledged its defeat in curbing inflation. The kopeck returned into circulation after the 1997 denomination. But the new Russian coin was different from its Soviet predecessor. A Soviet kopeck could buy a glass of soda water or a box of matches. A Russian kopeck is worth nothing and can buy nothing, but it was not supposed to buy anything. In bringing it back, the then Russian leaders merely wanted it to symbolize the strength of the national currency and the advent of stability in the Russian economy. The appearance of new zeroes on banknotes is not far off - a 5,000-ruble banknote was put into circulation in 2006. Now the printing of a 10,000-ruble banknote is under discussion. In the meantime, the 1997 symbol of stability has become a real burden in the wallets of Russians. People have long stopped taking kopeck change, or bending to pick up a dropped coin. Now, ten years after, Tkachuk said, "Kopecks are mostly used in payments for utilities. If we round these sums, we will save on getting rid from small coins." Withdrawal of kopecks from circulation and replacement of ten-ruble banknotes with coins are justified economically, but they make it abundantly clear that inflation is out of control. To read the complete article, see: Full Story MAN HELD ON $MILLION BOND FOR COIN ROLL CAPER [The Cincinnati Inquirer published an article this week on the strange case of a man held in jail on a million-dollar bond as a result of a 18-year old incident where he was accused of spending rolls of dimes that turned out to have dimes only on the end and nothing but cents in between. The unusual size of the bond is a result of a quirk in the laws - because of an unrelated felony conviction, this incident was also treated as a felony. -Editor] Gary Weaver had no idea his criminal past would catch up to him in the oddest way when was arrested Wednesday... Weaver pleaded guilty to that charge today and Hamilton County Municipal Court Judge Richard Bernat sentenced Weaver to the one night he’d already spent in jail. But court officials also noted Weaver had a warrant for his arrest on an old theft case – from 1990. Assistant Prosecutor Betsy Sundermann said the allegations in that case are that Weaver, on Jan. 12, 1990, walked into a store and bought items valued at $21.64, paying the bill, at least in part, with rolls of dimes. Later, though, store employees discovered the rolls of dimes actually were rolls of pennies with dimes on each end. The case, despite a loss of less than $25 if the allegations are true, was charged as a felony. Bernat then imposed the original bond on the case. "How much is that?" Guinan asked because he didn’t have the bond paperwork on the 18-year-old case. The answer was $1 million. That means Weaver is in the jail – that officials say is overcrowded and in need of replacement – on a bond that is $999,978.36 higher than the amount he is accused of stealing 18 years ago. To read the complete article, see: Full Story FEATURED WEB SITE: WARREN ESTY'S ANCIENT COIN AUCTION CATALOG SITE This week's featured web site was mentioned by Ed Snible in his February 26 blog entry. He writes: "If, like me, you are interested in the catalogs for their research value I'd like to remind you of Warren Esty's ancient coin auction catalog site. This site tells how many ancient coins are in each catalog, how good the coins are, and breaks the counts down into Greek, Roman, Byzantine, etc. Featured Web Site http://esty.ancients.info/catalogs/ Wayne Homren Numismatic Bibliomania Society

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