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V11 2008 INDEX
E-SYLUM ARCHIVE
MORE HIDDEN LONGACRE DOODLING?
R.V. Dewey has been sharing with us close-up images of coins in which he sees figures and faces he believes were placed there purposely by engravers, particularly James Longacre. R.V. writes:The following direct quote is from the first two
sentences of a four page handwritten letter from Mr. Victor David Brenner
to the president of the ANA, Mr. Farran Zerbe, concerning the use of his
initials on the Lincoln cent. There was a furor over the use of mere
initials! Can you imagine if anyone had discovered images on a coin?
August 23rd, 1909
My dear Mr. Zerbe,
It is mighty hard for me to express my sentiments with reference to the initials on the cent. The name of the artist on a coin is essential for the student of History, as it enables him to trace environments and conditions of the time said coin was produced.
My dear Mr. Zerbe,
It is mighty hard for me to express my sentiments with reference to the initials on the cent. The name of the artist on a coin is essential for the student of History, as it enables him to trace environments and conditions of the time said coin was produced.
R.V. forwarded the following image from the reverse of the 1855 Flying Eagle cent pattern J-171A he calls Witch Eye(TM).
R.V. writes:
I thought your readers might enjoy all the anomalies in
and around the letter U, from the word: UNITED. I assure you the green,
red and orange colors on Witch Eye(TM) are not verdigris or environmental
damage! Mr. Longacre doodles on a coin, like most of us would use scratch
paper. I can not explain why the images are so plentiful or so small, but
that was never my job. I am only the messenger. How many faces do you see?
Look very carefully; as these images were never intended to be seen by us,
the Outsiders!
Take your time and view this image from several different angles. Increase the brightness on your monitor. Image shifting and camouflage abound! You may view this image at 90,180 and 270 degree rotations. Enjoy!
Take your time and view this image from several different angles. Increase the brightness on your monitor. Image shifting and camouflage abound! You may view this image at 90,180 and 270 degree rotations. Enjoy!
Well, some of us have seen some of the faces R.V.
describes, and others say the phenomenon is a "man in the moon" effect of
the brain inventing patterns out of random marks.
R.V. adds:
I cannot speak for others, but when I see the man in the
moon, he never has any of his friends with him, nor do any of them wear JL
hats!
Well, I'm not sure I see anything in this one. I do "see"
some cartoon-style "faces" in multiple places when viewing at multiple
angles. Some look like a line of three or four "Pac-Man" ghosts. It's
easier to "see" these images after viewing the photo on multiple
occasions. Maybe this is just a way of training the brain to recognize
patterns that aren't really there. Or maybe it does just take multiple
viewings for the brain to process what its seeing. But I'm not convinced
there's anything to see in this image. Readers? Do you see anything?
-Editor
Wayne Homren, Editor
The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org.
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