NUMISMATIC NUGGETS: JUNE 6, 2021

1700 William III Shilling

William III (1694-1702), Shilling, 1700, taller 0s in date line, fifth bust right, legend surrounding, GVLIELMVS III DEI GRA. Rev, crowned cruciform shields, five strings to Irish harp, Lion of Nassau at centre, date flanking top crown, reads MAG BR FRA ET HIB REX (S.3516; Bull. 1150 ESC 1121).

William III (1694-1702), Shilling, 1700, taller 0s in date line, fifth bust right, legend surrounding, GVLIELMVS III DEI GRA. Rev, crowned cruciform shields, five strings to Irish harp, Lion of Nassau at centre, date flanking top crown, reads MAG BR FRA ET HIB REX (S.3516; Bull. 1150 ESC. 1121). Attractive lustrous toning with mint bloom, some haymarking on both sides, common for the type. Free from any surface markings with a balanced and detailed portrait. Reverse, equally impressive, other than a few hairlines, superb. Near extremely fine.

To read the complete item description, see:
WILLIAM III (1694-1702), SHILLING, 1700, TALLER 0S IN DATE LINE, FIFTH BUST (https://www.baldwin.co.uk/product/william-iii-1694-1702-shilling-1700-taller-0s-in-date-line-fifth-bust/)

1809/'6' Classic Head Half Cent

1809/'6' Classic Head Half Cent. C-5. Rarity-1. 9/Inverted 9. MS-64 BN (PCGS). CAC.

A popular variety of the first year 1809 Classic Head half cent that was long thought to be an overdate, Cohen-5 has since been reclassified as having the primary digit 9 in the date punched over an inverted 9. Remnants of the underdigit are clearly evident with the aid of a loupe. This variety barely edges our C-6 as the most readily obtainable of the issue with William R. Eckberg accounting for approximately 4,500 survivors in all grades in his 2019 reference The Half Cent, 1793-1857: The Story of America's Greatest Little Coin. The author further asserts, "UNCs are plentiful; probably at least 60 exist." Technically sound and visually appealing, the PCGS/CAC MS-64 BN example offered here will appeal to discerning numismatists, be they type collectors or early copper enthusiasts.

To read the complete lot description, see:
1809/'6' Classic Head Half Cent. C-5. Rarity-1. 9/Inverted 9. MS-64 BN (PCGS). CAC. (https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/lots/view/3-RENL6/18096-classic-head-half-cent-c-5-rarity-1-9inverted-9-ms-64-bn-pcgs-cac)

Chubbuck Morse Code Telegraph Token

Pre Civil War 1850's token Miller / Rulau NY 1062 NGC MS63. S.W. Chubbuck Manufacturer Of And Dealer In Telegraph Chemical & Philosophical Apparatus Utica, N.Y. with Morse code alphabet on reverse (400-450).

To read the complete lot description, see:
1850 Utica New York Merchant Token Chubbuck Telegraph Morse Code NGC MS63 (https://www.ebay.com/itm/203475958422)

To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
MORSE CODE ON MONEY (https://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v16n19a18.html)
NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: MAY 19, 2013 : Morse Code on S.W. Chubbuck Tokens (https://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v16n20a12.html)
MORE ON S. W. CHUBBUCK (https://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v16n21a11.html)

Bryan's Ladies Shoes Charge Coin

Philadelphia Pennsylvania Credit Charge Coin. Bryan's Ladies Shoes And Hosiery 1345.

To read the complete lot description, see:
Philadelphia Pennsylvania Credit Charge Coin Bryan's Ladies Shoes & Hosiery (https://www.ebay.com/itm/384187925542)

TEMPLES ON ANCIENT COINS

Two of the most common circulating American coins depict buildings modeled on Greco-Roman temples: the Lincoln Memorial on the cent, and Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's elegant domed residence, on the nickel. Coinage is conservative! Temples of many different deities adorn the reverses of hundreds of ancient coin types, and collectors have eagerly sought the finest and most historic specimens for centuries. By one estimate, over a thousand different ancient buildings are depicted on coins, and, in many cases, the coins are the only evidence for how the structures appeared (Price and Trell, 11).

To understand descriptions of ancient temples found in coin catalogs, it's helpful to know some terminology.

Temples are categorized by the number of columns visible on the front. A tetrastyle temple has four columns, a hexastyle has six, a decastyle has 10, and so on. The pediment is the triangular panel, often filled with sculpture, above the columns. An architrave is the main beam that rests across the top of the columns. A lintel is the beam above a doorway.

Jupiter

The Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus (Jupiter Best and Greatest) on Rome's Capitoline Hill was one of the oldest and most important structures in the city. Over the centuries, it was repeatedly destroyed by fire and rebuilt. The temple appears on the reverse of a denarius issued in 41 BCE by the moneyer Petilius Capitolinus. The obverse bears Jupiter's emblem: an eagle grasping a thunderbolt.

More than a century later (76 CE), this temple appears in greater detail on the reverse of a large bronze sestertius of the emperor Vespasian. Between the central columns, we see a statue of Jupiter enthroned, flanked by standing figures of goddesses Juno and Minerva.

To read the complete article, see:
Temples on Ancient Coins (https://coinweek.com/ancient-coins/temples-on-ancient-coins/)

THE GOLD AUREUS OF DIOCLETIAN

Revolutionary, formidable and feared, Diocletian is without a doubt one of the most important rulers in the history of the Roman Empire. After decades of turmoil across the Roman world during what is now known as the Crisis of the Third Century, Diocletian rose to prominence after the murder of Numerian. He would rule from AD 284 until 305. His reign was characterized by the creation of what is now known as the ‘Dominate'. This institution essentially lifted the emperor to a god among men – with the emperor donning robes and regalia more befitting of an eastern king than a Roman Emperor, and only accepting visits from a select few individuals.

Diocletian did, however, share his power. He needed a method of smoothing out the nightmarish scenario which had plagued the 3rd Century AD – succession. Time and again a leading military commander had been declared emperor by his troops (Diocletian was no exception), and rose to victory over the current emperor. He would, more often than not, meet his demise under similar circumstances, after a short reign.

The Tetrarchy was conceived as a way to avoid this. The empire would be split in two – east and west. Both would be ruled by an emperor, an ‘Augustus', as well as a junior emperor, known as a ‘Caesar'. The Caesar's role was to learn from his Augustus, ready to fill his shoes. The Tetrarchy worked smoothly at first, with Diocletian and his co-emperor in the west, Maximian, abdicating in AD 305 – the first emperors to do so. Their Caesars, Galerius and Constantius Chlorus, stepped up as Augusti. The system was, eventually, doomed to failure with the rise of the Emperor Constantine, but the principle was, in theory, sound.

Another of Diocletian's many reforms was that of the Roman Empire's currency. For years, the purity of Rome's silver coinage had been reduced and reduced until, by the time of Gallienus (AD 253-268) it contained barely any precious metal at all. Attempts had been made by the renowned Emperor Aurelian to restore the coinage, but the people of Rome still had no high-grade silver coins in their pockets, as their ancestors had before them. With Diocletian's reforms, this would change. Diocletian set an edict on the maximum prices goods could be sold for, with severe punishments for those who broke the rules. He revalued the currency, creating a new silver coin: the Argenteus, and he increased the weight of the gold aureus. Diocletian also introduced a new, large, billon coin: the follis. These were, however, issued in far too great numbers in relation to the silver – affecting the reforms and limiting their success.

This gold aureus was minted in the eastern city of Cyzicus, in AD 290. The style in which it depicts the emperor is a product of the shifting appearance of artistry we begin to see in this period. There is a distinctive move away from the ‘warts and all' styles of the soldier emperors before him. This move towards a more symbolic ‘emperor figure' would become much more apparent into the 4th Century AD. The short inscription; Diocletianus Augustus, leaves us no doubt as to the emperor depicted.

To read the complete article, see:
THE GOLD AUREUS OF DIOCLETIAN (https://www.baldwin.co.uk/news/the-gold-aureus-of-diocletian/)

ANTIQUES ROADSHOW COMMUNION TOKEN HOARD

I've never seen these in England, which is communion tokens, and you're obviously a man of the cloth. Is this from your church?"

This is from our church, the guest replied. The first lot of communion tokens from 1777, and the box is the later version 1840.

What's the story with them? John asked and the minister replied: To have one of these tokens meant that whoever you were, you were allowed into the church, to be able to go to Communion, which in the 18th century was hugely important for the local people.

The antique expert questioned: How often would these have been used?

Quite rarely, because within the Church of Scotland tradition it was only maybe once or twice a year, that communion took place, the guest explained.

And sometimes in the Western Isles, even today, people have the tradition of only one time in their life, taking communion.

How long before communion took place would you have been given this? John remarked.

Probably what would happen would be the month before, the elders in the kirk would go around their districts, and give the communion tokens to people in their homes, he answered.

And it becomes a real treasure, you know to get one of those.

John interjected: But would it been taken away if you were bad or what was what was going on?

People in the kirk session of the church at that time were quite disciplinary, the guest shared.

So if you played golf on a Sunday, you could be reprimanded or if you played football or things like that.

And that was really quite a life or death thing for the people then, if they weren't allowed to share the bread and wine it was a lasting thing on their soul.

When you look at them, you see there you have the date 1777, made simply out of pewter, John explained referring to one-half of the coins.

And then these ones which are 1847, again later and not so interesting because that's like the birth of your church, pretty much.

To read the complete article, see:
Antiques Roadshow guest stunned by 'never seen before' communion tokens valuation 'Whoa!' (https://www.express.co.uk/showbiz/tv-radio/1445065/Antiques-Roadshow-guest-stunned-communion-tokens-rare-9000-John-Foster-BBC-video)

SS CENTRAL AMERICA GOLD COUNTERSTAMP

A unique, sunken treasure gold coin that made its way from New Orleans to the California Gold Rush and then to the Panama railroad before going down with a famous ship has now come home to The Big Easy for the public to see.

It left the United States Mint branch in New Orleans 167 years ago, and for 157 of those years it was submerged on the floor of the Atlanta Ocean as part of America's greatest lost treasure.

This historic coin is an 1854 Liberty Head Quarter Eagle struck at the New Orleans Mint and was later counterstamped by California merchant J.L. Polhemus. It was among the sunken treasure recovered in 2014 from the fabled ‘Ship of Gold,' the S.S. Central America, that sank in a hurricane in 1857 while sailing to New York, explained Bruce Smith, Director of Numismatics at M.S. Rau Fine Art, Antiques and Jewels.

It is the only gold coin of this denomination known with the advertising counterstamp mark of Polhemus, a Gold Rush-era pharmacist in Sacramento, California. He made so-called store cards with various other coins in circulation at the time. When this particular gold coin was made in 1854 its face value was $2.50. Today, it's a New Orleans treasure and insured for $65,000 for its first visit home in over a century and a half, said Smith.

The coin, graded PCGS XF45, is on public display at the Rau gallery, 630 Royal St. in New Orleans, Monday through Saturday from 9 am to 5:15 pm. Admission is free.

Scientist Bob Evans, who was on the successful S.S. Central America recovery missions, told PCGS Rare Coin Market Report Price Guide Magazine, the counterstamped 1854-O Quarter Eagle he discovered while examining treasure retrieved in 2014, is one of his favorite coins.

That coin was made in New Orleans at a time when the New Orleans Mint may well have been using California gold to mint coins. Gold Rush gold got around back then! So, then this coin made its way all the way to Sacramento, where a shopkeeper hammered his name on it. And then, somehow, it made it on to the S.S. Central America, and then, somehow, we brought it back up 150 years later, a couple of hundred miles from North Carolina. That's just a great story! An example of a great, full-circle journey, Evans stated.

The S.S. Central America was a 280-foot long, three-masted side-wheel steamship carrying tons of California gold when she sank on September 12, 1857 hurricane during the cargo's final leg of the voyage from Aspinwall (now Colón), Panama to New York City. The tragedy took the lives of 420 of the ship's 578 passengers and crew members and the loss of the gold cargo was a major factor in the economically devastating financial panic of 1857 in the United States.

When the S.S. Central America site was discovered in 1988 on the seafloor of the Atlantic, 7200 feet down about 150 miles off the North Carolina coast, Life magazine proclaimed it America's greatest treasure.

For additional information, contact M.S. Rau at 888-557-2406 or visit online at www.RauAntiques.com.

WWI COLORED HEROES MEDAL FOUND

We left Oklahoma City to visit our daughter Sarah and her family in Holly Springs MS. Although short, it was a great trip! They bought 30 acres in Holly Springs and have been excavating it to build a new home. Last week she found this medallion from WWI. (how appropriate for Memorial Day!)

While searching, found your article and another with some history:

"It is a commemorative medal struck privately to honor the black units whole served in the armed forces during WWI. The reason they gave it to them was because many black soldiers were not allowed to march in the victory day parades due to segregation so they received that instead..."

To read the complete article, see:
WWI "Our Colored Heroes" Medal (https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/28265-wwi-our-colored-heroes-medal)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
WWI MEDAL FOR "OUR COLORED HEROES" (https://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v13n27a12.html)

15TH CENTURY BRONZE ROUNDEL OF VENUS

The richly decorated roundel, valued at £17 million, has been expertly crafted from bronze and is in exemplary condition despite its significant age with vibrant silvered features and mercury gilding. Although the artist is not known, experts reviewing the artefact believe it was created by at least two sculptors of significant talent.

Venus, the Roman goddess of Love, is depicted on the roundel surrounded by her lover Mars, husband Vulcan and son Cupid. The mythological references in the design, and the quality of the relief, reveal the sophistication of the patron and the artist's understanding of the classical past.

The roundel is larger, more complex and more refined than other examples produced in Mantua at the same time which are currently in British collections. The decision to defer the export will give a UK buyer the opportunity to acquire the exceptional piece.

Caroline Dinenage, Culture Minister, said: This piece is a stunning combination of myth and mystery. I hope a UK buyer can be found so that researchers can reveal its secrets and the public can see this striking design on display.

The Minister's decision follows the advice of the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest (RCEWA). The committee noted that the size and unique composition made roundel extremely technically interesting, as well as an object of outstanding beauty.

Stuart Lochead, RCEWA Committee member, said: Of an exceptional size and of the highest possible quality this beguiling gilt and silvered bronze roundel represents the best of a highly sophisticated and intellectual humanist circle of artists and patrons active in Northern Italy in the late 15th to early 16th century.

Yet many of its secrets are still to be revealed. While it shows clear links to Mantegna and Donatello, it is hoped that further study might reveal who designed and produced it and for whom and therefore contribute to advancing knowledge of the period.

The remarkable craftmanship, aesthetics and mystery of this sculpture is captivating and its export from the United Kingdom and subsequent loss to the nation would be a misfortune.

To read the complete article, see:
A temporary export bar has been placed on a late 15th century bronze roundel valued at £17 million (https://artdaily.cc/news/136232/A-temporary-export-bar-has-been-placed-on-a-late-15th-century-bronze-roundel-valued-at--pound-17-million-#.YL1EnvlKhPZ)

JIGSAW COINAGE DESIGNS

One of the recent trends in design of coin series is use of jigsaw design. It was first used in series of collector coins issued by France on centenary of Tour de France in 2003. The face value of each coin was 1.5 Euro, a non standard denomination. Tour de France is a several days long, nation wide cycling race, held annually. A cycle chain was the unifying item across the reverse.

This was taken in to circulation coins by Mathew Dent, who made jigsaw design in UK design, in 2008. The Royal Coat of Arms, shown in full on reverse of 1 Pound coin, was used a jigsaw design on reverse of 6 denominations. Incidentally, the 2 Pounds circulation coin was not included in the series.

Later, in 2013, another series of collector coins, again from France, formed a jigsaw image of "RF" ( for Republic of France ) .

ON THOUSAND OUNCE BARS

About that Thousand Ounce Bar

When I worked for a Minneapolis bullion dealer, we had a garage where clients could drive in to make a secure pick-up or delivery. I recall the day when a client backed his pick-up into the garage and I helped unload seven thousand-ounce bars from the back. They don't weigh 80 pounds and I couldn't lift one in one hand. Later, working for another firm, it was my responsibility to ship those bars. A thousand-ounce bar will fit cross-wise in a large postal flat-rate box with a maximum weight of 70 pounds. We got good value from the post office with those typically weighing in at around 69 pounds, 4 ounces.

A thousand-ounce bar of silver weighs 83 1/3 Troy pounds. The postal weight at 69.25 pounds would be about 1108 ounces avoirdupois. The conversion rate would be about 1097 ounces plus the packaging.

Then I recall when the firm was contacted by an attorney representing a client who wanted to liquidate a thousand-ounce gold bar. I never handled one of those since management declined to buy it. We would not risk that it might be drilled and plugged with tungsten.

If we would act as a broker on that deal, we would have sent it to our refiner to have it melted and assayed. Payment from our refiner would take about six weeks.

Thus a thousand-ounce bar of gold may have a high theoretical value, but it is not a liquid asset that can be easily converted to cash.

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
VIDEO: A THOUSAND OUNCE BAR OF SILVER (https://www.coinbooks.org/v24/esylum_v24n22a08.html)

COUNTERFEIT COINS INTERCEPTED

Representatives of the Anti-Counterfeiting Educational Foundation (www.ACEFonline.org) and its Anti-Counterfeiting Task Force (ACTF) on the request of the Secret Service provided on-site numismatic expertise to federal law enforcement agents in the Los Angeles area who seized more than 40,000 fake Morgan and Peace dollars, American Eagle silver bullion coins and $2 1/2 Indian Head gold coins.

The counterfeits were intercepted from overseas shipments and seized during a two-month joint investigation by the Secret Service and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, explained ACEF Anti-Counterfeiting Director Doug Davis who flew from Dallas, Texas to California to assist investigators.

He and task force volunteer Lee Minshull of Palos Verdes, California, a long-time member of the Professional Numismatists Guild (www.PNGdealers.org), met with federal investigators at the International Mail Facility in the Los Angeles suburb of Torrance, California. That is where approximately 1,700 packages of seized counterfeit coin shipments were stored.

There were numerous wheeled carts filled with packages that contained coins seized during the eight-week targeting operation. We were told that each package contained an average of 27 to 32 coins, all of them counterfeits, said Davis.

The quality of the hundreds of counterfeits we personally examined varied from good to very good, especially the counterfeit silver American Eagles, stated Minshull.

It appears that the fakes we saw probably were made by three different counterfeit manufacturers. If they were genuine, the retail value of these 40,000-plus coins would be over $2 million, added Minshull.

Davis said the coordination between ACEF/ACTF, Secret Service, and Customs and Border protection provided valuable intelligence information that supports our work in exposing the widespread proliferation of counterfeit coinage and precious metals into the U.S. marketplace. Most importantly the success of this operation provides us with evidence to continue educating the higher-up administration within Secret Service, Customs and Border Protection and other law enforcement agencies about the growing problem of counterfeits.

He added: We will be providing Secret Service with a report of our evaluation. Secret Service was very appreciative of our assistance and willingness to travel at short notice to assist in the investigation. We could not say anything publicly about this operation earlier until federal agents finished part of their investigation.

This is only one of many cases during the past 12 months in which ACTF has provided numismatic experts to assist Secret Service and other Federal law enforcement agencies on counterfeit cases stretching across the United States.

ACEF is playing an important role in aggressively identifying counterfeit manufacturers, organized groups, individuals, e-commerce, and social platforms selling counterfeit coins and precious metals. Most importantly, is the resources and experts ACEF has at its disposal to assist local, state, and federal agencies during the investigative process and enhances expeditious indictments and prosecution, Davis emphasized.

The Anti-Counterfeiting Educational Foundation and its volunteer task force depend entirely on the support of the numismatic profession and the hobby community. ACEF is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation.

Monetary contributions can be made online at www.acefonline.org/donate or by check sent to ACEF, 28441 Rancho California Rd., Ste 106, Temecula, CA 92590.

For additional information, contact ACEF Executive Director Brueggeman at info@acefonline.org.

CENT CHARRED IN THE TULSA RACE MASSACRE

George Monroe was 5 years old when he collected this penny in the aftermath of the deadliest racial massacre in U.S. history. Lincoln's likeness is marred; the word liberty is barely legible. The back of the penny is so melted that nothing is visible.

Monroe survived the Tulsa Race Massacre, which began May 31, 1921, in a thriving African American community in Tulsa, Oklahoma. No one knows exactly how many people died, and no one was convicted. For nearly a century, the story was rarely told.

The Greenwood area of Tulsa was known as Black Wall Street. It had one of the largest concentrations of Black-owned businesses in the country at the time—a neighborhood full of stores, schools, churches, a hospital and a library.

Then Dick Rowland—a Black 19-year-old—was imprisoned, falsely accused of assaulting a white woman. A lynch mob gathered to hang Rowland. Black Tulsans hurried to the courthouse to protect him.

For two days, white mobs ransacked, razed and burned over a thousand properties across almost 40 blocks. They murdered as many as 300 African American residents, with significantly more missing and wounded. The Oklahoma National Guard rounded up Black residents of Greenwood and forced thousands into detention centers at the Convention Hall, the Tulsa County Fairgrounds and the baseball stadium, where they were held for up to eight days. The violence left about 10,000 people without homes.

Black Wall Street was destroyed.

In the decades that followed, the massacre was rarely discussed or acknowledged. Now, 100 years later, the Smithsonian is sharing reflections and resources for learning more about the event.

To read the complete article, see:
100 years ago, this penny was charred in the Tulsa Race Massacre (https://www.si.edu/stories/penny-charred-tulsa-race-massacre)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: JANUARY 31, 2021 : Tulsa Race Massacre Numismatic Survivors (https://www.coinbooks.org/v24/esylum_v24n05a09.html)

WHEN WILL HARRIET TUBMAN ADORN THE $20 BILL?

Kellen notes that the article...

President Biden's White House basked in praise from allies in its early days when it pledged to look for ways to speed up the process of putting abolitionist Harriet Tubman on the front of the $20 bill, replacing President Andrew Jackson, who owned enslaved people and forcibly relocated Native Americans.

But four months after taking office, there is little evidence that the administration has taken any steps to accelerate the schedule set out years ago by a small agency within the Treasury Department.

Despite the growing national push to honor the contributions of women and people of color — and Biden's personal promise to do so — Tubman is still not set to appear on the $20 by the end of Biden's first term, or even a hypothetical second term. If the current timeline holds, it will have taken a full 16 years to realize the suggestion of a 9-year-old girl whose 2014 letter to then-President Barack Obama publicly launched the process.

Biden has made other efforts to update the nation's imagery. He recently became the first president to visit Tulsa in commemoration of a race massacre there. He ordered that the Oval Office be cleared of a portrait of Jackson, who oversaw the Indian Removal Act that led to the Trail of Tears. President Donald Trump had installed the portrait of the seventh president, who is admired by some traditionalists for his populism and frontier image.

But removing the portrait has proven much easier than accelerating the actions of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, a unit of the Treasury Department, which critics say displays scant interest in transforming the currency.

Treasury officials say changing the portrait on the $20 is not as simple as it sounds, largely because of the need for sophisticated anti-counterfeiting features.

We are committed to the goal of redesigning U.S. currency to better reflect the history and diversity of our country, Len Olijar, director of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, said in a statement. But the security of our currency remains paramount.

Olijar said the schedule for new currency is recommended by a group called the Advanced Counterfeit Deterrence committee, which advises the treasury secretary on anti-counterfeiting issues. Under that schedule, both the $10 and the $50 notes are set to be released ahead of the $20.

The primary reason currency is redesigned is for security against current and potential counterfeiting threats, Olijar said. The redesign timeline is driven by security feature development.

Changing America's money has long been a glacial process. One Treasury aide said the blue thread that appears in the recently released $100 bill took the government a decade to develop.

Complicating matters further, the effort to change the Jackson portrait is caught up in a 2008 court order that any new currency must include some kind of tactile signifier, similar to Braille, so those who are blind or visually impaired can distinguish between various denominations.

Like supporters of the Tubman portrait, representatives of the blind are still waiting.

It doesn't cost very much to change the portraiture — it's just the everything else that they're trying to do at the same time, said Ruth Anne Robbins, a Rutgers law professor who co-wrote a paper on changes to the currency. People have been asking now for just about a century to please put some women on the money.

Her research shows how much easier it was to put Jackson on the currency than it's proving to get him off it.

When the modern currency was first designed nearly a century ago, then-Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon received a typed memo from his staff suggesting individuals to be honored on the new bills, a copy of which was unearthed in the National Archives by Robbins and her colleague Genevieve Tung.

The October 1927 memo listed former president Grover Cleveland as the proposed face of the $20 and Jackson for the $1,000. Mellon crossed their names out and, with his pencil, ordered their positions reversed.

To read the complete article, see:
When will Harriet Tubman adorn the $20 bill? (https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/harriet-tubman-20-bill/2021/06/03/62443b5c-bcd1-11eb-9c90-731aff7d9a0d_story.html)

TROMPE L'OEIL MONEY ARTIST JOHN HABERLE

The Art Institute was yesterday afternoon the scene of a delicate and interesting experiment, upon the result of which a personal reputation may be said to have rested and certainly upon which the merit of a work of presumptive art did depend, the Chicago Daily News reported loquaciously on July 3, 1889. The personal reputation at stake was that of New Haven artist, John Haberle. At the time, Haberle's painting U.S.A. was hanging in the main gallery of the Art Institute of Chicago, attracting much scrutiny and speculation.

The small oil on canvas depicts several familiar objects including coins, paper currency and postage stamps, exactingly rendered in the then-fashionable trompe l'oeil (fool the eye) style. The bills and stamps quickly created a tempest in the Chicago art world's teapot, with one prominent critic deeming them too realistic to have been painted and publicly denouncing the piece as a fraud. As a result, Haberle was reached in far distant New Haven, where he was roused by the critical critique and he made a hasty journey hither. Once Haberle arrived, the work was removed from its frame in the presence of art experts and the press who watched as the [magnifying] lens was used, the paint was rubbed off, and the whole ingenious design proved really an imitative work of art, and most excellent one. In other words, both Haberle and his painting were vindicated.

Haberle then spent a year working as an engraver in Montreal, returning to New Haven in 1875 to set up his own studio on Winthrop Avenue. Soon he was doing illustrations for paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh who, at the time, was preparing to open Yale's Peabody Museum as one of its original curators. Haberle was also enlisted by Marsh to repair fossils, arrange specimens and paint scenery for displays.

In his spare time, Haberle began the pursuit of a fine art career. His early watercolor, Yellow Canary (1883), now held at the Yale University Art Gallery, portrays a lifeless bird suspended in front of a cigar box top and evidences his budding interest in trompe l'oeil, a style the Philadelphia artist William Harnett had introduced to Americans in the previous decade. In 1883, Haberle became a founding member of the New Haven Sketch Club, where he taught regularly, and he applied for admission to the National Academy of Design in New York, which he attended the following year. By 1885, he was back in New Haven with a portfolio of paintings that employed what he then called his imitative technique.

His reputation quickly grew. In 1887, he submitted Imitation to the National Academy's fall exhibition. The painting, depicting bills, coins, stamps and a tintype of Haberle, soon prompted Harnett himself to declare that no artist has yet equaled Haberle in the imitation of bills and stamps. Although he offered Fresh Roasted (Peanuts) that year for the Sketch Club's December exhibition, he soon returned to depicting currency with Can You Break a Five? and Reproduction. Both include representations of newspaper clippings, one proclaiming Haberle to be a Counter[feiter].

By the 1890s, Haberle's paintings were so realistic that he was admonished by federal authorities to cease and desist from painting American currency. He did not. In 1890, along with the nostalgic Grandma's Hearthstone, he completed Twenty Dollar Bill, One Dollar Bill and A Deception: Ben Franklin and Five Dollars. In the latter, he chose to depict the reverse side of the bill, which, at the time, included a lengthy warning about the consequences of reproducing federal currency. A small clipping portrayed in the upper corner declares J. Haberle—New Haven, Conn, doubtlessly copied from his own newspaper advertisements.

The financial success Haberle's work brought allowed him to purchase a parcel of land overlooking the harbor in Morris Cove, where he built a house and studio.

To read the complete article, see:
That's Him! (https://mailchi.mp/dailynutmeg/john-haberle-trompe-loeil-painter-thats-him?e=2c38baa027)

For more information on the works, see:
U.S.A. (http://collection.imamuseum.org/artwork/56234/)
Imitation, 1887 (https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.106596.html)

BECKETT SUSPENDS MOST GRADING SERVICES

Overwhelmed with orders, Beckett Grading Services will temporarily stop accepting most trading card submissions next week.

Like its competitor, PSA, Dallas-based Beckett has a backlog of ungraded cards that's so large that collectors and dealers have been waiting months for orders that used to be completed in weeks.

Beckett Collectibles President Jeromy Murray says all grading submissions other than the Premium Level service will be suspended after Monday, June 7.

All orders that are submitted under the Express, Standard, and Economy level will be returned to the customer, ungraded, he told customers Tuesday in a statement tucked inside the company's plans for the 2021 National Sports Collectors Convention. The reason behind this decision is simply to allow us to focus on the growing backlog we have and to get as many cards back to customers as possible, before the National. This is not ideal for anyone but something our competition has done.

Beckett's Premium Level service costs $250 per card or $150 without subgrades being assigned.

Grading companies have been inundated with orders—mostly consisting of modern era trading cards—for more than a year as collectors and sellers look to take advantage of a robust market for cards. COVID-19 exacerbated the problem.

In late March, PSA suspended all but its higher end services and while the company has indicated it is caught up on processing submissions, it has yet to resume accepting orders beyond the highest service level. Graders have been working to catch up, but the backlog of ungraded cards totaled well into the millions prior to the shutdown.

SGC raised its prices to $75 for regular submissions, hoping to slow the tide of orders, then reduced it to $30 not long ago after catching up.

Beckett's backlog means customers are currently waiting eight months or more for Standard level submissions to be processed and returned and 11 months or more for Economy level orders.

Last fall, the company lost grading directors Andy Broome and Westin Reeves to Certified Collectibles Group, which launched its CSG trading card division.

To read the complete article, see:
Beckett Suspends Most Grading Services as of June 7 (https://www.sportscollectorsdaily.com/beckett-suspends-grading-services/)

The Certified Collectibles Group® (CCG®), one of the largest private employers in the Sarasota-Manatee area, is excited to announce its goal of employing 500 people at its headquarters in Sarasota's Lakewood Ranch community by the end of summer. To hit this target, CCG is offering a $2,500 sign-on bonus for new employees who start by September 30, 2021.

The CCG companies include the world's leading and largest providers of expert, impartial and tech-enabled services that add value and liquidity to collectibles such as coins, paper money, comic books, trading cards, sports cards, stamps and more. Since 1987, CCG has certified more than 60 million collectibles and continues to grow at a rapid pace as a result of the incredible demand for its best-in-class services.

The collectibles markets are booming and show no signs of slowing down. Many coins, banknotes, comic books, trading cards and sports cards have all recently sold for record prices — some for millions of dollars — making headlines and drawing more people to collectibles. Only a few companies in the world provide third-party certification services for collectibles, with CCG offering the most comprehensive services right in the beautiful Sarasota-Manatee area.

We are looking to immediately add at least 100 more people to our phenomenal team of employees, says Steven R. Eichenbaum, CEO of CCG. They will join a dynamic, growing company with a significant presence in Sarasota and around the world.

To read the complete article, see:
CCG Continues Hiring Push; Targets 500 Sarasota Employees by Summer's End (https://www.greysheet.com/news/story/ccg-continues-hiring-push-targets-500-sarasota-employees-by-summer-s-end)

LOOSE CHANGE: JUNE 6, 2021

Six Years, Six Designs, Three Alloys

To read the complete article, see:
Six Years, Six Designs, Three Alloys – When We Changed Cents (https://www.numismaticnews.net/collecting-101/six-years-six-designs-three-alloys-when-we-changed-cents)

China's Digital Currency
Kavan Ratnatunga writes:

To watch the video, see:
hina's Digital Yuan will Change the World | Real Talk China Ep6 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHQFCCkR2bg)

Magawa the Rat Retires

Magawa the rat, who was awarded a gold medal for his heroism, is retiring from his job detecting landmines.

In a five-year career, the rodent sniffed out 71 landmines and dozens more unexploded items in Cambodia.

But his handler Malen says the seven-year-old African giant pouched rat is "slowing down" as he reaches old age, and she wants to "respect his needs".

Magawa was trained by the Belgium-registered charity Apopo, which is based in Tanzania and has been raising the animals - known as HeroRATs - to detect landmines since the 1990s. The animals are certified after a year of training.

Last week, Apopo said a new batch of young rats had been assessed by the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) and passed "with flying colours".

Last September, Magawa was awarded the PDSA Gold Medal - sometimes described as the George Cross for animals - for his "life-saving devotion to duty". He was the first rat to be given the medal in the charity's 77-year history.

To read the complete article, see:
Magawa the hero rat retires from job detecting landmines (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-57345703)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
DICKIN MEDAL FOR CAMBODIAN LANDMINE RAT (https://www.coinbooks.org/v23/esylum_v23n39a34.html)