The E-Sylum v6#26, June 29, 2003

whomren at coinlibrary.com whomren at coinlibrary.com
Sun Jun 29 20:19:44 PDT 2003


Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 6, Number 26, June 29, 2003:
an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society.
Copyright (c) 2003, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society.


SUBSCRIBER UPDATE

   Among recent new subscribers are Paul Horner of Clemmons,
   NC, Rob Retz and Bill Nash.  Welcome aboard!  We now have
   572 subscribers.


MOULTON FIXED PRICE LIST

   Karl Moulton of Congress, AZ has issued an abbreviated
   fixed price list of American numismatic literature, featuring
   individual issues of The Numismatist before 1941 and the
   Joseph Mickley journal and biography reprint mentioned in
   The E-Sylum vol 6 no. 21.   More current inventory is
   available online at http://www.coincats.com

   Also on the web site are copies of several of Karl's
   numismatic research articles:

      Record prices paid at Auction
      Ten Favorite Bust Auction Catalogues
      Behind the Scenes
      The J. H. South Collection
      Notes on Joseph J. Mickley
      Sitting on the Shelf
      Trick Question - Answer to Dave Bowers
      The 1827 Quarter Reveals it's Secrets
      Unlisted pedigree source for 1838-0 Half Dollars


COLLINS NEW ORLEANS MINT HISTORY

   Dave Ginsburg writes: "Is anyone familiar with the book,
   "A History of the United States Mint, New Orleans, Louisiana"
   by Charles J. Collins, Jr. (Baton Rouge: LSU Printing Office,
   1970.)?   I first saw a reference to it in the bibliography of a
   Louisiana State Museum publication, but haven't so far found a
   bookseller or numismatist who has a copy or has even heard
   of it.  I asked my local library to try getting it through inter-
   library loan, but the only copy they could find is in the reference
   collection of the New Orleans Public Library (which they won't
   lend out.)  I think there may also be a copy in the LSU library.

   I'd appreciate news of a copy for sale, or information about
   the author, or if a fellow E-sylum subscriber who lives in New
   Orleans would go to the library and tell me something about
   the book!   Thanks!  If you have any news, please contact me
   at  ginsburg.d at worldnet.att.net ."

   [I assume LSU means Louisiana State University.  This is why
    I love bibliographies and footnotes - you never know what
    interesting new source might turn up.  I thought I had seen every
   U.S. Mint history published, but I don't believe I've come across
   this before.  If anyone learns more about it, please keep E-Sylum
   readers in the loop.  -Editor]


NUMISMATIC THEATRE GOES 3-D

   The July 7, 2003 issue of Coin World reports that David
   Sundman of Littleton Coin Co. will give "the first 3-D
   production in the history of the ANA Numismatic Theatre
   programs."  His program, which features 19-century
   stereopticon slides of the operations of the U.S. Mint and
   Bureau of Engraving and Printing, is scheduled for 1 pm
   Friday, August 1st at the American Numismatic Association
   convention in Baltimore, MD.  "Audience members will
   receive a pair of 3-D glasses and a bag of popcorn."

   [I've accumulated a few of these old stereo slides, and
   assume mine are mostly common ones.  But I never got
   around to acquiring an antique viewer for them.  I've
   often wondered how the slides would look with the full
   three-dimensional effect, and I guess this will be my chance
   to find out.  I'll be the one groping in the dark to fondle
   a full sheet of Educational notes.  -Editor]


THE GOVERNMENT SOMETHING OFFICE

   Larry Mitchell sends this item about the U.S. Government
   Printing Office:  "The GPO, a 3,000-employee agency,
   gathers federal documents, organizes and publishes them,
   catalogs them and then distributes them to the 1,200
   depository libraries throughout the United States.

   “This year, for the first time, more than 50 percent of those
   documents will only be in digital,” James said. “We will
   not print them. That’s up from zero 10 years ago.”

   James, who became the 24th U.S. public printer six months
   ago, expects that within five years 95 percent of government
   documents will be available only in digital form."

   "The transformation into digital technology isn't the only
   change in store for the Government Printing Office, which is
   considering changing its name.

   “I think our middle name might get in the way,”

   http://www.hillnews.com/news/062503/printer.aspx

   [I've haunted our local GPO store in the past looking for
    copies of recent mint reports, but they are rarely in stock.
    Online versions of recent reports have been available,
    although I haven't checked lately.  Have any of our readers
    been assembling a run of recent printed mint reports?
    These may be the last of the line. -Editor]


ALFRED ROWELL, RESIDENT MEMBER

   Gar Travis writes: "At a coin show this weekend I purchased
   an 1884 American Numismatic & Archeological Society
   member's medal, which is engraved to Alfred Rowell -
   Resident Member - Nov. 18th, 1884.  Does anyone know
   what the term "Resident Member" meant,  or if Mr. Rowell is
   "known" for any early numismatic research?  The full description
   of the medal is as follows:

   American Numismatic and Archeological Society Member's
   Medal, 1884. Bronze, 42mm. By George Hampden Lovett.
   Choice Uncirculated. Obv. Naturalistic oak sprig,  3 leaves
   under scroll PARVA NE PEREANT ("Let not the small things
   perish"), Society name around. Rev. Oak circle, engraved
   ALFRED ROWELL / RESIDENT Member/ Nov. 18th/ 1884.
   Warm brown chocolate color without toning."


ALIEN LAWS

   John Kleeberg writes: "I've been following the thread about
   the internship of the German aliens during the Second World
   War. Karen Ebel said that aliens have no constitutional rights.
   That is untrue.  Aliens, as a "discrete and insular minority,"
   have had their constitutional rights enforced robustly by the
   courts.  Some of the postings in this thread have further
   muddied the matter, implying that the position of the German
   and Italian aliens was identical to that of the Japanese-Americans.
   It was not.  The German and Italians who were interned were
   citizens of those countries.  Yes, some of their American spouses
   and children joined them, but that was voluntary.  The Otto
   Franke episode on the website you posted makes it clear:
   eventually the FBI realized that Otto Franke was not an alien
   and could not be interned.  The Japanese-Americans were US
   citizens who were interned because of their race; see Korematsu.
   It is because of this racially-based internment that Congress
   passed a law compensating the internees."


NEWSPAPER GAFFE ADDS TO JOHNSON'S COLLECTION.

   Dick Johnson writes: "I just added a new item of newspaper
   numismatic boners to my collection.  And this is a gem. It's
   from a Wisconsin paper, the North Fond du Lac Reporter. It
   appeared this Friday, June 27th.

   They commissioned a medal for the dual centennial of the village
   and their Winter Fest.  Great reasons for issuing a medal! "We
   made this coin because we wanted to do something special, and
   a lot of people around here collect coins," stated Jennifer
   Frounfelter, a member of the Winterfest Centennial Committee.

   But the Reporter's reporter, Kelly Tucker, described it thusly:
   "Made special by the Great Canadian Mint Company, the
   bi-medal [sic -- that's the term in print!] coin has the village
   seal and dates of incorporation on one side and the village
   logo and centennial dates on the other."

   Further: "'These coins are souvenir tokens to celebrate the
   village's centennial,' said Jim Moon, a former coin collector."

   Not once called what it really is -- a medal! It was described
   as a coin, a souvenir token and "bi-medal" whatever the writer
   meant by that.  It is certainly not "bi-metal" (it looks like one
   metal composition from the illustration).

   It's a squeaker to call it a coin (since it is made by a single
   strike in a coining press), and a stretch to call it a token (it
   bears no value).  But it makes my collection of newspaper
   gaffes and boners to call it "bi-medal."  Read the full article
   at:
http://www.wisinfo.com/thereporter/news/archive/local_10640832.shtml


TAYLOR AND JAMES INFORMATION SOUGHT

   Alan Roy writes: "I was hoping an E-Sylum reader would be
   able to help me.  I'm looking for some biographical information
   on H.C. Taylor and Somer James, the authors of 'A Guide
   Book of Canadian Coins, Currency and Tokens.'  Any
   information would be helpful.  My address is
   aroy at theoffice.net"


DENVER MINT UPDATE

   The Rocky Mountain News continued its coverage of worker
   complaints at the U.S. Mint in Denver.  The topic has also been
   picked up by the U.S. numismatic press.

   "Director Henrietta Holsman Fore said Friday that a permanent
   Equal Employment Opportunity manager would be hired in
   Denver, an ombudsman's office would be created at the national
   level, and all U.S. Mint employees will receive additional training
   on preventing harassment.

   Fore outlined the changes in a memo posted throughout the
   Denver Mint and given to all 450 employees. Currently, the
   EEO office is filled on a rotating basis.

   Fore visited all three shifts at the mint Thursday, mint
   spokesman Guillermo Hernandez said."

   Also on Thursday, Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., was to meet
   with Director Fore today to press for more details on the
   allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination at the Mint.


http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_2056611,00.html


http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/state/article/0,1299,DRMN_21_2068147,00.html



COLLECTING COIN BAGS

   From the April 15, 2003 Numismatic News - a letter to the
   Editor from Joe Lojek of Richmond, Michigan: "About a month
   ago ... I noticed the bag the rolls were in.  It read, $1,000
   QUARTERS U.S MINT 1967.  I immediately wondered if
   anyone collects these, if there is a market for them, and if this
   bag has any value."

   [As a fanatic for numismatic ephemera, I have to admit that
    coin bags are one of my many sub-collections.  I thought I
    was the only one crazy enough to be interested in them until
    I learned that Myron Xenos collected them as well.  Any
    other closet coin bag collectors out there? -Editor]


CATALOG SOUGHT FOR GOETZ RESEARCH

   Greg Burns writes: "I've been researching the Lusitania Medal
   by Karl Goetz along with its varieties for about nine months
   now. I've purchased quite a number of different books (a
   couple dozen or more) on the Lusitania, German WWI medals,
   Kienast's book, and related biblioboobia, seeking insights into
   manufacturing methods, social forces at work, significant
   personalities, political issues, etc.   In conversation with Steve
   Pellegrini (another E-Sylum subscriber) he passed along that
   Karl Goetz' estate was virtually completely disposed of after
   the death of his son and heir, Guido Goetz in 1994, and that
   the entire lot of Karl Goetz material was MacNoodled out
   from under all the bidders by a high dollar force who ponied
   up their combined bids plus another 10% (so the story goes).

   I was hoping to get a copy of the May 1994 Dieter Gorney
   Auction Catalog catalog so I could see what types of items
   were passed along from his cabinet and estate (papers, models,
   other tools and materials of manufacture, etc.) I've met a local
   gentleman who apparently has a set of the dies used by Karl
   Goetz for one of his medals, and I was also interested to see
   if these had been included in the listing.  I suppose I'm just
   trying to put together a picture and I'm seeking a piece here,
   a piece there, and so forth. I've put up the skeleton of a
   website in preparation for writing a monograph or book on
   the Lusitania Medals and Its Varieties
   (see http://www.LusitaniaMedal.com).   I'm not really sure
   what format the final output will take, perhaps an extended
   article (a series maybe), or perhaps a smallish booklet
   (format of 5.5" X 8.5"; maybe 60-100 pages)."


CELEBRITY COLLECTOR UPDATE

   Reuters reported Friday that former "Beverly Hillbillies"
   star Buddy Ebsen (whose coin collection was auctioned
   several years ago) was in a southern California hospital
   with an undisclosed illness, although hospital officials said
   Ebsen, 95, was in "good" condition.

   Director and actress Penny Marshall served on Gov. Gray
   Davis' State Commemorative Quarter Selection Committee
   along with Jerry Buss, owner of the Los Angeles Lakers,
   also a collector.  Five finalists have been chosen from among
   thousands of ideas submitted.


CONTAMINATED EUROS

   On Wednesday, June 25 Reuters reported results of a
   study which concluded that "Almost all euro banknotes
   circulating in Germany contain traces of cocaine ... as notes
   rolled up by users to snort the illegal drug contaminate the cash
   system.  "Nine out of 10 banknotes show clearly measurable
   amounts of cocaine."

   "Results from a separate study the institute carried out on
   euro notes in Barcelona were particularly startling..."

   "We were almost knocked flat by what we discovered there.
    The concentrations of cocaine on Spanish euro notes were
    almost a hundred times that of what we recorded in Germany."

   http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?storyID=2986041


BREEN HALF CENT MANUSCRIPT

   David F. Fanning writes: "Gregg A. Silvis asked about copies
   of the Breen half cent manuscript/typescript.  Breen first
   compiled a manuscript on the subject, a revision of the Gilbert
   book, in the 1950s. He published an article on the subject in
   The Numismatist: "United States Half Cents: Addenda and
   Corrections to Gilbert," The Numismatist, Vol. 65, No. 5 (May
   1952), pp. 461-462.

   Breen had difficulty finding a publisher for an entire book on
   the subject in the 1950s.  He admired Dave Bowers and Jim
   Ruddy and their Empire Coin Co., and made the suggestion that
   if Dave and Jim would do some editing and arranging, he would
   provide a new listing of the series--sort of an update to Gilbert,
   but a basic one (without photographs or history).

   This would get something out there in circulation to stir up
   interest in the series. At that time the only text was that of
   Ebenezer Gilbert, 1916, and copies were almost impossible to
   find. Dave and Jim wanted Walter to use his own name, but
   Walter--who was working with Harmer-Rooke, or New
   Netherlands, or had obligations to the Numismatic Scrapbook,
   or whatever--did not want his name on a stand-alone
   monograph (although, as early as 1958, he had contributed
   magazine articles to Empire Topics). Bowers and Ruddy
   agreed to publish the monograph, honoring his request not to
   use his name. The book was published as "United States
   Half Cents, 1793-1857," by Q. David Bowers and James
   F. Ruddy (Johnson City, New York: Creative Printing, 1962).
   Dave Bowers recalls that probably a couple thousand or so
   copies were printed and sold. It filled a definite niche in an
   era long before Roger S. Cohen, Jr., published his excellent
   book on half cents and long before Breen's magisterial opus
   on the subject.

   There are copies of manuscript/typescript drafts of an even
   larger work by Breen on half cents dating from this time period
   and some additional copies were circulated in the early 1980s
   by Jack Collins in preparation for the 1983 publication of
   "Walter Breen's Encyclopedia of United States Half Cents,
   1793-1857" (South Gate, California: American Institute of
   Numismatic Research, 1983).

   The American Numismatic Society library has a copy of the
   manuscript and typescript materials for this publication and
   there are probably others in private hands as well.  Breen
   drafts were frequently photocopied and occasionally turn up
   in auctions. An example would be lot 675 in George Kolbe's
   Sale 88 (June 14, 2002), an annotated photocopy of a 1960s
   typescript (several hundred pages) of the half cent book.
   That the lot brought $50 attests to the fact that the draft is
   not unique."


OTHER BREEN MANUSCRIPTS

   Regarding Walter Breen's other unpublished manuscripts,
   Rich Hartzog writes: "Many years ago I acquired a copy of
   one of Breen's rarest issues, a booklet on pornographic
   limericks.  I made up a couple of photocopies, took them
   to an ANA, and got Breen to autograph them.  He said he
   didn't think even he had a copy!   Supposedly Breen made
   up all the limericks, although it has been so long ago, I
   don't recall all the details.  If you ever met Breen in person,
   you'll recall his shorts, flip-flops and lack of one important
   garment."


FAKE BRONZE BOUGHT WITH FAKE MONEY

   Truth is often stranger than fiction.  On the heels of last week's
   tale of the 18-dollar bill by Bill Spengler comes this item from
   Hanoi, as reported by Reuters:

   "A Vietnamese man who used cow fat and paint to pass off a
   lump of iron as valuable black bronze found buyers -- but was
   paid ... in counterfeit bills.   A justice official said 12
   people involved in both frauds were arrested and were
   undergoing trial in southern An Giang province."

   "A group of three business people from Ho Chi Minh City who
   were negotiating to buy the black bronze, which [if real, would
   be] valued on the market at around $1 million, bought a printer
   to produce 900 million Vietnamese dong ($58,214) to pay for
   the deal."

   http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?&storyID=3000794


FEATURED WEB PAGE

   This week's featured web page is Dr. Howard M. Berlin's
   article, The Mystery of the 1927 Holyland Token.

   "The obverse of the Holyland Token, in part, resembles closely
   the reverse design of the standard 1-mil coin issued by the
   Palestine Currency Board starting in 1927. However the token's
   size (28.5 mm) with plain edge is slightly larger than the
   standard 2-mil coin (28 mm). Although coins are traditionally
   struck with the obverse and reverse dies aligned at a rotation
   of 180 degrees, known as the "coin rotation," both the Holyland
   Token and the regular issued coins of the Palestine Mandate
   were struck in the "medal rotation," so that the obverse and
   reverse dies were aligned in a rotation of zero degrees."

      http://user.dtcc.edu/~berlin/palestin/token.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
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  P.O. Box 76192, Ocala, FL  34481.

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