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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 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 FEBRUARY 25, 2024

New subscribers this week include: Rick Melamed. Welcome aboard! We now have 7,447 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 issue of The Asylum, and offering of Eric Newman's research files, four new books and a journal, an obituary, updates from the Newman Numismatic Portal, and more.

Other topics this week include J. L. Riddell's Monograph of the Silver Dollar, the Essex Institute, the American Numismatic Society, the American Bank Note Company, Virgil Brand, Bettye Klauss, fixed price and auction offerings, the four chaplains, the Santa Clause robbery, short snorters, and Walter Johnson's silver dollar throw.

To learn more about the Kentucky Token, the Great Numismatic Library Conflagration, the 1913 Liberty Nickel, Elie Gervais, Comparette's 1906 Monograph, University of Trier collection, Daniel W. Valentine, the Cyrus Field medal, the Savernake Wheel, Evidence notes, and the alligator who collected coins, read on. Have a great week, everyone!

Wayne Homren
Editor, The E-Sylum

 

 

ASYLUM SPRING 2024 ISSUE PUBLISHED

Welcome to The Asylum's Spring 2024 edition.

In this issue:

• My 1981 Bicentennial Bookstore Blow-out
  By Joel J. Orosz
• On a Quasi Coin Reported Found in a Boring in Illinois by William E. Dubois
  By Thomas D. Harrison
• The Kentucky Token and the Pyramid of the Fifteen American States
  By Julia H. Casey
• The Great Numismatic Library Conflagration and Other Perils Averted
  By George F. Kolbe
• Betts Library Siblings Reunited By Jeff Dickerson NBS Quiz
  By David F. Fanning
• More about Ard Browning
  By Pete Smith
• The Short Life of the Whitman Numismatic Journal
  By Mike Costanzo
• Released at Border: New Book about Borderland Numismatics
  By Jason Elwell
• BiblioFiles: Justin Hinh, “The Dansco Dude”

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HERITAGE OFFERS ERIC P. NEWMAN FILES

Heritage Auctions is offering important documents from the Eric P. Newman Collection in a U.S. Coins Showcase Auction. Commencing in 2013, a series of sales of material from the Collection of Eric P. Newman has enthralled the collecting community. Featuring 97 lots, this auction comprises the balance of his documents: research, working, and publication files including drafts, unpublished articles, correspondence, handwritten notes, memoranda, photographs, article clippings, and offprints.

Some of the highlights are listed below:

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KOLBE & FANNING BCD LIBRARY RESULTS

BCD Library Results

Kolbe & Fanning’s recent sale of the BCD Library on the coinage of antiquity was an extraordinary success. The auction lasted a little over nine hours, as over 250 registered bidders from around the world fought to win some of the 600 lots being offered. In the end, the sale realized 171% of its total pre-sale estimate, with a 96% sell rate. Record prices were the order of the day as both long-established and relatively new collectors took advantage of the unparalleled opportunity presented. A number of lots realized multiples of the estimate, with half a dozen lots bringing at least ten times estimate. The nine hours did not drag.

A few highlights (all prices are hammer and do not include the 20% premium):

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NEW BOOK: RIDDELL MONOGRAPH IN COLOR

INTRODUCTION
In 2015, I started a project to document as many contemporary counterfeit Capped Bust half dollar varieties, as documented by Riddell in his 1845 Monograph, that still exist today. By 2019, that project expanded to all counterfeit 8 reales varieties Riddell documented. Currently, over 50% of the Riddell counterfeit varieties have been documented as still existing today.

The goal of this project is to photographically document as many Riddell counterfeit varieties that still exist today and create a modernized version of his 1845 publication. In order to effectively and efficiently complete this project (to the greatest extent possible), I am requesting participation from the wider numismatic community to provide me with images of Riddell counterfeit varieties. This project is meant to be collaborative and fun, while also challenging, but ultimately worth the effort to complete.

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NEW BOOK: LOCAL COINAGES IN A ROMAN WORLD

Over the course of the second and first centuries BC, Rome conquered most of the Mediterranean world in a whirlwind of military campaigns. The lavish triumphal parades celebrated by Roman generals after their victories leave no doubt that Rome financially benefited from these victories and acquired an enormous quantity of bullion and foreign coinage on those occasions.

However, despite the unrivaled military power achieved in the course of the second and first centuries BC, one of the most surprising factors in the development of Roman domination of the Mediterranean world is that the Romans conquered and ruled most of it without imposing their own coinage on the conquered. In their pragmatic attitude to imperialism, the Romans typically retained any form of effective organization as they acquired new territories.

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BANKNOTE BOOK CRETAN STATE CHAPTER PUBLISHED

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NEW BOOK: LETTERS OF HANS VON SCHELLENBERG

Collecting Coins Around 1600

In January 2024, the first volume of Ursula Kampmann’s three-part work on the letters of Hans von Schellenberg was published. The author presents one of the most insightful sources on collecting coins in the early modern period in its historical context.

What does an imperial knight do when a lack of financial resources prevents him from affording the splendour that he believes he is entitled to by virtue of his rank? What does he do when he is unable to secure a well-paying position in the service of a prince, and the Little Ice Age drastically reduces his income? Well, he will try to gain prestige in another way. The letters of Hans von Schellenberg (1552-1609) tell us about the possibilities of an imperial knight in such a situation.

Was Collecting Coins a Matter of Prestige?
The south German imperial knight Hans von Schellenberg and the Schaffhausen pastor Johann Jakob Rüeger exchanged monthly letters in the years between 1587 and 1606. They talked about everything that mattered to them: politics, religion, music, health, their relatives, history, archaeology and, of course, numismatics – after all, they were both passionate coin collectors.

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JOURNAL OF EARLY AMERICAN NUMISMATICS V6N2

Table of Contents

Editor's Preface

Elie Gervais and the Fantastic Historiography of EG FECIT
JESSE KRAFT

The Story of South Carolina's Ill-Fated Coinage and the Soho Mint's Involvement in America's Early Coins
CHRISTOPHER R. MCDOWELL

Eighteenth-Century Provisional Copper Coins and Paper Money in Cuba and Puerto Rico
ANGEL 0. NAVARRO ZAYAS

Discovery of Fractional Paper Money in Use in Puerto Rico at the End of the Eighteenth Century
ANGEL 0. NAVARRO ZAYAS

1652 Willow Tree Coinage Census
MARK BORCKARDT, JULIA CASEY, JESSE KRAFT, CHRISTOPHER MCDOWELL, JEFF ROCK, CHRISTOPHER J. SALMON

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GERALD WILLIAM FOCHTMAN (1951-2024)

Jerry was born and grew up in Charlevoix, Michigan, and was one of four sons to Bonnie and Richard Fochtman.

He went to school at Western Michigan University and met the love of his life in Kalamazoo. He married Donna Armstrong in Traverse City, Michigan, on October 11, 1981. A marriage that lasted more than 40 years.

The couple moved from Michigan to Houston, Texas, in 1982 and in 1986 they became parents to triplets Lindsey, Jason and Krystal. Three years later, they added another son, Joseph.

In his personal time, Jerry was an avid collector of fractional currency. A passion he began when he was younger collecting coins. He later won several awards for his knowledgeable presentations on various fractional and historical topics.

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THE ESSEX INSTITUTE IN NUMISMATICS

The Essex Institute in Numismatics

The Essex Institute, located in Salem Massachusetts from 1848 to 1992, was, per Wikipedia, “a literary, historical and scientific society. It maintained a museum, library, historic houses; arranged educational programs; and issued numerous scholarly publications. In 1992 the institute merged with the Peabody Museum of Salem to form the Peabody Essex Museum.”

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VIDEO: 2005 EAC EARLY COPPERS UPDATE

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CLUB CELEBRATES BILL FIVAZ 90TH BIRTHDAY

The Metropolitan Coin Club of Atlanta is delighted to announce the successful celebration of esteemed numismatist Bill Fivaz's 90th birthday at their recent club meeting on February 17. The event, organized by the club where Bill serves as a member and on its board of directors, was a memorable occasion filled with camaraderie, reflections, and heartfelt tributes.

The celebration, which took place during the club meeting, deviated from the usual agenda to mark this significant milestone in Fivaz's life. Attendees were treated to a delightful spread of refreshments provided by club newsletter editor David Crenshaw and club secretary Marvin Dudek, ensuring a festive atmosphere for all.

Among the highlights of the celebration was a sumptuous vanilla sheet cake with fudge icing, complemented by other snacks and sodas. Plastic champagne glasses filled with non-alcoholic sparkling white grape juice cocktail were raised in a special toast to honor Fivaz.

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LEADERSHIP CHANGE AT ANS

The American Numismatic Society has announced that Dr. Gilles Bransbourg will be stepping down from his position as Executive Director in September 2024. Bransbourg has received an eight-month fellowship at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, NJ, where he will be working on his book, Roman Imperial Economics. Upon his return to the ANS in April of 2025, Bransbourg will become a Research Curator.

Dr. Ute Wartenberg Kagan, currently President of the ANS, has agreed to take over the position of Executive Director, which she previously held from 1999 through 2019. The ANS Board of Trustees considered it important to ensure continuity while the Society is engaged in locating a new headquarters.

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MORE ON ABNCO SPECIMEN ADVERTISING NOTES

This advertising banknote is rather plain compared to the allegorical type notes they produced, but they were attempting to market their product to what was being produced at the time. There are MANY variations of this note I have attributed in my test note catalogs - holographs, security strips, watermarks, Tyvek substrate (predecessor of polymer), and different backgrounds.

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FURTHER ON HAMILTON AND THE GOLD/SILVER RATIO

In the E-Sylum of February 18, 2024, Messrs Sholley & Salyards asked for proof that the Bank of the United States was restricted in sending Spanish silver coins to the Mint for recoinage. The following excerpt is taken from a document drawn up by Treasury Secretary Oliver Wolcott in 1797:

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THE VIRGIL BRAND COLLECTION

I didn't submit Virgil Brand as having the largest coin collection, as I figured there would be plenty of emails noting his collection.

He had over 130,000 entries in his journals (I believe there were 18 or more. Tony Terranova donated some to the ANS that Tony had purchased, I believe at auction).

Probably had over a million coins, as he had thousands of Civil War tokens and Cal Fractionals. I think the tokens were stored in beer barrels.

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NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: FEBRUARY 25, 2024

A minor mistake?
Steve Shupe writes:

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
MISLABELED NEW ORLEANS MINT GOLD BOOK (https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n07a11.html)

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TRIER UNIVERSITY DIGITIZES COIN CABINET

The University of Trier has had a collection of mainly ancient coins for several years. The more than 500 copies have now been digitized and made accessible in portals.

“The digitization of coin collections is a great benefit for science. Integration into databases and permanent access to a large number of coins opens up new options for research, but also for teaching,” explains Prof. Dr. Frank Daubner, the ancient historian responsible for the collection at Trier University.

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VOCABULARY TERM: PERMANENT MOLD CASTING

Permanent Mold Casting. A mold which can be used repeatedly. It is in contrast to sand casting (in which the mold is broken apart to remove the cast object) and die casting (in which the metal is applied under pressure). Although preparing the mold can be expensive, permanent mold casting is ideal for edition casting of art medals, say a dozen or more upwards. After the mold is cleaned (by compressed air) molten metal is poured in the mold, allowed to cool, opened to eject the casting; the mold can then be used to repeat the process. Permanent molds are often called dies, but what they produce is "gravity-die casting" (in contrast to die casting's "pressure-die castings"). Permanent molds do not have the restrictions that die castings have (limited to light metal compositions) and can be cast in any ferrous or nonferrous metals.

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JERRY FOCHTMAN AND DANIEL W. VALENTINE

The June 13, 2010, issue of the E-Sylum had “Quick Quiz: Mystery Numismatist in 1885” with the photo of a man in a softball uniform. Jerry Fochtman wrote, “I’ve attached a picture of a young man who later in life wrote a couple of milestone books on numismatics.” The Editor added, “No fair if you attended a recent presentation by Benny Bolin.”

My response was published the following week, “The photo gives no clue to the identity of the mystery numismatist. So I ask, where do the interests of Jerry Fochtman and Benny Bolin intersect? The answer I come up with is …” That’s where the Editor cut off my answer until the following week. A second photo of the mystery numismatist was then provided.

Two weeks later I still had the only correct answer. The two photos were of Daniel W. Valentine.

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BETTYE SNOW / KLAUSS / ROBERTS (1927-2013)

Some weeks I write about a numismatist who is famous or important. This week I will report on an obscure woman who caught the numismatic bug.

Bettye Juanita Snow was born on October 10, 1927, in Evansville, Indiana. Her parents were William Lampton Snow Jr. (1902-1966) and Amelia Winonah Lindlay (1906-1995). William was manager of the International Correspondence Schools in Evansville.

She graduated from Central High School and the Deaconess School of Nursing. She began working as a surgical nurse at Welborn Baptist Hospital. She received a Master’s degree from Indiana University in Bloomington.

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ATLAS NUMISMATICS SELECTIONS: FEBRUARY 25, 2024

1077646 | GREEK. SICILY. Syracuse. Agathocles (Agathokles). (Tyrant, 317-289 BC).Struck 305-295 BC. AR Tetradrachm. NGC AU (About Uncirculated) Strike 5/5 Surface 4/5 Fine Style. 16.84gm. Wreathed head of Arethusa facing left with three dolphins around, monogram below truncation / Charioteer holding kentron and reins driving a fast quadriga left, triskeles above, ethnic and monogram in exergue. Ierardi 46.

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STEPHEN ALBUM INTERNET AUCTION 25

Stephen Album Rare Coins will hold its Internet Auction 25 on March 4-5, 2024 at their offices in Santa Rosa, California. The auction is made up of 2000 lots of Ancient, Islamic, Indian, Chinese, and World Coins. Starting prices range from just $15 up through $475.

Category highlights include:

• 46 Lots of Mexican Coins and Tokens (46 Lots)
• A Fantastic Selection of Danish India Coins (58 Lots)
• An Assortment of British India Coins (96 Lots)
• Numerous Coins of the Mughal Empire (79 Lots)
• A Collection of Coins With Chinese Chopmarks (69 Lots)
• Umayyad of Spain Coins All With Different Dates (23 Lots)
• PCGS Graded Bulgarian Coins (19 Lots)

Some single highlights from the sale follow:

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WAYNE'S NUMISMATIC DIARY FEBRUARY 25, 2024

Tuesday, February 20, 2024 was the meeting night of Nummis Nova, my Northern Virginia numismatic social group. Steve Bishop was our host - he picked Akasaka Japanese Restaurant in Manassas. Other attendees included Jon Radel, Eric Schena, Dave Schenkman, Mike Packard, Mike Markowitz, Lorne LaVertu, my guest Jonas Denenberg.

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CELTIC SAVERNAKE WHEEL GOLD COIN

A rare Celtic gold coin discovered by metal detectorists in a field has sold for £4,400 at auction - double its guide price.

The coin, known as a Savernake Wheel, is more than 2,000 years old and is one of only seven known examples.

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CHIEF PITALESHARU'S PEACE MEDAL

Obverse: TO THE BRAVEST OF THE BRAVE - Male Skidi Pawnee (Petalesharo), wearing feathered headdress, leading female Comanche right toward two horses beneath pine and palm trees; trees and mountains in background.

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WWI SERVICE MEDAL RETURNED TO FAMILY

A metal detectorist who uncovered a First World War service medal has managed to track down the soldier's great niece and reunite her with the sentimental item.

Stephen Brame discovered the silver medal while detecting in a field in Accrington, Lancashire, on Armistice day 2023.

At first, he thought it was a George V silver coin, but it was not until he cleaned it up and did some research that he discovered it was a service medal.

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THE FOUR CHAPLAINS' MEDAL

At 12:55 a.m., a German U-boat caught the Dorchester in its cross hairs. The Dorchester was torpedoed. Men poured up out of the gangways, stunned and disoriented. The wound to the Dorchester was mortal; the ship took on water rapidly and began listing to starboard.

The men milled around the deck. Many had come up from the hold without life jackets; others wearing nothing but underwear, felt the arctic blasts and knew they had only minutes to live.

The testimonies of the survivors tell us that the sole order in that ferment of struggling men, that the only fragment of hope, came from the four chaplains who suddenly appeared on the sloping starboard side. Calmly they guided men to their boat stations, opened a storage locker and distributed life jackets. They coaxed men, frozen with fear, over the side.

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THE SANTA CLAUS BANK ROBBERY

It all began on December 23, 1927, around noon when Marshall Ratliff, Henry Helms, Robert Hill, all ex-cons, and Louis Davis, a relative of Helms, held up the First National Bank in Cisco.

As the group neared the bank, Ratliff donned a Santa Claus suit he had borrowed from Mrs. Midge Tellet, who ran the boarding house where they had been staying in Wichita Falls. They let Ratliff out several blocks from the bank. Followed by children attracted to "Santa," Ratliff joined the other three in an alley and led the way into the bank. He did not respond to the greetings directed at Santa, and the other three drew their guns, indicating that it was a holdup. While the others covered the customers and employees, Ratliff grabbed money from the tellers and forced one to open the vault.

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100TH BOMB GROUP SHORT SNORTER

The Short Snorter Project will be exhibiting at the ANA National Money Show in Colorado Springs March 14-16. The ANA is graciously providing 5 tables for the exhibit and, for ease of setup and directions, I have been assigned Table 100.

I woke up in the middle of the night and thought to dedicate the exhibit to the 100th Bombardment Group which coincides with the release of The Masters of the Air on Apple TV+ last month. Masters of the Air is based upon characters who flew B-17s with the 100th Bomb Group ("The Bloody Hundredth") which operated out of Thorpe Abbotts airfield in England. (My uncle was a B-17 navigator in the 384th Bomb Group which operated out of Grafton-Underwood.)

Donn Pearlman wrote a press release for the ANA which I forwarded to the 100th Bomb Group Foundation and I received an email back from Director Chris Barrett who shared the attached short snorter that belonged to his wife's great uncle, Flight Officer Harry Edeburn, who was a co-pilot with the 100th BG and succumbed to his wounds on September 6, 1943. We are putting together another new exhibit that will be on display in Colorado Springs. If you have been watching Masters of the Air, so far they have mentioned the names of 5 men who signed the Edeburn snorter: Marasco, Barnhill, Adams, Schmalenbach, and Van Noy. There was 100% casualty rate for the men who signed this snorter. Amazing stuff!

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NYPD PROPERTY AND EVIDENCE

The office of the Manhattan Property Clerk, as it is known, is a subterranean repository for lost objects and the tangible aftermath of crime and misadventure. Ms. Carryl has been a police evidence and property specialist there for more than a decade. Thousands of people walk through One Police Plaza each day not knowing an archive that allows the criminal justice system to run is just one story below their feet.

Almost every item that passes through the borough’s 22 precincts must go to the basement to be numbered and cataloged to be held as evidence for a trial or wait for its rightful owner. Some objects come from crime scenes. Others were turned in after they were left behind on a park bench or a sidewalk.

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WALTER JOHNSON'S SILVER DOLLAR THROW

On Feb. 22, 1936, a crowd of thousands gathered at George Washington’s boyhood home near Fredericksburg, Va., to celebrate the 204th anniversary of his birth.

The main attraction of the day’s festivities at Ferry Farm, which included the dedication of 200 cherry trees to be planted along the boulevard leading to Fredericksburg, took place at 2:30 that afternoon, when former Washington Senators pitching great Walter Johnson attempted to throw a silver dollar across the Rappahannock River. Legend had it Washington accomplished the feat as a young boy.

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LOOSE CHANGE: FEBRUARY 25, 2024

Sensational Clickbait

If you use Google’s mobile app and you have an active interest in coin collecting, you’ve probably seen a few articles online recently claiming that Bicentennial quarters still in circulation are worth millions–sometimes hundreds of millions of dollars–and that other circulating coins are worth nearly as much.

Sometimes, the feature image of these articles shows the correct coin, but often they present unrelated coins. In one article suggested by Google, the publisher used a stock photo of ancient gold coins. Finding a Roman solidus in change would be a newsworthy, once-in-a-lifetime event, but the Romans didn’t strike Bicentennial quarters. The United States Mint did.

Bicentennial quarters have not exploded in value in recent years, nor has the U.S. dollar suffered the fate of Zimbabwe’s hyperinflated currency. Instead, these articles are complete fabrications, likely the work of unethical Search Engine Optimization (SEO) companies or tabloid publishers looking to divert the public’s interest in finding life-altering treasure in change to some utterly unrelated offer of a good or service.

To read the complete article, see:
Sensational Claims About the Bicentennial Quarter Proliferate Online (https://coinweek.com/sensational-claims-about-the-bicentennial-quarter-proliferate-online/)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
ABOUT THOSE NUMISMATIC HEADLINES (https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n07a13.html)

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