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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 1/4/2025 - Workman's Books

 

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 DECEMBER 1, 2024

New subscribers this week include: Joel Silver of Lilly Library, Indiana University. Welcome aboard! We now have 7,254 subscribers.

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

This week we open with a numismatic literature sale, five new books, updates from the Newman Numismatic Portal, notes from readers, and more.

Other topics this week include the coins of England and Machin's Mills, the Numismatic Crime Information Center, AI coin grading, baked clay coins, Coin World's print edition, fixed price and auction previews, coins of Gladiator II, and the social media site for the dead.

To learn more about the Pirate Prince, counterfeit portrait eight reales, the 100 Greatest U.S. coins, the British Union Jack, new $1 bills, chopmarks on paper money, the Carson City Mint Bullion Balance, Omaha dealer Wren Culkin, Dr. Lawrence Lee, the Walton 1913 Liberty Nickel, a Civil War ID Disc, and Rio Money Gliders, read on. Have a great week, everyone!

Wayne Homren
Editor, The E-Sylum

 

 

WORKMAN'S BOOKS SALE 7 SELECTIONS

Lot 68: Borrell, Pedro J. THE QUICKSILVER GALLEONS - THE SALVAGE OF THE SPANISH GALLEONS NUESTRA SENORA DE GUADALUPE AND EL CONDE DE TOLOSA. Underwater Archaeological Recovery Commission, Dominican Republic. 1984. 8vo. 122 pages. original pictorial card covers. B&w and color photos and illustrations throughout. English text. Fine. This book tells how two Spanish Galleons, the 'Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe' and 'El Conde de Tolosa', sank in 1724 off the coast of the Dominican Republic.. and the salvage of them in the late 1970's and early 1980's. Many of the artifacts recovered are illustrated. Lot weight: 0 lbs 11oz. Subject(s): Sunken Treasure.

Lot 81: Breen, Walter. WALTER BREEN'S COMPLETE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF U.S. AND COLONIAL COINS. FCI Press, Inc/Doubleday, New York. 1988. 4to. xiv, 754 pages. original black cloth, gilt, jacket. Tables. Glossary. Bibliography. b&w coin photos throughout. English text. Fine. Drawing on a lifetime of research, America's top coin historian presents the most comprehensive guide to U.S. coins ever published. It covers every conceivable aspect of American numismatics. The definitive numismatic reference book for the advanced collector, with over 4,000 illustrations. Lot weight: 5 lbs 0oz. Subject(s): United States Coinage.

Lot 133: Christie, Manson & Woods International, Inc. THE RESEARCH COIN COLLECTION. Christie, Manson & Woods International, Inc., New York. 1988. 4to. 48, (16) pages. original printed card covers, spiral binding. 16 B&w coin plates. English text. Fine. This auction catalog describes the 237 silver cobs in the 'Atocha' research collection, including some of the best and rarest coins salvaged. Each coin is illustrated. Lot weight: 1 lbs 1oz. Subject(s): Spanish American Coinage, Sunken Treasure.

Lot 138: Clifford, Barry & Peter Turchi. THE PIRATE PRINCE - DISCOVERING THE PRICELESS TREASURES OF THE SUNKEN SHIP WHYDAH. Simon & Schuster, New York. 1993. 8vo. (2), 222, (4) pages. original red cloth over blue boards, gilt, jacket. Signed by the author. Frontispiece, map. Appendices. B&w and color photos. English text. The David Baker Library. Fine. This book is a first-person account of a modern-day treasure hunter's struggles to find and salvage the legendary pirate ship, 'Whydah', which sank off Cape Cod in 1717. Lot weight: 1 lbs 3oz. Subject(s): Sunken Treasure.

Lot 166: Craig, Alan K. SPANISH COLONIAL GOLD COINS IN THE FLORIDA COLLECTION. The University of Florida Press, Gainesville. 2000. 4to. xiv, (2), 94, (2) pages. original dark tan cloth over ochre boards, gilt, jacket. Inscribed by the author to David Baker. Map. Tables. Appendices. Notes. Bibliography. 16 color coin plates. B&w photos and line illustrations. English text. The David Baker Library. Fine. This is a catalog of the gold cobs in the State of Florida Collection that were recovered from the 1715 Spanish Plate Fleet wrecks and handed over to the state as part of their division from the salvors. A history of the salvage operations, the minting processes, the mints, and the coins are covered in this work. Lot weight: 1 lbs 2oz. Subject(s): Spanish American Coinage.

Lot 184: Cussler, Clive & Craig Dirgo. THE SEA HUNTERS II. G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York. 2002. 8vo. (2), xviii, 443, (3) pages. original blue cloth over blue boards, gilt, jacket. Signed by the author. Maps. B&w photos. English text. The David Baker Library. Fine. This book, a sequel to the author's first non-fiction book, describes the search for a multitude of sunken ships and aircraft, most of which sank during the Civil War or in the 1900s. However, it does include one chapter about his search for LaSalle's ship, 'L'Aimable', which he may have located off Matagorda Island, Texas. It will require excavation to confirm the finding. Lot weight: 1 lbs 13oz. Subject(s): Underwater Archaeology.

Lot 225: Egghart, Christopher et al., Elizabeth A. Moore & Bernard K. Means [editors]. THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF VIRGINIA'S FIRST PEOPLES. Archaeological Society of Virginia, Richmond. 2020. 4to. vi, 301, (3) pages. original pictorial card covers. Maps. Tables. Diagrams. Bibliography. Color site and artifact photos. English text. The David Baker Library. Fine. This volume focuses on Virginia's pre-European Contact past. Lot weight: 1 lbs 15oz. Subject(s): Native American Artifacts.

Lot 292: Gurney, Robert, with Gordon Nichols & John Lorenzo. COUNTERFEIT PORTRAIT EIGHT-REALES - THE UN-REAL REALES. Swamperbob Associates, Hope Mills. 2014. 4to. 600, (4) pages. original pictorial card covers. Tables. Diagrams. Glossary. Bibliography. b&w coin photos throughout. English text. Fine. The new standard reference on these intriguing counterfeits, which circulated in considerable quantities in the Americas. Lot weight: 3 lbs 12oz. Subject(s): Spanish, Spanish American Coinage.

To visit the firm's website:
https://workmansbooks.square.site/

Alan adds:

Sale link: https://www.icollector.com/The-David-Baker-Numismatic-and-Treasure-Library-and-other-Consignments-Sale-7_a68681
PDF sale catalog: https://workmansbooks.com/downloads/WB%20Auction%20007%20catalog.pdf
Print catalog: https://www.lulu.com/shop/alan-workman/sale-7-the-david-baker-numismatic-and-treasure-library-and-other-consignments/paperback/product-v8jre6n.html

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
WORKMAN'S BOOKS SALE 7 ANNOUNCED (https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n41a05.html)

 

NEW BOOK: 100 GREATEST U.S. COINS, 6TH ED.

Whitman® has released its highly anticipated sixth edition of 100 Greatest United States Coins, offering readers an updated, personal guided tour through the legends of America's numismatic history. The revised rankings feature an exciting mix of legendary rarities and accessible collector favorites, from the coveted 1913 Liberty Head Nickel to the iconic 1909-S V.D.B. Lincoln Cent.

"This book is a remarkable and fascinating introduction to the hobby of collecting U.S. coins," said John Feigenbaum, President and CEO of Whitman Brands. "As you flip through the pages, we hope you'll be inspired by the beauty and stories behind these coins and pass this passion on to future generations."

With a modernized layout designed by Creative Director Matt Jeffirs and Graphic Designer Thinh Bui, the sixth edition combines elegance with depth. It includes a Foreword by William R. Anderson, an expanded Top 250 U.S. Coin Auction Prices Realized appendix, updated market values based on Greysheet pricing, the addition of Greysheet Identification (GSID?) numbers, and exclusive behind-the-scenes stories that illuminate why these coins represent the pinnacle of U.S. coinage.

Author Jeff Garrett expressed his enthusiasm, saying, "Even after working on six editions of this book, I couldn't wait to open the box when the new version arrived. The redesign gives it a fresh, modern look, and selecting the 100 greatest coins remains a challenging but rewarding task. We believe this list will resonate with collectors of all levels."

What Makes a Coin Great?

The ranking process involved polling members of the Professional Numismatists Guild (PNG), esteemed leaders in the numismatic community. They voted on a curated list of coins, with the option to nominate additional candidates. The final rankings reflect a weighted scoring system, ensuring a balance of historical significance, rarity, and collector appeal.

The 1933 Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle, now crowned the nation's greatest coin, exemplifies the intrigue of U.S. coinage. Its story includes being spirited out of the Mint, owned by royalty, confiscated by the Secret Service, the subject of a decade-long legal battle, and even featured on Pawn Stars. Now, it graces the cover of this milestone edition.

New Look, New Sizes

The award-winning 100 Greatest series expands its versatility with new hardcover formats—available in both standard (10" x 12") and compact (6" x 9") sizes to suit collector preferences. Dawn Burbank, Vice President of Sales and Distribution, shared, "We're thrilled to offer these popular books in a smaller, more economical format for broader accessibility, while still maintaining the large-format version collectors love."

Both formats can be purchased through Whitman.com, Whitman's Ebay Store, Amazon, and Walmart.com, and bookstores, hobby shops, and other retailers nationwide.

Coming Soon in the 100 Greatest Series

100 Greatest United States Modern Coins, 5th Edition (January 2025)
100 Greatest United States Paper Currency, 2nd Edition (Spring 2025)
100 Greatest World Paper Currency, 1st Edition (Summer 2025)

About the Author

Jeff Garrett, President of Mid-American Rare Coin Galleries, Inc., serves as senior editor of the Red Book (A Guide Book of United States Coins) and is a board member of the National Museum of American History. A former president of the American Numismatic Association and Professional Numismatists Guild, Garrett has authored several books, including the Encyclopedia of U.S. Gold Coins: 1795–1933. Among his many accolades, Garrett is the recipient of the 2003 PNG Abe Kosoff Founders Award, the 2015 PNG Lifetime Achievement Award, and the 2024 NLG Clemy Award for his dedication to numismatics and exceptional writing.

This reimagined edition is more than just a book; it's a journey into the art, history, and allure of U.S. coins. Whether you're a seasoned collector or a newcomer to the hobby, the 100 Greatest United States Coins is a must-have addition to your library.

Specifications

Title:100 Greatest U.S. Coins
Author: Jeff Garrett
ISBN: 9780794851552
Binding: Hardcover
Dimensions: 10 x 12 inches
Pages: 140+
Retail: $39.95 U.S
ISBN: 9780794851385
Binding: Softcover
Dimensions: 6 x 9 inches
Pages: 250+
Retail: $24.95 U.S
https://whitman.com/100-greatest-u-s-coins-6-x-9/

NEW BOOKS: COINS OF ENGLAND 2025

The Standard Catalogue of English Coins, otherwise known as the Coins of England and the United Kingdom, is once more offered to the numismatic market. As custodians of this historic reference work for British Coins, Sovereign Rarities are proud to preserve the guides' legacies.

Comprising Pre-decimal and Decimal issues, these are not only the go-to guide for collectors and detectorists alike, but providers of insight into British history itself, shedding light upon our culture, religion, politics and technological development.

Coins of England & the United Kingdom, 2025, Pre-Decimal Issues
£35

The historic reference work for British coins is the only catalogue featuring all major coin types from Celtic and Roman Britain through to the pre-decimal coinage of Her Late Majesty Elizabeth II, arranged in chronological order and divided, within each reign, into metals, coinages, denominations and varieties.

The catalogue includes useful information explaining numismatic terms and guides beginners with their budding coin collections, as well as providing independently-agreed up-to-date values for each and every coin. Hammered British coinage is seen from our Celtic predecessors, through Roman, Anglo-Saxon and Norman, Plantagenet, Lancastrian and Yorkist, up to Tudor and Stuart, in which periods British milled coins are being produced for the first time, specifically during the reign of Elizabeth I in 1561.

Coins have been used by states or monarchs for millennia to communicate with their peoples; Coins of England as such is not only a collectors reference book, but provides an insight into British history itself, shedding light upon the land's culture, religion, politics and technological development. Over 3,000 price changes were made in the latest edition to reflect market movement across the past year.

Hardback
216 x 138mm
TBCg
TBC pages with colour illustrations throughout
ISBN 978-1-917269-00-1

For more information, or to order, see:
Coins of England & the United Kingdom, 2025, Pre-Decimal Issues (https://www.sovr.co.uk/products/coins-of-england-the-united-kingdom-2025-pre-decimal-issues-jm36572)

Coins of England & the United Kingdom, 2025, Decimal Issues
£25

The Decimal volume comprises the entirety of the decimal coinage minted by the Royal Mint during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II since 1971, and subsequently the coinage of King Charles III.

Sets and commemorative issues are also reflected, as well as coins from exclusive Royal Mint series such as the Great Engravers, Queen's Beasts and City Views ranges, giving a full and accurate display of our modern British coinage.

Hardback
216 x 138mm
TBCg
TBC pages with colour illustrations throughout
ISBN 978-1-917269-01-8

For more information, or to order, see:
Coins of England & the United Kingdom, 2025, Decimal Issues (https://www.sovr.co.uk/products/coins-of-england-the-united-kingdom-2025-decimal-issues-jm36573)

To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
NEW BOOKS: COINS OF ENGLAND 2024 (https://www.coinbooks.org/v26/esylum_v26n50a03.html)
SOVEREIGN RARITIES ACQUIRES SPINK PUBLICATIONS (https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n16a02.html)

NEW BOOK: COINAGE OF MACHIN'S MILLS, 2ND ED.

The authors of the first edition of The History and Coinage of Machin's Mills are pleased to announce that a new second edition is being printed and should be available by Thanksgiving. The second edition is a significant update of the first edition, containing much new material. A new Chapter 7, titled Additional Collector Information, contains essays on the British Union Jack, spread planchets, and a discussion on die manufacturing during the Confederation period. Chapter 8, the coin catalog, has been extensively revised.

New theories surrounding these coins are discussed, challenging existing thinking. New photographs of die states as well as new examples abound in this edition. We are confident that the reader will find this 2nd edition informative as well as provocative. It is illustrated throughout with color images, handbook size (6"x9"), and has a glossy hard cover. The second edition can be purchased from Kolbe/Fanning (https://www.numislit.com) or Charles Davis Numismatic Literature (https://www.numisbook.com).

Jack Howes, Jim Rosen, Gary Trudgen

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
NEW BOOK: HISTORY AND COINAGE OF MACHIN'S MILLS (https://www.coinbooks.org/v24/esylum_v24n01a04.html)

 

BANKNOTE BOOK SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE

To read the complete article, see:
Sao Tome and Principe chapter now complete (https://banknotenews.com/?p=45473)

NEWMAN PORTAL CELEBRATES TENTH ANNIVERSARY

Newman Portal Celebrates Tenth Anniversary

The Newman Portal project was launched on December 1, 2014 at Washington University in St. Louis, making today its tenth anniversary. Not uncoincidentally, the Eric P. Newman Numismatic Education Society, which sponsors NNP, was incorporated as a not-for-profit corporation in Missouri on December 1, 1958, making today its 66th anniversary. Scanning at Washington University began in July 2015, with the first document scanned being an example of Heath's Counterfeit Detector (catalogued as 2-P-s-Special) , from the Newman collection. The NNP side went live in 2016, and the Newman Portal has since added over 80,000 documents to the collection, representing a wide array of auction sale catalogs, periodicals, reference works, and archival materials. We're not stopping there! We continue to make daily additions from our scanning lab in St. Louis, the American Numismatic Society, the S&S Library, and from a host of community contributors.

Link to Heath's Counterfeit Detectors on NNP:
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/publisherdetail/944

To watch the videos, see:
Newman Portal (2015 ANA) (https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/multimediadetail/515009)

 

VIDEO: NUMISMATIC CRIME INFORMATION CENTER

• Doug's background in law enforcement
• cases on which he has worked
• how NCIC was started and developed
• why typical law enforcement is hindered in prosecuting numismatic crimes
• stories about various cases
• benefits and advantages of NCIC

Speaker(s): Doug Davis.

To watch the complete video, see:
Numismatic Crime Information Center (https://youtu.be/XqZCmoSt0dg)

 

A CONVERSATION ON AI COIN GRADING

---

AI Coin Grading: A Conversation with Bill Eckberg

After the article "The Good and Bad of AI in Numismatics" (October 13, 2024), Bill Eckberg, President of Early American Coppers (EAC), and I engaged in a thoughtful exchange about the progress and challenges of AI in coin grading that readers may enjoy.

Below is a summary of our discussion:

---

Bill Eckberg:

Hi Justin,

I have always enjoyed your work on AI grading. It was fascinating to see the improvement in the accuracy of the AI model over time. I have a few questions:

• Data Sample: How many coins did your model analyze at each grade level when creating the graph, and which series were they drawn from?


• Quality Variation: Since coin quality varies within each grade level, how does your system account for that?


• Human vs. AI Variability: How does the variability within each grade level compare to the variability in grading the same coins by humans?


• Luster and MS Grades: Since differences between Mint State (MS) grades largely depend on luster, how do your photos account for that? If the AI grades are "better," why and how are they better?

Also, regarding your graph, the horizontal axis cannot be quantitative as portrayed. The numbers represent categories, not quantities of grade. The number of grade steps between VF-20 and EF-40 isn't the same as from Po-1 to VF-20, yet the spacing on the graph is equal. There are only three grade steps between VF-20 and EF-40, but at least five between Po-1 and VF-20. Similarly, between MS60 and MS65, there are four steps (MS-61, 62, 63, and 64), so the spacing should reflect that. A bar graph might avoid implying a quantitative horizontal axis.

---

Justin Hinh

Thanks for your thoughtful questions, Bill. Here are my thoughts:

• Data Sample: The graph in my update shows results from testing 12 different U.S. coins across 12-grade levels using ChatGPT models earlier this year. You can find a breakdown of the series I used in this Google Sheet. I included the graph to give a general sense of AI grading progress but should have added:
  • "AI grading is heading in a positive direction based on my results. However, my testing has limitations. I only tested 12 U.S. coins across 12-grade levels, and many grades still need to be added. I also didn't test any world or ancient coins."


• Quality Variation: I didn't train or run my own AI model; I tested publicly available models like ChatGPT and Google Gemini. These AI models are black boxes—even their creators can't fully explain how they work. We know they tend to improve with more data, likely using internet sources, including high-quality coin photos from PCGS and NGC.


• Human vs. AI Variability: This is the million-dollar question. The only way to find out is to test several coins alongside an expert grader and AI. I have yet to do this since AI models can't fully mimic human grading conditions, but I aim to conduct such tests when AI can analyze coins in real time.


• Luster and MS Grades: This touches on the heart of technical vs. market grading. My tests show AI models can detect luster, but how they quantify it is still being determined. Due to unknown training data, we need to determine if the grading leans more toward technical or market grading. Instructing the AI to use specific standards like the ANA's Official Grading Standards is possible, but even technical grading uses subjective terms like "attractive" and "original."

Regarding the graph, a bar graph would be more accurate in representing each grade definitively. I'll use that from now on.

Additionally, I should have included a link to a video of Google Gemini analyzing a video recording of a coin. You can check out that video here. I'm excited about this development because, previously, AI could only analyze a coin with a few photos. But a video captures hundreds of frames and gives the AI much more data to work with.

---

Bill Eckberg:

After reviewing your data, it seems impossible to claim an optimal number of photos for consistent grading. The variations were all over the place. If the machine was learning, it should get more consistent with more images.

As a long-time collector, I believe there's no consistent difference between MS-69 and MS-70, except the price some are willing to pay. Testing those grades isn't useful, especially since your AI could only tell the difference as much as I can.

I'd like to see your AI grade series, like Lincoln cents, in grades from Good to Uncirculated. Can it differentiate VG from G, F from XF, XF from AU, or AU from MS? Those insights would be very useful. If that works, you could try different levels of VF and so on.

Keep at it.

---

Justin Hinh

I should clarify my goals and the results in the data file. I was testing two hypotheses with my limited set of coins:

• Does providing current AI models with more photos yield more accurate results? As you observed, that wasn't consistently the case.


• Can the recently released advanced AI models achieve the same accuracy as previous models with fewer photos? Based on my results, these new AI models require fewer photos for coins graded VF20 than the previously tested models. However, more photos were needed for grades below VF-15.

The differences between testing grades like MS-69 and MS-70 are minimal and often subjective. I intended to see how the AI handles the full spectrum of grades, but focusing on more commonly traded grades like Good to Uncirculated would be more practical. I'll consider testing with series like Lincoln cents to see if the AI can differentiate between those grades.

Regarding the impact on third-party graders (TPGs), I've considered whether they're incentivized to adopt AI grading. While TPGs might eventually use AI for efficiencies like counterfeit detection, after exploring AI grading these past 14 months, I've concluded that AI won't be replacing human graders soon for several reasons:

• Reputation and Liquidity: TPGs have billion-dollar valuations due to their reputation and the liquidity they provide, not just grading accuracy.


• No Incentive to Normalize AI Grading: If AI grading becomes standard, the focus might shift to algorithm accuracy, commoditizing their services. TPGs aren't tech companies and may avoid the arms race for the perfect model.


• Collector Resistance: Collectors might resist AI grading due to past experiences like Compugrade in the 1990s.


• Financial Risk: There needs to be more financial gain for TPGs to risk their reputation to save on grader salaries.


• Market vs. Technical Grading: TPGs perform market grading that requires a deep understanding of each coin series. AI excels at technical grading but lacks the "gut feeling" for market acceptance.

These considerations are driven more by market forces than technical limitations.

---

Bill Eckberg

Thanks, Justin.

I agree with much of what you say but strongly disagree that TPGs deeply understand most series. That's true for commodity coins like Morgans and Saints but not for pre-1836 issues struck on a screw press. Many are rare enough that TPGs need to see them more often to improve their grading.

---

Justin Hinh

I knew I should have used a non-EAC example!

---

Bill Eckberg

Ha!

---

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
THE GOOD AND BAD OF AI IN NUMISMATICS (https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n41a21.html)

QUERY: BAKED CLAY COINS

Thomas Lovelace writes:

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
WWII 'PHANTOM' CERAMIC COINS FOUND IN JAPAN (https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n46a20.html)

HOW CAN I GET $1000 IN NEW $1 BILLS?

Bill Daehn writes:

B.J. Herbison writes:

Marc Ricard writes:

"To obtain new currency, we recommend you contact your local bank to see if it has new currency inventory. Federal Reserve Banks provide currency only to depository institutions, which then distribute it to members of the public. Each Federal Reserve Bank fills commercial bank orders with fit notes first in order to minimize the printing costs for new currency. Under certain circumstances, some Reserve Banks may also accept commercial bank requests for new currency at different times throughout the year. Consult with your local bank when they expect to order new currency from their servicing Reserve Bank.

To visit the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank website, see:
https://www.chicagofed.org/

Steve Shupe writes:

To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
Haxby Book Obsolete Currency Images Offered : $1,000 in New $1.00 Bills? (https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n46a11.html)
SAFE-DEPOSIT BOXES CONTINUE TO VANISH (https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n46a23.html)

NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: DECEMBER 1, 2024

F. M. Rose Chopmarked Coin Collection
Chopmark News editor Colin Gullberg writes:

John Byars writes:

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
CHOPMARK PROVENANCE HELP SOUGHT (https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n46a04.html)

On Safe Deposit Boxes
Max Hensley writes:

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
SAFE-DEPOSIT BOXES CONTINUE TO VANISH (https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n46a23.html)

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes...
Wayne Pearson writes:

To read the complete law, see:
31 USC 5112: Denominations, specifications, and design of coins (https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-1999-title31-section5112&num=0&edition=1999)

Chopmarks on U.S. Paper Money
Website visitor Lee Harris writes:

Gary writes:

To read earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
CHOPMARKS ON MODERN U.S. PAPER MONEY (https://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v17n07a21.html)
MORE CHOPMARKS ON MODERN U.S. PAPER MONEY (https://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v17n08a08.html)
MORE CHOPS ON MODERN U.S. PAPER MONEY (https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n12a15.html)
MORE CHOP MARKS ON PAPER MONEY (https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n32a05.html)

Graded Currency Population Reports
Buster Daniher of Cincinnati, Ohio writes:

Pilgrim Half Dollar Plaque
Mike Costanzo writes:

More On Credit Cards
Wayne Pearson writes:

Robert Luton writes:

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
Credit Cards! : Credit Cards! (https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n47a18.html)

A Coin of King Solomon
Daniel Friedman writes:

According to "Israel Today", the unique find shows on one side an impressive engraving of King Solomon, son of King David, riding a horse and attacking Satan with a spear. Around the picture appears an inscription translated into Hebrew: "Our Lord defeated evil". On the other side of the coin are engraved the names of four angels: Michael, Gabriel, Israel and Azriel.

The importance of the discovery intensifies in light of the fact that so far only one similar object has been found in Jerusalem. The coin provides rare historical evidence of the cultural and religious connections between the various regions of the Roman Empire, and its presence in Hadrianopolis is appropriate for its status as a city of military importance.

To read the complete article, see:
?????? ?????? ?? ????? ?????: ???? ???? ??"?? ?? 1,500 ??? (https://www.ice.co.il/consumerism/news/article/1039342)

1924 Japan Rugby Medal from Occupied China

Dick Hanscom of Alaska Rare Coins writes:

The 1648 Dutch Bond that Still Pays Interest
Dave Wnuck writes:

To watch the video, see:
The centuries-old debt that's still paying interest (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfSIC8jwbQs)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
1648 PERPETUAL DUTCH BOND STILL PAYS INTEREST (https://www.coinbooks.org/v26/esylum_v26n10a27.html)

Cuhaj Sales for the Iola Historical Society

George writes:

For the complete lot listings, see:
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?item=356320876039&rt=nc&_trksid=p4429486.m3561.l170197&_ssn=cuhaj

New England Threepence Article
Alan Luedeking writes:

A nickel-sized coin comprising only $1.03 worth of silver just sold for $2,520,000, making it the most expensive piece of American currency predating the Revolution, and the most valuable non-gold U.S. coin struck before the 1792 founding of the United States Mint.

This 1652 threepence was in production between May and October 1652, when the General Court mandated a new design to stop thieves from stealing slivers of these coins, thereby reducing their literal value. Of the three coins the Hull Mint made within this period—including the shilling, the sixpence, and the threepence—the latter remains the rarest. It was the smallest denomination on offer, but took the same amount of effort as the other two, rendering it tedious and less valuable to Hull, who was paid by the ounce. By comparison, two 1652 shillings also appeared in last night sale, hammering at $60,000 and $192,000.

Before this 1652 threepence surfaced, only two examples had ever been known. New England historian William Sumner Appleton bequeathed one to the New England Historical society in 1903. This new copy is purportedly in better condition. Another example lived at Yale until it was stolen in the 1960s. That coin has not been recovered.

Last night's specimen originally emerged from an old cabinet in a Netherlands residence in 2016.

To read the complete article, see:
An Illegally Minted Coin from the American Revolution Just Sold for $2.5 Million (https://news.artnet.com/art-world/1652-threepence-coin-sets-auction-record-2572883)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
NEW ENGLAND THREEPENCE DISCOVERY (https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n32a18.html)

COIN WORLD PRINT EDITION STATUS

I am a Coin World subscriber and have been for several decades. Since I prefer reading on paper, I subscribe to the paper version in a plastic bag, or at least used to. The last issue I received was the August 19th edition. Sometimes the issues are delayed in the mail, but after about two months, I wrote to their customer service. Here is their response:

I can only assume that other readers are in the same boat. Have we seen the end of the print edition??? Enquiring readers would like to know! After all it has now been over three months. Yes, I can still get the "digital version" online, but it's just not the same as reading it on paper. Has Coin World gone the same as many newspapers? Maybe you or your readers have some additional insight.

Bill Daehn writes:

December 1, 2024

Dear Coin World Readers and Advertisers,

Earlier this year, a business dispute arose between Amos Media, Coin World's parent company, and our contracted printing partner responsible for producing our coin and stamp publications. Despite repeated efforts to resolve the matter swiftly, the situation persisted for several months.

Please know that this was never an attempt to alter the delivery methods of Coin World. Throughout this period, our top priority was to restore printing and delivery of the weekly, monthly, and special issue publications. In the meantime, these products were made available in digital format to ensure uninterrupted access for our readers.

We are pleased to announce that the Coin World Monthly December issue, along with the 2025 Dealer Directory, will be mailed during the week of December 9th. Furthermore, Coin World Weekly will resume with the December 9th issue, scheduled for mailing the week of December 23rd.

Regarding the unprinted October and November monthly issues, as well as affected weekly issues, we will extend print subscription expiration dates proportionately to account for this disruption.

We deeply regret any inconvenience or loss of trust this situation may have caused. As we prepare to celebrate our 65th anniversary in 2025, we remain committed to providing the trusted information collectors rely on in the ever-evolving field of numismatics. Thank you for your patience and loyalty as we continue to guide and serve the numismatic community into the future.

Sincerely,
The Coin World Team

For more information about Coin World, or to subscribe, see:
https://www.coinworld.com/

BULLION BALANCE RETURNS TO CARSON CITY

A large, 155-year-old balance scale that weighed hundreds of millions of dollars in gold and silver in the 19th century at the Carson City, Nevada Mint, including bullion from the legendary Comstock Lode, was sold for $60,250 in an auction in Reno conducted by Holabird Western Americana Collections (www.HolabirdAmericana.com) on November 24, 2024. The winning bid was placed by the Nevada State Museum with the backing of donors who pledged funds for the museum to outbid collectors from across the country during 30 minutes of intense bidding that opened at $12,500.

"This is an important and exciting acquisition for the Nevada State Museum in Carson City. Staff, particularly Dr. Christine Johnson and Dr. Josh Bonde, worked tirelessly to ensure this scale was returned to the Mint. This item will allow a more complete experience for our visitors. We are so delighted," stated Dan Thiele, Nevada Division of Museums and History.

"Not only is this historic scale staying in Nevada, it is returning to its former home because the Nevada State Museum is housed in the same building that was used for the Carson City Mint," said Fred Holabird, president of Holabird Western Americana Collections.

"This is the original Carson City Mint bullion scale built for the United States Treasury Department in 1869 by the scale and balance manufacturer Henry Troemner and Company of Philadelphia. It was in operation the day the Mint opened in 1870," explained Holabird. "In addition to its important function at the Mint, the historic scale was later a featured attraction for decades at a casino in Sparks, Nevada."

The Carson City Mint stopped making coins in 1893 and the Mint's building that is now home to the Nevada State Museum was used as an assay office between 1900 and 1933.

When the assay office closed, most of the contents of the old Mint were considered useless junk by the Treasury Department and subsequently discarded, according to Holabird.

"It is believed the five-foot tall scale that was built into a waist-high table for ease in use at the Mint was acquired by a local resident and later became an attraction at the Nugget Casino that opened in Sparks, Nevada in 1955. The casino's General Manager, John Ascuaga, purchased the casino from his boss in 1959 and continued to display the scale there. The Ascuaga family sold the Nugget Casino in 2013 but privately kept the historic scale intact, in perfect condition, and in full working order," said Holabird.

"This is the most important numismatic artifact to surface in many decades and is truly a treasure found," he stated.

Pre-auction stories about the big, antique scale attracted future auction items related to the Carson City Mint.

"A family contacted me and consigned a number of items that were handed down as heirlooms through generations: two letters of appointments signed by President Ulysses S. Grant for a melter and a refiner at the Carson City Mint, and two rare, nearly pristine silver dollars struck at the Carson City Mint. The discovery of more treasures awaits," stated Holabird.

For more information on the Nevada State Museum, see:
https://www.carsonnvmuseum.org/

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
CARSON CITY MINT BULLION SCALES (https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n45a22.html)

VOCABULARY TERM: PUNCH, PART ONE

Punch, Puncheon. A tool made of steel containing a letter, figure, dentile, ornament or a part of a coin or medal design used to press into softer steel to make a die, or to counterstamp a numismatic item. Punches and puncheons are, in effect small hubs to transfer some design element to a die during engraving or diesinking. The terms punch and puncheon mean the same, but there are two kinds of punches: one a small hand tool used manually for adding individual characters one at a time by tapping the punch into the surface of the die; the other, a more conventional hub, contains the device or portrait which is sunk into the die by a press during hubbing.

The advantage of punches and puncheons is the elimination of the tedium of manually engraving the same design element over and over again. The first coins were made with punches (in Lydia in 640 bc) and punches are still in use today 2800 years later. Not only have punches been coinmaker's oldest tool, they are virtually indestructible – 100-year-old punches are still serviceable.

Punches are always right-reading to be pressed into the die (left-reading or negative) so the piece struck from the die will again be right-reading or positive. Punches of letters, figures or ornaments are used to add style and uniformity to any inscription or design created by them.

How hand punches are made. Individual manual punches are from two to five inches in length with the design character – in relief – on one end while the other end is flattened to receive the tap from the diesinker's hammer. The body of the punch is tool steel and almost always has four sides; it is made square to aid in alignment of lettering or orienting the punch to a base line or other design.

The character punch is made from a matrix, usually of brass, infrequently in steel. Some punches were made from matrix patterns supplied by type foundry houses (which made printers type). Or the matrix may have been made by the engraver himself, carving, cutting or sinking the design cavity into the brass or steel. The matrix is tempered or hardened before use.

The steel punch, cut from plate or rods, is shaped with four sides. It is annealed, softened, and pressed with force into the matrix to form the relief letter, figure or design on the end. Dead metal around the character is trimmed away and is shaped much like a pencil point by grinding or turning on a lathe.

The bevel sloping away from the relief character on the end of the punch is quite important, as this taper will be reproduced in the die. It must be such that any piece struck from that die will not hang up. A bevel of 2 1/2° (holding taper) or less will not eject, thus a draft of 5° or more is necessary. (A diagnostic for identifying a struck piece made from punches is this steep bevel and uniformity of letters; hand engraved letters would not be as uniform and dies cut on die-engraving pantographs would not have the steep bevel.)

Punches are formed in sets of uniform typeface and size; an English alphabet, of course, would have 26 characters. The ten figures, however, 1 through 9 and zero (have only nine characters, as the 6 and 9 are formed by the same punch. The sets are housed in wood blocks, each punch resting in a hole drilled into the block.

A punch has to be created for each character and for each size; these range from the smallest perhaps 1/128th inch up to 1/4-inch or more for lettering on coins and medals. In addition to letters and figures other punch characters – the dentiles for the border in the shape of dots, grains or tooth shaped; also ornaments created by a decorating tool – the stars, center dots, rosettes, crosses, and such. Many of these are in imitation of printers' type, with colorful names as doodads, wingdings, or special characters.

Logotypes punches. So useful were letter punches to eliminate the tedium of engraving separate letters by hand that the natural extension was to make punches with more than one letter or figures for such repetitive groups. A gang punch or logotype would have two or more such characters, as a three- or four-digit date, for example, to be applied to coinage dies.

Makers names were often made as logotypes, sometimes even with monograms, symbols, trademarks, copyright marks, and background shapes, some quite elaborate. The entire design, of course, would be cut in the matrix and the punch pressed into this, then hardened for use. Each manufacturer of silver objects prided themselves for their trademark punch design.

Punches used in diesinking. Punches were first used in creating the first coins, but with the decline of engraving during the middle ages (800-1500 ad), the use of punches increased. Instead of engraving a modulated relief design, coin engravers made pictographs of rulers. Punches were used to make the entire design, forming linear and cartoon-like forms.

Beginning in mid 15th century engravers returned to preparing modulated relief dies by hand engraving. However they still relieved the most tedious part of die engraving – the lettering – by using punches to repeat a letter without having to engrave it over and over. After the device was hand engraved the lettering would be sunk in the die by these punches. (See handcut.)

With a set of letter punches the engraver could lay out a coin or medal design, scribe a base line on a blank die (or transfer the design by wax or chalk), then begin by carefully arranging the letter punches in the order to appear on the die. He would generally start – not at the beginning or end of the line of lettering – but at the center, working each letter at a time, one side of that central letter, then the other. Remembering, of course, he was using punches to make left-reading legend in the negative die. The purpose was to have a balanced or uniform length of lettering to fill a prescribed area.

The square shank of the punch had to square up with the base line to carefully align the character. A tilted letter or figure was the mark of an inexperienced diesinker. He would set the punch on the surface of the softened steel die block and with a broad-headed hammer (called a chasing hammer) tap the punch driving it into the steel. The depth of the cavity created by the punch – which would create the height of the lettering on the struck piece – was also the mark of the experienced engraver; it should be uniform!

The chasing hammer would have a broad circular head because the engraver would keep his eyes on where he placed the point of the punch and not on the end he tapped with the hammer. He could hit the punch by intuition not by aim!

Spacing between the letters was the next most important factor. Placing the punch in the correct position, aligning it with a base line, the proper distance from its neighbor, and the amount of pressure by the hammer were all critical factors facing the diesinker. Experience was very important, years of apprenticeship were necessary to learn this skill.

Some diesinkers would rig up a jig for aligning the punches. This would greatly aid in the proper positioning of each punch. These jigs could be ingenious in their method of positioning and allowing the punch to penetrate the die to the exact depth. Here, again, the diesinker's experience was critical.

For the larger punch, containing the device or portrait, this was more than could be sunk by tapping with the engraver's hammer. It had to be sunk by hubbing in a press. A device punch or portrait die could be so transferred to the die. (The device punch was usually made by cameo engraving, but it could be created by any method, reduced by pantograph – where it would be a reduction punch – or itself hubbed.)

WREN LEO CULKIN (1907-1972)

Wren Culkin was a stamp collector and stamp dealer with little involvement in numismatics before he was chosen to sell an important collection at auction.

Culkin may have been born in Omaha on March 10, 1907. His World War II draft registration form gave his date of birth as March 10, 1905. His parents were Patrick J. (1873-1960) and Jane (1870-). Patrick managed a clothing store. In about 1927, he took a job at a Los Angeles clothing store and left his wife in Omaha without financial support.

If census records could be found, they might confirm Wren's year of birth. Finding those records is not easy. For the 1910 Census, he is listed as Leo Culkin at three years old. In 1920, the family name is indexed as Culkim and Wren is twelve. In 1930, he was listed as Leo W. Culkin and twenty-three years old. In 1940 he was incorrectly indexed as Wren L. Culpin and thirty-five years old. In 1950, he is indexed as Wien L. Culkin and forty-five years old.

Culkin began collecting stamps with a bulk lot at age seven He was soon selling and trading with schoolmates. He was a stamp dealer much of his life with the Culkin Stamp Co. Also as a child, in 1921 he was a boy scout.

In 1927 he was treasurer for the Omaha chapter of Alpha Sigma Lambda fraternity. This suggests he was attending the University of Nebraska. In 1929 he was an officer in Alpha Sigma Lambda national fraternity.

He was married in 1934 to Ina Elizabeth Hirsch (1902-2000). His wife collected airmail stamps and was an award-winning exhibitor. In 1949 he had a stamp house on the family property.

In 1937, he joined the Omaha Coin Club.

During World War II he worked at an Omaha bomber plant.

He was assistant curator at the Boys Town Philamatic Center in 1954, under curator Dwight O. Barrett. Later in 1957 he took over from Barrett as curator. He served until his death in 1972 and was succeeded by Melvin D. Stark. The Philamatic center claimed to have the most complete collection of confederate currency and most complete collection of broken bank notes.

In 1964, the PhilaMatic Center joined the American Numismatic Association as club member C52202 with Wren L. Culkin as Curator.

In 1968 he served as librarian for the International Bank Note Society.

Culkin died in Omaha on November 13, 1972, and is buried at Calvary Cemetery. His cemetery records give his date of birth as 1907.

Culkin had no experience conducting an auction before taking on the sale of the massive collection of Nelson T. Thorson. Thorson was founding president of the Omaha Coin Club in 1934 and president of the American Numismatic Association 1933 to 1935.

If these sales had been conducted by a major auction company fifty years later, The Thorson collection might be better known. The Culkin sales are not available on the Newman Numismatic Portal. Dan Hamelberg provided a description of the contents of these sales.

• April 15, 1959, first Thorson library sale, 273 lots.
• May 4, 1964, second Thorson library sale, 821 lots.
• September 17, 1964, stamps, (not in Gengerke)
• October 31, 1964, Thorson U. S. and world coins, 836 lots.
• May 4, 1965, final Thorson library sale, 199 lots.
• November 1, 1965, Thorson U. S. and world coins, some U, S. currency, 1054 lots.
• October 1, 1966, State Bank Notes and U. S. currency, 1498 lots.
• November 25, 1966, Thorson U. S. and world coins, 785 lots.
• November 1, 1967, U. S. and world coins, some U. S. currency and bank notes, 843 lots.
• December 1, 1967, stamps, (not in Gengerke)
• December 28, 1968, stamps, (not in Gengerke)
• February 18, 1969, U. S. and world coins, 750 lots.
• November 29, 1969, U. S. and world coins, 545 lots
• June 13, 1970, stamps. (not in Gengerke)

The 1964 sale was advertised and promoted in The Numismatist. Thorson's name was not mentioned in the ad. There were also articles about the sales in Coin World.

The (Omaha) Evening World-Herald for November 9, 1964, had a report on the October 31 auction held with the Omaha Coin Club show. The article reported that in addition to floor bidders, there were 310 mail bids. There were eighteen bidders from eight foreign countries.

According to the newspaper, the highest price paid was $340 for "a 1799 Indian Head penny." Newspapers sometimes had a problem with coin descriptions. The auction catalog identified it as a 1799 cent: "Lot 54.  1799 Normal Date  Readable Rev.  Weak   G-VG   Est. 325.00."

The Thorson collections were massive and included jewelry, autographed photos, signed documents, firearms, Indian relics and rare smoking pipes. The Culkin sales do not account for these collections. Can any E-Sylum reader offer insight into the disposition of the rest of his collections?

DR. LAWRENCE LEE INTERVIEW, PART THREE

GREG BENNICK: So, tell me: what are some of the other numismatic educational presentations or angles that you've taken, connecting numismatics and education? Are there favorites of yours and are they documented somewhere where people might view them or read them?

DR. LAWRENCE LEE: I've probably given about 20 different presentations over the years to the ANA, numismatic theaters, Central States, as well as the Nebraska State Historical Society, and the Nevada State Museum. Maybe ten or so are available on the Newman portal. So, you can Google my name, pull them up, and watch my hairline recede and my weight go up over the years.

GREG BENNICK: Well, I look forward to seeing your presentations for sure. I think that they're going to be great.

DR. LAWRENCE LEE: I will briefly mention a couple of my career highlights starting with The Coins of Fort Atkinson. Fort Atkinson was interesting from my perspective because it was furthest West American settlement on the frontier in 1820, as far away as possible in America at the time. It left an archeologically stratified site full of coinage. Besides perhaps Williamsburg, no other site in America has had as many coins recovered from it as Fort Atkinson. Furthermore, these were U.S. soldiers being paid monthly with 50-cent pieces straight from the Philadelphia Mint and each soldier got $5 a month or 10 coins.

And out there on the prairie, they carved on them. They lost them. They chopped them up. The sutler needed his bit, his one-eighth, so the government would chop the coins right there. The laundry lady got hers. Bits of these coins were found all over the site and surrounding area in its radius, because there was basically a town center of about a mile full of other trappers and tents and travelers. There were people there besides the soldiers.

These people left behind an archeological record and when it was all said and done, there was about 120 coins found archeologically on the site (whether as full coins or as coin bits). 90% of them were Spanish, not American. There was only three copper pieces. Everything was silver. And lots and lots of bits. It was the only time amidst the U.S. government that I am able to find where they actually chopped up their own coinage to pay its soldiers. You had to first pay off the laundress, then you paid the sutler, and whatever was left, you got to keep. But they would chop up pieces to make change.

I gave a presentation on Fort Atkinson. I gave one on a Clark Gruber & Co. $10 note. I gave one on the secrets of the Denver Mint Archives. I went out to the Denver Mint archives, which are in the Federal Center in Denver. I passed all of the security, and finally got burrowed down in there. My point here is that you could not find the information that's available down there on the internet. People often think, "I'm going to do some research. I'll go on the internet, and see what it says." For instance, and here are two examples. First: pick a date, say 1934, and ask "How many pressmen were operating coin machinery? How much did they make, and what were their names?" You would not find that information on the internet, but it is in the archives.

On the same line of thought, and from a numismatic standpoint, pick the 1937-D nickel, for instance, because that's where the three-legged D comes from. Then ask, "How many obverse dies and how many reverse dies were used that year?" It's all listed right there in the archives but it's not on the internet. No one's dug that up. So, the secret of the Denver Mint Archives, I thought was the one that was supposed to spur people to actually travel somewhere and go through some actual archives.

GREG BENNICK: How did people respond to that presentation?

DR. LAWRENCE LEE: That one, actually, got a little bit of interest from Coin World who did a little interview on it and they followed up with someone else snooping around there too. They realized what a treasure trove of information is available if you just do a little snooping.

GREG BENNICK: I'm currently working on a book on a cultural anthropologist named Ernest Becker, and if you look online for information on Ernest Becker, you're going to find precious little. There's information, there's stories, and they're the same regurgitated stories over and over and over again, and the same information over and over and over again. But it takes reading his books, and it takes really looking into his history, and it takes going to libraries and looking at archives before the real picture starts unfolding a bit.

While the prevalent information about Becker is out there, the people who actually know the real guy behind the books, well, you can name them on the fingers of one hand. This is because those of us who have done that extra research, the equivalent of going to the Denver Mint to the archives, are few and far between. So, I find your work really interesting.

DR. LAWRENCE LEE: Ernest Becker, you say?

GREG BENNICK: Yes, Ernest Becker. He wrote a book called The Denial of Death, which won the Pulitzer Prize in the early 70s.

DR. LAWRENCE LEE: Remember, I had read The Denial of Death many years ago.

GREG BENNICK: Oh, wow, there you go! It's a perfect example of what we're talking about: that if you're fascinated by a numismatic subject, and this is now directed at our readers: If you're fascinated by a numismatic subject, dive in beyond what you can read on the internet, because there might be far more out there. What exists on the internet is what people have created collectively as the internet, but there are more primary sources of information from a researcher's perspective, which are completely separate from the internet. So, this is a really good call to action on your part. I appreciate it.

DR. LAWRENCE LEE: The secret is that the researcher has more of an understanding of academic discipline and how you review literature. That's one of the standard five approaches to research. Review the literature, a statement of the problem, the collecting the data, the analyzing, and so on. The steps that you go through in the analytic process are ones the researcher knows well. The stronger the numismatic research component is, even though we don't have this formal educational component in numismatics overall, the more we will be moving the hobby forward.

GREG BENNICK: Fantastic. Well, back to a more traditional topic. Can you tell us about your role in the discovery, authentication, and announcement of the missing Walton 1913 Liberty Nickel?

DR. LAWRENCE LEE: I would be happy to. Heritage, when they sold the Walton nickel in 2013, wrote an entire auction catalog on that one coin. I don't know if this is the only time that's been done, but this was the only time I've seen it. They asked me to write up how, as the ANA curator, I got thrust in the middle of this whole thing. Basically, someone came up with the idea (I believe it was Paul Montgomery), to have the reunion of the four known 1913 Nickels, because the ANS had one, and the Smithsonian had one. We were able to arrange all four of them to be together for the Baltimore ANA show, and then out of the blue, they said, "We'll give a million dollars" if the fifth one shows up.

And by the Law of Unintended Consequences, everybody in the world called the ANA and asked me if their 1913 Nickel was the correct one. And so all day long, I was doing nothing but telling people, "No, no, no, no, no," because, one, I didn't expect anybody to have it, and two, it is diagnostic what to look for: the numeral three on the 1913 in the date is diagnostic. If you know what it's supposed to look like with little balls on the edge of it and everything else then you know what is not it. It's likely just pushed metal from the 1912 or a 1910 or whatever they're using as their host coin. It's not the real thing. So, every number three is going to look different. Whereas on the five known ones, all the three's look the same. There are other diagnostic characteristics as well.

This one reporter said, "You need to talk to this family. Because they claim they are the descendants of George Walton who owned the firth specimen. They claim they're the owner, or they know where it is." To make a long story short, back, and forth over the phone, I would work with this descendant, and ask about the 3. She sent me pictures of the 3, and I was shocked. It had the right look. I said, "Well, take a look at the corn on the back," and we worked through some details and when she told me about the corn on the back - the corn kernels on the reverse in the wreath are not high definition as they're supposed to be on genuine coins, they are weak and mushy. She replied, "Oh I can hardly see them, they're really mushy."

This was also promising. There were a couple other diagnostics we went through. Eric Newman had discovered a dot on Liberty's neck behind her head and there's an ejection mark on the edge and there's… realistically there's various diagnostics that you can use to authenticate. Usually, you don't even need to get down to these, such as there being an ejection mark on the side, because the 3 itself is a giveaway that typically isn't right.

So anyway, they came to the Baltimore show with their specimen and after the opening festivities late that first night, we all zipped back down to the convention center at midnight in a caravan of cars. Each car has its own security people, and each one was carrying a different 1913 nickel. Five cars. Five nickels. We all went back there and the experts were all there. My role was to lay out the coins and to get the gloves ready and the lighting and then the experts would come in and do whatever they did to authenticate them and the family was excused at the time. They weren't supposed to be watching it. So, it was really cool to be behind the scenes watching them decide, "Yes… yes… yes…," one at a time and to have them say "Yes this is the fifth nickel."

So, when the family was brought in, they were completely overjoyed to find out that the coin was real. Nine years later, it was sold, and that's brings us back to your original question. The really cool thing is that after all of this, after it was finally sold, after I wrote the article by Larry Lee in the Heritage catalog, the coin was bought by Jeff Garrett and Larry Lee, a Florida coin dealer with the same name as mine. As a result, all of the people who knew I had worked with the Waltons, and the Myers all thought I had bought the coin. So that was pretty fun. I got a lot of mileage out of that coin.

GREG BENNICK: That's really great. I actually interviewed Jeff Garrett and asked him about the purchase of the 1913 Liberty nickel, not connecting it to the Walton specimen when I asked it. So, readers can refer back to the Jeff Garrett interview on the Newman Numismatic Portal for his story of what it was like to make the purchase that day. I love the idea of this clandestine caravan in the middle of the night, with each vehicle carrying a different 1913 Liberty nickel. that's pretty remarkable.

DR. LAWRENCE LEE: Yeah, it's pretty cool.

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 and US counterstamps. He is on the board of both CONECA and TAMS and enjoys having in-depth conversations with prominent numismatists from all areas of the hobby. Have ideas for other interviewees? Contact him anytime on the web or via instagram @minterrors.

NOTE: The interview was conducted in parts via phone, so no video exists, and editing together audio would have been choppy sounding at best. This transcript is an accurate representation of the whole interview experience. Thank you for reading! -GB

To read the full transcript on the Newman Numismatic Portal, see:
Lawrence Lee Interview (https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/book/642577)

To read the full transcript on the Newman Numismatic Portal, see:
Lawrence Lee Interview (https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/book/642577)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
DR. LAWRENCE LEE INTERVIEW, PART ONE (https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n46a14.html)
DR. LAWRENCE LEE INTERVIEW, PART TWO (https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n47a13.html)

 

ATLAS NUMISMATICS SELECTIONS: DECEMBER 1, 2024

1080324 | CELTIC. CELTS of CENTRAL & EASTERN EUROPE. TURIASO (TARAZONA, Zaragoza). c. 120-20 BC. AR Denarius. NGC Ch. MS? (Choice Mint State ?) Strike 5/5 Surface 4/5. 3.79gm. (Ca, S and Tu). Large bearded head to the right with Iberian letters / (TuRIASU). Horseman with lance to the right with the horse's hind legs bent, below Iberian legend. AB-2417; ACIP-1722.

Superb and exceptional; highly lustrous. Given the star designation by NGC for exceptional eye appeal.

$4,450

To read the complete item description, see:
Superb Denarius of the Iberian Celts (https://atlasnumismatics.com/1080324/)

1080664 | AUSTRIAN STATES. Salzburg. Sigmund III. (Prince-archbishop, 1753-1771). 1753 AV 10 Ducats. PCGS MS61. By Franz Matzenkopf (dies). 42.39mm. 34.72gm. Bust of Sigismund III, right; signed F.M.K. / 2 figures with arms. KM C381; Zöttl 2877 Type 2; Unlisted in Probszt.

In commemoration of his election as archbishop on April 5th.

$67,500

To read the complete item description, see:
Mint State Commemorative 10 Ducats of Salzburg (https://atlasnumismatics.com/1080664/)

1080245 | FRANCE. Napoleon I. (First Empire, 1804-1814). AN XI (1803) AR Medallic Essai 5 Francs. PCGS SP63. By Tiolier. Paris. Edge: Reeded. BONAPARTE PREMIER CONSUL. Bust right / LE I CONSUL VISITE L'HÔTEL DES MONNAIES LE 21 VENTOSE AN XI. Inscription. Mazard 629a.

Commemorates Napoleon's visit to the Paris mint on the 21st of Ventose, Year XI (March 12, 1803). Lovely reflective surfaces; the rare original striking.

$7,950

To read the complete item description, see:
Napoleon Essai 5 Francs (https://atlasnumismatics.com/1080245/)

1079888 | GERMAN STATES. Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel. Karl I. (King, 1735-1780). 1748 IBH AR Thaler. PCGS MS63. By Johann Benjamin Hecht (Mintmaster). D · G · CAROLVS - DVX · BRVNSVIC · - LVNEB ·. Crowned complex arms with wildmen supporters / Mine view. KM 924; Dav.-2165; Müseler 10.3/48a; Welter 2728.

Rainbow Mine.

$8,950

To read the complete item description, see:
Choice "Rainbow Mine" Thaler (https://atlasnumismatics.com/1079888/)

1080276 | GREAT BRITAIN. England. Anne. (Queen, 1702-1714). 1703 AR Crown. NGC MS61. Edge: DECVS ET TVTAMEN ANNO REGNI TERTIO. ANNA · DEI · - GRATIA ·. VIGO · below bust / MAG - BR · FRA - ET HIB - REG · (No stops after MAG FRA HIB). Crowned shields in cruciform; Star of the Garter at center; plain in angles (reverse 1). KM 519.1; SCBC-3576; ESC-1340 (Prev. ESC-99); Dav.-1338.

Struck from silver seized at Vigo Bay, Spain after the Battle of Vigo Bay, 1702, part of the War of the Spanish Succession.

Ex. Goldberg Auction 41 (May 2007) Lot 3272); Ex. Goldberg Auction 32 ( September 2005) Lot 3352.

$34,500

To read the complete item description, see:
Mint State Vigo Crown of Queen Anne (https://atlasnumismatics.com/1080276/)

1078616 | GREAT BRITAIN. Victoria. (Queen, 1837-1901). MDCCCXLVIII (1848) Bi-Metallic (Silvered Copper with inset gilt center) Model Crown "Toy Money". NGC MS66. By Allen & Moore & Published by H. Hyams. Edge: Plain. 26.5mm. 7.87gm. Victoria Queen of Great Britain/ mdcccxlviii. Gothic type bust, left within wreath; legend around /Model Crown. Cruciform crowned shields of arms within order chain; legend around. KM X-24; Rogers 205.

$2,695

To read the complete item description, see:
Exceptional Victoria Model Crown (https://atlasnumismatics.com/1078616/)

1080588 | HUNGARY. Joseph II. 1783-B ·X· AR Thaler. NGC MS64. IOS · II · D · G · R · IMP · S · A · - G · H · B · REX · A · A · D · B · & · L ·. Angels holding crown above arms / S · MARIA MATER DEI - PATRONA HUNG. Radiant Madonna and child. KM 395.1; Dav.-1168B.

$3,450

To read the complete item description, see:
Attractively Toned Madonna Thaler (https://atlasnumismatics.com/1080588/)

1080510 | ITALIAN STATES. Parma. Ferdinando di Borbone. (Duke, 1765-1802). 1786 S (Giuseppe Siliprandi, Moneyer 1784-1787) AV 8 Doppie. NGC MS61. 56.91gm. FERDINANDVS I · HISPAN · INFANS. Head right / D · G · PARMÆ PLAC · ET VAST · DVX. Crowned arms in leafy sprigs. KM C-22a. Rare; Friedberg 926; CNI 63; MIR 1057/1.

Very rare type struck to the weight of 16 ducati.

Ex Adolph Hess - Bank Leu, Münzen - Medaillen Auction - Luzern (11-12 October) Lot 293.

$55,000

To read the complete item description, see:
Parma 8 Doppie (16 Ducats) (https://atlasnumismatics.com/1080510/)

1080751 | NETHERLANDS. Holland. 1673 AV Piéfort 4 1/2 Ducaten. PCGS MS63. Edge: D • GEDACHTENIS • V • D • MUNTE • V • AMSTERDAM. . 15.97gm. CONCORDIA • RES - PAR CRES • HOL - •. Knight standing to right with sword over his shoulder in his right hand and a bundle of arrows in his left hand / MO • AVR / PROVIN / CON • FOE / BELG • AD / LEG IMP •. Inscription within ornamental square frame. Fr.-256; Delmonte 779 (R); Maillet suppl. 3.3; Purmer/van der Wiel Am 09.1; Vanhoudt/Saunders 1234 (R4); CNM 2.02.23.

Struck in Amsterdam during the siege by French troops. Extremely rare in this quality.

$69,500

To read the complete item description, see:
Piéfort 4.5 Ducats of Holland (https://atlasnumismatics.com/1080751/)

1079045 | SWISS CANTONS. Basel. 1743 AV 2 Ducats. NGC MS63. 6.94gm. City of Basel / Basilisk holding shield of arms, eight shields in exergue. KM 152; Fr.-65; D.T. 719a; HMZ 2-91b.

Fully prooflike surfaces (not noted as such on insert).

$49,500

To read the complete item description, see:
Basel City View 2 Ducats (https://atlasnumismatics.com/1079045/)

1080477 | UNITED STATES, Colonial & Related. Hawaii. Ka'iulani. (Princess and Heir Apparent, 1891-1893, 1899). "1893" (1895) AR Medallic Dollar. PCGS PR63 Cameo CAC. By John Pinches for Reginald Huth. Hawaiian Heritage. Edge: Plain. 38mm. 24.29gm. CAIVLANIA LILIVOGALANIAE REGINAE SORORIS FILIA. Bust right; dolphin below /SPES PVBLICA OCT. XVI. MDCCCXCIII. Map of islands. KM X M3; Medcalf & Russell 2MH-3.

Struck to commemorate Princess Ka'iulani's 18th birthday. From a reported mintage of just 20 pieces. Lovely reflective surfaces.

$69,500

To read the complete item description, see:
Hawaii Medallic Dollar of Princess Ka'iulani (https://atlasnumismatics.com/1080477/)

Updates to their online inventory are issued monthly.

For more information and to sign up for the firm's monthly newsletter, visit:
atlasnumismatics.com.

ARCHIVES INTERNATIONAL AUCTION 98 HIGHLIGHTS

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, 1875. 10 Pesos, P-S162 RUD142, Issued Banknote, Green print with arms at top center, Uniface note, S/N 40431 pp C, PMG graded About Uncirculated 50 with comments "Pinhole, Annotation." Only 8 notes have been graded in the PMG census. This is the first time we have offered an example at auction, with the last 2 offered at auction by Lyn Knight and Heritage in 2019 and 2020.

To read the complete lot description, see:
Dominican Republic. Deuda Consolidada, 1875, 10 Pesos Issued Banknote Rarity. (https://auction.archivesinternational.com/Dominican-Republic-Deuda-Consolidada-1875-10-Pesos-Issued-Banknote-Rarity_i54772517)

Ireland. ND (1866-1867), $10 P-S102r FE7, Partially issued Remainder, Black on green underprint, portrait of "Wolfe Tone" at lower left and "Davis" at lower right with dramatic eagle on mountain in middle, small red seal at left with clover leaf, S/N 3533 - 21533, pp A, back green, Signatures of Sullivan | Scanlan, printed by Continental Bank Note Co., PMG graded Gem Uncirculated 65 EPQ, The Fenian Brotherhood were a committed group of Irish nationalists who attempted an unsuccessful rebellion in the 1860s. Their leaders continued to harass the British for years and help inspire and participate in the eventual successful rebellion against Britain in the early 20th century. Tied as highest graded as well as the only Uncirculated examples out of 10 graded in the PMG census. Only 3 examples have appeared at auction previously, none were Uncirculated.

To read the complete lot description, see:
Republic of Ireland, 186x (1866-1867) "Top Pop" Fenian Brotherhood, $10 Remainder Bond. (https://auction.archivesinternational.com/Republic-of-Ireland-186x-1866-1867-Top-Pop-Fenian-Brotherhood-10-Remainder-Bond_i54772589)

South Africa, ND (1888-1920). 5 Pond, P-S633s, Specimen Banknote, Black print with South African arms at top center, Printed in Afrikaans, Back is black with bank monogram at right and arms at left, S/N 0000 pp M, Stamp at top left corner with number 5097 printed, PMG graded Uncirculated 62 with comment "Stamp Attached," J. H. Bussy.

To read the complete lot description, see:
South Africa. Netherlands Bank of South Africa, ND (1888-1920), Specimen Banknote. (https://auction.archivesinternational.com/South-Africa-Netherlands-Bank-of-South-Africa-ND-1888-1920-Specimen-Banknote_i54772633)

Hartford, Connecticut, 1779. Handwritten promissory note to pay the Selectmen of Lebanon the sum of 102 Pounds, 17 Shillings, 3 Pennies and "charge the state," dated July 29th, 1779 in Hartford. Signed by Pay-Table members Fenn Wadsworth and John Chenward, and Connecticut Treasurer John Lawrence at bottom left. Promissory Notes like this were issued by the State of Connecticut to help to finance the Revolutionary War. The Pay-Table (also known as the Committee of Four) managed Connecticut's military finances during the ongoing conflict. John Lawrence (1719-1802) served as treasurer of the Connecticut colony, and later as the Connecticut State Treasurer from 1769 to 1789, spanning the crucial period of colonial rule, through the American revolution, and into the early years of the United States.

During the Revolutionary War, Lawrence was commissioner of loans for the new nation. Fenn Wadsworth (1750/51-1785) was a brigade major to General James Wadsworth from 1776 to 1779. He fought in many battles during that time, but his failing health forced him to leave active service. He was involved in Connecticut's early governance, shown by his membership to the Committee of Four in this document. Jedediah (or Jedidiah) Huntington (4 August 1743 - 25 September 1818) was an American general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. After the war, he served in numerous civilian posts. Interesting piece of military history from the Revolutionary War. VF to XF condition with interesting watermark on paper.

To read the complete lot description, see:
Revolutionary War Connecticut, 1778 Promissory Note Signed by Fenn Wadsworth and John Chenward (https://auction.archivesinternational.com/Revolutionary-War-Connecticut-1778-Promissory-Note-Signed-by-Fenn-Wadsworth-and-John-Chenward_i54772658)

Richmond, Virginia, 1864. $2, T-70, P-66b, Black on Red underprint, Portrait of J. P. Benjamin at right, S/N 80985 pp G, PMG graded Choice Uncirculated 64 EPQ, Keatinge & Ball.

To read the complete lot description, see:
Virginia. C.S.A., 1864, $2, T-70, Issued Banknote (https://auction.archivesinternational.com/Virginia-C-S-A-1864-2-T-70-Issued-Banknote_i54772696)

NGSA ENGLISH FIVE GUINEAS SALE

On 10 December 2024, Numismatica Genevensis will offer the most complete run of English Five Guineas ever sold at auction. The pieces are considered to be the most beautiful and the heaviest English circulation issues in gold. They were struck from 1668 to 1777, during the period when England replaced its bimetallism with the gold currency. Read on to find out more.

by Ursula Kampmann, on behalf of NGSA

In auction 21 on 10 December 2024, Numismatica Genevensis will present a complete private collection of Five Guineas. The ensemble includes coins from all the years in which this denomination was issued. It is therefore the only complete run of Five Guineas in private hands. The quality and the preservation of all the pieces is truly exceptional! Every Five Guineas is a work of numismatic art in gold, harking back to a time when gold became the main coinage metal in England, ushering the era of the gold standard. This article tells the story of a fascinating denomination.

Let us first clarify a few terms before things get confusing. When we refer to a gold currency in this text, we mean a monetary system in which gold coins play a dominant role. We are not referring to a gold standard, where banknotes serve as legal tender backed by gold reserves. Britain only introduced that in the 19th century. Additionally, for the sake of consistency, we will stick to the term "England," even though from 1707 onwards one could also speak of Great Britain.

No. 2002. Charles II, Five Guineas 1668. Only 128 specimens known. NGC MS61 (highest grade NGC). Estimate: CHF 50,000. Photo: Lübke + Wiedemann KG.

A New Chapter With New Technology
When Charles II returned to London on 29 May 1660, the entire country was ready for a new beginning. The king had spent time in various countries during his exile and brought with him fresh ideas. And thanks to royal support, French engineer Peter Blondeau, who had been campaigning to modernise coin production at the mint in London since the 1650s, finally got his way. Rolling mills and screw presses were purchased to make the transition to machine-minted coins. This technical innovation was accompanied by a currency reform. On 27 March 1663, a coinage ordinance was passed, making the guinea the official coin of 20 shillings. The coins were minted with the denominations of a half guinea, a full guinea and two guineas. In 1668 the five-guinea piece was introduced as the heaviest coin in the series with a weight of 41 g. Today it is regarded as the quintessential royal coin, the most beautiful representational gold issue struck for circulation purposes in England.

The new technical possibilities solved a problem that had caused great difficulties for the English economy: fraudsters of all kinds had systematically engaged in the activity of coin clipping off the edges of English coins that were made of precious metal. Thus, the weight of the coins was steadily decreasing. Domestically, a coin was worth its face value. But internationally it was worth its silver content. Merchants therefore always faced a currency risk.

Peter Blondeau solved this problem by putting an edge inscription on all guinea coins, including the Five Guineas. The exact process of how he created this technically complex security feature was kept secret. After all, the edge inscription "Decus et Tutamen", taken from the Aeneid, described the very purpose of this lettering: to decorate and to protect the gold coins at the same time. Issues with edge inscriptions could no longer be clipped unnoticed and were almost impossible to counterfeit.

Coat of arms of the Royal African Company, founded in 1660 by Charles II. Cakelot1 / CC BY-SA 4.0

Gold from Africa
Some of the gold for these coins probably came from Africa, where the Royal African Company, established by Charles II in 1660, had a monopoly on trade. The king was to receive half the profits. However, there were hardly any profits in the beginning. The Royal African Company was dissolved in 1672 and replaced by a successor company with much broader powers: the Royal African Company of England had the right to build forts and to impose martial law to enforce its economic interests in the gold, silver and slave trade.

No. 2023. Jacob II. Five Guineas 1687. Only 38 specimens known. NGC MS61+. Estimate: CHF 50,000. Photo: Lübke + Wiedemann KG.

The small elephant that can be seen on some guineas of Charles II and Jacob II is thought to refer to the Royal African Company and its successor. The elephant is depicted with and without castle on its back. In the second case, it is the same elephant depiction that appears in the coat of arms of the RAC.

As most of the gold trade took place in the Gulf of Guinea, it is said that the English gold coins were referred to as guineas because of this – at first only colloquially. The first written evidence of the name was found in a document dated 1718.

No. 2033. William III. Five Guineas 1700. Only 45 specimens known. NGC MS62. Estimate: CHF 50,000. Photo: Lübke + Wiedemann KG. The Silver Crisis and the Gold Standard

Charles II made a serious mistake in his coinage reform: he did not order that the old, much lighter silver money be withdrawn from circulation. Therefore, old silver coins continued to circulate alongside the full-weight new silver money. In fact, it would be more accurate to say that the new silver money did not circulate at all. Those lucky enough to get a full-weight silver coin from the mint put it under the mattress or had it melted down. This was the only sensible thing to do as the coin's material value exceeded its face value.

This meant that there were almost only poor silver coins in circulation, and these bad coins drove out the good new money. Today this phenomenon is known as Gresham's law. As a result, the premium that money changers charged for gold coins kept rising. In 1695, the price of a guinea rose by 35% in six months. At times, the price of a one-guinea coin is said to have been as high as 30 shillings.

This spurred the government into action. But how could a new exchange rate between gold and silver be established? Various approaches were put forward. The finance minister's proposal was for the value of coins to be in line with the market price. As a result, silver coins would have increased in value and the value of gold coins would have decreased. King William III took a different view. He convinced the philosopher and economic theorist John Lock to argue in his favour. The latter wrote that money could not be fixed by a monarch or a parliament, but that money was an unchangeable unit of value that had to be above the law. In the end, another of his arguments proved more convincing: he told MPs that a devaluation of gold coins, which were the main currency in circulation, would drastically reduce their fixed income. As many MPs lived on this money, this would have meant a significant loss of income for them. So they went along with Locke's view and stuck to the old standard. But this meant that gold continued to be overvalued by the mint, and silver undervalued. The state lost money with every silver coin it produced. Therefore, whenever possible, silver coins were not minted at all. The amount of gold coins such as guineas, on the other hand, increased as the state made good money from them. By 1701, there were 9.25 million pound worth of gold coins in circulation. This exceeded the value of the gold coins that had been in circulation before the coinage reform by a third, and marked the first step towards a gold currency.

No. 2035. Anne. Five Guineas 1703. From the gold of the Vigo loot. Only 5 specimens known. NGC UNC Details obv. tooled. Estimate: CHF 150,000. Photo: Lübke + Wiedemann KG.

The Vigo Loot
The rare coins of Queen Anne featuring the legend VIGO on the obverse are among the most iconic British coins. They commemorate a naval battle fought during the War of the Spanish Succession in which the English plundered much of the wealth of the Spanish treasure fleet. Unfortunately, we do not know how much they took. And, in fact, opinions on this matter have changed over time.

While it was previously thought that all the silver had been transported to England, we now know that a large part of the silver had been unloaded before the English attacked the fleet. The English only took the private possessions of those who had paid for cargo space on the ship. Pepper, cocoa, tobacco, furs, indigo, cochineal and so on were at least as valuable as gold and silver. But these items did not belong to the Spanish king but to investors in Amsterdam and England, which led to mixed feelings about the "victory" at Vigo Bay, especially among the English.

When examining Queen Anne's coinage, we should therefore see it in the light of propaganda. The coins were intended to show citizens that the battle had been worthwhile. In fact, Isaac Newton, then director of the mint, recorded exactly how much metal he received from the Vigo loot: as few as 4504 pounds and 2 ounces of silver (= 2,043 kg) as well as 7 pounds, 8 ounces and 13 pennyweights of gold (= 3.4 kg). He had 14,000 pounds worth of coins struck from this metal, and these are now among the rarest and most sought-after British coins.

No. 2038. Anne. Five Guineas 1706. Only 94 specimens known. NGC MS63 Top Pop. Estimate: CHF 75,000. Photo: Lübke + Wiedemann KG. The Methuen Treaty

The victory at Vigo Bay cemented England's importance as a naval power. Portugal, fearing for its overseas territories in the War of the Spanish Succession, thus concluded a treaty with England in 1703 that would also affect the English gold currency. The Methuen Treaty was not only a military agreement but ensured that Portugal was allowed to import wine into England and that England could export textiles to Portugal. And since it was cheaper to acquire anything by means of gold in England, large quantities of Portuguese gold coins poured into the country, some of which were melted down and struck into new coins at the Royal Mint. The increase in gold coins accelerated the transition to an economy that was based solely on gold coins.

No. 2044. George I. Five Guineas 1717. Only 13 specimens known. NGC AU55 Top Pop. Estimate: CHF 25,000. Photo: Lübke + Wiedemann KG.

Sir Isaac Newton's Fight to Stop Counterfeiting
Between 1699 and 1727, Sir Isaac Newton was in charge of Englands's coinage. He was appointed Warden of the Royal Mint in 1696 and was told that the job was a lucrative position without much responsibility. Newton thus moved to London.

But the years between 1696 and 1699 saw what history calls the Great Recoinage. Old silver coins were to be completely withdrawn from circulation and replaced by coins of the correct weight. Gold coins, however, remained valid. The old silver coins were withdrawn throughout the country. As Warden of the mint, Newton checked their fineness and weight. He was horrified to discover that about 20% of the coins were counterfeit.

At the end of the 17th century, counterfeiting was one of the most serious capital offences, punishable by hanging, drawing and quartering. But in reality, coin counterfeiters had nothing to fear as it was too difficult to prove what they were doing. Newton therefore set about investigating this phenomenon himself. He had himself appointed justice of the peace, which gave him the power to gather evidence. Between June 1698 and Christmas 1699, he conducted more than 100 cross-examinations of witnesses, informers and suspects. He obtained convictions in 28 cases of coin counterfeiting.

Gold Dominates the English Currency
The Great Recoinage did not see the success the government had hoped for. Therefore, almost two decades after John Locke's statement, Parliament asked Sir Isaac Newton to write down his views on the correct exchange ratio between silver and gold coins. He wrote an expert opinion, dated 21 September 1717, in which he advised the government to prohibit gold guineas from being exchanged for more than 21 silver shillings. Such an exchange rate was completely outdated and had nothing to do with reality. Economic historians still argue about whether Isaac Newton was simply mistaken (but how could he be, he was a genius!), or whether he actually had the intention of pushing England towards the gold standard. After all, the law that was passed on his advice resulted in the fact that only gold remained in the country. The English preferred to pay for their purchases abroad in silver, because their silver gave them a currency advantage there. Conversely, those who bought large quantities of goods in Britain paid in gold to get a currency advantage. Soon there were no silver coins left in the country, and the guinea became the most important currency. This effectively set the stage for a monetary system based primarily on gold coins.

No. 2048. George II. Five Guineas 1729. Only 189 specimens known. NGC UNC Details Rev repaired. Estimate: CHF 15,000. Photo: Lübke + Wiedemann KG.

The Crisis of the English Monetary System
Following the death of Sir Isaac Newton, the Royal Mint entered a period of decline. It was no longer profitable to mint silver and bronze, so this area of activity was reduced as much as possible. The production of bronze coinage ceased altogether after 1754.

But the case of gold coins was quite different. It might be that some of the coins were issued privately rather than on behalf of the state, as was the case in many other European mints at the time. After all, state mints struck private precious metal into coins for a premium. This might be the background of the Five Guineas that shows the abbreviation E I C (= East India Company) below the neck of the royal portrait.

No. 2053. George II. Five Guineas 1746. Only 105 specimens known. NGC MS61. Estimate: CHF 30,000. Photo: Lübke + Wiedemann KG.

Given the legend LIMA, the 1746 Five Guineas was probably the result of a similar production process. The English coin dealer Thomas Snelling (1712-1773) claimed that this legend indicated that the coin was made from the gold that George Anson had brought back from his circumnavigation of the globe. Anson captured the Spanish Nuestra Señora de Covadonga, a ship of the Spanish treasure fleet loaded with silver.

Although he lost six of his seven ships and only 500 of the 1,955 sailors survived, the Admiralty considered his voyage a success. After all, he had seized an impressive 34.5 tons of silver.

No mention was made of gold. This has led numismatists to question whether the Five Guineas with the inscription LIMA can really be associated with Anson. After all, it might well be that Thomas Snelling made up this story because Five Guineas with such a nice background sold much better than "ordinary" coins.

No. 2055. George II. Five Guineas 1753. Only 97 specimens known. NGC AU58. Estimate: CHF 20,000. Photo: Lübke + Wiedemann KG.

After all, even in the mid-18th century coin collecting was a very popular activity among well-to-do gentlemen. The Five Guineas had become relatively rare in circulation, and these collectors preferred to put them in their collections rather than spend them in everyday life. After all, the value of these coins was too high for everyday use even though the value of the Five Guineas had fallen steadily since its introduction. In 1668, one Five Guineas paid for 71 days' work by a skilled craftsman. By 1753, it paid for only 52 days' work. This was also the last year in which the Five Guineas was struck for circulation. At that time, however, nobody knew this.

No. 2058. George III. Pattern of Five Guineas 1777. Only 3 specimens known. NGC PF64 CAMEO TOP POP. Estimate: CHF 300,000. Photo: Lübke + Wiedemann KG.

This becomes clear when we keep in mind that patterns for new Five Guineas were still produced under George III in 1770, 1773 and 1777. None of these were used for the mass production of circulation coins. This was probably because other means of payment were available by then. After all, the Bank of England had been in existence since 1694 and had begun to issue banknotes. Although they did not become legal tender backed by gold until 1833, they were in circulation and readily accepted long before that date.

The era of gold multiples was over, although a few 5-pound issues were still produced in the 19th century. But by then, the guinea was a thing of the past.

The entire run of Five Guineas can be found on the Numismatica Genevensis website. You can also view the auction catalogue there. https://www.ngsa.ch/flipbook/auction21/

 

EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY DECEMBER 2024 SALE

Early American History Auctions, Inc. is proud to announce the focus of this auction is the early history of America from the Colonial Period, French & Indian War, American Revolution, and the Civil War Era. Included are 69 diverse lots consigned by Ambassador and former Secretary of the Navy, J. William Middendorf II.

This September Ambassador Middendorf reached his 100-year milestone. After serving in several critical governmental roles, in 1981 he was appointed U.S. Secretary of the Navy by President Ronald Reagan. He almost by nature served in that role as his family heritage extends to the very founding of the Continental Navy. His Revolutionary War era ancestor, Captain William Stone, donated two of his Privateer ships to the fledgling Continental Navy, which were then renamed "Wasp" and "Hornet". As Secretary of the Navy, he championed the F/A-18 Carrier Based fighter attack aircraft and arranged for it to be dubbed the "Hornet".

On December 11th, 2023 the United States Navy named a new Aegis-equipped Arleigh Burke-class guided missile Destroyer in his honor. After celebrating his 100th birthday, Ambassador Middendorf was present to attend its official christening as the "USS J. WILLIAM MIDDENDORF". Many of the auction highlights are consigned from Middendorf's collection. Two important items of note include Paul Revere's 1770 historic engraving of "The Bloody Massacre" which was previously on loan for display with Harvard University Library, and his exceedingly rare and important, First London Printing of "A Prospective of the BATTLE fought near Lake George, on the 8th of Sep. 1755…" engraved by Thomas Jefffreys. As one historian called it: "The only engraving that Exhibits the American Method of Bush Fighting".

This Auction's Highlights Include:

Lot 1: 1797 President JOHN ADAMS Signed Four Language Ship Papers also with "Timothy Pickering" as Secretary of State.

Lot 3: SAMUEL ADAMS Signed Document, Beautifully Display Framed, his Signature a Vivid "10 out of 10" having Outstanding Eye Appeal.

Lot 13: JEFFERSON "JEFF" DAVIS Autograph Letter Signed in 1861 as both CSA "President" & Confederate States of America "President-Elect".

Lot 28: SAMUEL FRAUNCES a.k.a. "Black Sam" Handwritten Document Signed as Steward of George Washington's Presidential Household.

Lot 35: STEPHEN HOPKINS 1755 French and Indian War Letter Signed as Governor of Rhode Island with Important Content regarding Raising more men to Reinforce and Strengthen the Expedition Against Crown Point, Per Genl. Braddock's Defeat.

Lot 43: (ABRAHAM LINCOLN & STEPHEN T. LOGAN) Law Partnership Legal Document being Awarded $100 Payment for Their Successful Defense in a Famous Murder Trial.

Lot 48: CHESTER W. NIMITZ Signed as Admiral WWII "PROCLAMATION NO. 1 - To the People of the Marshall Islands" Printed Broadside Document, Regarding His Being "MILITARY GOVERNOR OCCUPATION OF THE MARSHALL ISLANDS".

Lot 51: JOSEPH WARREN REVERE, the Civil War General's Extensive Family Related Archive of Revolutionary War Patriot Paul Revere's Grandson, and Great Grandson "Paul Revere".

Lot 66: RICHARD VARICK as New York City Mayor, in 1790 Commissions John Trumbull's Portrait of George Washington to be Painted for New York's City Hall.

Lot 67: GEORGE WASHINGTON. December 31, 1782, George Washington Signed as Commander in Chief of the Armies of the United States, Rare Continental Army Soldier's Medical Discharge in the Regiment of Invalids at Newburgh, NY with the Soldier's original 1781 Connecticut Civil List State Army Payment.

Lot 74: 1678 "The King's Letter - True Copy of the Letter by his Majesty Charles Ye Second" Dated February 12th, 1678 in Response to John Crowne's Plea to King Charles II for Possession of Mount Hope, in Rhode Island and Providence Plantations in New England to the Colonial Governor of Rhode Island Plantation.

Lot 77: December 13, 1773 Philadelphia Postscript to the Pennsylvania Packet, Newspaper Broadsheet, Philadelphia: John Dunlap, Important Reports on a Boston Tea Party Meeting and the detestable "TEA-SCHEME".

Lot 79: Pocahontas Rescuing Captain John Smith from Execution by Clubbing, Copper Plate Etching titled, "Ceremoniae barbaroru in incantationibus" by Thoedore De Bry (1528-1598) and Sons.

Lot 81: 1756-Dated, "A Prospective of the BATTLE fought near Lake George, on the 8th of Sep. 1755, between 2000 English with 250 Mohawks, under the command of Gen. JOHNSON: ..." the Only Other Example to Appear at Auction in the Last 40 Years was 2005 Hand-Colored Middendorf-Guthman Copy.

Lot 84: Mezzotint Engraving, "Benjamin Franklin, L.L.D. - F.R.S.", One of the Rarest of Benjamin Franklin Portraits, Stauffer's First State of Three, published by Edward Savage in 1793.

Lot 110: (PAUL REVERE), Original Engraved Print Titled: "The BLOODY MASSACRE perpetrated in King - Street, BOSTON on March 5th 1770, by a party of the 29th Regt.", Boston: Engrav'd Printed & Sold by Paul Revere, (March 1770), One of only 29 Known.

Lot 122: George Washington Portrait, Oil & Pastel Painting on Linen, After Gilbert Stuart's Lansdowne (Constable-Hamilton) Portrait, Beautifully Framed Under Early Glass.

Lot 127: 1853 "Washington Crossing the Delaware" Engraving by Paul Girardet, New York: Goupil & Co., 1853, After the original Oil Painting by E. LEUTZ in 1850.

Lot 131: (1789) George Washington Presidential Inaugural Button, "LONG LIVE THE PRESIDENT" with 15-Star Pattern, Cobb-15, Albert WI-18B, DeWitt-GW 1789 33, Choice Uncirculated.

Lot 162: Documented Confederate Flag Given by Infamous Spy Belle Boyd a.k.a. the "Siren of the Shenandoah" to a Union Officer, 11-STAR "FIRST NATIONAL" FLAG WITH SINGLE STAR, "BONNIE BLUE" FIRST UNOFFICIAL CONFEDEDERATE FLAG ON VERSO.

Lot 174: Choice Civil War ID Disc "Dog Tag" Complete with Its Original "McCLELLAN" Pin Hanger, Fully Identified, His First Maine Fought in 29 Battles Including the First Winchester & Gettysburg.

Lot 192: c. 1910 Edison Stock Ticker Tape Machine, Previously Located on J. William Middendorf's II Wall Street Financial Firm's Office Desk with its Glass Dome Intact.

Lot 195: [Theodor Herzl / Judaica] 1896 True First Edition Book authored by Theodor Herzl, titled, "Der Judenstaat." (German, literally "The Jew State", commonly translated as "The Jewish State") Versuch Einer Modernen Lösung Der Judenfrage," ("Proposal of a modern solution for the Jewish question"), of Herzl's historic plan for a Jewish State, printed in Leipzig und Vienna, Wien: M. Breitenstein, 1896

These are but a few of the 199 exceptional historic auction lots presented.

For more information, or to bid, see:
https://www.earlyamerican.com/

 

2024 ADVENT COIN CALENDAR, PART ONE

The church season of Advent runs from Sunday 1st December to Tuesday 24 December 2024. Advent calendars began in Europe in the Nineteenth Centuries as a way of counting the days to Christmas. Each day would feature a picture or verse about the story. This is my suggested Advent Coin Calendar to prepare for the holiday.

1. Angels

Angels appear in the story to announce the news of the coming birth of Jesus.

The angel was an English gold coin introduced by Edward IV in 1465. The name derived from its representation of the archangel Michael slaying a dragon. Reverse: Depicts a ship with arms and rays of sun at the masthead. Legend: PER CRUCEM TUAM SALVA NOS CHRISTE REDEMPTOR, meaning "By Thy cross save us, Christ Redeemer."

2. The Star

The Wise Men were led to the stable by a star. Comets and heavenly bodies often appear on ancient coins.

Julius Caesar, Julius Caesar, Denarius, P. Sepullius Macer, c. 44, wreathed bust of Cæsar right, star behind, rev. Venus standing, holding Victory and sceptre, 3.71g/6h (Craw. 480/5b; RSC 41). Very fine

3. Chocolate coins

Christmas is a time for presents of course. Chocolate coins are traditionally given to children as both a Christian and secular tradition at Christmas time and Saint Nicholas Day and in Jewish tradition during Hanukkah.

In 2011 the British Daily Mail newspaper reported that shops were stopping selling Euro chocolate coins and were going back to sterling (pound) chocolate coins. Even German-owned chain Lidl switched from a chocolate version of the euro to British pounds and pence.

Numismatists are encouraged to enjoy chocolate coins as part of their research.

4. Bethlehem

The Baby Jesus was predicted to be born in Bethlehem.

This is a transport token from Bethlehem, but not the town in the Middle East but the one in Pennsylvania. I do not know the date. It must have been a promotion to encourage shopping.

5. Chocolate

Some of us have too much of this at the festive period. This piece promotes the Gold Coast in West Africa.

Drink More Cocoa 1924-1925 Advertising token for Gold Coast at The British Empire Exhibition 1924 – Aluminium

6. Christmas Tree on a coin from Latvia

Latvia 2009 1 Lats coin with decorated Christmas Tree Christmas trees became popular in the UK in the Nineteenth Century when households copied Prince Albert who decorated a tree for the royal family. Latvia has produced a marvellous series of coins featuring Christmas themes.

NUMISMATICS OF GLADIATOR II

To read the Reddit post on r/AncientCoins, see:
Gladiator II (https://www.reddit.com/r/AncientCoins/comments/1fs13th/gladiator_ii/?rdt=40468)

Featured in this pic: Antoninianus of Caracalla and Denarii of Geta, Lucilla and Macrinus.

To read the complete Instagram post, see:
https://www.instagram.com/classical_numismatics/p/DCg_gCuKJVj/

Gladiator II was what we all expected, a flashy, bloody, completely ahistorical movie made merely for entertainment. Here is something for the history lovers: The Coins that circulated in Rome at the time the story takes place

To watch the video, see:
The Coins of Gladiator II (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5c7OtZJx7jQ)

The secret son of Maximus, the eponymous gladiator portrayed by Russell Crowe in the 2000 movie, Lucius must retrace his father's footsteps, achieving fame as an enslaved fighter driven by his desire for revenge against his family's killers.

Much like its predecessor, Gladiator II takes a relatively loose approach to history, compressing timelines, borrowing real historical figures' names but little of their stories, and inventing other characters entirely. As historian Allen Ward wrote in 2001, the first Gladiator was both "the best of films" and "the worst of films," igniting the public's interest in the ancient world while perpetuating many of the myths surrounding the era. "Certainly creative artists need to be granted some poetic license, but that should not be a permit for the wholesale disregard of facts in historical fiction and costume dramas," Ward added. "In most cases, the easily determined factual details would not have made Gladiator less interesting or exciting, and the record of Commodus' reign contains characters and events that could easily make what is now a good story even better history."

Lucius, the main character of the sequel, appears in Gladiator as Lucilla's son. He idolizes Maximus but is unaware that the former general is also his father. After Maximus' death, Lucilla sends Lucius to Numidia, a territory in northwest Africa, to protect him from imperial intrigue. There, he builds a new life for himself, eventually marrying and starting a family. At the beginning of Gladiator II, he is forced to return to Rome after an army led by the fictional general Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal) invades Numidia, kills Lucius' wife and son, and sells him into slavery as a gladiator.

To read the complete article, see:
The Real History Behind Ridley Scott's ‘Gladiator II' and Life as a Fighter in the Ancient Roman Arena (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-real-history-behind-ridley-scotts-gladiator-ii-and-life-as-a-fighter-in-the-ancient-roman-arena-180985494/)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
Gladiator Movies' Family Tree - Maximus & Marcus Aurelius Relatives & All Connections (https://thedirect.com/article/gladiator-movies-family-tree-maximus-marcus-aurelius-relatives)

LOOSE CHANGE: DECEMBER 1, 2024

Rio Money Gliders

Transparency International has put the issue of corruption on the agenda ahead of the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro this week, with a guerilla campaign involving a team of paragliders and one of the city's most famous beaches.

Devised by INNOCEAN Berlin, 'Money Gliders' kicked off on Friday 15th November. It saw six paragliders, all printed to look like dollar bills, flying over Rio de Janeiro and landing on Barra da Tijuca Beach on a banner reading "How obvious should corruption be before it's a G20 priority?"

To read the complete article, see:
Giant Bank Notes Float Through Rio de Janeiro to Spotlight Corruption at G20 (https://www.lbbonline.com/news/giant-bank-notes-float-through-rio-de-janeiro-to-spotlight-corruption-at-g20)

Collecting Colonial Currency By State

Leaving aside private scrip, local issues, and other outliers, the bulk of colonial currency was issued by one of the original 13 colonies that became the first 13 states. These colony/state issues can largely be divided into three eras: 1690–1754, the era before the French and Indian War; 1754–1776, the era from the beginning of the French and Indian War to the Declaration of Independence; and 1776–1789, the era from Independence to Constitution. Regardless of their state of origin, notes from these eras have certain things in common with each other.

The earliest notes, issued between 1690 and 1754, are generally extremely rare today. Perhaps the only notes from before 1754 that can be called common are the 1748 North Carolina issue (thanks to the Samuel Cornell hoard) and the remainder Maryland notes of 1733 that survived into the 20th century as unissued sheets (now mostly cut up into individual notes). What do these earliest notes have in common, aside from their extraordinary rarity? Condition pickiness can be thrown out the window.

The notes that have survived have been nearly uniformly adulterated in their useful lives—that is, when they were circulating money and not when they were collectibles—by backing, sewing, gluing, pinning, and more. While grading services (and, thus, collectors) describe these ingenious alterations as problems, they are literally what kept the notes intact and circulating. Sadly, many of the few notes that survived their useful era in unaltered condition have usually seen other sorts of modifications like pressing and trimming in the hands of modern dealers and collectors. The New York issues of 1709 and 1711 are notable as the only notes from this era to have survived into modern times in sheet form and thus are about the only ones available in condition approaching New.

To read the complete article, see:
Collecting Colonial Currency By State (https://www.greysheet.com/news/story/collecting-colonial-currency-by-state)

To read an earlier E-Sylum article, see:
COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG ACQUIRES NORTH CAROLINA COLONIAL CURRENCY HOARD (https://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v13n45a07.html)

The Daniel Morgan Comitia Americana Medal

John Kraljevich has made a career out of authenticating coins and medals. So when an auction house approached him with a gold medal encased in a red leather United States Mint case, he knew it was something special. But he didn't know how special until he opened the box.

"My reaction was somewhere along the lines of, holy (expletive)," Kraljevich said, per CBS News. "As soon as I laid my eyes on it, I knew what it was."

The medal in his hands was the Daniel Morgan at Cowpens medal, a medal originally minted for Revolutionary War hero General Daniel Morgan. After disappearing from view in 1885, it is now set to be auctioned by Stack's Bowers Galleries.

"Its appearance represents the most shocking and important discovery in American numismatics in years," Kraljevich raved.

To read the complete article, see:
This Incredibly Rare Revolutionary War Medal Thought To Be Lost Forever Turned Up At An Auction (https://allthatsinteresting.com/daniel-morgan-cowpens-medal)

To read earlier E-Sylum article, see:
GOLD MORGAN COMITIA AMERICANA SURFACES (https://www.coinbooks.org/v25/esylum_v25n09a34.html)
COVERAGE OF THE DANIEL MORGAN GOLD MEDAL (https://www.coinbooks.org/v25/esylum_v25n12a30.html)
GOLD MORGAN COMITIA AMERICANA MEDAL DISPLAY (https://www.coinbooks.org/v26/esylum_v26n26a23.html)

Titanic Rescue Gold Watch

It's a fine gold Tiffany pocket watch. It probably sold for $20 or $30 when it was first purchased in 1912, and Andrew Aldridge, the managing director of the British auction house Henry Aldridge & Son, guessed that such a watch might normally bring about $10,000 at auction today.

On Saturday, it sold for $1.97 million.

Why the big price? The inscription on the watch gives it away: "Presented to Captain Rostron with the heartfelt gratitude and appreciation of three survivors of the Titanic. April 15th, 1912. Mrs. John B. Thayer, Mrs. John Jacob Astor and Mrs. George D. Widener."

The sale price is a record for a single piece of Titanic memorabilia, the auction house said.

To read the complete article, see:
Gold Watch, a Gift From Titanic Survivors, Sells for Nearly $2 Million (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/18/business/titanic-watch-auction.html)

NYPL Map Librarian Alice Hudson

Alice Hudson, who, after enrolling in a mandatory geography course in college, took a detour from her plan to become a professional translator and went on to devote her career to building one of the world's premier public map collections, died on Nov. 6 in Manhattan. She was 77.

Ms. Hudson was chief of the Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division of the New York Public Library from 1981 to 2009, presiding over what has been called the most heavily used public map room in the world. She oversaw the doubling of the collection, to more than 400,000 maps and 24,000 atlases, rivaling the holdings of the Library of Congress, the National Archives and the British Library.

She mounted exhibitions on how topography influenced history on the American frontier and along New York City's shoreline, and illuminated the overlooked contribution of women to cartography.

"A map is so much more than a diagram showing how to get from Point A to Point B," she told The New York Times in 2002. "Every map tells a story."

To read the complete article, see:
Alice Hudson, Librarian Who Built a Trove of Historic Maps, Dies at 77 (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/29/nyregion/alice-hudson-dead.html)

Michigan Dealer Arrested

The owner of a now-closed downtown Bay City coin store is facing several felonies after allegedly taking customers' money and gambling away more than $5 million.

The afternoon of Jan. 18, a 72-year-old man went to the Bay County Law Enforcement Center to file a fraud complaint. The man told police he had gone to Flying Eagle Coins, 918 Washington Ave. in downtown Bay City's Davidson Building, in October and given $20,000 in cash to owner Matthew J. Burton in exchange for gold and silver.

Months passed and Burton did not hold up his end, the man told police. He said he contacted Burton multiple times by phone.

To read the complete article, see:
Bay City coin store owner charged with defrauding customers, gambling away $5M (https://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw-bay-city/2024/10/bay-city-coin-store-owner-charged-with-defrauding-customers-gambling-away-5m.html)

D.B. COOPER PARACHUTE FOUND?

More than five decades ago, a mild-mannered passenger in a business suit boarded a Seattle-bound flight in Oregon under the name Dan Cooper on Nov. 24, 1971. He ordered a bourbon and soda, and once in the air, handed a stewardess a handwritten note demanding $200,000 in cash and four parachutes under the threat of what appeared to be a bomb in his ratty briefcase.

The plane landed in Seattle, and authorities complied with the hijacker's demand. After refueling, the airliner took off again.

Somewhere between takeoff and Portland, the mysterious man jumped out of the plane and into the dark sky, attempting to hold onto the freshly acquired satchel of cash.

He was never seen or heard from again, nor was the money ever found except for $5,800 in $20 bills that washed up on the banks of the Columbia River years later.

Learning the identity of the notorious hijacker who some consider a folk hero further inspired a cult-like following of hundreds of amateur detectives, all clamoring to ID the culprit while generating dozens of books, movies and even a 2022 Netflix series.

In 2016, after turning over every credible lead and suspect, the FBI seemingly threw up its hands and declared in a statement that it was rerouting resources to other investigative priorities pending any new information, particularly physical evidence such as parachutes or money.

Now the agency might have gotten a new break in the case for the first time in decades.

Retired pilot, skydiver and YouTuber, Dan Gryder told Cowboy State Daily that he may have found the missing link after uncovering the modified military surplus bailout rig he believes was used by D.B. Cooper in the heist. It belonged to Richard Floyd McCoy II, and was carefully stored in his deceased mother's storage stash until very recently.

McCoy has long been one of the FBI's leading suspects after successfully pulling off an identical, but better-executed, hijacking in Utah just five months later.

McCoy's children, Chanté and Richard III, or "Rick," agree with Gryder that they believe their father was D.B. Cooper, a secret that shrouded the family but wasn't overtly discussed.

For years, they said, the family stayed mum out of fear of implicating their mother, Karen, whom they believe was complicit in both hijackings. Upon her death in 2020, they broke their silence to Gryder after being contacted by him off and on for years.

Gryder, who has been researching the case for more than 20 years, documented his investigation in a lengthy two-part series on his YouTube channel, "Probable Cause," in 2021 and 2022, where he connects the dots and shows actual footage of him finding the parachute in an outbuilding on the McCoy family property in North Carolina in July 2022.

To read the complete articles, see:
Who is D.B. Cooper? New Evidence May Crack One Of America's Greatest Mysteries (https://cowboystatedaily.com/2024/11/23/who-is-d-b-cooper-new-evidence-may-crack-one-of-americas-greatest-mysteries/)
Part 2: Who is D.B. Cooper? The Bombshell Discovery That Could Solve Infamous Hijacking (https://cowboystatedaily.com/2024/11/24/who-is-d-b-cooper-the-bombshell-discovery-that-could-solve-infamous-hijacking/)

To read other reports, see:
Parachute discovery sparks new interest in D.B. Cooper case (https://www.axios.com/local/seattle/2024/11/26/db-cooper-case-fbi-parachute-discovery)
Siblings claim late dad is mysterious plane hijacker DB Cooper after finding hidden parachute in home: ‘One in a billion' (https://nypost.com/2024/11/26/us-news/richard-mccoy-jr-s-kids-claim-hes-db-cooper-after-finding-hidden-parachute/)

To read earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
D.B. COOPER RANSOM REMNANT SELLS (https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n19a21.html)
D. B. COOPER CASH STASH FOR SALE (https://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v10n06a11.html)
DISTRIBUTION OF THE KNOWN D.B. COOPER BILLS (https://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v10n07a16.html)
D. B. COOPER MYSTERY CONTINUES (https://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v18n48a43.html)
CERTIFYING THE D.B. COOPER RANSOM BANKNOTES (https://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v19n36a20.html)

SOCIAL MEDIA SITE FOR THE DEAD

The photos I take end up on a website called FindaGrave.com, a repository of cemeteries around the world. Created in 1995 by a Salt Lake City resident named Jim Tipton, the website began as a place to catalog his hobby of visiting and documenting celebrity graves. In the late 1990s, Tipton began to allow other users to contribute their own photos and memorials for famous people as well. In 2010, Find a Grave finally allowed non-celebrities to be included. Since then, volunteers—also known as "gravers"—have stalwartly photographed and recorded tombstones, mausoleums, crosses, statues, and all other manner of graves for posterity.

Think of it like a social media site, but for the dead. People can use it to "visit" the graves of their loved ones—in some cases, maybe even for the first time. But it's not just for mourning or nostalgia: The revelations held in cataloged graves have proven vital for everyone ranging from historians to journalists to your aunt who is really into your extended family's history. And there is a lot of information. More than a million contributors add thousands of new memorials and photos by the hour.

This graving free-for-all has caused some controversy over the years. Find a Grave—now owned by Ancestry.com, with a commercial interest in its operation—has a moderation team that works to ensure the new graves are real, the bios are correct, and people's requests get doled out appropriately. But this team is a decentralized crew of volunteers, many of whom are older folks doing this in their spare time.

Jenn O'Donnell first got involved with Find a Grave 16 years ago, after she learned her father-in-law was orphaned as a child and decided to track down the identity of his parents. "I just Googled an ancestor's name and their Find a Grave Page popped up," O'Donnell told me.

What began as a useful tool to help with her genealogy project morphed into a hobby and then a passion. It's a story that's familiar to so many other gravers on the website. While we stumble upon Find a Grave for different reasons, we end up finding out there's more to it than just pictures. It's also a community of researchers and archivists who are dedicated to the singular goal of memorializing and preserving the memory of as many people as possible.

Before Find a Grave, it could be difficult for loved ones of the deceased to find information about cemeteries and burial sites. Often, it'd require getting ahold of city records, speaking to people at local genealogical and historical societies, and interviewing your family members or anyone who might have known the dead person you're looking for and be able to point you to where they are buried.

Now, all of that detective work can fall to anyone with spare time. "I think many just sort of get the bug," O'Donnell said. "They're interested in uncovering everything they can."

Anyone can submit a request to have any gravestone photographed and recorded on Find a Grave. Most requests come in from far away. For example, if you found out you have a great-great-grandparent buried in the middle of the Texas brushland but you live in Connecticut, you could ask a graver who lives in Laredo to swing by and take a photo for you.

Al Wilson, a Pennsylvania-based graver and local historian in his city, is interested in the documentation aspect of Find a Grave. Over the 16 years that he's been on the website, he's uploaded more than 14,000 pictures, with 4,700 being new memorials of people who have never been documented. "These are connections that I'm very proud of," Wilson told me. Without him, they might have simply been lost to time.

To read the complete article, see:
My Weekends With the Dead (https://slate.com/technology/2024/10/afind-a-grave-ancestry-family-grandfather-controversy.html)

To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
BOOK REVIEW: THE PRIVATE SKETCHBOOK OF GEORGE T. MORGAN (https://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v16n02a08.html)
CHRISTIAN GOBRECHT HEADSTONE DEDICATION (https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n47a07.html)

ABOUT THIS ISSUE: DECEMBER 1, 2024

Wayne Homren
Wayne Homren is the founding editor of The E-Sylum and a consultant for the Newman Numismatic Portal. His collecting interests at various times included U.S. Encased Postage Stamps, merchant counterstamps, Pittsburgh Obsolete paper money, Civil War tokens and scrip, Carnegie Hero Medals, charge coins and numismatic literature. He also collects and has given presentations on the work of Money Artist J.S.G. Boggs. In the non-numismatic world he's worked in artificial intelligence, data science, and as a Program Manager for the U.S. Department of Defense.

Garrett Ziss
Garrett Ziss is a numismatic collector and researcher, with a focus on American paper money and early U.S. silver and copper coins. He is also a part-time U.S. coin cataloger for Heritage Auctions. Garrett assists Editor Wayne Homren by editing and formatting a selection of articles and images each week. When he's not engaged in numismatics, Garrett is a Senior Honors student at the University of Pittsburgh.

Pete Smith
Numismatic researcher and author Pete Smith of Minnesota has written about early American coppers, Vermont coinage, numismatic literature, tokens and medals, the history of the U.S. Mint and much more. Author of American Numismatic Biographies, he contributes original articles to The E-Sylum often highlighting interesting figures in American numismatic history.

Greg Bennick
Greg Bennick (www.gregbennick.com) is a keynote speaker and long time coin collector with a focus on major mint error coins and US counterstamps. He is on the board of both CONECA and TAMS and enjoys having in-depth conversations with prominent numismatists from all areas of the hobby. Have ideas for other interviewees? Contact him anytime on the web or via instagram @minterrors.

John Nebel
Numismatist, photographer, and ANS Board member and Fellow John Nebel of Boulder, CO helped the ANA and other clubs like NBS get online in the early days of the internet, hosting websites gratis through his Computer Systems Design Co. To this day he hosts some 50 ANA member club sites along with our coinbooks.org site, making the club and our E-Sylum archive available to collectors and researchers worldwide.

Bruce Perdue
Encased coinage collector (encasedcoins.info) Bruce Perdue of Aurora, Illinois has been the volunteer NBS webmaster from its early days and works each week to add the latest E-Sylum issue to our archive and send out the email announcement.

Jaylen Lockhart, a U.S. postal worker in Aurora, Illinois, was driving on his regular route when he spotted a man in his rearview mirror who seemed wobbly.

"He seemed to be walking off-balance," said Lockhart, 26. Then suddenly, "he fell and hit his head…he faceplanted on the ground."

Lockhart turned on his hazard lights and did a sharp U-turn. He sprinted toward the man, Guy Miller, 75, who was on a walk with his dog, Bentley, when he fell.

Lockhart waved down two vehicles that drove by and asked if they could help, too. The drivers got out of their cars and ran toward them.

To read the complete article, see:
Postal worker saves man who fell, will spend Thanksgiving with him (https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2024/11/27/thanksgiving-postal-worker-jaylen-lockhart/)