The E-Sylum v7#04, January 25, 2004
whomren at coinlibrary.com
whomren at coinlibrary.com
Sun Jan 25 19:41:18 PST 2004
Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 7, Number 04, January 25, 2004:
an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society.
Copyright (c) 2004, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society.
SUBSCRIBER UPDATE
Among recent new subscribers is NBS member Douglas Mudd.
Welcome aboard! We now have 622 subscribers.
NBS FUN PHOTO
With the help of Fred Lake, Pete Smith and George Fitzgerald,
we have identified all but one of the gentlemen in Fred Lake's
photo taken at the NBS meeting at the 2004 Florida United
Numismatists convention. From left to right they are:
1. [unknown] (wearing light green shirt)
2. George Fitzgerald (wearing a red shirt)
3. John Kraljevich (wearing a suit)
4. Wendell Wolka (behind sign)
5. Dan Hamelberg (wearing dark jacket)
6. John Reichenberger (wearing a yellow shirt)
See the picture at:
http://www.coinbooks.org/nbsfun.html
FORD LIBRARY SALE UPDATE
George Kolbe writes: "After processing the details of our
November 29th auction sale, taking a little time to enjoy the
holidays, and bouts with various pesky flu bugs, we are back
to cataloguing the first John J. Ford, Jr. Library sale, which
will take place at the Mission Inn (www.missioninn.com ) in
Riverside, California on Tuesday June 1st, 2004.
We have been able to secure special room rates at the
Mission Inn for Sunday May 30th, Monday May 31st, and
Tuesday June 1st. Reservations can be made by calling (800)
843-7755 or (909) 784-0300 ext. 850. Attendees must
reference the GEORGE FREDERICK KOLBE FINE
NUMISMATIC BOOKS group (what a mouthful) when
making reservations. Those who have already reserved rooms
should be able to obtain the special rate by calling one of the
above telephone numbers and mentioning the magic words.
There is also a wide variety of other lodging in the area.
Those arriving by air for the sale may wish to choose Ontario
International Airport, a new modern facility. It's about 10
minutes from the Mission Inn, 45 minutes from Crestline,
and 45 minutes from the Long Beach Convention Center,
where dealer setup for the coin show is on the day following
the sale.
Some of the more interesting items catalogued in the Ford
Library since our last report include:
The Chapmans' Bid Book of the 1906 Wetmore sale, with
plates
Two additional American Bond Detectors, bringing the total
to seven copies, all different in one respect or another. One
of these last two is inscribed by Ordway, and the other is
the 1871 Second Edition.
Five editions of Hodges' Bank Note Safeguard 1859-1863,
and Dye's 1855 Bank Note Plate Delineator, generally in
exceptionally fine condition
A 1910 work by James Cannon on 1907 Clearing House
Loan Certificates, with 21 plates of the currency, mostly
printed in colors
The author's copy of Reed's 1879 Sketch of the Early
History of Banking in Vermont, with specimens of Vermont
State Bank notes and other items
A deluxe leatherbound edition of Dietz's 1929 Postal
Service of the Confederate States of America
Wayte Raymond's 1875 Crosby in the Nova Constellatio
binding
A very fine plated 1882 Bushnell sale
David Proskey's Priced and Named auction room copy
of the Chapmans' 1882 Bushnell sale, with plates
David Proskey's Priced and Named auction room copy
of the Chapmans' 1884 Warner sale
A superb plated 1905 John G. Mills sale
A superb plated 1906 H. P. Smith sale
The Chapmans' Bid Book of the 1906 H. P. Smith sale,
with plates
An exceptionally fine Post-Sale Hardbound 1909
Zabriskie Sale with Plates
A “Mint” Plated 1909 Jewett Sale
The Bid Book of the 1911 Julius Brown Sale
William H. Woodin's superb leather-bound 1912 George
H. Earle sale, with plates
A "near new" plated 1916 Charley Gregory sale, in the
original gilt-printed white paper covers
A superb 1920 W. H. Hunter sale, with plates
The Bid Book of the Hunter Sale
A very fine copy of Marvin's 1880 Medals of the Masonic
Fraternity; also the most complete example we have ever
encountered of the Supplement.
Wayte Raymond’s own copy of the 1925 W. W. C. Wilson
Sale, With 56 Plates (the additional 11 plates depict Wilson's
Bouquet Sous and all of the items depicted in the text as
halftones)
The Bid Book of the 1925 W. W. C. Wilson Sale
The Bid Books of Parts II & III of the W. W. C. Wilson Sale
By far the finest original set of Frossard's Numisma that we
have ever encountered
A 1792 French work comprising the documentary basis for
the issuance of the Castorland Medal
J. N. T. Levick’s Annotated Low on Hard Times Tokens,
With Adams Plates
The Chapmans' Bid Book of the 1882 Bushnell sale, with
plates
The Chapmans' Bid Book of the 1904 Mills sale, with plates
S. H. Chapman’s Priced and Named 1909 Zabriskie Sale
S. H. Chapman’s annotated sales room copy of the 1914
Parsons Sale
Wayte Raymond’s Hardbound United States Coin Company
Sales, Including a Plated Lardner Catalogue and a Number
of Bid Books
J. N. T. Levick’s own annotated 1884 Levick sale, with a
remarkable comment on cataloguer Woodward: “His one eye
didn't see it - as I did have it”
This doesn't bring us up to date. We'll send in another report
in the next week or two."
LAKE BOOKS SALE #72 PRL AVAILABLE
Fred Lake writes: "The prices realized list for our sale #72 is
now posted to our web site at
http://www.lakebooks.com/archive.html
Once on that page press the link marked "2004" (or scroll
down) and you will see the two options for viewing the PRL.
Thanks to all of our bidders and consignors for making this a
most successful and interesting sale."
ANS DONATION AUCTION
The Winter 2003 issue of American Numismatic Society
magazine includes a progress report on fundraising for the
Francis D. Campbell Library Chair by Library Committee
Chairman John W. Adams. Much progress has been
made toward the $2 million goal. "We are also driving
toward broad participation with a goal of 500 individual
contributions. In coming months, our Library Chair
brochures will be distributed in the catalogues of all the
major auction houses. Articles will appear in several of
the numismatic journals published by the leading specialty
groups. And, we will climax our drive with a fun-packed
(we promise) auction of donated books to be held at the
ANA convention in Pittsburgh in August 2004."
Actually, the auction will be off-site, a few blocks from
the ANA convention itself. "What we need now are your
donations of suitable auction lots. We seek books and
related material with a minimum value of $300 per item,
with all donations being tax deductible to the full extent of
the law." For more information on the auction, contact
George Kolbe at gfk at numislit.com.
I've already sent my check, and I hope many of our
subscribers will support the drive as well. I've also
shipped a few items to George for the auction. To whet
the appetites of potential bidders, here are my clumsy
descriptions of two of them (I'm sure George will do a
far better job of writing them up in the catalogue):
Catalogue of John W. Haseltine's Type Table of U.S.
Dollars, Half Dollars & Quarter Dollars, 1881.
Handwritten in ink on front endpaper is "M. L. Beistle /
Shippensburg Pa / July 1 1922.
Penciled notations (probably Beistle numbers) on many
of the half dollar entries (lots 654-740). Occasional
additional notes. After lot 664 (1795 half) is written
"Gies" (probably A. C. Gies). Remainder of catalog is
clean. Prices realized bound in back. 3/4 black leather
and brown cloth boards. 8vo, 130pp.
Application for Federal Employment (Standard Form 57,
Revised May 1954, U.S. Civil Service Commission).
Position: Curator of Numismatics
Place: Washington, D.C.
Applicant: Hans Maurits F. Schulman, New York, NY.
Four-page application filled out in ink. Signed and dated
by Hans Schulman on April 15, 1956. Lists as references
Clyde Trees, Director of Medallic Art Co., The Hon.
Nellie Tayloe Ross, former U.S. Mint Director, and The
Hon. R. Henry Norweb, Former Ambassador of the USA.
Answered "No" to question 23, "Are you now, or have you
ever been, a member of the Communist Party, U.S.A., or
any other Communist organization? 4pp.
BOOK ON COUNTERFEIT HOLOCAUST ARTIFACTS
Michael J. Sullivan submitted the following review of a
new book by Alec Tulkoff on the modern counterfeiting
of artifacts relating to the Holocaust. He writes:
"While counterfeiting is a sad reality, particularly in the
context of the Holocaust, it is admirable for someone to
have dedicated 25 years to research this material to
prevent modern day exploitation of one of the worst
chapters in modern history. The book includes some
information on banknotes which may be of interest to
our E-Sylum readers.
I found this book to be well written, with great illustrations
and images. It was very informative regarding this interesting
area that is ripe with forgeries. It covers everything from
stamps and currency, to uniforms and markings. Below is an
excerpt from the press release. This book is a reference and
resource guide to help determine the authenticity of these
artifacts, and provides a detailed look at various Holocaust-
related artifacts in a manner that follows the experiences of
the survivors and victims. As an example; the Germans
identified some individuals with outward markings, forced
them to register, pressed them into forced labor, ghettoized,
and eventually deported them to concentration camps or
labor facilities, and due to the different times that these
activities took place in conquered and occupied countries,
they are distinguished here by the action rather than by a
general timeline (for example, Jews in occupied Poland were
forced to wear "Jewish badges" in 1939, while this did not
occur in Germany until 1941). The Holocaust is a difficult
period of history to examine, and although some of the
photographs contained in this book are horrific in nature,
this book in no way trivializes the magnitude of the
Holocaust by discussing the collection and identification of
Holocaust-related artifacts. The issue at hand is the callous
disregard by those who profit from the Holocaust by
manufacturing and selling counterfeit and fake items.
Alec Tulkoff has been a collector of World War II militaria
for the past twenty-five years. Over the past seven years he
has taken an interest in Holocaust history and artifacts.
During the past two years, while working at the SHOAH
Visual History Foundation as a cataloguer, he compiled the
information and materials contained in this book. As a
cataloguer in the Foundation, he had the opportunity to hear
hundreds of first hand Holocaust survivor testimonies. Tulkoff
has worked hard in combating the vast amount of Holocaust
artifact fraud that has spread in the collecting community and
has posted a website dealing with this fraud and also publishes
a quarterly newsletter on this topic. Size:8 1/2" x 11"
Illustrations: over 160 color and b/w photographs Pages:
88 NEW"
[Michael was unable to locate the author's web site.
Perhaps we'll have more information next week. Can any
of our readers provide more information on the book?
Thanks. -Editor]
HIGLEY COPPER INFO SOUGHT
Barb Anwari of San Diego CA writes: "I am writing in
reference to the online issue of "E-sylum" from November
1999, which mentions the Higley Coppers ...
It's my understanding that there is no documentation that
incontestably links John Higley to these coins (other than
the fact he was Samuel Higley's older brother). I am doing
some research on this point, and wonder if you might give
me a leg up on finding sources.
Any help, and your thoughts, would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!"
DAMON DOUGLAS MANUSCRIPT
Ray Williams writes: "I saw the press release about "The
Copper Coinage of the State of New Jersey: Annotated
Manuscript of Damon G. Douglas, Edited by Gary A.
Trudgen" in this Sunday's E-Sylum. I received my copy
of the manuscript on Friday (actually 3 copies). I
understand that the print run was limited to 500 copies.
I think it nice that a researcher's work can be honored
and published in such a way, decades after he's gone.
Mr. Douglas seemed to be decades ahead of his time
and did a lot of original research, contacting libraries,
museums, historical societies and families across the
country. He located many original documents to work
from. I wish I could have met the man!"
NORTH WEST COMPANY TOKEN HOARD INFO SOUGHT
Darryl Atchison writes: "Walter Breen states in his "Complete
Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins" (1988) that
approximately two dozen North West Company tokens were
discovered in the "Umpqua River Valley hoard" in Oregon
around 1976.
I have searched for hours online and cannot find anything
which can point me to a reference on this hoard. I would be
interested in learning more about the site including: what was
the site used for (i.e. was there a trading post on this site or
was it an Indian habitation or graveyard perhaps); what other
objects were found on the site; who excavated the site; and
is there an official report on file.
I was hoping to obtain some of these answers so that we
can possibly investigate the circumstances in which these
pieces were issued. For years, many people have believed
that these pieces were used like the Hudson's Bay Company
"made beaver" pieces. However, some of us now believe
that these pieces were more likely used as private Indian
Chief pieces such as those issued by Astor for use in Astoria.
Any information on this hoard may help us to shed more
light on the debate.
If anyone can tell me any more information on this hoard
or can possibly direct me to any possible source of more
information I would be very grateful. My email address is
atchisondf at hotmail.com. Thanks again."
NUREMBERG JETON REFERENCES
Last week we discussed "...a review by Russ Rulau of a new
book by L. B. Fauver titled "Nuremberg and Nuremberg
Style Jetons." The 300-page hardbound catalog "will almost
certainly replace the works of Eklund, Barnard, Berry,
Drewing, Gebert, Levinson, Mitchiner and others insofar as
their Nuremberg coverage overlaps the current volume."
Jørgen Sømod writes: "I see Josef Neumann is not mentioned
among the works, which now is replaced. Wonderful, because
I do still use Nemann."
MINT TOKENS
Last week we asked, "Do many mints around the world use
... tokens or scrip within their walls? David Lange writes:
"I have a collection of three brass tokens denominated at 5, 10
and 25 cents that formerly were used by employees of the San
Francisco Mint. They date from the 1980s and are no longer
used, the mint having since switched to a debit-card system to
avoid any stray metal finding its way into coin presses.
Unfortunately, the tokens don't indicate that they were
intended for the mint. In fact, they're completely generic and
were probably used at other facilities, too. I know they were
ex San Francisco Mint only because they were given to me
by an employee at the time."
Scott Semans writes: I've handled metal canteen (cafeteria)
tokens for Shanghai (China) and both Calcutta and Bombay
(India) Mints. In fact, there are at least two series for
Calcutta. The India are guesstimated at 1960s-80s while the
Shanghai are probably 1980s-90s. The Indian tokens carry
denominations while the Chinese seem to be good-fors as
one has a legend translating as "vegetable".
EXHIBITING AT THE 2004 ANA
Now that we're in to the new year, I thought I'd again
encourage our readers who will be attending the convention
of the American Numismatic Association this summer to
consider exhibiting some of their numismatic literature.
Exhibit applications for the Pittsburgh convention are
online at
http://www.money.org/exhibitrules2004anniv.html
The deadline is June 21, 2004.
The 2004 Exhibit Chairman, John Eshbach writes:
"Exhibitors should also go to the ANA web site
(http://www.money.org/), click on Education Programs
and pull up "How to Prepare a Winning Exhibit." I put
this on the ANA site last year and it follows closely the
course Jerry Kochel and I teach at the ANA Summer
Seminar. The course will be offered again next year."
Here's the direct link to the article:
http://www.money.org/artofexhibiting.html
ARCHITECTURAL MEDAL REFERENCES SOUGHT
Tom Leib writes: "I am searching for books about architectural
medals. Other than the Eidlitz "Medals and Medallions" and
Taylor's "The Architectural Medal," are you aware of any other
books, periodicals, pamphlets, papers, etc. dealing with
architectural medals?"
With the encouragement of Dick Johnson, I've been doing
research on AIA (American Institute of Architects) medals
and Architectural Award, Society and School medals (as
opposed to medals commemorating architects or building).
Any help you can give related to published info about such
medals will be greatly appreciated."
METAL DETECTORIST
A term I hadn't seen used before turned up in two articles in
the February 2nd issue of COIN WORLD.
"A metal detectorist hunting in the ruins of a building in Texas
reportedly found an unusual "base bar" purportedly
manufactured by a 19th century California Assayer."
(unattributed article, p34)
"A metal detectorist who searched several acres of rolling
woodland in western Massachusetts has unearthed a
well-preserved piece tentatively identified as a peace medal
of King George II, circa 1760, which has just sold at auction
for $805, including 15% buyer's fee." (article by Eric von
Klinger, p72)
The von Klinger article goes on to note "The detectorist," as
he wishes to be known anonymously..."
A web search found many references to the term, so it is in
common use among enthusiasts. There is even a web site,
http://www.metaldetectorist.com/, for "News of Interest to
Metal Detectorists." The site contains links to articles
about finds all around the world.
RELIVE THE 1857 BANK PANIC
Len Augsberger writes: "Students of economic history should
enjoy this:
http://www1.worldbank.org/economicpolicy/managing%20volatility/contagion/documents/kelly-contagion.pdf
The authors have uncovered an interesting facet of market
panics - this in relation to the Panic of 1857 - the contagion
spread geographically in New York City, and not only that,
but it spread among the Irish immigrants in relation to what
parts of Ireland they had come from. The effect demonstrates
how social relationships in Ireland were preserved on the west
side of the pond, and furthermore how those relationships
divided "panickers" and "stayers". Computer geeks will
appreciate their use of a "decision matrix" in isolating
demographic criteria.
That the raw data required to write this paper even exists is
amazing - a single bank in New York collected large amounts
of demographic data on their customers and today the data
can now be analyzed with nearly 150 years of hindsight
along with the aids of modern technology.
BECKER COUNTERFEITS
Gene Anderson writes: "I appreciate the interest shown by
Eric Newman on the topic of Bay Area counterfeits (BAC).
I am unfamiliar with the litigation he mentioned and cannot
throw any light on the name he is trying to remember. I own
two BACs. They are an 1803 S260 large cent and an 1852
N6 large cent. I have written an article for Penny-Wise to
be published probably in the March issue. The goal of my
recent inquiries has been to flush out any information source
that I may have over looked. My article lists 13 different
dates counterfeited in this way, and it also lists sources that
contain photos of some of these counterfeits. There is a
bibliography containing my sources.
[A copy of Gene's draft has been forwarded to Eric.
-Editor]
ANTI-COUNTERFEITING SOFTWARE
Some more more thoughts on the anti-counterfeiting features
being built into software were published in the January 19,
2004 issue of Network World:
"At first blush this seems to be a reasonable way to slow the
rush of teenagers using color computer printers to print their
own money, but there are a number of troubling aspects to
the story."
"I did some experiments with my copy of PhotoShop CS.
The software recognized the new U.S. $20 bills, 10 and 20
Euro notes, Canadian $20, $50 and $100 bills, and English
20 pound notes. It did not recognize U.S. $1, $10, $50 or
$100 bills or $20 bills with the old design, nor did it recognize
English 5 or 10 pound notes. (That was all the money I had
around the house.) In case any law enforcement folk are
reading this, I followed the rules and deleted the scanned
images as soon as my test was done.
Because U.S. law allows one-sided color reproductions of
U.S. currency as long as the image is less than three-fourths
or more then 1.5 times the size of the actual bill..., PhotoShop
CS actually stops the user from doing completely legal things.
Other countries have similar laws (see www.rulesforuse.org).
In fact, the U.S. Secret Service could not have used PhotoShop
CS to produce its Web page if it used a current rather than an
old $20 bill as the sample currency."
To read the full article, see:
http://www.nwfusion.com/columnists/2004/0119bradner.html?vo
[So ... if software is outlawed, only outlaws will have software
to manipulate images of currency. -Editor]
ONE IS NOT ENOUGH (CONTINUED)
Howard A. Daniel III writes: "Alan V. Weinberg raised the
hair on the back of my neck, when he wrote about "duplicates"
and the Smithsonian Institution's Numismatic Department.
I've been writing to my two Senators (Warner & Allen) and
two Representatives (Tom Davis & Joann Davis (I have
homes in two Virginia districts)) for many years about
creating a separate National Numismatic Museum (NNM)
like the National Postal Museum. This would bring
numismatics out from under a very big umbrella and make
it visible to ordinary citizens and numismatists. And new
exhibits might be created every few years instead of basically
the same one for the past 25+ years. Another one of my
projects with my Senators and Representatives is to create a
bill that will allow the Smithsonian (or new NNM) to keep
triplicates (I'm generous) of a particular piece. One for
obverse exhibiting, a second for reverse exhibiting and a
third for research purposes. All of the others could be sold
or traded (to other museums to acquire missing pieces).
There are over 1 million pieces in the National Numismatic
Collection and probably less than one-tenth of one percent
have ever been seen by the public. The rarest pieces would
best be sold through prominent auction houses but the NNM
could list online the more common pieces and/or sell them
within the new NNM. The monies from such sales could
fund the operation of the museum and new exhibits. The US
Mints, Bureau of Printing and Engraving and US Treasury
could also sell their products within the museum and pay it
a percentage of their sales for more sources of funds. Exhibits
of banks, credit unions, private mints, financial paper printing
firms, etc., could be created with their funds and any of their
products could also be sold for additional monies.
I hopes that NBSers will also pick a date every year (or
term) to write to their Representatives and Senators about
the creation of a NNM and the selling of "duplicates" in the
National Numismatic Collection. You might not like my
exact ideas, so I suggest that you please write your own
version. If you want to correspond with me about this subject,
send your emails to Howard at SEAsianTreasury.com."
SMITHSONIAN DUPLICATE POLICIES
Chris Fuccione writes: "Here is some info I had saved on
Elvira Clain-Stefanelli. This might shed a different light on the
Josiah K. Lilly story. This is from
http://www.ece.iit.edu/~prh/coins/PiN/dds.html
"This great collection came to our Museum in a very unusual
way. Since Mr. Lilly did not leave in his will any provisions for
its disposal, it was decided by the executors of the estate to
donate it "intact" to the National Numismatic Collection: the
Indiana Congressional delegation with the Honorable William
Bray and Congressman Andrew Jacobs, Jr., initiated legislation
in Congress which ultimately resulted in the delivery of the
collection to the Smithsonian. In exchange the Lilly estate
received a credit of $5,534,808 on its federal estate tax.
This amount was determined by expert appraisors, and
jointly agreed upon by the estate and the appropriate
federal authorities. It would seem like the collection cost
the United States tax payers over five million dollars, in
fact, the actual cost was considerably lower, since the
estate had to pay on the above amount federal estate and
Indiana inheritance taxes which reduced the price to less
than half its initial estimated amount. In "recognition for the
successful acquisition and display of the Josiah K. Lilly
collection" in 1973 Dr. V. Clain-Stefanelli and myself were
given the Smithsonian's gold medal for Exceptional Service."
This comes from an interview of hers.
http://apps.heritagecoin.com/features/numisarticles.php?id=297&sid=8917D7A930FC0ABD1C1CC95948FAA407
"LEGACY: How much did the Lilly collection expand the
Smithsonian's holdings of U.S. coins?
CLAIN- STEFANELLI: Lilly is virtually complete. Only one
or two coins are missing. But, it duplicates many areas of the
collection and it could still undergo an improvement in condition.
LEGACY: So Lilly was not the finest known in many cases?
CLAIN- STEFANELLI: Correct. But there are many great
rarities including a large number of unique territorial and private
gold pieces in his collection. Where he tremendously increased
our collection was in Latin American. It's almost as complete
as the U.S. portion. Brazil might have a better collection than
we have of their coins, but they don't have the other Latin
American countries. It is fantastic, and was a great addition to
our collection."
This comes further down in the interview.
"LEGACY: I have heard that Vladimir did quite a bit of trading
in order to get certain coins.
CLAIN- STEFANELLI: No. We were not allowed to trade.
Up to this day, we haven't traded one single coin from the
collection. We traded a large group of Mexican silver dollars
which came in a block. Those we could trade. That was the
only trade, and that was after the death of my husband.
LEGACY: I had heard a story about a 1794 dollar that had
been here since the 1850s and it was apparently traded. I was
curious for what.
CLAIN-STEFANELLI: Not under his time and not under
my time. And I will tell you, up to about three or four years
ago, it was forbidden to trade any objects. It started with the
art museums of the Smithsonian. They made some bad trades
about 15 years ago and after that, it was an absolute no-no.
LEGACY: Do you see that as a possibility in the future, as
one way to get rid of duplicates and get new acquisitions?
CLAIN-STEFANELLI: Yes, it could be. But it's with many
"ifs." It would have to get the approval of our legal office and
it would have to be something that can be proven as
100-percent fair. An unfair trade is what they're afraid of. So,
auctions would be the only way for us to go.
LEGACY: It sounds like an outright trade would be virtually
impossible.
CLAIN- STEFANELLI: As long as I am here, if I can avoid
it, I would, because it's a lot of headaches. If I take this coin
and want to trade it, I have to go through all the records and
make absolutely certain that there is no possibility of there
being some strings attached to it.
Now, no one in their right mind would trade rarities, so trading
is only for the common coins where you would have duplicates.
But you have to do a lot of research for coins that might be
worth $20, maybe $50. 1 might have to spend days for one
single coin to make certain it's completely free.
LEGACY: What do you mean by "strings attached?"
CLAIN- STEFANELLI: So many things were donated over
the past hundred or so years that our collection has existed,
that there might be some hidden document, something that
says the coins cannot be traded. If you give me something,
a donation, and say, "It has to stay here in perpetuity," I
cannot touch it."
LINCOLN CENT TEST
Dick Johnson writes: "The March 2004 issue of "Games
Magazine" for those with high IQs (needless to say, I don't
subscribe, but I do skim my daughter's issue every month)
has an interesting test. Draw both sides of the Lincoln
cent from memory without looking. Drawing skill doesn't
count. (Hint: wording does!) Then it will tell you how
"psychologists' test subjects performed." After you have
done this see the comments at the end of this E-Sylum."
UNITED STATESIANS
Regarding Chick Ambrass' comments from last week,
Ray Williams writes: "Although I agree with Chick's
points in his article, I think he actually meant to say British
Colonies instead of American colonies."
Doug Andrews writes: "I had to re-read Chick Ambrass's
comments several times to make sure I wasn't seeing things!
He asserts: "In 1688 when the letters in reference were
written... Canada was part of the American colonies."
Nice try, but his account of Canadian history is a little off
to say the least. In 1688, in fact, what is now Canada was
governed as four separate entities. Nova Scotia and
Newfoundland were colonies directly under the British
Crown, New France (comprised of much of central Canada)
was a French colony and remained so until 1759, and the
areas around Hudson's Bay were in fact the exclusive
property of a private company, The Hudson's Bay Trading
Company.
The last was by far the largest, covering most of present
day northern Ontario and Quebec, as well as Manitoba
and the Territories, and it wasn't a colony of any country.
The remainder of present day Canada was either a British
settlement governed separately from the "Thirteen Colonies,"
or a French overseas possession. Their relationship with the
British colonies stretching from New Hampshire to Georgia
thus was tenuous at best.
If his inference was that Canada somehow fell into the orbit
of the Thirteen Colonies, he is mistaken.
Mr. Ambrass's reference to whether inhabitants of North or
South America outside of the US are "Americans" raises a
valid point, however. The issue is resolved by clarifying that
Canadians and Mexicans are "North Americans;" Brazilians,
for example, are "South Americans." The more difficult
question of the day is whether the British consider themselves
"Europeans."
Ted Buttrey replies: To put the thing in its geographical and its
historical context: All of the Americas (that name itself is an
accident), North and South, were infested with colonies from
various European nations; and all of those nations, as far as
I'm aware, referred to their colonists as "Americans",
regardless of where they came from or where they settled.
The colonies themselves bore names that were either
European in origin (New Galicia) or indigenous (Guatemala).
When 13 separate British colonies got out from under British
rule they were each an independent nation -- "state" --, and
each had its own name -- Massachusetts, Rhode Island, etc.
When they subsequently agreed to form a federate union they
had no common name for the federation and had to make one
up. So "United States" must have been obvious, though
personally I would have preferred "States United" or "States
in Union", emphasizing that each was still maintaining its own
sovereignty. But I wonder whether the term "United States"
wasn't modeled on the "United Provinces" of the Lowlands.
As to "of America", it's clear from all the sources that the
separation from Britain was more than political. Over the
decades the people of the British Colonies came to feel that
they were their own kind of people, no longer just Europeans
who had moved elsewhere. (And of course it was that
growing feeling that the British tried to suppress, e.g. by
requiring the trade of each colony to move via the motherland,
and restricting trade among the several colonies.) So
"of America" made clear both where this was happening,
geographically, and politically the severance from Europe.
Remember too that at the time the USA was the only
independent nation of the Western Hemisphere. Everybody
else inhabited a colony that was an arm of some European
nation. So in that sense the inhabitants of the USA were
the only people that could be described politically, nationally,
as Americans.
The problem that bugs Chick, and indeed continues to annoy
many south of the Rio Grande, is our habit of referring to
ourselves, exclusively, as "Americans", as against "Mexicans",
"Guatemalans", etc. But really this is a problem that grows
out of language -- as he notices -- not out of a superior
cultural or historical or political attitude. "United States of
America" is more a label, a description, than a name, and the
fact is that the English language does not lend itself to
"United Statser".
The adjectives derived from place names are various in form
yet can be very specific. I remember a political cartoon of
years ago when Bobby Kennedy moved his legal residence
from Massachusetts to New York so that he could run for
the Senate from there: he was sketched addressing his new
political audience, "Fellow New Yorkites..."
That makes its point: there are proper and improper ways
of doing this. But there is simply no way to derive a proper
adjective from "United States of America". It can be done
in other languages: in Spanish each of us is an
"Estadounidense", in Italian, "Statunitese". We're stuck with
"American", I'm afraid. It was never intended to be offensive,
but it has come to be so with some folks, and you can only try
to get them to understand."
THROWING COINS AWAY
Regarding the "throwing coins away" discussion relating to the
Ancient Coins for Education project, Gar Travis writes:
"I have, in the past encountered some of this "talk" regarding
the ill disposition by archeologists of coins on site. I have
attached a rather lengthy grouping of e-mails between
numismatists about a certain archeologist. Somewhere in
all this is mention of discarding coins, I'm sure you'll enjoy
the read...
Also - here is a related link:
http://www.people.memphis.edu/~tjbuggey/ethics.html
[The exchange was far too lengthy to even to attempt
to excerpt. The first salvo came from an archeologist
speaking against the ACE project, followed by others
rebutting his position. As with any emotional discussion,
both sides waxed eloquent and presented what they felt
were ironclad arguments. -Editor]
LINCOLN CENT ANSWER
Dick Johnson writes: "There are four features on each side
of a Lincoln cent, counting images and lettering (they say).
Hopefully you put the correct lettering in the right space for
both sides. (I blew it, I switched two. But I added a bonus,
I added the engravers' initials on both sides. As a numismatist,
I bet you did too!) It shouldn't count if you had Lincoln facing
the wrong direction.
Games Magazine quoted a book "How The Mind Works"
by Steven Pinker (1997): "Only five percent of the subjects
drew all eight. The median number remembered was three,
and half [of the items drawn] were in the wrong place."
A SWALLOWED COIN LONGEVITY RECORD?
From a North Queensland, Australia newspaper comes this
item, which I wonder may constitute a record for the length
of time a swallowed coin remains in a human.
"A TOWNSVILLE girl who has been living with a $1 coin in
her throat for more than six years is relieved to be finally rid
of the small change which has caused her and her family so
much grief.
Ten-year-old Onnalisa Taylor, of Pimlico, had a habit of
swallowing coins when she was younger.
But little did she know her habit would lead to almost a
lifetime of medical problems.
Her mum Sharlene Taylor said the coin went undetected in
her throat for more than six years while doctors treated her
for asthma because of her breathing difficulties."
"Onnalisa told the Bulletin she would always keep the coin
in a safe place.
She agreed it would make a great "show and tell'' item but
wasn't too sure if she would be game enough to touch the
coin in front of her classmates.
For the compete article, see
http://townsvillebulletin.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,7034,8431157%255E14787,00.html
FEATURED WEB PAGE
This week's featured web page is Tom Chao's Paper Money
Gallery of world banknotes. "My hobby is collecting paper
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web site exclusively to paper money so that you too can
share the joy of my collection. My entire collection is now
on display for your viewing pleasure. There are 1434 notes,
over 2600 scans front and back."
http://www.tomchao.com/
Wayne Homren
Numismatic Bibliomania Society
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