NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: DECEMBER 26, 2010

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V13 2010 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 13, Number 52, December 25, 2010, Article 11

Tom DeLorey is retiring from Harlan Berk at the end of 2010. Tom notes that he will continue numismatic writing, in addition to some well deserved "goofing off" time. Tom has been at Harlan Berk since 1989, and a coin store has been at this location even longer (since 1949), at the corner of Clark and Madison Streets in the Chicago loop.

Congratulations to Tom on reaching this milestone! He's been a regular reader and contributor to The E-Sylum for years, and we'll look forward to more of his writings. Len provided the following picture of Tom on duty at the shop. -Editor

It looks like the Warner Brothers shield to me... I keep expecting Bugs Bunny to burst through!

Regarding the National Public Radio transcript of a piece on the Union Shield cent, Pete Smith writes:

Who transcribed the item about the NPR interview with Robert Hoge? I understand how "dyes" might be an issue in the printing of paper money, but I do not believe our current cents are dyed prior to release into circulation.

I wouldn't be surprised if machine translation is involved, but it's probably an NPR staffer or consultant who generates the online transcript of radio pieces. Anyone knowledgeable about coining would know the term should be "dies". Good catch. -Editor

Last week Fred Schwan described how members of the Military Payment Certificate (MPC) collecting community often collect particular "numbers" - serial number, plate position number, etc. Describing Larry Smulczenski's favorite number 39, Fred asked, "Can anyone figure out why he collects this particular number?"

Why does Larry Smulczenski collect items with the number 39?

1. Perhaps, like Jack Benny, it represents his age.

2. Taking a hint from this week's "Car Talk Puzzler", perhaps it represents the number of letters in his name.

Pete's first guess was correct about Larry's obsession with the number 39. Fred writes: "It is his age and has been for many years."

No one commented on this one, but with the holidays maybe the announcement went unnoticed. It will be an interesting exercise to trace the heritage of this firm. Earlier people commented about the fact that after multiple management changes "there was no longer a Bowers at Bowers and Merena and no Stack's at Stack's". Now B&M is merging with Stack's, which is led by Q. David Bowers, formerly of Bowers & Merena. Here's a short excerpt from the CoinLink.com article. Neat job on the article logo graphic! -Editor

Spectrum Group International, Inc. (SPGZ.PK) announced today that its subsidiary Bowers and Merena Auctions, one of the world's pre-eminent auctioneers of rare coins and currency, has entered into an agreement with Stack's, the oldest rare coin retail and auction company in the U.S., to combine their operations.

The new company, which will be known as Stack's-Bowers Numismatics, with a world coin division to be known as Stack's-Bowers and Ponterio, will be owned 51% by Bowers and Merena Auctions and 49% by Stack's. The closing, which is subject to the satisfaction of customary conditions, is expected to take place in early 2011.

Greg Roberts, president and chief executive officer of Spectrum Group (SGI), commented, �We believe that this combination, once consummated, will create a major player in the coin industry. Stack's had over $65 million in aggregate sales in 2010 and between them, the two companies have handled many of the significant coin collections that have sold at public auction, including the Eliasberg Sales, the Norweb Sales and the Ford Collections.�