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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 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 JULY 7, 2024

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.

Many thanks to Garrett Ziss for finalizing this issue while I'm away on vacation! It's helpful to have his assistance, and all of us are glad to have a backup trained and ready if ever needed.

So where am I going, I hear you ask? When I told NBS President Len Augsburger one day, he said "That's literally the last thing I thought I would ever hear coming out of your mouth." Me, too. I told him I was flying to Zurich for a Taylor Swift concert.

Our daughter and her best friend are Swifties and had trouble getting concert tickets. She asked if she could go to a show in Switzerland if they could get the tickets. Figuring that's unlikely, I said yes. Guess what - they scored floor seats and now we're touring Switzerland. It's a great opportunity to bond with my daughter while she's home from college for the summer. There are actually seven of us going on this trip, which includes visits to both Geneva and Zurich with hiking and other sightseeing between.

See the earlier articles for Taylor Swift numismatic connections, including the below National Bank Note signed by her banker great-grandfather Archie Swift. Who knows, maybe she'll be the next billionaire collector...

This week we open with three new books, two book reviews, a periodical, updates from the Newman Numismatic Portal, and more.

Other topics this week include Tyrants of the Nile, Mint engraver Christian Gobrecht, and ransom payment banknotes.

To learn more about rare coin die varieties, signers and printers of Confederate Bonds, collectors Mack and Brent Pogue, and the Judd-9 1792 Silver Disme study, read on. Have a great week, everyone!

Wayne Homren
Editor, The E-Sylum

To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
WAYNE'S NUMISMATIC DIARY: NOVEMBER 12, 2023, PART 2 : Taylor Swift (https://www.coinbooks.org/v26/esylum_v26n46a24.html)
TAYLOR SWIFT AND NUMISMATICS (https://www.coinbooks.org/v26/esylum_v26n47a12.html)

 

NEW BOOK: CHERRYPICKERS' GUIDE, 6TH EDITION, VOLUME III

Whitman® announces the upcoming release of the all-new third volume of the sixth edition of Cherrypickers' Guide to Rare Die Varieties of United States Coins. The popular and award-winning series has long been revered as an essential tool for identifying and understanding rare coin die varieties—valuable coins potentially hidden in pocket change and dealers' inventories—and this new edition continues that tradition of excellence, packed with updated information for 310 unique varieties, more than 1,000 high-quality images, and detailed descriptions that provide enthusiasts the knowledge needed to make smart decisions in their numismatic pursuits.

The Sixth edition, Volume 3 examines die varieties for Liberty Seated, Barber, Walking Liberty, Franklin, and Kennedy half dollars; Liberty Seated, trade, Morgan, Peace, and modern dollars; gold dollars through double eagles; classic commemoratives; bullion coinage; and the Philippines. The layout is organized and easy-to- navigate, making it accessible for both novice and experienced collectors, and features an expanded introductory narrative, detailed photo enlargements, market values in multiple grades, and for the first time ever Greysheet-based pricing and GSID numbers that identify and link a coin across the entire family of Whitman Brands products, such as the Greysheet online pricing tool, CDN Exchange, and the Greysheet mobile app.

Few books have excited the coin-collecting community like the Cherrypickers' Guide series. Since the first edition burst onto the scene in 1990, the guide has become an indispensable reference for those passionate about coin collecting and thousands of hobbyists have been searching for the rare die varieties described inside. The series tells you how to cherrypick—that is, how to examine coins that look normal at first glance but have unusual characteristics such as doubled and tripled dies, overdates, repunched mintmarks, and other features that can reveal a common coin to be a rare and valuable variety.

At 328 pages, the all-new third volume adds over 120 new varieties and gives special attention to new content covering Long Nock Morgan-dollar VAM varieties, additional text for Presidential dollar edge varieties, and new chapters on Draped Bust half dollars and dollars, Capped Bust half dollars, and Philippine coins. "We are thrilled to bring the latest Cherrypicker's Guide to the numismatic community," said Bill Fivaz, the guide's esteemed co-author. "The goal has always been to equip collectors with the best possible resources, and this volume is a testament to our commitment to excellence and innovation in numismatic literature." Volume editor Larry Briggs, who dedicated countless hours and energy to the project, recently lamented, The second volume was bursting at the seams with so much new material, we knew early on we would need another volume. He cheerfully added, Cherrypicking enthusiasts everywhere should be duly excited! Fivaz and Briggs were joined by Ohio-based numismatist and major contributor Robert Lawson, responsible for coordinating the efforts and inputs of more than 15 die-variety specialists from around the country.

Reunited
For the first time, all three volumes of the Cherrypicker's Guide covering half cents through double eagles and everything in between, will be available to the numismatic community at the same time. A large second print run of the Sixth edition, Volume 1, originally published in 2015, will be released simultaneously which includes 680 varieties, more 1,000 images, and detailed information for some of the most popular U.S. coin series, to include Indian Head cent, Flying Eagle cent, Lincoln cent, two-cent pieces, Buffalo nickel, Jefferson nickel, Shield nickel, and Liberty Head nickel series.

Laying the Groundwork
Behind The Guide Book of United States Coins (Red Book) and some other select tiles, Cherrypicker's Guide is one of the most asked-about titles we publish at Whitman, said Whitman Brands CEO and Publisher John Feigenbaum. He added, We are super thrilled to have all three volumes available to the collector community at the same time later this summer. But the truth is, there are always new die varieties and information surfacing, so the work is never done. The initial groundwork for an all-new, revamped Seventh Edition is being laid.

Cherrypickers' Guide to Rare Die Varieties, Sixth edition, Volumes I and III can be pre-ordered for $39.95 online at Whitman.com and Amazon.com, and will be available in Whitman's Ebay Store and in bookstores, hobby shops, and other online retailers nationwide August 2024. Cherrypickers' Guide, Sixth edition, Volume II remains available for purchase at all retail outlets. All Sixth editions will also be available electronically in the Kindle Store for $14.95 per title.

About Whitman Brands
Formed from the 2023 merger of the numismatic publishing powerhouses of CDN and Whitman, Whitman Brands, the entity's new name, combines the revered titles of Red Book, Blue Book, 100 Greatest, Cherrypicker's Guides, and an expansive line of folders, albums, and supplies, that have long dominated the retail landscape with the pricing and data-rich expertise of Greysheet, Greensheet, CPG, CDN Exchange, and the Banknote Book.

Whitman Brands offers a comprehensive and rich coverage of collectibles, literature, cataloging and pricing, which embraces the heritage of numismatics and seeks to enrich the lives of all coin and paper money enthusiasts. As North America's leading producer of coin and currency shows, Whitman Expos and its three industry leading events in Baltimore further enhance the brand portfolio and expand the company's national reach.

Specifications
Title: Cherrypickers' Guide to Rare Die Varieties of United States Coins, Sixth Edition, Volume III

Authors: Bill Fivaz, J.T. Stanton
Editor: Larry Briggs
Forewords: Kenneth Bressett, Q. David Bowers
ISBN: 9780794850678
Binding: Spiralbound hardcover
Dimensions: 6 x 9 inches
Pages: 328
Photos: 660
Retail $39.95 U.S.
https://whitman.com/cherrypickers-guide-volume-iii-6th-edition/

Title: Cherrypickers' Guide to Rare Die Varieties of United States Coins, Sixth Edition, Volume I

Authors: Bill Fivaz, J.T. Stanton
Editor: Mike Ellis
Forewords: Kenneth Bressett, Q. David Bowers
ISBN: 9780794843182
Binding: Spiralbound hardcover
Dimensions: 6 x 9 inches
Pages: 448
Photos: 1,000
Retail $39.95 U.S.
https://whitman.com/cherrypickers-guide-volume-i-6th-edition/

BANKNOTE BOOK CEYLON CHAPTER PUBLISHED

To read the complete article, see:
Ceylon chapter now complete (https://banknotenews.com/?p=44427)

NEW BOOK: SIGNERS AND ISSUERS OF CONFEDERATE BONDS

The Confederate Treasury made a consequential decision in its early days, contrary to that of the U.S. Treasury: to have Treasury officials hand-sign each and every Treasury note and bond. This decision seemed reasonable if the war were short, but after four years of conflict the Confederacy eventually printed over $1.5 billion in notes and over $700 million in bonds. This meant that 80 million notes needed to be hand-signed by the Register and Treasurer, and nearly 1 million bonds needed to be hand-signed by the Register, initialed by two clerks as Recorder and Enterer, and its coupons signed by another clerk. Clearly too immense of a job for the Register and Treasurer themselves, the Treasury hired clerks to do the signing. In the end, 371 Treasury employees hand-signed Treasury notes and nearly 100 employees signed and initialed bonds and their coupons.

In our 2022 book Confederate Treasury Notes: The Signers and Their Stories, we told the story of the signers and origins of the Treasury notes. Though initially all Treasury employees were men, by the end of the war all signers of Treasury notes were women. Overall, two-thirds of the note signers were women. Many of these women were young and most were of high social standing, privileged, and educated, not to mention with good penmanship. This decision to employ women as Treasury clerks had enormous and long-lasting social consequences: their experiences, responsibilities, and opportunities opened the door for post-war work opportunities and choices that women never had before, forever changing the societies in which they lived.

In our new book, The Signers and Issuers of Confederate Bonds, we add a new chapter to this story by describing the operation of the Treasury in issuing its bonds. As with Treasury notes, Treasury bonds were signed by many employees: six men signed the bonds as Register or Assistant Register, 32 women and 22 men signed bond coupons as clerks, and nearly 40 men initialed bonds as Recorders or Enterers to show that the bonds were officially listed in the Treasury's registers. Our new book identifies and gives biographies of these men and women. We present a section coupling the name of each signer or initialer of Treasury bonds and coupons and an image of the signer's signature or initials, which allows readers to quickly and easily identify the signers and initialers of any bond or coupon. We also describe the operations in the Treasury Department and the professional activities of these employees including the process of issuing bonds.

Many of the bond signers and initialers had remarkable lives. Martha Mittie Morris, a signer of bond coupons and notes, was an indomitable fixture in the Richmond art scene into the 20th century. Sarah Pumphrey, a coupon signer, owned an estate as feme sole with her husband as trustee, a rarity in that time. Margaret Bronaugh, a coupon signer, was a U.S. government clerk before and after signing Confederate bond coupons. Monimia Cary was an affluent single mother who besides signing bond coupons and notes was also a hospital nurse. Coupon signer William W. Dennison was a controversial U.S. agent of the Pawnee and Otoe-Missouria tribes in Nebraska before the war and father of Eliza Dennison who signed Confederate Treasury notes. George Dabney, a coupon signer, and James M. Boyd, an Enterer who initialed bonds, were consummate university professors. Henry D. Capers, who was Chief Clerk of the Treasury and initialed bonds as Enterer, was a physician, soldier, lawyer, financial officer, entrepreneur, professor, and biographer. William R. Teller, a coupon signer, was coal merchant in Cuba with former Confederate General Fitzhugh Lee. Robert Tyler, the Register of the Treasury and signer of bonds and coupons, was the son of former U.S. President John Tyler.

Together, our two-volume series brings to life the financial documents of the Confederate Treasury that are so popular with many collectors. It places these documents and the people who produced them in the context of their historical and societal times. This perspective personalizes Treasury bonds and notes and gives numismatists new ways of collecting them.

• A history of the Confederate Treasury Department and its Note Bureau and Register's Office where Treasury bonds were issued.
• Original research on the Treasury employees who hand-signed and initialed their names on bonds and their coupons. These include six men who as Register or Assistant Register signed bonds, 32 women and 22 men who as clerks signed bond coupons, and 31 men who as Recorders or Enterers initialed bonds to show that they were listed in Treasury's official registers.
• A detailed description of the professional activities of the employees in the Register's Office including the process of issuing bonds.
• A section coupling the name of each signer or initialer of Treasury bonds and coupons and an image of that signer's signature or initials, allowing quick identification of the signers and initialers.
• 164 page soft cover book with perfect binding, sized 8 1/2 inch by 11 inches

ORDER INFORMATION
Cost: $29.95 + postage ($5 domestic)

Payment Methods:
Electronic: Venmo @Charles-Derby-1, Zelle charlesderbyga@yahoo.com
Check by Mail: Charles Derby, 204 Sycamore Ridge Dr., Decatur, GA 30030

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
NEW BOOK: CONFEDERATE NOTE SIGNERS (https://www.coinbooks.org/v25/esylum_v25n44a02.html)

BOOK REVIEW: INTEREST PAID ON CONFEDERATE TREASURY NOTES

Interest Paid on Type 39, 40, and 41 Confederate Treasury Notes, with an Appendix on the Type 41 Tint Plate, by Roger Adamek, 74 pages, published by CC&A, 2024.

Roger Adamek has compiled a new catalog of the varieties of methods used to denote the interest paid on Confederate treasury notes. This new soft-cover book in an 8.5 by 11 format, is listed in eBay's Confederate note section for $21.95 with free shipping. It is the culmination of an intense effort spanning two decades. In this book you will find images of all known varieties of Interest-Paid stamps and manuscripts on Type 39, 40, and 41 notes.

Treasury notes financed the war effort for the Confederacy. The first treasury notes were printed from high quality steel plate engravings by New York firms. President Lincoln shut down this production in early 1861 and C. G. Memminger, the Secretary of the Treasury for the Confederacy, was forced to turn to Richmond printers. On May 5th, 1862 the Treasury Note Division in Richmond began issuing large quantities of $100 notes designed and initially printed by the Richmond firm of Hoyer & Ludwig; 498,400 of these notes were issued up to January 16th, 1863, most of them printed by J. T. Paterson in Columbia, South Carolina. Hoyer & Ludwig's design included a train vignette borrowed from northern engravers. The notes were printed as lithographs and are today known as Type 39 and Type 40 train notes. The Columbia, South Carolina firm of Keatinge & Ball produced a design from high quality engraved steel plates featuring slaves hoeing cotton. Known as Type 41 hoer notes, production commenced on August 26th, 1862, with a total of 670,400 notes issued by January 8th, 1863.

To make these notes attractive for commerce they bore interest at 2 cents per day, or an astounding 7.3% per year. The notes were hand-dated on the front, and interest was initially paid from that date. The Treasury Department later sought to limit its liability for interest by requiring those who issued the notes for commerce to record the date of issue on the back, and interest then accrued from that later date. Interest was typically paid up to the 1st of January for any year, and nearly all of the Interest Paid stamps reflect that date. Manuscript indications of interest-paid were used when stamps were not available, and their variety is fascinating; some show places where interest was paid, some show who paid the interest, and some show the arithmetic to calculate the interest.

These interest-bearing notes were issued by Treasury Department depositaries, military quartermasters, military commissaries, military paymasters, and other government agents. Interest was paid by Treasury Department depositaries, port collectors, and their deputies, who often had offices in local banks. Some depositaries resided at literal ports like Wilmington, North Carolina, but a great many also resided at what were considered ports of commerce like Augusta, Georgia. The depositaries kept detailed registers of the interest paid on these treasury notes (illustrated on the back cover of the book). Hand-written entries are found with serial numbers, plate position letters, the dates of issue, the number of days of interest, and the interest paid on each note. This was an immense job when we consider that 1,168,800 notes were issued.

The new book contains an extensive appendix with new information on the colorful tint plate used as an anti-counterfeiting device on the Type 41 note. Adamek has delved into the history of this device and its many varieties. This research helps to explain the large variety of its observed positions and colors. Collectors, auction houses, and grading services might want to re-examine the use of the term oxidized to explain the darker colors we often see in this device. While oxidation or some environmental chemical reaction is surely seen in some circumstances, research suggests that it is not the cause of most of the variation we see, which was very likely a part of the production process. Adamek draws on the work of George Tremmel to suggest a more likely cause.

This book explores some of the wonderful variety we see in the effort of the Confederate Treasury Department to supply a monetary base. A large part of this variety is simply due to the reality that the Confederacy had to create a centralized government and its institutions from scratch. Department heads like Treasury Secretary C. G. Memminger had to resort to outsourcing much of the work to the private sector, and this is why we see such a rich variety of designs and such a wide variation in the artistic quality and workmanship. To make matters worse, the private sector of the Confederacy was ill-equipped to provide the paper, inks, and the skills needed to design, engrave, and print millions of notes. The firm of Keatinge & Ball relied on the skills of Scottish lithographers and guaranteed their passage to and from the Confederacy by payment in gold. A great deal of the paper and inks were imported from England on blockade runners. Keatinge & Ball provided the highest-quality lithographs to the Confederacy in very large quantities, but as we can see in the varieties of the HUNDRED device, even this firm struggled to provide consistent quality in its elegant, intaglio-printed Type 41 design.

The same issues hampered the creation of a system which could disburse the treasury notes - the depositories had no precedent in the Confederacy and had to be created from scratch. It is no wonder that we see such a rich variety of methods to denote the payment of accrued interest on the $100 interest-bearing notes issued in 1862 and early 1863. The depositaries quickly adopted stamps to record interest paid on treasury notes, but the proliferation of manuscript notations of interest paid is a reflection of the infancy of the centralized Confederate government and the need to get the job done if a formal stamp was not available. The Treasury Department paid interest at 7.3% on these notes, and while this is an astonishing return, it is also easy to calculate the interest, which accrued at exactly two cents per day. The calculations of interest on the backs of some treasury notes show the practical utility of this rate of interest.

Adamek's book presents a window into the efforts of a newly-established government attempting to meet the monetary needs of its society. It was a heroic effort, but it was predicated on the preservation of slavery as the engine of its economy, and this was memorialized in the central vignette of the Type 41 treasury note. It was a society based on extreme wealth inequality, and in the end, it didn't survive.

For more information, or to order, see:
Interest Paid Reference Guide for Type 39,40, and 41 Confederate Treasury Notes

BOOK REVIEW: CONFEDERATE ENGRAVERS AND PRINTERS

Engravers and Printers of Confederate Paper Money, by Mark Coughlan, 535 pages, ISBN 9798865899242, 8.5 by 11 format, soft cover with perfect binding. Available on Amazon for $55.00.

Numismatic books take the form of prized references and catalogs, but rarely do they delve into the historical context to place numismatics in the realm of human triumphs and foibles. Mark Coughlan is a master of such writing in his new book, Engravers and Printers of Confederate Paper Money. This is a heavily researched book of more than 500 pages, representing years of effort. The fluid prose and depth of knowledge would suggest that Mr. Coughlan had deep roots in the American South, but he is, in fact, a resident of London whose family has deep roots in the British Isles. Coughlan's uncle rescued many Confederate bonds and treasury notes that had resided in the vaults of a London banker since the Civil War, and eventually gave them to Coughlan, knowing his enthusiasm for that period in history.

The struggles of the Confederacy in its effort to create a money supply are palpable in the historical context provided by Coughlan, and this is what makes the book such compelling reading.

The South had very few resources for printing and engraving, and those that it did were often run by immigrants, such as the German lithographers at Hoyer & Ludwig in Richmond. With the explosive demand for paper money production in the new Confederacy, Christopher G. Memminger, the Secretary of the Treasury and the son of a German quartermaster, turned to the private sector to produce paper money. President Lincoln quickly shut down the first orders at New York firms and Memminger turned to Southern printers. To meet the demand some of these firms hired European engravers and lithographers, many of whom came from England and Scotland. The South had little infrastructure in the making of paper, and Memminger also turned to English paper mills like Hodgkinson's Wookey Hole Mill. Coughlan has unearthed much previously unknown history in the role of English and Scottish engravers, lithographers, and paper mills that you won't find anywhere else in Confederate numismatics. The tour de force of this book is that Coughlan's considerable skills in researching this history extend also to the American South.

To use Coughlan's own words, ...the book is intended to provide a unique, interesting, and enjoyable insight into each of the companies that were involved in the manufacture of Confederates States Treasury notes and bonds. Coughlan also provides an excellent ...overview of the engraving, printing, and paper manufacturing industry as it evolved up until the mid-nineteenth century.... This book takes numismatics to a new level, and it is one of the great contributions to Confederate history.

Here's some more about the book from the Amazon description:

For more information, or to order, see:
Engravers and Printers of Confederate Paper Money (https://www.amazon.com/Engravers-Printers-Confederate-Paper-Money/dp/B0D33XF89G)

PERIODICAL: NUMISMATIQUE ASIATIQUE NO. 50

EDITORIAL
Cinquante
Fifty

CENTRAL ASIA
Western Liao charms with the legends in the Khitan large script
by V. A. Belyaev and S. V. Sidorovich

RUSSIAN FAR EAST
About the finds of Vietnamese cast coins in the Russian Far East
by Andrey Y. Ivlev

EXTRÊME-ORIENT
Le voyage d'une monnaie espagnole vers l'Extrême-Orient
par José Antonio de la Fuente Freyre

CHINE
Aux origines de la numismatique chinoise en France: Les errements du Père Du Halde et leur influence
par François Joyaux

Archives / INDOCHINE
Un kim-boi décerné par l'empereur Khai Dinh en 1922

Série "Monnaies d'Asie"

70 pages in colors. Format A4 (21 x 29 cms).

For more information, or to order, see:
https://sites.google.com/site/societedenumismatiqueasiatique/revue

AL BECK (1935-2024)

Dr. Albert (Al) J. Beck passed on Wednesday, June 12, 2024 in Willows, California of natural causes. He was born August 13, 1935. He is survived by his wife Nancy Beck, sister Madeline Beck, one niece and one nephew, and cousins.

Al was known for his witty personality and passion for environmental and ecological studies. He served in the US Army and later earned a PhD in zoology from UC Davis. He spent time working in Malaysia soon after, was a former instructor at Chico State University, and most recently was an independent environmental impact consultant.

He served on the Butte County Mosquito & Vector Control District Board of Trustees for many years through December 2023.

Al was a coin enthusiast and traveled widely to local, state and national shows around the country. He started a local coin shop, The Coin Lode, in the seventies and continued business under that name until shortly before his death. In later years, he focused on coins depicting animals, melding his zoology pursuits with the coin hobby. He had a loyal group of clients and was a mentor to many young people in numismatics.

Al served as the bourse chairman of the local Chico Coin Club show for many years. He belonged to many numismatic organizations, including the ANA, NCNA, CSNA, and others.

He will be sorely missed by family, friends, and colleagues.

To read the complete online obituary, see:
Albert "Al" J Beck (https://www.afterall.com/obituaries/AlbertBeck)

JULIUS GUTTAG LATIN AMERICAN CATALOG

Julius Guttag Latin American Catalog

The 1929 publication of Catalogue of the Collection of Juilus Guttag: Comprising the Coinage of Mexico, Central America, South America and the West Indies described nearly 5,000 types of Latin American coins and effectively served as a forerunner of the well-known Standard Catalog of World Coins. Although serving as a catalog of the Guttag collection, the work is properly credited to Edgar H. Adams, of whom Guttag writes Mr. Adams has done all the work of preparing the catalogue…I cannot thank [him] sufficiently….

Among the many treasures of the American Numismatic Society Library is a five-volume set containing the individual pages of the Guttag Catalogue along with the pasteups of the original photographs. The quality of these images is generally much better than the halftone reproductions in the published version. This five-volume set has recently been scanned and is now accessible via Newman Portal.

The Guttag Latin American collection was sold in parts, with the first installment appearing in Kosoff's December 10, 1941 sale. Part X, apparently the last, was featured in the Kosoff October 24, 1942 sale. Kosoff references individual coins by the Guttag number, allowing for comparison with the published reference. Kosoff further sold the Guttag library (August 6, 1940), but these five manuscript volumes do not appear in that auction sale catalog.

Image: Sample page from the Adams manuscript of the Guttag Latin American catalog, nos. 1782-1786.

Link to Edgar H. Adams publications on Newman Portal, including the Guttag Catalogue manuscript volumes:
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/booksbyauthor/104

Link to Abe Kosoff auction sale catalogs on Newman Portal:
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/auctioncompanydetail/511107

VIDEO: NATIONAL BANK NOTE CURRENCY

"The Civil War, the Comptroller's Office and 73 Years of Bank Notes"

See this overview of the wide varieties of ways to collect the many issues of National currency including:

• Story of wild cat banks
• How the Civil War affected America's money, causing the creation of the first Federal issues Act of February 25, 1863 that created National bank notes
• Survival of the different bank note issues
• Gold and its affect on the value on paper money
• Problems with national bank note currency
• Effects of WWI on America's money
• Story of Hugh McCulloch and John Jay Knox who appear on certain issues * Examples of the different series and names of banks
• The problems that brought about the demise of National currency

From the 2005 American Numismatic Association summer convention.

Speaker: Peter Huntoon.

To watch the complete video, see:
National Bank Note Currency (https://youtu.be/KOrFpRTQDXs)

STAN KESSELMAN INTERVIEW, PART THREE

GREG BENNICK: Would you say that that's your favorite coin you've ever handled? Or are there other coins?

STANLEY KESSELMAN: Well, I didn't really handle it. I mean, I had it in my hand. My favorite coin I ever handled. There was a collector called Mack Pogue and his son. Do you know them? He owned the Lincoln property. And I met Pogue in Dallas. And the first time we met him, we had a bunch of coins on the table. He never bought a coin in his life. And we had a set of Stellas. We had an 1857 ten in Proof, which came from Garrett. I haven't seen one since. There's supposedly two known. But I guess maybe the government has the other one.

GREG BENNICK: Yeah, maybe.

STANLEY KESSELMAN: And he looks around what we have and said, you know, I never bought a coin before. What should I buy? And I said, you should buy everything. And he started to laugh. He says, you're some salesman. He said, buy everything. He ended up buying the 1857 Ten. Maybe $60,000 for it.

GREG BENNICK: Wow.

STANLEY KESSELMAN: You know, again, I have not seen an 1857 ten in Proof since then.

GREG BENNICK: Yeah.

STANLEY KESSELMAN: And his son got interested in coins. I met his son when he was eight years old. Brent Pogue. And we went to the Penny Arcade together. And I financed his Penny Arcade, you know, 10 cents here, 25 cents there. And he got very interested in coins.

GREG BENNICK: Yeah, he did.

STANLEY KESSELMAN: And the father would do whatever the son wanted. And they ended up putting together the best condition collection of gold coins in history.

GREG BENNICK: Yeah.

STANLEY KESSELMAN: So, then the story, I'm answering your question, what was my favorite coin?

GREG BENNICK: Please, yeah, absolutely. I love this.

STANLEY KESSELMAN: So, the next thing that happens, there was another client in Dallas. His name was John Morrell. I don't know if you ever heard of John Morrell.

GREG BENNICK: I don't know if I have. I don't know if I've heard of John Morrell.

STANLEY KESSELMAN: John Morrell was, he owned DeGolyer and McNaughton. They were geologists for oil. So, they knew everybody in the oil business. Now, Harry Bass, going back to him, he got his money from his father. His father was a partner of this guy called Hunt, who also had a lot of very rich sons. They were wildcatters and they struck it rich. And there's so many stories.

GREG BENNICK: I love it. These are great. I'm absolutely loving this.

STANLEY KESSELMAN: So, for some reason, John Morrell called up Michael and said he wanted to sell his early fives. John Morrell never sold a coin. The stipulation was, you're going to get some secrets here. We could not sell the coins to Harry Bass. We had a promise. I don't think John Morrell liked Harry Bass at all.

GREG BENNICK: Wow.

STANLEY KESSELMAN: And that's what my guess. We were not allowed to sell. So, John Morrell gave us all his early fives.

GREG BENNICK: And you couldn't sell them to Harry. You weren't allowed to.

STANLEY KESSELMAN: That's right. And we honored, of course, what we said we'd do. So, my favorite coin in the bunch was a 1798 $5 gold piece. EF to AU with the small eagle on the back. I've never seen one before.

GREG BENNICK: Wow.

STANLEY KESSELMAN: So, we paid roughly $125,000 for the coin. And we didn't have to pay John Morrell. John Morrell was an unbelievable gentleman, until we sold the coins. We pay him out of the proceeds. And John Morrell had a complete collection of coins. Just about, he had coins in his collection that we did not know existed. He had an 1844-O $5 gold piece in proof.

GREG BENNICK: Wow.

STANLEY KESSELMAN: And he had a lot of unbelievable coins. I don't know where he bought them. He bought them from people before me. And he had an unbelievable collection. But he was selling his early fives. So, I took the 1798 five and we sold it to Pogue. And we sold it to him maybe $325,000. And Pogue got extremely angry. He thought he was being taken advantage of.

GREG BENNICK: Really? Okay.

STANLEY KESSELMAN: Pogue was smart, but he didn't trust coin dealers, which may show you how smart he really was. He kept on going from coin dealer to coin dealer from coin dealer. He never stayed in one place. He did business with us. Then he went to David Akers. Then he went to Larry Hanks. And once he went to somebody else, he wouldn't go back and do business with you anymore. David Akers sold them a lot of beautiful coins. Never took advantage of him. But for some reason, he'd always find fault with something.

So, the 1798, he always had under his craw that we took advantage of him. In the auction, I was the underbidder of the 1798 five.

GREG BENNICK: In the Pogue auction?

STANLEY KESSELMAN: Yes. I didn't end up buying it. It went something like a million one something. Maybe a million two. And since then, it's gone for two million two. Since then. So, the fact that he was unhappy, it wasn't really justified. But you couldn't argue with him.

GREG BENNICK: Sure. Sure.

STANLEY KESSELMAN: But he bought some of those coins. Then we needed money to pay John Morrell. We went up to Paul Nugget at MTB, and we sold him a few coins. And then Ted Naftzger bought the rest. Didn't know a thing about early fives. Didn't care. He bought the rest.

So now there's an auction at Stacks. And they had an 1815 half eagle in it.

GREG BENNICK: And what year was this?

STANLEY KESSELMAN: Well, the last 1815 half-eagle that appeared before this was 1956. That's before I was collecting coins. This was 1976, roughly speaking. The coin had not appeared at auction for 20 years. And all of us made deals with Harry Bass that we would not bid against him at auction, because he was our best customer. And we didn't want to run him up at all.

GREG BENNICK: For sure.

STANLEY KESSELMAN: So, the 1815 was in the auction. And I said to myself, this coin has not appeared for 20 years. I've never seen another one. The coin was beautiful. It was graded to 64. And then they upgraded it to a 65 holder. And it had beautiful color to it. So, I bought the 1815. I paid $75,000 for it, which I thought was very inexpensive. Harry Bass was the underbidder. When he found out I bought it and I outbid him on the coin, he wouldn't speak to me for three years.

GREG BENNICK: Wow. Okay.

STANLEY KESSELMAN: He was so angry.

GREG BENNICK: I was going to ask about that. Yeah. I was wondering where that was going.

STANLEY KESSELMAN: So, I took the coin and I sold it to Ted Naftzger. He bought it. And then Ted Naftzger put together a beautiful set of fives. And he calls me up again and said he needs money. And I couldn't handle all his fives together. It was just too much money. So, I called David Akers up and David Akers put out a catalog with Ted Naftzger's fives. And Pogue bought most of them from David Akers.

GREG BENNICK: Okay.

STANLEY KESSELMAN: Where I made absolutely nothing, but I was happy because Ted Naftzger got his money. And David Akers made some money. And Pogue was happy because he got all the coins.

GREG BENNICK: Great.

STANLEY KESSELMAN: And Harry Bass eventually started to talk to me. And he bought another 1815 five someplace else. It was no big deal.

GREG BENNICK: Okay.

About the Interviewer
Greg Bennick (www.gregbennick.com) is a keynote speaker and long time coin collector with a focus on major mint error coins. Have ideas for other interviewees? Contact him anytime on the web or via instagram @minterrors.

To watch the complete video, see:
Stanley Kesselman Interviewed for the NNP by Greg Bennick (https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/book/638521)

To read the complete transcript, see:
Stanley Kesselman Interviewed for the NNP by Greg Bennick (Transcript) (https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/book/638520)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
STANLEY KESSELMAN INTERVIEW, PART ONE (https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n25a06.html)
STANLEY KESSELMAN INTERVIEW, PART TWO (https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n26a13.html)

MORE ON THE JUDD-9 SILVER DISME STUDY

I read with interest the monograph, History Recovered: Saga of the 1792 Silver Disme by Robert L. Rodriguez and Anthony J. Lopez that was published on the Newman Numismatic Portal. As a long-time professional scientist and amateur numismatist, it was very interesting to me to see modern and very high technologies applied to coin analysis. Rodriguez and Lopez applied highly advanced and expensive non-destructive technologies to the analysis of the three known 1792 silver dismes, which Rodriguez had purchased. They concluded that one of the three coins is THE design work surface for one of the first two coins of the United States, a 1793 half cent.

There are a number of places where I believe they go wrong, some trivial and some important. As an example of the former, they note the obverse inscription, LIBERTY PARENT OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY, and go from there to the conclusion that the inscription captures what would become the driving forces in the development of the United States which were science and industry. It is nice to think that the 1792 Mint personnel were so prescient, but I think we have to put the motto back into its place in the late 18th century. At that time science generally meant wisdom and knowledge; industry meant diligence and attention to business. What we think of today as science and industry did not exist in 1792. It is a coincidence that the lab scientists appreciated the motto in the sense in which they knew it.

Much more importantly, they state that the goal of their project was to interpret the scratch marks on one of the three coins. Rodriguez notes that the scratches began to speak to [him] and that they were made with intention and meaning. Later, they said that they needed to recover the additional information that Edward Cogan had burnished away in 1863, so that we might prove that this Judd-9 was used to design the 1793 half cent. Suffice to say, one should NEVER go into a scientific study with a preconceived conclusion, but this is quite obviously what the authors did.

The first piece of interesting data was a micro X-ray fluorescence (µ-XRF) scan of the date area of one coin, which was dateless as a result of having been burnished. To their surprise, the scan recovered the date from the metal below the surface. This should not be surprising, because the organization of the metal below the surface is normally changed by the pressure of striking. Recovery of a date from such a flattened surface is typically the job of Nic-A-Date, which does so by acid-etching the surface, damaging the coin. But it does reveal the worn-off date. The µ-XRF scan is a great improvement on acid etching because it is non-destructive. The fact that the date could be recovered by µ-XRF was interesting but in no way surprising.

Their next analysis was to compare the obverse of the disme to those of the 1793 half cents. They found, as I had previously reported, that the obverse heads, except the hair, were identical. I concluded that all were done from the same hub. Rodriguez and Lopez came up with other, far more complicated conclusions.

Another of the three coins they studied has numerous scratches on both sides; two of those on the obverse they took as guide marks for where to engrave the head of the half cent. That, however, makes no logical sense. If the engraver were to place guide marks for impressing a hub, he would put them on the die, not the coin he was using as a model. In addition, we have no way to know when the coin was scratched, whether it was done by one person or more, or who might have done it. There are also a number of scratches that the authors do not discuss.

Without going into too much detail here, the authors also concluded that someone had etched a love token between E and M on the reverse and the letters L J on the obverse. I'm quite willing to believe that the graffiti on the coin includes these letters, but the authors go on to suggest that the L J stands for Libertas and Justitia from the Nova Constellatio coins of a decade earlier and that E and M stand for Adam Eckfeldt and his first wife, Maria Hahn. (I note, for what it may be worth, that Eckfeldt was not employed at the Mint in 1792 and never designed any coins.) Those are huge leaps, but there's more. They then concluded that the modification of the design for the half cent occurred in four steps: adding Liberty and Justice, lowering the date, removing Liberty and Justice, and then cropping the head and adding the liberty cap. That is a whole lot of conclusions from a couple of graffiti scratches. Their proof that the reverse of the half cent was also laid out on the silver disme reverse was the presence of a scratched W (that looks exactly like the M) and other scratches they interpret to represent I:II in Roman numerals, which they interpret as 1/200, the denomination.

There is a term for interpretations such as these: pareidolia. The very human tendency to see pattern and meaning where there is none, it often manifests itself in things like UFO sightings, weathered rocks taken to be pieces of human artwork, slices of toast with the face of a saint, and – far more frighteningly – political conspiracy theories.

The monograph by Rodriguez and Lopez does not approach the level of conspiracy theory, but their findings do not support their conclusions. The graffiti on the coin is real. Some of it does form letters. The scratches in front of Liberty's chin do closely resemble a heart shape. But to conclude that the disme was used to lay out the design of the half cent does not make sense and does not follow from their findings. To assign any specific meaning to the letters L and J or E and M requires some kind of evidence beyond wishful thinking.

We will make this simple. We stand by our research.

First, Dr. Eckberg, as a scientist describing the research technique deployed in this study as, micro X-ray fluorescence (µ-XRF) scan, blows it. It is not μ-XRF. XRF measures surface composition and is not even remotely close to X-ray micro-diffraction (μ-XRD). They are completely different. XRF uses a handgun or a small-fixed chamber and not a 1100-meter synchrotron ring that creates X-rays a million times more powerful than that which is received in a doctor's office. Dr. Eckberg's description of the scientific methodology used is incorrect. He is biologist by training and not a physical scientist so to make this mistake between XRF and X-ray micro-diffraction is a significant error.

Second, we totally disagree with Dr. Eckberg's descriptions. No one has come remotely close to recovering subsurface data images before us. This is ground-breaking research, unlike doing simple overlays or using XRF analysis. As for his 1792 copper Disme/1793 half-cent overlay analysis, we identified this more than a year before he wrote his article. We have the photos to prove it.

Third, it is outrageous that he states, The fact that the date could be recovered by µ-XRF (completely wrong) was interesting but in no way surprising. Dr. Eckberg is not a physicist and his comments come from someone who is not knowledgeable in this field. The materials scientists and physicists at the Argonne National Laboratory's Advanced Photon Source were not even sure this image recapture could be accomplished. Two of them are leaders in the field of X-ray diffraction. His comment about the date being interesting and no way surprising is disappointing and demonstrates his lack of understanding of non-destructive techniques. And to say that …μ-XRF scan is a great improvement on acid etching because it is nondestructive again demonstrates his lack of knowledge about X-ray micro-diffraction. This technique is revolutionary and has spawned a new investigative field called Cultural Heritage Research and is now used in Argonne's research descriptions' database

When Dr. Eckberg asserts that we had a preconceived conclusion which is known in science as a hypothesis, is mildly insulting. My key assumption was that the etch marks were made with intention but as to what they were, I had no idea. Not until Anthony J. Lopez, an acknowledged expert and author in numismatics, joined this project and after we identified Vertical Reference Line 1 and 2, that no one else had done before, not even Dr. Eckberg, because they were dismissed as graffiti and not worth a second look. And because of our second look, we started on a journey to find a way to help us unravel them. We hypothesized that this coin was somehow related to the 1793 half-cent, but we wanted additional confirmation. When we confirmed our hypothesis, our conclusion was now supported by scientific data. To say that we had a preconceived conclusion is again an insult and we personally take umbrage with it.

Another example of Dr. Eckberg being incorrect with his facts quotations is that only two silver dismes were μ-XRD, not three, and not μ-XRF, and the third was only used for image overlays and the design process that we determined was a likely sequence. Without our discoveries, this process could not have been imagined. We stand by this too.

As for the love token theme, we identified it as Educated Speculation with reasonable re-interpretations of what was cited in the paper.

Respectfully submitted,

Robert Rodriguez and Tony Lopez

I stand corrected on micro X-ray diffraction vs. fluorescence. I should have been more careful with the terminology, and I apologize for the error. That said, to anyone who has collected Buffalo nickels, it is not surprising that the date could be recovered using advanced technology. If acid etching can do it, some sufficiently powerful non-destructive test should also be able to do it. Rodriguez and Lopez and their associates are to be congratulated for finding a non-destructive methodology capable of doing so, and I am sure it will have applications in other contexts.

I am also sorry that they think I don't understand what an hypothesis is. I do, and assuming that the etch marks were made with intention is backwards with respect to the scientific method of hypothesis testing, which is the same in physical and biological sciences. You have to assume a "null hypothesis," that the marks have no specific meaning, and then test whether that is correct. The scratch marks making up the letters are not consistent with the null hypothesis, so they must have been intentional, but what they might mean is speculative. The other marks the authors claim were designed to direct placement of the half cent still make no sense. The disme and half cent heads were made from the same hub. I do not see how putting a couple of scratch marks on a struck disme could possibly have anything to do with placement of the hub on a new die blank.

As far as them claiming primacy on the discovery of the similarity between the disme and half cent, that has been noted at least since Crosby in 1897. Breen described it 70 years ago. What my 2017 article did, and what Rodriguez and Lopez did not do, is explain WHY the two obverses are so similar – they are so similar because they were produced from the same hub. Rodriguez and Lopez actually cite my 2017 Numismatist article, so they were obviously aware of it. But they apparently did not understand that my findings mean that the obverses were much more than related, as they put it.

Once I figured out that the Wreath cent and 1793 half cent obverses had been produced from hubs, it was logical to test whether the half cent hub had previously been used to create the 1792 disme. Until my study, numismatists believed that the obverses of all of these coins, as well as the 1794 cents, had been produced from individually hand-engraved dies, so my study provided a paradigm shift. Hubbing saved a great deal of time and handwork; without it, the engraver could not have kept up with production. It's one of those facts that is very simple – obvious, even – in retrospect, but it eluded researchers for many decades until my study.

Rodriguez and Lopez's multistep notion of how the disme obverse might have evolved into that of the half cent is excessively complex and fails to take into account the use of a hub for both coins. To paraphrase Occam's razor, the simplest explanation is generally the best one.

Again, Dr. Eckberg tries to get around his fundamental misunderstanding of the difference between what X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and X-ray micro-diffraction (μ-XRD) can accomplish. He even details the term in his fourth paragraph of his initial commentary. The XRF instrument typically used in the numismatic field is approximately a $35,000 hand-held device versus the billion-dollar Advanced Photon Source synchrotron at the Argonne National Laboratory.

His comment, I stand corrected with the terminology… reflects an under-appreciation or fundamental misunderstanding about the power, capability and difficulty of utilizing this new investigative technique, μ-XRD, that is entirely different from XRF. XRF is a non-destructive technique that measures the material composition to barely one micron beneath the surface. X-ray micro-diffraction measures subsurface distortions in the crystal structure deep inside the object. For him to say, …it is not surprising that the date could be recovered using advanced technology, is contrary to the expectations of the scientists at the Argonne National Laboratory. The images recovered by the Argonne scientists were a first and they were surprised by their quality. It was a groundbreaking new technique and to relate it to a destructive acid etch debases this discovery. No museum would have taken the risk we did in subjecting very rare and valuable rarities to this new investigative technique.

A recovery of a subsurface image from the interior of a coin had never been accomplished before our first successful scan which took place between February 28 and March 3, 2018, on a Judd-9. The physicists were not even sure this could even be accomplished. We are recovering sub-surface data that emanates from the atomic level. With this paper, we introduced the power of μ-XRD to the numismatic field. In our second paper, to be published in 2025, another groundbreaking power of μ-XRD will be shown.

Dr. Eckberg demonstrates his error in his initial commentary when he states, The first piece of interesting data was a micro-X-ray fluorescence (μ-XRF) scan of the date area of one coin, which was dateless as a result of having been burnished away. This date recovery was not the first piece of interesting data. It was the last since I was not able to acquire the Judd-9a until January 13, 2020, when it became available in a private transaction. At this time, we had been invited to present our findings at the April 2020 Argonne National Laboratory User Forum. After acquiring the Judd-9a, we submitted another beam line application which was accepted, and this visit was in July 2020.

Dr. Eckberg wants to return to his hub idea for these two coins, the Judd-9 and the 1793 half cent. What he misses is this coin is a design work surface. After the conceptual design, the following stages are then begun for the creation and refinement of the dies. All one has to do is view the initial drawings of Augustin Dupré that he used to create several of the Comitia Americana medals. Indeed, Dupré himself was known to use trial strikes of his medals as physical design surfaces upon which he would create the final designs of his creations. This process is well documented on the iconic Libertas Americana medal. The notion that this same methodology was done shortly thereafter in the late 18th century during the infancy of the US Mint to create its earliest coinage is not as outlandish as Dr. Eckberg seems to think.

He also ignores the two citations about Adam Eckfeldt where we stated this new information, the design process, should be used to re-interpret previous statements. For example, the referenced W. Elliot Woodward auction catalog description of October 1863 we reference for Lot 2021, for the 1793 half cent to be auctioned states, Nearly sixty years since, it was presented to a gentleman by Mr. Adam Eckfeldt as a specimen of his work... (p. 43 of the paper). The design work surface concept helps support the notion that the 1793 half cent is a specimen of his work.... Dr. Eckberg also makes a leap where he asserts, ...the half cent hub had previously been used to create the 1792 disme. He gets it completely backwards since the disme was produced before the half cent.

We did not say Dr. Eckberg didn't understand what a hypothesis was, but that he stated we had preconceived ideas. We took offense at his implication we had these biases and that our preconceived ideas were not a fact based hypotheses. As far as a null hypothesis, it attempts to disprove a claim. The alternative hypothesis is trying to prove a claim which will be accepted if there is sufficient evidence to reject the null hypothesis. His assertion you have to assume the null hypothesis is incorrect unless you are trying to disprove a claim. The alternative hypothesis is trying to prove a claim which will be accepted if there is sufficient evidence to reject the null hypothesis. This is what the paper was all about, trying to prove something, not trying to disprove.

Dr. Eckberg states, As for claiming primacy on the discovery of the similarity between the disme and the half cent, that has been noted at least since Crosby in 1897. We did not claim a similarity. Tony Lopez, who pioneered the use of image overlays as early as 2011, created the overlay in May 2016 using a silver disme and the 1793 Cohen 1-2 half cent. We identified the disme profile and hairline matched precisely the Cohen 1-2 but differed from the Cohen 3-4. Dr. Eckberg's overlay used a 1792 copper disme to compare to a 1793 Cohen 3-4 half cent. For imaging, this was a poor choice.

In summary, Dr. Eckberg made many errors in stating his facts about our paper. He did not get the sequence of scan events correct, the nature of the science that was used, or that our design sequence was one of what we stated as, Figure 49 illustrates our view of what we believe (emphasis added) was the design flow for the 1793 half cent.

Without our subsurface image recoveries or being the first to identify Vertical Reference Lines 1 and 2, this flow sequence could not have been developed. We proved these etch marks were obvious reference points and that no one had ever viewed them as such before. We started with a 5x power loupe, progressing to scanning electron microscopes and eventually gained access to the Argonne National Laboratory's Advanced Photon Source synchrotron to find the evidence presented in our paper. In conclusion, Dr. Eckberg made many errors in fact and misunderstanding.

Robert L. Rodriguez and Anthony J. Lopez

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
HISTORY RECOVERED: SAGA OF THE 1792 DISME (https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n18a07.html)

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

NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: JULY 7, 2024

Some Possible W. L. Shaws
Ted Banning writes:

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
WHO WAS W. L. SHAW? (https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n26a12.html)

Vattemare and Fake 1815 Cents
Ted Banning adds:

To read the complete Coin World article, see:
1815 the only date since 1793 for which no cents can be found (https://www.coinworld.com/news/us-coins/coin-world-numismatics-coin-collecting-hobby-1815-cents-philadelphia-mint-bill-eckberg-war-of-1812-american-history-us-coins.html)

To read earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
ALEXANDRE VATTEMARE AMERICAN ALBUM INFORMATION SOUGHT (https://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v10n23a09.html)
ALEXANDRE VATTEMARE ADDENDA REDISCOVERED (https://www.coinbooks.org/v24/esylum_v24n05a07.html)
WHO WAS W. L. SHAW? (https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n26a12.html)

The World's First Cash Machine
Steve Hill of Sovereign Rarities Ltd writes:

To read the complete articles, see:
London Bank – Home to the World's First Cash Machine – Listed (https://historicengland.org.uk/whats-new/news/enfield-bank-listed/)
Why Was The World's First Cash Machine In Enfield? (https://londonist.com/2016/01/why-was-london-s-first-cash-machine-in-enfield-1)

Sen. Leverett Saltonstall Mystery Badge
Anne Bentley of the Massachusetts Historical Society writes:

Novel's Plot Centers on Numismatics
Gerald Tebben writes:

On Coin Shows
Fremont CA Coin Club President Keith Scott writes:

THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF BARGELLO

As numismatists I suspect all of us visit museums when we travel, with the not-so-secret hope of stumbling across an exhibit of the stuff that interests us. Most of the time we are disappointed in that quest – and even when a museum does have some coins or medals on display, they are usually poorly lit, placed at angles that make it difficult to view, and have little in the way of descriptive text to accompany. There are, of course, major exceptions to this, including such well-known institutions as the Smithsonian, the British Museum, the Paris Money Museum, and others which clearly understand the importance of numismatics and, quite often, do an exceptional job of integrating their numismatic treasures with their other collections (the British Museum perhaps doing this better than any other, as not only do they have a large room devoted to numismatics, when wandering through the many other rooms you will often find coins and medals displayed in contexts that add to our understanding of a particular era or region).

I recently spent a couple weeks in Tuscany, and got to the marvelous city of Florence a few times. This cradle of the Renaissance is well-known for the sheer volume of first-rate art it houses in its many museums and churches. Many thousands of people line up every day to see Michelangelo's statue of David, and wander the vast halls of the Ufizi Gallery and the Pitti Palace. Add in a trip to the Duomo, the Basilica, and a few other churches holding notable paintings and sculptures, and the average tourist is soon arted out – that moment where one's eyes glaze over and you walk past something that would be one of the highlights of any museum collection anywhere else in the world, and it barely registers. Such was the case with my first visit to this city 20-odd years ago, when I hit most of the must-see venues. But I'm not a big fan of repeats, so on this trip I decided to focus on museums that I had not yet seen.

One of those was the National Museum of Bargello (Museo Nazionale del Bargello), housed in one of the oldest buildings in all of Florence, a palace dating from the mid-1200s, Most famous perhaps for its collection of statues by Donatello (including two versions of David that are strikingly different from Michelangelo's work), the museum also houses ceramics, tapestries, and some ivory sculptures. But, to my joy, it also had a vast numismatic collection – and displayed it with a typical Italian flair.

There are nearly 15,000 coins in the Bargello's collection, about half of them Italian, with a special focus on those issued by the mints in Tuscany – Arezzo, Berignone, Florence, Lucca, Montalcino, Pisa, Volterrs and Siena; the Florence mint was particularly well represented, especially with coins issued under Medici rule, and the collection is quite rich in silver and gold issues. The overall quality of the collection was astounding, and it is quite likely that many of the pieces were actually in the cabinets of the Medici family; many of the coins on display were donated by Prince Ginori Conti, a patron the arts, industrialist, and one of the richest men in Tuscany in part thanks to a fortuitous marriage. The coins on display take up three large, well-lit cases, obviously just a small fraction of what the museum holds. Images do not seem to be available online as of yet, but hopefully these will be photographed and shared with the world – even if you don't collect in this area (as I do not), you will enjoy viewing!

Those three cases would likely be enough for a quick numismatic fix, but the Bargello offers still more. It's collection of medals is one of the most important in the world, with about 10,000 pieces coming from the grand ducal collection which, for 300 years, was the Medici family. Thousands of other medals have been added to this collection from various sources, and they are housed in a room that was built specifically for the purpose, with both well-lit, eye-level display cases and vertical free-standing clear cases that allow you to see both sides of the medal by simply walking around to the other side.

The number of gold medals on display, also just a small fraction of the number held by the Bargello, reminds you that the relatively small city of Florence was once one of the richest and most powerful in the world. For medal lovers this room may well be their mecca, displaying some of the finest Renaissance medals in existence including casts by Pisanello and the small bronze works in the shape of medals made by Franceso de Sangello. A selection of papal medals includes some of Benvenuto Cellin's original dies, and there were medals featuring artists and writers, as well as Tuscan issues in fine Baroque style. But the highlight of course are the medals made for the Medici, who not only commissioned some of the finest painting and sculpture the world has ever seen, but also commemorated their dynasty with a vast array of medals, raising their issue to the same high level of art.

The Bargello is only a short walk from the crowded Duomo area of Florence, yet while you could not buy a ticket to see the David statue or climb the stairs to the top of the Duomo without booking weeks or even months in advance, there was no line to get in to the Bargello, and the crowd was small enough that you could take your time view at your leisure. For the numismatist who travels to Italy, do make sure this museum is high on your lists of things to see!

To visit the museum's website, see:
MUSEO NAZIONALE DEL BARGELLO (https://bargellomusei.it/en/museum/museo-nazionale-del-bargello/)

THE MISSING BOOK

One measure of a true numismatist is a serious research library, for by our very nature we collectors like to gather, classify, and arrange our holdings. Since the middle of the nineteenth century, American collectors have relied on books. Nor did the internet replace books about coins; rather it made older reference volumes easier to source. Even if we do not always pay strict attention to Aaron Feldman's admonition Buy the book before you buy the coin, intuitively we know that we might get more enjoyment out of the hobby if only we knew more about what we were collecting.

Consider the experience of early collectors of U.S. copper. Until the 1859 release of Montroville Wilson Dickeson's The American Numismatical Manual, scant reference material existed. A second seminal work, Sylvester Crosby's Early Coins of America, debuted in 1875. State-specific guides came a little later. Is there a specialist in New Jersey copper without a copy of Dr. Edward Maris's 1881 A Historic Sketch of the Coins of New Jersey on the bookshelf? How does one even speak New Jersey with dealers or other collectors without Maris?

Flash forward to the present day. The reliance on printed reference material is as strong as ever. Searchers looking for recently announced Lincoln cent double-die obverses want and need to refer to Bill Fivaz and J.T. Stanton's Cherrypicker's Guide on a recurring basis. Without this reference, how would coin scouts know what to look for when flipping through a dealer's worn 2x2 box at a firehouse coin show? Or how would one validate a discovery coin?

Over time, as the collection grows, the library grows. New editions replace older ones. New scholarship floods the niche (see Quarters, Bust). And then the inevitable occurs. A book goes missing from one's coin library. Often this loss is discovered only after a new variety is publicized or a new bargain is contemplated (but one which requires verification). One can study the coin but not the book! Collectors lament I need to look at the book while I look at the coin.

The example set by dealer Rick Tomaska is illustrative. As the godfather of FBL (full bell line) Franklins and cameo proof coinage, he writes books about coins and also sells coins on television. Books are often prominent background props in his broadcasts. His message is very clear: You will enjoy the coin much more if you have the book in front of you.

As a collector, I have been influenced by many dealers, including Aaron Feldman and Dave Bowers, the pre-eminent dealer/author of the last 60 years. Both imparted the necessity of taking advantage of the best information. Fellow collectors Randy Wiley and Bill Bugert released The Complete Guide to Liberty Seated Half Dollars in 1993, the first serious reference on the series since Martin Luther Beistle's A Register of Half Dollar Die Varieties and Sub-Varieties, published in 1929. The Beistle work might inform collectors; but Wiley-Bugert inspires collectors. Just as Bust half collectors speak in O numbers (thanks, Al Overton), Seated half collectors speak in WB numbers. I was hooked.

For more than a decade, this thin hardbound book with gold flyleaf was always nearby as I built my Seated half collection. The book was a godsend. The authors had a great track record, having proved definitively that 1840 Medium Letter halves had been coined in New Orleans, not Philadelphia, thereby correcting almost 150 years of misattribution. Their method of reed counting for establishing die marriages and detecting counterfeits/alterations is the gold standard in the field.

Life events caused me to turn away from Seated halves for a while. And then when I got back into the hunt, I couldn't find the book. I looked everywhere – bookcases all over the house, home office, basement, off-site storage locker. I opened dozens and dozens of packed boxes, to no avail. The appearance of the book is as familiar to me as my own signature. I feel like I have lost a friend.

Yes, I could buy a replacement copy, but not on eBay; there are none to be had at the moment. The book for which I paid about $20 in 1993 has since appreciated significantly. Used editions sell for $300+ on the internet. Beyond the financial penalty, however, is the diminution of my enjoyment. I could also replace the data. 2 But what I can't replace is the pleasure and enjoyment I received from the hobby while perusing my original copy. I know my volume is soiled and smudgy and shopworn. But I still love it. One fine day it will turn up and beckon me to open its pages and get to work again.

There is a backstory to the missing book. During the 1990's, Bill, Randy, and I all lived in the Washington, DC area. On occasion I would run into them at local coins shows. I can't remember whether I was speaking with Bill or Randy but I do know that one of them offered to sell me his remaining basement inventory of The Complete Guide to Seated Liberty Halves, perhaps several hundred copies, at a very favorable price and in shrink-wrapped condition. I was tempted until I contemplated the chore of dribbling out 5-10 copies a year on eBay for the next two decades. I blinked. Oh well.

Charles adds:

For more information on LSCC, see:
http://www.lsccweb.org/
http://www.lsccweb.org/Links.shtml

For more information on the Numismatic Bibliomania Society, see:
https://www.coinbooks.org/

STEVENS-SOLLMAN REJOINS CCAC

The United States Mint announced today that the Deputy Secretary of the Treasury has appointed Jeanne Stevens-Sollman to the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee (CCAC) as the member specially qualified by virtue of her experience in the medallic arts and sculpture, effective May 23, 2024. She previously served on the CCAC from 2012 through 2022 as a member representing the interest of the general public. She replaces Darla Jackson, who briefly served on the CCAC in 2023. Jeanne will serve a statutory four-year term.

Jeanne Stevens-Sollman is a full-time studio artist living in Centre County, Pennsylvania with her artist/craftsman husband, Phil Sollman. Jeanne is internationally recognized for her bronze medallions and relief work as well as her long-time series of rabbits. Her work is found in many private collections, in addition to the permanent collections of the State Museum in Harrisburg, PA; the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, Loretto, PA; the British Museum, London, England; the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC; and the National Museum of Medallic Art, Warsaw, Poland. Before embarking on her medallic career, Jeanne taught at Penn State University, Juniata College, and Haystack Mountain School of Crafts.

Currently a member of the Advisory Board of the Bellefonte Art Museum, Jeanne was born in Providence, Rhode Island. In 1972 she completed her Master of Fine Arts at the Pennsylvania State University and returned for post graduate work with Professor John Cook in Medallic Art in 1984. She is the recipient of the J. Saltus Sanford Award from the American Numismatic Society (1999); the Dutch Art Medal Society Award at FIDEM (Federation Internationale de la Medaille) (1998); the Award of Excellence in Medallic Art from the American Numismatic Association (2007), as well as receiving the Award of Distinction in sculpture from the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art in Loretto, PA. Jeanne was the Director for the Trout Run Medallic Symposium in 1997, 1999, 2001, an international gathering of medallic artists and collectors held in Saint Marys, Pennsylvania. She is a Penn State Alumni Fellow as well as a Fellow of the American Numismatic Society. A past president of the American Medallic Sculpture Association, she recently completed two full four-year terms as the U.S. Delegate to FIDEM.

Her work is exhibited widely throughout the U.S. and abroad with solo exhibits at the Southern Allegheny Museum of Art; the American Numismatic Society in New York; the Art Store in Charleston, West Virginia; and the Laurel Highlands Museum of Art, Somerset, PA.

About the CCAC
The CCAC was established by an Act of Congress in 2003. It advises the Secretary of the Treasury on theme or design proposals relating to circulating coinage, bullion coinage, Congressional Gold Medals, and other medals produced by the United States Mint. The CCAC also makes commemorative coin recommendations to the Secretary and advises on the events, persons, or places to be commemorated, as well as on the mintage levels and proposed designs.

The CCAC is subject to the authority of the Secretary of the Treasury. The United States Mint is responsible for providing necessary and appropriate administrative support, technical services, and advice. The CCAC submits an annual report to Congress and the Secretary of the Treasury, describing its activities and providing recommendations. Please visit https://www.ccac.gov/ for additional information about the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee.

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
LOCAL PAPER INTERVIEWS JEANNE STEVENS-SOLLMAN (https://www.coinbooks.org/v21/esylum_v21n31a27.html)
2023 NATIONAL COIN WEEK LECTURES (https://www.coinbooks.org/v26/esylum_v26n16a17.html)
WAYNE'S NUMISMATIC DIARY: OCTOBER 11, 2015 (https://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v18n41a18.html)

COIN COLLECTING WITH CUB SCOUTS

A while back a friend asked if I would give a presentation on coin collecting for his Cub Scout den. I figured it would be a cakewalk. His children and my daughter are about the same age, and I've talked to seven- and eight-year-olds about coins before. On top of that, I was a kid once—and a Scout, and a collector.

Well, it was fun, and it was educational (for everyone, including me), but at times it was like herding cats! The group was about a dozen first- to third-graders, mostly boys, with a couple girls. Energy level: Off the charts. My friend, their den leader, was very helpful in keeping the kids focused and on task. He provided some printouts. I brought line-art diagrams of the parts of a coin, a box of Red Books and coin folders, a few other coin books, and some show-and-tell pieces.

I talked to the Scouts about the designs of coins, and what they mean—the American eagle, portraits of presidents, etc. I told them about the ancient Greeks, and how they used symbols on coins to show what was important to them. We did a creative exercise where the Scouts drew a coin design of their own. They really liked that.

We explored how coins and medals are actually sculptures, with depth, and how they're works of art made by real people. I showed them a medal created by my friend Jeanne Stevens-Sollman, a Saltus Award–winning artist and former member of the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee.

[Image: I brought some medals to show high-relief sculpture. This one has a portrait of my old beagle, Hyacinth (rest in peace!). Its creator, Jeanne Stevens-Sollman, and I are both dog people, and Jeanne's medal is a star in my collection. The Scouts thought it was cool.]

All the kids paid attention, but, interestingly, the girls seemed the most thoroughly engaged, judging by the depth of their questions and responses. One Cub Scout's older sister was there, and I opened the Red Book to show her the 2013 Girl Scout commemorative silver dollar. Her eyes lit up, and she excitedly showed her dad—the coin was minted the year she was born. She wanted to go out and get one right away. I loved seeing that reaction!

The boys asked questions, too—mostly of the 100 Greatest variety: What's the most expensive coin you own? What's the oldest coin you've collected? They wanted to know about the biggest, the best, the rarest, the treasures.

To read the complete article, see:
Collecting Friends: Collecting Coins with Cub Scouts (https://blog.money.org/coin-collecting/collecting-with-cub-scouts)

TYRANTS OF THE NILE EXHIBIT AT 2024 ANA

Historic rare coins of Egypt from the unparalleled Tyrant Collection (www.TheTyrantCollection.com) will be publicly displayed together for the first time at the American Numismatic Association Chicago World's Fair of Money® (www.WorldsFairofMoney.com), August 6-10, 2024. The exhibit entitled Tyrants of the Nile includes coins of the ancient world's most famous queen, the legendary Cleopatra VII.

Tyrants of the Nile will be the latest multi-million-dollar exhibition in a multi-year series of different educational displays revealing portions of the extensive and unprecedented Tyrant Collection. Owned by Southern California collector Dan O'Dowd, it is described as the world's most valuable rare coin collection in private hands.

There will be about 350 coins in this extraordinary, museum-quality exhibit dating from the first coinage of Egypt around 350 BC to a 1980 gold coin commemorating the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty, said Ira Goldberg President of Goldberg Coins and Collectibles, Inc. (www.GoldbergCoins.com) in Los Angeles, California. Goldberg is one of the numismatic professionals providing guidance in assembling the wide-ranging Tyrant Collection of superb quality, historic U.S., world, and ancient coins.

The earliest ancient Egyptian coin in the exhibit was issued by the only Egyptian Pharaoh who issued a coin, Nectanebo II, circa 361-350 BC. The Tyrant Collection contains one of the finest known examples of this extremely rare coin, stated Goldberg.

Although distinctive coinage came relatively late for the Egyptian civilization, the full range of Egyptian gold and silver coinage really begins with the earliest coins of the Persians. This includes gold Darics and silver Sigloi first issued in the 7th  and 6th centuries BC, and all of which circulated widely in ancient Egyptian lands, explained Goldberg. We selected just a portion of Mr. O'Dowd's collection in order to showcase the Tyrants of the Nile exhibit.

Among the other highlights of the $5 million exhibit will be:

• Ptolemaic Kings of Egypt. Ptolemy IV Philopator, 221-204 BC, gold Octodrachm, Sidon mint, struck circa 202-200 BC. Only two specimens are known and among the most spectacular gold Greek coins in existence. It's a magnificent portrait work of very skilled master engraver perfectly struck in high relief, a real masterpiece of Hellenistic art. Virtually as struck and almost FDC (Fleur du Coin, mint state), said Goldberg.

• Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, Ptolemy I, as satrap (provisional governor), gold Stater. Alexandria, circa 312-11 BC. Extremely Rare, one of only six known, and one of only three in private hands.

• Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, Cleopatra VII archaic silver Tetradrachm, year 64 Era of Askalon (41-40 BC). Unique, unpublished and of considerable historical and numismatic interest. A marvelous example of Cleopatra's excessively rare ‘Greek' silver coinage and only three other Tetradrachms issued by Cleopatra at Askalon are known to exist, Goldberg explained.

Cleopatra VII is known today simply as Cleopatra. She was famous for her beauty and complicated relationships with Julius Ceasar and Marc Antony. There are many legendary stories about her as well as frequent depictions in film and television, but what did she look like in real life? We get an intriguing glimpse of her portraits on these coins, said Goldberg.

There are four coins in the exhibit depicting antiquity's most famous queen. In addition to the Tetradrachm of Askalon, there are a silver Dioblol and Obol from the Alexandrea mint; and one of the finest known of the rare Tetradrachms with magnificent portraits depicting Cleopatra on one side of the coin and Marc Antony on the other side.

• Vespasian with Titus as Caesar, gold Aureus, AD 69-79. Minted in Alexandria, Egypt after the fall of Jerusalem, AD 70 and extremely rare.

• Justinian I. 527-565, gold Solidus struck at the Alexandria mint circa 527- 538. Extremely rare and unpublished in the standard references, it possibly is only the sixth known. This type has only recently come to light and is of great importance. Previously only copper coins of Justinian were known from Alexandria, which feature the mintmark in Greek rather than Latin, said Goldberg.

• Incredibly rare gold Dinar of Shajar al-Durr, "Queen of the Muslims, Islamic Kingdoms, Mamluks struck in AH 648 (1250) at the al-Qahira (Cairo) mint. We have only been able to trace two other examples of a Shajar al-Durr Dinar, one permanently impounded in the British Museum collection, said Goldberg.

Another interesting numismatic treasure in the exhibit is a superb proof example of a 500 Piastres gold coin issued in 1938 (AH 1357) to commemorate the royal wedding of famous King Farouk, the last king of Egypt and well-known in numismatics. Farouk's legendary and long-ago dispersed coin collection included one of the five known 1913 Liberty Head nickels and the only 1933 Double Eagle that can be privately owned because the U.S. government granted the king an export license for it.

Visitors to the August 2024 ANA Chicago World's Fair of Money exhibit (booth #134) can receive a free, illustrated educational booklet about this display. Detailed catalogs with information and illustrations about each coin in the Tyrants of the Nile exhibit including fascinating details about coins of Cleopatra VII will be available for $10 each.

The ANA Chicago World's Fair of Money will be held in Hall A of the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, 5555 N. River Road, in Rosemont, Illinois.

Public hours are Tuesday, August 6, from 1 to 5:30 pm; Wednesday through Friday, August 7 to 9, from 10 am to 5:30 pm; and Saturday, August 10, from 10 am to 3:30 pm.

Public admission Tuesday through Friday is $10 daily or $25 for a weekly pass. Children 12 and under are admitted free daily and admission is free for everyone on Saturday.

For additional information visit www.WorldsFairofMoney.com.

ANA AWARDS DISTINGUISHED NUMISMATISTS

Every year, the American Numismatic Association (ANA) recognizes members who go above and beyond with their service and dedication to numismatics. The following awards, which are presented at the World's Fair of Money®, will be awarded during the Member Awards & Donor Celebration, Thursday, Aug. 8 from 3-4:30 p.m. in room 25/26 of the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, IL.

The ANA's Medal of Merit honors individuals who have dedicated years of service to the Association and have worked hard to promote the hobby. This year's recipients are David Crenshaw, Steve Roach, and Dennis Tucker.

David Crenshaw, a long time collector, joined the National Coin & Bullion Association in 2013 and now serves as executive director. He was previously Whitman Coin & Collectibles Expo's general manager. Crenshaw is dedicated to ensuring a safe and favorable legislative environment for the numismatic community at federal and state levels. He has been recognized as one of the Most Influential People in Numismatics by Coin World in 2022, 2023, and 2024, and has received several awards, including the ANA Glenn Smedley Memorial Award (2014) and the FUN Numismatic Ambassador Award (2019).

A graduate of the Florence Schook School of Numismatics, Steve Roach served in a variety of editorial positions at Coin World for 15 years. He has received many Numismatic Literary Guild honors, served on the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee (CCAC), and was a member of the Michigan State Quarter Design Commission. Currently, Roach trains appraisers in appraisal methodology, and he frequently contributes to numismatic books and journals.

Dennis Tucker was the publisher for Whitman Publishing from 2004 to 2024. During his tenure, he managed the release of over 300 titles. Tucker is a prominent author, and his books and articles help numismatists learn the joys of coin and currency collecting. He has instructed at the ANA Summer Seminar and is a member of the Numismatic Literary Guild, active in the Philippine Collectors Forum, and is a past governor of the Token and Medal Society. He served two terms on the CCAC starting in 2016.

The Adna G. Wilde Jr. Memorial Award for Exemplary Service honors ANA members who have demonstrated years of enthusiastic service in volunteering time, expertise, and resources that contribute to the ANA's growth and success, and have furthered the Association's educational mission. They promote and strengthen the hobby by serving as club officers, newsletter editors, show volunteers, and the like. This year, the ANA recognizes Carol Bastable, Virginia Bourke, and Mitch Sanders.

A life member of five organizations, Carol Bastable is a renowned researcher specializing in love tokens and hobo nickels. She writes the Carver Spotlight column for the original Hobo Nickel Society (OHNS) journal and writes a minimum of 12 articles annually to the OHNS and Love Token Society (LTS). Bastable has contributed over 25 years of board service to the Love Token Society and is the current president of the OHNS and LTS. She exhibited her collection of love tokens and related materials at the ANA's 2016 National Money Show Museum Showcase.

Virginia Bourke began her numismatic journey in 1968 when she volunteered at the registration booth for the ANA's San Diego convention. Since 1999, she's chaired the COINARAMA show in San Diego and contributed her expertise as secretary or editor to six clubs. She's served as president in four clubs. Recognized as a Numismatic Ambassador by Numismatic News in 2009, Bourke received the ANA Glenn Smedley Memorial Award in 2012.

Mitch Sanders joined the ANA in 1983, and in 1990 he interned at ANA headquarters while studying at Duke University. He initiated the popular Numismatist column Getting Started in 2003, and has contributed nearly 10 feature articles and counting to the ANA's official publication. From 2005 to 2009, he chaired the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee. Moreover, Sanders co-hosts the ANA's occasional podcast Two Bits with ANA Museum Curator Doug Mudd.

VOCABULARY TERM: POROSITY

Porosity. A surface full of tiny pores. Sand casting is notorious for creating porous surfaces from the contours of multiple grains of sand forming the wall of the mold. Other porous surfaces are formed by minute voids, tiny blowholes (from escaping gas) and sometimes from shrinkage during cooling. When intended as part of the design such a surface is called stippled and is a form of texture. When unintended the porosity can be so uneven or unsightly the cast piece would be rejected. Actually surface porosity is multiple concavity of thousands of micro cups.

In addition to sand casting and the other causes listed above, porous surface is also created by abrasive blasting (sandblasting), matte dip (tiny acid etched cavities), matte tools, and by edm, electrical discharge machine, which bangs out diminutive explosion craters to form the surface. Porosity is a characteristic of most casting and is a diagnostic for determining some cast versus struck surfaces.

To read the complete entry on the Newman Numismatic Portal, see:
Porosity (https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/dictionarydetail/516524)

ROBERT STEPHEN LIPKA (1945-2013)

Occasionally I may mention my book, Numismatic Rogues Gallery, published on the Newman Numismatic Portal. This story will require a new chapter.

Robert Lipka was born in Niagara Falls, New York, on June 16, 1945, the son of Gust and Stephanie Lipka (1922-2000). They were married on June 30, 1941, and divorced in 1963. Robert graduated from Cumberland Valley High School in 1963 and enlisted in the United States Army.

He must have scored high in his Army intelligence tests. In 1964 he was assigned to the National Security Agency as an intelligence analyst at Fort Meade in Maryland. Part of his job was to shred highly classified documents.

In September of 1965, he walked into the Soviet Embassy in Washington, D.C. and betrayed his country. He volunteered to be a spy and was provided with a camera to photograph documents. He played chess with his Russian handler and left rolls of film at secret locations. For two years he turned over classified documents and received payments of $27,000. He was motivated more by the money than ideology.

He left military service in August 1967 to attend Millersville State College of Pennsylvania. One of his professors described him as a loudmouth and arrogant. He was involved with campus and local politics. In 1968, Lipka was president of the student senate at his college. On November 5, 1968, Lipka camped out in a lawn chair for six hours to be the first in line at his polling place. He said he would vote for Hubert H. Humphrey. He graduated in 1971 and went to work as a teacher at Lancaster Mennonite High School. Later that year he ran as a Democrat for a seat on the Lancaster (PA) city council. He placed fourth out of four candidates.

Robert married Patricia E. Lipka on September 27, 1966. They had a daughter and were divorced in 1974. She complained that he lost much of their money gambling.

He was married to Deborah on July 25, 1981. She was a postal worker. They had two sons and were divorced in 2004. Lipka was a coach for his son's little league baseball teams.

In 1974, he joined the ANA as member R-83221. The following year he converted to life membership as LM-1650.

Lipka was owner of the Liberty Coin Shop in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. In April 1975, Lipka suffered a burglary of three briefcases chained together in his car while attending a coin convention in Manhattan. The estimated loss was $20,000.

In 1975 he began contributing a weekly coin column, Coin Collector's Corner, to the Lancaster Sunday News with the byline of Bob Lipka. He was familiar to editors of the paper because of frequent letters to the editor with comments or complaints. His topics included familiar items in coin columns like market trends, reports of new issues and recommendations of books to buy. He also responded to reader questions.

In 1979, he reported on the murder of two coin collectors a block from his home.

In 1980, he complained about a proposed city ordinance to regulate buy/sell transactions to restrict the sale of stolen property. As happens in many communities, he complained that required holding periods would affect the market for bullion products with frequent price fluctuation. Perhaps as a result of his complaints, the city dropped the requirement to record the names of sellers.

Writing a column is not as lucrative as spying for the Russians. The editor paid him $5 a week. His column was discontinued in the middle of 1983. The columns indicated a broad numismatic knowledge. The quality was good for a local coin column.

Lipka was promoter and show manager for the Lancaster, Pennsylvania, coin shows from 1975 to 1986.

In 1990, Lipka participated in the USA Today Financial News Network National Investment Challenge. He finished seventh out of 3123 participants.

Lipka did not rely on the coin business as his sole source of income. In 1992, he received a settlement of $250,000 from the Lancaster Commercial Travelers Association, a local social club, for an injury sustained during a January 1990 Super Bowl party. Lipka claimed he was struck by a falling gambling table. His injuries included two herniated discs, compression to his spinal cord and numbness in his fingers. He also claimed disfigurement, incontinence and sexual disfunction.

Russian agent Vasili Mitrokhin defected to the British in 1991 and turned over files that included the name of Lipka. The British MI6 forwarded information from Mitrokhin to the FBI. This shows that you can't trust Russian spies to keep their secrets.

The FBI investigated Lipka and sent an agent posing as a KGB officer to interview Lipka. Among his stories, he told the agent that his coin shop was a front for laundering money. Lipka reported that he saw documents identifying President Nixon as a Russian spy and documents revealing the real killer of John F. Kennedy. Not all of his stories were believed.

Lipka's former wife Patricia informed on him and confirmed his spying activities. When he was contacted in 1993, he was described as out of work on disability and weighing nearly 300 pounds. He spent his free time playing the horses at tracks in Pennsylvania and Delaware.

Lipka was arrested on February 23, 1996, nearly thirty years after he quit being a spy. Lipka threatened to reveal secret information if the case went to trial. Lipka accepted a plea deal in May 1997 to avoid a life sentence. He was sentenced to 18 years in prion, assessed a fine of $10,000 and required to pay back $10,000 given him by the FBI agent posing as a Russian agent. Lipka was released from prison on December 8, 2006.

Lipka died in Meadville, Pennsylvania, on July 5, 2013, and was cremated. The ANA reported his death but did not include an obituary. Local obituaries had little other than his dates of birth and death.

The Lipka case was the subject of a book, Fool's Mate: A True Story of Espionage at the National Security Agency written by FBI Special Agent John W. Whiteside and published in 2014. This can be added to the list of books about numismatists on a non-numismatic topic.

The story was recounted in Smithsonian Magazine in November 2016.

When I can find the time, I will be adding a chapter on espionage to Numismatic Rogues Gallery.

To read the complete Numismatic Rogues Gallery on the Newman Numismatic Portal, see:
Numismatic Rogues Gallery (https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/book/634354)

NUMISMAGRAM MEDAL SELECTIONS: JULY 7, 2024

102533 | UNITED STATES & GERMANY. Colonial America and Preußen (Prussia) silver Medal. Issued 1763. The Treaty of Hubertusburg and the end of the Seven Years' War (French and Indian War in America) (44mm, 21.70 g, 12h). By J. L. Oexlein for D. F. Loos in Leipzig. IAM REDIRE AVDET (now she dares to return...), Germania standing facing, head right, holding scepter and grain ear; mountains and plowman in background; in two lines in exergue, GERMANIA / PACATA (...with Germany being at peace) // NVNCIA PACIS (the messenger of Peace), view of the Hubertusburg Palace; above, Fama (Rumor) flying right, blowing in one trumpet and holding another; D 15 FEBR MDCCLXIII in exergue. Edge: Plain. Betts 446; Pax in Nummis 595; Olding 931; Henckel 1658. PCGS MS-61. Highly brilliant and lustrous, with some colorful toning around the devices. Compare to an NGC AU-58 that realized a total of $504 in Heritage's March 2023 World Medals and Tokens Showcase Auction #61312, lot 22180 (and for which its current owner now wants at least $756), and a PCGS SP-61 (severely hairlined) that realized a total of $1,320 in the Stack's Bowers February 2022 CCO Auction, lot 73771. $795.

To read the complete item description, see:
102533 | UNITED STATES & GERMANY. Colonial America and Prussia silver Medal. (https://www.numismagram.com/product-page/102533)

102552 | UNITED STATES & GERMANY. Colonial America and Preußen (Prussia) silver Medal. Issued 1763. The Treaty of Hubertusburg and the end of the Seven Years' War (French and Indian War in America) (22mm, 2.77 g, 12h). By J. L. Oexlein for D. F. Loos in Leipzig. IAM REDIRE AVDET (now she dares to return...), Germania standing facing, head right, holding scepter and grain ear; above, zodiacal banner with Leo and Virgo; mountains and plowman in background; in two lines in exergue, GERMANIA / PACATA (...with Germany being at peace) // NVNCIA PACIS (the messenger of Peace), view of the Hubertusburg Palace; above, Fama (Rumor) flying right, blowing in one trumpet and holding another; D 15 FEBR MDCCLXIII in exergue. Betts 447; Pax in Nummis 597; Olding 930; Henckel 1659. PCGS SP-61. Deep gunmetal gray toning, with a darker nature nearer the peripheries and a good deal of brilliance in the fields. The rarer of the two silver versions of this popular Americana-tangent medal, and a type that seemingly shares dies with the elusive gold ducat-sized version. $695.

To read the complete item description, see:
102552 | UNITED STATES & GERMANY. Colonial America and Prussia silver Medal. (https://www.numismagram.com/product-page/102552)

102838 | UNITED STATES & MEXICO. Major General Zachary Taylor bronze Medal. Issued mid-late 19th century in commemoration of the general and the Battle of Buena Vista (89mm, 380.2 g, 12h). By C. C. Wright. MAJOR GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR / RESOLUTION OF CONGRESS: MAY 9. 1848., bust right within wreath of oak and laurel branches // BUENA VISTA FEB. 22. & 23. 1847., intense and extremely intricate battle scene between the forces of Mexico and the United States; all within border composed of two rattlesnakes; wreath of cacti and oak branches below (though the oak branch is identified only by the presence of acorns, as the leaves do not match that of an oak, and more closely resemble olive leaves). Edge: Plain. Julian MI-24b. Choice Mint State. Glossy brown surfaces, with a majestic overall appearance; only a very slight bruise upon one of the laurel leaves on the obverse prevents what would otherwise be a gem designation. $1,495.

To read the complete item description, see:
102838 | UNITED STATES & MEXICO. Major General Zachary Taylor bronze Medal. (https://www.numismagram.com/product-page/102838)

102726 | UNITED STATES & FRANCE. Delivery of the Statue of Liberty to America bronze Medal. Issued 1886. Union Franco-Americaine (68mm, 167.68 g, 12h). By L.-O. Roty at the Paris mint. VNION • FRANCO • AMERICAINE / STATVE • COLOSSALE • DE • LA • LIBERTÉ • ECLAIRANT • LE • MONDE, female allegories of France (Marianne) and America seated to right, along with a female allegory for Victory/Freedom seated to left, seated within boat which approaches the Statue of Liberty, casting a beacon of light from her torch at a distance // SOUVENIR • DE • L'INDEPENDANCE • AMERICAINE, medallion featuring the left-facing bust of Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi in frock coat; all set upon laurel branch with shields representing the United States and France; in four lines below, MONVMENT / ERIGÉ • PAR • LA • FRANCE / ET • L'AMERIQVE • EN • SOUVENIR / DE • LEVR • ANCIENNE • AMITIÉ; radiant ornamented plaque below. Edge: «cornucopia» BRONZE. Baxter 30; Maier 92. Choice Mint State. Warm brown surfaces, with a hint of toning. A fairly scarce and always popular type. $765.

To read the complete item description, see:
102726 | UNITED STATES & FRANCE. Statue of Liberty bronze Medal. (https://www.numismagram.com/product-page/102726)

102794 | UNITED STATES. Alex Shagin/"Morgan Dollar" nickel Medal. Issued circa 1990. "My Face, My Name, My Tools, My Craft" (21.5mm, 4.97 g, 10h). By A. Shagin. Representation of the obverse on an 1878 Morgan Dollar // MY FACE MY NAME MY TOOLS MY CRAFT, bust facing slightly right; ALEXANDER SHAGIN in exergue, with engraver's tools below. Edge: Plain. As Made. Extremely brilliant and prooflike; overstruck on Jefferson nickel, with aspects of the undertype still visible, most notably the dome of Monticello on Liberty's cheek and a partial outline of Jefferson's bust in front of Shagin's face. Extremely rare and interesting, and the only such example of the type that we have been able to trace. Ex David Nicholas Silich Collection. $195.

To read the complete item description, see:
102794 | UNITED STATES. Alex Shagin/"Morgan Dollar" nickel Medal. (https://www.numismagram.com/product-page/102794)

CHRISTIAN GOBRECHT GRAVE MARKER UNVEILING

Christian Gobrecht Grave Marker Unveiling

Christian Gobrecht, third Engraver of the United States Mint, died in office on July 23, 1844, and was succeeded by James Barton Longacre. Gobrecht was interred at Philadelphia's Monument Cemetery, at Broad and Berks Streets in North Central Philadelphia. By 1955, the burial grounds were dilapidated. With Temple University and the Philadelphia Board of Education wishing to acquire the land, the courts were petitioned for relocation of the cemetery. The following year, Gobrecht and family members were reinterred at Lawnview Cemetery in Rockledge, PA, a northeast suburb of Philadelphia.

Bill Bugert, in the July 2008 Gobrecht Journal (#102), described the search for the Gobrecht grave, an involved investigation that eventually uncovered a plain marker in the Lawnview location, that reveals simply GOBRECHT. Gobrecht's headstone in 1844 was more fitting to his office, and to Vladimir Clain-Stefanelli goes the credit for preserving an image of the original marker, which Bugert believes was discarded in the 1956 relocation of the remains.

The Liberty Seated Collectors Club, collectors of Gobrecht's Liberty Seated coinage, has sponsored a new marker for the Gobrecht family grave, and an unveiling ceremony will take place this fall. The commemoration will occur at Lawnview Cemetery, 500 Huntington Pike, Rockledge, PA on November 13 at 1 P.M. This is the Wednesday preceding the November Whitman Coin Expo in Baltimore. For further information, contact Dennis Fortier (ricajun@msn.com), Vice-President of the Liberty Seated Collectors Club.

Link to July 2008 Gobrecht Journal, including Bill Bugert's article The Search for Christian Gobrecht's Birthplace and Final Resting Place:
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/book/177

Link to December 2016 E-Gobrecht, including information on the original headstone:
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/book/523821

For more information on the Liberty Seated Collectors Club, see:
http://www.lsccweb.org/

THE GEORGE WEYERHAEUSER KIDNAPPING

It was back in 1935 when little 9-year-old George Weyerhaeuser – whose great-grandfather founded the company – was snatched by kidnappers on his way home from school in Tacoma one May afternoon.

George's great-grandfather is Frederick Weyerhaeuser. He started the Weyerhaeuser forest products dynasty in 1900, and Bryan Johnston says the elder Weyerhaeuser is still considered the 12th richest man in American history, as in ever. For comparison, says Johnston, another local guy – Bill Gates – is on the same list at number 11.

Thus, little George Weyerhaeuser was a natural target for a kidnap and ransom scheme in the middle of the Great Depression.

Around 6:30 p.m., a special delivery letter – mailed anonymously and containing a ransom note – arrived at the Weyerhaeuser home. In an old newsreel, the narrator describes what happened next.

This ransom letter was turned over to the FBI. Nine-year old George Weyerhaeuser, kidnapped, the narrator says, in classic melodramatic newsreel fashion. They made him sign the back of the envelope as identification to his parents. The G-Men made a searching study of this elaborate kidnap message. It gave a list of the size of the bills to be paid in the ransom money: $200,000.

The $200,000 demand is pretty audacious, says Bryan Johnston, as it's four times what the Lindbergh kidnapper had demanded just two years earlier. Adjusted for inflation, the Weyerhaeuser ransom would be close to $4 million in 2021.

Randomly, $200,000 is also the same dollar amount as what infamous Northwest hijacker D.B. Cooper would demand – and be given – in exchange for his hostages more than 30 years later.

The FBI has a nationwide system of hunting down kidnap cash, says the newsreel narrator. The G-Men made up a list of their own [of serial numbers of ransom bills]. The Washington press ground out hundreds of thousands of [lists]. They circularized the nation – banks, stores, and filling stations, any place where money might be spent.

A big break came just one week after George Weyerhaeuser had been released.

The trail led to Salt Lake City, where in this 5-and-10 [variety store], one of the bills on the list was changed to buy this cigarette case, the narrator continues. And swiftly an airplane is taking Harmon Waley and his wife to Tacoma [where each pleads guilty]. He gets 45 years; she gets 20 years.

There were a total three kidnappers – and all eventually were tracked down through ransom money serial numbers listed on the printed document and spotted by retail clerks (which is exactly how the FBI decades later had hoped to catch D.B. Cooper).

To read the complete article, see:
Dramatic 1935 Weyerhaeuser kidnapping comes to life in new book (https://mynorthwest.com/3133991/dramatic-1935-weyerhaeuser-kidnapping/)

To read the Wikipedia entry, see:
George Weyerhaeuser kidnapping (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Weyerhaeuser_kidnapping)

STACKS BOWERS: CANADIAN METIS SCRIP

While cataloging the upcoming world paper money section in the Stack's Bowers Galleries August Global Showcase auction I came across an interesting item with which I was unfamiliar. It is a Dominion Land Bond from Canada dated June 13, 1876, issued by the Dominion Lands Branch of the Department of the Interior. Printed by the British American Bank Note Co. in Montreal, the bond – for 20 dollars payable to bearer – is graded About Uncirculated 53 by PMG and has been cancelled. It is hand-signed by the Surveyor General and the Minister of the Interior. Unfamiliar with this type of bond, I soon found it played a role in a dark chapter of Canadian history.

It is a piece of scrip known as Métis Scrip, and played an important role in what has been called North America's largest land swindle. These scrip notes were given to the Métis, who called Canada's prairie provinces home for thousands of years. Like other First Nations, they were heavily impacted by white settlement, especially toward the end of the 19th century, when expansion westward impacted their traditional homelands. The Dominion Lands Act of 1870 awarded large parts of the west to individuals and companies, ignoring the native claims of tribes such as the Métis. While other First Nations had individual treaties signed to take away their land, the Métis were dealt with differently. The government came up with this scrip system, giving out scrip in either dollars or acres which could be redeemed for land elsewhere. However, the process of acquiring land was convoluted, complicated and susceptible to fraud. One had to first travel to the Dominion Lands Office to redeem the scrip, and then move to the land received; locations that were often hundreds of miles apart. This meant that to take possession people had to leave their families and travel to unfamiliar parts of Canada to settle there, a choice too difficult for many families to make. As a result, most Métis never received land and were swindled out of the scrip getting a fraction of the value. In many cases, the scrip ended up in the hands of white speculators who then sold the land for a profit to white settlers.

In the past few decades, the Canadian government has taken steps to rectify the situation caused by the Métis Scrip. The Supreme Court of Canada in 2003 called it a sorry chapter in our nation's history, and in 2013 the court ruled the government had failed to keep its promise to the Métis people when the scrip was implemented. The $20 bond offered in our August auction is a sad reminder of this part of history, but one that should be told. While recently this scrip and its story has gained attention in the media, many Canadians are still unfamiliar with this story.

To read the complete article, see:
AUGUST GLOBAL SHOWCASE AUCTION OFFERS MÉTIS SCRIP FROM CANADA WITH DARK HISTORY (https://stacksbowers.com/august-global-showcase-auction-offers-metis-scrip-from-canada-with-dark-history/)

PIG MONEY: GENUINE OR COUNTERFEIT?

As Collections Manager at the American Numismatic Society, I have been fortunate enough to poke my head into practically every nook and cranny of the vault at the behest of academics, researchers, and members, usually to locate an object for photography, confirm an object's weight or other details, and so on. Consequently, I often come across trays of objects that I have never seen or even heard of before, and occasionally I stumble upon something that causes me to furrow my brow and (quietly) exclaim, What the heck are these things?

One such occasion happened well over a year ago, when I found a single tray in the Medals and Decorations department simply labeled Pig Money. I turned several of the objects over (some of which were as thick and heavy as Roman aes grave; others as small and thin as a medieval denier or penny) and examined them. Some of the objects indeed had pigs (or, at the very least, pig-like animals) depicted on them—some featured lone animals, others had several pigs, and still others portrayed a sow and multiple piglets—and yet some had no pigs (or pig-like animals) at all. Most of the objects looked vaguely ‘ancient' however they differed in that some objects seemed to have legitimate, old patinas coupled with an archaistic style, whereas others were almost cartoonish in nature, as if someone had asked a child to design an ancient coin. I resolved to figure out what these objects were but did not think to look into them again until I was notified that I had committed to writing this week's Pocket Change blog post—a perfect opportunity to dive into the strange world of pigs.

When I pulled out the tray to examine them again in anticipation of writing this post, ANS Assistant Librarian Jared Goldfarb happened to be nearby. When I explained what my task at hand was, he mentioned that fellow colleague and Newman Numismatic Portal Digital Scribe Lara Jacobs had recently scanned some Society archives that mentioned (and I will forgo using quotes from here on out) pig money. What luck! The archived material pertained to a series of letters between an attorney, Wilfred B. Feiga, and ANS Curator Howland Wood on the subject of Ancient Hebrew coins per the envelope the letters were contained in. The first letter from Feiga dated August 15, 1921 was actually directed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, wherein he asked for the name of the most reliable authority on ancient Hebrew coins…in New York City or elsewhere as Feiga was representing a one Joseph Rosenthal of Worcester, Massachusetts, a gentleman who has inherited [a Hebrew coin] which is believed by the best authorities at our disposal thus far to date back to about 3,000 B.C. which was discovered while digging in one of the mountains of Palestine. Feiga goes on to note that It may be worth many thousands of dollars, and of immeasurable value to the scientific world.

Upon receiving this letter, the Metropolitan Museum of Art presumably told Feiga to contact the American Numismatic Society, although their reply is not included with the other letters. Feiga then sends a new letter addressed to the ANS dated August 17 in which he encloses a newspaper clipping from the August 9, 1921 edition of the Worcester Gazette which explains itself (unfortunately, this clipping is also absent from our archives) and indicates that Rosenthal is willing to sell the coin in question if the proper arrangements can be made. Feiga then states that, based on the oral history of the object as given by his client, I am personally of the opinion that it may be of unusual interest, and of considerable value.

To read the complete article, see:
Pig Money: Authentic Artifacts or Numismatic Nonsense? (https://numismatics.org/pocketchange/pig-money-authentic-artifacts-or-numismatic-nonsense/)

A NEW 1715 TREASURE FLEET FIND

Mike Penninger thought his treasure-hunting days might be over. After 30 years of exploring wrecks off the Atlantic coast, surfacing with coins, rings and other artifacts, the 71-year-old Florida diver and boat captain was about ready to hang up the scuba suit.

Then, he and his crew came upon something extraordinary off the coast of Sebastian, Fla.: scores of Spanish coins from an infamous 18th-century shipwreck.

It's a lot of work, Penninger said of searching for treasure. I'm too old. I'm almost 72 and so I'm thinking, ‘I'm done with this.' The very next day, bam, we get the first 100 coins.

The crew would ultimately find more than 200 coins during dives between May 30 and June 16. Their discovery dates back more than 300 years to what's known as the Spanish Treasure Fleet of 1715, the divers said.

The total findings will be distributed between the company and the state by the U.S. District Courts in May.

How much the coins are worth is so far unclear, in part because they haven't yet been restored from their centuries-long stay at the bottom of the ocean.

It's more about the historical value than the cash value, said 1715 Fleet director Sal Guttuso. Valuation can be tricky. Usually money values on these items only can be established once the items have been sold, and many of these will not be sold but go into Florida museums and private collections of the finders or owners of our company.

Some of the first to find evidence of the 1715 shipwrecks were beachgoers walking along Florida's coast in the early 1900s, from Sebastian down to Fort Pierce, said Ben Costello, president of the 1715 Fleet Society. They found mostly Spanish coins, deducing that the wrecked ships must have come from Spain. Floridians found washed-up treasure over the decades, but it wasn't until the 1950s when divers joined the effort to find out what was out there.

Divers have made the most progress contributing to the historical record of the wrecks, often by writing up details of what they've found. Yet many mysteries remain.

There's a lot written about the treasure and what was being transported, Costello said. There's not a lot written about who the people were. Who are some of these people that either died or survived? And what happened to them?

He added, We keep pushing for more knowledge and information. I guess our biggest goal here is to not let the story die.

To read the complete article, see:
A treasure hunter was ready to retire. Then he found hundreds of coins. (https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2024/06/26/treasure-hunter-was-ready-retire-then-he-found-hundreds-coins/)

For more information, see:
Florida treasure hunters recover hundreds of 18th century coins from Spanish shipwrecks (https://www.foxnews.com/video/6355524430112)
https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/never-expect-it-florida-treasure-hunters-find-200-silver-coins-from-historic-1715-shipwrecks (https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/never-expect-it-florida-treasure-hunters-find-200-silver-coins-from-historic-1715-shipwrecks)

COINS DEFACED FOR POLITICS

A George III silver shilling that was probably modified in 1784 by London publican Sam House (picture courtesy of Timothy Millett).

BADA dealer Timothy Millett, a specialist in historical medals and related works of art, says today's election debates have nothing on an 18th century hustings.

He has been collecting ‘defaced' coins and tokens for many years and particularly enjoys those with overt political overtones.

Pictured here is a George III silver shilling that was probably modified in 1784. It was the year of the first hot-air balloon flights in Britain (hence the image of a balloon neatly engraved over the king's head) but also the date of the first parliamentary general election since the American War of Independence.

In the Westminster constituency, Charles James Fox ran in opposition to the incumbent Prime Minister William Pitt (the Elder).

The engraver of this coin makes his loyalties known.

The name Sam House etched either side of the king's head references another well-known London political figure from the era. A radical publican who supported John Wilkes and then Charles Fox with the rallying cry ‘I am a publican and a Republican', House renamed his hostelry on Wardour Street in Soho The Intrepid Fox. His easily recognisable figure - fat, bald, uncouth - became shorthand for the mob among Georgian caricaturists.

To read the complete article, see:
Defaced coins tell their own story at election time (https://www.antiquestradegazette.com/print-edition/2024/july/2650/the-back-page/defaced-coins-tell-their-own-story-at-election-time/)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
IAPN 2023 BOOK PRIZE NOMINATIONS (https://www.coinbooks.org/v26/esylum_v26n13a14.html)
VOTING ON COINS (https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n26a09.html)

LOOSE CHANGE: JULY 7, 2024

Civil War Soldiers Receive the Medal of Honor

Two members of the legendary Andrews' Raiders, Philip "Perry" Gephart Shadrach and George Davenport Wilson, were posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor at a ceremony on July 3rd.

Nineteen (19) of the 22 of the soldiers who were part of Andrews' Raiders were awarded the Medal of Honor between 1863 and 1883. One soldier who was stopped by Confederates near Jasper and never made it to Georgia for the raid was offered the Medal, but he declined.

Now the final 2 soldiers who were a part of the Great Locomotive Chase will be honored at the White House more than 162 years after the raid.

To read the complete article, see:
2 Civil War soldiers awarded the Medal of Honor for actions in & near Chattanooga (https://www.newschannel9.com/features/price-of-freedom/2-civil-war-soldiers-will-be-awarded-the-medal-of-honor-for-actions-in-near-chattanooga-shadrach-wilson-andrews-raiders-great-locomotive-chase)

TPG-Certified Counterfeit 1921 Walker

Contemporary counterfeits are a subset of the hobby, with the focus on fakes made in the period they circulated to pass as genuine in normal commerce. These are avidly collected and cataloged by various collectors and experts, with some worth considerably more than face value.

As I mention in the Buffalo article, my main go-to for information on contemporaries is my friend Winston Zack and his book Bad Metal. He is the one who brought my attention to the authenticated Walker.

Winston refers to this specimen as the Fat Motto family, for rather obvious reasons. And on the reverse, he notes that the pine stem ends under the middle of B in PLURIBUS whereas on the genuine the pine stem ends on the right side of the B.

To read the complete article, see:
From the Dark Corner: An Authenticated Counterfeit 1921 Walking Liberty Half Dollar (https://coinweek.com/from-the-dark-corner-an-authenticated-counterfeit-1921-walking-liberty-half-dollar/)

The Brasher Dubloon Film

This Hollywood B-Movie, a remake of the 1942 film A Time to Kill, is largely forgotten outside of numismatic circles today, but is one of the few Hollywood feature films to prominently focus on coin collecting themes. Much of what is discussed in the film regarding the Brasher Doubloon is inaccurate – even the coin itself is a crude prop.

In the film's opening credits, a clumsy reproduction of a Brasher Doubloon with an EB punch at the top of the left wing is shown. None of the seven known Brasher Doubloons feature a punch on the left wing.

Other inaccuracies on the prop coin's obverse are the incomplete motto: UNUM * * * PLURIBUS instead of UNUM * E * PLURIBUS; the number of stars in the glory of the prop coin; and the orientation of the arrows, branches, and the frame around the shield. The overall look of the prop is wrong and it does not appear to be a struck coin.

To read the complete article, see:
The Brasher Doubloon Film From a Numismatist's Perspective (https://coinweek.com/the-brasher-doubloon-film/)