The Numismatic Bibliomania Society E-Sylum: Thin Volume 24, Number 10, March 7, 2021

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The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit association devoted to the study and enjoyment of numismatic literature. For more information please see our web site at coinbooks.org

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Charles Heck, Treasurer
Numismatic Bibliomania Society
P. O. Box 2058,
Bluffton, SC
29910-2058

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March 6, 2021 KOLBE-FANNING

Volume 24, Number 10, March 7, 2021

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Content presented in The E-Sylum is not necessarily researched or independently fact-checked, and views expressed do not necessarily represent those of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society.

WAYNE'S WORDS: THE E-SYLUM MARCH 7, 2021

New subscribers this week include: Tom Yoemans. Welcome aboard! We now have 6,617 subscribers.

Thank you for reading The E-Sylum. If you enjoy it, please send me the email addresses of friends you think may enjoy it as well and I'll send them a subscription. Contact me at whomren@gmail.com anytime regarding your subscription, or questions, comments or suggestions about our content.

This week we open with a new Bibliotalk podcast, one new book, updates from the Newman Numismatic Portal, notable numismatic thefts, and more.

Other topics this week include the Ira Reed estate sale, costume jewelry medals, Ed Frossard, Helen Wang, coin designers June Steube, Christina Hess and Gary Cooper, the Coin of the Year, online educational presentations, auction previews, Hawaiian tokens and paper scrip, the Brasher Half Doubloon, a colored school medal, counterfeiting and the Mormon murders, Mormon scrip, and Venezuela's new one million bolivar note.

To learn more about Whitman Publishing, German notgeld, the NNP Symposium, 1866 No Motto silver dollars, March of Dimes encased dimes, the Romano Worthy Hoard, Chairman Mao badges, finding numismatic literature online, Hasmonean coins, the Calaisienne medal, To Hanover counters, and one very feisty and determined beaver, read on. Have a great week, everyone!

Wayne Homren
Editor, The E-Sylum

NBS BIBLIOTALK PODCAST LOOKS AT WHITMAN

The latest episode of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society podcast is now available for listening, and features an inside look at the numismatic hobby's largest publisher. Check it out! It's on the NBS web site but also available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and elsewhere. Vice-President/Secretary Len Augsburger provided this report. -Editor

NBS Podcast A Look Inside Whitman, with Diana Plattner Posted

The latest episode of the NBS Bibliotalk podcast, A Look Inside Whitman, with Diana Plattner is now available on the NBS website and other popular podcasting platforms such as Buzzsprout. Lianna Spurrier, Bibliotalk producer, interviews Diana Plattner, Senior Editor at Whitman Publishing.

Plattner speaks to the evolution in publishing over the last generation, with digital platforms revolutionizing the industry and the various job functions within the book business. Diana offers a unique viewpoint, having launched and operated her own publishing firm for a number of years before returning to Whitman later in her career. Tune in for this in-depth look at the hobby's largest publishing house.

NEW BOOK: GERMAN EMERGENCY MONEY VOL. 3

The third volume of Anton Geiger's work on WWI-era German emergency money (notgeld) has been published. Here's a Google-translated description from the publisher's website. -Editor

German emergency money, volume 3
Anton Geiger

Published by Gietl Verlag
ISBN: 978-3-86646-533-6
Edition: 3rd edition 2010
Illustrations: numerous black and white illustrations
Softcover: 608 pages
Format: 14.8 x 21 cm

With the outbreak of the First World War, there was a shortage of small change coins - due to the fact that these were often made of high-quality materials (gold, silver, etc.) that people wanted to hoard for themselves. Countries, municipalities, cities and companies tried to counter this deficiency by circulating emergency money. Since a tremendous amount of such money was in circulation by 1923, Dr. Arnold Keller - the author of the first catalogs on German emergency money - proposed a classification that is still used today as a classification aid. The major emergency money had become necessary especially from 1918 - there were three phases of issuance that were separated from one another in time. The first large banknotes were needed in the period after the end of the First World War, the large emergency money from 1918 to 1921. This catalog lists emergency money issues from almost 600 issuing offices throughout the German Empire at that time. Above all, it makes its face value of 1 to 100 marks into large emergency money - in contrast to small change notes and the emergency money notes of high inflation. The detailed information on the notes and their variants as well as the updated market-driven reviews make this current edition a must for every collector of German banknotes and the interested layperson.

2021 NNP SYMPOSIUM SCHEDULE ANNOUNCED

The second NNP Symposium is nearly upon us. The schedule has been announced, and it's a humdinger. An amazing array of speakers is on tap, with topics all over the numismatic map. Follow the links below to register and review the schedule. Mark your calendars for your favorites! -Editor

NNP Symposium, March 19-21, 2021

The NNP Symposium returns March 19-21, with a broad array of presentations. This is a free, three-day online event featuring some of the most compelling personalities in numismatics. Of particular interest to NBS members will be Kellen Hoard's presentation Building Your Numismatic Reference Library in 2021, scheduled for 12PM eastern, Saturday, March 20. Our own Wayne Homren will be leading a panel discussion on The Early Days of Online Numismatics, with Jim Halperin, George Cuhaj, and Craig Whitford.

Of special note is a four-hour Young Numismatist (YN) block of presentations on Saturday morning, featuring speakers Jonas Denenberg, Garrett Ziss, Kellen Hoard, and Delmar Mineard, Jr. NNP Symposium speakers include Ken Bressett, John Kraljevich, Sarah Miller, John Brush, Shanna Schmidt, and a host of other prominent numismatists. Zoom links for the individual presentations will be forwarded to registrants shortly before the event.

VIDEO: HOUSTON MONEY SHOW COINS & CURRENCY

These are selections from the David Lisot Video Library that feature news and personalities from the world of coin collecting. David has been attending coin conventions since 1972 and began videotaping in 1985. The Newman Numismatic Portal now lists all David's videos on their website at:
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/multimediadetail/522852

Here's one on interesting coins at the recent Houston Money Show. -Editor

Cool Coins & Currency! Houston Money Show 2021.
VIDEO: 8:47.

David Lisot, Interviewer, CoinTelevision.com with Lucas Baldridge, Matthew Burek, Pierre Fricke, Trent Schwartz, and Wade Spencer. January 23, 2021.

David Lisot goes around at the Houston Money Show to talk to the dealers and collectors who have bought or purchased some ‘cool coins and paper money. Each participant offered specific advice how to buy coins. Some of the items shown include a 1901 Barber Half Dollar XF45, Connecticut Large Cent African Head EF 40, 1787 Connecticut Muttonhead, 1787 Connecticut Breen Plate Coin EF40, 1861 $10 Demand Note PMG VF20, and an 1834 Classic Head $2.5 PCGS MS64.

An excerpt of the video is available for viewing on the Coin Television YouTube Channel at:
https://youtu.be/Jc1dsSUxm4I

Last week Bruce Bartelt asked if there was "a full written account and inventory of the lost items" from the 1831 theft from the Cabinet of Medals of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. Hadrien Rambach provided a link to just such a document. Thank you! It is Henry Cohen's manuscript Liste des médaillons et des médailles d'or qui ont été volées en 1831 au Cabinet des médailles et qui n'ont pas encore été remplacées jusqu'à ce jour, written in 1863. Here's the Google-translated description. -Editor

"I recently came into my possession of an almost unknown coin auction catalog. It is the estate of coin dealer Ira Reed. Reed was a major dealer in the Philadelphia area. He conducted 29 auction sales, including the 1941 ANA convention sale. I have all except two in my library.

This estate sale was held May 16, 1955 at the Pennypacker Auction Center in Reading, Pa. 16 pages. It is a mystery to me why the widow Reed would not have sold this collection in Philadelphia instead of sending it to Reading. I am sure it was a financial sacrifice to her. But, in times of death, people do strange things.

The items (lots) in this sale are not numbered, so I'm not sure whether the items were grouped or sold individually - it could have been at the whim of the auctioneer. About 3/4 of the items were graded. Some were listed and not graded with a sentence at the top, "VG to Uncirculated and proof ". Under the heading of Silver Dollars are listed dates of 1805-1826. Perhaps these were Half Dollars? More than 100 gold pieces including Commemorative Gold Dollars, and 3 Three Dollar pieces Unc & Proof.

This sale had to be a buyer's dream to be at!! I COULD have been there but I did not know about it. I was 18 at the time, and had been collecting coins for about 5 years. I was at a meeting of the Reading Coin Club on May 9, a week before the sale, but have no memory of this important sale being announced. The next day, May 17, I attended a country coin auction in Ephrata, PA.

Also at that time each month I read the Numismatic Scrapbook Magazine cover to cover, and saw nothing of that sale. So, I find out about it 65+ years later!"

"I found an interesting and unexpected use for the Newman Numismatic Portal. I'm a past editor of Coins magazine and am currently writing a column for Numismatic News called "Past Times With Coins." It features items from the first issue of the magazine from 1962, when it became Coins, onward.

"I'm currently up to the 1963 volume and am working on a column with info on Francis Henning and his fake nickels.

"I have a nicely bound set of the magazines through 1982 but what I don't have is a complete index of its contents.

"Trying to get the story of Henning right, I searched newspaper archives and the Internet. The Internet search led me to NNP, where I found a good reference to the Henning story in the September 1964 issue of Coins.

"NNP is worth checking out -- at least it was for me."

Having a great numismatic library only gets you so far if you can't find what you're looking for. A number of in-copyright publications such as Coins, Coin World and soon Numismatic News are digitized on NNP but on a restricted basis - while you can't read the publication on the site you can still search the content to find where to look. Search engines are electronically compiled indexes, enabling users to start with the key words or phrases of interest and quickly locate instances of that text in millions of pages of content. -Editor

Other topics this week include a Confederate Half Dollar No-Tip coin, a 1897 Dollar Mint Bag Tag, and Dennis the Numismatic Menace. -Editor

Here's another entry from Dick Johnson's Encyclopedia of Coin and Medal Terminology. -Editor

Here's another entry from the online draft of John Lupia's book of numismatic biographies. Thanks! This is an excerpt with the full article and bibliography available online. This week's subject is dealer Ed Frossard. NOTE: Pete Smith's American Numismatic Biographies gives a birth year of 1837. -Editor

This profile of Helen Wang is excerpted with permission from the December 2020 issue of The Chopmark News. Thanks. -Editor

I always look for these artist interviews in local publications - they can provide a great deal of good background information on both the artists and their designs. We have three of them this week, starting with this one from Canada. I added the coin image. -Editor

Lancaster Online has a great interview with Christina Hess, designer of the Woman's Suffrage dollar coin. -Editor

Back in 2000 the Naples Bank Note Company (NBNC) intended to offer the European Central Bank the opportunity to have a US company print the Euro. In order to get samples to submit to the ECB, Naples Bank Note designed this One Million Euro Commemorative, complete with over 20 security features, including some never used before and only original to NBNC. These are the last sheets remaining. For collectors only.

Here's an interview from the Bangor Daily News with artist Gary Cooper of Belfast, ME, designer of the Apollo 11 lunar landing coin. -Editor

The U.S. Mint's Apollo 11 coin has won top honors for coins dated 2019. Here's an excerpt from Numismatic News. See the complete article online for all the year's winners. -Editor

Sylvia Nankivell of Used Book Search submitted this article on finding rare numismatic literature online. Thanks. -Editor

The American Israel Numismatic Association is offering an online seminar on Jewish numismatics. It's free to all and you don't have to be a member. Here's the announcement. -Editor

Don Kagin submitted this announcement of a group of educational programs to be presented prior to his firm's upcoming auction. Sounds great - mark your calendars. -Editor

Dr. Jonas Emmanuel Flueck of Lugdunum GmbH produced a nice 10-minute video about one of the highlights of the firm's late Spring 2021 auction in Solothurn, Switzerland. Check it out! -Editor

Jeremy Bostwick at Numismagram passed along these highlights from his most recent addition of new tokens and art medals to his website. One will notice a particular focus upon aviation-themed types—most of which feature a zeppelin—as well as medals drawing inspiration from older coin designs. There are also some rather interestingly engraved pieces, ranging from love to satire and military. To view all of these new items, please visit numismagram.com/inventory. -Editor

Here's a selection of interesting or unusual items I came across in the marketplace this week. Tell us what you think of some of these. -Editor

From Harry Laibstain Rare Coins. Wow - great coin! -Editor

Other topics this week include an 1861 Confederate $10 note, a Sistersville, WV National Bank Note, and the 1941 Philippines $10 Naval Aviators' note issue. -Editor

Here's a press release about the Hawaiian paper money offered in the upcoming Kagin's sale. Rare and interesting pieces. -Editor

Anne Bentley passed along this article about the recent seizure of ancient coins at the US-Canada border. -Editor

Bob Leonard submitted this piece on the Brasher Half Doubloon in the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution. Thanks! -Editor

"I wrote this article which appeared today. I like the neat packaging of the coins which avoids bag marks and also useful for collectors."

Thanks. See the complete article from The Sunday Times online - here's an excerpt. -Editor

Further to the earlier E-Sylum article on Imitation Guineas and Half-Guineas, author Martin Warburton has submitted this note on the companion publication listing. Thank you! -Editor

I flat ran out of time last week, but wanted to wrap up John Kraljevich's Black History Month articles from Facebook. This one features a medal for a student of the Orell Colored School in Louisville, Kentucky. -Editor

Here's a group of Heritage press releases about three interesting upcoming offerings. First up - a 1921 Zerbe dollar. -Editor

Here's a Heritage press release about the Hawaiian starfish plantation tokens -Editor

And here's an interesting error piece I'd never seen before. -Editor

Some strange coins (and banknotes) are out-and-out fakes. Readers may be interested in a new three-part Netflix series on Mark Hofmann and the 1985 Utah pipe bombings called "Murder Among The Mormons". Here's an excerpt from a Wall Street Journal article. -Editor

The Bank of England Museum blog this week discusses the earliest Bank of England note in their collection. -Editor

Doug Nyholm edits The Mint Master for the Utah Numismatic Society. In the March 2021 issue he authored an article on the Brigham City Co-op scrip notes. With permission, we're republishing it here. Thanks! -Editor

Howard Berlin passed along this Reuters article about the new nearly worthless Venezuela inflation banknotes. Thanks. -Editor

Moving from almost-worthless to truly worthless banknotes, here's the story of an Instagram stunt in Dubai. -Editor

Bibiliophiles and researchers should appreciate the sleuthing technology described in this story from the Netherlands passed along by Len Augsburger. Thanks. -Editor

Here are some additional items in the media this week that may be of interest. -Editor

We don't usually discuss grading and pricing, but it's good to see rare finds reported in the media, bringing attention to interesting coins and the hobby in general. Antiques Trading Gazette published an article about the sale of the 1757 Jacques-Antoine Dassier 10 ruble piece (discussed here on January 10th). It's also an example of a coin with a collector's mark (discussed in February). -Editor

Other topics this week include an 1836 British Sovereign and a Roman coin found in Vancouver. -Editor