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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 16, 2025

New subscribers this week include: Michel Vonk, courtesy Adrian J. Lansen; and Jerry Jordan, courtesy Mel Wacks. Welcome aboard! We now have 7,254 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, a numismatic literature sale, one new book, three periodicals, an obituary, updates from the Newman Numismatic Portal, and more.

Other topics this week include Asian numismatics, chopmarks, a rare President's Day medal, Iowa commemorative halves, the Token and Medal Society, Victor David Brenner, coins of the Philippines, the Carson City Mint, fixed price and auction selections, a holey dollar, the Trial of the Pyx, the penny purge, numismatic art, and the hidden costs of collecting.

To learn more about Charles I. Bushnell, The Voice of the Turtle, gold bars issued in China and Taiwan in 1945-50, Gary Oddie, the Coin-Dition Check List, 1804 dollar owner H. G. Brown, the Canada Subdued medal, Celtic rarities, Dolphin money, privy marks, and coin melt-value speculation, read on. Have a great week, everyone!

Wayne Homren
Editor, The E-Sylum

 

ASYLUM SPRING 2025 ISSUE PUBLISHED

Welcome to The Asylum's Spring 2025 digital edition.

In this issue:

• Charles I. Bushnell: Attorney and Counsellor at Law By Julia Casey
• The Voice of the Turtle and the Ancient Coin Club of America: Rediscovering a Lost Chapter in Numismatic Literature By William E. Daehn
• The Secret Service and the Secret M. A. Brown Plates By Leonard Augsburger
• The Bibliographical Society Medal By Ira Rezak
• An Unusual Wedding Present "Full of New Ideas and Possibilities" By David Pickup
• A Bibliography of Inaugural Medal Reference Works By Michael B. Costanzo

Message from NBS President Len Augsburger

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NUMISMATIC AUCTIONS SALE 69 LITERATURE LOTS

US Specialized Gold Coinage Numismatic Literature Box Lot of Varied References - All Different Hardbound Examples 15 Volumes Ex Money Tree Archives. Features some classic, other modern and iconic references, all different and all hardbound types including a full seven volume set of Akers, other titles written by and with content from Adams, Barfield, Dannreuther, Kagin, Bowers, Loewinger, Winters and others including specialized references on Bechtler, California Gold, Charlotte and Dahlonega Mint Coinage(2), Proof & Die Variety/Die State works on US Gold Coinage, even a scarce Charles Kramer Collection Hardbound Auction Catalog and more!

Read more here

NEW BOOK: GOLD BARS OF THE CENTRAL MINTS

The Gold Bars of the Central Mints 1945-1950
By: Stephen Tai

A new book has recently been released by author Stephen Tai. This is his 14th book and is the first book in English to cover the history of the gold bars issued in China and Taiwan in 1945-50, the period of the end of the Chinese Civil War and the Republican retreat to Taiwan.

Mr. Tai is the first author to have used recently declassified government documents held in the Taiwan government archives. The book starts with a brief overview of the end of Chinese taels and the silver standard and the introduction of fiat currency. This is quickly followed by the casting of gold bars in China followed by the issuance of gold bars in Taiwan in 1949 following the end of the civil war.

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PERIODICAL: OCCASIONAL NUMISMATIC PAPERS NO. 3

CONTENTS

• About the Contributors
• Letters to the Editors
• Wood 23 Error: Double Flip Strike by Ray Malone

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PERIODICAL: ASIAN NUMISMATICS NO. 52

Here are the contents of the latest issue of Numismatique Asiatique (Asian Numismatics). -Editor

EDITORIAL
Il était grand temps de « déconstruire » la Monnaie de Paris
It was high time to "deconstruct" the Paris Mint

VIETNAM
The Merit Awards of Vietnam
by Craig Greenbaum

LAOS
Les usages monétaires chez les Hmong du Laos (2ème partie)
par Alain Escabasse

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PERIODICAL: CHOPMARK NEWS FEBRUARY 2025

The latest issue of The Chopmark News has been published by editor Colin Gullberg. It's the official publication of the Chopmark Collectors Club. Here's an excerpt from his From the Editor comments followed by the issue's table of contents. -Editor

In this issue, we meet new member Josh Shaffer. Josh is a dealer in Ohio and who, unlike many dealers, has an interest in chopmarked coins. Welcome to the club Josh!

Another new member, Robert Bracey, has written an article on Indian numismatics entitled "Are there chopmarks on Indian coins?" We haven’t published much on Indian coins but shroff marks are a regular feature on Indian hammered coinage. By the way, Robert has taken over Helen Wang’s position as head of Asian numismatics at the British Museum.

Dealer-member Scott Semans has sent me some of his old fixed price lists. Scott has handled a lot of chopmarked coins in the past and thought these might be of interest to some readers.

Ben Dalgleish in Hong Kong has sent an article of an interview he did with long-time Hong Kong dealer-collector Henry Chan. Mr. Chan is one of the few Chinese who has developed an interest in chopped coins.

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GARY ODDIE (1965-2025)

Jeff Rock submitted this remembrance of researcher and author Gary Oddie. Thank you. Sorry to hear this news. -Editor

  Gary Oddie
January 23, 1965 – February 5, 2025

It is with great sadness that collectors learned of the death of Gary Oddie, managing to just cross the 60-year mark before succumbing after a long, valiant battle with cancer. Gary was well-known in the UK, giving countless talks and writing what seemed like a major article or blog post every week. Gary authored or edited three books on the tokens and such of the two counties he lived in, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire. The first, in 2011, was Bedfordshire Seventeenth Century Tokens, by John Gaunt, greatly expanded by Gary, which was an in-depth look at the 100 or so issuers of 17th century tokens in that county, including numerous previously unknown varieties, with much research into the lives of the token issuers, their trades, and the economics of the time which required the issuance of tens of thousands of different tokens across England. This was the first in a series authored by Token Corresponding Society members which re-appraise Williamson’s 17th century token reference book, county by county, illustrated with the best examples available and with up to date research.

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A PRESIDENT’S DAY MEDAL MYSTERY

Newman Numismatic Portal Project Coordinator Len Augsburger has a question about the gold President’s Day Medal by Frank Gasparro. Can anyone help? -Editor

 

A President’s Day Medal Mystery

A summer 1983 fixed price list from Stack’s offers a President’s Day medal, designed by Frank Gasparro: "President’s Day Medal, 1983. 38mm .999 Gold, 44.85 grams. By Frank Gasparro. Washington & Lincoln facing. Rv. Their monuments in nation’s capital. Only 100 struck by Medallic Art Company. In cherry wood case. Brilliant Proof $700.00." The piece is apparently rare, and appears in only two sources on Newman Portal, the other being a March 5, 1983 article in Numismatic News.

The March 5, 1983 article, by Ed Reiter, quotes Gasparro on the design on the medal. "I had a rough time of it placing the two heads together," he said. "On the first shot, I put Washington in front of Lincoln with side views of both. But I figured that one or the other was getting hurt. So I put them side by side." The reverse concept featuring the Washington Monument was considered during the evolution of the Anthony dollar but was ultimately discarded.

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VIDEO: IOWA COMMEMORATIVE HALF DOLLARS

The David Lisot Video Library on the Newman Numismatic Portal can be found at:
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/multimediadetail/522852

We highlight one of his videos each week in The E-Sylum. Here's one from 2009 with Michael "Stan" Turrini speaking about the 1946 Iowa Statehood Centennial Commemorative half dollars. -Editor

 

Read more here


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HR 595: LAWFUL TRADE IN COLLECTORS' COINS

The Ancient Coin Collectors Guild published this note about a bill introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives about import restrictions on ancient coins. -Editor

 

HR 7865, a Bill to Facilitate the Lawful Trade in Collectors' Coins, Reintroduced as HR 595

HR 7865, a bill introduced by the Hon. Beth Van Duyne (R-Tex.) to facilitate the lawful trade in numismatic items, has been reintroduced in the 119th Congress as HR 595. The reintroduced bill has already picked up five cosponsors. The cosponsors are the Hon. Dusty Johnson (R- SD); the Hon. Mark Amodie (R-Nev.); the Hon. Burgess Owens (R-Ut.); the Hon. Sarah Jacobs (D-Cal.); and the Hon. Lloyd Smucker (R-Pa.).

Ever increasing numbers of overlapping import restrictions on common collectors’ coins have made the legislation necessary. For twenty-five years after the Cultural Property Implementation Act (CPIA) was passed, there were no import restrictions on ancient coins. This should be no surprise because it is hard to link coins—which by their very nature are instruments of exchange—to one modern nation state. Indeed, when the CPIA was being negotiated, Mark Feldman, one of the State Department’s top lawyers, assured Congress that "it would be hard to imagine a case" where coins would be restricted.

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TAMS AND BRASS CHECKS AND RED LIGHTS

Clifford Mishler passed along these remembrances of the Brass Checks and Red Lights book and the early days of the Token and Medal Society. Thank you! -Editor

Just a bit more insight on the book – Brass Checks and Red Lights – by Fred Mazzulla as referenced by Bob Leonard in the February 2 issue.

I happen to have a copy of the book tucked away in my library. It’s been there since 1963 when the then recently published effort was distributed to attendees. It came into my possession when I attended the banquet of the Token and Medal Society on Friday evening, August 9, 1963, during the American Numismatic Association convention in Denver. I’ll not speculate on the veracity of the author or the contents of the volume.

The TAMS banquet was held at the Denver Press Club that evening, with the program arranged by Harold Schmal of Phoenix, and Dr. Phillip Whiteley of Denver, as banquet co-chairmen. The speaker for the evening was none other than Fred Mazzulla . . . as I remember, his presentation was more than a bit raw . . . in reflection, it was not favorably received by most in attendance.

There were, by the way, upwards of 100 members and guests in attendance . . . this was the first "official" TAMS social function . . . founded at the Michigan State Numismatic Society fall convention in 1960 . . . back in those days . . . nearly 62 years ago . . . TAMS’s annual gatherings became, and for some years were, one the social highlights of the annual ANA conventions.

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THE COIN-DITION CHECK LIST

Gawain O'Connor submitted this note about some interesting numismatic ephemera. -Editor

This letter addressed to the Fairfield (Iowa) Coin Club was postmarked in Baltimore November 5, 1949. It's ambitiously promoting a new condition checklist for coin collectors, with a sample page included. I found a similar ad in The Numismatist from March 1950.

And the Newman Portal shows ads up to 1958 in Numismatic Scrapbook. I have not heard of Mr. Martynec or his booklet before this, but perhaps it is of interest to your readers.

Read more here

THE BOOK BAZARRE

AUTHORS AND PUBLISHERS: Are your books carried by Wizard Coin Supply? If not, contact us via www.WizardCoinSupply.com with details.
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ON VICTOR DAVID BRENNER'S NAME

Scott Miller submitted these notes to set the record straight on the name of sculptor and coin designer Victor David Brenner. -Editor

Regarding your excerpt of the Greysheet article on the Birth of the Lincoln Cent, the story about Brenner changing his name from Viktoras Baranauskas is a fabrication foisted on the numismatic community in 1929 by Dr. A. M. Rackus. In an article published in The Numismatist in December 1929 entitled "Twentieth Anniversary of Lincoln Cent", Dr. Rackus made his unsubstantiated claim, stating the reason for the change was that it would be more convenient for Americans to spell his name, and because he did not want to be bothered by Russian spies. This is also the source for the undocumented claim that the secret police received a tip that Brenner was a counterfeiter, but having no evidence, asked him to duplicate the seal of a high ranking official in the army, and then arrested him for counterfeiting. Brenner then escaped and came to America to avoid being sent to Siberia or Kamtchatka.

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SAN FRANCISCO SAFE DEPOSIT BOX ERROR HOARD

Max Hensley submitted these notes on the San Francisco Mint error coin Safe Deposit Box hoard. Thanks! -Editor

I enjoyed reading about the hoards of proof San Francisco mint error coins that emerged from that facility in the 1970s It was intriguing to read about the Safe Deposit Box hoard.

I moved to San Francisco back in 1984 and soon found my way to Butterfields and Butterfields auction house, as it was known then. This was a rather eclectic place with many odd offerings from the city's history back to the Gold Rush. My wife and I were antique collectors (and I foreign coins) so we never failed to miss a preview. One fun event was the State of California bank box contents sale. Mostly, these contained "grandpa's coins", junk stuff like worn silver dollars and low grade gold in bulk jewelry form. I was able buy a 1909 S VDB cent in what turned out to be MS63 for a few hundred dollars, but that was "back in the day" as they say.

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NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: FEBRUARY 16, 2025

More on "Devil's Money"
Thomas Lovelace writes:

"It does not surprise me that "devil coins" is not a numismatic topic. That would be something that is written by a blogger or AI as opposed to a numismatist. There is plenty of information about the coins in question online. Looking at the coins they say "Madelinus" and "Dorestat" which have plenty of references in numismatic circles about Frisian coins of 630-650. A google search of "Madelinus Numisforum" yields informative links.

"While Frisia of the 7th and 8th century was pagan and not Christian, calling them devil coins seems stupid, as the crosses on them seem to be borrowed from Frankish Christian coins, though other features seem more derived from Saxon coins. Dorestad was an important trading port (crossroads) for France, Germany, England, and Scandinavia. I also take exception to the speculation that these coins were used for some pagan ceremony in the 8th century. I think it is more likely that the coins were buried a century earlier in the same location as later pagan items.

"Madelinus is generally referred to as a moneyer of Dorestad, but I think it likely that he was a local ruler of great importance and possibly king because of the crowned portrait on the coins and their prevalence in various areas."

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
"DEVIL'S MONEY" CULT RITUALS (https://www.coinbooks.org/v28/esylum_v28n06a23.html)

Other topics this week include Zurich Coin Fairs and Polar Bears. -Editor

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COINAGE OF THE PHILIPPINES ANA TALK

Dennis Tucker is giving a talk on the coinage of the Philippines at the ANA National Money Show later this month. Here's the announcement. -Editor

 

Souvenir Treasures of World War II: Coinage of the Philippines

Dennis Tucker, a Life Member of the Philippine American National Historical Society, will give a talk on the first day of the American Numismatic Association’s National Money Show in Atlanta. Scheduled for 2:00–3:00 Thursday afternoon, February 27, 2025, his lecture is titled "Souvenir Treasures of World War II: Coinage of the Philippines." The convention will be held at the Cobb Galleria Centre, 2 Galleria Parkway.

Millions of Americans served in the Pacific Theater during World War II, including tens of thousands who fought in the Philippines. When they returned home, many carried souvenirs of their service—including unusual silver and bronze coins that were made for the Philippines but bear the words UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

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VOCABULARY TERMS: REGARDANT, REGISTER

Here's a double entry from Dick Johnson's Encyclopedia of Coin and Medal Terminology. -Editor

Regardant. A portrait looking back over the subject's shoulder. The term comes from heraldry, where it most often describes animals viewed from the side with head twisted looking towards their tail. However, one of the most famous portraits of Columbus is a regardant pose looking back over his cape. Whether the full face is seen depends upon the angle of the viewers perspective. See heraldry.

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H. G. BROWN (1852-1911)

E-Sylum Feature Writer and American Numismatic Biographies author Pete Smith submitted this article on Spokane businessman and numismatist H. G. Brown. Thanks! -Editor

  H. G. Brown (1852-1911)

In his book, The Rare Silver Dollars Dated 1804, Q. David Bowers mentions H. G. Brown.

"Brown lived in Portland, Oregon (having recently moved there from Spokane, Washington) and seems to have been piqued by the idea of owning a rare 1804 dollar. He owned one, kept it but briefly and then consigned it and most if not all of the rest of his coins to Lyman H. Low, of New York. Otherwise, Brown is little remembered in the annals of the numismatic hobby."

I took that as a challenge. This is a story that has not been told before in the numismatic media.

H. G. Brown was born in Kentucky in February of 1852, the son of Andrew J. and Susan Brown. He graduated from the State College of Iowa and trained as a druggist. Later he was known as "Doc" Brown.

By 1870 he had established a reputation as a billiard player. He went to New York to work in a gambling house. He went to Panama to work as a clerk. He was a gambler who made a fortune, lost his fortune and gave much of his fortune away.

He married Ella in Iowa in 1884. At the time he was 32 and she was 13. There is probably a story there that I don’t know.

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1871 CARSON CITY MINT DOCUMENTS

In conjunction with his recent auction, Fred Holabird published an essay on the 1871 Carson City Mint Melter and Refiner Appointment Documents in lot 3300, which hammered at $12,500. Here's an excerpt - see the complete article online. Well worth reading and printing out as a monograph supplementing the existing books about the Carson City Mint. It's well footnoted for future researchers. -Editor

 

A pair of documents appointing the Melter and Refiner to the Carson City Mint from 1871 has surfaced from a prominent Nevada banking family. Every US Mint appointment document is unique. The original Abe Curry appointment document, as first superintendent of the new US Mint at Carson City, exists in a numismatic collection, but it is unknown if any other Carson City Mint appointment documents are extant.

The document pair reflects the original appointment as Melter and Refiner of Moses D. Wheeler prior to June 3, 1871. The second document formally appoints Robert P. Andrews to the position on December 12, 1871.

Everything about the Carson City Mint that most of us know seems all flowery and rosy. A beautiful Mint building and facility were built under the direction of Carson City politician and former mine owner Abe Curry. It opened to great fanfare minting coins immediately in the early days of 1870 and kept going until an internal bullion theft scandal amidst a national "recession" closed the Mint for coin production forever in 1893.

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JACOB LIPSON SELECTIONS: FEBRUARY 16, 2025

Jacob Lipson recently posted these great Canadian coin and medal offerings. For more U.S., Canadian and world coins, tokens and medals, see his website at https://www.jacoblipsonrarecoins.com/inventory. -Garrett



1758 Louisbourg Taken Medal in Copper, LR-857. Unc. McLachlan-369, Betts-410, Breton-49, Eimer-657. 43.6mm. 42.1g. Signed T. PINGO. One of the most significant entries in the Canadian historical medal series is also the first official British military campaign decoration, struck in copper (as here), silver, and gold. The obverse features a raised globe that prominently displays the words CANADA and AMERICA. A navy officer and solider appear right and left, with a female figure representative of the vanquished French army below. Victory and a British flag appear above with the motto PARITER IN BELLO (meaning "Equal or Together in War"). The reverse presents a meticulously rendered scene of the fortress of Louisbourg under siege, with cannons firing, ships in the harbour, and billowing smoke capturing the intensity of battle. Above the scene the inscription reads LOUISBOURG TAKEN MDCCLVIII (1758).

As expected, these medals are more often found in copper than in silver, and more often in silver than in gold. However, any example is a numismatic rarity, particularly in this superb condition, and they only turn up in the most advanced collections. The images of this piece speak for themselves. Substantial glowing red colour remains, accenting unmarked medium brown surfaces.

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MORE NUMISMATIC AUCTIONS SALE 69 SELECTIONS

Steve Davis of Numismatic Auctions LLC is holding Sale 69 this month. Here are some additional selected coinage lots. -Editor

 
Lot 7

US 1787 Fugio Cent Pointed Rays. Newman 8-B, UNITED STATES, 4 Cinquefoils. PCGS MS64BN. Handsome color and swirling brown luster with crisply struck centers in a fresh Gold Shield Secure PCGS holder.

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DAVISSONS AUCTION 44 ANNOUNCED

In an email to clients, Allan, Lief, & Marnie Davisson announced their firm's upcoming auction sale. -Garrett

Auction 44, our premier annual sale, is online now! Closing Wednesday, March 12th 2025. Print copies will be sent over the weekend. If you are not on our mailing list and would like a copy, please let us know.

Our sale opens as usual with classic ancient gold, and this time includes three beautiful historic Scottish rarities from Leland Scott’s collection, and some select classic U.S. and world gold.

The ancient coins that made the cut to get into our sale had to pass the tests of historical interest, high grade, beautiful style, and gorgeous toning or patina. They were plucked from many sources, most frequently old collections and auctions. Our Greek section opens with a high condition rarity, the enigmatic Æ from Etruria with the head of an African paired with an elephant, followed by many beautiful large Greek silver pieces with old collection toning, classic rarities — among them a fine style Syracuse tetradrachm, nomoi from Herakleia, Thourioui, Himera, Velia, and Tarentum, the Macedonian Kings from different mints, Corinth, Rhodes, and fine style tetradrachms and a siglos from the East. Find them intermingled with fascinating small gems, high condition obols, and bronzes. Look for many coins with a tie to Hannibal.



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KUENKER AUCTION SALE 419

On March 17, 2025, Künker will hold its auction of ancient issues presenting 638 selected lots. Most of them are from the collection of a lawyer who took great care to ensure perfect quality and exquisite provenance whenever he bought a coin. The result: a dream collection. And his coins are not the only ones with pedigrees that go way back. -Garrett

The Collection of a Lawyer: Roman Coins with Exquisite Provenances

Only 638 lots will be offered in Künker’s auction 419 of ancient coins. But these 638 lots are truly special. No matter whether you are interested in Celtic rarities, the finest Greek art or outstanding Roman portraits – in auction 419 you will find what you are looking for. The offer presents several collections. Two of them are particularly remarkable: for one the collection of a lawyer who exclusively bought Roman coins with exquisite provenances; and an anonymous collection that was completed before 1990 and contains many showpieces.

Celtic Rarities

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ANCIENT ROMAN COIN STUCK BETWEEN ROCKS

People exploring a cave in Spain discovered an ancient coin stuck between rock formations. -Editor

 

Deep inside a partially flooded cave of eastern Spain, scientists studied the walls by flashlight. Some markings and a coin jammed between rock formations caught their attention — and for good reason.

The traces revealed the chamber was once an ancient Roman sanctuary.

Read more here

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HOLEY DOLLAR RETURNED TO POLAND

Here's the story of a well-traveled Holey Dollar, from Australia to Poland to Europe to Australia again and finally back to Poland. -Editor

 

A rare silver coin has been returned to Republic of Poland representative, Deputy Minister, Marta Cienkowska at a ceremony in Canberra.

Dating back more than 200 years, the coin was bought lawfully by a collector in the early 20th century and donated to a museum in Torun where it became a protected object of Poland.

It was stolen from the museum’s collection between 2011 and 2016, sold in two auctions in Europe, and then made its way to Australia through unlawful export.

Read more here

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PRIVY MARKS ON COINS

Jeff Garrett posted a nice article about privy marks on the NGC website. Here's an excerpt - see the complete article online. -Editor

 

A privy mark is a small, distinguishing symbol or mark added to coins during the minting process, typically used to commemorate a special event, anniversary or to add a layer of security. The use of privy marks has a long history that dates to at least the 14th century. Early use of privy marks was to distinguish coins made at different times or to identify a different moneyer.

The added symbols were also utilized as a tool against counterfeiting. These marks can vary in design and are often placed in a discrete part of the coin, such as next to the date or mintmark.

The origin of the term privy marks is an old French word "prive," which was derived from the Latin word "privatus" meaning set apart or private. A privy mark is very different from a mintmark, which denotes the location of a coin's minting. The use of privy marks is not a new innovation from the US Mint.

Read more here

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THE 2025 TRIAL OF THE PYX

It's that time of the year again - The Trial of the Pyx took place this week in London. Here's an Associated Press account. -Editor

 

Judges in red robes and white gloves convened Tuesday in the ornate livery hall of London’s Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths for an ancient tradition dating back to the 12th century to certify Britain’s coinage for circulation.

The test, known as the Trial of the Pyx, was designed to prevent counterfeiting by inspecting and weighing a sampling of thousands of coins from The Royal Mint to ensure they met the strictest standards.

"It’s a way of making sure that if you’re in the U.K. the coins that are in your pocket are real and reliable, that you know what they’re made of, that they are up to the right standards," said Eleni Bide, the librarian for the Goldsmiths’ Company. "That provides a challenge for people who want to fake them. So making really standardized perfect coins is a really important part of preventing forgery."

Read more here

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THE PENNY PURGE: COMMON CENTS OR CENTSLESS?

Of course, the big story in numismatics this week is President Trump's order to stop producing the U.S. one-cent piece or "penny". Our late friend and contributor Dick Johnson would be pleased, as he often wrote to promote that idea. Headline writers at least had fun riffing on the cents/sense homonym. Here's a smattering of articles and opinions.

Not being one to hang out on social media, the first reference I saw related to the Mint came in a January 6th Washington Post article about Trump donor and advisor Elon Musk. -Editor

"It is on X, not in some office or restaurant, that Republican politicians, tech industry executives and conservative influencers gather to post messages praising Musk’s work, backing his stances and posting fodder for his arguments. The implicit hope is that Musk will reply or repost them approvingly to the platform’s largest audience — and now that he’s setting priorities for the Trump administration, perhaps even act on them.

On Sunday, Ryan Petersen, CEO of the San Francisco-based logistics firm Flexport, reached Musk directly with an X post that began, "Dear @DOGE please look into the U.S. Mint in San Francisco," suggesting it should be shut down and repurposed. An hour later, at 4:18 a.m. Eastern time, Musk replied, "Noted," ..."

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BULK COIN MELT-VALUE SPECULATION

And right behind the lobbyists are the metal speculators and suppliers who cater to them. This Bloomberg article looks at bulk coin melt-value speculation. -Editor

 

Adam Youngs is looking to make a lot from truckloads of the little red cent.

His company, Portland Mint, sells old pennies in bulk — 40,000 pounds (18,100 kilograms) at a time — to investors angling to profit on the copper that makes up 95% of the coins minted before 1983. A cache of one-cent pieces from Portland Mint with a face value of roughly $60,000 sells for about $120,000.

Read more here

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COLONIAL GEORGIA COLORED SEALS, PART 2

Bob Rhue's exhibit of "The Colored Seal Notes of Colonial Georgia" won the American Numismatic Association's Howland Wood Memorial Award for Best-of-Show exhibit in 2017. His exhibit was photographed and memorialized on the ANA website. This series of articles dives into each of the seven exhibit cases with high-resolution images of each note. To the casual observer the notes look similar, but a closer look reveals a multitude of interesting detail.

This week we dive into the contents of Case 2 of 7. -Editor

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ASCENDING AND DESCENDING PAIRS

Collectors of paper money often gravitate to notes with notable serial numbers, such as very low numbers, solid numbers of all the same digit, and "radar" numbers that read the same backwards as forwards. This PMG article discusses a pattern I hadn't heard of. Found via News & Notes from the Society of Paper Money Collectors (Volume X, Number 34, February 4, 2025). -Editor

For some collectors, these fun sequences of numbers on a banknote are a step above ordinary notes.

 

An Ascending Pairs Serial Number is one where the first two digits are the same number and then each subsequent pair of numbers is one digit higher. For instance, the Culver City, California 1929 $5 National Bank Note below has an Ascending Pairs Serial Number of B001122A. (This PMG-certified note is part of a Heritage Auctions sale in February 2025.)

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NUMISMATIC ART IN NEW YORK

An installment of Steve Roach & Dennis Tucker's "Collecting Friends" blog series highlights some interesting numismatic art in Mexico, NY and New York City. Here's an excerpt - see the complete article online.

First, Dennis Tucker relates a visit to Mexico, New York. -Editor

 

... I want to focus on a huge surprise that awaited me in Mexico—specifically, a huge COIN! When we pulled into the parking lot across from the museum, the last thing I expected to see was a gigantic silver half dollar. And yet, there it was, in mural form, on the side of the Town Hall building.

It was a Walking Liberty half dollar, dated 2004 (the year it was painted by Syracuse artist Kenneth C. Burke), and it’s part of a mural called "Mexico—Path to Freedom."

This northeastern New York town was very important in the passage of slaves to freedom through the Underground Railroad in the early 1800s. In a plaque accompanying the mural, the Walking Liberty half dollar is identified as symbolic of the "financial support of freedom" offered by Mexico’s businessmen.

A numismatist might ask, "Why not show a Liberty Seated half dollar, the type minted from the 1830s to the 1890s?" That’s what would have been in circulation during the Underground Railroad era, when abolitionists like Mexico tinsmith Starr Clark risked their businesses (and their own safety) to support others’ freedom.

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THE COSTS OF COLLECTING

Gerry Tebben writes:

"Here’s an interesting story in the Wall Street Journal about the costs and hazards of collecting. Beth Deisher is quoted at the end about the perils of counterfeits."

Thanks. Here's an excerpt. -Editor

When investors talk about collecting, they typically revel in the ability to pursue their passions, have fun and possibly make a little (or maybe even a lot) of money. But there’s another side to the collectibles story—and it involves time, vigilance and financial resources.

Yet for collectors who can withstand the lack of liquidity and take steps to preserve value, these can be good alternative investments that aren’t correlated with more-traditional markets, says Robert Rosenthal, chairman and chief executive of First Long Island Investors, who collects art with his wife, Jodi Rosenthal.

Here’s a closer look at some of those lesser-discussed issues:

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ABOUT THIS ISSUE: FEBRUARY 16, 2025

Recently I reported that my old friend Pat McBride of the Pennsylvania Association of Numismatists had been diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia on Christmas day. I also noted that he was under the care of the top specialist at Pittsburgh's top cancer center, and under the watchful eye of his wife Dawn, a nurse.

Well, miraculously, Pat seems to be in remission just three weeks later. The treatments are working. He still has a difficult road, but this a remarkable development. Perhaps his alter ego Dr. Franklin was watching over him as well. Good luck, and get better soon! -Editor

 
Editor Wayne Homren, Assistant Editor Garrett Ziss

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