We have quite a few copies available. They can be obtained from our Secretary Treasurer, Constantin A. Marinescu, c/o Fortuna, 984 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10075. The cost is $30 a copy, which includes postage and packing.

Ray Williams once lamented that numismatic authors, having written 90% of a book, take too long to finish that last 10% - delaying publication way too long to suit him. Here is a quick look at a slowly developing coin book that may lead to publication someday.

A fact surprising to the general public but something C4 readers know is that hundreds of old coins come to light each year found by lucky and persistent relic hunters, the quiet, successful ones - who now hold lifetime collections of dug objects amassed over half a century of happy digging. From these collections I've gathered data on one thousand early coins dug in old Virginia.

Surmises about coin origin, circulation and loss patterns by decade will be estimated in order to help reconstruct an extended true type set of circulating coins of Virginia.

Growing up I learned that my great grandfather, Earnest A. Hack, was a coin collector, turned dealer! He lived in Detroit, Mi just 20 miles from where I live. He began collecting in 1900, at the age of 11. In 1910 he opened a coin, currency and stamp shop.

Is there anyone in our E-Sylum group that is knowledgeable about French five francs of Napoleon?

I just joined the E-Sylum, and wanted to reply to Granvyl Hulse' query about his 5 Francs from Napoléon. Looking in the Le Franc reference book for this coinage, I found that 34,557 coins were actually struck (or, better, recorded) for AN 12 in the B (Rouen) mint.

The site http://www.lefranc.net records the known best specimen of every French modern coin.

In our book LE FRANC it catalogs for 3000 Euros, roughly 4500 USD, in AU 58 condition (no better example seen). Of course, it is a very rare coin and it might go for more, or less, in an auction. We never had the opportunity to offer this coin in one of our auctions.

Are there any medals for a bicenquinquagenary celebration? How many years does that mouthful of a word represent?

I suspect that "bicenquinquagenary" refers to a 250th anniversary. We all know that the "bicent-" portion refers to 200 years (as in bicentennial), and "quinquagenary" means 50 years and is synonymous with semicentennial or Golden Jubilee.

Another word for 250 years is "semiquincentennial," or half of five hundred years. While I am not personally aware of any bicenquinquagenary commemorative medals, I am confident that they exist. If not, I'll bet that our own U.S. Mint will issue one or more in 2026.

I actually recognized the term "Bicenquinquagenary" from my other long-term passion; the world of classical music. In 1996, Princeton University celebrated their 250th or "Semiquincentennial" anniversary. The clever folks at Princeton decided to set themselves apart by using the term "Bicenquinquagenary" to name the celebration.

To commemorate the event, American composer and Princeton Professor of Music Emeritus Milton Babbitt wrote "Bicenquinquagenary Fanfare" for 2 Trumpets, Horn, Trombone, and Tuba. I'm not sure if the Fanfare replaced a medal as a lasting memorial, but I couldn't find any listings of medallic issues for that event in 1996.

Decoding 'bicenquinquagenary' is easy. Two hundred years can be either "bicentennial" or "bicentenary." Break apart either one and insert in the middle the decade and the year:

Thus 'BICENQUINQUAGENARY becomes 'BICEN - QUIN - QUAG - ENARY.

BICEN - 200 years.

QUIN - 40 years.

QUAG - 5 years.

ENARY - anniversary.

Answer: 245th anniversary. It changes every year. The next year (246th) would be 'BICEN - QUIN - SEXT - ENARY.

This inquiry is very similar to one in a previous E-Sylum (vol 4, no 8. art 8 for February 18, 2001). This item contained the four responses your editor received from readers on the term QUASQUICENTENNIAL

I responded then:

I received a half dozen requests when E-Sylum had 369 subscribers (1.63%). If I made the same offer today and that ratio still holds, would I receive 20.4 requests?

The British Museum, founded in 1753, has issued a medal to commemorate its 250th anniversary. Four internationally known contemporary British artists were invited to submit designs for the medal.

The easy answer is, "I don't know, either, but I, too, would like to see documented evidence." In the mean time, I point to indirect evidence from a nice picture book by John Porteous. In Coins (London: Octopus Books, 1973), illustration 125 on page 61 is of a Brabant Philippsdaalder, 1557.

The cutline says: "Silver from America, in the form of bullion or roughly made pieces of eight, flooded into Spain the sixteenth century; this wealth was mortgaged by Philip to pay for his foreign commitments, and much of it found its way into the Netherlands."

Popular books can be problematic sources, but according to the American Numismatic Society library, Porteous has to his credit these works:

• The Nature of Coinage, in Origin and History of Coinage, Martin Jessop Price, editor (1980)
• The Early Coinage of the Counts of Edessa, in Numismatic Chronicle. 7th series Vol. 15 (1975).

When the coin in question – a leuvendaalder dated 1643 – was struck, the Eighty Years War of Dutch independence from Spain was nearly over. Spain still had to pay for troops and supplies in the southern Netherlands. It would not be unreasonable for the Mexican mint to strike Dutch coins. But we will have to wait for direct documentary evidence from the Mint itself.

This week Computer World has an article that could be at home in Coin World. It's about new automation at the Royal Australian Mint.

The cover story in our October/November issue of WorldWide Coins, which mailed Friday (Aug. 21) and is also available in the digital version online, tells all about the robots and changes at the Royal Australian Mint. The 8-page story includes lots of pictures showing the robots at work as well as the new materials handling system and renovations throughout the building. Also, there's a 2-page story about how the RAM makes those color coins using pad printing.

RAM's technology is amazing. It was a fun story to do. I was in Australia last September/October and not all areas were complete at that time, but I spent a full day there (much of it wearing a hard-hat and steel-toed shoes) to be able to see the construction areas first-hand in order to understand what they would become upon completion. I did get to see most of the robots in operation.

The laser-guided AGVs are fun. If you step in front of one, it stops instantly and lights go off with a message blinking "human encounter...human encounter." This kind of detail didn't make the final version of the story -- we wanted to use as many pictures as possible to show the manufacturing aspects as well as the museum and gift shop areas. It was difficult to get this story into just eight pages! The pad printing process they use is also interesting ... we just couldn't leave out those colorful coins.

"It was the idea of sinking silver dollar coins in the stone floor of his saloon that gained for this well known East Sider the name by which he is universally known."

New York, December 22, - Charles Smith, better known as "Silver Dollar" Smith, for many years a prominent East Side politician died to-day at his home in this city.

Charles Smith was born in the 4th ward in 1851, and most of his life was spent in the immediate neighborhood of the place of his birth. His life was full of exciting episodes and interesting experiences. Smith practically grew up in the streets as a newspaper seller, messenger boy and vendor of fruits. The only respect in which he differed from other street gamins was in his thriftiness. Where the other youngsters wasted their money, Smith saved his and stored it away for future use. The dream of his youth was to own a saloon and become a power in the politics of the East Side. His enterprise and thrift made possible the realization of this ambition.

Few men whom the lower East Side has produced have wielded more power politically than did Smith. He established the Essex Street Saloon about the same time that he entered politics, and got his soubriquet by paving the floor of the saloon with silver dollars. He had coins of the same denomination worked into the gas fixtures and walls as well until it became impossible for a visitor to the saloon to look in any direction without seeing money. Smith was elected to the legislature in 1884…

Here is a collection of images of medals from around the world.