LOOSE CHANGE: JULY 5, 2020

The Randall Hoard

While notices about the Randall Hoard differ in some details, it seems to be the consensus that a small wooden keg (or perhaps more than one keg) filled with Uncirculated copper cents was found beneath a railroad station platform in Georgia after the Civil War, but before autumn 1869. The cents may have been hidden during the 1861-1865 war years to prevent discovery, or they may have been stored in such a railroad facility before that time, possibly as early as the late 1830s. Alternatively, the hoard may have had nothing to do with any railroad platform (as usual, hard facts are scarce). In the 1816 to 1820 period, the Philadelphia Mint reused wooden kegs that had been obtained from Boulton’s establishment in Birmingham, England, from whom the Mint bought blank planchets. These kegs typically held about 14,000 cents or cent planchets, although Mint records exist of kegs containing 12,000 to 18,000. Since the Randall Hoard coins were described as being in a small keg, quite possibly, the number was less, perhaps on the order of 5,000 to 10,000 coins.

The typical specimen seen today with a Randall Hoard pedigree is a mixture of original bright red with flecks and stains of deep brown or black. Few, if any, are pristine (uncleaned, undipped) full mint red. According to Walter H. Breen’s research sponsored by Wayte Raymond in the 1950s, the most readily available variety attributable to the Randall Hoard is 1818 Newcomb 10, followed by 1820 N-13. Curiously, both of these varieties are usually seen with die breaks linking the stars and date.

To read the complete article, see:
Bowers on collecting: The famous Randall Hoard (http://news.coinupdate.com/bowers-on-collecting-the-famous-randall-hoard/)

Old Coin Press No. 1 Rides Again

The Nevada State Museum will be firing up its original Coin Press No. 1 this Independence Day, giving visitors a chance to see Nevada coin minting history in action.

It is the first time the press, which stamped U.S. coins at the Carson City Mint between 1870 and 1893, will be operated since March. The Nevada State Museum, 600 N. Carson St., is housed in the original mint building, which closed in 1899.

“We’re glad to be able to offer this popular presentation to the public again,” Myron Freedman, Nevada State Museum director, said. “Coin Press No. 1 is a true Nevada treasure, something all Nevadans should get to see in action.”

Freedman said the coin press will be operated every Saturday from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m., as long as the museum is able to continue to remain open to the public during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Visitors to the museum can purchase a $75 .999 pure silver blank to have a commemorative medallion made during their visit.

To read the complete article, see:
(https://elkodaily.com/m%20ining/historic-coin-press-to-strike-again/article_f5038898-8642-527d-b566-36f6d07a83eb.html)

Gary Gianotti Interviewed

To listen on YouTube, see:
Gary Gianotti — Great Seal of the #USA , Stuart Freemasonry (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTHSEnhApi0)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
JOSEPH LOVELL WRIGHT JR: PEACE MEDAL DESIGNER? (https://www.coinbooks.org/v23/esylum_v23n07a12.html)

Denise Rust Ponzi Scheme Plea Deal

A rare-coin dealer’s wife named in an indictment for money laundering last May reached a plea agreement Thursday.

Denise Gunderson Rust, who allegedly helped her husband, Gaylen Dean Rust, run a $200 million Ponzi scheme attempting to defraud investors with a fake silver trading program, pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering, according to the U.S. attorney for Utah.

The indictment alleged that from 1996 to November 2018, Gaylen Rust conspired to defraud people by offering them stock in a silver trading program, using money from later participants to pay back the promised return to early investors. The money was never used to purchase silver, though, according to the court documents, and there was never any silver placed in depositories.

To read the complete article, see:
Wife of rare-coin dealer indicted for Ponzi scheme cuts a deal (https://www.sltrib.com/news/2020/07/02/wife-rare-coin-dealer/)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
RUST RARE COIN ACCUSED OF PONZI SCHEME (https://www.coinbooks.org/v21/esylum_v21n46a10.html)

The Waterloo Medal

The Waterloo Medal seen here and awarded to Lieutenant-General the Hon. Sir Charles Colville represents one of only six Waterloo medals awarded to British Lieutenant-Generals. Colville had a long and distinguished military career, commencing in the West Indies in the 1790’s followed by Egypt in 1801 then the Peninsular War; he played a prominent part in the sieges of Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz (in January & April 1812 respectively), being wounded at the latter during the final assault.

In later life Colville went on to become Commander-in-Chief of the Bombay Army and Governor of Mauritius before retiring to London, where he died in 1843.

To read the complete article, see:
Commemorating the Battle of Waterloo, 205 Years On (https://insider.spink.com/2020/06/16/commemorating-the-battle-of-waterloo-205-years-on/)

Higher Prices for Engraved Gems

Interest in glyphic art, that reached its collecting apogee during Grand Tour collecting, is resurgent once more.

Museum and dealer exhibitions, new collectors, new literature – and a sense that the market was undervalued – have prompted a spate of strong prices at auction.

Last year, in particular, was a renaissance moment for hardstone cameos and intaglio gems. The year that began with the sale of a sardonyx cameo ring by the noted English engraver Nathaniel Marchant for £39,000 at Tennants of Leyburn in January included the re-emergence of two of the ‘lost’ Marlborough jewels – a Renaissance period sapphire intaglio carved with the bust of Julius Caesar (£62,000 at Woolley & Wallis in July) and another with the face of Mark Anthony in golden sard (£36,000 at Cheffins in December).

So far in 2020, this ‘return to form’ has continued with Far Eastern interest growing.

To read the complete article, see:
Intaglios cutting a deeper impression and making higher prices (https://www.antiquestradegazette.com/print-edition/2020/july/2449/feature/intaglios-cutting-a-deeper-impression-and-making-higher-prices/)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
NEW BOOK: ENGRAVED GEMS AND PROPAGANDA (https://www.coinbooks.org/v23/esylum_v23n23a03.html)

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