COUNTERSTAMP COMMEMORATES ALBERT EINSTEIN

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V18 2015 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 18, Number 51, December 20, 2015, Article 18

Mel Wacks forwarded this announcement about a new counterstamp commemorating the birth of Albert Einstein. -Editor

Albert Einstein was a citizen of three countries—his birthplace Germany, Switzerland and the United States. Germany and Switzerland have issued coins to commemorate him, as have countries whose connections with Einstein have ranged from close (Israel) to tenuous (China, France, Paraguay, San Marino, and Thailand). While the United States issued stamps in honor of Einstein in 1966 and again in 1979, his adopted country has never issued a coin in honor of the scientist who was named “Person of the Century” by Time Magazine.

Mel Wacks, Director of the Jewish-American Hall of Fame hopes that the United States will someday issue a commemorative coin to honor Albert Einstein, but in the interim he has created counterstamped U.S. coins to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity.

Wacks states that “Nothing like this has ever been done before. I discovered and purchased a hoard of one hundred 1915 Barber Half Dollars in undamaged circulated condition, and in turn these have been counterstamped on the obverse with the likeness of Einstein and an appropriate inscription.”

Einstein published his Theory of General Relativity in 1915. In it, he determined that massive objects cause a distortion in space-time, which is felt as gravity. Imagine setting a large body in the center of a trampoline. The body would press down into the fabric, causing it to dimple. A marble rolled around the edge would spiral inward toward the body, pulled in much the same way that the gravity of a planet pulls at rocks in space.

The accompanying Certificate of Authenticity indicates that no more than 100 of these commemoratives will ever be made. They are available from the non-profit Jewish-American Hall of Fame, 5189 Jeffdale Ave., Woodland Hills, CA 91364 (order with credit card by calling 818-225-1348) for $65 plus $5 shipping, but if you mention that you read about it in E-Sylum you can take a 30% discount. Each coin comes with a free bonus—a trial strike on a new brass planchet of the counterstamp design commemorating the 100th anniversary of Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity (no more than 100 minted).

Wacks notes that “because these 100-year old coins have different degrees of wear and toning, each counterstamped coin will be slightly different—and unique.”

I didn't run this piece last week, and was reluctant to include it this week. I'm always happy to report about coins counterstamped long ago, but I cringe at the thought of coins being actively mutilated today. I know this happens with Buffalo Nickels all the time, and I could be called a hypocrite for running articles on Hobo Nickels. But those are an act of whimsy and creativity, often with a delightfully original result. Seeing that half dollar punched out in the middle made me wince. I'd rather see the effort and expense go into making an original medal. -Editor

I appreciate your comments. But I feel that I raised worn common dates worth not much more than melt to interesting counterstamped commemoratives.

I can appreciate the logic of utilizing low-value items for a new purpose, but what is seen as common by one generation can become more appreciated by a later generation. I also wince at Confederate currency that has been overstamped with a 1940s dealer advertisement in the same way that I cringe at the sight of a rare piece of numismatic ephemera with the impossible-to-remove-without-a-trace price sticker of a 1970s numismatic literature dealer or the irreversible inkstamp of a previous 1980s owner. I feel like Mark Twain did about Jane Austen: "Everytime I read 'Pride and Prejudice' I want to dig her up and beat her over the skull with her own shin-bone." -Editor