Visit our NBS Sponsors

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 May 17, 2022 SIMMONS May 29, 2022 SOLIDUS 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 MAY 20, 2022

New subscribers this week include: Terry Campbell, courtesy Allan Julius Behul; Hondo Davids, courtesy O. T. Thompson; Nathan Deinlein and Dalton Jenkins, courtesy Bill Rosenblum; and Marie Gibbs. Welcome aboard!

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 two numismatic literature sales, donations to the ANA Library, updates from the Newman Numismatic Portal, and more.

Other topics this week include Musica in Numis, coin club newsletter editing, Sixbid, young people entering the rare book and coin trades, Mike Castle, auction previews, Saint Gaudens double eagles, a new pound coin design, fake toonies, and leprosy coins.

To learn more about the Schulz coin cabinet, wedding medals, insert dies, Robert Bashlow, Lynn Glaser, the Donald R. Shasky Collection of silver three-cent pieces, the "Royal" gold 8 escudos, the King Getas Octodrachm, the Year of the Monkey note, Israel presentation medals, the geometric lathe, and the U.S. Mint coin store, read on. Have a great week, everyone!

Wayne Homren
Editor, The E-Sylum

SOLIDUS 8TH NUMISMATIC LITERATURE SALE

Literature Auction 99 (Rarities) - 29.05.2022 17:00

Selected numismatic literature with many rarities and bibliophilic treasures of the 17th and 18th century including parts of the library of a book-lover.

A pdf-file with all lot texts of the auction can be downloaded on the website of Solidus (menu auctions).

A link for viewing the illustrated print catalogue is available on the website of Solidus too (menu auctions).

Read more here

 

SIMMONS GALLERY MAY 2022 BOOK AUCTION

The library of the late Scottish collector Andrew Macmillan is being auctioned by Simmons Gallery on Tuesday 17 May online only from 12 noon.

His interests were in all things Scottish, with a particular emphasis on church communion tokens. This library is probably the the best for such humble tokens and their historical background. Some items are annotated photocopies of the hardbacks also offered here, many rare or scarce to find. Start prices are low and everything has to go!

Read more here

MANLEY GIVES BREEN DOCUMENTS TO ANA LIBRARY

Read more here

NEWMAN PORTAL ADDS MUSICA IN NUMMIS

German Numismatic Musicians

A Newman Portal user asked if we had the volume Musica in Nummis (1907) by Karl Andorfer and Richard Epstein. The answer was no, but we were able to locate it on a public domain site and add it to our collection. The work, in German, is a compilation of 984 medals with musical themes and includes 9 plates. The effort is obviously akin to Jay Galst's Ophthalmologia in Nummis and other numismatic works that specialize in a single (non-numismatic) subject.

In cataloging this item, we learned that Paul Niggl acquired the collection that formed the basis for the 1907 work and expanded it over time. Niggl published an updated version of the catalog in 1965, entitled Musiker-Medaillen and now including 2,349 items. Niggl's collection was sold in a single lot by Spink and Son (July 14, 1998, lot 403), and appeared again, in multiple lots, in a November 2008 Baldwin sale.

We had to ask our favorite German-speaking numismatic musician if they were aware of this collection, and the answer was surprisingly no.

Image: Plate V from Musica in Nummis

Link to Musica in Nummis on Internet Archive:
https://archive.org/details/musicainnummis/page/n1/mode/2up?view=theater

VIDEO: COLLECTING ANCIENT COINS

Coin Dealer Promotes Ancient Coin Collecting to Collectors and Kids.
VIDEO: 5:09.

David Rifkin, Tiber Numismatics,
David Lisot, Interviewer, CoinTelevision.com.
April 1, 2022.

Everyone realizes that new coin collectors are needed to keep the hobby strong. Some dealers work harder than others to promote numismatics. Coin dealer David Rifkin enjoys sharing ancient coin collecting with other coin dealers, collectors and kids.

David adds:

An excerpt of the video is available for viewing on the Coin Television YouTube Channel at:
https://youtu.be/Xi9yH1XvLaM

 

HELPING LOCAL COIN CLUB NEWSLETTER EDITORS

It has long been recognized that local coin clubs across the country are generally focused on growing interest in the numismatic hobby within their communities, providing a social activity for members and sharing knowledge and experiences among colleagues besides the typical buying, selling and trading of coins and currency among members.

Three other areas of endeavor in particular always seem to be a top priority for most clubs whether they are small or large in membership size, regional in nature, or are of a specialty area focus (like Liberty Seated series collecting)

Read more here

NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: MAY 20, 2022

More on the Stunning Restrike Continental Dollar Die Sale
Regarding the recent Heritage six-figure sale of the restrike Continental Dollar die from the Fred Weinberg collection, Fred writes:

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
CONTINENTAL DOLLAR RESTRIKE DIE SELLS BIG! (https://www.coinbooks.org/v25/esylum_v25n19a11.html)

Read more here

SIXBID NOW AVAILABLE IN EIGHT LANGUAGES

Sixbid Now Available in Six Additional Languages

Since 26 April 2022, Sixbid has also been available in Chinese, French, Italian, Japanese, Russian and Spanish.

Read more here

A LIFE IN THE RARE BOOK TRADE

Mike Costanzo writes:

Read more here

A LIFE IN THE RARE COIN TRADE

Over the decades, the company where I work has hired dozens of middle school, high school and college students. About half of them have gone on to entrepreneurial careers. Several have become coin dealers either at this company or elsewhere. Others have become a certified public accountant, attorney, international sales, bank loan officer, florist or jeweler. The percentage of student employees who have gone on to entrepreneurial careers is many times higher than the overall average.

Read more here

VOCABULARY TERM: INSERT DIE

Insert Die. A special die and its supplemental part – an insert – employed to produce raised lettering on a medal. The die to contain the insert is machined with a cavity by a tool and diemaker. The cavity is somewhat boat shaped with bevel sides. The insert blank is made of steel, also by a tool and diemaker it is shaped to fit the cavity in the insert die The insert blank is then engraved incuse by a hand or machine engraving to contain the desired lettering. During striking the insert lies loose in the base die – only one side of a medal may have an insert and this die must be in the lower position in the press (it would fall out of the die in the upper position). Raised lettering is produced by this method, but always a tiny raised ridge outlining the insert appears as flash on a piece so struck; this line is diagnostic of the use of an insert. It may be removed by chasing on the struck piece if considered too obvious and unwanted.

Read more here

ROBERT BASHLOW, PART THREE

In the third installment, I will discuss Robert Bashlow and Walter Breen. Walter Breen was working with Dr. William H. Sheldon at Columbia University in the 1950's. One result was the 1958 publication of Penny Whimsy, the revision of Sheldon's 1949 book, Early American Cents, the work that gave us all the 70 point grading system.

Read more here

 

HARVEY STACK'S NUMISMATIC FAMILY, PART 121

On the auction front, 1995 was a very important and active year for Stack's as we cataloged and presented nine separate auctions. These sales contained large and important collections of United States coins from colonials to modern issues as well as coins of the ancient world and foreign issues.

Read more here

MIKE CASTLE, COINAGE CONGRESSMAN

Castle was Delaware's at-large representative in the House from 1993 to 2011, after serving two terms as governor. While in Congress, Castle wrote and/or sponsored the bills that created the 50 State Quarters® program, the Sacagawea Dollar, the Presidential Dollar Series, the American Platinum Eagle, the America the Beautiful Quarters® program and a number of modern commemoratives — becoming known as The Coinage Congressman.

It is estimated that 150 million Americans — half of the country's population at the time — became casual coin collectors because of 50 State Quarters program, which raised nearly $7 billion in profit for the federal government. Many would become more serious modern coin collectors, which had a transformative effect on the hobby and propelled modern coin collecting into the juggernaut that it is today.

Read more here

WORLD BANKNOTE AUCTIONS SALE 26

World Banknote Auctions has now listed Live Sale 26 on its website, which closes in two different segments. The first segment, the traditional live sale, closes on May 26th, 2022, with live bidding that day at 1 PM Eastern / 10 AM Pacific. The following day, on May 27th at 1 PM Eastern / 10 AM Pacific an additional segment closes in a timed auction (no live bidding, although lots may be extended if a bid is received 10 minutes before closing). Live Sale 25 offers a total of 936 lots from around the world, with highlights including a strong middle eastern selection, including the key note for Qatar & Dubai, as well as a strong selection of other items for both the beginning and advanced collector. Some highlights are selected below but the entire catalog can be viewed on the company's website, www.worldbanknoteauctions.com

Read more here

MDC MONACO JUNE 2022 AUCTION

On June 3rd and 4th, an auction of collector's coins and medals will take place in Monaco. Indeed, 1267 lots from Antiquity to today will be presented for all over the world. The sale will be conducted by the expert Nicolas Gimbert in the salons of ONE MONTE-CARLO.

Several remarkable sets will be presented:

• A beautiful selection of ancient coins, Greek and Roman, as well as a collection of Gallic coins.
• For French coins, several great rarities will be offered for sale: a Royal d'Or of Louis IX, a Franc à Cheval of Charles VII or an exceptional medallion of Louis XIII and Marie de Medici in gold.
• Among the foreign coins, we note a nice set of Chinese coins, rarities for Great Britain, Mexico, or Romania, etc...
• For Italy and Venice, we must note a collection of gold oselles (multiples of gold offered directly by the doge), some of them struck in Murano, among the most beautiful known.

A prestigious 408-page catalog with numerous enlargements and historical comments will be available. LIVE participation will be possible on the BIDDR.CH platform.

Read more here

 

1715 FLEET SPANISH PHILIPPE V ROYAL 8 ESCUDOS

Lot 1110.
Philippe V (1700-1746). Royal 8 escudos (special strike) from the Spanish silver fleet of 1715, Mexico.

Obv. *PHILIPPVS* V* DEI* G* (date)*. Crowned arms of Castilla and Leon, Catalonia, Aragon, Sicilia, Austria, Burgundy, Brabant, Flanders, Tyrol and Bourbon, surrounded by *(mint) (assayer) and *VIII*

Rev. *HISPANIARVM* INDIARVM* REX. Cross potent, lilies in each angle pointing to the center, in a quatrefoil surrounded by four tulips.

Aureo 2196 – Cal.291 – Cayon.9950 – Onza.401 – KM.R57.3 – Fr.7 ; Gold – 27 g – 35 mm – 12h. This is the second highest graded by NGC, the first one graded MS66 and this one MS62, coming from a Spanish silver fleet's wreck of 1715.

NGC MS62 (Shipwreck certification). Big rosettes' variety on the reverse. Letter J for José Eustaquio de Leòn, assayer. Very rare, with only 5 known examples and for a recently discovered date. Assay's traces on the edge with minor marine corrosion on the surface (certified by NGC, coming from 1715 Fleet shipwreck). However, reliefs are specially processed in the die, giving a satin effect to this example, almost in mint state, never having circulated. Uncirculated. Price: 250000 €

This coin is a royal 8 escudos, well-struck, on a prepared planchet, medal alignment, far above the quality of the cob 8 escudos quickly and poorly struck on irregular flans. Only 40 coins of the royal 8 escudos are known for twelve dates between 1680 and 1732 (1695, 1698, 1702, 1711, 1712, 1713, 1714, 1715, 1717, 1723, 1728 and 1723, and maybe 1718 but still non-confirmed). Our specimen is almost perfectly struck, only showing traces of a minimal double-struck, necessary to rise the reliefs of the coin during the manual strike. Due to similar making, the coins dated 1714 and after could have been struck using the screw press, a mechanical process that could explain the different aspect of those late coins.

The few royal 8 escudos known, originally struck for the Royal Court of Spain and for dignitaries, are coming from recent submarine archeological discoveries of the 1715's treasure of the Spanish fleet. On the 24th july 1715, an eleven ships fleet leaves Havana to go north-east, off Florida, before crossing the Atlantic, going to Spain with American treasures such as Peruvian and Columbian objects, precious stones, porcelain, silver and gold coins. Those treasures were sent to Spain to fill the financial pressing needs of the Spanish court.

On the 31st july 1715, the ships encounter a hurricane killing 1500 officers and sailors whereas the shipment is scattered. Survivors inform authorities and a rescue mission is launched to help the shipwrecked and get the treasure back. For months, Spain recovers artefacts and millions of coins, even if pirates harass the operation. In 1718, the rescue mission is ended, considered as a success, even if lots of artefacts and coins are left undiscovered. They are retrieved at the end of the XXth and the beginning of the XXIth century, when 8 out of the 11 ships are recovered on the treasure coast. Sales are set up, after the State of Florida preempts 20% of the discoveries, since 1964. In 2015, 10 royal 8 escudos were retrieved, dated 1711 (7), 1712 (2) and 1715 (1). Those royal 8 escudos are considered as the most beautiful American colonial coins.

STACK'S BOWERS TO OFFER SYD MARTIN COLLECTION

Did you know that Stack's Bowers Galleries has been selected to sell Sydney F. Martin's many remarkable numismatic collections at public auction over a several year span, beginning in 2022. Stack's Bowers Galleries has sold most of the finest collections of pre-Federal coins presented at auction over the last 50 years.

Read more here

NUMISMATIC NUGGETS: MAY 20, 2022

King Getas Octodrachm

Thraco-Macedonian tribes, The Edones
King Getas, circa 479-465. Octodrachm circa 479-465, AR 28.97 g. Nude herdsman or local hero walking between two bulls r. Rev. GI?? ?? – S???V – S E?O? – ?O? retrograde Four-spoked wheel within quadripartite incuse square. Svoronos, Hellénisme Primitif, p. 46 cf. 3 and pl. IV, 19. AMNG III, pl. XXVII, 30. Tatscheva 2 var.

To read the complete lot description, see:
Auction 126, lot 61 (https://www.arsclassicacoins.com/biddr/#!/auction/lot?a=2061&l=61)

Read more here

A CLASSIC AGRIGENTUM TETRADRACHM

Sicily, Agrigentum Tetradrachm circa 420-415, AR 17.34 g. ??R?G – ????? – ? – ? Eagle l., with wings spread, perched on dead hare lying on rock against which rests a murex and a cockle-shell. Rev. Crab; in l. field, a cockle-shell. Beneath, a large fish (polyprium cernium) swimming l. Seltman, NC 1948, pl. I, i (this obverse die). Gulbenkian 163 (this obverse die). AMB 257 (this obverse die). Kraay-Hirmer 163-164 (these die). Rizzo pl. I, 16 (this obverse die). Boston, MFA 235 (this obverse die). Westermark, Akragas 529. Very rare and in exceptional condition for the issue, among the finest specimens known.

Read more here

BETTER-DATE SAINT GAUDENS MARKET INTEREST

After years of mediocre performance, the Saint Gaudens series has taken off over the past 12 months. The lack of interest in, what is arguably the most popular U.S. series of coinage, was a head-scratcher. Part of the problem is that the vast majority of "Saints" on the market are the same handful of dates that exist in the tens of thousands. Even in higher grades (MS60-64) these coins are everywhere and trade relative to their intrinsic (metal-based content) value. It's no wonder collectors and investors fail to get excited about them.

Read more here

MICHAEL ARMITAGE TO DESIGN NEW POUND COIN

Artist Michael Armitage will design a new £1 coin which will enter circulation next year, Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced.

The new design for the reverse or tails side of the coin will mark its 40th anniversary and it will be revealed later this year.

Read more here

FAKE CANADIAN FAKE TWO-DOLLAR COINS SEIZED

A Richmond Hill man is facing charges after RCMP identified and seized 10,000 counterfeit toonies.

The charges stem from an investigation dating back to last summer, when the Royal Canadian Mint discovered an ongoing counterfeit currency problem through their random sampling process. From there, the Greater Toronto Area's Trans-National Serious and Organized Crime Section opened an investigation that focused on finding those who were involved in the circulation of the faulty coins.

Read more here

LEPROSY COINS

Leprosy is perhaps the most feared disease in history, reported in millenary texts and universally popularized by its numerous mentions in the Bible. However, although this bacillus is not transmitted by contact, but through the airways when breathing, coughing or talking, different countries minted coins for prophylactic purposes since the early twentieth century for the exclusive use of leprosaria located in their territory.

This disease led to millennia of segregation and isolation measures for those who had the misfortune to suffer from it. In this article we will provide all the information on this phenomenon and the best known coins that were minted for this purpose.

Read more here

ISRAEL PRESENTATION MEDALS

Aaron Oppenheim writes:

Read more here

FINDING AN OLD SAFE

Once Jack had moved the old cabinet away, he noticed something in its place -- a circular notch on the floor. There was a handle on the item on the floor.

It seemed like a giant plug built into the floorboards, but why? He pulled hard on the plug to reveal something that had been hidden for a long time.

Read more here

THE GEOMETRIC LATHE

Read more here

MAKING ART OUT OF INFLATION

Carla Zaccagnini was seated on a bench the other day, riffling through a pile of cash. I've been collecting money that's not in circulation anymore, she said, looking up from stacks of bills sheathed in cellophane. So, currencies that are dead. It was five days before Zaccagnini's first solo exhibition in the United States would open, at Amant, a nonprofit art space in Brooklyn, and three days before the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics would announce that consumer prices had risen 8.5 per cent in the past year, sparking panic about the cost of broccoli and gasoline. Zaccagnini's show, Cuentos de cuentas / Accounts of Accounting, is based on her childhood in Argentina and Brazil in the nineteen-seventies and eighties, when hyperinflation drove people to hoard U.S. dollars. Zaccagnini recalled that grocery workers spent hours walking the aisles, replacing price tags throughout the day as prices went up.

Read more here

LOOSE CHANGE: MAY 20, 2022

U.S. Mint Reopens Washington D.C. Coin Store

The United States Mint is reopening its Washington, D.C. Coin Store on May 16, 2022. The store had been closed for more than two years to reduce the risk of Mint employee exposure to COVID-19.

Having customers coming back to the store is a great opportunity for the Mint to interact with the numismatic community, said Matt Holben, Associate Director of Sales and Marketing. Listening to our customers' feedback, observing their reactions, and engaging in conversation with customers lead to better product development.

The store will offer a wide variety of United States Mint coins and medals for sale. The initial inventory will include limited quantities of some 2021 American Eagle gold and silver coin products.

The store will have sidewalk signage outside of the entrance letting customers know where to enter into the building.

The store is giving away swag bags to the first 50 people who make a purchase.

To read the complete article, see:
United States Mint to Reopen Washington, DC Coin Store (https://www.usmint.gov/news/press-releases/mint-to-reopen-washington-dc-coin-store)

Read more here

FEATURED WEB SITE: RNUMIS

This week's Featured Web Site is the updated rNUMIS, an extensive numismatic digital library.

https://www.rnumis.com/

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
MORE WEBSITES FOR RESEARCHING ANCIENTS (https://www.coinbooks.org/v25/esylum_v25n01a10.html)