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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 MARCH 3, 2024

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 new books, a billionaire obit, updates from the Newman Numismatic Portal, notes from readers, and more.

Other topics this week include Joseph Mickley, George Clapp, Walter Johnson, Elvira Clain-Steffanelli, Emperor Norton, Stan Kirby, Ruth Pleigo, the Central States Numismatic Society, fixed price and auction offerings, Indian Peace medals, the South Sea Company shilling, Maundy coins, Binion bills, and pseudo currency.

To learn more about Government of Tibet paper money, the S&S Library, the Roosevelt "Lucky Tillicum" coin, personal medals, Tri-State Coin Supply, the Peace of Nystadt medal, coins of Valentinian, America's most annoying currency, the Numismatica Domestica Club, Tesla's stolen head, and the Super Bowl LVIII Flip Coin, read on. Have a great week, everyone!

Wayne Homren
Editor, The E-Sylum

 

 

 

NEW BOOK: COINAGE 2024 BOOK OF LISTS

COINage 2024 Book of Lists
$12.99

• Insider’s guide to U.S. coin values and mintage figures for the greatest rarities and all the popular coins, by Scott A. Travers, fully updated for 2024
• Comprehensive lists of coin dealers and auction companies plus coin clubs and organizations
• Best deals in trading coins and charting values
• Top six vintage commemorative coins
• David Hall’s greatest coins of all time
• Top five U.S. coins for fun and profit
• Exclusive: Photographic guide to grading silver American Eagle 1-oz bullion coins
• Coin collecting 101 with coin market directions and how to profit
• The case for gold and silver as currency and as an alternative investment
• Coin treasures buried at sea worth millions

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BANKNOTE BOOK TIBET CHAPTER PUBLISHED

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JACOB ROTHSCHILD (1936-2024)

Passing along a New York Times obituary, Jeff Zarit writes:

Jacob Rothschild, a wealthy financier, patron of the arts and philanthropist with close ties to Israel, who broke with his family’s fabled banking dynasty at a time of radical change in the world of high finance, has died. He was 87.

His death was announced on Monday by the Rothschild Foundation, a British charity of which he was the chairman. It did not specify when or where he died or give the cause of death.

Mr. Rothschild — more formally the fourth Baron Rothschild — was descended from Mayer Amschel Rothschild, a coin trader in the Jewish ghetto in Frankfurt, who sent four of his five sons to Vienna, London, Naples and Paris to seek their fortune in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

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1862 JOSEPH J. MICKLEY LETTER

Eric P. Newman Correspondence Files Showcase Auction Features 1862 Joseph J. Mickley Letter

Now open for bidding, Heritage Auctions is offering Selections from the Eric P. Newman Correspondence Files, a Showcase Auction which closes on March 25. Among the 97 lots is a two-page letter (lot #52083) from the Philadelphia numismatist Joseph J. Mickley, dated March 19, 1862, in which Mickley comments on coin prices.

The letter, signed by Mickley and addressed to Francis Lepère, notes in part “the price of American coins has gone up very high within several years past, owing to there being a great many Collectors and to our old coins being recoined, the old Copper Cents and Halves disappearing from circulation rapidly.” The reference to “halves” no doubt indicates half cents. As other authors have noted, the introduction of small cents in 1856 led many Americans to being examining their pocket change, especially large cents, and the overall “coin consciousness” of the American public grew steadily, especially on the east coast.

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NEWMAN PORTAL DIGITIZATION WORKFLOWS

Digitization Workflows Within Newman Portal

As noted in the February 18 E-Sylum, we’ve mounted a series of numismatic exhibits in Olin Library at Washington University in St. Louis for the Spring 2024 semester. Included in the exhibit is a video, created by Ian Lanius, Exhibitions Graphic Designer & Preparator, which illustrates digitization workflows utilized at the library to process varying media. We depict examples of multispectral imaging, high resolution scanning, digitization of transparencies, book scanning with facing cameras, and microfilm digitization. This video is displayed without sound, with subtitles walking viewers through the various workflows.

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VIDEO: ANS CLAPP COLLECTION LARGE CENTS

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S&S LIBRARY UPDATE

The biggest achievement for me in the last few months was getting the BCD auction catalogs all on the shelves. It was no small feat and I feel compelled to thank a number of people who helped. The most important is my husband, Rainer, who helped to measure, design and coordinate construction of the bookshelves that house nearly 800 linear feet of catalogs. Next is Tyler Rossi, my dedicated and hardworking assistant, who unpacked hundreds of boxes, sometimes all on his own and put them up on the shelves in the correct order. Finally, my sons Jakob and Leo, who during their holiday break from studying, broke down those boxes and brought them out to the trash. It was a big affair but finally the library is starting to look like……well, a library!

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MORE ON THE SPANISH-U.S. DOLLAR TRADE

More On The Spanish Dollar-U.S. Dollar Trade

First, we wish to thank R.W. Julian for posting the 1797 letter from Secretary of the Treasury, Oliver Wolcott, to the president and directors of the Bank of the United States, directing the bank to send whatever gold or silver foreign coins they have to the mint for recoining, except “Spanish dollars & parts of such dollars.”

Of particular interest to the subject at hand, is Wolcott’s specific mention of the “mint act” of Feb. 9, 1793. That act made certain foreign coins legal tender, including Spanish dollars and their cut parts. However, the act also clearly states that in order to be legal tender, the dollars must weigh at least 415 grains (with cut parts in proportion).

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MORE ON WALTER JOHNSON'S DOLLAR THROW

Brian Healy of Walnut Creek, California writes:

Franklin D. Roosevelt "Lucky Tillicum" Coin
White metal, 27 mm, 8.28 gm

Obverse:
Franklin D. Roosevelt facing left
LUCKY TILLICUM / REBUILD WITH ROOSEVELT

Reverse:
Map of the United States with sunrise behind it.
PROSPERITY / 1933 / FOLLOW THE ROOSEVELT TRAIL

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NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: MARCH 3, 2024

More on New Orleans Mint Gold
Rich Kelly and Nancy Oliver write:

From the article:

To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
MISLABELED NEW ORLEANS MINT GOLD BOOK (https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n07a11.html)
NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: FEBRUARY 25, 2024 : A minor mistake? (https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n08a18.html)

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CLAIN-STEFANELLI'S NUMISMATICS - AN ANCIENT SCIENCE

Elvira Eliza Clain-Stefanelli wrote a book (the publisher, the U. S. Government Printing Office labeled it as Paper 32 from the Museum of History and Technology) NUMISMATICS AN ANCIENT SCIENCE, illustrated, card covered, 102 pages,1965. The “Paper 32” is also in a cloth-bound compendium of Papers 31, 32 and 33, Contributions from the Museum of History and Technology, United States National Museum Bulletin 229, 1970. Paper 31 is by Dr. Vladimir Clain-Stefanelli — History of the National Numismatic Collections.

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1870S EMPEROR NORTON MARKET FORECASTS

In 2016, Bonhams auction house sold a c.1874 cabinet card of Emperor Norton for $6,000.

The photograph was taken only a couple of years after an Oakland editor wondered, in January 1872, if people might actually pay for photos of the Emperor — and, if so, how much:

WHAT DID Thomas Houseworth ask — retail — in 1874 for a cabinet card of his studio’s photo of Emperor Norton? One dollar? Two?

After 140 years, $6000 is quite an appreciation in value on one or two bucks.

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VOCABULARY TERM: PERSONAL MEDAL

Personal Medal. In a broad sense, a medallic item with a person's portrait or about a specific person. In a narrower sense a medallic item whose attachment by its owner is of a personal nature; the item may bear a portrait or inscription relating to the owner or his family.

It is in the broader sense that many numismatic writers have employed the term, usually plural. Horatio Storer, for example, in his Medicina in Nummis, divided the vast subject of medical medals into two groups – personal medals and general medals – the later divided and subdivided into many topics, as types of diseases, medical colleges, events, societies, hospitals, nursing, pharmacy and such. Personal medals are in one long alphabetical list by name of person portrayed, or the subject of the medal.

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STANLEY THOMAS KIRBY (1940-2005)

Last week I asked the question, “Who was behind Tri-State Coin Supply Co. Inc., distributor of the numismatic bug jewelry?” The first response came from Julia Casey. She suggested it was Stanley Thomas Kirby. This article is based primarily on her research.

Kirby was born on October 27, 1940, in Temple, Texas, and died on December 30, 2005, in Pewee Valley, Kentucky.

His obituary states that “he served in the U. S. Army during the Korean War.” This is highly unlikely since he would have been 10 to 13 years old at the time. He was stationed in Korea in 1959.

He moved to Louisville, Kentucky, and worked as district manager for Alden’s Catalogue and Appliance Store 1967 to 1969. He started Action Lawn and Garden Center on St. Matthews Avenue in 1969 and later in 1990 bought an interest in Cooper-Kirby Chevrolet in Crestwood.

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ANS 2023 HUNTINGTON AWARDEE: RUTH PLIEGO

The Trustees of the American Numismatic Society (ANS) have named Dr. Ruth Pliego as the recipient of the 2023 Archer M. Huntington Medal Award for Excellence in Numismatic Scholarship. The award will be presented on June 13, 2024 at the ANS headquarters in New York City, followed by the Silvia Mani Hurter Memorial Lecture by the honoree: “Archer M. Huntington and the Visigothic Coins: Revisiting the La Capilla Hoard.”

Dr. Ruth Pliego holds a Ph.D. from the University of Seville in Spain (2006), where she serves as a lecturer and researcher in the Department of Prehistory and Archaeology. She has been involved with the Casa de Velázquez in Madrid (2012-2013) and as a Research Fellow at the Paris Institute for Advanced Study and the École Pratique des Hautes Études (2017-2018). Her research residencies include the University of Padua (2018), the University of Hamburg (at the Roman Islam Center, 2020) and the University of Lisbon (2020-2021).

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CENTRAL STATES INAUGURAL STATE SHOWCASE

The State Showcase, a new program to honor all 13 states that comprise the Central States Numismatic Society region, will be launched at the 2024 CSNS annual convention, May 2- 4, in the Chicago suburb of Schaumburg, Illinois.

“Iowa will be the first state recognized. We’ll be giving away mint condition 2004 Iowa state commemorative quarter-dollars certified by ANACS (www.ANACS.com) to the first 3,000 CSNS convention visitors in May. The coins are donated by Christopher’s Rare Coins (www.ChristophersRareCoins.com) in Johnston, Iowa,” explained CSNS President Mitch Ernst.

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NUMISMAGRAM MEDAL SELECTIONS: MARCH 3, 2024

GREAT BRITAIN. House of Stuart carved bone Plaque. Produced mid-late 18th century (87mm x 73mm, 35.49 g). STVART, four draped busts to left and right, all facing inward: James I (IAMES .I.), Oliver Cromwell (OLIV.), William III (W.), and Mary II (M.) facing right, and Charles I (CHA .I.), Charles II (C .II.), James II (I .II.), and Anne (A.) facing left; all in bas-relief, with stippled background // Blank, though numerous grooves from the carving and smoothing. Edge: Somewhat beveled. Essentially as Made. Almond-ivory in color, with great smoothness and intricacy to the portraits. $1095.

A very interesting and seemingly unique piece on account of its hand-made nature, this bone carving displays the various members of the House of Stuart, along with, rather strangely, Oliver Cromwell, whose interlude with the British Commonwealth saw a brief pause of the monarchy in the mid-17th century. As such, this bears the portraits of the leading figures from the death of Elizabeth I in 1603 to the death of Anne (and the beginning of the House of Hanover) in 1714. Given the use of the "V" for a "U" in STVART, as well as a ligate letter form combining the ME in the name of James I, it would seem that a period of manufacture would lie sometime in the mid-late 18th century.

To read the complete item description, see:
102744 | GREAT BRITAIN. House of Stuart carved bone Plaque. (https://www.numismagram.com/product-page/102744)

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2024 MADISON COUNTY COIN CLUB MEDAL AVAILABLE

The 2024 Madison County Coin Club of Huntsville, Alabama Medal

The Madison County Coin Club of Huntsville, Alabama announced that Daniel Carr, proprietor of the Moonlight Mint, has produced silver and copper medals for their club.

The medals are based upon the Saint-Gaudens $20 Double Eagle. The silver medal is 1 ounce of .999 silver and is edge-lettered with “One troy oz. .999 silver” and a serial number. Only 35 pieces were minted. The other medal is pure copper, measures 39 mm in size, and bears the same design except for a smooth edge. Only 50 pieces were minted in copper. Of the silver medals, only five are remaining, while copper ones have 10 available for purchase. The silver medals are on sale at $100 each and the copper medals are $15.

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STACKS OFFERS SLOVICK INDIAN PEACE MEDALS

Stack’s Bowers Galleries Announces Sale of the Ronald A. Slovick Family Collection of Indian Peace Medals

Stack’s Bowers Galleries is excited to announce the upcoming sale of the Ronald A. Slovick Family Collection of Indian Peace medals, a highlight of their Spring 2024 Official Auction of the Whitman Coin & Collectibles Spring Expo.

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COINS OF THE HOUSE OF VALENTINIAN

Coins of Valentinian I

Valentinian I. 364-375 CE. AV Solidus (21mm, 4.37 g, 6h). Antioch mint, 6th officina. Struck 365 CE. D N VALENTINI ANVS P F AVG, rosette-diademed, draped, and cuirassed bust right / RESTITVTOR REIPVBLICAE, Valentinian standing facing, head right, holding labarum with right hand and Victory on globe in left; ANTI*. Image: CNG.

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OXFORD POUND OFFERED

A historic coin pressed in Oxford is up for auction next month and is expected to sell for thousands of pounds.

The rare item is an Oxford half pound which dates back to 1643 when it was created in the city’s mint.

It depicts King Charles I on horseback, crowned and in full armour raising a sword while on the reverse is the abbreviated form of Charles’s oath made at Wellington in September 1642.

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1723 SOUTH SEA COMPANY SHILLING

George I, Shilling, 1723 SSC Extremely Fine

The South Sea Company (SSC) was a British joint-stock company founded in 1711. It was created to reduce the cost of the national debt. The company stock rose greatly in value as it expanded its operations dealing in government debt, and peaked in 1720 before suddenly collapsing, it ruined thousands of investors, and became known as the South Sea Bubble. Coinage of the South Sea Company was minted in Britain in 1723, after they discovered silver in Indonesia in 1722. Just over 300 years later, we’re delighted to offer you this beautiful “SSC”shillings in very high grade, limited numbers only.

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KING CHARLES III 2024 MAUNDY COIN PLANS

Every year in the UK a Maundy Service occurs on the Thursday before Easter and each year, the British Monarch distributes silver coins to chosen men and women.

Early in her reign, Queen Elizabeth II decided that the money should not just be handed out in London and every year she travelled to a different Cathedral for the service.

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BINION 1934 $10,000 BILL OFFERED

Among the most well-known stories in the history of American currency is that of Benny Binion and his hoard of 1000 Series of 1934 $10,000 Federal Reserve Notes. For nearly 35 years these were housed inside of a golden horseshoe display at Binion’s Horseshoe Casino (now Binion’s Gambling Hall and Hotel) in Las Vegas. Assembled in 1964 and broken up in 1999, each individual note in the display represented a titanic sum of money at the time; these notes were primarily intended to be used to transfer large sums of money between banks.

Today a rare sight even among the inventories of established auction houses and major dealers, $10,000 Federal Reserve Notes have long been sought after by collectors seeking to assemble an impressive collection of high denomination notes. The presence of a $10,000 hailing from Binion’s display in lot 21377 in our upcoming Spring 2024 Showcase Auction is sure to generate excitement among collectors and dealers alike.

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$100 BILL, AMERICA’S MOST ANNOYING CURRENCY

For all its prevalence, the $100 bill is more effective for storing money than spending it. Even when cashiers do accept the bills, they hold up checkout lines to verify they aren’t counterfeits. (Or, at minimum, give an eye-roll along with your change.) Economists have called for slowing down the printing press, due to their use in illicit activity.

“Everyone almost questions you and your legitimacy for using a $100 bill,” said Sage Handley, 23.

Handley, who works as a marketing and research assistant in College Station, Texas, found a $100 bill in an old makeup bag earlier this month. She posted on TikTok about the embarrassment of spending it, one of many social-media posts mocking the awkwardness of paying for a small item with a $100 bill.

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SO WHO'S USING ALL THE CASH?

Federal Reserve data shows that the volume of currency in circulation has only increased since 2002. Every denomination — including less common banknotes such as the $2 bill — has increased in circulation, from the humble dollar to the Benjamins. As of December 31, there were 54.1 billion notes in circulation compared to 22.9 billion notes in 2002.

Economics experts say that despite increasing reliance on cards, cash remains resilient and an important payment method for many consumers.

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THE BIRTH OF A (PSEUDO) CURRENCY

A dozen pseudo-currencies were issued in Argentina in 2002. How did that work? And why are they coming back in 2024?

What is a pseudo-currency? How do they start? Why do they have value?

Here is a Bono Patacon, emitted by the province of Buenos Aires:

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LOOSE CHANGE: MARCH 3, 2024

Who stole Nikola Tesla’s head?

Lou Rebrovic typed his last name into Google this weekend hoping to find some long-lost relatives to connect with now that he is retired.

Instead, he may have made a break in a mystery that has baffled his family and thousands of Clevelanders for nearly a decade: Who stole Nikola Tesla’s head?

Or, more precisely: Who stole a bronze bust of Tesla that disappeared from its pedestal in the Cleveland’s Serbian Cultural Garden in 2014?

Rebrovic said he was shocked when he saw one of the first results the search engine spat out: a listing on LiveAuctioneers.com, a popular auctioneering website that allows galleries and private individuals to list works of art for online auction.

When he saw the picture, Rebrovic instantly recognized it as the famed Serbian-American inventor whom his father, Matthew Louis Rebrovic, sculpted and gifted to the garden for its 2008 dedication.

“I thought, ‘Oh my God, that’s dad’s statue,’” Rebrovic recalled in a phone interview Monday.

To read the complete article, see:
Who stole Nikola Tesla’s head? Bust taken from Cleveland’s Cultural Gardens emerges at online auction after missing for 10 years (https://www.cleveland.com/court-justice/2024/02/who-stole-nikola-teslas-head-bust-taken-from-clevelands-cultural-gardens-emerges-at-online-auction-after-missing-for-10-years.html)

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DELHI MAN SWALLOWS 39 COINS... AND MORE!

Delhi man swallows 39 coins, 37 magnets to 'build his body'

A Delhi man swallowed 39 coins and 37 magnets after presuming that the zinc content in the former would help him in bodybuilding, When doctors asked him why he had consumed the coins and magnets, he said he thought the zinc content, in the former, would help build his body. He also said that the magnet would ensure the coins remained in the intestine and assist in absorbing the zinc.

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