The E-Sylum v7#52, December 26, 2004

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Mon Dec 27 17:46:27 PST 2004


Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 7, Number 52, December 26, 2004: 
an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society. 
Copyright (c) 2004, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society.


E-SYLUM SUBSCRIBER SAFE IN SRI LANKA

   By publishing a day late we are able to report that E-Sylum
   subscriber and contributor Kavan Ratnatunga and his family
   are safe following yesterday's devastating tsunami which hit
   Sri Lanka and other coastal nations.  In response to an email,
   he writes: "Thanks for your concern.  The Tsunami did do a lot
   of damage in Lanka as you would have read in the news, but 
   mostly in the south and east of the island, with death tolls 
   expected to be over 5000. All is well with my family.  I 
   live about 1/4 mile away from the sea and didn't know about
   it till we saw the News on TV."

   Kavan plans to go out in few days to the badly struck parts
   of the island to see what needs to be done to help.  Asked 
   how we can best contribute to relief efforts, he writes:
   "If you want to contribute, let me suggest LAcNet a US 
   non-profit organization which is coordination it's effort 
   via  http://www.theacademic.org/

   I have been involved with it since it was founded in 1991 
   and will be its secretary in 2005"

   LAcNet is the Lanka Academic Network.   Donations are 
   accepted by credit card on the web site, or via a check 
   payable to "Lanka Academic Network" (and marked "Tidal Wave 
   Victims") sent to: Daya Weerakkody, LAcNet Treasurer, 9603 
   Avenel Road, Silver Spring, MD 20903-2311, USA. All donations 
   are tax-deductible in the USA. LAcNet US Tax Id: 411-69-1170. 


NO NBS CLUB TABLE AT KANSAS CITY ANA

   Howard A. Daniel III writes that he was informed by the 
   American Numismatic Association that the bourse is sold out
   at the Kansas City ANA and no tables were reserved for 
   clubs. So he will not be manning an IBNS/NBS/NI club table
   and passing out world paper money for IBNS, world coins for
   NI, and numismatic catalogs for NBS. Howard usually passes
   out about 300 pieces of paper money, 3000 world coins and
   about 5-6 catalogs at each ANA, plus recruiting new members 
   and/or renewing memberships. With no club table, Howard is
   strongly considering not attending the show.  Are there 
   other IBNS, NBS and NI members out there who will moderate 
   the meetings?


XEROX RESEARCH COULD END SPINE-CRUSHING PHOTOCOPYING

   A software solution from Xerox labs, announced last month 
   at a conference in Xi'an, China, may hold a part of the 
   solution to Google's daunting book-scanning problems, and
   should delight librarians and researchers as well.  From
   a recent article:

   "If you've ever copied pages from a book, you're familiar
   with the problem -- dark, distorted words where the page 
   is bound into the book," said Xerox spokesperson Bill 
   McKee. "To correct it, most of us use the 'brute force' 
   method for getting readable copies -- pushing the book to
   flatten it against the glass scanning surface, called the
   platen." 

   Library science 101 at the elementary grade level   
   emphasizes one point above all else -- don't bend the book
   and damage the spine.  Xerox researchers Beilei Xu and 
   Robert Loce have proposed a simple solution that should 
   make librarians everywhere stand up and cheer -- a 
   mathematical formula incorporated in the software of 
   common scanners that eliminates the book-breaking problem. 

   "The programming of a mathematical algorithm to correct 
   for the book's warped appearance on a copy machine will 
   work," said City College of New York computer science 
   professor George Wolberg. "The challenge is to find the 
   spatial transformation that accurately models the distortion, 
   and this is precisely where the Xerox method excels." 

   "When a book page is not in uniform, intimate contact with 
   the scanning surface, there are actually two distinct 
   problems," Loce explained. "The variation in illumination 
   causes some portions of the copy to be darker than others, 
   and the variation in distance from the scanning surface 
   causes letters or objects farther from the surface to look
   warped." 

   "At one time, Xerox sold a copier with an angled edge and 
   articulated cover so people could copy pages without 
   cracking books all the way open," McKee told NewsFactor. 
   "Another solution is dedicated book scanners with height 
   sensors, so the book lies face up, and scanning takes 
   place from above it." 

   Instead of changing the hardware, Xu and Loce decided to 
   look at an easier solution. 

   They changed the software, inexpensively. 
 
   "Since the Xerox solution requires no special apparatus and
   all corrections are based solely on the digital image itself,
   this has huge implications on cost. It can be applied 
   directly on very low-cost scanners," Wolberg explained. 

   Using the same light that copy scanners shine and analyze, 
   "we use the sensed light to also determine the distance of
   the book from the platen for each pixel on the page," Xu 
   told NewsFactor. "Normally the light only provides 
   information on the reflectance of the original document." 

   The new copier software mathematically compensates for 
   variation in distance from the platen along a bound book 
   page. 

   It eliminates the darker portion of the copy where the 
   page is bound into the book and "de-warps" the normally
   distorted words running along the center of the page."
 
   To read the full article, see:
   http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=29147


JORG LUEKE ON GOOGLE AND COPYRIGHTS

   Jorg Lueke, creator of The Electronic Numismatist 
   profiled in previous issues writes: "I have three 
   comments on this issue.  Regarding Michael's Marotta's 
   review I am happy to report that the new version was 
   created and went out at the end of last week.  Anyone 
   who had ordered the first version has received an
   updated copy.  As stated in the note the main update 
   was to correct some blank pages as well as some header
   inconsistencies.  If anyone else notices any problems 
   I'd love to hear and correct them at 
   numismatist at ancientcoinvalues.com.

   On the Google effort of digitization I am very intrigued. 
   It obviously is an idea after my own heart and had I 
   the capital something I certainly would consider.  I do
   think the timetable is rather aggressive, not so much for 
   scanning, but for fixing all the little bugs.  Character 
   recognition software has issues even with the typefaces 
   used in the old volumes of the Numismatist, it is also 
   very sensitive to the contrast of type to paper.  The 
   latter characteristic can weaken rather quickly.  So I 
   think we'll see scanned books sonner.  But properly 
   indexed and error free ones a few years later.  Still, 
   as knowledge becomes digital it will become ever more 
   accessible, and as the delivery of digital works becomes 
   easier to read (paper books that display digital works)
   the amount of knowledge at each of our fingertips will
   increase exponentially.

   The only other drawback is today's copyright law.  
   Designed to protect the intellectual property of 
   corporations in perpetuity the law protects all works 
   without distinction from 1964 onward.  Maybe that's O.K.
   for Donald Duck but if an author wrote three numismatic 
   pamphlets in the early 1970s and then passed away it 
   can be almost impossible to track down the heirs and
   acquire the rights.  Requiring a renewal after 28 years 
   would protect all those who sought to extend their 
   copyright will allowing the flow of information into 
   the public domain to happen much more readily."


HENRY HART OBITUARY; NEAR EAST COINAGE EXPERT

   On December 21, The Times published an obituary of Near 
   Eastern coinage expert Henry Hart: 

   "The Rev Henry Hart, divinity scholar and Dean of Queens' 
   College, Cambridge, was born on April 15, 1912. He died 
   on October 30, 2004, aged 92."

   "Hart also formed a notable collection of Greek and 
   Roman coins to illustrate his Semitic studies and the 
   history of the ancient Near East. It contained some major
   rarities and was remarkable for the complete series of 
   the coinage of the Seleucid kings of Syria, and in forming
   it he bought the finest specimens available. He presented
   his collections to the Fitzwilliam Museum in 1963 and 
   1969. He was an honorary fellow of the Royal Numismatic 
   Society."

   "The office of dean at Queens' in that period involved 
   running the chapel and being head of discipline. In 
   those days of curfews and locked gates, Hart once caught
   an undergraduate climbing into college late at night. 
   Poised on the top of the railings, and seeing the dean 
   below, the student exclaimed, "O, God!" "No - just his 
   earthly representative," replied Hart, a quip that has 
   not only gone down in Cambridge folklore but also 
   serves as a typical example of Hart's ready wit."

   To read the full article, see:
   http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,60-1410663,00.html


A WORD ON MIKE CRAVEN FROM FRED LAKE

   Regarding last week's word of the arrest of a suspect
   In the death of numismatic filmmaker Mike Craven, Fred
   Lake writes:  "I am very happy that we have some 
   dedicated law enforcement people in our country. Mike 
   Craven was a customer and friend some five years ago. 
   We spent much fine time on the telephone discussing 
   numismatic literature and its place in describing the 
   events that shaped numismatics in the early years of
   this country. 

   His was a senseless death and I hope that the perpetrator 
   will get some richly deserved "justice."


TURKS LOB SIX ZEROS OFF CURRENCY

   On January 1st, residents of Turkey will have six fewer 
   zeros to deal with on their nation's currency, as the 
   country issues New Turkish Lira at the rate of one to a
   million of the current units.  From a Reuters news article:

   "One Turkish coffee, medium-sweet? That'll be two million
   lira, please.

   Visitors to Turkey are often perplexed by the plethora of
   zeros that confronts them at every financial turn. Even 
   Turks themselves get a little tired of being nominal 
   millionaires.

   A new pair of shoes? One hundred million. A new washing 
   machine? One billion five hundred and thirty million."

   "But from January 1 all that will change when Turkey's 
   central bank lops six zeros off the currency, creating 
   the New Turkish Lira at the rate of one to a million of
   the current units."

   "Turkey boasts the world's highest denomination current 
   banknote, for 20 million lira -- worth about 8 pounds. 
   The smallest coin in routine use is 50,000 lira, or 
   nearly 2 pence."

   "Even quite routine sums need a wider than average 
   calculator screen. Bank cash machines have an extra 
   key for three zeros, saving customers the trouble of 
   multiple prodding."
   
   http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?storyID=644620

   [Is Turkey's note truly the current record holder for
   highest denomination?  Is anyone aware of a higher-
   denominated note in circulation today?   What is the
   all-time record holder?  I'm guessing one from the 
   post-WWI German or Hungarian inflation eras, but I
   know one of our astute readers will have an answer for
   us.  -Editor]


GUIDE TO ATTRIBUTIONS USING SYLLOGE NUMMORUM GRAECORUM

   Reid Goldsborough writes: "I don't know if you've seen
   this yet, about the (often confusing) SNG books for 
   attributing ancient Greek coins."

   From the web page: "After Sear, the most commonly used
   attribution reference in the U.S. for ancient Greek 
   coins is SNG Cop. This stands for Sylloge Nummorum 
   Graecorum: The Royal Collection of Coins and Medals, 
   Danish National Museum (in Copenhagen). SNG Cop. was 
   originally published as a 43-volume set from 1942 until
   1977 and has since been republished as an eight-volume 
   set. It's valued for its comprehensiveness -- among 
   other things, compared with Sear, it includes many more 
   Greek-era coin types and varieties of the same coin 
   type as well as Greek Imperial/Roman Provincial coin 
   types. What's more, compared with some other SNGs, it's
   in English, so it's nearly universally accessible.

   Many other SNGs exist as well and are used to attribute 
   coins, since far more coin types and varieties exist 
   than are documented even in SNG Cop."

   http://rg.ancients.info/guide/attribution.html


TRASK'S LOW PROFILE

   Last week we mentioned the U.S. paper money collection
   assembled by Malcolm Trask.  An anonymous subscriber 
   writes: " With reference to your article about the subway
   motorman who amassed a significant paper money collection, 
   I can contribute the following:  In a discussion with 
   Allen Mincho about two months ago, he told me that Trask 
   kept a very low profile.  He was not widely known.  
   Whatever research he did was probably for his own benefit. 
   Allen had met Trask at a NYC show in the late 60's.  By
   that time, Trask was no longer pursuing paper money."


BRASHER DOUBLOONS OFFERED AT HERITAGE

   Saul Teichman writes: "You may want to note the in the 
   next E-Sylum Heritage's FUN sale offering of the 3 types 
   of Brasher Doubloons.  Pretty neat !!"

 
http://www.heritagecoins.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=360&Lot_No=30015
http://www.heritagecoins.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=360&Lot_No=30016
http://www.heritagecoins.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=360&Lot_No=30017


FIXING THOSE PESKY GARBAGE CHARACTERS

   Many apologies for the recent email glitches, particularly
   the garbage character problem with issue v7#49.  Some of
   you requested a clean copy which I'm unable to provide at 
   this time.  One reader has provided instructions for 
   cleanup.
 
   Alan Luedeking writes: "For those of you who are anal 
   about archiving a hardcopy of every E-Sylum issue as 
   valuable numismatic literature, and are bothered by the 
   "garbage character" glitches in v7#49, here's a suggested
    fix:

   1) Open the message containing the corrupted 
      E-Sylum v7#49.
   2) Make sure you select the option in your email 
      message to allow the message to be edited.
   3) Open Microsoft Word.
   4) Go to <http://www.coinbooks.org/club_nbs_esylum_v07n49.html>
   5) Select ONLY the entire text of the newsletter, 
      right click, then Copy.
   6) Paste the text into a blank Word document. 
      It will paste as a single cell Table.
   7) Now select the entire text again, being careful
      to omit the cell character at the end.
   8) Select Left Justify in your Paragraph formatting
      options and Copy again.
   9) Select the entire text of your corrupted email 
      message and Paste over it.

   Voilá, you know have a perfect E-Sylum vol 7 #49 sans 
   garbage characters, and formatted exactly the way Wayne 
   sends them all out. No doubt other much shorter and 
   simpler avenues exist, such as using the Replace command
   to delete unwanted characters, but this worked for me, 
   and my E-Sylum collection remains complete and (almost) 
   unadulterated.


THE E-SYLUM ISN'T THE ONLY LATE E-NEWSLETTER 

   ... but the reasons are downright pedestrian compared
   to why Mark Switzer, editor of the Early American 
   Coppers, Inc. Region 8 was late publishing last week.
   in the #434 - December 19, 2004 issue, he writes about
   his neighbor's calamity:

   "I apologize for getting this newsletter out a day 
   late. My usual weekend routine was seriously interrupted.
   The neighbors, 3 doors down the street were having 5
   large trees removed from around the house on Saturday. 
   The tree company had contracted with a local crane 
   service to assist. While removing a large upper section
   from the third tree, the 85 ton 160' tall crane tipped 
   over and crushed the house. No one was hurt, not even 
   the pets. Both the crane ($800,000) and the house 
   ($200,000) are total losses."


QUOTE: DAVID MCCOLLOUGH

   The following quote was brought to our attention by NewsScan 
   Daily(www.NewsScan.com):

   No harm's done to history by making it something someone 
   would want to read." (David McCollough)

   [Of course, it cold be argued that readable but inaccurate
   written history does more harm than good.  In numismatics,
   there are innumerable conjectures on the part of writers
   that have come to be accepted as fact by later generations
   until (and sometime long after) it has been demonstrated that
   no primary evidence exists to verify them.  -Editor]


WHEAT IMAGES ON COINS AND BANKNOTES 

   Last week we wrote that the United States Botanic Gardens 
   (USBG) in Washington D.C. is seeking images of North American
   and European currency and coins showing images of wheat.

   Chris Fuccione and I both suggested the obvious starting
   point of the wheat-back Lincol Cent 1909-1959.  Rich Hartzog
   writes: "I can supply items and/or images of a number of 
   world tokens/medals with wheat.  Please pass on my email, 
   thanks!"

   We'll forward Rich's offer to the folks at USBG.


WHITE METAL

   In response to a query, Dick Johnson wrote up the following
   discussion of white metal, always a confusing subject in
   numismatic attribution:

   "What you have is "white metal." This is a loose term that
   does not have an exact formulation, but whose major component
   is tin. It most often has lead mixed with the tin. It was 
   widely used in England, where a tinsmith industry flourished 
   because of the active production of the tin mines in Western 
   England. It was used to make utensils and plates for the 
   lower class who could not afford silver (or later, silverplate)  
   utensils. (But the lead leached into the food and the result
   was some lead poisoning.)

   But it was ideal for medals. It is softer than bronze, 
   silver and other medal compositions, but harder than pure 
   tin. Pure tin also has the shortcoming of being affected 
   by temperature (it changes at temperature below freezing) 
   but this is less so for white metal. Because of its 
   softness white metal is ideal for striking. I have never 
   seen a cast white metal object (perhaps this is 
   impossible).

   White metal does resemble aluminum. But aluminum did not
   become commercially available until electricity became 
   available (thank you, Thomas Edison who established the 
   first electric generation plant in Philadelphia). Since 
   aluminum requires a large amount of electricity to purify
   it, it becme available only after the development of 
   electric generation (about 1890). In America white metal 
   fell into disuse after aluminum became widely available.

   White metal is often called pewter, which it closely 
   resembles. In cataloging medals of light weight silver 
   color they are often called many things -- tin, lead, 
   pewter and others -- but it is best to call it white metal.

   Tin can be impressed with your fingernail, as can pure 
   lead. White metal is not dented this easily. "Pot metal" 
   can frequently be indented with your fingernail because 
   of the great use of these soft metals. It is not suitable 
   for medals. Like white metal, pewter also has no specific 
   formulation (but is a mixture of whatever was tossed into 
   the melting pot, hence the name)

   If your bronze and white metal medals were award medals, 
   the white metal ranked the very lowest, even below bronze 
   (with silver and gold above, of course)."


BANK HEIST COULD TRIGGER IRISH BANKNOTE WITHDRAWL

   A December 24, 2004 story in the London Times notes 
   that Britain's largest bank robbery could lead to 
   the withdrawal of an entire issue of Northern 
   Ireland currency.

   "The home of leading Belfast Republican Eddie Copeland 
   was being searched today by police in the hunt to recover 
   £22 million stolen in Britain's biggest bank raid."

   "The robbers held the families of two bank workers 
   hostage for 24 hours, forcing the two staff to help them
   carry out the heist at the headquarters of the Northern 
   Bank in Belfast on Monday night. £22 million was taken, 
   £12 million of it in distinctive Northern Ireland 
   banknotes.

   Today the Northern Bank revealed that it is considering
   a plan to withdraw from circulation every single 
   banknote that it has issued. The move would make much 
   of the stolen money impossible to spend, although it 
   would also cause enormous problems for legitimate 
   savers."

   "On Sunday night, some of the robbers posed as police 
   officers breaking news of the death of a relative to 
   gain entrance to the two bankers' houses.

   The families of Chris Warde, 23, and his supervisor, 
   Kevin McMullan, 30, were held hostage as the pair 
   were ordered to report for work at midday on Monday, 
   where their jobs took them into the cash centre in 
   the basement of the bank in Donegall Square West.

   One of the bank workers was ordered to test the 
   security by walking out of the building with a holdall 
   containing £1 million. He was not spotted by security 
   staff, and passed the bag to one of the gangsters, 
   disguised in a hat and scarf, who was standing round
   the corner in Upper Queen Street.

   Over the next two hours, huge quantities of banknotes 
   were loaded into crates and boxes. On two occasions, 
   at around 7pm and around 8pm, the van, larger than a 
   Transit and with a distinctive tail-lift, called at 
   the bank's side entrance to collect them."

   To read the full story:
   http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1415365,00.html


1775 COIN FIND MAKES NEWS

   On Sunday December 26, 2004, a story about the discovery
   of a common 18th century coin in Boonsboro, MD made the 
   local papers, with a guest appearance by NBS board member
   John Kraljevich:

   "Masonry contractor Clyde Barnhart didn't have to finish 
   his renovation to the historic Boone Hotel building in 
   Boonsboro before getting paid for his work. He dug up a 
   reward worth more to him than money soon after he started 
   the project this fall.

   The self-described "history nut" and relic hunter 
   discovered a 1775 British coin beneath the rotting 
   floorboards of the more than 200-year-old building. The 
   front side of the worn, copper half-penny includes a bust
   of King George III with the words "Georgius III Rex." 
   The back side of the coin reads "Brittania."

   Despite its age, the coin isn't worth much - to anyone 
   except Barnhart and Boone Hotel owner Mark Webb. The 
   229-year-old coin today is worth between $5 and $10, said
   John J. Kraljevich Jr. of Annapolis, director of numismatic 
   research for New Hampshire-based American Numismatic 
   Rarities. That half penny would be equivalent to about a 
   half dollar in today's economy, he said."

   "I don't care about the value; it's the historical 
   significance to me," said Barnhart, 55, of Hagerstown. 
   After finding the coin with his metal detector, he 
   cleaned it up with lemon juice and gave it to Webb to 
   frame and mount above the old brick fireplace near 
   where he uncovered his treasure."

   "The hotel was one of the first five buildings 
   constructed in Boonsboro after William and George 
   Boone founded the town in 1792..."
 
   To read the full story, see:
   http://www.herald-mail.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=99885


A CHRISTMAS POEM

   Two years ago Dick Johnson sent us a Christmas poem 
   "Give Santa A Medal" (E-Sylum, vol 5, no 51 December 22, 
   2002). This year he sends us a follow up to that poem.

   SANTA GOT HIS MEDAL

   'Two days after Christmas,
   And all through coin land,
   Collectors and coin buyers
   Check their collections at hand.

   Bullion coin buyers
   Return from bank vaults,
   Empty-handed from divesting,
   False coins without faults.

   Proof coin set collectors
   Both eyes with a glint
   Just received two packages
   From our American Mint.

   Lincoln diebreak collectors
   Adjust microscopes,
   A cent with mint flaws
   Increases their hopes!

   Those foreign coin collectors
   Prize items at hand
   World pleasure experienced
   From every coin's far-off land.

   Asylum book members
   Still high you can see,
   Received a rare tome
   He now reads with great glee!

   But this holiday Santa,
   A medal collector he,
   Got a new specimen
   For the family to see.

   He holds up his prize
   For his family's eyes.
   And claims with great mettle
   "Santa DID get his medal!"

   H A P P Y   N E W   Y E A R ! "


FEATURED WEB SITE

   This week's featured web site is devoted to Austrian
   Calendar Medals.  "The Calendar Medals (Kalendermedaille)
   produced by the Austrian Mint probably had their origin 
   in 1933.  They have been minted annually ever since and 
   are a fascinating series of medals with superb designs 
   which were executed by master engravers and minters.  
   They usually depict one of the seven planets known to 
   ancient astrologers (in astrology the Sun and Moon are 
   treated as planets) or by their manifestation as deities 
   generally Roman) or at least by a closely related theme. 
   The reverses usually have a calendar of all the Sundays 
   of the year as well as the dates of major holidays 
   surrounding the calendar design. For many of the 
   Calendar Medals, customized versions were created for
   the Mint's customers."

   http://www.austriancoins.com/MedalsCalendarI.html

   HAPPY NEW YEAR!

  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. Membership is only $15 to
  addresses in North America, $20 elsewhere.
  For those without web access, write to W. David
  Perkins, NBS Secretary-Treasurer,
  P.O. Box 3888, Littleton, CO  80161-3888.

  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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