John Salyer writes:
There is a British ghost-hunting show on the Syfy Channel called "Most Haunted", which I have been known to watch on occasion (entirely my wife's fault).
On at least two occasions, there have been coin-throwing incidents on that program, including one memorable occasion when the show's cast was conducting a séance in the middle of the night in some old British building, possibly a castle.
An "old gold coin" appeared out of nowhere and landed in the middle of the large table that the séance was being conducted around. They showed the coin several times, but never closely enough for me to identify the type or the date. Assuming that the incident wasn't faked, it was a pretty dramatic example of ghostly numismatics.
Philip Mernick writes:
This coin collecting ghost also seems to have been able to foretell the future if he/she could leave a 1936 penny with the head of King George VI.
All issued 1936 pennies showed George V who died in January of that year. This clever ghost obviously also knew that Edward VIII was going to give up his throne for Mrs Simpson in December of the same year. George VI succeeded in 1936 but no coins were issued in his name until 1937.
Bruce W. Smith writes:
The story on the coin-throwing poltergeist reminded me that traditional Chinese coin catalogs include sections on "spiritual" coins. In fact, the oldest surviving numismatic work in the world, the Ch'uan Chih by Hung Tsun (published in China in 1149) has four such chapters. Of this book's 15 chapters, Chapter 8 is on coins which fell from or were used in heaven; Chapter 13 titled "Strange Coins" is on various types of amulets. Chapter 14 is on supernatural coins (more amulets) and Chapter 15 is on "Ya Sheng Coins." Ya Sheng is a special term meaning to supress demons; the coins listed in this chapter are supposed to be able to do this if properly used. No doubt there are coins or medals from other countries which claim supernatural powers.
Now there's a trivia question for numismatic bibliophiles - the oldest surviving numismatic book. Interesting.
-Editor
To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
THE COIN-THROWING POLTERGEIST
(www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v13n15a22.html)
THE BOOK BAZARRE
DAVID SKLOW - FINE NUMISMATIC BOOKS offers
the Q. David Bowers Research Library Sale Part II on June 12, 2010.
RARE GROUPING OF SUPPLEMENTS TO THE SPINK NUMISMATIC CIRCULAR 1898-1911, SOLD PRIVATE TREATY TO REV. CULNAN BY KENNETH LOWE IN 1991
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