"I read with some excitement about the recent publication of US Naval Awards of the Spanish-American War by John Strandberg, Allen Menke, & Shawn Cook and have an artifact that the authors may find interesting. I was gifted a large and very heavy steel master hub for the Dewey Medal by Tiffany & Co. It's 5" x 6" x 3" and weighs a hefty 34 lbs.

I showed it to Roger Burdette to see where it fit into the die making process and he believes it was an intermediate reduction for Daniel Chester French's obverse bust for the medal rather than the final master hub. It was probably made to work out any necessary changes due to the portrait's very high relief. I am writing a brief article more about this item and hope to have some more details soon. In the meantime, needless to say that I will be ordering a copy of their work."

Interesting - great item! -Editor

"I can give you some background on the set of American Bank Note Co. reports that was not mentioned in the Archives International Auction catalog.

"The complete set, including the 1870 and 1871 reports, appeared in a R. M. Smythe & Co. sale around 2005-2010 and I bid it in. While I had it, I made several photocopies, one of which was donated to the Museum of American Financial History and another to the American Numismatic Society.

"Shortly thereafter, John Herzog bought the set from me, acting I believe on behalf of a client. Later, the set again appeared at auction, but I don't know the consignor or the buyer if it was sold.

"Hopefully the set of reports (AIA sale 100, lot 173) will go to an educational institution, but the competition for this set is bound to be strong. At least two copies of the full set are now in libraries and one of them may be on line. In those days, annual reports were apparently not distributed in advance to the shareholders, but merely read, acted upon and filed with the minute books."

"Yes, these are listed in the ANS online catalog, so they have been formally processed into the ANS library. We have not scanned them."

"The set was lot 2485 in R. M. Smythe's Memphis International Public Auction No. 229, Session B, starting at 6 pm on June 13, 2003. The catalog description was very terse and I quote it in full: "Annual Reports of the American Bank Note Company from 1864 to 1876. All are handwritten reports, 8" x 10", from 2 to 13 pages. A valuable archive for the researcher of our early paper money. [13]" No illustration was provided.

"The catalog estimate was $750-1250. I put in a book bid above the high estimate and won the set at a substantially reduced price.

"I am aware that the set was later offered for sale either at auction or directly, but don't know the result."

Jeffry Johnson passed along a cartoon discussing artist Keith Knight's recent residency at sculptor Paul Manship's summer retreat in Gloucester, MA. Here's a short excerpt from his father Dick's American Artist Databank. -Editor

"I have finished compiling my collection of Picture Post Cards from the times of British India. People can view it at https://foxly.me/PostCards."

While non-numismatic, it's a nice catalog - check it out. Articles on some of Anil's earlier numismatic works are linked below. -Editor

"While going through the last issue of The E-Sylum, I was thrilled to read about Ginsburg's feature articles in the Southern Gold Society Newsletter. Dave would have been so pleased to see his name mentioned in this issue of The E-Sylum! He also would have been delighted that the SGS Newsletter is now on the NNP. Thanks also for including a link to Dave's obituary. Although a somber moment, I liked reading about him again.

Also, I really enjoyed reading Truth Seeker: The Life of Eric P. Newman and 1792: Birth of a Nation's Coinage. Now I'm excited about reading The Publications of Eric P. Newman: A Collector's Guide, by Augsburger and Orosz!"

I'll second both motions! -Editor

"I have a question that perhaps one of our fellow readers can answer: Does anyone know what became of Bonanza Press? They were a small California-based publisher that published numerous numismatic books in the early to mid 1970's. Most of their publications were inexpensive guidebook-related small format hardcovers. They also published Q. David Bowers' first edition of Coins and Collectors in 1974.

"Other than that, Bonanza never seemed to have published anything groundbreaking. They seemed to have dropped out of sight well before the end of the 70's and I have been unable to locate any information regarding them. There are several "Bonanza press" companies out there, which manufacture everything from pull-tabs and toys and games, so don't get confused. Thank you and good luck."

Great question - can anyone help? -Editor

"Early in my study of Castorlands I began keeping a list of individual specimens and over time the list became a Census of Original-Dies Castorland Jetons, with each specimen identified by a two-letter code, AA, AB, AC, etc. The list extends to the specimen identified as DN which, if my math is right, adds up to 91 specimens. But I've now run dry. Haven't seen a new one since the Sydney Martin Auction, but surely there are some out there somewhere. So in the hope of adding new ones to the Census I'm offering a cash reward payable to anyone who locates and provides the full description of a new specimen.

"Thomas Jefferson, Minister of Foreign Affairs at the time, received two representatives of the Castorland Company, officially known as the New York Company. He suspected their land development was shaky and he gave them a cold reception. Turns out, his instinct was right on the mark. So it's fitting his hesitancy to be commemorated in this award."

Can anyone help? -Editor