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NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: JANUARY 1, 2017Heritage 2015 Sales $860 Million One of the facts which I found to be interesting is that Heritage, based on a question asked to Jim Halperin, has annual sales of $860,000. I don't think that is correct. Perhaps 860 million? Good catch. I confirmed with Jim, and Heritage’s sales were $860 million in 2015. Thanks. 2016 sales figures should be announced soon. -Editor
Jim adds: I read The E-Sylum just about every week as part of my Sunday night ritual. Thanks for publishing it! Happy and healthy 2017! To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see: Counterfeit Countermarks on Counterfeit Coins  Jeff Rock writes: I enjoyed the British countermarks on Spanish silver article -- and as Eric Hodge has the Manville book (which seems to be curiously unknown to American numismatists for some reason), it was noted there that some of the countermarked issues occur on counterfeit 8 Reales as well, some quite obvious like the attached one which was struck in a brassy copper alloy and if it was ever silvered, had that silvering long since worn away by the time the countermark was applied. Of course, by the time these were produced, the Brits had gotten used to the idea of a token coinage (having used the "Conder" tokens extensively a few decades earlier) and whether the coin was silver or not was irrelevant -- what counted was the bank's promise to pay full value. But then we have counterfeit marks on counterfeit coins, which just adds to the fun! Thanks! There's no end to the variety of items in the numismatic world. -Editor
Jeff adds: We've entered an era that our predecessors would surely scratch their heads over! The circulating counterfeits are far more interesting -- and usually far more expensive -- than the things they were meant to copy! I think of all those merchants who were "stuck" with quantities of counterfeits -- had they put a bucket of them in the attic their descendants might well be very rich people today! Then again, the overall scarcity of those counterfeits is what helps give them their value, and a bucket or two more in the hobby might upset that delicate balance of supply and demand! To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see: More Official U.S. War and Stamp Greeting Cards Last week's article on greeting cards promoting the sale of defense and war savings stamps requested reports of more examples. -Editor
Ron Haller-Williams writes:
WAR SAVINGS GREETING ... but ignore duplicates. Unfortunately only a few (such as 5WS303) show the reference numbers. Thanks! This is a great source for images and information. You only have to pay for a subscription to see the prices realized. -Editor
To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see: Cash In the Economy and the Coin Business This may be a bit late, but in response to the ongoing discussion about the role of cash in the world, I wrote about the subject back in October for the cover article of the CDN Monthly Supplement. Never to late to discuss a topic! Here's an excerpt. -Editor
 While it is true that the overwhelming amount of daily transactions in this country are facilitated by credit or debit card, many small- and medium-sized business owners conduct their business in cash. By brushing this off with the oft-cited quote “no one carries cash anymore,” a whole segment of American business is marginalized. If a business owner does not want to subject themselves to fees imposed by credit card processing companies, why does their government force them to do it by limiting how much cash is available for their customers to spend? As it is, cash transactions already have many restrictions. To my mind, it comes down to personal freedom. So what does this all mean for the rare coin business? There are negatives and positives. The obvious ones first: negatives. Anyone who has ever been to a coin show knows the ubiquitous sight of $100 bills being used to buy coins and bullion. At a large show, there may be more cash on the floor than a small bank has in its vault! It is unusual to see a vendor who accepts credit cards at their table. Furthermore, a collector who comes to sell coins at a show expects to walk out with cash, unless he is selling a large amount of material. If left to deal with nothing but $20s, $10s and $5s our business would be severely hampered. Would the industry find other ways? Probably so, but it would be a slow process. Where are the positives to be found? Rare coins and bullion are a proven store of wealth which are tangible and cannot be manipulated by the decisions of policy makers. Policy can influence their value, but cannot change the fact they will never be worth zero. The item that is seemingly ignored by economists is the impact of negative interest rates on savers and retirement accounts. Pensioners – such as teachers, public workers, and those in the trades – rely on managers for their annuities, which can amount to billions of dollars under investment. In face of all of this, rare coins and bullion become a very attractive asset to add a part of a savings portfolio, perhaps even better than cash. To read the complete article, see: Apollo 11 Moon Rock Bag Ruling Court cases like the ones involving the 1933 Double Eagle revolve around definitions of ownership of items that were once in government hands but later found their way into the
private sector. Kavan Ratnatunga forwarded this article about a recent ruling in a case regarding a moon rock pouch. Here's an excerpt. -Editor
Judge J. Thomas Marten ruled in the U.S. District Court for Kansas that Nancy Carlson of Inverness, Illinois, obtained the title to the historic artifact as "a good faith purchaser, in a sale conducted according to law." The government had petitioned the court to reverse the sale and return the lunar sample bag to NASA. The zippered cloth pouch, which was labeled in bold black letters "Lunar Sample Return," was used on July 20, 1969, as an "outer decontamination bag" to protect the first moon rocks retrieved from the surface of the moon as they were delivered to Earth by Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins. Carlson purchased the bag for $995 in February 2015, at a Texas auction held on behalf of the U.S. Marshals Service. The bag had been forfeited along with other artifacts found in the home of Max Ary, a former curator convicted in 2006 of stealing and selling space artifacts that belonged to the Cosmosphere space museum in Hutchinson, Kansas. The bag's history was only discovered after Carlson sent the artifact to NASA to be tested for the presence of moon dust. After identifying remnants of lunar material from the Apollo 11 moon landing site, NASA retained custody of the bag and contacted the U.S. Justice Department. Kavan adds: A very bad precedent in a case of accidental sale of stolen property. I hope NASA appeals and wins. To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:  Wayne Homren, Editor The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org. To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum All Rights Reserved. NBS Home Page Contact the NBS webmaster 
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