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About Us 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 Subscriptions Those wishing to become new E-Sylum subscribers (or wishing to Unsubscribe) can go to the following web page link Membership There is a membership application available on the web site Membership Application To join, print the application and return it with your check to the address printed on the application. Print/Digital membership is $40 to addresses in the U.S., and $60 elsewhere. A digital-only membership is available for $25. For those without web access, write to: Charles Heck, Treasurer Numismatic Bibliomania Society P. O. Box 2058, Bluffton, SC 29910-2058 Asylum For Asylum mailing address changes and other membership questions, contact Chuck at this email address: treasurer@coinbooks.org Submissions To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com BUY THE BOOK BEFORE THE COIN Sale Calendar Watch here for updates!

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 AUGUST 1, 2021

New subscribers this week include: Bob Cassling, courtesy Doug Winter and Ron Guth; Sarma Pydipally, courtesy John Ferreri; Jake Utz of Amos Media, courtesy John and Nancy Wilson; Eugenio Lucero, and James Williston. Welcome aboard! We now have 6,681 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 updates on NBS events at the upcoming ANA convention, five new books, updates from the Newman Numismatic Portal, reader comments and more.

Other topics this week include Biblical Numismatics, postwar Allied military money in Germany, Howard Gibbs, Albert Kuner, Edgar Adams, ferrotypes, Olympic medals, auction previews, shipwreck finds, and a museum theft.

To learn more about Carson City coinage, Théodore-Edme Mionnet, the 1887 U.S. Mint coin design circular, coin boards, Summer FUN, rainbow toning, coins in the comics, the Lester Bernstein sale, Bechtler gold, great world banknotes, the World's First United States Space Age Coin and the coin book that survived The Blitz, read on. Have a great week, everyone!

Wayne Homren
Editor, The E-Sylum

NBS EVENTS AT 2021 ANA WORLD'S FAIR OF MONEY

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NBS EVENTS AT 2021 ANA TO BE LIVESTREAMED

NBS General Meeting
https://vimeo.com/event/1171358

Numismatic Bibliomania Symposium
https://vimeo.com/event/1171349

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NEW BOOK: HANDBOOK OF BIBLICAL NUMISMATICS

Mel Wacks has published the 45th Anniversary Edition of the Handbook of Biblical Numismatics. It is greatly expanded from the original 1976 book, and features over 150 coins in full color, 20 maps, and over 50 Biblical quotes. Readers will also find enlarged photos of small coins and estimated coin values by Ira Goldberg.

While it is still easily read by the novice, it also contains the latest theories of experts in the field on controversial subjects like the bud (pomegranate or poppy?) appearing in between double cornucopia on Hasmonean coins, the vessel (chalice or pot of manna?) and budding plant (pomegranates or Aaron's rod?) on First Revolt Shekels, the star (Bar Kochba = Son of the Star or the golden candelabrum donated by Queen Helena) above the Temple on the sela'im issued during the Second Revolt, etc. The coins mentioned in the New Testament also receive attention - the Widow's Mite, Tribute Penny and Thirty Pieces of Silver.

Chapters are generally preceded by expert maps, and cover the Hasmoneans, Herodians, Prefects/Procurators, First Revolt, Judaea Capta, Second Revolt, etc. Readers will also learn about the Herodian Kings of Armenia, the Jewish Princess Salome, and the connection between Cleopatra and Judaea. There was so much text that it burst out to seven appendices, including Ancient Hebrew Coin Inscriptions, The Holy of Holies on Ancient Judaean Coins, Roman Tenth Legion Counterstamps, and False Shekels.

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NEW BOOK: WHEN MONEY TALKS

Coinage--it is one of the most successful and consistent technologies ever invented. Nothing else we still use in everyday life has a history quite like it. Look around at all the things that would bewilder a Greek, Roman, or Renaissance ancestor; then, dig into your purse or pocket for that one artifact that they would immediately recognize as part of their world. Historian Frank L. Holt takes us on a lively journey through the history of numismatics, the study of coins--one of the oldest and most important contributions to the arts and humanities.

For 2600 years, poets, economists, philosophers, historians, and theologians have pondered the mysteries of money. Who invented coins, and why? Does coinage function beyond our control as if it had a mind of its own? How has it changed world history and culture? What does numismatics reveal about our past that could never be discovered from any other source? How has numismatics advanced using modern science? Does it still suffer from racist ideas about physiognomy and phrenology? What does its future hold? The approach taken in this richly illustrated book is as multi-faceted as coined money itself. Coins are integral to our economic, social, political, religious, and cultural history. When Money Talks: A History of Coins and Numismatics explores each aspect of coinage, and takes a special interest in how coins have appeared in literature and pop culture, ranging in its analysis from Greek drama and the New Testament to T.V. sitcoms and meme theory.

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NEW BOOK: ALLIED MILITARY MARKS IN GERMANY

The Allied military marks from 1944 to 1948 in Germany

Operation "Wild Dog"
All Allied editions
Military authority (including coins and post-war stamps)

364 pages, full color,
Format 14.8 cm x 21 cm, paperback,
Pirna 2021, self-published.
ISBN: without.
Price: 44.94 euros.

For three decades, the author, known from many very well researched specialist articles and special catalogs, has done meticulous research, sifted through documents from various archives and gathered a huge amount of information.

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NEW BOOK: THE 70 YEAR JOURNEY OF CURRENCY

Numismatics is an art, science, hobby, and profession. Only those who collect, study, and research coins, tokens, symbols, and notes – called numismatists – would know the complexity and difficulty in practising this costly hobby.

To help them, two researchers from the Currency Department of the Central Bank, Shellomi H. Gunawardena and W.M.K. Weerakoon, have laboriously documented the currency notes and coins issued by the Bank in the last 70-year period. The book titled ‘The 70 Year Journey of Currency Issue and Management' has been released marking the Bank's 70th anniversary.

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NEW BOOK: DRIFTLESS GOLD

Sue Berg of rural Westby has a love for the beauty of the Driftless Area and a love of mystery novels. Those two loves have come together for her first detective mystery called Driftless Gold.

Released on April 22, the Jim Higgins Driftless Mystery novel is the first in a series of six. The series takes place in and around La Crosse, during the current time. The second book in the series will be released in December of this year.

According to the Driftless Gold synopsis on Berg's website, Down a Drifless Road,: When a migrant worker is discovered partially buried in a shallow grave at a local gravel quarry, Lt. Jim Higgins is called to the scene. But things heat up when an antique gold coin in found in the dead man's pocket. Lt. Jim Higgins begins to unravel a murder that will take him back into Wisconsin's early history. During the investigation, Higgins meets a local archeological savant and treasure hunter who tells him a wild tale about a U.S. Army payroll that was stolen on the way to Fort Crawford in Prairie du Chien in 1866. The payroll has never been recovered. Is the coin on the dead man part of the stolen cache of valuable coins? Higgins hesitates to base his investigation on a wild tale, but he has nothing else to go on. In a race against time, Higgins struggles to identify the killer—and find the elusive gold treasure.

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ANS ACQUIRES THéODORE-EDME MIONNET PAPERS

The ANS Library and Archives has acquired at auction a group of early nineteenth century certificates and letters from the French numismatist Théodore-Edme Mionnet (1770-1842). Mionnet was a deputy curator in what became the numismatic department of the Bibliothèque Nationale, and his publications include the seven-volume Description de Médailles Antiques, Grecques et Romaines (1806-1813). We thank ANS Life Fellow Hadrien Rambach for assisting with this acquisition.

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1887 COIN DESIGN SOLICITATION

On April 9, 1887, Director of the Mint James P. Kimball released a circular inviting artists to submit obverse and reverse coin designs for potential use on United States coinage. According to this correspondence from the National Archives, new designs were solicited for the cent, 5-cent nickel, dime, quarter, half dollar and dollar. Kimball outlined the requirements for participation in the contest and provided the opportunity for artists to study the coins in the Mint Cabinet to gain inspiration for their designs.

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NEWMAN PORTAL ADDS LANGE COIN BOARDS

The entire collection of vintage coin boards assembled by David W. Lange is now illustrated at the Newman Numismatic Portal under the category of Library/Image Collections/C:

https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/imagecollections?searchLetter=C

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VIDEO: 2021 SUMMER FUN CONVENTION

President Bob Hurst Welcomes Collectors to Summer FUN Convention 2021.
VIDEO: 7:10.

Bob Hurst, President, Florida United Numismatists, David Lisot, Video Producer, CoinTelevision.com.

More than a year after the COVID Pandemic the Florida United Numismatists are holding a coin convention. This is the largest summer convention ever held with almost 300 bourse tables of dealers wanting to buy, sell, and trade coins, paper money and collectibles. FUN President Hurst celebrates the opening of the event by giving Presidential Awards to Gary Braisted, Randy Campbell, Kenny Mullins, and Bob Russell.

An excerpt of the video is available for viewing on the Coin Television YouTube Channel at:
https://youtu.be/FLwvaPC4siI

HOWARD GIBBS, PRINCE OF PRIMITIVE MONEY

Our next meeting will be at the ANA World's Fair of Money in Chicago, Friday, August 13, from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m., in Room 24 of the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, Rosemont. An outstanding program has been secured; see below.

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EXHIBITS AND EVENTS AT THE 2021 ANA SHOW

A guide to the Collector Exhibit Area at the 2021 World's Fair of Money is available online at:
http://www.chicagocoinclub.org/events/2021/ana/ex/all_by_cl.html

Due to the late deadline for Collector Exhibits this year, it was not possible to list the Collector Exhibits in the Show Guide. The listing is only available online this year -- we will have signs with a QR code in the exhibit area.

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ON COIN DEALER ACCESS TO THE U.S. MINT

Craig writes:

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NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: AUGUST 1, 2021

On Rainbow Toning
Fred Liberatore writes:

Steve Bishop writes:

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
WAYNE'S NUMISMATIC DIARY: JULY 25, 2021 : Rainbow Toned 1887 Morgan Dollar (https://www.coinbooks.org/v24/esylum_v24n30a21.html)

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ALBERT KUNER COPY OF ECKFELDT-DUBOIS SOUGHT

Albert Kuner was a master engraver in San Francisco during the California Gold rush era, engraving numerous now iconic coins, including the 1849 Norris Greg and Norris $5, 1849 Moffat $5 and $10, 1850 Schultz $5 as well as the most iconic coin of that era, the 1850 Baldwin (Horseman) $10 and several others.

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VOCABULARY TERM: FERROTYPE

Ferrotype. An early photograph contained in a metal frame, always diestruck. The "iron type" photograph was one of several early photographic processes. Where ferrotype gets its name was a photo image on very thin sheet of coated iron, a process called Japanning, but was more popularly called tintype. These photo images became widely used for campaign items, particularly for U.S. presidential candidates. Tiny photos were inset in metal frames most often made into lapel or larger pins for wearing. The diestruck frames, made of white metal, or more commonly of brass, were designed with decorations, occasionally with lettering. All ferrotypes are fragile and the photo images fade when exposed to strong light. Infrequently two photos – as presidential candidate on one side, vice president on the other – were made into a two-sided ferrotype.

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HARVEY STACK'S NUMISMATIC FAMILY, PART 101

In 1986 the United States Mint decided to expand the scale of their "rare coin business," selling lots of new products at a profit, to both beginning and advanced collectors. This included special issue commemorative coins and bullion issues that were sold above current bullion market prices. This was in addition to the millions of coin sets that the Mint had been issuing since after World War II, prices of which had been driven up by the increase in the cost of silver. The Mint had a prestige place in the system and could sell their products using the advertising slogan: "An Investment for the Future." This marketing appeared in many numismatic and non-numismatic publications and appealed to parents and grandparents. The Mint in 1986 created the Eagle coinage, eventually issued in both gold and silver and bearing no denomination, only weight and fineness. These were also a source of profit for the Mint and were heavily promoted. The mass sales attracted by the Mint took sums of money out of the standard coin market and had a negative effect on the general numismatic marketplace. Old timers became concerned about the influence this would have on the value of their collections, and current collectors saw prices drop somewhat. This led some to bid more conservatively or to just sit back during the year and see what would happen.?

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EDGAR HOLMES ADAMS

The answer is Edgar Holmes Adams.

Adams was born in Grafton, West Virginia, on April 7, 1868. When he was twelve years old (1880), Adams tripped over a loaded shotgun, the gun went off and Adams was shot in the leg. He was home-schooled and took up the hobby of numismatics as a sedentary activity. In later life, he walked with a cane. Adams married Sarah Sadie Ellen Degnan in 1895. They had no children.

Adams took up swimming for exercise, got to be competitive and joined the New York Athletic club. He competed in the Plunge for the Metropolitan AAU and was the champion for 1902 to 1905.

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THE 2020 SUMMER OLYMPIC MEDAL DESIGNS

It won't be long before the first medals of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games are handed out, as a total of seven sports will be giving out the honors the day after the opening ceremonies.

In 2016, 973 medals were given out during the Games in Rio de Janeiro, and there will only be more with the addition of new sports like 3x3 basketball, softball and skateboarding. In total, approximately 5,000 medals were made for the games.

While each gold, silver and bronze medal includes some of the same elements as years past, each host city puts its own twist into what the medals look like so no two games look the same, and this year is no different. Here is everything to know about the medals that will be handed out this year.

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THE OLYMPIC MEDAL MARKET

At this year's Tokyo Olympics, 339 medals will be awarded — the culmination of the athletes' life's work. Yet winning gold doesn't necessarily guarantee a life of luxury.

After Greg Louganis captured double Olympic gold in Los Angeles in 1984 — a feat he repeated four years later in Seoul — he was acclaimed as possibly the greatest diver in history.

But financial woes, as he wrote in a Vox essay, left the champion facing foreclosure on his Malibu home. By 2012 things were so dire, he turned to Ingrid O'Neil.

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SAN FRANCISCO COIN UNIVERSITY A SUCCESS

About four months ago, I was asked by my friend, Seth Chandler, owner of Witter Coin, if I'd like to be involved with Witter Coin U. With the absence of the ANA Summer Seminar the last two years, he wanted to do something for the youth that have missed out on two huge summer numismatic events that have long been the most important aspects of the ANA's educational outreach. For me it was a wholehearted I'm in, though I didn't quite know what to expect.

I joined numismatists from places you may have heard of: PCGS (Steve Feltner), Heritage (Jim Stoutjesdyk), Witter (Seth Chandler), Kagin's (David McCarthy), and two folks that have flown under the retail radar, Devin Hipp and Dr. Kevin Kauffman (yes, a real doctor, not a coin doctor) in teaching a weeklong course on numismatics. The 25 students that joined the event ranged from age 13 to 21 and came from all over the country.

While I was very active in the YN (young numismatists) circuit of activities 20 years ago and 10 years ago, my family and work responsibilities have kept me away in recent years. So, I didn't know any of these students before I walked in. And I walked away so impressed with these folks. While most of the students found out about the program through Instagram, several heard from other more traditional media sources. When we arrived, we learned that many of these kids knew each other for several years, but they had never met! I always knew that the hobby was based on relationships, but I had no idea that social media would bring so many folks together.

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SELECTIONS FROM HOLABIRD AUGUST 2021 SALES

Lot 4340: Bechtler Carolina Dollar

PCGS AU 55; K-4 N Reversed. Obv.: Bechtler / 28 G / ; Rev.: Carolina / Dollar / O N E (N reversed). Christoph Bechtler was born in 1782 in Germany. At the age of fifteen, he was apprenticed to a gold and silver metallurgist and gunsmith. In 1829, he emigrated to the United States and landed in New York, moved to Philadelphia, applied for citizenship, and soon thereafter opened a jewelry and clock repair business. In 1830 the Bechtlers moved to Rutherford County, North Carolina and purchased a tract of land 3 1/2 miles north of Rutherfordton. It is suspected that they had heard of the recent gold strikes in the area. In July, 1830, Bechtler announced in the North Carolina Spectator and Western Advertiser, a regional newspaper, that he had opened a jewelry and watch clock repair business in Rutherfordton.

In 1831, the local miners and merchants petitioned Congress to establish a branch mint in the gold producing region, but the petition was ignored. Shortly thereafter, several miners approached Bechtler and convinced him to assay their gold and convert it into coins. Bechtler advertised in the North Carolina Spectator and Western Advertiser that he was ready to convert raw gold into coins at his home. Bechtler made his own dies, planchets, presses and other equipment. Late in 1831, the Bechtlers produced the first gold dollars struck in the United States. The Bechtlers produced three denominations; $1, $2.50, and $5, and the coins were struck in three finenesses; 20 carats, 21 carats, and 22 carats. The coins were of honest weight and any variation in fineness was due solely to the limited technology at the time.

After the opening of the Charlotte and Dahlonega Mints in 1838, Bechtler's production began to decline. In 1840, Bechtler filed a report with the United States Treasury Department showing that he had coined $2,241, 840 from 1831 to February, 1840. The Bechtlers were the most successful, prolific and long lasting of all the pioneer and territorial minters. The coins were well accepted across the Southeast and some Confederate contracts specified payment in Bechtler gold.

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WORLD BANKNOTE AUCTIONS SALE 13 ANNOUNCED

World Banknote Auctions has listed Live Sale 13 on its website, which will feature live online bidding on August 19 at 1 PM EST / 10 AM PST. This sale offers over 500 lots of graded World Paper money, with offerings ranging from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. Bidding is now open and will continue until the sale date, when the live online auction offers live bidding on the website and through its mobile apps (available for Android and Apple).

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DON ALLEN BANKNOTE COLLECTION SELECTIONS

Lot 30011: Australia Bank of Adelaide 1 Pound

AUSTRALIA. Bank of Adelaide. 1 Pound, 1892-1910. P-Unlisted. PMG Very Fine 25.

Printed by BWC. Dated 1893. Allegorical female at top center with floral design in background. The underprint consists of dark yellow ink while the border is made up of dark black ink. The reverse of the note displays a violet-red/brown-green design, with the bank building at center. Above the building is the bank name with the written-out denomination below, with "1" counters in each corner. Fully issued examples of this 1 Pound note are next to impossible to acquire, and it might be sometime before another example is offered to the public.

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NUMISMATIC NUGGETS: AUGUST 1, 2021

1796 Middlesex Farthing Conder Token

One piece 1796 Middlesex Farthing Conder Token MS-64 PCGS (BN) Conder Tokens were struck to fill the void from a lack of circulating small change in Great Britain following the completion of the American revolution. This specific example has original surfaces and has been graded by PCGS as MS-64 (Brown).

To read the complete lot description, see:
1796 Middlesex Farthing Conder Token MS-64 PCGS (BN) (https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/108939918_1796-middlesex-farthing-conder-token-ms-64-pcgs-bn)

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GOLD PENNY OF ECGBERHT OFFERED