What a coincidence! Not knowing that the most recent issue of The E-Sylum had a piece on Wladyslaw Terlecki, I happened to listen Monday morning to a lecture in which Terlecki’s name was mentioned.

Tomasz Bylicki’s lecture was given at the meeting of the Polish Numismatic Association in Lodz last year. It was about the history of the Polish Mint (very informative though only available in Polish).

It is no wonder that Terlecki was mentioned in Bylicki’s talk. Wladyslaw Terlecki was not only one of Mint’s directors (1945-1946), but also a curator of its Coin Cabinet from 1927 to 1940. His famous rescue of the Mint’s collection included not only the gold bars, but also the Mint’s numismatic collection: coins and medals produced in the Mint, and the collection of Roman, Greek and Polish coins collected by his father, also named Wladyslaw Terlecki, physician and numismatist.

After WWII the collection of 3,500 items was deposited in the National Museum where it is held today. Terlecki was honored with a medal commemorating his rescue effort:

Just wondering if anyone might have a Prices Realized List for the 1986 Spring Americana/Exonumia auction by Kurt Krueger. In particular, I am interested in lot 3138 - 1792 British Token C/M: M. Bryan, VF. I happened to acquire this piece, with the remnants of the ticket from this auction, on eBay. I continue to be amazed at what one can find on there. Thanks!

I am desperately looking for copies of the John J. Ford Jr. collection catalogues for parts XXII, XXIII and XXIV. Anyone who has copies of these catalogues can contact me directly by email at atchisondf@gmail.com.

I am researching the steel pen business of C. C. Wright and was wondering if you have any more ephemera from that un-studied part of his work? Thanks!

I saw the definition for "hot shortness" in the latest issue of The E-Sylum and wanted to comment on it. I am not so sure the illustrated coin - a serrate Roman Republican denarius - would be the best illustrative example for that definition. There are several issues of denarii from the Roman Republic that were intentionally serrated, thought to have been hand done with a chisel. The purpose of this has been debated, either as a way to prevent clipping (a very early form of edge reeding) or as a way to expose the content of the coin as silver and not plated. This process was not consistent across all moneyers and was no doubt quite time consuming to do, but when it was employed, the entire issue would be serrated.

There are also some Seleukid bronze coins that look more like bottlecaps and are also called serrate, though the purpose there is quite unclear and the manufacture technique was certainly different.

If the definition of hot shortness is based on it being a side effect of inconsistent metal composition causing those flan cracks and fissures, serrate denarii would not precisely fit that definition. I have seen some denarii of the Severan dynasty when there was debasement that suffered from hot shortness, as an example.

As always, I enjoyed last week's issue. Thanks for bringing us all such a good read.

Regarding the U. S. Mint's Library that seems to have gone missing, I have something to add. When I lived in the San Francisco area, I did much of the research for my early books at the Old San Francisco Mint Museum, now closed to the public. It had a large and splendid room that was entirely dedicated to a numismatic library. This possessed all of the standard references that most of us would have had in our own libraries during the 1980s-90s, as well as a nearly complete set of U. S. Mint Director's reports in original, matching bindings. There were few unique items or primary source documents, and those that existed did not relate to United States coinage, but rather to western history, yet I was able to make great use of it at no cost to me.

When I first started going there, an employee was assigned to sit in the room with me for security purposes (this was long before 9/11, so the primary security concern was theft). After I'd been there a few times, they left me alone, and I had the run of the place. When the OSFMM, closed (first, temporarily in 1993, and then for good a year later), the library was removed. I don't know exactly where the books and documents went, but I was told it was somewhere in Washington.

I also took note of the album for coins of Palestine. It's not possible to see much in the photos, but I recognized it as one I have in my collection of coin albums. It was custom produced by Dansco for R. P. Nielsen in the 1970s. There is no reference to Dansco, but instead it is marked "Nielsen-Porter, Inc., Houston, Texas." A publisher number of P-100 is also included.

There is a second album by and for the same parties titled "ISRAEL AGOROT-POUND SERIES II 1969-1975," and this is publisher number I-110. These albums were produced a few years after Whitman had printed the first two albums in the series, I-100: "ISRAEL AGOROT-POUND SERIES I 1960-1968," and I-200: 'ISRAEL COMMEMORATIVES VOLUME I." Both of these were custom printed in Whitman's "Bookshelf" album format of 1961-77 and were published by the "R. P. NIELSEN COMPANY," with no mention of Porter or Whitman.

I don't know why Dansco was chosen over Whitman for the two later emissions, but they did appear right about the time that Whitman was phasing out its Bookshelf line in favor of the still-current "Classic" line. Another possibility is that Nielsen and Porter went with Dansco because their custom titles may have complimented Dansco's own standard albums for "Israel Type" (7600) and "Israel 1948-1957" (7601), which held all coins by denomination and date.

All of the above-mentioned albums are long out-of-print and quite scarce. The two standard Dansco albums bring strong money in the secondary market, yet the Nielsen albums don't attract much attention. They are by far the rarest of the lot and should be worth more, but potential buyers perhaps are turned off by the lack of a brand name. For any collectors who may be seeking an album for coins of Palestine during the British Mandate, a current line of albums by Arabiancoins.com that is comparable to Dansco in quality includes this title: http://www.arabiancoins.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=33&zenid=snacdcmp2dmuu2s2v3p8uk0ee1

I thought readers would like this after seeing the Lincoln head artwork in last week's issue. A friend saw this floor in Grand Pa Joe's Candy & Ice cream shop, located at 2124 Penn Ave, Pittsburgh, PA (in the Strip District). It's all pennies.