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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: Jeff Dickerson, Treasurer Numismatic Bibliomania Society P. O. Box 578, Weatherford, TX 76086 Asylum For Asylum mailing address changes and other membership questions, contact Jeff 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 February 17, 2024 Kolbe & Fanning

 

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 FEBRUARY 4, 2024

The new short version of the mailing has proved a success, reaching all of our subscribers. The original full version continues to cause problems for many, and with this week's issue we've stopped sending it out. As always, let me know if you have any questions or problems.

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 more BCD library highlights, three new books, three obituaries, notes from readers, updates from the Newman Numismatic Portal, and more.

Other topics this week include medals of Mexico, "pressed penny" machines, U.S. commemorative coins, WWII numismatics, William Sumner Appleton's bookshop discovery, dealer William Sneed, fixed price and auction previews, National Gold Banks, coin gift holders, and buyer's premiums.

To learn more about Revue Numismatique, Don Erlenkotter, Harry Garrison, Gene Brandenburg, the fineness of the silver in early U.S. coinage, "The World’s Largest Coin Collection," the Fall of Riga medal, the mad potter of Biloxi, and the politest auction ever held, read on. Have a great week, everyone!

Wayne Homren
Editor, The E-Sylum

 

MORE KOLBE & FANNING BCD LIBRARY HIGHLIGHTS

BCD Library Sale Highlights

Kolbe & Fanning Numismatic Booksellers will be holding our first sale of material from the extraordinary BCD Library on the coinage of antiquity on Saturday, February 17. Formed over the course of half a century, the BCD Library is known for the remarkable breadth and depth of its holdings, which focus most particularly on ancient Greek coinage. The initial auction, which can be accessed at bid.numislit.com, primarily focuses on published collections, general works, periodicals, and landmark publications.

Some highlights include:

 

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FRANK ROBINSON AND BCD

The BCD Numismatic Library Sale, and Human Endeavor

Coin collecting might seem a very solitary pastime; the coins themselves mere objects. Yet for me its rewards have been not just interior, intellectual (and financial), but also very human in its interactions and relationships.

Forty years ago, I started ancient coin sales. With a xeroxed listing, illustrated by just putting a few coins on the copier. The crappiest images imaginable.

A letter from someone in Greece requested the catalog, making it sound like those few pitiful pictures were somehow important. I thought he must be a weirdo.

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NEW BOOK: U.S. DIMES 1792-1837

U.S. Dimes 1792-1837 Variety Identification Guide
by Robert Powers

$95.00

Proudly presented to you is the 8th publication of a series of variety identification guides covering Early U.S. Coins. This book covers all of the currently known die marriages of the U.S. Dimes series from 1792-1837. A complete list of all of the author’s previous publications to date are below, which are highly recommended:

1. U.S. Large Cents 1793-1814 (Early Date Large Cents)
2. U.S. Large Cents 1816-1839 (Middle Date Large Cents)
3. U.S. Half Cents 1793-1857 (Complete Series)
4. U.S. Half Dollars 1794-1807 (Flowing Hair and Draped Bust)
5. U.S. Half Dollars 1807-1826 (Capped Bust Halves, Vol. 1)
6. U.S. Half Dollars 1827-1836 (Capped Bust Halves, Vol. 2)
7. U.S. Half Dimes 1792-1837 (Flowing Hair, Draped, and Capped Bust)
8. U.S. Dimes 1792-1837 (Draped Bust and Capped Bust)
9. U.S. Quarters 1796-1838 (Draped Bust and Capped Bust)

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NEW BOOK: GROVE'S MEDALS OF MEXICO, 3RD ED.

Matt Ruttley writes:

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NEW BOOK: USA PRESSED PENNY MACHINES

Mega List of 3,000+ USA Pressed Penny Machines

Pressed pennies have become one of the most common souvenirs purchased from our favorite museums, zoos and landmarks. With over 3,000 machines listed all over the United States, this book should become your penny “bible” and kept in the glove box of your car. Whenever you hit the road, pull out this reference and find a machine nearby.

• The perfect size to keep in your car, purse or backpack
• Over 200 pages of pressed penny machines found in every state
• Organized alphabetically by State and City
• Plenty of space for comments in the Notes section
• Easy to clean, glossy cover allows planning at meal time
• Every State is listed (including Alaska and Hawaii)

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DONALD ERLENKOTTER (1938-2024)

David Gladfelter writes:

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HARRY W. GARRISON II (1941-2024)

Harry (Bud) W. Garrison, 82, of Cream Ridge, passed away Wednesday, January 3, 2024 from pancreatic cancer. Born in Trenton, Harry graduated from Hamilton High East and Marywood College and served in the US Army. He worked for McGraw Hill for 38 years, retiring in 2000. An avid coin collector, Harry turned his hobby into a career when he opened Colonial Valley Coins in Yardville. He sold the business in 2023. He was a long-time member of the Trenton Numismatic Club. Harry also enjoyed fishing, boating, and trips to "the lake" in Canada.

Son of the late Harry and Ruth Garrison, he was predeceased by his brother, Robert Garrison. Harry is survived by his loving wife of 62 years, Judith A. Garrison, his children, Deborah Garrison, Wesley Garrison and his wife, Veronica, Jacob Garrison and his wife, Melissa, and Asia Garrison; his grandsons, Jacob Garrison, William Garrison, Connor Guarniere, and Chase Garrison; his sister, Lorraine Wilson and her husband, Lynn as well as many nieces and nephews.

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GENE BRANDENBURG (1942-2024)

Dave writes:

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RESEARCH ON U.S. CLASSIC COMMEMORATIVES

Lee Gast Delivers Research on U.S. Classic Commemoratives 206258094)

The constantly progressing availability of information demands the reexamination of old subjects, and, in the realm of U.S. classic commemoratives (1892-1954), Lee Gast has stepped into the void and is producing monographs on the various issues in the series. The recently added Alabama Centennial (1921) installment is typical. Gast pulls documentation from congressional proceedings, the Commission of Fine Arts, and the National Archives, creating a full picture of the coin from conception to realization. The original documents provide authoritative context, and collectors of the series will appreciate the stories behind each individual commemorative issue.

Image: 1921 Alabama Centennial half dollar, Plain variety. Ex. Lee Gast Collection, photography by Mark Goodman.

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VIDEO: WORLD WAR II NUMISMATICS

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ALEXANDER HAMILTON AND SILVER FINENESS

Alexander Hamilton has been criticized by numerous past and present authors for supposedly choosing a wrong gold-to-silver ratio and a wrong standard for the grains of fine silver in a dollar; the latter leading to a clumsy fineness of .8924 for our early silver coinage. One 19th century author was apparently also the source of the tale that while U.S. dollars were significantly lighter than the Spanish dollar, their trading on par in the West Indies led to large deposits of Spanish dollars at the U.S. Mint for recoinage at a profit.

Early this year, Harry Salyards and I began researching these points and found both the criticism and the supposed arbitrage trade completely without merit. Not only did the authors criticizing Hamilton use incorrect period gold-to-silver ratios, along with incorrect weights and fineness standards for the Spanish dollars of the early 1790s, they often used assay figures for either earlier or later date Spanish dollars. And, even then, the data were often misquoted or misrepresented.

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MORE ON WILLIAM SUMMER APPLETON

Edith Pilcher's seminal book Castorland—French Refugees in the Western Adirondacks 1793-1814 is a reliable source of Castorland materials. She summarized Hough's translation of Journal of Castorland, which includes the New York company's Constitution. Numismatists have relied on this paragraph in the Constitution.

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NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: FEBRUARY 4, 2024

Holabird On Friends, Life and Death
Fred Holabird writes:

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: JANUARY 28, 2024 : Fred Holabird Remembers Rex Stark (https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n04a14.html)

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THE POLITEST AUCTION THAT EVER WAS HELD

Julia Casey writes:

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VOCABULARY TERM: PARCEL-GILT

Parcel-gilt. Partly gilt; goldplated only on a part of a medallic item for the effect of a contrast of metals or their color. Parcel-gilt usually refers to objects that were originally firegilded – those that were only partially gilded in the first place, or were a part of this original gilding has worn off. Firegilding applied only a very thin layer of gold and this was susceptible to wearing away under many conditions (as being carried about or a container that abraded the piece). Parcel-gilt was applied to both base metal and precious metal items, often silver goldplate (vermeil); the contrast of silver sheen with a gold color, or both silver and gold on the same item was the effect their creator was trying to obtain.

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WILLIAM FRANCIS SNEED JR. (1912-1979)

This week I was intrigued by an ad in The Orlando Sentinel for September 10, 1953. It invited me to “See The World’s Largest Coin Collection” and to meet “WORLD FAMOUS COIN COLLECTOR” William E. Sneed. I was somewhat skeptical that his collection may not have been the world’s largest. I also suspect his status as a “World Famous Coin Collector” was extravagant self-promotion.

Since the event had been over for seventy years, I had to be content reading about Mr. Sneed. I was able to find plenty of newspaper articles about him.

William Francis Sneed, Jr. was born in Florida on December 5, 1912.

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NUMISMAGRAM MEDAL SELECTIONS: FEBRUARY 4, 2024

102639 | FRANCE. Paris. International Expo bronze Award Medal. Issued 1900 as the official prize [awarded to F. Zerhau] (63mm, 101.66 g, 12h). By J.-C. Chaplain at the Paris mint. REPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE, bust of Marianne right, wearing oak wreath; oak tree to left; cityscape of Paris in background to right // EXPOSITION UNIVERSELLE INTERNATIONALE, Victory flying left, head upturned right, holding wreath and palm frond, and bearing victor, holding torch, upon her back; view of the expo hall in background; in exergue, cartouche with F. ZERHAU. Edge: «cornucopia» BRONZE. Button 29; Wurzbach 7193. Choice Mint State. Olive-brown surfaces. $295.

Visited by more than 50 million visitors, the 1900 Paris World's Fair, styled in French as the Exposition Universelle, ran from 14 April to 12 November, occurring in conjunction with the games of the II Olympiad—also held in Paris. The theme of the expo was a celebration of the century that was and the century that would be. Some of the technological advancements that were exhibited included the diesel engine, electric cars, talking films, and dry cell batteries, with Art Nouveau given a spotlight and being introduced to the world.

To read the complete item description, see:
102639 | FRANCE. Paris. International Expo bronze Award Medal. (https://www.numismagram.com/product-page/102639)

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WBNA US CURRENCY SALE FIVE HIGHLIGHTS

Ryan writes:

New Jersey March 25, 1776 Fr. NJ-175-180 PMG Extremely Fine 40 1/- to 15/- Shillings (Uncut Sheet)

Extremely Rare and Historic Uncut Sheet of 12 from New Jersey Issue of March, 1776.

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NUMISMATIC NUGGETS: FEBRUARY 4, 2024

Titus Sestertius

Titus, 79-81. Sestertius (Ae, 34.34 mm, 25.73 g) uncertain mint, Rome or Thrace, 80-81. IMP T CAES DIVI VESP F AVG P M TR P P P COS VIII. Laureate head of Titus right. Rev. Mars nude, wearing flowing cloack on the left shoulder and crested helmet, advancing right with the right leg onward, holding long spear in the right hand and trophy in the left hand over the shoulder, S C to left and right sides. RIC II.1, 499. RPC II, 502. Cohen 203 corr; BMCRE 310. Dark patina. Extremely Fine

To read the complete lot description, see:
Titus, 79-81. Sestertius (https://www.biddr.com/auctions/astarte/browse?a=4267&l=5045661)

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GEORGE OHR: THE MAD POTTER OF BILOXI

Just a few blocks from shore, a five-story wooden “pagoda” labeled “BILOXI ARTPOTTERY” towered above the train tracks that ran across Delauney Street. Approaching it, a visitor saw hand-lettered signs. One read: “Get a Biloxi Souvenir, Before the Potter Dies, or Gets a Reputation.” Another proclaimed: “Unequaled unrivaled—undisputed— GREATEST ARTPOTTERON THE EARTH.” Stepping inside, a curious tourist found a studio overflowing with pots. But they were not your garden variety. These pots featured rims that had been crumpled like the edges of a burlap bag. Alongside them were pitchers that seemed deliberately twisted and vases warped as if melted in the kiln. And colors! In contrast to the boring beiges of Victorian ceramics, these works exploded with color—vivid reds juxtaposed with gunmetal grays; olive greens splattered across bright oranges; royal blues mottled on mustard yellows. The entire studio seemed like some mad potter’s hallucination, and standing in the middle of it all was the mad potter himself.

Viewed from a distance across his cluttered shop, George Ohr didn’t look mad. With his huge arms folded across his dirty apron, he looked more blacksmith than potter. But as they got a bit closer, customers could glimpse the 18-inch mustache he had wrapped around his cheeks and tied behind his head. And there was something in Ohr’s eyes—dark, piercing and wild—that suggested, at the very least, advanced eccentricity. If the pots and the man’s appearance did not prove lunacy, his prices did. He wanted $25—the equivalent of about $500 today—for a crumpled pot with wacky handles. “No two alike,” he boasted, but to most customers each looked as weird as the next. No wonder that as the new century began, thousands of the colorful, misshapen works collected dust on Ohr’s shelves, leaving the potter mad, indeed, at a world that failed to appreciate him. “I have a notion . . . that I am a mistake,” he said in an interview in 1901. Yet he predicted, “When I am gone, my work will be praised, honored, and cherished. It will come.”

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THE NATIONAL GOLD BANKS

In the western United States, specifically California, hard money remained the norm in commerce, even after paper money had become more acceptable in the East and Midwest. Silver and gold were king, and other forms of currency that circulated in the East found no welcome in California. Distrust among the early pioneers that came seeking their fortunes in the gold fields of California directly influenced the prohibition of banks and other institutions from issuing paper money in the state.

However, in 1870 a compromise was made at the federal level, one that reflected the hard money preferences of California and the West Coast. The Currency Act of July 12, 1870, authorized the creation of special National Gold Banks that had the authority to issue National Bank Notes redeemable in gold coin. From 1871 through 1883 a total face value of $3,465,240 across almost 200,000 notes was issued to 10 banks in California and Massachusetts.

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COIN GIFT HOLDERS

In the past I’ve written about the importance of original packaging on numismatic merchandise. What about the gift boxes, cards, envelopes, and other mediums used when gifting a coin?

The boxes, cards, and envelopes that coins were originally gifted in are also of immense importance – and sometimes collector value! Not only were a great many of these packaging items disposed of over the decades, but also the process of discarding this packaging left the coin(s) inadvertently damaged.

Much like original U.S. commemorative coin packaging has value, these coin-related items are highly collectible, and some are quite valuable too.

I’ve managed to prevent the original U.S. commemorative packaging from being disposed of numerous times with just this warning. Was that important? Here’s the deal: it is not just the packaging that might be valuable, but also the information that packaging might provide us.

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SOTHEBY'S REVAMPS BUYER'S PREMIUMS

The single most annoying and opaque aspect of buying and selling items at auction is about to get a lot more pleasant and transparent — at least at Sotheby's, which unveiled a major transformation of its commission structure on Thursday.

Why it matters: Buyers and sellers alike have been frustrated for decades at the way in which the amount they end up paying (or receiving) can differ significantly from the hammer price in the auction room.

• Those differences — effectively, the amount of the transaction that Sotheby's takes for itself — have risen steadily over the years. Now, they are going to fall to a multi-decade low after May 20.
• Thursday's announcement from Sotheby's represents a major reset — and is likely to put huge pressure on Christie's to follow suit. (Christie's declined to comment to Axios on what they may or may not do.)

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LOOSE CHANGE: FEBRUARY 4, 2024

MacNeil’s Standing Liberty Quarter

Some numismatic dealers and researchers like to infer that Standing Liberty Quarters, struck between 1916 and 1930, is shrouded in a veil of mystery or controversy. Let’s explore these so-called controversies to see if they have withstood the test of time.

In 1916, there were three coins—the current and circulating Dime, Quarter, and Half Dollar—that each had been struck for 25 years. The U.S. Mint’s Chief Engraver, Charles E. Barber, had designed all of them. Each of Barber’s coin denominations shared the same obverse, and the reverse of the Quarter and Half Dollar shared a common reverse. The Dime had a much simpler reverse but none of the designs were awe-inspiring, even by 19th Century standards.

The Mint Director had invited a number of accomplished artists to offer new and more artistically beautiful designs than Barber’s stodgy Miss Liberty. Of all of the designs submitted for the three coins, the works of two sculptors were selected for these three coins. Adolph A. Weinmans’ designs were chosen for the Dime (Mercury Dime) and for the Half Dollar (Walking Liberty). Hermon Atkins MacNeil’s design was selected for the Quarter. The selections were chosen by Treasury Department officials in February of 1916.

MacNeil was born in Massachusetts in 1866. Early in his artistic career he studied art in Paris and, after winning an art scholarship, he went to Rome for further study. MacNeil was primarily a sculptor and he created numerous life size sculptures of Native Americans in order to portray events in their lives.

To read the complete article, see:
The Controversial Standing Liberty Quarters (https://www.greysheet.com/news/story/the-controversial-standing-liberty-quarters)

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