The E-Sylum v6#48, November 9, 2003

[whomren at coinlibrary.com]

Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 6, Number 48, November 9, 2003:
an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society.
Copyright (c) 2003, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society.


KOLBE UPDATE

   Dave Bowers writes: "The George Kolbe situation reminds
   me once again how caring and sharing numismatists can be.
   We are all delighted that for George the scenario ended
   safely, and are sad that for others it did not. I've sent a few
   e-mails to him, and now I know that they won't be delivered
   until his service is restored.  I can just see him looking at
   his screen and finding 1,001 messages, none of them about
   bidding on books!"


   George Kolbe writes: "Dear Wayne,  When Alan Meghrig
   told me that four special issues of The E-Sylum had largely
   been devoted to providing updates on the wildfire affecting
   Crestline, I irreverently replied: "Only four?"  In truth, Linda
   and I were entirely taken by surprise over the outpouring of
   concern and good wishes expressed in the E-Sylum issues,
   voice mail messages, and emails received from all over the
   world. We did not know we had so many caring friends.
   Thank you all.

   On Saturday morning, October 25th, I received a call from
   a neighbor who said that a fire had just started in Old
   Waterman Canyon, but a few miles away as the proverbial
   crow flies. I quickly walked across the street and did see a
   small fire at the base of the canyon.  The road through
   Waterman Canyon was established in the early 1850s by
   Mormons, who, under the direction of Brigham Young,
   established a large settlement in San Bernardino, today the
   large city directly below Crestline.  Soon, sawmills were
   established in Crestline (so renamed after being inelegantly
   termed 'Fly Camp' during 1870s mining days) to provide
   lumber for the burgeoning Mormon community.  Returning
   to recent events, within an hour or less the fire was raging
   and we started packing boxes and filling the car.  Later in
   the day, my son George came by after packing his
   belongings and we packed more boxes and loaded them
   in his truck.  Early that evening we visited George and his
   wife Susy's home, a mile away, and discovered a raging
   'crown' fire a thousand feet away.  Crown fires are dreaded
   by firefighters because they are largely incapable of
   containment.  Trees well over a hundred feet high were
   enveloped in flame on the top of the mountain.  Within a
   minute or two, police arrived and ordered mandatory
   evacuation. On the way back home, several fire trucks
   passed to fight the fire [later we learned that it had been
   just set and was not part of the main fire] and, across the
   valley from us, we could see a whole convoy of police
   cars coming up the main road to Crestline.  By the time
   we arrived home, vehicles were driving by with bullhorns
   blaring mandatory evacuation orders. My daughter Jennifer
   and son-in-law Tim, who live a mile away in the other
   direction, had arrived in the interim, and the six of us, along
   with three dogs, and a cat, got in our four vehicles and
   traveled the back way out of Crestline, then back to San
   Bernardino, where we met in a restaurant parking lot.
   Lodging was already unavailable locally and we traveled to
   the nearby city of Riverside to spend the night in a rundown
   hotel. The following day, Tim's parents Claude and Margaret
   (who live in an area of San Bernardino evacuated early the
   previous day), graciously invited us to stay with them and,
   for the next few days, we watched the surrounding mountains
   burn and fruitlessly sought specific information about what was
   happening in Crestline.  Within a half mile or so of our hosts'
   home, the first day of the fire had completely destroyed several
   hundred homes.  Sometimes a house and surrounding yard
   would be entirely intact, while around it husks of cars and
   chimneys were the only things standing.  Humbling, to say the
   least. I won't go on.  From here, major events are chronicled
   in The E-sylum.  Needless to say, we've rescheduled our
   November 13th auction sale, and I'll close by citing the notice
   on our web site:

   Auction Sale 92 has been postponed

           NEW CLOSING DATE
      SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2003

   The Southern California wildfires have worked their way and
   we are grateful that we are all well and that our office, home,
   and the homes of our children are still intact.  Our deepest
   thanks are extended to all who expressed their concern during
   this difficult period.

   WE REQUEST THAT THOSE WHO HAVE ALREADY SENT
   BIDS CONFIRM THEM BY MAIL, TELEPHONE, FAX, OR EMAIL

   Wayne, we owe a special thanks to you!

   Best,
   George, Linda, and family "


WHAT WOULD YOU SAVE?

   Last week I asked, "If you could save just one item from
   your numismatic library, what would it be, and why?"  Here
   are some of your responses:

   Tom DeLorey writes: "My autographed copy of Taxay's
   "The U.S. Mint and Coinage." It is my favorite numismatic
   work.  Second choice would be Vermeule's "Numismatic
   Art in America."

   Denis Loring writes: "My copy of Penny Whimsy, which
   I 've had since I started collecting large cents in the 1960's.
   It's autographed by Sheldon, Paschal, and (with a full-page
   inscription) Breen.  The book is heavily annotated and falling
   apart from use.  It's obviously not the most valuable item in
   my library, but certainly links to the most memories."

   Bruce Perdue writes: "Regarding your question in the v06n47
   E-Sylum as to what book one might take while leaving a
   burning house:  Since I don't have any valuable numismatic
   books, or valuable books period, (although I do have a number
   of first additions) I'd grab my checkbook."

   Dick Johnson writes: "One item?   One book?   How about
   one shelf, or one bookcase?  Then I realized almost everything
   can be replaced. Then I got to thinking. What do I have that
   is unique, really irreplaceable?  My own manuscripts?  They are
   still in the computer.  Jerk the cords off the CPU and throw it
   out the window to be retrieved  later.  Grab the backup disks.

   To answer your question: The one book I would save because
   it is irreplaceable is “The Fantastic 1804 Dollar” – one of the rare
   first edition -- that was the only copy signed by both authors in
   two different cities on the same day. Sixteen copies were
   delivered to Ken Bressett at an ANA convention in Detroit. He
   gave me a copy because I was flying back to Kansas City that
   day with a stopover in St. Louis.  If Eric Newman could meet
   me at the airport I would deliver his first copy.  Both authors
   signed my copy. That’s irreplaceable."

   Ralf Böpple of Stuttgart, Germany writes: "The most important
   numismatic book for me was the 1995 North American Coins
   & Prices. Although outdated, heavily annotated and earmarked,
   it still holds a special place on my bookshelf. Why?  While I
   surely cherish each and every item in my library, I would not be
   where I am today if I had not discovered the world of Mexican
   numismatics through this catalog (and this even though the
   fascinating world of Mexican Revolutionary coinage is not even
   covered!). And from there I wandered off into the world of
   auction catalogs, special references, pamphlets, die studies,
   coffee table books, mint reports, periodicals, etc. Not to forget
   the non-numismatic part of Mexican, world, economic and bank
   history.

   So while it was not the first book or catalog on coins I
   possessed, it was the one that laid the foundation of the collecting
   and study interest I am pursuing today.  And I still love to go back
   to the book and look at the innocent comments and annotations I
   made there at a time when I, as am absolute beginner, knew
   absolutely nothing about the subject."


   Bob Christie writes: "In response to the question asking which
   book to save from your library if faced with the disaster of the
   California fires; the first one that popped into my head was The
   Standard Catalogue of Encased Postage Stamps since I collect
   them and any memorabilia connected to them plus the fact that I
   like the simple easy way it's written.  But then I thought that in
   such a situation, I'd want something unique, meaningful, and
   brings back memories.  In 2000 I attended the ANA summer
   seminar in Colorado Springs, brought the American Numismatic
   Association Anthology (which was written to celebrate the l00th
   Anniversary of the ANA) with me and had many people autograph
   it.  With a clear mind, that's probably what I'd choose.  However,
   in such a situation, who thinks clearly?"

   Your editor was dying to know, so I put the question directly to
   George Kolbe, who actually lived this nightmare scenario.  He
   writes:

   "To respond to your query, not counting personal items such as
   clothing, financial records, photo albums, and other treasured
   belongings (including our two dogs), we were able to take 21
   banker's boxes of books with us.  Seven of them contained GFK
   stuff, including runs of our fixed price lists and auction
catalogues.
   Early numismatic bibliographies were packed in another carton
   and, from there on, it was pretty much whatever came to view.
   The remaining fourteen boxes were packed with items from the
   John J. Ford, Jr. library, mainly the highlights of items already
   catalogued, along with an extensive run of plated large format
   Chapman sales being readied for cataloguing.  As items in both
   categories were being placed back on our shelves, many
   "shoulda taken" items were noted. I know it sounds self-serving
   but I could have stood the loss of my own material; as to the
   Ford library and other significant consignments on hand . . ."


JOHN J. FORD LIBRARY UPDATE

   George Kolbe writes: "An update on some of the more
   interesting items in the John J. Ford, Jr. Library, catalogued
   up to October 25, 2003, follows.  This report was being
   finalized two weeks ago when fate intervened, and we are
   most pleased that it remains relevant.

   The Bid Book of the Chapman brothers' 1903 Disbrow
   and Friedman Fractional Currency sale

   The Bid Book of the Chapman brothers' 1904 Ralph Barker
   sale with Plates, including two additional plates virtually unknown

   Storelli's Extremely Rare 1896 Work on Jean-Baptiste
   Nini Medals

   A 1771 Mexico City Mint Ordinance, comprising Rules and
   Regulations of the First Mint in the New World

   A fine example of S. H. Chapman's 1909 Zug sale with Plates,
   intact in the original gilt-printed pictorial paper covers

   A superb example of S. H. Chapman's 1923 Beckwith sale
   with Plates, with a letter from Chapman to Virgil Brand
   reading in part: "The plates in the Beckwith are, I think, the
   finest I have ever taken"

   A superb example of S. H. Chapman's 1921 Henderson sale
   with Plates, in Original State

   The Bid Book of Henry Chapman's 1908 A. N. A. Sale

   The Bid Book of the Chapman brothers' 1904 Charles Morris
   sale with Plates

   The Bid Book of the Chapman brothers' 1897 CM. A. Brown
   sale with one of only two surviving sets of Photographic Plates

   The Bid Book of the Chapman brothers' 1895 Chaloner sale
   with Plates

   A large collection of Heath Counterfeit Detectors, both Pocket
   and Banking & Counting House Editions, including a deluxe
   Leatherbound Edition and two Household Editions

   Works on British medals and decorations, including Creagh &
   Humphris, Tancred, Payne, Mayo, et al.

   A very fine set of Mason's Coin and Stamp Collectors' Magazine

   A very fine copy of Eckfeldt & Du Bous' 1849 Manual of Gold
   and Silver Coins, the first edition to contain samples of '49er Gold

   A set of 1945 Photographs of George Clapp's Large Cents

   A Specially Printed Second Edition of Bushnell's 1859
   "First three Business Tokens," the first we've seen

   An extremely rare Leatherbound Edition of Raymond's "United
   States Gold Coins of the Philadelphia and Branch Mints,"
   featuring a record of Waldo Newcomer's collection of double eagles

   A "Mint" example of S. H. Chapman's 1913 Lyman Sale with
   Plates; also, the Lyman Sale Bid Book with Plates

   A lovely example of Ormsby's 1852 Description of the Present
   System of Bank Note Engraving

   A Very Fine 1923 Edition of Chapman on 1794 cents

   A Deluxe Leatherbound Edition of Newcomb's Cents of the
   Years 1801-1802-1803, Ex Henry Hines and Homer Downing

   A Deluxe Leatherbound Edition of Clapp's Cents of the Years
   1798-1799. Copy No. 3, Inscribed to Henry Hines

   A superb example of F. C. C. Boyd's Deluxe Leatherbound
   Browning on Quarter Dollars, One of Only Five Issued

   An Original 1969 Showers Half Cent Inventory, No. 10 of only
   12 issued with photographic plates

   A 1944 Leatherbound Newcomb work on late dates, inscribed
   by the Stacks "To Johnie Ford."

   Copy No. 1 of the Deluxe Leatherbound Beistle Book on
   Early Half Dollars, Inscribed to Colonel Green

   An Inscribed copy of Herrera's Classic Work on Proclamation
   Medals

   Early Mint Reports and Documents, one concerning "The
   probability of the abolition of the mint establishment"

   The Bid Book of J. Schulman's 1930 Amsterdam sale of the
   Fernand David Collection of "The Coins and Medals of America"

   A Superbly Bound set of Phillips' 1865-1866 "Historical
   Sketches of the Paper Currency of the American Colonies"

   A Superb Plated Beckwith Sale With Plates, including a
   letter from Beckwith to Henry Hines, reading in part: "You
   ask why I am parting with my coins.  I am not going to try to
   pull off any moth eaten stuff about failing eyesight or interested
   along other lines. The plain unadulterated truth is I need the
   money. That is I don't feel as if I can afford to keep so much
   money tied up. I have succeeded in bringing together a
   collection which suited my fancy and I can't go much further
   without going into minute varieties and that I don't want to do."

   A "Near New" example of a Plated Alvord Half Cent Sale

   A Very Fine Copy No. 4 of Gilbert's 1916 work on half
   cents, ex libris Wayte Raymond

   The 1751 Edition of William Douglass's "Discourse
   Concerning the Currencies of the British Plantations in America"

   Five Superb American Bond Detectors: One with a rare variety
   of the coin plates; one beautifully bound in full morocco, and one
   a "Salesman's Sample"

   Thomas Elder's rare Plated 1910 Gilbert Sale, with the Coin
   Plate Legends Fully Intact

   A Very Fine Example of Thian's 1880 "Register of the
   Confederate Debt"; One of Only Five Copies, and by far the
   finest of the three that we have seen

   Homer Downing's 1945 Newcomb Cent Sale With
   Photographic Illustrations

   Spencer M. Clark's Letter Record of the National Currency
   Bureau, June 10, 1863 to March 2, 1864

   The Bid Book of Lyman Low's 1907 Hays-Phelps Sale of
   1794 Cents"


SO WHERE ARE THOSE DEUTSCHMARK COINS?

   "With kindest regards from Stuttgart," Ralf Böpple writes:
   "To the subject of the nostalgic Germans, which has been
   commented on in various newspapers over here, there is
   one doubt I have about the comparison of the number of
   coins in circulation (49 billion pieces) and still outstanding
   (25 billion pieces). Nobody I know or have spoken to set
   aside a considerable amount of deutschmark coins, while
   the lines at the Bundesbank branches with people handing
   in old coins and currency were enormous in the first months.
   So I really wonder where the 25 billion coins in discussion
   might be. The biggest part should be the millions and millions
   of commemorative coins and mint sets that were issued
   during the deutschmark decades. Or somebody out there is
   hoarding a very, very big treasure...  "


COLONIAL NEWSLETTER

   Gary Trudgen, Editor of The Colonial Newsletter, forwarded
   the following information about the upcoming issue:

   "The December 2003 issue of The Colonial Newsletter (CNL)
   has been published. This issue consists of an in-depth study of
   the money used in the 14th Colony, or Nova Scotia, during the
   years 1711 to 1783.

   Authored by Dr. Philip Mossman, the study serves as an
   addendum to his 1993 book titled "Money of the American
   Colonies and Confederation." Phil states that the monetary
   history of mainland British North America would be misleading
   if only those colonies which form the nucleus of present-day
   United States were studied.  Thus the reason why he researched
   and wrote this comprehensive paper.

   Nova Scotia, which was carved out of former French Acadia,
   is all but forgotten even though it formed an integral part of the
   Massachusetts Bay Colony from 1691 to 1749.  This study
   traces the monetary history of Nova Scotia which was closely
   linked to the New England economy for over a half-century.  It
   reviews the documentary evidence summarized by Adam Shortt
   in his 1933 work on the currency, exchange and finance in Nova
   Scotia and relates this material to other resources and the
   economies of the lower 13 colonies.  The paper describes the
   Massachusetts paper money and the various coins which were
   current in Nova Scotia during the period.  The coins recovered
   from archeological sites and old French and Loyalist settlements
   are described and illustrated.  The role of Nova Scotia in the
   American Revolution and the subsequent Loyalist migration are
   discussed.

   CNL is published three times a year by The American Numismatic
   Society, Broadway at 155th Street, New York, NY 10032.
   For inquires concerning CNL, please contact Juliette Pelletier at
   the preceding postal address or e-mail pelletier at amnumsoc.org or
   telephone (212) 234-3130 ext. 243."


REJECTING THE NEW TWENTY

   An article published October 30, 2003 in The Cincinnati Enquirer
   says that many machines are rejecting the new U.S. $20 bills.

   "The problem is that the new 20s started circulating before the
   manufacturers of slot machines, automated payment machines
   and even ATMs were able to upgrade the software in all of their
   machines to recognize the new bills.

   "This has become a routine problem in our industry,'' Larry Buck,
   general manager at the Belterra Casino Resort in Switzerland
   County, Ind., said. "It happens every time the government issues
   a new bill.''

   "It's a time-consuming process, but it's pretty much all we're
   going to be doing in the slot machine area this week and next
   week,'' Buck said.

   A spokesman for the Argosy Casino in Lawrenceburg, Ind., said
   about 80 percent of the casino's 2,200 slot machines have been
   upgraded with new software and all the machines should accept
   the new $20 bills within several weeks."

   Meanwhile, Kroger said it will take about six weeks for the
   company that manufactures its self-checkout machines to
   upgrade them.

   "There's a cashier there (at the self-checkout lanes) anyway, so
   there's really no inconvenience for our customers,'' Gary Rhodes,
   a Kroger spokesman, said. "They can go to the cashier and
   exchange their new bills for the old 20s and then use the machine.''

   "Vending machine manufacturers received test decks of currency
   to try out on their software and hardware.

   But nobody thought about the automated payment machines
   until the first calls started coming in to the bureau after the new
   currency was put into circulation."

   To read the full story, see:
   http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2003/10/30/biz_colorofmoney30.html


SOCIETY FOR INTERNATIONAL NUMISMATICS

   Len Harsel writes: "According to my membership card, it is the
   Society for International Numismatics.  Didn't they merge with
   the Organization for International Numismatics (OIN)?
   Both seem to have disappeared."

   Russ Rulau writes: "I have no idea whether the Society for
   International Numismatics still exists, but I was a member for
   many years and was the recipient of its Silver Medal of Merit
   one year in the late 1980's for "excellence in cataloging."  It
   was a Los Angeles-area club formed by the late James
   Betton, E. Carolyn Nestrick, Pauline Ney, Max Wedertz
   and other scholarly numismatists interested in world coinage
   in the 1960's when there were relatively few such groups in
   existence.

   Its periodical,  SINformation, was worthwhile. I assume
   the group may have died off, as I received no membership
   renewal notice for many years now.  SIN used to stage its
   own coin shows, some quite large and interesting. Betton and
   Ney I know are gone, but perhaps someone in the Greater
   Los Angeles area can find clues to its demise, if in fact it has
   dissolved. It was a really fine bunch of coin folks, a bit
   reserved but deeply involved in the hobby.  Its logo was a
   red devil, a play on its acronym."

   David Klinger writes: "As far as I know, this "club" is still
   active. It is listed by the ANA on their web site: www.money.org

   SOCIETY FOR INTERNATIONAL NUMISMATICS
   P.O. Box 5207, Sherman Oaks CA 91413
   CONTACT: Phil Iversen, TEL: 818-788-1129
   E-mail: phil_inversen at yahoo.com
   MEETING: 2nd Sunday 2:00PM
   Santa Monica Main Library, 6th & SM Blvd, Santa Monica,
   CA 90401

   [An email sent to that address bounced, but E-Sylum subscriber
   Greg Burns set me straight - there was a typo in the address.
   -Editor]

   Greg writes: "SIN is still active and meets the second Saturday
   of every month at the Santa Monica (CA) Public Library."
   [No reply yet from Iverson, though. -Editor]


PSEUDONUMIA

   Andy Lustig writes: "I must say that I'm uncomfortable with
   the Society for International Numismatics' definition of
   "Pseudonumia". Walk into any coin show and most coin
   shops and you are quite likely to encounter a pseudonumismatist
   or two. Invariably, these pseudonumismatists know little about
   "Pseudonumia".  [These definitions were borrowed from
   Howard Daniel's web site. -Editor]


WEB SITE AND  BOOK PRODUCTION IN VIETNAM

   From Viet Nam, Howard A. Daniel III writes: "No one will
   receive a scolding email from me, while I am here in my home
   office in Ho Chi Minh City or elsewhere, for spreading
   information to everyone.  I am very, very happy to see
   definitions in my web site's Glossary passed on to other people
.
   Speaking of the web site, I have had several people working
   on it in Virginia but none of them has produced what I want
   to see for a web site.  I am now working with a web site
   development firm here in Ho Chi Minh City that is owned by
   a Singaporean gentleman who is married to a Vietnamese lady.
   I was interviewed by him for over two hours and he sent me a
   preliminary sample that looks really, really good.  The price is
   also right so we will have a second meeting and I hope to have
   a new web site in operation before the end of the month that I
   can start filling up with more definitions I find to be more
   accurate and/or interesting than others, and, of course,
   Southeast Asian financial instruments, a Southeast Asia
   bibliography, sources, etc., etc.

   I also visited a book printer here and will be using him for my
   next book; "Socialist Republic of Viet Nam Coins and Currency."
   This printer did the completely in color "100 Years of Vietnamese
   Currency" book that was produced by the Ho Chi Minh City
   Stamp Association (HCMCSA).  He was recommended to
   me and he showed me some of his products that meet my color,
   size and quality requirements.  He did all of his calculations in
   front of me and did not hide his costs or add a large percentage
   to it.  He also showed me his shipping contact and rates for
   shipping to various cities in the United States via air or sea.  I
   am going to ship via sea to keep the costs down for the retail
   price of the book.  I am impressed with him and will be doing
   business with him.

   After I visited the printer, two of the leading members of the
   HCMCSA visited me at my home.  They offered me all of the
   support I needed in finding pieces missing from my collection
   for the illustrations, and assistance with the Vietnamese-language
   half of the book. During my visit to the printer, I also had Miss
   Yen with me.  She will be my employee and representative here
   when I am not in Viet Nam, but eventually, she will have a
   business of her own to take care of others wanting to print
   books in Viet Nam.  I have already been contacted by two
   other people requesting information about the lower printing
   costs and once I complete this book, I will contact them and
   tell them about my experience and the costs.  I think they will
   be quite surprised with the very low costs to produce a color
   book here in Viet Nam."


HALF CENT DATA SOUGHT

   Robert Yuell is seeking the some information about U.S.
   half cents from the following catalogs:

   Superior,  Shore,  1/30/88:31
   Need grade and price   (1795 C4)

   B&M, Silberman, 11/16/88:6009
   Need grade and price   (1795 C6b)

   Superior, Fraser, 2/1/82:233
   Need grade and price   (1800 C1)

   Harmer/Rooke, 9/1980:13
   Need day of sale, grade and price (1802 C1)

   Stack's, 2/1992:439
   Need day of sale, grade and price (1803 C1)

   ANA Heritage, 1995:5565
   Need full date, grade and price (1806 C1)

   Hollinbeck/Kagin#298, 9/11/1972:617
   Need grade and price (1809 C1)

   First Coin Investors, 1/1977
   Need day of sale,lot #,grade and price (1829 C1)

   Rob's email address is Robyue at aol.com


ANS BOOKS ON DEMAND

   Ed Snible writes: "I recently discovered that most of the
   'out-of-print' American Numismatic Society publications
   can be purchased in facsimile form from the microfilm
   publisher 'Books On Demand.'  I've been told (by a BOD
   customer) that the quality is similar to a xerox copy.  The
   prices start at $30, with the longer publications costing
   much more.  I haven't ordered anything yet myself, but the
   arrangement seems like a great boon to scholars having
   difficulty locating scarce originals.  I counted 181 out-of-print
   ANS titles on BOD's web page, which is
   http://wwwlib.umi.com/bod/search/basic .  (The in-print
   books are of course still available from the David Brown
   Book Company,
   http://www.amnumsoc.org/store/davidbrown.html )."

   [Ed originally published this note on the AmNumSoc-L and
   Moneta-L mailing lists.  He'd planned to mention B.O.D. on
   E-Sylum after getting more feedback, but he agreed to
   publish it now.  I should mention here that I owe Ed an
   apology for misspelling his name last week in the item regarding
   the new Amazon search feature. -Editor]

   Ed adds: "Sebastian Heath at the ANS was surprised himself
   to find out about BOD.   The ANS signed up for the program
   in 1974 when it was a microfilm-only venture.  They had
   forgotten about the program!  They are reviewing the
   agreement now.

   Jim Schell said (on Moneta-L) "My experience using Books
   on Demand for the ANS Numismatic Notes and Monographs
   series has been mixed. The copies are near original size and
   the text is clear. The plates are the quality of a rather poor
   photocopy. Eventually, I had to purchase the original works
   on the secondary market to obtain usable images.  Additionally,
   when I ordered a copy of Nancy Waggonner's dissertation
   addressing Alexander's mint at Babylon, the plates were not
   available, having been retained by her institution. Hope this helps."



WASHINGTON'S LOTTERY

   A recent Wall Street Journal book review by Alan Pell
   Crawford discusses a new book about America's founding
   fathers and slavery, titled "Great Men in Black and White"
   It mentions a lottery run by George Washington.  Often
   early colonial lottery tickets find their way into colonial
   currency collections because of their similarity to currency
   of the day.  Many were printed by the same printers who
   produced official notes.

   "In April 1769, George Washington helped set up a lottery
   to pay the debts of a fellow Virginia planter who had
   overextended himself, as large slaveholders often did. Among
   the creditors were Washington's Custis stepchildren, and it
   was as their guardian that Washington helped run the raffle,
   advertised in The Virginia Gazette.

   Among the "prizes" were people -- though slaves were hardly
   regarded as such in that time and place."

   "Thirty years later, with just six months left to live, Washington
   had come to regard such trade in his fellow human beings as a
   great evil and tried to do something about it. Alone among the
   slave-holding Founders, Washington freed his slaves, if
   posthumously."

   The following web pages discuss early lottery history and
   picture some colonial-era lottery tickets.

   http://www.naspl.org/history.html
   http://www.lotterycollectors.com/page4.html


BOOK STORAGE OPTION: THE ANA LIBRARY

   Howard A. Daniel III writes: "One of my personal projects in
   numismatics to have the numismatic libraries of several different
   societies transferred to the American Numismatic Association
   Library.  Several societies of which I am a member are without
   facilities and a volunteer member(s) must store, process and
   care for their libraries.  The libraries eventually grow too large
   for an individual member to handle and the librarian has to find
   a solution or requests that it be transferred to someone else who
   can handle all of it.  And then there is often not a volunteer
   member to take charge of the library.

   This problem happened with the USA part of the International
   Bank Note Society (IBNS) Library and Joe Boling and I worked
   on the problem and convinced the IBNS board to transfer it to
   the ANA Library.  The ANA Library is a lending library and
   we did not want the library in one where research could only be
   done in the library.

   The IBNS books are professionally shelved and cared for by
   librarians and when IBNS members want to borrow them (or
   any ANA book too!), they contact the library and request that
   they be mailed to them. I would very much like to see the
   Numismatics International (NI) Libraries transferred to the
   ANA Library.  I cannot answer Granvyl's question about the
   storage of books, but I wanted to throw out this suggestion to
   him and other NI members and hope the NI Libraries can be
   transferred to the ANA, or at least those headed for storage."


IF YOU DON'T WANT TO STORE BOOKS, GIVE 'EM AWAY

   Larry Mitchell writes: "If you love your books, set them free!"
   He included the following web address:
   http://www.bookcrossing.com/home

   From the web site:
   "What is BookCrossing, you ask? It's a global book club that
   crosses time and space. It's a reading group that knows no
   geographical boundaries. Do you like free books?  How about
   free book clubs?. Well, the books our members leave in the
   wild are free... but it's the act of freeing books that points to
   the heart of BookCrossing. Book trading has never been more
   exciting, more serendipitous, than with BookCrossing. Our
   goal, simply, is to make the whole world a library. BookCrossing
   is a book exchange of infinite proportion, the first and only of its
   kind.

   [Basically, the concept is similar to the Where's George? web
   site where people can record the serial number of U.S. notes
   that pass through their hands.   This site does the same for books.
   The idea is to pass you book along to someone else, or leave it
   in a public place where a stranger could find it.  Subsequent
   readers then record their thoughts on the web site and pas the
   book along once more.

   This would be an interesting way to distribute coin books to
   potential hobbyists. -Editor]


BLOVIATION

   Regarding the title of Joel Orosz' article in the next Asylum,
   Dave Bowers writes: "Eeek! What is this "The Printer's Devil:
   Bowers, Books and Bloviation?" I thought whenever I bloviated
   it was done in the highest professional manner. I hope it is
   presented in a nice manner. Now, to the OED to see what it
   means!"

   Joel Orosz replies: "Dave, you should rest easy.  You never
   bloviated in your life!  The article is a meditation upon the
   historical ramifications of the events of last spring.   Hint:
   does anyone remember who succeeded Lou Gehrig at first
   base for the Yankees?  "Bloviate" is a verb coined, I believe,
   by H. L. Mencken.  It connotes those who hype or ballyhoo."

   To which Dave responded: "Is that about Tinker, Evers, and
   Chance?  The Cynic's Dictionary, by Ambrose Bierce, if I
   recall correctly,gives lots of good info. Is it the one with
   definitions as:

   Bathtub for twins: Bothtub?

   So much humor, so little time!"


QUESTION OF THE WEEK

   Dick Johnson writes: "In his token books, Russ Rulau
   tells how Wesley S. Cox Sr. made a study of letter punches
   to identify which diesinker made what early American
   token by the characteristics of the punched letters on
   specimen tokens. Rulau even acquired Cox's notebooks
   of these microphotos.

   If Cox had made his study in the U.K. would he have
   studied Pinches' punches?"


FEATURED WEB SITE

   This week's featured web site is another one on the
   Maria Theresia Taler.  Some interesting pages on
   the original and restrike variants,  forgeries,  medals
   etc.

      http://www.employees.org/~groeck/en/mtt1780.html


  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

  To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum,
  just Reply to this message, or write to the Editor
  at this address: whomren at coinlibrary.com

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   send an email message with the word "Unsubscribe"
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