The E-Sylum v6#16, April 20, 2003

[whomren at coinlibrary.com]

Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 6, Number 16, April 20, 2003:
an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society.
Copyright (c) 2003, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society.


SUBSCRIBER UPDATE

   Among recent new subscribers is Carl Binder, courtesy of
   John and Nancy Wilson.   Welcome aboard!  We now have
   543 subscribers.


APRIL 20TH BIRTHDAYS

   Today is April 20th, the birthday of Roman Emperor Marcus
   Aurelius (born 121AD).  It is also the birthday of Adolph
   Schickelgruber (born 1889), who later took his mother's maiden
   name of Hitler.

   Has anyone ever done a "numismatic birthdays" article or
   exhibit?

.
ANS GROVES FORUM / COAC 2003

   The American Numismatic Society has issued press releases
   for the upcoming Groves Forum and Coinage of the Americas
   Conference 2003.   Please note: the Groves Forum and COAC
   are two separate events and must be signed up for separately.
   The Groves Forum is free of charge.  COAC is $25 per person
   (lunch will be served).  For further information or to RSVP,
   contact Juliette Pelletier at (212) 234-3130 ext. 230 or
   pelletier at amnumsoc.org.

   "Groves Forum – Friday May 16, 2003
    Harvard Club, 27 West 44th Street, New York

   Graham Dyer. "The Royal Mint and North Carolina, 1754."
   The paper will examine the response by the authorities in
   London, and particularly by  the officers of the Royal Mint,
   to a proposal in 1754 by the Governor of North Carolina
   for a coinage of copper halfpence, pence and twopences.
   An attempt will be made through contemporary documentation
   to place the response in the context of Mint attitudes towards
   the coinage of copper at that time, both for Great Britain and
   for Ireland.

   COAC – Saturday, May 17, 2003
   Fraunces Tavern, 54 Pearl St., New York

   David T. Alexander. "Hessian 'Blood Money': the History
   and the Myth." The paper will explore the legendary
   "bloodthalers," their Hanoverian context, and the strange
   career of Rudolph Erich Raspe in the era of the  Revolution.

   Brian J. Danforth. "New Interpretations on Irish Coppers in
   the American Colonies:  The St. Patrick, Wood's Hibernia
   and Voce Populi Series."   Based on original research
   conducted in Ireland, England and America, this paper
   presents a new perspective on selected Irish coppers that
   contributed to the circulating medium of colonial America.
   The highlights of the presentation shall include:  the minter
   and production sequence of St. Patrick coppers, the
   circulation of Wood's Hibernia coinage in Ireland and the
   American colonies, and the events surrounding the issuance
   of the Voce Populi series.

   Margi Hofer. "Recent Discoveries in the New York
   Historical Society." As a result of cataloguing in preparation
   for opening a new study center, displaying the vast majority
   of its permanent collections long held in storage, significant
   numismatic discoveries have come to light at the New York
   Historical Society.  This presentation will focus on two
   groups of exciting finds: five very early medals of the Society
   of the Cincinnati, and a pair of United States pattern quarters
   from 1792.

   John Kraljevich. "Annapolis Silver: The Coinage of John
   Chalmers."  This will cover the currency context into which
   the Chalmers coins were issued, including archaeological
   finds of coins in the Chesapeake Bay region and contemporary
   paper money.  It will examine the place of Annapolis in the
   nation in 1783, when it was our first peacetime capital,
   through a look at documents from Washington and Jefferson
   among others. Finally, it will include John Chalmer's
   biography and the specifics of the coins he issued.

   Syd Martin. "The `Georgius Triumpho'/Danish West Indies
   Mule." The paper will examine the two newly discovered
   Georgius Triumpho/DWI mules in terms of (a) their physical
   characteristics and (b) where and when they were produced.
   This examination will tie together a number of loose ends
   with respect to an important addition to American colonial
   issues.

   Kent Ponterio.  "The First Coinage of the New World:
   Coins of the Mexico City Mint Struck during the Reign of
   Charles and Johanna." The paper will analyze recent
   discoveries in the sequences of issues and their assayers,
   based upon hoard study and original documentation."


ISRAELI ARCHAEOLOGISTS DISCOVER RARE COIN

   Dick Johnson writes: "My local paper ran this story today
   without any date or byline."

   Jerusalem -- Israeli archaeologist excavating caves near the
   Dead Sea have found nine rare silver coins believed to date
   back to a failed Jewish rebellion against the Romans in the
   second century.

   The coins add another layer to the story of the families
   Shimon Bar Kochba led into hiding in the caves of the
   Judean Desert -- what turned out to be the end of the
   second Jewish uprising against the Romans, which resulted
   in their exile.

   About 2,000 coins from the rebellion are known to exist,
   and this is only the second time archaeologists have found
   such coins on a dig, said Hanan Eshel, who led the digs
   and is the head of the Jewish Studies and Archaeology
   Department at Tel Aviv's Bar Ilan University.

   Of particular rarity is the largest Jewish coin ever issued,
   a half-ounce silver coin known as the Petra Drachma.


BOOKS SOUGHT

   Ralf W. Boepple of Stuttgart, Germany writes: "As I have
   successfully done a few months ago, I would once again like
   to address the E-Sylum readership with a request concerning
   recent numismatic publications. In the latest Ponterio catalog
   (Sale #125), Stewart Westdal describes a number of books
   that have arrived at his desk.  Some of them are of highest
   interest for me. I would be very grateful for information about
   where and how the following items might be obtained:

   "Os Recumbos de 960 Reis - The 960 Reis Overstrikes" by
   David Andre Levi, published in 2002

   "Philippine Counterstamped Coins, 1828-1839", by Quint Jose
   Oropilla y Fortich, published in 2001.


COIN WORLD NOTES

   The current issue of COIN WORLD (April 28, 2003)
   includes some items of interest to bibliophiles.

   Dan Freidus' "Colonial Americana" column (p62) highlights
   Sylvester Crosby's 1875 work, "The Early Coins of
   America."   He writes: "While some 19th century novels
   remain popular, that's shocking longevity for a reference
   book.  Historical research is rarely still current after a
   generation, let alone a century.  Sylvester Crosby's
    "The Early Coins of America" remains an essential item
   on the bookshelf of any numismatist interested in pre-
   federal coinage."

   On p82 is a short item about a new club for colonial
   collectors who specialize in Massachusetts silver.
   "A group of people interested in Massachusetts silver
   coinage has founded an informal club called the New
   England Shilling Society."

   "The purpose of the club is to promote correspondence
   and discussion of the historic series from the
   Massachusetts Bay Colony."

   "Anyone who owns a piece of Massachusetts silver
   is invited to join.   There will be no dues or obligations.
   For additional information, contact Geoff Noe at
   Noe14oak at yahoo.com

   Eric von Klinger has a nice illustrated article on U.S.
   Assay Offices, an overlooked byway of American
   Numismatics (p72).  Wouldn't it be nice if someone
   published a book or monograph on the subject?
   Has a comprehensive article or pamphlet been done
   before?


BOOK QUERIES

   Rusty Goe of  Southgate Coins, Reno, Nevada writes, "Does
   anyone knows why the following two reference works are not
   available:

   - Krause's 1991 Auction Prices Realized (Listing prices for
     auctions held in 1990)
   - Gobrecht Journal Collective Volume #3"

   [Well, the Gobrecht Journal volume 3 has indeed been
   published - I have copies of volumes 1,2,3 & 4 on my
   shelf.   Can anyone tell us about the 1991 APR?
   -Editor]


BARTH STUDY OF GERMAN NUMISMATIC JOURNALS

   Ralf Boepple continues: "Concerning Tom Fort's idea of a
   list of recent publications on numismatic literature, I fully
   support this task. It might be difficult, however, to draw up
   clear definitions of what should be included and what not.
   For a start, I would like to mention the following reference
   to a non-English article, which clearly falls within the range set
   by Mr. Fort:

   Barth, Matthias: "'Erscheint so Gott will Montags' - Deutsche
   numismatische Zeitschriften aus fünf Jahrhunderten", in:
   Numismatisches Nachrichtenblatt, September 2002, 51.
   Jahrgang, pp. 350 - 387.

   This is an exhaustive study of 500 years of numismatic
   journals in Germany and was published in the 50th anniversary
   issue of the journal of the Deutsche Numismatische
   Gesellschaft. The author counted about 200 publications,
   concentrating on Germany alone and only occasionally
   touching Austrian or Swiss journals!

   I will go back to my library and see if I can come up with
   more references from this side of the ocean!"


MORE JOHN FORD COLLECTION SALES

   As a follow up to Bob Lyall's note on sales from the John J.
   Ford Jr. collection,  Rich Hartzog adds: "And, of course,
   Stacks sold his Slave Tags a few years ago."


NUMISMATICS ON THE RADIO

   Our items on numismatic radio shows prompted Dave
   Lange to write: "I've been interviewed a number of times for
   radio shows about coins. All of these were done live via
   telephone. I have some of these shows on tape in my
   library, while one is still available online. Here's the link:

   http://12.162.161.64/cart/ProductDetail.asp?PR_ProductID=993


COLLECTION INVENTORIES

   In response to Ray Williams' item about collection inventories,
   Nancy Green, ANA Librarian writes: "The ANA library would
   also be happy to preserve collection inventories. Please don't
   forget about the rest of the country, i.e. the part outside of the
   east coast."


CORRECTION: CONSIMILAR COINS

   As a follow-up to our earlier discussion of consimilar coins,
   Ken Berger writes: "It's been too many years since I've looked
   at part my collection.   The Palo Seco Leper Colony Tokens
   do not have the same obverse & reverse.   I apologize for the
   misinformation."


TAKE MY BOOKS, PLEASE

   Ray Williams writes: "I was actually given a small library from
   a woman whose husband passed away.  I was assisting the
   Trust Dept of the bank where Diane works, with the dispersal
   of the collection.  While at the widow's house, she invited me
   into a room where her husband studied his coins.  She asked
   me if I needed any books and looking through, I said that
   there were about a dozen that I'd like to make an offer for...
   She said "NO" and said that there was only one way I was
   getting the books and that was that I MUST take all of the
   books and do it right now.  It was all immediately, or nothing.
   So Bill and I loaded them into the back of my car and I was
   riding a little low on my springs all the way home.  She was
   aware that some of the books had value, but just wanted to
   do something nice for me."

   [Your Editor had a somewhat similar situation one time.  I
   had purchased the bulk of one gentleman's library from his
   widow, and she asked me to return a few years later to
   make an offer on the remaining books. There weren't a lot
   of books, but some were quite desirable.  A fair offer could
   have been as much as $3,000, but finances were tight and
   I apologetically said, "I'm afraid I can only offer you $2,300,"
   which was the sum total of my available funds at the time.
   She replied, "Oh, I wouldn't think of accepting an offer
   like that.  I won't take a penny over a thousand dollars -
   that will be plenty."  -Editor]


FEATURED WEB SITE

   This week's featured web site is suggested by Joe Levine,
   who writes:  "Here's an interesting new site, for Ben Weiss's
   medallic collection."

      http://www.historicalartmedals.com/


  Wayne Homren
  Numismatic Bibliomania Society


  The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a
  non-profit organization promoting numismatic
  literature.   For more information please see
  our web site at http://www.coinbooks.org/
  There is a membership application available on
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