I wanted to let you know that over this first week since you included in The E-Sylum my request for information related to my counterfeit coin book project I have received an outpouring of support from readers, above and beyond my realistic and hopeful expectations. Somewhere between 15 and 20 readers have so far contacted me with images, background information and other stories which I was unaware of despite what I thought has been fairly extensive research. I could not be happier with the results so far and I look forward to any future readers who reach out to me. Thanks!

The 1803 peace medal is a worthless fantasy.

Pure fantasy. Not old. Engraving very poorly done. Etc.,etc.,,etc,,,etc.

As to the 1803 Harrison oval Indian Peace medal, I've physically seen at least 6-7 examples and they are cast fantasies and rather crude at that and have appeared on eBay. They started appearing at least four decades ago and may have originated in the 1960's Ohio-sourced glut of fake oval IPMs.

The Ohio-based glut of fake ENGRAVED oval IPM's was very dangerous. The initial supply was in fact hand-engraved and very well done. Also, about the same time, extraordinarily deceptive engraved fake ovals were coming out of England and those European oldtime hand engravers were very skilled. Such skill allegedly no longer exists. The Ohio source and the English source may well have been connected.

I might add that the John J. Ford Jr. collection, auctioned by Stack's over a decade 2003-2013, had three oval engraved IPM's one of which the catalogue stated Ford paid over $32K for. It was fake and catalogued as such, selling for well under $10K to an E-Sylum reader and I understand later donated to the ANS. This would be one of the very few times Ford, quite a knowledgable buyer, was "taken".

For the fun of it, I searched Kolbe & Fanning auction sales since 1988 for sale appearances of the deluxe leather edition of B. Max Mehl’s Geo. P. French collection of large cents.

I found seven different examples, some offered more than once. They may be the same seven recorded by Jan Valentine, however five of them feature the recipient’s name stamped in gilt on the lower front cover. Namely: Howard Newcomb, Col. E.H.R. Green, W.A. Philpott. Jr., Waldo Newcomer, and A.A. Grinnell. Jan records four with the collector’s name stamped on the front cover. The remaining two belonged to H.A. Sternberg and B. Max Mehl. The former is inscribed to the recipient; the latter was sold as part of the Ron Stocker collection of B. Max Mehl memorabilia in 1983 and features notes by B. Max and an annotation by him.

I've long been interested in an update to Frank Colletti's A Guide Book of The Official Red Book of United States Coins. That's proven by the fact that the linked "earlier E-Sylum article," responding to a letter I sent you... was published in 2010!

In January of this year I e-mailed Whitman's Dennis Tucker and expressed my interest in a new edition. This was his response:

"Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the Bowers Series. The Guide Book of the Official Red Book of United States Coins is one of my favorites in the series - I still have the first Red Book I ever bought, and it's one of my treasured possessions. I like the idea of an updated second edition of the GBGB, as we affectionately call it here at Whitman. (Pronounced "jeebie-jeebie.") A lot has happened since the first edition was published! I'll add your feedback to our notes."

The Lima Mint in Peru had an engraver in the 1920's and 1930's whose initials G. M. appear on some coins and medals. What is the name of this engraver? I think his initials also appear on some coins of Ecuador and a 1921 medal for the centennial of Independence of Peru. I can't find his name in the books I have. Thanks.