"In the last issue, Mr. Leonard expresses his doubts about a specific Blake & Agnell gold bar. Be it said that there are rebuttals to all the points he makes - i.e. other Western gold bars contain misspellings (e.g. Parsons, e.g.Schultz), other gold bars/coins of the period are 6% or more light (see Eckfeldt & Dubois) and other known bars presumed to be good do not look like some of those found in the wreck of the Central America (e.g. Moffat).

These points made, Mr. Leonard could still be right in his contention. What we learned from this extended controversy is that the most reliable means of testing any given piece is a non-destructive assay; there is a fingerprint to the composition of these items that appears to be definitive.

Blake & Agnell aside, I would like to urge E-Sylum readers to take a few hours to decipher the whole argument. All that is required (other than the time) is the last two issues of the AJN (obtainable from the A.N.S.) and the tape of the Great Debate (obtainable from the A.N.A.). The points to be learned from Mr.Buttrey's and Mr. Hodder's presentations, along with comparisons thereof, are so many as to amount to a graduate course in numismatics. Note that there may be one more chapter to be written: Mr.Buttrey is being sued for libel by Stack's and John Ford; Mr. B's most obvious defense will be to prove that his various allegations are the truth."