The E-Sylum v7#26, June 28, 2004

[whomren at coinlibrary.com]

Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 7, Number 26, June 28, 2004:
an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society.
Copyright (c) 2004, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society.


LAKE BOOKS SALE #75

   Fred Lake writes: "Lake Books announces that its sale #75
   is now available for viewing at:
   http://www.lakebooks.com/current.html

   The sale contains 491 lots of fine numismatic reference
   material covering a wide variety of subjects. The U.S.
   section features Bowers & Ruddy (Merena) sale catalogs
   hardbound by year, a nice run of Thomas Elder emissions
   and many of W.Elliot Woodward sales. The hard to find
   two-volume set of Dave Bowers' Silver Dollars & Trade
   Dollars in mint condition is offered and the very scarce
   Empire Investors Report in original copies is listed.
   Early Copper specialists will find books by Sheldon,
   Noyes, Lapp, Jack Robinson, etc. to add to their libraries.

   Ancient coinage, Token & Medal works, Paper Money
   and Guidebooks are also to be found. Books relating to
   treasure coinage, banking histories are listed in the
   miscellaneous section.

   The sale has a closing date of July 27, 2004. Bids may
   be entered by email, fax, telephone or via U.S. Mail."


INCREASING NBS MEMBERSHIP ROLLS

   David M. Sundman of Littleton Coin Co., Inc., writes:
   "I read with interest the recent report that "there were still
   more than 100 former members who have not renewed for
   the current year.

   For many years I was a member of the NBS, and
   mysteriously to me, about a year ago I discovered I wasn’t
   receiving The Asylum.   I had my assistant Melissa Plasencia
   check into this, and was shocked to discover that the notice
   appeared in a certain issue of The Asylum.  As I don’t read
   each issue—but save them all, I eventually discovered the
   problem of my lapsed membership when I found I was
   missing some issues.

   From my experience managing a coin business with more than
   150,000 active customers employing 325 staff, I can advise
   you that there is a direct link between the declining membership
   of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society and the current renewal
   request technique.  If I used such hidden message as you are
   using to retain customers, I wouldn’t be able to afford the
   computer to send you this email.

   Personally, I believe the NBS’s present method of renewal is
   crazy.  It may make things easy for the NBS –but it does not
   make it easy for the NBS member—thus your high dropout
   rate.  I doubt that any for-profit publication would run their
   renewal effort this way as it is guaranteed to increase your
   discontinued rate because you have made it difficult for the
   member/subscriber.  The NBS should do a separate renewal
   mailing, just as all publications do.   Even though it adds a little
   to the expense side, it is the only way you are going to grow
   the organization membership."

   Numismatic Bibliomania Society President Pete Smith writes:
   "Thank you for your comments. We have had general
   discussion about our renewal process at board meetings but
   no uniform policy. Each of the Secretary/Treasurers on our
   board has handled the process differently with varied emphasis
   on e-mail notification, Asylum notification and letters.

   It is obvious that we need to do more. We will discuss this again
   at our board meeting in Pittsburgh."


NBS LIFE MEMBERSHIP

   One way to bypass the membership renewal process is to
   become a Life Member.  It's been a while since we mentioned
   this option in The E-Sylum, so here goes.   According to the
   NBS constitution, Life Members are members who pay 20
   years of regular membership dues in full in advance.  At our
   current rate of $15 per year to addresses in North America,
   this equates to $300.  See the next item for our Secretary-
   Treasurer's address.


25TH ANNIVERSARY ISSUE DEADLINE APPROACHING

   Asylum Editor E. Tomlinson Fort writes: "As has been stated
   here over the past few weeks, July 1 is the deadline for those
   who want to join the NBS or renew their membership in order
   to receive our special 25th anniversary issue this summer. The
   application for can be found at http://www.coinbooks.org
   and send it along with a cheque for $15 ($20 outside the US)
   to our treasurer [see below]

   In more Asylum news: The Spring issue is at the printer and
   should be in the post within a fortnight or so. Believe it or not,
   work on the Summer issue has been proceeding according to
   schedule. It is hoped that it will be on its way to the printer
   after the July 4 weekend."

   W. David Perkins
   NBS Secretary-Treasurer,
   P.O. Box 3888, Littleton, CO  80161-3888.
   email address: wdperki at attglobal.net


POLITICS, NUMISMATICS & THE E-SYLUM

   From last week's E-Sylum: "Illustrating the divisions that
   surround Reagan's legacy is the following note ..."

   Warner Talso writes: "I suggest you keep political diatribes
   out of the E-Sylum.  I understand how you justify this
   "illustration", but this is truly a slippery slope."

   Myron Xenos writes: "Sunday nights always afford me a
   chance to gain some more numismatic knowledge, thanks to
   The E-sylum. This Sunday, however, disturbed me more than
   a little. I refer to the posthumous denigration of Pres. Ronald
   Reagan. I would like to take this opportunity to suggest to the
   readers and contributors to The E-Sylum that this seems like
   an inappropriate forum in which to vent one's political
   persuasions. It would seem that "Letters to the Editor" in such
   newspapers as Numismatic News or Coin World would be a
   more useful venue.   It would be a shame to turn The E-Sylum
   into a political opinion column and cause it to lose its novel
   approach to disseminating information literally world-wide.
   Even the writings of some of our esteemed authors and writers
   lose their punch when political agendas rear their heads,
   especially prior to elections. I would prefer to keep The
   E-Sylum more narrowly defined in its goal of numismatic truth."

   [I very rarely turn down any submission, and in the past have
   published opinions from both sides of the political fence, as long
   as there was a connection, preferably numismatic, to an ongoing
   discussion.  Having just discussed several proposals for
   honoring Reagan, I didn't feel it would be out of line to include
   a short opinion from the opposite camp.

   Editing things out is just as slippery a slope as leaving
   certain things in - it is difficult to know where to draw the line
   and inevitably some party will feel wronged.  Publishing any
   plan to honor a public figure is almost guaranteed to generate
   a counter from the opposite camp.   Should we have not
   published the several Reagan proposals in the first place?
   That doesn't feel right, either.  Any coinage proposal is fair
   game.

   The majority of our writers self-censor their comments,
   making such decisions unnecessary.  This is certainly what I
   prefer, as dealing with political issues is nothing I have the time
   or patience for.  So please, let's heed Warner and Myron's
   advice and keep our comments focused on numismatics.
   Thank you.    -Editor]


MEDAL OF FREEDOM AWARDS

   Now here's a headline President Reagan would have
   been shocked to read: "Medal for President Hinckley is 94th
   birthday present"

   "It comes from Utah's Deseret Morning News and the
   Hinckley mentioned is not Reagan's would-be assassin
   (whose last name is spelled differently), but Mormon
   Church President Gordon B. Hinckley, who
   "received a rare gift for his 94th birthday Wednesday — a
   Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian
   award."

   "He was one of 13 recipients honored at an East Room
   ceremony. Others included such people as Pope John Paul II
   (who received his medal recently when Bush visited the
   Vatican), golfer Arnold Palmer, actress Rita Moreno,
   cosmetics company founder Estee Lauder and National
   Geographic Society chairman Gilbert M. Grosvenor.

   "President Hinckley, smiling and walking briskly, joked with
   Bush as he placed the gold medal around his neck. When
   President Hinckley was asked later what the two said, he
   responded, "I was so awestruck that I can't remember what
   he said."

   "To show how much the treatment of his church has
   improved since early persecution, President Hinckley
   contrasted his high honor Wednesday with how Joseph
   Smith, the first president of the church, was treated when
   he visited Martin Van Buren in the White House in 1839.

   "They came here to plead the case for our people who
   had been despoiled and persecuted and driven, and were
   turned down by President Van Buren — who said, 'If I
   help you, I will lose the state of Missouri,' and rebuffed him."

   "The Medal of Freedom was established by President
   Truman in 1945 to recognize civilians for their service in
   World War II. It was reinstated by President Kennedy in
   1963 to honor distinguished service.

   Past winners include former U.S. presidents Carter, Ford
   and Reagan; current Secretary of State Colin Powell (who
   attended the ceremony Wednesday); former South African
   president Nelson Mandela; civil rights activist Jesse Jackson;
   and former Czech President Vaclav Havel."

   http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,595072579,00.html

   [This web site has more information on the Medal of
   Freedom:  http://www.medaloffreedom.com/.  -Editor]


NBS SILVER ANNIVERSARY MEDAL?

   Adrián González Salinas of Monterrey, N.L. México writes:
   "As always, I enjoy reading The E-Sylum every Monday
   morning. It's a superb electronic publication!

   In accordance with NBS' 25th Anniversary I would like to
   suggest the possibility to manage the striking of a
   commemorative medal about this important fact.  The medal
   could be rectangular or square with The Asylum Vol. 1 No.
   1 cover in the obverse.   On the reverse could be the names
   of the founders, for example.

   This medal could produces some funds for our Society.
   It would be interesting to know the reader's comments."


LAST CALL FOR CATALOGUE CENSUS

   Karl Moulton writes: "This is the LAST CALL for submitting
   your 19th century American auction catalogues for the census
   that is being conducted by the NBS.

   There has been a good response so far, considering that this
   is the first attempt at such a compilation.  Unfortunately, there
   are several large, privately held libraries that haven't been able
   to respond for various reasons.  However, the results, which
   are to be published in The Asylum, should be a nice guideline
   for those interested in knowing the numbers of these catalogues
   still extant.

   Question: where did all of the nearly 5,000 Wylie hoard
   catalogues end up?

   For further information, please contact Karl Moulton at
   numiscats at aol.com."


NEW "SMALL CHANGE" MONOGRAPHS PUBLISHED

   Paul Withers writes: "We have again been busy writing
   and our laser-printer has been working overtime.  This week
   sees the publication of two more monographs in our
   'Small Change' series.

   IV    The Halfpennies and Farthings of
           Edward IV to Henry VII

   V     The Small Silver of Henry VIII to the Commonwealth

   Vol VI,  Irish Small Silver John to Edward VI was published
   a short while back.

   The cost is 12 GBP per vol. For those collectors of the British
   hammered coin series in the USA who want copies this equates
   to 26 US$ for one, 50 US$ for two.  We accept US personal
   cheques.  Further details from our website:
   http://www.galata.co.uk

   We are currently working on Scottish silver coins that are
   smaller than a penny - Alexander III to James III, so if you
   have anything unusual or interesting, do let us know - and send
   us a nice clear image or scan."


CANADIAN MINT PRESENTS GOLD BAR

   This week The Royal Canadian Mint donated a gold bar to
   the Canadian Cancer Society:

   "The Royal Canadian Mint presented a gold bar worth
   $72,924 to the Canadian Cancer Society yesterday at its
   historic Sussex Drive headquarters. The donation represents
   the portion of the proceeds pledged from the sales of the
   Mint's 2003 Golden Daffodil Coin."

    "The Mint donated $2 from every 2003 Golden Daffodil
   coin sold to support the Society's five priorities - prevention,
   advocacy, research, information and support."

   [The coin is a proof silver 50 cent piece with a mintage of
   55,000.  Interestingly, the coin's designer is Royal Canadian
   Mint Engraver Christie Paquet, who bears the same last name as
   U.S. Mint engraver Anthony C. Paquet.   Is anyone aware of
   a family connection between the two?  -Editor]

   To read the full story, complete with images, see
   http://www.cnw.ca/fr/releases/archive/June2004/23/c7908.html


'SC, OTHER SIGNATURE ABBREVIATIONS REVEALED

   Last week Art Tobias questioned what the "Sc" in
   "W.L.Ormsby Sc. N Y" stands for.  Boy, did he ever come
   to the right place for an answer.

   Arthur Shippee writes: "Sc N.Y. suggests to me Schenectady"
   That's a plausible explanation, but there's another more
   likely answer.  Ken Barr was among the first to discover it
   with a clever Internet search.  He writes:  "Let me be one
   of presumably many to report that ...

   Sc. or Sculp.  Sculpsit, He engraved it.

   Source:

http://www.campusprogram.com/reference/en/wikipedia/a/ab/abbreviation.html

   "sc." by itself was too broad a Google search term, so I
   "cheated" by searching for "sc. fecit", figgering that the two terms
   were related ..."

   Wendell Wolka writes: "Some terms referring to the engraver
   or etcher, the craftsman who created the printed image:

   "f., fec., fect., fecit., fac., faciebat: made by or did.
   Aquatinta fecit: engraved in aquatint by.
   Lith., litho., lithog: lithographed by.
   Sc., sculp., sculpsit., sculpt: carved or engraved.
   Exc., exct., excudit: struck out or made. "

   Early bank note engravers used both "Sc" or "fct".
   So "W.L. Ormsby Sc. NY" would be the equivalent of saying
   "Engraved by W.L. Ormsby New York".

   From http://www.robertfrew.com/prints/print_terms.html"

   Dave Bowers writes: "Sc = Sculpsit, in this case, "engraved it."
   Ormsby made transfer rolls (as used in the siderographic
   process for bank notes) with RAISED designs on them, which
   were then transferred by Colt to the firearms."

   Alan V. Weinberg, Gene Hessler and Joe Boling also submitted
   "Sculpsit" as the answer.

   Dick Johnson writes: "Art Tobias should have asked any
   medalist (or medal collector!) worth his salt the meaning of
   “Sc.”  This abbreviation is among seven such abbreviations
   found on, ironically, both paper engravings and medallic
   engraving. “Sc” means “sculpsit” Latin for he (or she) sculpted
   it or made it.

   Medalists are familiar with this and the other six abbreviations.
   The most common is “Fecit” or simply “F” after a name, very
   similar to Sc, it means he (or she) did it (or made it, or created
   it).

   Others are “Del” or “Des” meaning delineated it (as a rough
   sketch) and designed it (a sketch with most all details). Both
   of these are further abbreviated as “D” and obviously you do
   not know which abbreviation was intended, but “designed it”
   covers it.

   More obscure are “Inv” Latin for invenit, the person who
   invented or created it, and “Inc” Latin for incisit, the executor
   of the design.

   Most rare is “Mod” the person who models the relief, Latin
   modellavit.  Obviously you won’t find this on flat engraving,
   as for paper money (unless it was copied from a relief), but it
   has appeared on medals.

   Most numismatists mispronounce “fecit.” It is notable for
   appearing on certain U.S. coins.  Gobrecht signed his1836
   Seated Liberty silver dollar with both “F” and “Fec” after his
   name on the base of the obverse device or below.  Unknowing
   collectors say something like “fek-it” or “fac-it.”  The
   correct pronunciation is “FEE-sit.”

   Among medallic sculptors, they chide each other by referring
   to fecit as  “faked it.”  As “Hey Bill I see you signed your
   model Jones Faked It!”  Perhaps you could chide a fellow
   sculptor, but NOT a superior artist. I can’t imagine anyone
   saying that to August St-Gaudens or Adolph Weinman.

   That should answer Art Tobias question about “W.L. Ormsby
   Sc N Y” and explain what “Sc” stands for.  But, tell me, what
   does that strange “N Y” stand for?"


MOTTO QUIZ ANSWER

   Last week we asked who was the person who first suggested
   the slogan, "In God We Trust" for U.S. coinage.  The bonus
   question was, "in what publication was this fact first
   documented?"

   So far, there has been no response to the bonus question.
   As for the main question,  Ray Williams writes: "The answer to
   your question is a minister from Pennsylvania, M. R.
   Watkinson on November 13, 1861.  Those were truly troubled
   times in our history!"

   David Ganz writes: "From the records of the Treasury
   Department,  it appears that the first suggestion of the
   recognition of the Deity on the coins of the United States was
   contained in a letter addressed to the Secretary of the
   Treasury, Hon. Salmon P. Chase, by the Rev. M. R.
   Watkinson, Minister of the Gospel, Ridleyville, Pa., under
   date of November 13, 1861.

   "One fact touching our currency has hitherto been seriously
   overlooked, I mean the recognition of the Almighty God in
   some form in our coins," Rev. Watkinson wrote to Secretary
   Chase.   "You are probably a Christian. What if our Republic
   were now shattered beyond reconstruction? Would not the
   antiquaries of succeeding centuries rightly reason from our
   past that we were a heathen nation?   What I propose is that
   instead of the goddess of liberty we shall have next inside the
   13 stars a ring inscribed with the words "perpetual union";
   within this ring the allseeing eye, crowned with a halo; beneath
   this eye the American flag, bearing in its field stars equal to the
   number of the States united; in the folds of the bars the words
   "God, liberty, law."  This would make a beautiful coin, to
   which no possible citizen could object.  This would relieve us
   from the ignominy of heathenism. This would place us
   openly under the Divine protection we have personally
   claimed. "From my heart I have felt our national shame in
   disowning God as not the least of our present national disasters.
   To you first I address a subject that must be agitated," he
   concluded.

   A week later, on November 20, 1861, Secretary Chase wrote
   to James Pollock, the Director of the Mint, "No nation can be
   strong except in the strength of God, or safe except in His
   defense. The trust of our people in God should be declared
   on our national coins."

   He concluded with a mandate: "You will cause a device to be
   prepared without unnecessary delay with a motto expressing
   in the fewest and tersest words possible this national recognition."

   [For more information, see my own web site:
   http://www.coinlibrary.com/info/ingodwetrust.html
   -Editor]

   Gene Hessler writes: "Regarding the use of "In God We Trust"
   on coins, readers might be interested in an article I wrote for
   PAPER MONEY in 1978:  Precursors of the Motto "In God
   We Trust." "God and our Right," and "In God is our Trust"
   were used on some interest-bearing treasury notes and
   compound interest treasury notes during the Civil War.
   Although not authorized for use on paper money until 1957,
   "In God We Trust" appears on the back of the $5 silver
   certificate, Series 1986.   The reverse of the Morgan silver
   dollar is part of the design with "In God We Trust" clearly
   visible."


COUNTERFEITS OF CURRENT COINS SEEN AGAIN?

   Arthur Shippee reported the following item from
   The Ethicist, a column in the latest New York Times
   Magazine:

   Q: "I have a counterfeit quarter. I don't know where I picked
   it up, but it is obviously fake. Spending it would be wrong.
   It is hard to imagine the police taking an interest in it, so I have
   not reported it. But maybe this reluctance to report a fake
   25-cent piece is why counterfeiters coin quarters in the first
   place. Can you solve my two-bit problem?"

   A: "It would not be honorable either to spend the fake or to
   pass it along to another sucker. If someone steals my TV,
   I may not replace it by burgling the house next door. But
   I'm with you: the intriguing question is, Who would bother
   to counterfeit a quarter? In your place, I'd have it mounted
   and framed, a monument to the grotesque squandering of
   human ingenuity (you know, like prime-time TV).

   Curiously, I have witnessed the shadowy world of the
   counterfeit quarter. When I was a teenager, I took a metal-
   shop class where we were taught sand-casting, which for
   the timid majority like me meant pressing a wooden plaque
   into a box of sand, removing it and then pouring molten
   aluminum into the impression it left.  The result: an aluminum
   plaque that said -- if memory serves, and it doesn't --
   ''Say No to Books'' or ''Drugs Are Fundamental'' or
   something. A friend of mine, taking metal shop at a nearby
   junior high school, instead pressed quarters into the damp
   sand and used his aluminum knockoffs to buy lunch in the
   cafeteria. His life of crime lasted about three days. But we
   were all impressed when Treasury agents came to the
   cafeteria and hauled him away. Ah, school days."

   To read the full article, see:
   http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/27/magazine/27ETHICIST.html


WHAT TO DO WITH THE LINCOLN CENT IN 2009?

   Dick Johnson writes: "The Lincoln Bicentennial Commission
   in Washington met on June 7th and announced last week they
   would like the Mint to do something special with the Lincoln
   Cent in 2009 -- Lincoln's 200th birth anniversary (and
   centennial of the Lincoln Cent, don't forget).

   They would like a special reverse change, even several designs
   made for the anniversary year (retaining Victor Brenner's
   obverse!). Michael F. Bishop, spokesman, said this "could
   include three or four different designs .. reflecting different
   significant themes or locations in Lincoln's life."

   The commission also said it would like to see the color of the
   cent changed for that year.  [That's easy! Instead of copper
   clad zinc, used at present, formulate the two metals into
   yellow-brass using the same two metals. The composition,
   weight, diameter, specific gravity would all be the same.
   Only color and surface resistively would be different!  It
   should present NO problems of rolling the strip stock,
   blanking, upsetting or striking, because of the similarity of
   the two alloys. The same suppliers of blanks could be used
   and the cost should be nearly the same in the quantity
   needed.]

   The commission meets next on September 20th.  Any ideas,
   E-Sylum readers?  Email the Commission at:
   ALincBi-Comm at loc.gov.  Their website:
   http://www.lincolnbicentennial.gov


FOOD STAMP PHASEOUT

   One sideline of certain token collectors are food stamps
   and food stamp change tokens.  In the U.S. token section of
   my library is a June 1980 fixed price list by Paul Cunningham
   containing an article by Neil Shafer titled "Food Stamp Tokens"
   These came into use after 1939 when the U.S. government
   created the original Food Stamp Plan.  Recipients could buy
   food stamps at a discount or receive some free.  Grocers were
   required to accept the stamps but could not give out cash in
   change - they were required to provide change substitutes that
   could only be redeemed for food.  The program went through
   several changes and in 1978 it was decided to allow merchants
   to use regular coins as change.  In the meantime a large number
   of food stamp change substitutes were created and issued by
   grocers in towns all across the country.

   Can any of our readers tell us if a more recent catalog of
   food stamps tokens has been published?  Have any of the
   major numismatic institutions collected examples?

   The Food Stamp program is taking another turn.  The
   New York Times reported in a June 23, 2004 article
   that electronic cards will replace food stamp coupons:

   "The Bush administration announced Tuesday that it
   had completed one of the biggest changes in the history
   of the food stamp program, replacing paper coupons with
   electronic benefits and debit cards.

   At the same time, the administration said it wanted to rename
   the program because the term "food stamps" had become an
   anachronism. It is inviting the public to suggest how to update
   the name of a program that became a permanent part of the
   government, and the nation's vocabulary, during Lyndon B.
   Johnson's Great Society era."

   "Food stamp recipients generally like debit cards because
   they avoid the stigma that can be associated with the use of
   paper coupons. Grocers like the new technology because they
   are paid faster, often within 48 hours; cashiers do not have to
   handle vouchers; and there are no coupons to sort, count and
   bundle."

   "Robbin Smoke, 44, said she would prefer to have the paper
   coupons. "The cards don't always work," she said. "It's a pain.
   You can't get cash back now."

   She and several other food stamp recipients said they found it
   somewhat easier to keep track of their unused benefits when
   they had a booklet of  paper coupons."

   To read the full article, see:
   http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/23/politics/23FOOD.final.html?th


A NOTE ON THE CROSBY AJN REPRINT

   In response to our earlier question, David Gladfelter writes:
   "The American Journal of Numismatics only published heavily
   condensed excerpts from the Crosby manuscript.  Using
   Sydney P. Noe's 50 year index I found condensations of the
   Vermont chapter in vol. 9, p. 49, the Fugio chapter at 10:1
   including the Continental Currency piece and the Mass. Pine
   Tree and Janus coppers, and the Nova Constellatios including
   the Mark and Quint at 10:25. All were illustrated by plates
   made up of the Crosby text drawings. All were published in
   1875."


HEEREN BROTHERS ARTICLE

   Dick Johnson writes: "I got my July Numismatist and
   read your article on Heeren Brothers of Pittsburgh with
   great pleasure!  You are to be congratulated!  Take a bow.

   Oh!  If we only had such quality articles with such great
   research on other American medallic companies.

   How do you do all this, with new baby in house, and all
   the details of a General Chairman, and keep up with weekly
   E-Sylum, and all your other projects?"

   [I have no idea how I'm managing it all, actually.  But
   my other numismatic projects are gathering dust, and I
   don't get much sleep.  I wrote the Heeren article on a plane
   to Phoenix a couple months ago.  At lunchtime last Thursday
   I completed four exhibit applications and got them in the
   mail to Colorado Springs.  This weekend we took the kids to
   see Niagara Falls and just returned, with pockets full of
   Canadian coins to add to the kids' collections.  Somehow
   the American Numismatic Association convention this August
   will all come together, but I have a feeling that sometime during
   the banquet  my head will plummet face first into my salad for
   a nap...     -Editor]


THINGS FOUND IN OLD BOOKS

   Addressing a subject we've touched on before in The E-Sylum,
   the June 22 Wall Street Journal had an interesting article about
   the odd and curious things used book sellers find inside the
   pages of their merchandise:

   "A book is a good place to stash personal, valuable,
   embarrassing stuff.  Unless, forgetting all about the stuff, you
   sell the book to a used book store.

   "I'd always have a book with me when I got arrested," said
   Richard Ryan on being told that his 1985 rap sheet had fallen
   out of a book at the Strand, a store on Broadway in Manhattan
   where anybody can flip through a heap of two million volumes.
   "Books end up as filing cabinets," Mr. Ryan says, remembering
   his days as a student apartheid protester. "I'm sure I got my
   arrest ticket and filed it in the book."

   "At the Strand's main desk, Richard Lilly said, "Let this be a
   warning to those who don't look through books before they
   sell. Bored clerks see it all."

   "Yesterday, I found this really cool picture of this naked
   wrestler guy," Ms. Thompson says. In the fiction department,
   Ben McFall says: "I have a collection at home, which I can't
   bring in, of men in negligees. How do these things get away
   from people?"

   "Used books often gain value from forgotten paper -- paper
   money, for example; the Strand's staff rakes in lots of that.
   They haven't yet found a "hell scene with fish monster," as
   Cristiana Romelli did two years ago at Sotheby's in London.
   The original Hieronymus Bosch sketch fell out of a client's
   old picture album and sold for $276,000. A few years earlier,
   her colleague Julien Stock found a Michelangelo stuck in a
   19th-century scrap book.  In 2001, that one brought its
   owner $12 million.

   The Strand did buy a $15 doodled-over book of drawings
   by the Renaissance artist Ucello.  The doodler was Salvador
   Dali."

   [So, dear readers, what interesting things have you happened to
   find in purchases of numismatic literature?  -Editor]


FOUND IN A COIN BOOK

   Speaking of things found in books, Bill Murray writes:
   "The following item was sort of buried in COIN WORLD,
   and I doubt many read it:

   "John Andrew, reporting on a London auction in COIN
   WORLD’s June 28th issue, noted only one book was
   offered, Snelling’s British Coins. He writes, “It is not the
   volume itself that is of interest, but a four-page handwritten
   note it contains.  Dated 1756, it is addressed ‘To the
   Curious’ and deals with the value of coins.  It points out
   that a coin’s value ‘depends much on its preservation,
   but more on the Generosity of the purchaser…”


FEATURED WEB SITE

   This week's featured web site is A.J. Gatlin's CoinArchives.com
   -  "a repository of coins featured in major numismatic auctions.
   It brings together the text, images, and prices realized from
   catalogs issued by some of the world's most prestigious coin
   firms. With this site, you can search and view coin lots from
   a growing database of auctions."

      http://www.coinarchives.com/


  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.

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