I am suggesting that birthday greetings be published in The E-Sylum, not for a person, but rather for a book. In my "Numismatic Bookie" column in the September 18, 2017 issue of Coin World, I discussed the first book published in the Western world illustrated by images of coins and medals, Illustrium Imagines. There are two issues of Illustrium, the first printed on November 7, 1517, and the second printed on November 15, 1517. It seems highly appropriate, in a few day's time, to celebrate the 500th birthday of this truly illustrious example of numismatic literature.

My column discussed the only widely accessible way to add Illustrium Imagines, or at least a fragment thereof, to one's library, namely the leaf book published by George Frederick Kolbe in 2001. Kolbe salvaged 151 of Giovanni Battista Palumba's 204 woodcuts from an imperfect copy of Illustrium, and printed 151 books that showcase a single Palumba woodcut. The book also reprints "Nota," an essay by the Renaissance scholar Roberto Weiss, on the life and times of Andrea Fulvio, Illustrium's publisher. This leaf book was letterpress printed by Henry Morris, and bound by the Campbell-Logan bindery, so it is a work of art that encloses a piece of history.

Whether you have an intact copy or a leaf book, please remember to wish a half-millennium birthday to Illustrium Imagines on November 7 and again on November 15.

I exhaustively researched this story in the 1980s, and presented my findings in a 41-minute program at the ANA Numismatic Theater in Orlando in 1992, "Legend of the Yoachum Dollar," which was videotaped. The ANA Library should have a copy, and David Lisot may still have copies for sale. A condensed version, "The Legend of the Yoachum Dollar,” was published in Numismatist March 1994: 373-378, 447-449, 457, and took a Third Place Heath Literary Award plus the Wayte and Olga Raymond Memorial Award. I also wrote an ANA Money Talks radio script on this subject.

This is a looong story, but basically I looked at many variations of the legend and concluded that there was some truth to it, and that some members of the Yoachum family were in fact making counterfeit Mexican Cap and Rays pesos in the 1840s. No silver mine, though, and I debunked all the fakes.

I doubt the US Mint has ever been tempted to use a standard set of Swedish hallmarks.

SPORR = Sporrong, a prolific Swedish manufacturer of medals among many other products, including tie clips and other jewelry. http://www.sporrong.com/gallery/medaljer-jetonger/

City mark which I'm having trouble making out, it may be Kungsbacka's ornate "K" in a circle, but it doesn't look quite right. Digging into Sporrong's corporate history would probably help.

B10 = 1976

3 crowns in trefoil followed by "S" = silver item manufactured in Sweden (after 1988 also used for imported items)

And, no, the medal should be solid silver, probably .830 purity.