A favorite piece of scrip has a great vignette of a Civil War period hunting party. Bird dogs, game birds and three men and a woman have lunch of meat and wines laid out on a blanket. I have been unable to determine the actual location of the issuer - can anyone help? The New York scrip book (New York State Scrip and Private Issues by Gordon L. Harris, 2001) indicates Buffalo, NY, but that is where Sage & Sons, Inc produced the note, not the location of Bloomers Hotel & Restaurant.

These appear to me to be 19th century electrotypes, mostly of 16th century and later gems, but I also recognize those of Benjamin Franklin and a 19th century Papal medal.

I thought I would add my two cents worth on the discussion. I don't think it is an either or situation, I think both Dick Johnson and Pete Smith are right.

First, I believe the big central voids in the dies are filled and then, as the pressure continues, the metal continues to flow to fill the last voids at the extremes. This would be the highest points as well as the edges. If Dick has any process sets I sure he can confirm that some of the last areas to be filled are the edges.

If too much pressure is applied the metal flows out of the joint between the dies and the collar and we get the wire rim effect.

To me, none of this really explains the negative shadow effect. My guess is that the higher areas (the numbers, letters etc) and the raised rim protect that lower narrow surface area from exposure, sort of like sunglasses protect the areas around the eyes from sunburn.

However, while that may somewhat explain it, that doesn't explain the lack of toning due to exposure to the air. There may be some micro electrostatic or magnetic field created by the final flow of the metal between the small low area and the surrounding high points that in essence repels oxidizing particles and this field may be protected by the high areas on either side of it. Anyway, it certainly is interesting.

This effect reminds me greatly of an effect on Roman coins discussed on Moneta-L back in 2004.

The most detailed explanation on Moneta-L came from a post by Robert Kokotailo of Calgary coin. I wonder if this is the same effect?



I'm glad to have a name for it! (If it is the same phenomenon.) The name most popular on Moneta-L was 'ghosting', which is also a technical term in numismatics for clashed die errors that leave a 'ghost' of the type on one side upon the other.

"it is indeed real... It was limited to 125 copies, & I have 2 of them... The one I have at hand is #9 of 125... I have no idea what the title means, if anything... It's actually referred to as Evasives 1993..."

"Cobwright? Of course the reference exists. I have copy 90 of 125. It is a xerox copy, an 11 size, bound with the kind of black plastic gripper spine students use to hold term papers together. It is an extensive (and essential, if you like this series) list of evasions. The author is the proprietor of Coins of Beeston and can be seen in various guises in the photos of token folks at the front of the Withers reference, BRITISH COPPER TOKENS, 1811-1820.

There will always be an England (and Wales) -- where would we be without them in this otherwise overly serious world? (I have been reading one of Bill Bryson's accounts of British travel--this reference is obviously an expected and perfectly natural product of this island.)

"I have forwarded a copy of this email to Mr Cobwright (regarding evasions) who I can assure you is a real person. He has an abiding passion (and knowledge) for "evasions" and I leave it to him to contact you. I expect he has emerged from his Rain Forest now that Spring is here, in search of the Spiney Fubbaduck Monkalokian. He sometimes lectures on the topic of evasions to an attentive and discerning audience of British Paranumismatic collectors at our annual Token Congress."

Artist Minerva Cuevas has created a project for The Whitechapel Gallery in London and I helped her out by providing some of the tokens used in the displays. Another part of the project involved striking 2000 special tokens which Minerva had made in a nickel alloy at the Mexico City Mint, their mint mark being visible to the right of the figure 1. In case it isn't obvious the 1 S.COOP value is a play on co-op(erative) and scoop (of ice cream).

Word is that an archive in Cologne has collapsed - and here you thought that archival research was supposed to be "safe".

The Liberty Seated Collector Club (LSCC) is a group of collectors and dealers dedicated to the study and attribution of silver Liberty Seated coinage of the 19th century. The LSCC is a non-profit organization and focuses on the breath of Liberty Seated coinage including Seated half dimes, Seated dimes, Seated quarters, Seated half dollars, Seated dollars and Trade dollars. The LSCC mission is to encourage, promote and dispense numismatic knowledge of Liberty Seated coins; to cultivate fraternal relations among its members and all those interested in the science of numismatics.