The E-Sylum v6#55, December 28, 2003
whomren at coinlibrary.com
whomren at coinlibrary.com
Sun Dec 28 19:31:45 PST 2003
Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 6, Number 55, December 28, 2003:
an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society.
Copyright (c) 2003, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society.
IT'S A NEW YEAR!
Dick Johnson writes: "At the beginning of a new year, we
pause to reflect on the gem we all share in The E-Sylum.
For the numismatic book collector, for whom it was originally
intended, The E-Sylum has become a “must read.” But The
E-Sylum has grown beyond its service to the NB collector.
For numismatic writers E-Sylum has become a treasured tool;
not only does it provide article ideas, but research capabilities
beyond compare in the collective knowledge of its 612
subscribers. (Ask a question one week, you're bound to get
a knowledgeable answer the next!).
For serious numismatists it's a unique means of keeping
up-to-date that printed coin publications cannot match in such
a timely manner. For the entire numismatic field The E-Sylum
is an international treasure.
Thank you Wayne Homren for doing this every week. And
thanks also to NBS for your sponsorship."
[Happy New Year, all. Putting The E-Sylum together each
week is a chore, but an enjoyable one. Our subscribers are
an interesting and talented bunch, and I get to look forward
your emails every day! Please help out by encouraging
friends to subscribe, answering a query or submitting a new
item or topic of interest. -Editor]
PITTSBURGH ANA EXCURSIONS
As discussed in the December 14, 2003 E-Sylum (v6#53),
plans are underway for a special outing to celebrate the 25th
anniversary of NBS at next year's ANA convention in
Pittsburgh. "We'll visit the E-Sylum Ground Zero (my library),
as well as the numismatic libraries of Asylum Editor
E. Tomlinson Fort and the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.
The latter features the rare first six volumes of the ANA's
Numismatist magazine, and a shelf of early U.S. copper
literature from the library of George H. Clapp.
Separately, if there is enough interest, we may be able to
arrange a viewing of selected coins from the Carnegie
collection, which includes Clapp's Large Cent collection,
some colonials, and some U.S. patterns."
For those who may have missed the previous request,
please email me if you have interest in the BOOK trip, the
COIN trip, or BOTH. The convention is August 18-22,
2004. My address is whomren at coinlibrary.com.
GEDDENK TALER REFERENCE SOUGHT
Steve Huber writes: "I've been told there is a new reference
for Geddenk Talers. These are German medals about the size
of a U.S. Half minted from about 1890 through 1930. Many
memorialized war efforts and officers in 1914/1915. Not only
can I not locate any source for such a new reference but cannot
locate any specific reference on the subject. Can anyone help
me locate such a reference? Thanks."
NOTES ON THE ANR SEBRING SALE CATALOG
The catalog of the January 5-6, 2004 Classics sale from
American Numismatic Rarities makes for interesting reading.
The sale opens with another nice selection of U.S. pattern
coins and ends with the Thomas H. Sebring collection of
shipwreck coins and related items. The Sebring collection
has a two-page introduction by Bob Evans of the S.S. Central
America recovery team. In addition to recovered coins and
ingots, the consignment features related medals, including the
1858 medal struck for the state of Virginia to honor the
Central America's heroic captain William Lewis Hearndon.
For bibliophiles, lot 1666 is a deluxe leatherbound version of
Q. David Bowers' 2002 "A California Gold Rush History."
".. front endpapers include a pinch of 'authentic gold dust from
the Central America' protected behind plastic in the miner's
pan of the illustrated scene - a nice touch, inspired by the
1849 second edition of the 1842 'A Manual of Gold and
Silver Coins of All Nations' and the '1850 New VArieties of
Gold and Silver Coins' bu Jacob R. Eckfeldt and William E.
DuBois of the Philadelphia Mint, works which included a
specimen of California gold dust behind a mica window....
This edition cost nearly $1,000 per copy to produce.."
The catalog includes an essay by John Kraljevich,
"My Friend Tom Sebring." John describes meeting
Sebring when attending his first coin show in West Chester,
PA at age 10 in 1988. Sebring invited John to join the
local coin club, which he did, and had the chance to see
and learn from Tom and other experienced numismatists
every month for the next seven years.
Related to a recent E-Sylum topic, the auction also
includes a 1783 Chalmers Shilling (lot 1039). From the
lot description: "The recent discovery of a Chalmers
threepence in the basement of a house on the street
where Chalmers lived in 1783, covered in such papers
as the Washington Post and Baltimore Sun, has led to
speculation that the basement was the site of Chalmers'
mint. While the discovery is an exciting one, the presence
of a single coin is not persuasive evidence of minting activity,
particularly in the absence of silver scrap, minting equipment
or tools, or other implements manufactured by Chalmers.
We prefer the historical record, which notes an outbuilding
present on property that Chalmers actually owned and
occupied up the street from the location of the recent
discovery.
LOEWINGER PROOF GOLD COINAGE BOOK
An ad in the January 5, 2004 issue of Coin World (p70)
offers a new book by Robert J. Loewinger, M.D. titled
"Proof Gold Coinage of the United States." It is a
hardcovered 128 page book measuring 7.75" x 10.5",
with 136 full color illustrations. A article by Paul Gilkes
(p3) notes that Dr. Loewinger will have "an extensive
exhibit of high-grade type Proof gold to be displayed
Jan. 8 to 11 during the Florida United Numismatists
convention in Orlando."
U.S. COINAGE RENAISSANCE BOOK IN PREPARATION
The January 5, 2004 Coin World also includes a Guest
Commentary by Roger W. Burdette, where he notes:
"During the past four years, I have examined thousands
of documents on the subject of the Mint Bureau's
subsidiary silver coin redesign of 1916 and 1917. This
research is in preparation of the book, "Renaissance of
American Coinage, 1916-1921." Research has involved
primary sources in manuscript collections of academic,
art, government and private archives." We will look
forward to the publication of Burdette's research, which
should be an interesting look at a period of important
change in the nation's coinage.
ANCIENT COIN OF THE DAY
Arthur Shippee thought the following URL would be of
interest. It's a web log (or "blog") being used by the author
to publish a coin a day from his collection of ancient coins.
The text is brief, but the images are great.
http://hobbyblog.blogspot.com/
He also writes: "The following links are from Explorator, a
weekly collection of web-posted news about the pre-Modern
world. (See http://www.atrium-media.com/rogueclassicism)
Here's one to build a crackpot theory on ... a Roman coin was
found during construction in New Zealand:
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/12/26/1072308676546.html
http://home.nzcity.co.nz/news/default.asp?id=38338&cat=1005&c=w
MEDAL DIES OF A PUBLIC CHARACTER
Regarding the 1862 U.S. Mint pricelist discussed last week,
Rich Hartzog writes: "Interesting! May I inquire if any of the
Indian Peace medals were available in silver?
Thanks! The E-Sylum is 'must' reading. I may just have to
break down and join NBS..."
[Please do! NBS is far more than just The E-Sylum. Only
members receive our quarterly print journal, the Asylum. NBS
also sponsors meetings and literature symposia at major coin
shows around the U.S. If you like The E-Sylum, you'll love
the in-depth articles and talks your NBS membership supports.
I welcome all non-member E-Sylum readers to consider making
NBS your New Year's resolution for 2004. Membership is only
$15 per year to North American addresses, and $20 elsewhere.
As always, information on joining NBS may be found at the end
of this email message. -Editor]
Jan Monroe writes: "I am also very interested in getting a copy
of the 1862 Mint price list. This list may shed some light on the
silver medals available to the public. I would think it worth
publishing in the Asylum."
[Here are the silver medals offered in the pricelist:
Cabinet Medal
Presidency Relinquished
Allegiance Medal
Time Increases His Fame
Commencement of Cabinet
Double Head - Washington and Jackson
Single Head - " "
Sizes (in sixteenths of an inch) are: 37, 25, 18, 16, 12, 10, 10.
Prices are: $5.00, $3.00, $1.12, $0.75, $0.35, $0.25, $0.20.
Jan notes: "Thanks for the info. It is very helpful. I think is
interesting that no silver Indian Peace Medals are offered
to the public on this list."
The gold medals are:
Time Increases His Fame
Commencement of Cabinet
Double Head - Washington and Jackson
Single Head - " "
Sizes (same as silver): 16, 12, 10, 10
Prices: $12.00, $6.25, $10, $10
-Editor]
BANK NOTE COMPANY DIRECTORY
Regarding Dave Bower's desire for a "Dictionary of Early
American Bank Note Engravers and Printers", Wendell Wolka
writes: "Enjoyed reading the E-Sylum #54 (as I always do) and
noticed Dave Bowers' comments about a dictionary of early
bank note companies and printers ... I seem to recall that
Foster Wild Rice made such an effort when he published the
"Antecedents of the American Bank Note Company" back
in the 1950s (?). Someplace in my library (we all have that
problem, don't we!) I have a copy and it seems that he lists
the years of operation of all of the different partnerships and
name changes."
[Great name: Foster Wild Rice. Did he have an uncle
named Ben? -Editor]
Joe Boling writes: "Is it possible that QDB does not know
about Gene Hessler's "The Engraver's Line", a volume much
like what he says he'd like to have?"
PIERCE'S ORMSBY
Charles Davis writes: "I devoted an entire page to the Pierce's
Ormsby in Champa 1 where it sold to a mail bidder at $3,630."
[NOTE: $3,300 plus a 10% buyer's fee is $3,630. -Editor]
Michael J. Sullivan adds: You asked about the ownership history
for the Ormsby appearing in the Heritage - CAA January auction.
As Charlie Davis describes in Champa One (Nov. 1994),
"obtained privately from Robert Wester." While estimated at
$5,000, it opened at $3,100 closing at $3,300 with Hugh Shull as
the floor buyer. So ...there is a piece of the story. By the way,
when Armand Champa acquired this second copy of Ormsby in
his library, he sold his first Ormsby via a West Coast dealer to a
St. Louis collector. This occurred sometime around 1992."
THE LONG AND SHORT OF URLS
Regarding the "mile-and-a-half-long" URL for the Newman
Museum article, Stephen Searle writes: "You may be interested
in looking into http://tinyurl.com/ for your URLs in the E-Sylum.
It is free and it works.
I made one for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch article on the
Newman Numismatic Museum you provided.
http://tinyurl.com/2xcku
Keep up your excellent work!"
[After plowing through dozens of junk emails telling me how
to make certain things longer, it's a pleasant switch to read
about making anything shorter. I may use this in the future
when the situation calls. But readers are always advised to
never count on any URL existing far into the future. On the
web, everything changes constantly. So follow Mike Hodder's
example - if you want to archive a referenced article for your
files, print it out right away. Don't wait, or you may be
disappointed later. -Editor]
NEW ANA NUMISMATIC RESEARCHER
David Sklow writes: "I have been hired by the American
Numismatic Association. Sherry and I are very excited to be
moving to Colorado Springs. I will be the new Numismatic
Researcher."
[Congratulations to Dave, who is the former NBS
Secretary-Treasurer and a longtime ANA history buff and
volunteer ANA Historian. His monthly columns in the
Numismatist magazine are always interesting, and he'll make
a fine researcher. -Editor]
TRUMBULL WHITE BOOK: BOTH SIDES OF THE SHIELD
Gar Travis writes: "I have picked up a very interesting hard
cover book, copyright 1895, a privately printed 1st edition of
"Silver and Gold or Both Sides of the Shield, with portraits
(photographs) of leading Statesmen and Economists". It was
edited by Trumbull White (1868-1941), author of "The World's
Columbian Exposition, " War in the East," "Pictorial History of
Our War with Spain for Cuba's Freedom", "In the Shadow of
Death: Martinique and the World's Great Disasters", "Our New
Possessions", "Through Darkest America", "Complete Story
of the San Francisco Horror: Scenes of Death and Terror;
also Eruption of Mt. Vesuvius and More Disasters; San
Francisco Earthquake of 1906", etc.
The book is explained on the leading page as: A symposium of
the views of all parties on the Currency Question as expressed
by their leading advocates. Thoroughly expounding the doctrines
of Free Silver, mono-metalism and bi-metalism, with all the
arguments, pro. and con. From the Pens of John Sherman, Wm.
B. Allison, John G. Carlisle, Edward Atkinson, Wm. M. Stewart,
W.J. Bryan, Wm. A. Peffer, Wm. H. Harvey, Benj. R. Tillman,
and others.
Trumbull White was the first editor of Redbook Magazine,
founded in 1903, given that name because White said "red
is the color of happiness". He was editor of Ridgeway's
"Everybody's Magazine" beginning with the October 1911
issue in 1914 he was managing editor after which he
departed the magazine. While a journalist, he was the first
to advise the young Ernest Hemingway that the best writing
comes from personal experience and during the Spanish
American War he was a well known correspondent,
popular author and historian.
The book apparently was reprinted in 2001 "by" John
Sherman and "edited" by Trumbull White
ISBN: 0898756588 - Paperback."
JOSH TATUM REFERENCES
Jess W. Gaylor writes: "Here are a few references to the
Josh Tatum Mystery, even one from an old E-Sylum. Thanks
for the great work.
http://www.thegavel.net/2009.html
http://www.pcgs.com/articles/article997.chtml
http://www.swafde.org/josh.html
http://www.coinbooks.org/club_nbs_esylum_v03n19.html"
[These references are fine, but they don't answer the original
question, which Pete Smith brought up in v3n19 and
Bob Leonard revived in last week's issue: Where was the
story of Josh Tatum first published? The earliest reference
Bob found was in Lynn Glaser's 1968 "Counterfeiting in
America" book (pp. 224-6). -Editor]
FEATURED WEB SITE
This week's featured web site is the numismatic section of
2020site.org, a site devoted to preserving useful historical
and other documents in electronic form. The home page
quotes Brother Bartholomew of Northumbria, A.D. 1159:
"If any words are worth saving, it is these words."
The site has three numismatic subsections, but the source
of the texts are not well-documented.
History of the US Mint
Coins of the US Mint
War Medals of the Confederacy
The History of the Mint section includes
Notes on the Early History of the Mint
(From the Diary of Robert Morris)
Establishment of the Philadelphia Mint
Facsimile of Original Document of Congress that
Establishes the Mint
Payroll for Mint from 1795
Extract From Rules and Regulations Adopted For the Mint,
January 1, 1825
Enlargement of the Mint
http://www.2020site.org/
http://www.2020site.org/mint/
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
membership questions, contact David at this email
address: wdperki at attglobal.net
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