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About Us The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit association devoted to the study and enjoyment of numismatic literature. For more information please see our web site at coinbooks.org Subscriptions Those wishing to become new E-Sylum subscribers (or wishing to Unsubscribe) can go to the following web page link Membership There is a membership application available on the web site Membership Application To join, print the application and return it with your check to the address printed on the application. Print/Digital membership is $40 to addresses in the U.S., and $60 elsewhere. A digital-only membership is available for $25. For those without web access, write to: Jeff Dickerson, Treasurer Numismatic Bibliomania Society P. O. Box 578, Weatherford, TX 76086 Asylum For Asylum mailing address changes and other membership questions, contact Jeff at this email address: treasurer@coinbooks.org Submissions To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com BUY THE BOOK BEFORE THE COIN Sale Calendar June 15, 2024 Kolbe & Fanning Watch here for updates!

 

Content presented in The E-Sylum is not necessarily researched or independently fact-checked, and views expressed do not necessarily represent those of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society.

WAYNE'S WORDS: THE E-SYLUM MAY 5, 2024

New subscribers this week include: Lianna Spurrier. Welcome aboard! We now have 7,267 subscribers.

Thank you for reading The E-Sylum. If you enjoy it, please send me the email addresses of friends you think may enjoy it as well and I'll send them a subscription. Contact me at whomren@gmail.com anytime regarding your subscription, or questions, comments or suggestions about our content.

This week we open with a numismatic literature mail bid sale, three new books, a billionaire obituary, updates from the Newman Numismatic Portal, notes from readers, and more.

Other topics this week include WWII Philippine Emergency and Guerrilla Currency, the early days of the error collecting hobby, the Root River Mint, the finder of the Great Kentucky Hoard, fixed price and auction selections, Olympic medals for art, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

To learn more about Conrad M. Nielsen, Elwin C. Leslie, Cyrus H. Phillips, Amon Carter, Jr., Herbert Hunt, the "damaged" 1792 Judd-9 silver disme, James Cruchett's Mount Vernon Factory, the March of Dimes, coins of Scotland, a heart-shaped halfpenny, plaques and plaquettes, tablets and stud bolts, read on. Have a great week, everyone!

Wayne Homren
Editor, The E-Sylum

 

 

KOLBE & FANNING BUY OR BID SALE NUMBER 24

Kolbe & Fanning Numismatic Booksellers have announced our latest Buy or Bid Sale, which begins now and will close on Tuesday, May 14, 2024. With hundreds of new additions, the sale focuses on modestly priced books, giving collectors an opportunity to add to their libraries at minimal cost.

The sale includes over 1200 works on ancient, medieval and modern coins, as well as general works, periodicals and sale catalogues. Buy prices have been kept low to promote sales. To further encourage participation, the firm is offering free domestic shipping to bidders spending at least $300; there is also no packing and processing fee for this sale. Again, please read the Terms of Sale before participating.

As the name of the sale suggests, customers may bid on items they wish to acquire or buy them outright at the published price. The Terms of Sale will give full instructions on how to participate: please read it carefully.

There is no printed catalogue. The PDF catalogue is available now for downloading from the Kolbe & Fanning website at numislit.com. Please send all bids to orders@numislit.com or use the bid sheet included at the end of the PDF catalogue.

To read the complete catalog, see:
https://www.numislit.com/pdfs/KolbeFanningBOB24.pdf

NEW BOOK: PHILIPPINE EMERGENCY CURRENCY 2ND ED.

Ken Berger writes:

Finally, after many years of development and research, Neil Shafer's classic 1974 book, Philippine Emergency and Guerrilla Currency of World War II, has been updated on the 50th anniversary of its publication. This massive undertaking was originally started by Matthias Voigt and, in fact, he had already prepared an initial manuscript. In parallel, Shafer on his own also began updating his book through a series of articles in the Bank Note Reporter. Eventually, the two came together and decided to update the book. Still later Kenneth Berger joined the team.

With their combined knowledge of Philippine numismatics, along with Voigt's manuscript, organizational skills and dedication to this project, Berger's attention to detail and knowledge of Philippine history and geography, and Shafer's pioneering work and ability to locate rare and unknown notes, a better team could not have been assembled. Thus, the project was well on its way to fruition. Unfortunately, Shafer passed away before it could be completed.

This new book is over 850 pages long. It lists numerous previously unknown notes and new varieties. The book is especially strong in its coverage of both municipal and local issues. In fact, except for the first edition, it is the only book that covers such issues. The book includes many pictures of the notes and, unlike the first edition, a large majority of them are in color. It also identifies the notes' signers whenever possible, along with the size and description of the notes and, if necessary, their varieties. In addition, it touches upon counterfeit notes, various counterstamps, and JIM notes. All collectors of Philippine banknotes, and especially those collectors of Philippine emergency and guerrilla notes, need to add this book to their library.

The book (ISBN 978-3-384-057556) is presently available from the publisher on their website (https://shop.tredition.com/ but, unfortunately, the website is mostly in German). The cost is 185 euros plus shipping. Eventually it will be available on Amazon.

Hardcover
ISBN: 978-3-384-05755-6
Pages: 868
Dimensions and trim: 21 x 29.7 cm
Weight: 2733.8g

For more information, or to order, see:
Philippine Emergency and Guerrilla Currency of World War II - 2nd Edition (https://shop.tredition.com/booktitle/Philippine_Emergency_and_
Guerrilla_Currency_of_World_War_II_-_2nd_Edition/W-643-279-797)

Ken adds:

I am excited to be able to see the new edition of Philippine Guerrilla/Emergency currency come to fruition. Neil Shafer's original 1974 edition, PHILIPPINE EMERGENCY AND GUERRILLA CURRENCY OF WORLD WAR II, was the first major effort to list and catalog these remarkably interesting currency issues. The catalog has been out of print for many years though copies are still in demand at a high premium even today.

Conrad M. Nielsen put together probably the largest private collection of these WWII currencies in the world at the end of WWII. He was in the United States Merchant Marine, and he told me that he would stand on a Manila street corner while his ship was anchored in Manila Bay, and would buy boxes and boxes of these notes. He spent years and years organizing them. Much information came from issuing agencies and authorities as he wrote frequent letters to them during the 1950's, 1960's and 1970's. He provided some assistance to Neil Shafer in his 1974 edition by providing notes. Neil Shafer's First Edition covered major types of both Provincial and Municipality notes in his catalog. It became the bible to collectors for many years

In approximately 1982, Nielsen provided the second major documentation for collectors. He provided an expansive listing to Krause Publications that included it in the Philippine section within the STANDARD CATALOG OF WORLD PAPER MONEY - SPECIALIZED ISSUES (SCWPM) [8, 9]. The detailed listing covered known Philippine Provincial notes from Nielsen's WWII collection but listings of Municipality notes were not included. Mr. Nielsen included in his listings all known signature variations, design differences, error notes, counterfeits plus issues from Provinces that were not known in 1974. He elaborated on SN ranges for each issue resulting in many subtypes. He estimated values normally in three grades and found those issues that were absolutely RARE. Unfortunately, not many updates have since been made to this section of the Krause Catalog.

I purchased the C.M. Nielsen Collection of guerrilla notes in March 2008, transporting it with my friend, Bill Topor, to my home in Maryland in April 2008. The story of getting the many boxes of notes from a subterranean cellar in Nielsen's house at Salt Lake City to Maryland where I live is quite humorous with one serious note and well worth reading.

This story is included in the prologue to Kenneth Berger's 2016 PHILIPPINE EMERGENCY NOTES: COUNTERSTAMPED, SIGNED & INITIALED (CSI) (still available at csinotes@juno.com). I included small quantities of scarce duplicate notes from Nielsen's collection in my Mail Bid sales from 2010 to 2019 as they were in high demand.

It was overwhelming to go through everything in Nielsen's collection. I estimated there were over 75,000 notes, many duplicates and many RARE exceptionally low numbers of some issues that had been printed. Neil Shafer visited me in August 2008, at the conclusion of the American Numismatic Association's World Fair of Money. We went through many of the notes finding some surprising issues we needed to discuss with C.M. Nielsen but unfortunately, he died a week earlier on August 10, 2008. I have endeavored to keep the Nielsen collection intact and in fact, adding a few more issues or expanding the serial number ranges that were in the Krause catalog.

Now, we come to the third major effort to update the Philippine collector world, the work of Matthias Voigt, Kenneth Berger and Neil Shafer in their book, PHILIPPINE EMERGENCY AND GUERRILLA CURRENCY OF WORLD WAR II - SECOND EDITION, the successor to Shafer's 1974 edition.

This new book is the collective effort of years of work by Matt, Ken and Neil, thus will be well-read and referenced by all the Philippine collecting community. We all need to thank them for their massive effort.

NEW BOOK: BANKNOTE COLLECTING MANUAL

Banknote collecting manual
Grabowski/Mehlhausen

A guide for banknote collectors and those who want to become one - tips, tricks and information from an expert

ISBN: 978-3-86646-249-6
Edition: Updated 2nd edition 2024
Format: 14.8 x 21 cm
Illustrations: Colored illustrations throughout
Cover Type: Brochure
Number of pages: 224
Price: 19.90 euros

The collecting of paper money has increased significantly in Germany in recent decades and has gained enormous momentum worldwide and has more and more followers. More and more young people are finding their way to collecting banknotes, especially via the Internet.

For the German banknotes and emergency banknotes, there is now a wide range of special catalogs from all over the world that are indispensable for collectors. Many general questions about paper money however, remain unanswered in the catalogs and also in individual collecting areas. The collector often wants more background information.

After the great success of the coin collecting manual, it was only logical to also create a handbook for banknote collectors, which is now available in a second, completely revised edition.

The book spans a wide range from first paper money from the Chinese up to the euro. Data and facts also provide a lot of interesting information about the various collecting areas of German paper money. Of course there are also many tips and tricks on building a collection, on levels of preservation and assessment, but also for cleaning and caring for banknotes. Also warnings about counterfeits and manipulations as well as current literature tips are not missing.

This manual is not only aimed at beginners, but also also answers many questions from long-time collectors and is an ideal guide for friends of notaphilia.

For more information, or to order, see:
https://www.battenberg-gietl.de/produkt/handbuch-geldscheinsammeln

To read the complete article, see:
Das neue "Handbuch Geldscheinsammeln" ist da! (https://www.geldscheine-online.com/post/das-neue-handbuch-geldscheinsammeln-ist-da)

NEW BOOK: COINHUB GUIDE TO U.S. COINS AND SILVER

Dive into the lucrative world of numismatics with "The CoinHub: An Ultimate Guide to Selling U.S. Coins and Silver," authored by Blake Alma, renowned numismatist and founder of CoinHub Media. With over 1.8 million followers, Blake has established a leading presence in the coin collecting community, and now he shares his expertise with you in this comprehensive guide.

This book demystifies the process of selling U.S. coins and silver, providing readers with the essential strategies and insights needed to navigate the market successfully. Whether you're a seasoned collector looking to monetize your collection or a newcomer curious about the value of coins, this guide offers practical advice on evaluating, marketing, and negotiating sales effectively.

Blake's straightforward writing style, infused with a touch of humor, makes complex concepts accessible to all readers. "The CoinHub" is more than just a manual; it's a roadmap to turning a passion for coins into a profitable endeavor. Throughout the book, Blake emphasizes the importance of understanding market dynamics, leveraging digital platforms for sales, and building lasting relationships within the numismatic community.

Join Blake Alma as he guides you through the fascinating world of coin collecting and selling. "The CoinHub: An Ultimate Guide to Selling U.S. Coins and Silver" is an indispensable resource for anyone interested in the art and science of numismatics. Don't miss the chance to transform your approach to coin selling and ensure your spot at the forefront of the coin market. Grab your copy today and start your journey toward becoming a successful coin seller!

For more information, or to order, see:
The CoinHub: An Ultimate Guide to Selling U.S. Coins and Silver (https://www.amazon.com/CoinHub-Ultimate-Guide-Selling-Silver/dp/B0D2KWCFPJ/ref=sr_1_1)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
NEW BOOK: COINHUB GUIDE TO COIN ERRORS (https://www.coinbooks.org/v26/esylum_v26n15a03.html)

WILLIAM HERBERT HUNT (1929-2024)

All three were sons of H.L. Hunt, a Texas oilman who turned poker winnings into one of the world's largest fortunes, a bigamist who taught his many children to be skeptical of the government and its paper money. And they all bought silver—lots of silver—which landed them at the center of the biggest commodities-trading scandal of the 20th century.

Bunker and Herbert, the primary drivers of what became known as a scheme to corner the silver market, started buying the precious metal in the early 1970s when the price hovered around $1.50 an ounce. In 1980, when it was trading around $50 and they controlled more than 100 million ounces, they were looking at profits in the billions.

But before the end of the year, they were hocking everything: horses, coins, land and lawn mowers. And by the end of the decade, they were bankrupt, the subjects of federal investigations, banned from trading commodities and the inspiration for an Eddie Murphy movie, Trading Places.

As Herbert Hunt—the last survivor of the three, who died April 9 at the age of 95—put it in a call to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on what became known as Silver Thursday: I'm busted.

William Herbert Hunt was born in El Dorado, Ark., on March 6, 1929, to H.L. and Lyda Hunt. The family eventually settled in Dallas. There were six children in the family, including two sisters, Caroline and Margaret, and the oldest brother, Hassie.

Growing up rich didn't deprive Herbert of an entrepreneurial instinct. He studied geology at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va., where he used his gin-rummy winnings to buy the lease on a Sinclair gas station, which he ran as a student.

After college, Herbert went into the oil-and-gas business, the industry that would consume most of his career. He was particularly close to his brother, born Nelson Bunker Hunt. For years, the two worked out of side-by-side offices in Dallas where Herbert employed a fiercely religious secretary who was known to proselytize to callers when her boss put them on hold.

Herbert Hunt maintained a modest profile for someone of his largess. He told Fortune magazine in 1980 that the Mercedes he drove was a hand-me-down from his wife. His son Bruce W. Hunt said his father kept mowing his lawn into his 70s.

In the early 1970s, the brothers began buying silver. They even took the unusual step of accepting delivery of the precious metal, which they stored in warehouses in New York, Switzerland and elsewhere. They used their silver as collateral to buy silver-futures contracts, which paid off handsomely as the price of the precious metal climbed.

Then everything fell apart.

Between September 1979 and January 1980, the price of silver rose from around $11 an ounce to about $50. Reports at the time estimated that the Hunts and their partners controlled up to two-thirds of a year's supply of silver. But when the price tanked, dropping to $10.80 on March 27, what is now known as Silver Thursday, the brothers were left facing their creditors, brokerage houses and government regulators.

The fallout dragged on for well over a decade. In 1988, a federal jury ordered the Hunts and others to pay $130 million to a commodities company owned by the government of Peru for their part in a scheme to manipulate and monopolize the silver market. The CFTC later charged them, along with others, of manipulating the price of silver bullion and silver futures contracts. Herbert and Bunker settled with the CFTC, paying millions in fines and accepting a ban on trading commodities. They both filed for personal bankruptcy.

Hunt didn't accept the charge that he had tried to corner the silver market. To him, he and his brothers were businessmen who tried to hedge against inflation and became victims of everyone from government regulators to short sellers at New York's Commodity Exchange whose rule changes caused the price of silver to drop.

I feel like the lady who had her purse snatched, he told Fortune, and then got arrested for indecent exposure because her clothes were ripped.

There were others who thought the brothers got a bad deal and weren't responsible for silver's boom and bust.

Economist William L. Silber says that silver has always been a volatile commodity and that major global events that occurred in 1979 and 1980 as the price of silver went up—hyperinflation, the Iranian hostage crisis, Russia's invasion of Afghanistan—were responsible for the steep rise in silver prices, not the Hunts.

We know now that silver always moves almost twice as much as gold, Silber, the author of The Story of Silver, said. They may have wanted to manipulate silver, but they were not responsible for silver moving twice as much as gold.

To read the complete article, see:
Herbert Hunt, Billionaire Who Tried to Corner the Silver Market, Dies at 95 (https://www.wsj.com/finance/commodities-futures/herbert-hunt-billionaire-silver-market-dies-at-95-4d73913a)

HISTORY RECOVERED: SAGA OF THE 1792 DISME

Robert Rodriguez and Tony Lopez Release History Recovered: Saga of the 1792 Silver Disme

Late in 2015, Rob Rodriguez examined a 1792 Judd-9 silver disme, to be offered by Heritage Auctions in their January 2016 FUN sale. The piece was long dismissed as an impaired example, as early as 1864, when the dealer Edward Cogan noted It is but right to state, that when I purchased it there were several scratches upon it, which have been very carefully removed... Rodriguez, at the time a relative newcomer to the world of numismatics, looked at the coin with fresh eyes and somehow sensed there was more to be learned. Nearly a decade later, the circle is complete, and the whole story can now be told.

In the paper History Recovered: Saga of the 1792 Silver Disme, Rodriguez and Tony Lopez put forth a convincing case that this ostensibly damaged example served not only as a ten-cent pattern but also as a design template for the 1793 half cent. Their most powerful evidence derives from the coin itself, which gave up its secrets when subjected to X-ray micro diffraction via the Advanced Photon Source at the Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont, IL. Imperfections in the underlying crystalline lattice, imparted long ago by surface tooling, are visually translated, and startlingly so. Even readers who disagree with the conclusion reached by the paper will ignore the groundbreaking methodology at their own academic peril.

Rodriguez presented this research at the September 22, 2023 Coinage of Americas Conference (COAC) at the American Numismatic Society, and this paper will additionally appear in the COAC proceedings when they are published.

Link to History Recovered: Saga of the 1792 Silver Disme on Newman Portal:
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/book/637653

 

VIDEO: EARLY DAYS OF THE ERROR COIN HOBBY

Syd and Fred share their memories of the early days of error coins including the local and national clubs, the different personalities and publications. Their discussion includes:

• Examples of the early publications
• History of the first organizations
• How Fred Weinberg got started in errors
• History of the hobby and famous personalities
• The need to understand and know the minting process
• Why availability of errors has changed
• The Belt Collection of 1974
• How third party grading has helped the hobby
• Explanation of the "Wow" factor

Speaker(s): Fred Weinberg & Syd Kass.

To watch the complete video, see:
Early Days of the Error Coin Hobby (https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/book/557183)

MORE ON GEORGE WINCKLER

I do not really qualify as an expert, and I hope I may be excused if I repeat what Mr Levy already knows, but this appears to be a boxwood (Buchsbaumholz) medal (Medaille) or model for a medal from the Reformation era. This would be a unique and valuable piece if it could be authenticated. Fine boxwood carving has been continued into the present, and such a piece could be a later copy or an outright fake. Further research is likely to take some serious digging in German language sources.

The name IORG, as has already been pointed out, is a variant of the name George: in German Georg and Jörg are the most common forms, and in older German I and J are interchangeable. The umlaut would likely be left off the O on a medal but would usually be added if searching for the person represented.

Hans Schwartz is the most famous German medallist and boxwood carver of that period, but consulting an extensive monograph on his work in my library (really the only appropriate book I have), I find no mention of Winckler. But there were a number of other boxwood carvers, and it is to these that serious research should be directed. Sorry to say, that's about all I can offer. Best of Luck, and I hope to read of the results in a future E-sylum issue.

I initially believed that the IORG WINCKLER depicted on David Levy's wooden medallion was the Protestant Reformation martyr as noted by Kerry Wetterstrom. As I looked into this further, I've come up with another candidate. There was a Georg Winckler (b. 1495, d. 1559) who may have been from the family of the Nuremberg goldsmith and engraver Georg Winckler (b. 1471, d. 1542). I located a 1536 engraving that may be associated with Levy's piece.

Based on the reverse legend, I searched and found a 1533 marriage record in St. Sebald in Nuremberg for Georg Winckler and Elisabeth Tucherin. I considered that perhaps the medallion commemorated Georg Winckler having two marriages, with Margareta Kruegin being his second wife. However, I found a record that indicates Elisabeth Tucherin was born in 1514 and died in 1538. So, these dates do not fit how I would like. Though perhaps Margareta Kruegin was Winckler's first wife, and this medal is somehow commemorative of his marriage to Elisabetha Tucherin. I found no information on Margareta except that her surname could be Krug. I located Tucher, Krug, and Winckler's coats of arms to match the medallion.

There is a Nuremberg Coin Cabinet catalog (Sammlung eines Nürnbergischen Münz-Cabinets, Nuremberg, 1782) that I think may describe medals related to this engraving and perhaps to David Levy's item. I'm not confident with my translations, so I will just add them here, and maybe a reader can assist.

Of numismatic note! There is another Elisabeth Tucher (d. 1473, d. 1517) from the same Tucher family whose famed portrait is on the German 20-mark note from 1961 to 1992.

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elsbeth_Tucher
https://villaluginsland.com/the-tucher-family-and-the-arts/
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_Bb-16-1175
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Sammlung_eines_
N%C3%BCrnbergischen_M%C3%BCnz_Cab/sbN-stdu--YC?hl=en&gbpv=1

Trey adds:

To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: APRIL 21, 2024 : Query: 1536 IORG WINCKLER Medallic (https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n16a10.html)
NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: APRIL 28, 2024 : On Protestant Reformation Martyr George Winckler (https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n17a10.html)

NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: MAY 5, 2024

Another Number Coin Gift
Last week we discussed a 25th wedding anniversary gift made with 25 silver dollars. Julian Leidman writes:

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: APRIL 28, 2024 : Bakelite Silver Dollar 25th Wedding Anniversary Plaque (https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n17a10.html)

On Bracteates
Michael T. Shutterly writes:

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
SWEDISH ISLAND SILVER BRACTEATE HOARD (https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n17a20.html)

James Cruchett's Mount Vernon Factory
Jerry Nashorn writes:

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
NUMISMATIC NUGGETS: APRIL 28, 2024 : Engraved Image of Washington (https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n17a19.html)

More Buttons
Bill Myers writes:

Jim Haas writes:

 

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: APRIL 28, 2024 : 50-Year Button Search Resolved (https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n17a10.html)

Robo-Writers?

To read the complete article, see:
NEW BOOK: GUIDE TO BECOMING A COIN DEALER (https://www.coinbooks.org/v26/esylum_v26n51a06.html)

B. Franklin Book Sale

Pat writes:

For more information, see:
Benjamin Franklin Issues the First American Trade Catalogues 4/11/1744 (https://www.historyofinformation.com/detail.php?id=4278)

ELWIN CRAMER LESLIE PHOTO SOUGHT

I wrote a brief biography of Elwin C. Leslie in the Sociedad Numismática de Monterrey's monthly publication called "Gaceta Numismática" (May 2024) and I tried to obtain a picture of Mr. Leslie but I couldn't find it. Surely, someone from The E-Sylum readership can help me. He was an American numismatist and expert in Latin American tokens.

Elwin Cramer Leslie was born in Rochester, Monroe County, New York on 13 September 1909 and died on 13 July 1999 in Ouray, Colorado.

He married school teacher June Luise Galbraith (Cleveland, Ohio 1910-2013) on 10 August 1936 in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Her parents were Scott Earl Leslie (1881-1941), a public school teacher, and Anne E. (1877-1959). The marriage record shows that Elwin was a handwriting expert.

All of Elwin's siblings were born in New York: Ruth E. (1905-?), Robert (1908-?), Clement Earl (1907-1999) and Vera Margaret (1912-2008). Elwin and June had two children, Scott W. and Sharon A, both also of New York. Like his father, Elwin belonged to the prestigious American Society of Questioned Document Examiners, founded on 02 September 1942, and was a member since its inception.

Mexican Numismatic Books:

1) Coinage of The Mexican Revolutionist Zapata – A Classification Guide - Authored with Erma C. Stevens [1968 / 16.4 x 22.1 cms / viii,81,blank / 500 copies / This book has the particularity that all the text and drawings of the Zapata's coins were made by Elwin C. Leslie]

2) Henequen Plantation Tokens of the Yucatán Peninsula – Mexico (With an Addenda of Others Tokens of the Area) - Authored with Alberto Pradeau [1972 / 15.6 x 24.2 cms / iii,blank,138 / All drawings are by Elwin C. Leslie]

Some of his numismatic articles that have been published are:

• The Pochutla Coffee Plantation Tokens Belong to Guatemala. TAMS Journal Vol. 7, No. 2 (April-May 1967). Pages 47-49.
• Additional Pochutla Token. TAMS Journal Vol. 7, No. 4 (August-September 1967). Page 125.
• The Municipal Coins of Colima. The Azteca Numismatic Society. Plus Ultra. Vol. VI No. 63 (December 1968). Pages 3-5.
• The Marshall House Tokens of 1859. Journal of the Civil War Token Society. Vol. 3, No. 1 (Spring 1969). Pages 11-13.
• The Palmarejo Railroad Token. The Azteca Numismatic Society. Plus Ultra Vol. VI, No. 69 (June 1969). Pages 3-6.
• The Palmarejo Railroad Token. The N.A.S.C. Quarterly. Numismatic Association of Southern California (3rd Quarter 1969). Pages 5-10.
• Tierra Del Fuego Sheep Ranch Tokens (Chile and Argentina, South America). TAMS Journal Vol. 11 No. 5 (October 1971). Pages 170-175.
• The Collahuasi (Chile) Copper Mine Tokens. TAMS Journal Vol. 11 No. 6 (December 1971) Pages 221-224.
• Copiapo Railroad Water Token (Chile, South America). TAMS Journal Vol. 12 No. 1 (February 1972). Pages 14-16.
• Bolivian Silver Mine Tokens of the Huanchaca Company. TAMS Journal Vol. 12 No. 3 (June 1972). Pages 106-111.
• Southern Railway's Chimbo River Bridge Token (Ecuador). TAMS Journal Vol. 12 No. 5 (October 1972). Pages 180-181.
• Unlisted Ohio Token (The Union Must and Shall be Preserved). Civil War Token Society Journal Vol. 6 No. 4 (Winter 1972).
• The Lota and Schwager Coal Mine Tokens of Central Chile. TAMS Journal Vol. 12 No. 6 (December 1972). Pages 226-231.
• Bolivian Rubber Plantation Tokens from the Territory of Colonias. TAMS Journal, Vol. 13, No. 2 (April 1973). Pages 49-52.
• The Braden Copper Company of Chile Mine Store Tokens. TAMS Journal, Vol. 13, No. 3 (June 1973). Pages 91-95.

As always, thanks a lot!

 

THE ROOT RIVER MINT

Joe Paonessa from the Root River Mint was set up at the Central States Numismatic Society convention, May 2-4, and was coining commemorative New England shillings with a hand-operated rocker press. The press weighed all of 28 pounds and dates to the early 20th century. Joe also operated a planchet press under hand-operated screw power. These punched out pewter blanks for use in the rocker press. It's a great reminder that the technology required to manufacture our early colonial coins was not terribly advanced.

For more information, see:
https://rrmint.com/

JOIN NUMISMASTER IN LONDON!

It's time to dust off your passports and get excited about seeing some of the coins you usually only read about. We are headed to the United Kingdom! Numismatic News , World Coin News , and Bank Note Reporter editors Maggie Pahl and Sophia Mattimiro have teamed up with a seasoned travel agency to bring you a week immersed in world coins in London and Wales.

Our adventure features amazing numismatic attractions, such as the British Museum's collection of money, Coinex 2024, a VIP tour of the Royal Mint, and more! A week of sensational coin exploration awaits.

To view the full itinerary, check out our travel page.

Your Itinerary at a Glance:

• We'll get to visit Coincraft, the oldest coin shop in London, The British Museum, and Kensington Palace.

• Next, we'll head over to the Bank of England Museum, Coinex, and then have some free time to explore London.

• On day three, we'll get to tour the Tower of London and visit the famous Portobello Road Market.

• On the next day, you'll visit the Ashmolean Museum before heading to Wales, where we'll take a tour hosted by a Numismatic volunteer at the Carleon Roman Legion Museum.

• On day five, we will take a VIP tour of the Royal Mint with a private curator, and then we will have free time in Cardiff to explore on our own.

• For our last full day together, we will visit St. Fagans National Museum of History, where we will have access to an exclusive viewing of coins that aren't on display.

There are limited seats available, so you'll want to reserve your spot as quickly as possible. If you have any questions, email NumisTravel@aimmedia.com.

To read the complete article, see:
Join Us in London! (https://www.numismaticnews.net/events/join-us-in-london)

For more information, see:
London & Wales (https://store.numismaster.com/pages/tour/numistravel-2024sep-uk)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
SUBSCRIBER PROFILE: RICHARD LOBEL OF COINCRAFT (https://www.coinbooks.org/v25/esylum_v25n12a17.html)

VOCABULARY TERM: PLAQUE

Plaque. A one-sided medallic item, rectangular, square, or nearly so, with at least one dimension greater than eight inches. Plaques are most often cast – by any method of casting – or galvanos made by electroforming since the 1840s. (By definition plaques are too large to be die struck, as no striking press is capable of striking medallic items larger than eight inches.) Plaques are a form of relief or bas-relief being the artistic expression of this type of sculpture and can range from the lowest to the very highest relief (even with extensive undercutting). As such they are always attached to their background or matrix (in contrast to sculpture-in-the-round which has no background).

Plaques are always one sided with the most frequent intent to be mounted against a wall or other flat surface. Often sculptors placed bas-relief designs on the base of their monuments or heroic sculpture; these plaques were used to further develop the statue's theme. Plaques are almost always cast bronze (or electroformed copper).

When necessary, plaques are backed with drop-in metal for added strength, and most often their back side would be left untreated. The obverse would then be finished or patinated as any medallic item or sculptural object. Often plaques would be framed; the frame could be considered the plaque's border. The frame can be a part of the model (called integral) or be made separate. If not framed it would be called without border.

Plaques, along with plaquettes, medals and medallions – were developed to their highest style in 15th century Italy, during the Renaissance. This form of glyptic art was an expression of relief sculpture that was small enough to be personal (medals, medallions and plaquettes under 8 inches, plaques are over 8 inches), but large enough for the sculptor to express his artistic design. Models of this period were made in wax, a pattern was kept in lead, the final piece was cast in bronze.

The same topics were developed in plaques as were found on medal;s (both with extensive portraits or religious themes). The only restriction was the artist had to do it in one view rather than two. It was still bas-relief intended for intimate view, to be examined close up to appreciate all its three-dimensional beauty. But because of this three- dimensional relief, plaques are excellent display pieces, (however, their larger size discouraged collecting them alongside coins and medals).

Very large plaques, called tablets, are made by the same sculptors and the same method of manufacture – foundry casts or electroformed. Those that are intended to be placed on a wall or other flat surface (as on a monument) have integral stud bolts casts on the back at the same time as their formation.

A negative pattern of the artist's design is required for either a foundry cast or electroform, for a small plaquette or a large tablet. This mold is made of plaster of Paris. If it is to be electroformed, the mold is coated to make it electrically conductive and wired to a low voltage source. This is placed in a tank large enough to accommodate the dimension of the pattern and sufficient anodes to supply the metal. (For more on the techniques of how plaques are made see cast, casting, foundry cast, electroforming.)

Occasionally both plaques and plaquettes are made from the same artist's model. A negative pattern is required for both; one negative pattern is reduced on a die-engraving pantograph to cut a die for stamping plaquettes.

Early plaques and plaquettes. Pisanello, the first to create a medal in 1438, and his immediate followers, all produced round medals. It was Donetallo (c1386-1466) who shortly thereafter created perhaps the first plaquette (so many are attributed to him), along with numerous plaques. A typical Donetallo production of this early period was Madonna and Child (Kress A283.6B). Also an early innovation of this time was the silhouetted plaque and plaquette.

While the first Renaissance medals were made in 1439, round and for personal adornment, the first plaques were not all that different from the reliefs which sculptors had been adorning their statues since ancient times. Thus the origin of the first plaque or plaquette is not all that finite. Certainly Italian, but reliefs were cast earlier than 1439, exact date uncertain.

Hundreds of plaques and plaquettes were made in Italy in the 15th century. Their Popularity spread to France, Germany, Flanders (Belgium) and Russia. More were created in the 16th century, and later of course, but collectors and curators highly prized those of the Renaissance (made before 1700). One of the largest collections of these was formed by Gustave Dreyfus (1837-1914) of Paris that now is in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. It was acquired and donated to the Smithsonian by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation (and now known as the "Kress" collection).

The Kress collection of Renaissance objects included, not only small statues, but 460 reliefs and plaquettes and 408 medals. (The Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Kaiser Friedrich Museum in Berlin, museums in Florence and Vienna have large collections of Renaissance plaques and medals as well.) The medallic plaquettes were collected alongside small sculptural relief objects. Thus there is a fine line distinction between the two: the intent to have the art object stand alone, or be attached to another object, flat surface or wall. The intimate size objects were always considered more personal and highly collectible.

Round plaques. Considering the definition "square, rectangular, or nearly so" for plaques and plaquettes, how come there are round plaques? Perhaps this is also the medallic development from the sculptural tondo employed in architecture and later in decorative art. Or it can be attributed to the genius of Donetallo, who created these objects in square, rectangular, round and silhouetted shape.

(Today we would call any uniface medallion, round and over 8 inches in diameter, a round plaque – both terms are used and both mean the same. Either could hang on the wall. But just as easily it could rest in the drawer of the cabinet as a medallic collectible, albeit somewhat oversize.)

References:
NC5 {1951} National Gallery of Art.

To read the complete entry on the Newman Numismatic Portal, see:
Plaque (https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/dictionarydetail/516500)

CYRUS HAROLD PHILLIPS, SR. (1905-1989)

After the story last week about bank exhibitions, there was strong public demand for another story about one of the exhibitors.

Cyrus H. Phillips was born in New Jersey on December 28, 1905, the son of William A. (1874- ) and Hattie Van de Sandt Phillips (1876- ). He was married to Hazel and had two sons, Cyrus Jr. and Wayne who both went into the coin business.

Phillips began his banking career with the Seaboard National Bank of New York in 1929. He was employed with the United States Trust Co. of New York for 15 years. By 1951 he had moved to California and was affiliated with the Monrovia branch of Bank of America. Later he was with the public relations department for Bank of America. Still later he was a business development representative for the bank.

Phillips joined the ANA in 1944 as member 10100 from Tenafly, New Jersey. His ads began to appear in The Numismatist a year later under the name of Cyrus H. Phillips. The ads offered catalogs for mail bid sales. In 1947 he was awarded a blue ribbon for participation in National Coin Week.

Phillips used his coin collection to create an exhibit for the bank. The first display was on June 5, 1954, at the Monrovia, California, branch of the Bank of America. The bank arranged for a permanent loan of one of their sets of colored slides from the ANA. Phillips took his exhibit and the ANA slides to programs around the community.

In 1956, the Bank of America reported on their educational program Historical Background of American Coinage. Their exhibit and colored slides provided by the ANA had been shown to 45,976 students and teachers at 168 schools plus 1483 adults at 26 different service clubs for a total showing of 47,459. Attendance dropped off over the next few years. In 1965, the ANA reported that the program had been seen by one-quarter million people in the previous ten years.

A 1959 item in the Press Telegram (and others) described Phillips as past president of the American Numismatic Society. The ANS History does not support that claim.

He was a member of the American Numismatic Association, a member of the California Numismatic Association and a charter member of the Southern California Numismatic Association.

In 1990, Rare Coin Review reported that Phillips Sr. had given more than a thousand talks on numismatics between the 1950's and his death on August 20, 1989.

Cyrus H. Phillips, Jt. was born in New Jersey on February 24, 1931, the older son of Cyrus H. Phillips, Sr. He married Hope Hobbs Eckhout in 1961. Their children were Patty and David.

He began collecting stamps at age 4 and coins at age 11. He opened a shop with his dad and brother in 1960. He opened S. C. Coin & Stamp as a corporation on September 8, 1976.

He joined the ANA in 1961 as K-48248. In the ANA he was generally known as Cy Phillips, Jr.

A 1975 article stated, Guest speaker will be Cyrus H. Phillips, Jr., philatelist and numismatologist. In another article he was described as a professional lecturer. In 1978-79, he conducted four mail bid sales in The TAMS Journal.

In 1984, The Golden Rain Beach Leisure World News started, He is reported to be the world's most active speaker on the subject of coins giving on the average 150 talks each year.

In 1991 he claimed to have given more than 1500 talks in the past fifteen years.

He died on December 11, 2001.

Wayne C. Phillips was born in New Jersey on August 26, 1942, the younger son of Cyrus H. Phillips, Sr. He married Alice C. Criswell on December 31, 1963.

In 1960, he was the general manager for S. C. Stamp and Coin Company working for his brother, Cy Phillips, Jr. He also did business as Wayne C. Phillips Rare Coins with an address in Phillips Ranch, California. He specialized in ancient coins and was noted for his collection of Roman Sestertii.

Wayne C. Phillips contributed a column to Coin World, Let's talk Ancients' beginning in 1990. There are no reports that he made talks to the public.

He died in March 2014 and is buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Covina, California.

Presenting an educational program to non-numismatists may be a service to the hobby. It may encourage others to pursue coin collecting. Every time the speaker is mentioned in the paper, it is free publicity. The public contact may provide leads to buy collections. Someone who attends the talk may remember the speaker five years later when they have to deal with an estate liquidation. Self-promotion is a sound business strategy.

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
NUMISMATIC EXHIBITIONS AT U.S. BANKS (https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n17a13.html)

KENTUCKY HOARD FINDER COMES FORWARD

In 2023, a Kentucky farmer discovered a cache of more than 800 gold and silver Civil War-era coins buried in a cornfield — a rare find one coin expert said was hard to comprehend. The discovery triggered an avalanche of media interest from around the globe, with stories appearing in The New York Times, The Guardian, Smithsonian Magazine and USA Today, among others.

Fearing an onslaught of fortune seekers on his property, the Kentucky farmer went to great lengths to remain anonymous and silent — until now.

I initially found the 1856 Seated Liberty Half Dollar probably 20 to 30 feet from where the hoard was located, the farmer told Kentucky Life. I would have never believed what came next. Things that only happen in dreams.

When I continued walking and saw the glint of gold – a thick reeded edge. When I pulled the coin from the ground, I was astonished when I realized I was holding a $20 Double Eagle from the 1860s. After I flipped the first clump of dirt over the next 45 minutes to an hour, the coins kept coming. I knew it was hundreds.

On a special Kentucky Life episode, for the first time ever viewers will hear from the farmer, as well as antique coin expert Jeff Garrett with Mid-America Rare Coin Galleries, offering their thoughts about the fateful day and the discovery now known as The Great Kentucky Hoard.

UK historian Amy Murell-Taylor will also discuss what was happening in Kentucky during the Civil War that may have led to these coins being put in the ground. The program will take viewers exploring with three guys who call themselves The Dirt Nerds as they search for buried treasure in the Bluegrass.

Kentucky Life – The Great Kentucky Hoard will air on Saturday, May 11 at 8 p.m. and Wednesday, May 15 at 2:30 p.m. on KET. Kentucky life is also available on-demand at KET.org.

To read the complete article, see:
‘Kentucky Life' to explore discovery of Civil War-era gold coins known as The Great Kentucky Hoard (https://nkytribune.com/2024/05/kentucky-life-to-explore-discovery-of-civil-war-era-gold-coins-known-as-the-great-kentucky-hoard/)

To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
THE GREAT KENTUCKY HOARD (https://www.coinbooks.org/v26/esylum_v26n25a18.html)
MORE ON THE GREAT KENTUCKY HOARD (https://www.coinbooks.org/v26/esylum_v26n29a20.html)

NUMISMAGRAM MEDAL SELECTIONS: MAY 5, 2024

102764 | ITALY. Genoa. Andrea Doria cast bronze Medal. Issued circa early-mid 17th century (after a mid 16th century original) to commemorate the famous Genoese statesman, condottiero, and admiral (41mm, 26.42 g, 12h). After L. Leoni. ANDREAS DORIA P • P, armored and draped bust right; trident to left // Galley, with numerous oarsmen, sailing right. Edge: A few flaws and filing marks as made. Kress 431; Pollard 490. Choice Extremely Fine. Rich brown surfaces, with some slight waviness as made. A great example of one of the earlier aftercasts of the type, which are much more commonly encountered as later castings. $465.

To read the complete item description, see:
102764 | ITALY. Genoa. Andrea Doria cast bronze Medal. (https://www.numismagram.com/product-page/102764)

102689 | FRANCE. Paris. International Expo silvered bronze Award Medal. Issued 1900 as the official prize [awarded to L. A. Genty] (63mm, 95.25 g, 12h). By J.-C. Chaplain at the Paris mint. REPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE, bust of Marianne right, wearing oak wreath; oak tree to left; cityscape of Paris in background to right // EXPOSITION UNIVERSELLE INTERNATIONALE, Victory flying left, head upturned right, holding wreath and palm frond, and bearing victor, who holds torch, upon her back; view of the expo hall in background; in exergue, cartouche with L. A. GENTY. Edge: «cornucopia» BRONZE. Cf. Button 29 (bronze); cf. Wurzbach 7193 (same). Choice Mint State. Light satiny gray surfaces, with a delightful matte nature. $295.

To read the complete item description, see:
102689 | FRANCE. Paris. International Expo silvered bronze Award Medal. (https://www.numismagram.com/product-page/102689)

102571 | GERMANY. Ferdinand Adolf Heinrich August Graf von Zeppelin & Dr. Hugo Eckener silver Medal. Issued 1928. The commissioning of the LZ-127 (33mm, 14.64 g, 12h). By L. C. Lauer in Nürnberg. FERDINAND GRAF ZEPPELIN 1838-1917 / DR HUGO ECKENER 1868, jugate heads of Zeppelin and Eckener left // DEUTSCHE KRAFT UND DEUTSCHER GEIST / WERK DAS "AUFSTIEG" "FREIHEIT" HEISST!, allegorical figure of Victory standing left, with wings spread, atop the airship; "GRAF ZEPPELIN" / D-LZ 127 / INDIENSTSTELLUNG / 20 SEPT. 1928. Edge: 990. Cf. Hans Kaiser 479 (edge marking not noted). PCGS SP-65. Extremely brilliant in the fields, with great iridescent toning upon each side. The sole finest of the type in the PCGS census, and one with unrivaled eye appeal. $595.

To read the complete item description, see:
102571 | GERMANY. Ferdinand Adolf Heinrich August Graf von Zeppelin & Dr. Hugo Eckener silver Medal. (https://www.numismagram.com/product-page/102571)

102758 | ARGENTINA. Pope Ioannes Paulus II gilt bronze Medal. Issued 1987 for the papal visit to South America (82mm, 388.9 g, 12h). By R. Sirmetti possibly for the Argentine Numismatic Association. • S. S. JVAN PABLO II • / REPUBLICA ARGENTINA, head facing slightly right, in raised octagonal gilt medallion // Pope standing slightly left, with various worshipers around. Edge: 97/5000. The Medal –; De Beeldenaar –. Choice Mint State. Highly impressive two-toned nature on the obverse, with incredible depth upon the reverse. Exceptionally impressive and a powerful work of medallic art. Despite the edge marking indicating an intended mintage of 5,000, this must clearly have not happened, as the lack of any examples in the marketplace would indicate that the actual mintage was much, much less. As such, quite rare. $295.

To read the complete item description, see:
102758 | ARGENTINA. Pope Ioannes Paulus II gilt bronze Medal. (https://www.numismagram.com/product-page/102758)

102749 | GREAT BRITAIN. "Sisyphus" cast bronze Medal. Issued 1989 (100mm x 90mm, 585.90 g, 12h). By J. McAdam for the British Art Medal Society. Sisyphus seated facing, legs crossed and with head lowered to knees, and with boulder behind; SISYPHVS in stylized gilt lettering around // Sisyphus, with back facing, pushing boulder. Edge: Plain. Attwood 61; The Medal 16, 118; De Beeldenaar –. Essentially as made. Deep brown surfaces, with lighter hues upon the high points. Highly impressive, with a great sculpted feel and the ability to stand freely. From an output of just 60 pieces. $435.

To read the complete item description, see:
102749 | GREAT BRITAIN. "Sisyphus" cast bronze Medal. (https://www.numismagram.com/product-page/102749)

SEDWICK AUCTION 35 CHINA SELECTIONS

Lot 1190. CHINA, Hupeh, Wuchang mint, tael, Kuang-hsü, Year 30 (1904), small characters variety,????????? PCGS M562. L&M-180; Kann-933; Y-128.2; WS-0878; Wenchao-583 (rarity 1 star) (7#15); Shi Jiagan Collection-360 ?????-360; Chang Foundation-unl ?????•• A beautiful, wholly original example of this very rare small-characters type from a popular series struck to reform Chinese currency based on traditional weights rather than the decimalized dollar system. Significant mint luster shows through the light golden toning; only a minor irregularity on the obverse rim to note. The sharply struck details make the design of two imperial dragons appear prominently. A rare opportunity to acquire one of the key rarities in Chinese numismatics. Estimate: $50,000 and up.

To read the complete lot description, see:
https://auction.sedwickcoins.com/CHINA-Hupeh-Wuchang-mint-tael-Kuang-hs-Year-30-1904-small-characters-variety-PCGS-MS62_i52420726

Lot 1198. CHINA, Republic, Tientsin mint, dollar, Hsu Shih-chang, Year 10 (1921), medallic alignment, no legend at bottom on reverse, smooth edge, ?????????????????, PCGS SP61. L&M-957; Kann-676a; WS-0103. The beauty of the intricately detailed Pavilion Dollar can only be surpassed by its rarity. This example of one of the most desirable key coins in Chinese numismatics shows sharply struck details of this artistically designed piece down to the woodwork above the pavilion entry. This first, and rarer, style features the blank bottom legend on the reverse which was intended to be engraved. Deeply toned with blue and purple coloration along with golden hues around the rims, quite lustrous with a few wispy hairlines in the fields. A great rarity in any form, more so as a Specimen 61-graded example. Estimate: $40,000 and up.

To read the complete lot description, see:
https://auction.sedwickcoins.com/CHINA-Republic-Tientsin-mint-dollar-Hsu-Shih-chang-Year-10-1921-medallic-alignment-no-legen_i52420734

Lot 1199. CHINA, Republic, Tientsin mint, dollar, Tsao-Kun, (1923),?????????? PCGS MS63. L&M-958; KM-677; WS-0104. Struck to commemorate the Proclamation of the Constitution and featuring the bust of Tsao-Kun in civilian attire. A choice example of this rarity with plentiful mint luster covered with speckled rainbow toning, well-struck coin with sharp details across Tsao-Kun's bust and the crossed flags, a popular type overall and a rarity in this Mint State grade. Estimate: $20,000 and up.

To read the complete lot description, see:
https://auction.sedwickcoins.com/CHINA-Republic-Tientsin-mint-dollar-Tsao-Kun-1923-PCGS-MS63_i52420735

Lot 1189. CHINA, Hunan, Changsha mint, dollar, Year 11 (1922), Hunan Provincial Constitution, ??????????·, PCGS MS63. L&M-867; Kann-763; Y-404; WS-0930. A richly toned Mint State example of this popular type struck to commemorate the Hunan Provincial Constitution. Well-defined devices from a strong strike make the design stand out amid its golden and darker toning with significant mint luster, particularly noticeable across the reverse. Estimate: $15,000 and up.

To read the complete lot description, see:
https://auction.sedwickcoins.com/CHINA-Hunan-Changsha-mint-dollar-Year-11-1922-Hunan-Provincial-Constitution-PCGS-MS63_i52420725

Lot 1195. CHINA, Republic, Wuchang mint, dollar, Li Yuan-hung, (1912), tripled reverse variety,?????????????,PCGS MS63. L&M-43; K-638A; KM-Y-320; WS-0089A. The first of several Republic of China rarities in this auction, this Li Yuan Hung dollar stands out for its numerical grade in addition to the tripling seen on the reverse details, a scarce variety for this scarce type. Bright, silver surfaces with little in the way of toning beyond a few streaks show off many die-polish lines while the design details are struck up well. Estimate: $15,000 and up.

To read the complete lot description, see:
https://auction.sedwickcoins.com/CHINA-Republic-Wuchang-mint-dollar-Li-Yuan-hung-1912-tripled-reverse-variety-PCGS-MS63_i52420731

For more information, or to bid, see:
https://auction.sedwickcoins.com/Treasure-World-U-S-Coin-Paper-Money-Auction-35_as95519

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
SEDWICK OFFERS FIVE POUND ATOCHA GOLD BAR (https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n17a16.html)

 

NOONAN'S OFFERS SCOTTISH COINS

One of the first coins struck in Scotland will be offered within Part II of a large collection of Scottish coins that had been amassed over the last 50 years by an anonymous collector. From the reign of David I (1124-1153), the coin will be offered at Noonans Mayfair on Thursday, May 9, 2024 at 3pm. The very rare coin is estimated at £1,200-1,500 [lot 601].

Comprising 177 lots, the collection is expected to fetch around £50,000-60,000. Jim Brown, Coin Specialist at Noonans commented: We are very pleased to be offering the second part of this single-owner collection of Scottish Coins. Part I was 100% sold and fetched an overall hammer price of £86,270 when offered at auction in January of this year.

Elsewhere in the sale are several coins from very rare mints. From the reign of Robert II (1371-1390) is a groat (silver coin worth four pence) that was minted in Dundee, which is estimated at £1,200-1,500. The Dundee mint opened in the 1380s and was only open for a few years [lot 698].

Similarly, a very rare groat from the reign of James I (1406-1437) from the Linlithgow mint was probably struck in the mid 1430s when the king was completing building works on his new royal palace in the town. It is estimated at £700-900 [lot 732].

A balance Half-Merk from the reign of James VI (1567-1625) dating from 1591 and decorated with a crowned shield between thistle-heads on the obverse and an unusual sword and scales motif on the reverse. It is expected to fetch £500-700 [lot 759].

As Mr Brown explained: This issue from the early 1590s is in remarkable contrast to the coinage of neighbouring England. When a coinage was not of international commercial importance, there could be less emphasis on continuity and more on experimentation. Unlike Elizabeth I, the king of Scots had scope to introduce an element of propaganda to his coinage as illustrated in this unusual religious and political statement, ‘His differt rege tyrannus' - ‘In these things a king differs from a tyrant', emphasising the justness of his rule - the scales replacing the sword to administer law and not inspire fear. Baptised a Catholic but raised and educated mainly by Protestant tutors, James was well aware of the religious divisions in 16th century society and walked a fine line between the two factions within his kingdom. He is also making a political point - contrasting the relative enlightenment and security of Scotland with the despotism of Catholic Spain and the contemporary turmoil in France and the Low Countries.

For more information, or to bid, see:
https://www.noonans.co.uk/

NUMISMATIC NUGGETS: MAY 5, 2024

Octavian and Julius Caesar Aureus

Octavian, as Consul (ca. 43 BC), with Julius Caesar, as Dictator Perpetuo and Pontifex Maximus. AV aureus (18mm, 8.16 gm, 5h). NGC Choice XF 3/5 - 4/5. Military mint in Transalpine and Cisalpine Gaul, July-August 43 BC. C•CAESAR•COS•PONT•AVG• (partially ligate), bare head of Octavian right / C•CAESAR•DICT•PERP•PONT•-MAX• (partially ligate), laureate head of Julius Caesar right. Calicó 52b (this coin). Crawford 490/2 (R3). Sydenham 1321. Julia 64. Newman "A Dialogue of Power in the Coinage of Antony and Octavian," ANS AJN 2 (1990), 43.9. Very rare, one of exceedingly few near-contemporary portraits of Julius Caesar in gold. Wonderful central strike of the obverse, with clear and naturalistic details of Caesar on the reverse.

Ex Numismatica Ars Classica, Auction 132 (30 May 2022), lot 463; Münzhandlung Basel, Auction 6 (18 March 1936), lot 1521.

A goal of many collectors of the Roman series is to obtain a portrait set of the first Twelve Caesars in gold aurei. The main impediment to assembling such a set is the difficulty in obtaining the very first portrait, Julius Caesar. While relatively plentiful in silver and bronze, actual portraits of Caesar in gold are surprisingly scant, with likely fewer than 50 of all known types extant. The type struck closest to Caesar's lifetime is the present example, issued by his grand-nephew and adoptive heir Octavian; the coin was likely struck at a military mint in southern Gaul upon his assumption of the Consulship in July 43 BC (since the obverse titles omit any reference to the yet-to-be-formed Second Triumvirate with Marc Antony and Lepidus, the type cannot have been struck in 40 BC as asserted in Calicó). The portrait of Caesar on the reverse makes no reference to his pending deification, but repeats his names and titles as they stood upon his assassination, on 15 March 44 BC. The portrait is accurately realistic and shows the great dictator as a prematurely aged man of 54, with sunken jowls and a long turkey-like neck. All other portrait gold coins depicting Caesar, all excessively rare, were struck much longer after his death and sport more idealized portraits.

To read the complete lot description, see:
Ancients: Octavian, as Consul (ca. 43 BC), with Julius Caesar, as Dictator Perpetuo and Pontifex Maximus. AV aureus (1... (https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/roman-republic/ancients-octavian-as-consul-ca-43-bc-with-julius-caesar-as-dictator-perpetuo-and-pontifex-maximus-av-aureus-1/a/3115-31042.s)

Heart-Shaped Halfpenny

British Tokens, Seventeenth Century Tokens, Cheshire, Macclesfield, Nathaniell Poole, heart-shaped halfpenny, 1668 23X21 mm 1,53 gr

To read the complete lot description, see:
England. British Tokens, Seventeenth Century Tokens. Heart-shaped halfpenny 1668 (No Reserve Price) (https://www.catawiki.com/en/l/83424367)

French Colonies Sou with RF Counterstamp

1767-A (1793) Sou. Paris Mint. Breen-701. RF Counterstamp. Rotated Counterstamp. VF-30 (PCGS).

186.6 grains. The misplaced counterstamp is located to the lower left of center on the crowned wreath side of the coin, and rotated approximately 45 degrees counterclockwise from normal alignment.

To read the complete lot description, see:
1767-A (1793) Sou. Paris Mint. Breen-701. RF Counterstamp. Rotated Counterstamp. VF-30 (PCGS). (https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/lots/view/3-19FNDI/1767-a-1793-sou-paris-mint-breen-701-rf-counterstamp-rotated-counterstamp-vf-30-pcgs)

Civil War Cardboard Postage Stamp Token

Civil War Cardboard Postage Stamp Token, three known of type of emergency money, very rare type. Stoddart's Extensive Retail Dry Goods Establishment 450, 452 & 454 N. 2d. St. Philad'a (1500-2000)

To read the complete lot description, see:
Civil War Cardboard Postage Stamp Token Stoddart's Very Rare Type Three Known (https://www.ebay.com/itm/386978425313)

Amon Carter, Jr. Letters
Letters from Amon Carter, Jr., Prominent Texas Newspaperman, Regarding His Collection of Rare Coin and Paper Money, 1955-1960, 1976-1977 51 typed and handwritten letters, most with original envelopes (about 3 inches) Generally very good plus or better with creases at old folds, a bit of age toning and some scattered spotting. One handwritten note with light edge wear not affecting any content. A nice collection of typed and handwritten letters from Amon Carter, Jr. to an associate in Massachusetts, Ed Bearse, regarding the collecting of rare coin and paper money.

Amon Gamaliel Carter, Jr. was born in Fort Worth, Texas in 1919. His father had struck it rich on Texas oil and become publisher of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, co-founder of American Airlines, and an avid numismatist and significant collector of currency. Carter, Jr. followed greatly in his footsteps. He served in World War II and was imprisoned by the Germans at Oflag 64, where he managed to "publish" a newspaper for the camp on toilet paper.

Upon his father's death in 1955 he took over leadership of the Star-Telegram and was said to have kept his collection of rare coins in a room-size vault on one wall of his office. As a director of American Airlines, Carter was instrumental in moving its headquarters to Fort Worth in 1957, and in 1960 he was named to the 18-member Assay Commission, a federal agency that tests and certifies the weight and quality of United States Treasury coins. After his passing in 1982, much of his impressive collection of national and world currency was consigned to Stack's, who distributed the pieces in a series of auctions spanning several years.

To read the complete lot description, see:
Letters from a Prominent Texas Newspaperman, Regarding His Collection of Rare Coin and Paper Money (https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31848000055)

OLYMPIC MEDALS FOR ART

For decades, beginning with the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, the Olympics included competitions in painting, sculpture, architecture, music and literature — a pentathlon of the Muses, as Pierre de Coubertin, the founder and leader of the modern Olympics, called them.

From now on they will be part of each Olympiad, on a par with the athletic competitions, Coubertin said.

Thousands of artists, some of them famous, most of them not, submitted works. More than 150 Olympic arts medals were awarded, the same medals that athletes received. At the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles, 400,000 people visited the monthlong exhibition of entries.

As the Olympics return to Paris this summer, thousands of gold, silver and bronze medals will be awarded — all for sport, none for arts.

In Lausanne, Switzerland, home of the International Olympic Committee, the Olympic Museum has a secured storage area in the basement. Curators oversee thousands of pieces of sports equipment, uniforms, medals, documents, torches, trophies — and art work.

But the only gold medal-winning paintings in the hidden collection are the two colorful pieces of a triptych that earned newspaper illustrator Jean Jacoby, of Luxembourg, first place in 1924. One represents soccer, the other rugby. The whereabouts of the third oil painting, depicting the start of a foot race, is unknown.

The Liffey Swim, an oil painting by Jack Butler Yeats, hangs in Room 14 of the National Gallery of Ireland, in Dublin.

He is a huge figure here, Brendan Rooney, the National Gallery's head curator, said. The museum owns dozens of his works — and his 1924 silver medal.

In 1923, the same year that his brother, the poet William Butler Yeats, earned the Nobel Prize in Literature, and just as Ireland was becoming independent, Yeats painted a modern scene depicting a swimming race down the Liffey River, through the heart of Dublin.

To read the complete article, see:
They Used to Award Olympic Medals for Art? (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/02/us/paris-olympics-arts-medals.html)

The Dutch architect who designed a brick-clad Olympic stadium for the 1928 Games in Amsterdam won an unlikely award: an Olympic gold medal. Alongside athletes competing for gold, silver and bronze medals in gymnastics, diving, and wrestling, De Stijl designer Jan Wils was awarded first place in the category of architecture. Stranger still: the award was given specifically for his work on the very stadium hosting that year's Olympic Games.

Jan Wils was not given the only arts award at the event: that same year, dozens of other designers and artists won Olympic medals for everything from town planning to painting. In total, over 1,000 works were submitted in arts categories from 18 countries.

Though many people today have never heard of this art competition component, it was an integral part of the Olympic Games starting in 1908 and its exhibits were paired with sporting events in the Summer Olympics for decades to follow.

To read the complete article, see:
Olympic Architects: Forgotten Gold Medals Awarded for the Arts (https://99percentinvisible.org/article/olympic-architects-forgotten-gold-medals-awarded-arts/)

Medals were awarded in five categories: architecture, literature, music, painting and sculpture. At first, the categories were general but they were later divided into specific categories such as literature in a drama, lyric or epic; orchestral and instrumental music, solo and chorus singing; drawings, graphic arts and paintings; statues, reliefs, medals, plaques and medallions. Even architecture made an appearance on the programme, with its own town planning category.

One fun fact is that in certain circumstances medals were not awarded. If the judges were unable to determine a champion, they might only award a bronze medal.

A total of 33 people participated in the inaugural art competition in 1912, with gold medals awarded in all five categories. Judges were only allowed to score works that had never been exhibited anywhere else, and those that were dedicated to sports. De Coubertin himself participated in a literature competition in Stockholm under a pseudonym. His "Ode to Sport" received a gold medal.

One interesting fact from the 1912 Games was that the USA's Walter Winans, winner of an Olympic gold medal in shooting just four years earlier, became the Olympic champion in sculpture. In Sweden, he also won a silver medal in shooting. Other than Winans, only one person has won medals in both art and sports competitions, with the Hungarian swimmer Alfred Hajos winning two golds at Athens 1896, followed some years later by a silver medal in architecture.

To read the complete article, see:
Look to the past: When Olympic medals were awarded for architecture, music and literature (https://olympics.com/en/news/look-to-the-past-when-olympic-medals-were-awarded-for-architecture-music-and-lit)

2024 PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM AWARDS

President Biden on Friday gave the nation's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, to 19 people — with recipients covering nearly every corner of American life, including former House speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Olympic champion Katie Ledecky, Academy Award winner Michelle Yeoh and, posthumously, civil rights leader Medgar Evers.

During a ceremony held at the White House on Friday, Biden said he had the extraordinary honor to bestow the nation's highest civilian honor to 19 incredible people whose relentless curiosity, inventiveness, ingenuity and hope have kept faith in a better tomorrow.

During his presidential tenure, Biden has awarded the medals to a range of figures, including Olympic gymnast Simone Biles, Academy Award-winning actor Denzel Washington, inventor Steve Jobs and Sandra Lindsay, a critical care nurse in New York who treated patients during the pandemic.

• Opal Lee: The educator and civil rights activist is known as the Grandmother of Juneteenth for her efforts to make Juneteenth a federal holiday. Decades after a mob of 500 white supremacists set fire to Lee's childhood home as the 12-year-old Lee and her family fled, she was at the White House in 2021 as Biden signed into law legislation establishing the Juneteenth holiday. We're a better nation because of you, Biden told Lee on Friday.

• Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.): The longtime House member, who stepped down from Democratic leadership in the chamber this year, was a pivotal supporter of Biden's during the 2020 presidential primary. Biden said during the ceremony that he would not be standing there as president if it weren't for Clyburn. We're a great nation … because we have good people like Jim Clyburn, Biden said. Of my fellow Americans, Jim is the best.

• Michelle Yeoh: After a decades-long Hollywood career, Yeoh last year became the first Asian artist to win best actress at the Academy Awards for her role in the offbeat action comedy Everything Everywhere All at Once. Biden said Yeoh has shattered stereotypes and glass ceilings to enrich [and] enhance American culture.

To read the complete article, see:
Biden awards Presidential Medal of Freedom to 19, including Evers, Pelosi and Ledecky (https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/05/03/presidential-medal-freedom-recipients-biden/)

 

INFLATION NOTE TRILLIONAIRE

Move over, Elon. I hate to brag, but I am now a certified trillionaire. Not just once, but ten times over. And I have the document to prove it.

In 2008, the government of Zimbabwe (formerly known as Rhodesia) issued paper currency with face values in the trillions of Zimbabwe dollars.

My own note, which I bought on eBay for $8.50 USD, was issued in the amount of 10 trillion Zimbabwean dollars. There is also a 100 trillion Zimbabwean dollar note for which the eBay seller was asking something closer to $12 USD. However, I felt that such a conspicuous display of wealth would be unseemly. It would also be perilously fragile.

That's because, if you tried to use any of that Zimbabwe currency to purchase goods or services, it wouldn't have passed the laugh test — even in Zimbabwe. Your offer would immediately be dismissed as worthless and the seller would be right in doing so.

So what happened? Why is paper currency subject to catastrophic failures? Good question. And it goes to the heart of why paper currency enjoys widespread acceptance — until it doesn't.

That wasn't always the case. A few centuries ago, what we now think of as paper money began as receipts from businesses and institutions for gold that people had deposited there for safekeeping. But depositors soon learned that it was easier to exchange the receipts, and the associated right to withdraw their gold, than it was to physically reclaim gold from the depository in order to do their transactions. In effect, it was an early form of what we would now consider to be the gold standard.

Over time, however, and with evolving bank practices, the supply of paper money was allowed to exceed the gold or silver deposits that those receipts represented. Throughout the middle of the 20th century, American paper currency said right on the front This certifies that there is on deposit in the Treasury of the United States, whatever dollar amount appeared on the note. Below that, it read: In silver payable to the bearer on demand.

However, by 1971, the connection between paper money and any underlying precious metals was officially severed. Instead, today's paper money reads on the front: This note is legal tender for all debt, public and private. Period.

But if paper currency is legal for all sorts of debts, what gives it value? Is it like Wile E. Coyote, who has just run off the edge of a cliff and remains suspended in mid-air until he looks down? Or is there something more to it? The answer, for the most part, is in the way the nation's central bank manages its money supply and the interest rates it charges for loans to financial institutions.

Apart from the collapse of Confederate currency following the Civil War and the failure of paper money issued by the Continental Congress during the 1770s, the United States has thus far managed to avoid the catastrophe of hyperinflation. But many other countries have not. My own rather modest collection of paper money bears witness to the fall of national currencies.

In 1923, Germany's flailing Reichsbank issued notes for ten, twenty, and one hundred million marks. In 1944, Greece issued notes for 500 million drachma. In 1993, Yugoslavia circulated a note for 500 billion dinars. In 2003, the Bank of Ghana began circulating notes of 10 thousand cedis. In 2016, Venezuela issued notes for 20 thousand Bolivars. And in 2008, Zimbabwe began circulating its multi-trillion dollar notes. In every case, the notes were barely worth the paper they were printed on because its people had lost faith in the promises of the government issuing them.

To read the complete article, see:
This 'trillionaire' collects reminders of the fragility of national economies (https://www.post-gazette.com/life/goodness/2024/05/04/antique-paper-currency-inflation/stories/202405040001)

THE CENTRAL BANK OF HUNGARY

Since its creation a hundred years ago, the Central Bank of Hungary has issued two types of currency in the form of banknotes and coins: the pengo, which had a short but memorable life of just twenty years, and the forint, which is still in use today. Both have been repeatedly renewed, sometimes out of necessity, sometimes for security reasons or for modernisation. The 100 years of history are recalled through the banknotes and coins in the Money Museum.

After the First World War, rising inflation led to a gradual deterioration of the korona (the money used at the time), while gold reserves also declined. The monetary deterioration accelerated to such an extent that by mid-1924 it was clear that the crisis could only be overcome with external help. Financial help, a loan of 250 million gold crowns, came from the League of Nations, and an advance of £4 million from the Bank of England, which provided the precious metal backing needed for the new central bank, enabled the Central Bank of Hungary to be established in the June of 1924. The first president of the new institution was Sándor Popovics, a Doctor of Law, who had previously served as Minister of Finance and then President of the State Institute of Legal Affairs and was a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The loan from the People's League succeeded in curbing inflation, and in 1925 the law introducing the new gold-based currency and the pengo was passed. The value of a pengo was 12,500 crowns, but from 25 August 1926 the higher denomination so-called crown state banknotes were put into circulation overprinted in pengo according to the conversion rate, because the MNB's banknotes for the new currency had not yet been produced.

Lajos Kossuth "announced" the name of the new Hungarian currency The choice of the name of the new currency was preceded by a heated debate, with the search for a name that had a tradition in Hungarian monetary history. Thus, the choice fell on the "pengo-forint", the name on the 1849 two-forint Kossuth banknote. The first pengo-denominated banknotes appeared in circulation at the end of 1926, in denominations of 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 pengo. The 50 and 100 pengo notes bore the portraits of Ferenc Rákóczi II and King Mátyás respectively, the 5 pengo notes bore the portrait of István Széchenyi, the 10 pengo notes bore the portrait of Ferenc Deák, and the 20 pengo notes bore the portrait of Lajos Kossuth. The change of the new currency remained the old pengo. The first series of fillér was designed by Ferenc Helbing, while the 1,000 pengo banknote issued in 1927 was designed by Zoltán Egri. After the replacement of the first series of pengo banknotes, only one new banknote was put into circulation: a 10 pengo in 1936.

The territorial annexations between 1938 and 1941 - the southern part of the Highlands, Carpathia, Northern Transylvania, Bácska - required the central bank to print new banknotes to supply the affected parts of the country with cash. The 5 pengo banknotes survived for a year or two, before the 1 and 2 pengo coins, which were slowly being withdrawn from circulation, were replaced by paper notes of the same denomination.

The end of the pengo and the world record Although the Hungarian currency survived the Great Depression of 1929-33, the Second World War spared no one. The total damage amounted to 22 billion peace pengo, which represented about 40 percent of the national wealth. By the end of the Second World War, inflation in Hungary had again reached significant proportions, and this time it was impossible to contain it. For a long time, we Hungarians topped the world rankings in the financial world: we set a record with the hyperinflation of the pengo in 1946. In just under a year, the value of our official currency at the time, the pengo, fell to 41 900 000 000 000 000th (41.9 trillionth) of its original value, which was a daily average of 207% inflation. The world's largest denomination of pengo ever issued is still held by the Hungarian state one billion billpengo banknote, equivalent to 1,000 trillion pengos.

The national currency we use today is almost eighty years old The pengo could no longer be saved, but thanks to the loyal and courageous employees on the Gold Train, using the approximately 30 tonnes of gold reserves of the Hungarian state, which had been exported and then brought back home, as collateral, a new national currency was introduced on the 1st of August in 1946: the gold-based forint.

To read the complete article, see:
The 100-year history of the Central Bank of Hungary showcased through banknotes and coins (https://www.penzmuzeum.hu/en/new/news/ime-a-100-eves-mnb-tortenete-bankjegyeken-es-ermeken-keresztul-2/)

The Money Museum of the National Bank of Hungary is a prime example of why it is worth rethinking the meaning of the word museum. The Money Museum not only presents old money and the history of money in a spectacular way – the experience offered by the exhibition is much more comprehensive and versatile. Visitors take a carefully constructed journey of discovery around the world of money, accompanied by interactive games and spectacular visual displays. The various tools, platforms, publications and events are all built around a common content and message. The Money Museum will thus become both a Hungarian stronghold of financial education and a prominent member of the international museum world.

For more information, see:
The Hungarian Money Museum (https://www.penzmuzeum.hu/en/)

NEW NEPAL NOTE'S MAP RILES INDIA

Kathmandu: Nepal on Friday announced the printing of a new Rs 100 currency note with a map that shows the controversial territories of Lipulekh, Limpiyadhura and Kalapani, already termed as artificial enlargement and untenable by India.

On June 18, 2020, Nepal completed the process to update the country's political map by incorporating three strategically important areas Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura areas by amending its Constitution, something that India reacted sharply, calling it a "unilateral act" and terming as untenable the artificial enlargement of the territorial claims by Nepal.

To read the complete article, see:
Rs 100 Nepal currency note to have new map that includes Lipulekh, Limpiyadhura and Kalapani (https://www.deccanherald.com/world/rs-100-nepal-currency-note-to-have-new-map-that-includes-lipulekh-limpiyadhura-and-kalapani-3007524)

Nepal has stirred diplomatic tensions with India once again by announcing the introduction of a new Rs 100 currency note featuring a controversial map. The map includes disputed territories of Lipulekh, Limpiyadhura, and Kalapani, which India staunchly contests as its own.

India swiftly responded to Nepal's decision, with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar expressing India's clear stance. He emphasized that unilateral actions by Nepal will not alter the existing realities on the ground or affect the ongoing boundary discussions between the two nations.

To read the complete article, see:
Nepal To Issue New Rs 100 Currency Note Featuring Updated Map, Including Disputed Areas With India (https://www.indiatimes.com/news/india/nepal-to-issue-new-rs-100-currency-note-featuring-updated-map-including-disputed-areas-with-india-633687.html)

FEATURED WEBSITE: BANK OF JAMAICA

This week's Featured Website is the Bank of Jamaica. Found via News & Notes from the Society of Paper Money Collectors (Volume IX, Number 46, April 30, 2024).

https://boj.org.jm/core-functions/currency/bank-notes/