The E-Sylum v6#25, June 20, 2003

[whomren at coinlibrary.com]

Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 6, Number 25, June 20, 2003:
an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society.
Copyright (c) 2003, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society.


SUBSCRIBER UPDATE

   Among recent new subscribers is NBS member Peter Koch.
  Welcome aboard!  We now have 569 subscribers.


S. S. CENTRAL AMERICA FILM TO BE SHOWN SUNDAY

   No, it's not Sunday yet.  But in order to publish the following
   announcement in a timely manner, this edition of The E-Sylum
   is being sent a couple days early.  Dave Bowers writes: "This
   Sunday, June 22 at 7 p.m. on the History Channel, the
   Charlton Heston-narrated film about gold and the S.S.
   Central America will be shown.  I have a few "bit" parts
   as do other "numismatolgists" you know."


NEW SPINK WEB SITE

   From the company news release: "Spink is pleased to
   announce that our new website at www.spink.com is now
   live, offering stock for sale on-line, an on-line bidding facility
   for our auctions, and much more.

   The website has been designed with the needs of the collector
   in mind and new features will follow. We would very much
   appreciate your comments and feedback on the new site,
   and hope that you find the spink.com experience an
   enjoyable one."

   [The Spink book department has its own section on the
   site.  To get there directly, use this link:
   http://www.spink.com/departments/books.asp -Editor]


ABOUT THAT 1873-CC NO ARROWS DIME

   Scott Rubin writes: "About the 1873-CC No Arrows Dime -
   I wrote an article which appeared in Bowers and Merena's
   Rare Coin Review and I think reprinted in the Eliasberg
   Catalogue along with the Quarter.  In the article I mention that
   the 19th century Randall Sale contained such a dime.  At the
   time of Heaton's book on mint marked coinage he did not
   consider this coin to be unique which at the time lead me to
   believe there was more then one of them."

   Rusty Goe writes: "Well, it was fun while it lasted, but PCGS
   has acknowledged that there has NOT been a new 1873-CC
   No Arrows dime certified.  Apparently, the listing in the Pop
   report was due to a "mechanical error" (typo).

   This is what we suspected all along, and that is why we
   asked to speak to one of PCGS's key personnel, who
   undeniably confirmed that there was in fact a second specimen
   graded.  We had no reason to doubt the veracity of their
   spokesman, who was unwavering even after being informed
   of what a significant event it would be.

   Several years ago a similar incident occurred. A second
   1873-CC No Arrows dime appeared on the PCGS pop
   report, but it was almost immediately discovered to be a typo.
   The owner of the coin actually had some fun with it at coin
   shows, showing his beat up circulated 1873-CC No Arrows
   dime in a PCGS holder, and offering it for sale at approximately
   $5500.  The certificate on the holder said No Arrows, but the
   coin itself, of course, had the arrows.  If you have a 1999 pop
   report, you can look it up.  But it was soon corrected, and it
   wasn't until 2003 that this latest one appeared.

   Coin World's Bill Gibbs pursued this current story after we
   reported it to him.  Upon further examination of their data,
   PCGS's rep. told Gibbs that his initial response had been
   pre-mature, and the population figure was for an 1873-CC
   WITH Arrows dime in the VG - VF range. Bill Gibbs and I
   agreed that this would have been a sensational story if it had
   in fact been a NO Arrows dime.

   Incidents such as this illustrate how influential population data
   can be to the coin hobby.  Integrity and accuracy are of
   paramount importance, and can not be taken lightly. There
   have been millions of coins certified since 1986, and it is easy
   for many to get lost in the shuffle.  Most of the coins are
   inconsequential, e.g. - 1881-S dollars in MS-63.  But
   statistics for classic rarities must be held to stricter standards.
   A red light needs to flash when dates with extremely low pop
   figures are added to the reports.  If these additions prove to
   be accurate, press releases need to be issued to share the
   news with the rest of the collector community.

   In some ways its disappointing that a second 1873-CC No
   Arrows dime was not discovered, but in another way, it is
   also satisfying to preserve the revered status afforded to the
   Eliasberg specimen.  Coin collecting can always use celestial
   classics.

   As a sidenote: Special thanks to Len A. who offered us an
   interesting piece of Carson City lore.

   Any comments can be sent to: Rusty Goe,  Southgate Coins
   5032 S. Virginia St., Reno, NV 89502,
   mariesgate at sbcglobal.net


HALF CENT RESEARCH QUESTIONS

   Gregg A. Silvis writes: "Two questions for readers of
   The E-Sylum:

   1.  I have a photocopy of an article entitled "Famous Half
   Cent Collection," which I believe comes from page 52 of
   the Vol. VI, June, 1928 issue of Guttag's Coin Bulletin.
   Could someone please confirm that this citation is correct?
   Also, I believe that in the August, 1928 issue of Guttag's
   Coin Bulletin, it is stated that this same collection, that of
   Commodore Eaton, was sold within 24 hours.  If possible,
    I would like to get a copy of this August, 1928 issue.
    Please contact me at gregg at udel.edu.  Thanks!

   2.  I understand from various sources that copies (drafts?)
   of Walter Breen's unpublished half cent book had some
   limited circulation among some dealers during the late 1950's
   and early 1960's.  Would anyone be able to confirm this?
   Are there any copies floating around out there? Thanks
   again!"


FROSSARD SALE PRICE SOUGHT

   David Fanning writes: "I am still in need of the following
   information and would be very grateful to hear from anyone
   who can help me out:   The price brought by lot 548 in
   Frossard's 23rd sale (August 3, 1882). This is a (by our
   terminology) 1794 Breen 60, Sheldon 68 cent.  Thanks
   much."


PERKINS TO PHILADELPHIA IN 1792

   Gar Travis writes:  "I have a Wednesday, July 11th 1792
   edition of the Columbian Centinel, printed and published (on
   Wednesdays and Saturdays), by Benjamin Russell in State-
   Street, Boston, (Maffachufetts).  I understand the spellings
   and wish we could still "ufe" them.

   The second page numbered 138 in this No. 35 VOL. XVII
   (whole No. 867) under the dateline Salem, Massachusetts
   has some news regarding Mr. Perkins.

   "We hear that the ingenious Mr. Perkins, of Newburyport,
   has been sent for to Philadelphia, to execute the coinage of
   the United States."

   [Gar attached an image of the item, which I forwarded to
   David Perkins.  -Editor]


FANTASTIC 1804 DOLLAR BOOK VARIANT

   On the COINS mailing list, Peter Gaspar (our first E-Sylum
   subscriber) wrote:  "I was asked to post to the whole list
   the explanation for my comment at the end of a posting on
   the 1804 dollar:  "PS: There is a version of the Newman-
   Bressett book that is as rare, if not as costly, as the 1804
   silver dollar."

   "Production of the 1962 book was beginning just as David
   Spink made his sensational presentation at that year's Detroit
   ANA convention revealing the existence of the previously
   unknown King of Siam presentation set containing what is
   these days called an "original" striking of the 1804 dollar.
   That revelation required a quick rewriting of part of the book,
   and almost all of the copies already printed were destroyed.
   Messrs. Newman and Bressett arranged for a few (perhaps
   a dozen total) of the page proofs of the original edition to be
   bound, and these look from the outside just like the normally
   issued book. Cognoscenti still examine copies of the book
   hoping to find a first version.  I did a census of surviving
   examples of the first version last year, but regrettably have
   been too swamped to properly collate and publish the data.
   That book is rare, one of the rarest American numismatic
   books of the 20th century, but of course it commands only a
   modest price on the occasions on which a first version copy
   comes up for sale.  Hence the teaser I included at the end of
   my brief note."

   [I believe it was while visiting the library of P. Scott Rubin
    that I first learned of the existence of this rare variant of the
   Fantastic 1804 Dollar book.  I later bought my own copy at
   auction.  I wrote an article for The Asylum about it a year or
   two ago.  -Editor]


FRANKFURT MONEY MUSEUM

   Bob Knepper of Anaheim, CA writes: "The last E-Sylum
   asked about numismatic museums in Europe.  One I have
   visited a couple times is the Money Museum of the Deutsche
   Bundesbank, Wilhelm-Epstein-Str. 14, Frankfurt/Main,
   Germany. Email at geldmuseum at bundesbank.de.  Internet
   at www.bundesbank.de.

   The museum has some numismatic exhibits but has considerable
   "economic" data, i.e.. history of inflation, how changing interest
   rates affect the economy, etc.  Also had an exhibit of security
   features in the Euro banknotes.  I liked a silver humpen (stein)
   from 1722 with many embedded coins with the wildman
   design that I collect.  There is a large library in the upper
floors."


TYPES OF INTERNMENT CAMPS

   Karen Ebel of New London, NH writes: "To understand the
   internment camps coins, background on the government's
   "enemy alien" program is necessary.  All German, Japanese and
   Italians aliens (approximately 1,000,000 people) were classified
   as "enemy aliens" immediately following the Pearl Harbor attack.
   These folks were mostly permanent resident aliens, many with
   families, who had immigrated here years before.  As enemy
   aliens, they had no Constitutional protections and were subject
   to internment for the duration of the war if they violated any of
   the many restrictions on their travel/personal property rights or
   if they were deemed to be "potentially dangerous to the public
   peace."  The evidentiary threshold required for internment was
   quite low and many were interned on the basis of suspicion of
   being sympathetic to Germany, some for 6-7 years.

   No internee was ever convicted of anything.  Most internees had
   no clue why they were interned and were forbidden to speak of
   it when they left the camps.  Many died without telling their
   children.  To this day, the fact of the enemy alien program is
   largely unknown in this country.  That is why few know that
   11,000 Germans and 3,000 Italians were interned, but the
   Alien Enemies Act of 1798 remains alive and well for future use.

   Back to coins.  The federal government operated two
   distinct systems of camps during World War II.  The
   Department of Justice (through the INS) operated a set of
   internment camps for German, Japanese and Italian "enemy
   aliens" and their families (including many American-born
   children).   The Wartime Relocation Authority, a branch of
   the military, operated another set of camps exclusively for the
   evacuated West Coast Japanese Americans.  Some West
   Coast Japanese did end up in the DOJ camps (pursuant to
   the same procedure which applied to Germans and Italians),
   but most were in the WRA camps.  I presume that different
   forms of "scrip" were issued in each system of camps.  I don't
   know anything about the WRA camps.

   My father was a German enemy alien internee at the Ft. Lincoln
   internment camp in Bismarck, ND.  His scrip is marked
   specifically with the name of that camp and is gray pressed paper.
   On Mr. Jacobs' site is an image of Crystal City scrip which is
   orange: http://www.foitimes.com/internment/Facesplaces.htm
   Scroll about halfway down the page.  (A picture of my father
   working on the railroad while he was interned is right next to it,
   by the way.)

   The DOJ operated a number of internment camps for German,
   Italian and Japanese enemy aliens throughout the country,
   including Ellis Island.  See
   http://www.foitimes.com/internment/small.htm.  (Many Germans
   were still held in Ellis Island up to 3 years after the war.)  There
   may very well have been different "issues" of scrip at each camp.

   Individuals held in the DOJ camps got a standard monthly
   payment of scrip and also were paid for work in the camps in
   scrip.  Only scrip could be used for purchases in the camps.

   Thank you to your membership for their interest in this subject.
   If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me through
   Mr. Homren.   If anyone has any scrip from any of the other
   internment camps,  I'd be interested to know about it.  For
   further details on internment history, please see
   http://www.foitimes.com/internment/gasummary.htm.

   PS:  I noticed that some of your readers are in Mexico and
   South America.  They might be interested to know that over
   4,050 German Latin Americans were taken from their homes
   during World War II by Latin American governments at the
   behest of the US Government.  They were brought here on US
   military transport ships, including over 80 German Jews.  These
   individuals were interned here and many were then exchanged
   back to the Germany for American and Latin American
   prisoners held in Germany. It's not clear whether any Jews were
   sent back, but I hope not.  There were also approximately 2000
   Japanese Peruvians.  The Japanese Peruvians sued the US
   Government and have received a settlement of $5000 per
   individual and an apology.

   [We bibliophiles are infomanics.  No amount of information is
   too much. This is interesting - thank you for the additional
   background information.  -Editor]


ELDER'S MITE BIBLES

   Len Augsberger writes: "Miniature bibles are also sometimes
   referred to as "mite" bibles.   Tom Elder had a few of these
   in his sales in the mid 1930s."


NUMISMATIC ESPANOLA BOOK SOUGHT

   Granvyl Hulse writes: "The following message has just been
   received. Can any in the group help?

   "Spanish Cobb coins are a huge piece of our business. I work
   with these coins quite frequently as I am the Assistant Curator.
   I am writing to you today in a desperate attempt to find a
   book that we can not locate. In 1998 H&F Calico sent us a
   copy of "Numismatic Espanola" that has been vital in our
   work. We understand that there is a more recently published
   version of the book available and that we could actually find
   this book in English (ours is in Spanish and while we can
   stumble through it, it would be nice to be able to easily read!)
   Unfortunately, we can't seem to find the book. I was hoping
   you could aid in locating the book or perhaps suggest
   someone to check with!"


RESEARCHERS: WATCH FOR SPELLING ERRORS

   An article this week in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette serves
   as a reminder to researchers to about the effects of spelling
   errors.

   "E.Z. Hall was seriously wounded in the siege of Petersburg,
   Va., on June 18, 1864. He died in a U.S. Army hospital in
   Washington four days later. His body was put on a train for
   Michigan, but by the time the train reached Pittsburgh, it had
   badly decomposed and was taken off.

   Eugene Zebulon Hall was buried in Allegheny Cemetery.
   Only his gravestone was marked "E.Z. Hail," so for more
   than 130 years, the family did not know what had become of
   him."

   Researcher Bill Reynolds "found the E.Z. Hail gravestone,
   checked the records and discovered the typo. Or, to be more
   accurate, the chisel-o."   When he told Hall's family, they drove
   from Cincinnati to honor their long-lost ancestor.

   "It took years to get the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
   to change the gravestone to "E.Z. Hall," but this spring a proper
   marble marker was put in place. So this Saturday afternoon,
   139 years less one day since the death of E.Z. Hall, his
   descendants will hold a dedication service."

   For the full text of the article, see:
   http://www.post-gazette.com/columnists/20030616brian2.asp


OPTIMAL CHANGE

   Len Augsberger writes: "Regarding optimal change, a local
   fast food restaurant will not dispense 99 cents change.  The
   register receipt will actually specify $1.00 change, if, for
   example, you pay for a $4.01 bill with $5.00.  It seems that
   the cost of dealing with the 99 cents change is no longer
   worth a cent.  Given the proliferation of "penny cups", can
   the death of the cent be that far off?"


THE EIGHTEEN-DOLLAR BILL

   Bill Spengler of Colorado Springs writes: "Your amusing
   piece in last Sunday's E-Sylum on the 18-cent coin reminded
   me of the apocryphal yarn about the 18-dollar bill.  It seems
   that a notorious counterfeiter of U.S.currency boasted that
   he could pass anything he fabricated, so his friends bet he
   couldn't make and pass an 18-dollar bill.  So he made one
   and took it to a remote country store in the back woods of
   West Virginia.  There he found a group of local yokels
   gathered around the stove.  "What can we do for you
   stranger?", the shopkeeper asked.  "I wonder if you could
   change this 18-dollar bill for me", he said.  After examining
   it closely the shopkeeper replied slyly, "Sure, I can do that
   for you.  How would you like it, two nines or three sixes?"
   The counterfeiter left in a hurry."


FEATURED WEB SITE

   This week's featured web page is an article about the R.L.
   Baker Soda Water Token of Charleston, S.C. on Tony
   Chibbaro's web site.

      http://www.angelfire.com/sc2/tokenofthemonth/


  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
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