The E-Sylum:  Volume 8, Number 33, July 31, 2005, Article 12

ON THE WESTERN ASSAY BARS

Rick Witschonke writes: "Here are my two cents on the Ford
controversy: First, I have no stake in the controversy. I did
not know Ford or Kleeberg, and know Buttrey only slightly.
I agree that some of the language used by Kleeberg and Buttrey
is rather inflammatory, and not conducive to a reasoned dialogue.
However, having read all of the papers on their website, I find
lots of readily verifiable statements of fact which strongly support
their conclusions. Since they have laid out their data and
arguments so extensively, I think we all should read what they
have written and consider it seriously."

Another reader writes: "An article appeared in Coin World a
year or so ago that addressed the issue of the Western assay
bars. Three experts in Western numismatics, mining, and
metallurgy were the authors of this piece. Of the three, the
only one familiar to me was Fred Holabird, who I believe is
widely known for his knowledge of Western numismatics.

The three experts compared the Western assay bars discovered
at the wreck site of the S.S. Central America with bars from the
same assayers in the Lilly collection at the Smithsonian. They
compared bars with an excellent provenance to bars whose
history had been questioned. As I recall, they concluded that
there were some bogus bars in the Lilly collection. "The
genesis of any pieces deemed false" might be harder to pursue."

[One of the other authors was Bob Evans, not of restaurant
fame, but of the team that discovered and recovered artifacts
from the wreck of the S.S. Central America.

I don't have a handy copy of the Coin World article, but
found the following paper on Holabird's web site:
"Western Precious Metal Ingots: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly"
pdf file
The written record on this controversy is becoming quite
lengthy on both sides. Has anyone been compiling a
bibliography? -Editor]

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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