NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: APRIL 2, 2017

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V20 2017 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 20, Number 14, April 2, 2017, Article 9

Apropos the interesting biography of numismatic publishing pioneer Wayte Raymond, I wonder how many of our fellow E-Sylum readers have noticed that Raymond books and coin albums listed mint marks in chronological order based upon the years that the different mints were established, such as (P), O, S and D, while the more modern Whitman products list them in alphabetical order (other than Philadelphia which is always first.)

I am reliably informed that this is due to the fact that the early Whitman products copied the Raymond mint mark order, and it was suggested to them by the then-mighty Raymond empire that this might be an infringement of the copyright laws.

Interesting point, and a very plausible explanation. We take our coin organization schemes for granted today, but back in the day, collectors and publishers were still reckoning with how best to arrange the coins of the United States. Earlier in this issue is a related article by Len Augsburger on Augustus Heaton's work on mint marks, and how the hobby changed its treatment of branch mint coins and the arrangement of auction catalogs. -Editor

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
WAYTE RAYMOND (1886-1956) (www.coinbooks.org/v20/esylum_v20n13a14.html)

I came across a new vocabulary word today, bibliophemera. This would be ephemera related to books, stationers, and book sellers. I have been collecting numismatic bibliophemera but didn't know it had a name.

I recall visiting Wayne Homren's home and library. Wayne had a large collection of numismatic bibliophemera in loose leaf notebooks in his garage, although I don't think that was normally where they were kept.

No, they live in my library inside the house - tables in the garage served as an easier place for my visitors to view them during the 2004 Pittsburgh ANA convention. -Editor

Book: The Great Gold Swindle of Lubec, Maine
Regarding last week's mention of the New England Gold Hoax of 1898, Jeff Starck of Coin World writes:

The scam you reference is a neat story, indeed… so much so that there is of course a book about it.

In 1897, a stranger named Reverend Prescott Jernegan arrived in Lubec and made a bold claim: he could extract gold from seawater. To do so, he used so-called accumulators of electrically charged rods in iron pots. Fooling many, he actually hid the gold beneath a wharf in the Bay of Fundy during the night. He and his accomplice, Charles Fisher, preached with fervent enthusiasm as they built their factory and encouraged inspections, which reversed doubters to greedy high-stakes investors. Hundreds of laborers accelerated factory expansion until July 1897, when Jernegan and Fisher fled. Although residents of Lubec attempted civil and criminal action, both men relocated, and fantasies of gold wealth flowed away. Relive the excitement, disappointment and anger of turn-of-the-century Mainers in this collection of accounts about the Lubec gold hoax.

For more information, or to order, see:
The Great Gold Swindle of Lubec, Maine (https://www.amazon.com/Great-Gold-Swindle-Lubec-Maine/dp/1626190089/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1)