"Thank you for the plug about the San Francisco mint tokens in the latest E-Sylum.

"Got one order for a set already, hope I get more as I have a lot of the tokens. I wish I could get the kind of money they are asking in the auction for them. Here is a bit more information about my "hoard" of San Francisco Mint tokens:

"A few years ago, I obtained a bag of a few hundred of the tokens used at the San Francisco mint. It was a mixture of 5, 10 and 25 Cent tokens, all lightly circulated. The tokens had been saved by Ed Fulwider, who had worked for many years at the San Francisco mint. He retired in 1987 as the Senior Die Setter. An avid coin collector, he was active in San Francisco Bay Area coin clubs and the California State Numismatic Association. He passed in 2020."

Thanks for the background! -Editor

"John's note is super-cool for another reason: It is a clear imitation of an early note on the Bank of the United States (First).

"What drew my attention to it is the clever vignette of a literal half eagle. It is modeled on the full-eagle vignette used on BUS's third bank note issue (minus the 15-star border dating this issue to 1792 and later, when Kentucky was admitted as the 15th state). The BUS eagle was not intended as a pun, as the Exchange Bank's tenner was; the BUS eagle appeared on all denominations. BUS was chartered in 1791, the Exchange Bank in 1801.

"Other similarities include the denomination as a left panel, the style and language of the obligation, the counters, and the positions of the authorizing officers. The value protector (FIVE) was rarely used on BUS (First) notes but is more common on those of BUS (second) chartered in 1816. This may suggest an appearance of this issue closer to the 1822 handwritten date on John's note.

"It is a tough note. Roger H. Durand rates it R7 (catalog #1311, 1 to 5 examples known). Dr. Haxby does not list it at all. So when and if John ever decides to part with it, collectors of both gold coins and bank notes will eagerly compete for it!"

Interesting connection. Here's the note David describes. -Editor

"Also, observe that this note has the word DEPARTMENT in the left panel instead of the value. That's because this note was made payable at the BUS branch office in New York, not in the main office in Philadelphia. To my knowledge, the Exchange Bank didn't have any branch offices, only the main office in Providence.

"The date on the BUS note is 1801, not 1807 as stated by the auction house."

"Are there other "secret" clubs operating at a local level? Are there any successful local dinner clubs with open attendance?"

"Indeed, the First Wednesday Numismatic Study Group existed (and might still exist), meeting monthly in the San Antonio-Austin area. Col. Bill Murray, Mike Greenspan, Bob Medlar, Rocky Rockholt, Lyman Bartee, Moton Crockett III, Mac Kennady, and a handful of others, were regular attendees. I was a member and regular attendee from the late 1980s until I relocated to Minnesota in 1995, and often served as the driver for some of us (typically, Moton, Lyman, and Mac) who traveled from the Austin area to the gatherings. Attached are images of a set of three coins that were counterstamped with "1st Wed Study Group" (the elongated Mexican copper and elongated US quarter) and a fancy FWNSG "logo" (the Mexican silver Peso). I think that Rocky Rockholt was the creator and distributor of this set. "

Thank you! Nice club souvenirs. -Editor

"I was browsing the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis's "Economy Museum" and came across a strange picture of something called a "Standing Liberty Half Dollar". Isn't this a bizarre mistake? Unless there is some pattern coin that I'm not aware of, some curator seems to have confused the Standing Liberty Quarter with a Walking Liberty Half Dollar. That would be quite a mule, if it indeed existed!"

That would be an odd bird, if it exists. I reached out to a couple experts for comments. -Editor

"I do not believe that is one coin. I believe this is an accidental composite from two coins in error. You have a 1917-D obverse with a Philadelphia reverse – no mint mark."

"After examining the image of the "1917 'Standing Liberty' Half Dollar Coin" I suspect I'm looking at a pair of mismatched photos. I note that the obverse appears to have a D-mintmark. If this is indeed an actual pattern piece it would be entirely new to me."

Thanks, everyone. -Editor

In October Steve Feller discussed a banknote in his collection, the earliest known Confederate States of America note. -Editor

"I have found, currently at auction, another note signed on the first day of Confederate notes. It is serial 12. Only three serials for that first day are known. My earlier note is serial 6 and is the oldest known Confederate note. These serials have been known a while. Now serial 12 is for sale. Here are images of the two notes."

Great items with wonderful numismatic history. Here's the Heritage auction lot description. -Editor

"After reading Donald Kagin's engaging piece about St. Eligius in the December issue of The Numismatist, I wanted to give a shout-out to Claude Proulx, of Val-David, Québec -- local historian, medailleur extraordinaire, and devotee of Eligius, patron saint of just about everybody.

"Claude, president of a local cultural and scientific organization that includes a museum about the numismatics of St. Eligius, designed and cast the medal illustrated here. The obverse is modeled after a pilgrim's medal worn by visitors to Noyon as far back as 1632. Note Claude's initials CP at the base of the figure, as well as the two mintmarks used by Eligius during his service as mintmaster to King Dagobert I on either side of the inscription. The central design on the reverse is copied from a coin struck by Eligius and illustrated on a plate in Francois Leblanc's 1692 treatise on the coins of France.

"Claude's St. Eligius Numismatists Brotherhood of Canada proudly bestowed its Knight of St. Eligius award to Frank Galindo on June 24, 1995. As Dr. Kagin points out, Frank went on to found the USA sister organization the following month."

Thank you. Great piece. -Editor

Larry Dziubek has an old Swiss cambist he'd like to find a new home for. Here's his description and some scans. If interested, contact him at lcdziubek@zoominternet.net . -Editor

"I have had this old book for more than 20 years. It seems to cover the coins in circulation at the time printed for possible conversion values.

"I would like to make a direct sale to someone who either just likes OLD ( period ) or Germanic ( Swiss ) type books. The cover looks worse than the rest of the book of 206 pages. All of the informative pages (146) have line drawings of coins.

"I believe the book was printed in Bern Switzerland in 1823. I am guessing this is a Conversion Book of all current European Coin Values in different currency. What Bankers would use daily. Pages 5 to 146 are the Line Drawings and Pages 147 to 206 seem to be Conversion Tables."

"Did you know that this sculpture outside the main Carnegie Library in Oakland for ex Pittsburgh mayor Magee was by Augustus St. Gaudens? Of course you did !!"

Yep, I did!  There's a nice 1983 book by Marilyn Evert titled Discovering Pittsburgh's Sculpture that lists all the artists. The fountain across the way from this is by Victor Brenner, and there are two Brenner plaques in the City-County building downtown.  Frank Vittor designed some Pittsburgh drinking fountains as well as the Gettysburg Half Dollar. -Editor

The Christopher Lyman Magee Memorial is a public memorial in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Located outside of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh in Schenley Park, the memorial honors Christopher Magee, a local political boss and philanthropist during the late 1800s. It was designed by sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens, with assistance from Henry Hering, while Stanford White and Henry Bacon served as architects for the project. The memorial was dedicated on Independence Day, July 4, 1908, before a crowd of two thousand spectators. It was one of the last works created by Saint-Gaudens, who died several months before its dedication.

"Here are some German postcards from around 1910 featuring gold coins and cherubs."

Happy New Year, everyone. -Editor