The E-Sylum v6#33, August 17, 2003

[whomren at coinlibrary.com]

Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 6, Number 33, August 17, 2003:
an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society.
Copyright (c) 2003, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society.


SUBSCRIBER UPDATE

   Among recent new subscribers are Chris Faulkner and
   Max Spiegel.  Welcome aboard!  We now have 586
   subscribers.


BURIAL SITE RECOVERY

   Len Augsberger writes: "The issue of grave robbery and the
   Central America is a tricky one.  Modern  thought seems to
   have no problem with "recovering" ancient burial sites such
   as the Egyptian pyramids.  More recently, the Titanic
   discovery elicited minimal outcry, while the Edmund Fitzgerald
   (lost in 1975) has evoked strong anti-exploration sentiment
   from surviving family members.  The "statue of limitations" on
   public sentiment relating to shipwreck recovery would seem
   to exist to the extent of perhaps 100 years."


ANOTHER GOLD SHIP FOUND: S.S. REPUBLIC

   According to an Associated Press report published in the
   Charlotte Observer and elsewhere today, another shipwreck
   possibly containing millions of dollars worth of gold coins has
   been located 1,700 feet of water in international waters
   southeast of Savannah, GA.

   "The SS Republic was carrying 59 passengers and 20,000
   $20 gold coins from New York to New Orleans when it sank
   in a hurricane off Savannah, Ga., on Oct. 25, 1865, according
   to newspaper accounts and other records.

   All the passengers survived, but the coins -- intended to help
   pay for reconstruction of the South after the Civil War -- went
   to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. An expert has estimated
   they would be worth $120 million to $180 million today."

   If true, the haul could top the S.S. Central America treasure.
   For the full story, follow this link to the Charlotte Observer
   web site:
   http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/6552068.htm


JUSTH & HUNTER GOLD BAR

   Following up on the discussion of the Justh & Hunter gold
   bar in the Lilly collection at the Smithsonian Institution, Bob
   Leonard writes: "This same bar (Justh & Hunter) was
   condemned four years ago at the 1999 ANA Convention
   numismatic theater ("Great Debate") by Ted Buttrey, and for
   the same reasons, too (markings are wrong), but Prof.
   Buttrey lacked the presentation and publicity skills of Evans,
   Holabird, and Fitch, so he was not taken seriously by many
   present or covered by the Associated Press.  It is good to
   see that the "Great Debate" is not over after all."

   [There was a great deal of commentary in The E-Sylum
   regarding the 1999 "Great Debate".  See our web site for
   archived back issues.  -Editor]


NBS AWARD PHOTOS

   Many thanks to Eric Holcomb for providing photos of the
   NBS meeting award recipients at the American Numismatic
   Association convention in Baltimore.   Thanks also to
   Bruce Perdue, who added them to our web site.

   http://www.coinbooks.org/bowersaward.html
   http://www.coinbooks.org/hirtaward.html


WITHER CANADA?

   Paul Withers writes: "One was amused by the correspondence
   relating to the omission of Canada and I can only quote one of
   the USA's more well-known citizens, Al Capone, who said :
   'I don't even know what street Canada is on.' "


CANADIAN NUMISMATIC BIBLIOGRAPHY REMINDER

   Speaking of Canada, Darryl Atchison sends this reminder "for
   those people interested in purchasing our Canadian Numismatic
   Bibliography at pre-publication prices.  The deadline of Oct. 15
   is approaching soon enough and Ron tells me that orders are not
   coming in as quickly as we had hoped.

   We had the sample of the text for both volumes as well as a
   binders' mock up of the finished product at the Canadian
   Numismatic Association convention in Windsor in mid-July.
   Some of our members had an opportunity to view the draft
   and proposed volumes while they were there.  Everyone had
   favourable comments to make about our work.  Perhaps some
   of those people who had an opportunity to view our work either
   in Windsor or beforehand could send in some of their comments
   for our readers to get unbiased commentary.

   The price again is:  $98 (US) or $140 (Cdn) for the two volume
   set.  A delivery charge of $14 (the same in both currencies) will
   also apply.  Orders received after mid-October will not be able
   to avail of this pre-publication price.  The new prices for later
   orders will be $140 (US) or $200 (Cdn) plus the $14 delivery
   charge.

   Cheques should be made payable to:
   Numismatic Education Society of Canada
   nd orders should be sent to:

   Numismatic Education Society of Canada
   C/o Ron Greene
   P.O. Box 1351
   Victoria, BC
   Canada
   V8W 2W7

   The numbers of copies printed will be strictly limited as we
   intend to sell the majority of the published copies on pre-order
   only.  Thank you once again."

   [I would again encourage E-Sylum readers with even a
   passing interest in Canadian numismatics to order a copy
   of this monumental work.  My order is already in. -Editor]


BROOME MARIA THERESIA RESTRIKE MONOGRAPH

   Regarding last week's Featured Web Page on the Maria
   Theresia restrikes, Philip Mernick (phil at mernicks.com)
   writes: "This originally appeared in Numismatic Chronicle
   which is the journal of the Royal Numismatic Society, not
   the London as on your excellent web site which I got from
   the latest E-Sylum.  It was later reprinted in monograph
   form as number 1 in the series of Doris Stockwell Memorial
   Papers published by the British Association of Numismatic
   Societies (BANS). It is still available at 3 pounds plus
   postage. The link below gives details of our other publications.
   We also offer videotaped lectures but unfortunately not in
   US format."
   http://www.coinclubs.freeserve.co.uk/publications.htm

   [Thanks for setting the record straight, and providing
   the link to the British Association of Numismatic Societies
   publications.  They are:

   * Broome, "The 1780 restrike talers of Maria Theresia"
   * Hawkins, "Four studies of British metallic tickets and
         commercial checks of the 19th and 20th centuries"
   * Kent, "The pattern of bronze coinage under Constantine 1"
   * Woolf, "The Sovereign Remedy: touch pieces and the
        king's evil"
   * Waddell, Co-operative checks: tickets, tokens and coins.
   * Manville, The British Association of Numismatic Societies:
        its first 50 years 1947-1997.

   -Editor]


1935 STACK'S PUBLICATIONS SOUGHT

   David Fanning (fanning32 at earthlink.net) writes: "I am
   trying to determine whether there were any publications
   issued by Stack's and dated 1935 other than their first
   auction catalogue and a premium-paid (prices-paid-for-)
   list titled "Standard Premium Price List of Rare United
   States Coins." The premium-paid list is listed and illustrated
   in Remy Bourne's volume on the 1930s price lists and is
   marked "Newest Edition," though probably because it was
   taken from a generic template.  Does anyone else know
   of any Stack's publications from 1935? Any earlier?
   Thanks."


CONVICT LOVE TOKENS?

   While searching for a web site to feature, I came across a
   reference to the following book: "Convict Love Tokens : The
   Leaden Hearts the Convicts Left Behind,"  edited by Michele
   Field and Timothy Millett. Kent Town, S. Aust. : Wakefield
   Press, 1998.

   Interesting topic - a cross between love tokens and prison
   tokens.  Has anyone seen the book?   A subsequent web
   search located a December 1998 story about a British
   Museum exhibit of author Millett's collection:

   "AN EXTRAORDINARY collection of love tokens
   engraved by convicted Britons as farewell mementoes to
   loved ones before they were transported to Australia are to
   be exhibited in London.

   Timothy Millett, a leading numismatist who has built up the
   collection since 1984, is lending it to the British Museum on
   January 13. He described the tokens as "the leaden hearts
   the convicts left behind". Most were sentenced for offences
   as petty as stealing a ribbon.

   The tokens were scratched in prison cells on to the
   smoothed-out surface of copper pennies, just 36mm in
   circumference. Intended for sweethearts and family
   members, they carry poignant messages heavy with despair."

   http://newsarch.rootsweb.com/th/read/AUS-Tasmania/1998-12/0914985132


HOLEY DOLLAR INFO SOUGHT

   Chris Faulkner writes: "Does anyone have a copy of the
   May 2, 1903, Geoffrey Adams Sale? I believe lot 263 is
   a Prince Edward Island Holey Dollar and I would like to get
   a photocopy of the page with the lot, along with the  name
   of the consignor, the price realized, and the buyer, if any of
   that information should be known. While I'm at it, if anyone
   out there has a PEI Holey Dollar or Dump that I don't know
   about, please get in touch.  I've been researching these things
   for about twelve years now and want to make sure I inventory
   every known specimen (including counterfeits, fakes and
   replicas). Thanks. Please contact me at:
   ChrisFaulkner at pigeon.carleton.ca."


NEW ORLEANS PLANTERS' BANK INFORMATION

   Karl Moulton writes: "In response to Bob Leonard's
   request on the Planter's Bank C/S cut quarters,  I can offer
   the following:

   One of the earliest appearances in any American auction
   catalogue of the Planter's Bank cut and counterstamped 8
   Real quarter pieces can be found in the June 26, 1890
   Lorin Parmelee sale conducted by New York Coin &
   Stamp (Harlan P Smith & David Proskey) lots #290 & #291.
   The first lot is of a genuine piece (which sold for $9.), while
   the second lot contains a piece with an additional stamp
   "Bad" (this lot sold for $4.50).

   Interestingly, Parmelee had 5 different cut Spanish pieces
   with PB counterstamps.  The design, as described in the
   Parmelee catalogue is, heraldic eagle: NOUVELLE
   ORLEANS, P. B. in circle of 16 stars and links.  Although
   they were not considered important enough to include in
   the sale catalogue, there were plates of these five pieces
   taken by Boston photographer Baldwin Coolidge shortly
   before the sale took place.  The one set still extant was
   offered in the March 23, 1995 Armand Champa II sale,
   conducted by Bowers & Merena, lot #1409.

   These pieces were formerly considered tokens, primarily due
   to Lyman Low's incorrect attribution to Puech Bein & Co.,
   approximately 100 years ago.  They are not tokens, but
   rather emergency issued coinage which circulated as "interim"
   American quarter dollars in the Louisiana area between 1811-
   1816.  These unofficial American counterstamped quarter
   pieces were needed to help with the daily commerce and
   exchange of smaller Spanish "bits" which were valued at
   12 1/2 cents.  The reason they stopped circulating was due to
   the arrival of nearly 70,000 pieces of the newly re-instated and
   re-designed 1815 United States quarter dollars from the
   Philadelphia mint aboard the ship Big Free Ocean.

   It was at the insistence of Planter's Bank cashier, Bailey
   Blanchard (as per the board members of the bank), that we
   had the quarter dollar denomination continuing as a circulating
   denomination in the United States.  Production had been
   unofficially discontinued in 1807, after Senator Uriah Tracy
   had re-introduced legislation to make twenty cent and two
   cent pieces.

   There have been various offerings of these Planters Bank pie
   shaped cut and counterstamped pieces scattered throughout
   American coin auction catalogues over the years.  I too,
   would be interested in knowing about the 1863 French book
   which has a reference noting these were American related
   pieces."


GETTYSBURG NUMISMATIC FORUM PLANNED

   Gail Baker, Director of Education at the American Numismatic
   Association writes: "Thanks for running the comments by David
   Menchell about ANA's very successful 18th Century Numismatics
   Seminar at Colonial Williamsburg.  28 students, 3 instructors and
   12 additional family members participated in the various activities.
   ANA is planning to repeat the experience in 2005, with some
   modifications and additions to the schedule. No date or prices
   are yet available.

   Next year, in conjunction with the ANA Anniversary Convention
   in Pittsburgh, ANA will be hosting a similar Seminar at
   Gettysburg on Civil War Numismatics. Since it is currently still
   in the planning stages, I welcome suggestions from potential
   participants."

   [Gail may be reached at education at money.org.   As the
   General Chairman for the 2004 Pittsburgh ANA Convention,
   your editor is quite keen on having many varied and interesting
   speakers at both the convention and related events such as the
   planned Civil War Numismatics Seminar.    And what better
   place to recruit great numismatic speakers than The E-Sylum?
   If you'll be attending the convention, please consider giving
   a presentation on a interesting topic.

   Gail is the coordinator, and all proposals should go thorough
   her.  Filling out one short form is all it takes to be considered
   for the agenda.  A copy is on the ANA web site at this address:
   http://www.money.org/numtheprop-balt.html.  The form is
   labeled "Baltimore" should soon be updated to read "Pittsburgh"
   Baltimore had a fabulous roster of presentations that will be
   tough to beat.  But we can try!   It's the best time and place of
   the year to get in front of U.S. collectors and researchers.
   -Editor]


CASINO SLOT MACHINES

   Greg Heim writes: "Regarding the article on coinless EZPAY
   and FASTPAY casinos which use tickets:  One of these
   casinos is the newly opened Borgata in Atlantic City, NJ.  It
   should be noted that despite the fact they are coinless, coins
   and tokens are still placed in the hoppers in case of a system
   failure.  In the case of the Borgata, only tokens of $10 and
   above can be purchased from the cashiers.  That makes the
   $1, $2, and $5 tokens quite collectible because you cannot
   feed in money into a slot and cash out.  If you collect these,
   your best bet is to ask at the change booth for any loose
   ones.  Chances are they will say no, but in several instances,
   I have obtained about $12 face value.

   Lastly, as a frequent casino patron, I love the fact that the
   tickets come out.  It saves on down time.  From a numismatic
   standpoint, however it stinks."


TURNPIKE CANCELS EXACT CHANGE LANES

   In line with the recurring theme of disappearing uses of coins
   in commerce, Dick Johnson writes: "The Massachusetts
   Turnpike this week began eliminating exact change lanes.
   They were receiving just too many foreign coins and other
   objects in their coin toss-in receptacles.  Turnpike officials
   said they were losing thousands of dollars every month and
   hope to complete the conversion by Labor Day.

   This says something about the honesty of driving Americans,
   who make sport of beating the system for a couple of quarters.
   So drivers in Massachusetts must now go through the lanes
   manned by toll takers, or sign up for their Fast Lane program
   (where a sticker registers the number of times a car passes go).

   An Associated Press article ran with a picture of the debris
   retrieved from one toll booth cash box. Most were foreign
   coins with a few tokens and small medals, but also were casino
   chips, and dollar bills torn in half.  Sorry, Mac, paper doesn't
   work in coin tolls.

   Even when transportation companies sell this flotsam to foreign
   exchange dealers and coin dealers their loses must be significant
   to close the change lanes."

   [I found a copy of the AP article at the following address, but
   no picture.  -Editor

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2003/08/14/turnpike_to_eliminate_exact_change_lanes
]

   In response to a query, token dealer Rich Hartzog notes:
   "While I've not gotten any stuff from the Massachusetts
   Turnpike, I hate to see any source of supply disappear!
   Over the years, I've gotten some 18,000+ pounds of tokens
   and world coinage from a guy who got all the non-US stuff
   from a tollway in another state.   In recent years, they decided
   to destroy all non-US coins, as they were afraid the material
   was coming  back to them.  It was fun while it lasted!
   Figuring about 90 coins/tokens per pound, I sold some 1.6
   million pieces (!).  Tons of Chuck-E-Cheese tokens and
   other quarter-sized arcade tokens.  While I didn't have time
   to sort all the tonage, I did find an oversized PA saloon token
   in one lot."


TRAVELING SAINT-GAUDENS EXHIBIT

   The following is an excerpt from an ANA Press Release:
   "The first major traveling exhibit of works by the American
   Renaissance sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens will open at
   the American Numismatic Association Money Museum and
   neighboring Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center on August 28
   as part of an 11-city United States tour."

   The tour "features 75 of the sculptor's most famous works --
   including reductions of major outdoor commissions, full-sized
   works cast in bronze, marble and plaster, portrait reliefs,
   decorative objects and coins--an outstanding retrospective
   of the master's work."

   "At the urging of President Theodore Roosevelt, Saint-Gaudens
   created two of the most beautiful U.S. gold coins--the double
   eagle ($20) and eagle ($10). The Liberty design for the $20
   was adapted by the United States Mint in 1987 for its American
   Eagle gold bullion coin."

   "Subsequent venues include:
    Allentown Art Museum
    (Pennsylvania), November 20 - January 18, 2004;

   Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester
   (New York), February 12 - April 11;

   Frick Art and Historical Center
   (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), May 6- July 4;

   Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia
   (Athens),  July 29 - September 26;

   Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts
   (Alabama), October 21- January 2, 2005;

   Smith College Museum of Art
   (Northampton, Massachusetts), January 26 - March 20;

   Wichita Art Museum
   (Kansas), April 15 - June 12;

   Center for the Arts
   (Vero Beach, Florida), July 7 - September 5;

   Munson-William Proctor Museum of Art
   (Utica, New York), September 29 - November 27."

   For more information, visit  http://www.tme.org/ and
   http://www.tme.org/exhibitions_on_tour.htm


KRAUSE QUERY

   Robert Laviana writes: "Is there a Krause volume covering
   Europe or World Coins for the 17th Century? I know that
   Germany has one issued. Is it merged with a general volume?
   Any specific titles? Is it out of print? The Krause bookstore
   does not indicate one available.  Thanks for any assistance."


WELL, SHRIVEL MY SCISSEL

   Dick Johnson writes: "The definition for SCISSEL in last week's
   E-Sylum was not entirely accurate. Not only is it the long strips
   of metal from which blanks (not coins, blanks) are cut, but also
   the trimmings from other metal-working operations. Workers
   today are more apt to use the term SKELETON SCRAP for
   the blanked strips rather than the archaic word "scissel."

   The shavings from turning on a lathe is scissel; so are the rings
   trimmed off the edges of medals struck on oversize blanks (like
   those forming an integral loop at the top). Scissel or skeleton
   scrap is useful at a mint because it is the exact alloy formula as
   coins being struck.  It can be melted and rerolled into new
   strips for blanking without being reformulated (tested and
   virgin metal added to give the exact ratio of two or more metal
   elements).

   Scissel is similar to another term, SHRUFF.  Scissel is clean
   metal scrap, shruff is dirty metal. Shruff comes from the trash
   barrels in metal-working shops in which everything is tossed
   in, plus floor sweepings. It needs to be processed to recover
   useful metal. In contrast, scissel is tossed into the melting pot
   intact.

   In large operations, skeleton scrap is either cut into small
   pieces or folded onto itself rolling the strips into balls. This
   process is called cabbaging. It is easier to handle the loose
   pieces or the "cabbages" tossing these into the melting pot
   rather than strips.

   I have walked the hallways and docks of metal-working
   plants and seen dozens of large containers overflowing with
   metal scrap, scissel. These await shipment to metal processors.

   The wealthiest families near metal-working centers are not
   the inventors of the metal products, not the manufacturers,
   not the company investors, not the salesmen. The wealthiest
  families are the scrap metal dealers."


JACKSON QUARTERS

   Regarding artist Paul Jackson stickered quarters, David L Ganz
   writes: "I've got two in my collection, both of which Paul gave
   me when he visited my NY law office earlier this year.  None
   seen in circulation, but what a great story."


MCMURTRY BOOK STORE, ARCHER CITY, TEXAS

   A recent Reuters article featured a huge used bookstore in
   out-of-the-way Archer City, Texas.  Should any of our
   readers have a chance to travel there, it might be an interesting
   place to poke around.

  "Dusty streets, a blinking traffic light and churning oil rigs in
   the bone-dry hills are the backdrop for the classic movie
   "The Last Picture Show" -- and for an unlikely oasis for used
   book lovers.

   Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Larry McMurtry, author of
   "Terms of Endearment," "Lonesome Dove" and "The Last
   Picture Show," has turned his hometown of Archer City,
   Texas, into what several book dealers say is one of the
   preeminent places in the United States to search for used
   books.

   His store, called Booked Up, fills four buildings in the town
   square and has between 200,000 and 300,000 books on
   the shelves."

   "Explaining the appeal of owning a rare bookshop, McMurtry
   said, "Writing is an imaginative, emotional, emotive effort. The
   process of selling rare and out of print books is much drier.
   For me, it has always been a perfect balance."

   The article makes an interesting read:
   http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?storyID=3277380


DON'T SPEND IT ALL IN ONE PLACE

   The recently "found" 1913 Liberty Nickel was long thought
   to be an altered piece used as a decoy for potential thieves.
   The Western Morning News, the regional daily newspaper
   serving Devon, Cornwall, West Somerset and West Dorset.,
   UK, reported a theft in which a decoy played a part.

   "Bungling burglars who launched a million-pound raid on a
   popular Cornish tourist attraction escaped with little more
   than "paper money".

   Thieves broke into Cornish Goldsmiths, near Redruth, in the
   early hours of Friday and targeted a new display of a million
   pounds in £5 notes."

   "What the thieves had not realised was that real fivers were
   only bound to the top of the bundles - the rest was only cut
   up pieces of paper."

   "The attraction is full of valuable items including luxury pieces
   of gold, although these are securely locked away every night.
   The centre, which is on the site of the former tin streaming
   works at Portreath which once yielded gold, is also home to
   James Bond's famous Aston Martin DB5."

 http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=103354&command=displayContent&sourceNode=103331&contentPK=6628534



NOW THAT'S A BIG CHECK

   On August 7 Reuters reported that "A Florida woman
   thought she was getting a certified check for $85 but her
   bank mistakenly made it out for more than $48.7 million."

   "The Bank of Pensacola said the teller entered the check
   number in the space for the check amount. The check
   could not have been cashed, officials said."

   http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?&storyID=3238830


FEATURED WEB PAGES

   This week's featured web pages are an introduction to colliery
   checks, coal mining tokens of the U.K.


http://freespace.virgin.net/mark.smith30/PitchecksanIntroduction.htm
      http://www.d.lane.btinternet.co.uk/pitcheck.htm

  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
  the web site.  To join, print the application and
  return it with your check to the address printed
  on the application. For those without web access,
  write to W. David Perkins, NBS Secretary-Treasurer,
  P.O. Box 212, Mequon, WI  53092-0212.

  For Asylum mailing address changes and other
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  address: wdperki at attglobal.net

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