The E-Sylum v7#48, November 28, 2004

[whomren at coinlibrary.com]

Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 7, Number 48, November 28, 2004:
an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society.
Copyright (c) 2004, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society.


SUBSCRIBER UPDATE

   Among recent new subscribers is token and medal specialist
   Steve Tanenbaum, courtesy of Larry Dziubek.  Welcome aboard!
   We now have 700  subscribers.


SPINK LE RIDER LIBRARY SALE ANNOUNCEMENT

   Hadrien Rambach writes: “We are pleased to announce that
   Spink has purchased the major numismatic library of Professor
   Geeorges Le Rider, and will be issuing a fixed price catalogue
   of almost 1000 items in February 2005. The Le Rider library
   contains many important standard references on ancient Greek
   numismatics, as well as many other books relating to Roman
   and Byzantine coinages, and the books will be offered for
   sale at fixed prices.

   The catalogue we are preparing will be in the tradition of
   those issued by the booksellers and publishers Hiersemann
   and Gustav Fock of Leipzig, pre-eminent in the 1920s and
   1930s. The latter offered for sale the numismatic library of
   Haeberlin in 1937 (Kat. Nr. 714) and that of Professor.
   Dr. Pick in 1934 (Kat. Nr. 695), whilst Hierseman issued
   a number of fixed price catalogues of "Numismatik" books,
   the best of which was probably his Nr. 605 issued
   in October 1930.

   We are honoured to be able to offer this large selection of
   books from Professor Le Rider's library. His reputation in
   his chosen field of Greek coinages is unsurpassed amongst
   his own generation, and his influence will live on through
   his publications, many of which are justifiably recognized as
   standard works.  He follows in the footsteps of Ernest
   Babelon and Louis Robert, in his own country, Barclay
   Head and Stanley Robinson in Britain, Edward Newell in
   the United States, and Imhoof-Blumer and Kurt Regling in
   Germany, and of others in many parts of the world.

   The condition of the books in the library is particularly fine.
   Notable items deserve special mention: the complete set
   of Revue Numismatique, a long run of Numismatic Chronicle,
   Babelon's masterwork, the Traité, the fine catalogues of
   the Bibliothèque Nationale, those of the Berlin and the British
   Museums, the Hunter and Grose Catalogues, Waddington's
   Recueil Général, Imhoof-Blumer's Die Antiken Munzen der
   Nord-Griechenlands, Newell's huge contribution to the
   subject in his series of monographs, and of course the
   complete international series of the Sylloge Nummorum
   Graecorum, in the publication of which Georges played
   such an important role in progressing Sir Stanley Robinson's
   original visionary work.

   Notable early works include a fine and complete set of
   Pellerin's Recueil (1762 - 1778) and Eckhel's Doctrina
   (1792 - 1828), amongst others.

   This catalogue will not be sent to our general mailing list.
   Anyone who would like to receive a copy is asked to
   contact the Book Department at Spink by email
   books at spink.com or by telephone: (0044) (0) 20 7563
   4056 fax: (0044) (0) 20 7563 4068.

   The catalogue will be sent free of charge to anyone
   who requests it."


ARMY MEDICAL MUSEUM MEDAL COLLECTION

   Ira Rezak,  M.D. of New York writes: "Regarding the
   Allemann article and the collection of medals gathered by
   John Shaw Billings at the Army Medical Museum and
   Library, both referred to in last week's E-Sylum, let me
   make the following few remarks.  First, quite apart from
   Allemann, Horatio Storer frequently attributed specific
   medals to this collection in his long running series on
   medical medals, which ran in the American Journal of
   Numismatics from 1889-1912. Then, of course, his son
   Malcolm, who published Medicina in Nummis in Boston
   in 1931, based on his father's work and on the major
   collection in the Boston Medical Library, did the same.

   The Army Medical Museum, which had been founded in
   1862 as a medical pathology museum, to preserve
   specimens useful in the understanding of diseases (and thus
   only incidentally a repository for historical objects like
   medals) was renamed the Army Institute of pathology after
   the Second World War, and in 1949 became the Armed Forces
   Institute of Pathology (AFIP). In 1955 the collections were
   Moved to the grounds of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
   The Museum was later called the called the Armed Forces
   Medical Museum after 1974 and became part of the National
   Museum of Health & Medicine in 1989 which however still
   remains on the grounds of the Walter Reed Medical Center
   in NW Washington near the Maryland line and the
   Bethesda campus of the National Institutes of Health.

   The medal collection remains, as it always has been, a
   minimal section of the larger Medical and Pathological
   enterprise. But it's still there and I have visited it briefly
   on several occasions. There is not a readily accessible catalog
   and the collection has never been published. The medals are
   not on regular display, but photo images of specimens from
   the collection are used from time to time in publications of
   the National Museum, for instance their calendars.

   I value your efforts on E-sylum and the contributions of
   many others. Thanks."


   Bill Murray writes: "The Army Medical Museum Medal
   Collection still exists.  The Army Medical Museum now is
   located at Fort Sam Houston here in San Antonio, but when
   it moved here from Walter Reed Hospital in Washington,
   D.C., certain of its holdings were withdrawn to be placed in
   the Museum of Health and Medicine, still at Walter Reed.
   Alan Hawk, whose title is Collection Manager, told me today
   that the collection is still in existence with about 3000 items.
   That is the same number referenced in the latest The E-Sylum.
   He said he would be glad to show the collection to interested
   numismatists, but would need an appointment to do so.  His
   direct telephone number is 202-782-2205.  I'm not sure if his
   first name is spelled Alan or Allen, but Hawk is correct.  Boy!
   would I like to be the one to get involved with it!  Good luck,
   someone!"


COMPANY DEACIDIFIES BOOKS FOR LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

   A company we've mentioned in previous E-Sylums, Preservation
   Technologies, is highlighted in a new article about the
   company's contract with the Library of Congress:

   “In a heavily guarded building in Cranberry, a battle is
   being waged around the clock to save the world's super
   heroes.

   The enemy? The relentless forces of time and nature.

   The weapon of choice to ensure our heroes' survival?
   An antacid.

   The site of the war is Preservation Technologies, a
   company that has developed a revolutionary process to
   save paper, including comic books.

   The process earned the firm a five-year contract from
   the Library of Congress to save about 100,000 comic books,
   including Superman and Spider-Man, as well as not-so-super
   characters such as Richie Rich.

   "Comic books are a challenging type of material," said
    Mark Sweeney, chief of the preservation reformatting
   division at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.,
   which houses the largest comic book collection in the
   United States.

   Because comics are printed on highly acidic wood pulp
   paper, similar to newspapers, even the utmost of care
   won't arrest their eventual decay, he said, and other
   preservation methods don't work well for comics.”

   “Preservation Technologies uses a gentle, nontoxic process
   to apply microscopic particles of magnesium oxide -- the
   same ingredients found in over-the-counter antacids –
   to neutralize the acid in paper.

   "Our chemist predicts that the treatment will make the
   average book last between 300 and 800 years," said Ken
   Harris, preservation projects director for the Library of
   Congress. Untreated, books degrade and become brittle in
   50 to 100 years, he said, "but we can avoid that now."

   "One reason this process is catching on throughout the
   world and is so popular with the Library of Congress is
   because it's so cost-effective," Harris said. He estimated
   that books can be deacidified for about $16 each,
   including shipping. "If we reformatted the same book, it
   would cost between $85 to $120 to microfilm and about
   $300 to $1,900 to digitize," he said.

   Since 1999, individuals have been able to buy Archival
   Mist, a spray developed by Preservation Technologies,
   to preserve items such as newspaper clippings and
   scrapbooks.”

   To read the full article, see:
   http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04326/413932.stm

   [The company's web address is http://www.ptlp.com/
   They do not sell their consumer products directly, but
   Offer them through a reseller, EK Success (800.524.1349).
   According to the web site, “Archival Mist and its
   companion, Paper Bright, help paper resist the effect
   of age by neutralizing acid, absorbing UV light,
   protecting colors, and retaining brightness in paper
   keepsakes. They preserve and protect paper-based
   materials including letters, envelopes, newsprint,
   certificates, artwork, and pamphlets. Paper Bright and
   Archival Mist are environmentally safe and their
   ingredients are non-toxic.”

   Do any of our readers have recent experiences to share
   with us regarding the use of deacidification products in
   numismatic literature?  Periodicals and auction catalogs,
   particularly those of the early 20th century seem
   especially vulnerable.  –Editor]


AFGHAN GOLD PORTRAIT COIN COUNT DISPUTED

   William Bischoff writes: “Not to nitpick , but it seems
   highly unlikely that there were "2,000 gold and silver
   coins depicting Afghan royalty as early as 500 BC" in the
   recently (and miraculously!) recovered Kabul Museum
   holdings.  Until its conquest by Alexander the Great,
   and his death in 323 BCE, Baktria (as it was then known)
   was a Persian satrapy far off the beaten track for coinage.

   Coins struck by Alexander's successors are a subject for
   scholarly debate, but until now no one has claimed that
   coins with portraits of Afghan rulers were struck before
   the terminus ad quem at issue here.  To clinch the
   argument, consider the fact that even the portraits of
   Alexander were initially understood (if that is the right
   word) as pictures of a god in his [Alexander's] image: up
   to that time the Greeks had not pictured mortals on
   their coinage.  Roman republican coinage down to the
   imperators traced a similar trajectory.

   P.S. I hope the preservation of these treasures, against
   all expectations, will somewhat cool the ardor of those
   who relentlessly press to sell off numismatic collections
   held by museums.  Hail to the professional dedication of
   those unknown, underpaid, conscientious curators in Kabul!”

   [If our readers didn't pick nits, I'd have a lot less to
    publish each week.  –Editor]


BANK OF JAPAN BANKNOTE SERIAL NUMBER SCHEME HALTED

   On November 24, Dow Jones newswires published a report
   that The Bank of Japan said Wednesday had punished five
   employees for illegally obtaining new banknotes with
   special serial numbers such as a specific number lineups.

   “The BOJ said the four female and one male rank-and-file
   employees are from the section in charge of issuing
   banknotes at the central bank's Maebashi branch in Gunma
   Prefecture. They cooperated and obtained 11 new notes with
    special characters between Nov. 5 and Nov. 15 by
   exchanging them for new notes with non-characteristic
   serial numbers they had obtained earlier, Kyodo reported.

   The five said they wanted to have the special notes for
   the sake of "commemoration" and denied intending to sell
   them on the collectors' markets at higher prices, the
   central bank said, Kyodo reported.

   The BOJ punished them by suspending them from the office
   or by cutting their salaries.”


LATENT HOLOGRAM AS CURRENCY SECURITY MEASURE

   The following article by Mark Hartford is reprinted
   from the November 25, 2004 issue of the MPC GRAM,
   covering the entire World of Military Numismatics.
   See http://www.papermoneyworld.net/

   “New anti-counterfeiting method discovered! At least
   by me. Yesterday, I showed a Romanian 2,000 Lei
   solar eclipse commemorative (Pick 111) to two friends
   at work. They are both really smart Physics experts,
   particularly in the field of visual, optics, coatings,
   and infrared technologies. One noted that there was a
   square in the middle of the clear window. We all
   looked at it with a magnifier. One of the gentlemen
   suggested that it could be a latent hologram. I asked
   "what in the world is that?" He reads lots of journals
   on optics and lasers, so I was surprised when he
   started looking for a laser pointer used in briefings.
   (Strangely, I had just bought my first laser pointer
   on Saturday the 20th, in order to give my talk to
   Aviation banknote talk at the IBNS meeting at the St.
   Louis PCDA show.)    When we found one, he pointed the
   laser through this square. What was projected onto the
   wall was awesome. It looks like a crescent moon with
   rays emanating from the outside of it. This is clearly
   the Sun with rays being occulted by the moon during a
   solar eclipse. This works best in a darkened room. If
   you try this, be careful not to stare directly at the
   laser. I don't think staring at the reflection off of
   white surfaces is very good for your eyes either. My
   friend tells me that this is probably put on with a
   heated metal micro-mold that contains all of the
   interference patterns imbedded, so that when strong,
   coherent light (i.e. a laser) transmits through it an
   image is created.

   I had always assumed this square was melted onto
   the surface as an additional step that counterfeiters
   would have to take. A minor additional task for a
   counterfeiter, but still a bit of a hassle. After all,
   this note catalogues for $1.50 and has a face value of
   six and a half cents (ER on 25nov04 is 30,818 lei per
   U.S. dollar). This is quite an advanced
   anti-counterfeiting technique for such a cheap note. I
   don't think making and applying these latent holograms
   would be easy for counterfeiters. The low cost of
   applying these (less than 6 & 1/2 cents in large
   quantities) is clearly an indication that polymer
   notes have yet another benefit over paper notes.

   I haven't checked what other polymer notes
   contain this feature. It will be fascinating to see
   what other beautiful images emerge from my notes and
   laser pointer in the next few days!

   Hope this wasn't already known by the community,
   otherwise, this is old news to everyone except me.”


“NUMISMATIC” SKIN DISEASES

   Ken Spindler (disability benefits attorney, numismatist)
   writes:  "The numismatic-sounding disease about which you
   inquire is probably nummular eczema, a skin disorder in
   which the lesions are round, coin-like; thus the name.
   Per the Merck Manual:  Nummular eczema is a persistent,
   usually itchy rash and inflammation characterized by coin-
   shaped spots with tiny blisters, scabs, and scales."

   Lane J. Brunner, Ph.D., Director of Numismatic Curriculum,
   American Numismatic Association writes: “In reference to
   Tom Delorey's inquiry regarding the name of a
   Dermatological condition using the Greek root "nummis",
   he may be referring to nummular dermatitis. An idiopathic
   skin disorder that presents as discrete, round plaques,
   it affects about 1 in 2000 people. It is also known as
   nummular eczema. Tom suggested a very rare disorder and
   thus may have heard about a different skin disorder as
   nummular dermatitis is relatively common.”

   Jack Wadlington and Martin Purdy also suggested these
   Terms.

   Ron Haller-Williams writes: “I can't help with this one,
   but I have located the following "near-misses", where I
   quote or adapt from search results:

  1. Nummular or discoid lesions are round (coin-shaped)
   lesions, as e.g. in Discoid Lupus Erythematosus.

   2. Psoriasis nummularis is a form of psoriasis where
   the marks are as big as coins.

   3. Nummular eczema is frequently confused with, and
   misdiagnosed as, ringworm [tinea corporis]. The term
   nummular derives from the Latin nummularius, which
   means "like a little coin" (a coin collector is a
   numismatist). Typically, tinea corporis is annular
   [ring-shaped] and nummular eczema lesions are coin-shaped,
   but there are many exceptions.

   4. Numis med soap and shampoo appear to be mild and with
   balanced pH [i.e. not excessively alkaline], and used
   for some skin conditions, I think including ringworm,
   but I don't know whether the name derivation is what we
   think it might be ...

   By the way, Tom's "Greek root nummis" appears to be a
   hybrid of the Greek NOMISMA and the Latin NUMMUS,
   though it would be the valid Latin for such phrases as
   "for coins" or "with the coins".”


GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINES FOR SALE

   No, not the X-rated kind.  “Gentleman's Magazine” is a
   periodical which numismatic bibliophiles have found to be
   a trove of interesting contemporary articles about British
   and early American numismatics.  In my library I have a
   set of the numismatic articles cut from a complete set by
   a dealer.   For those interested in adding individual issues
   to their library, we note that newspaper dealer Timothy
   Hughes (http://www.rarenewspapers.com ) has some for sale.
   In his latest mailing he writes: “We have added a complete
   run (1731-1840) of Gentleman's Magazines to our inventory.
   If you have been looking for particular issues, we now have
   them.  Contact us if you do not see a particular issue of
   interest listed on our website.”


MORTON COUNTERMARKED CENT A SLAVE COIN?

   Rich Jewell writes: "I read the article about slave money in
   The E-Sylum and I imagine every large cent with a hole in it
   wouldn't necessarily be a slavery memento (probably not the
   politically correct term), but wouldn't it be interesting to prove
   or disprove?

   I have in my possession a 1823 Large cent, with a punched hole
   in it between the last two stars and touching the following hair of
   Miss Liberty. The odd thing about this cent is it is counterstamped
   across its cheek and earlobe with "A Morton New York 1858".

   Imagine the possibilities for this coin, if it did in fact belong to
a
   slave at one time!

    A) Freed slave by the name of A.Morton lives in New
         York in 1858
    B) Escaped slave A.Morton living in freedom in New York
          in 1858, slavery still exists in other parts of USA

   None of the above may be even close to the truth.....but would
   any of your readers be interested in researching the facts as
   provided. I myself wouldn't even know where to begin (that's a
   little inaccurate, I did try to find an A. Morton in New York
   during 1858 on the Internet and came up with nada)!
   Just some more food for thought!!"

   [According to Gregory Brunk in his "Merchant and Privately
   Countermarked Coins" (2003), "According to the 1856 New
   York Commercial Register, A. Morton made gold pens and
   their cases at 25 Maiden Lane. The 1857 in this countermark
   is probably a patent date."

   The book lists four known specimens with the "A. MORTON /
   NEW YORK / 1857" COUNTERMARK   (two large cents
   dated 1843 and 1854, and two Half Dimes dated 1832 and
   1857).  If Rich reported the date incorrectly, and it's "1857",
   then his coin would be the fifth reported specimen.  If his coin
   really is "1858" then it would be the first reported specimen of
   that type.

   Could A. Morton have been a freed slave?  It's an interesting
   speculation, but we'll probably never know.  -Editor]


USE OF COPYRIGHTED IMAGES

   Douglas Mudd, Curator/Director Money Museum,
   American Numismatic Association writes:

   "With regards to the questions of copyrights and the use of
   images last week's E-Sylum, basically, it comes down to
   usage - personal use is OK in most cases - commercial use
   is subject to restrictions. If the book of publication was from
   1929 or before, the images may be in the public domain
   (unless if has been re-published) in which case there are no
   restrictions on use - otherwise, you must request permission
   to use images from published material, including websites,
   unless free-use permission is explicitly given in the publication
   (almost never done).  So - you need to start checking - in
   most cases it is very easy and straightforward.  Some
   publishers will not publish a book without information on the
   source of the images and written permission."

   Howard A. Daniel III writes: "I am currently working on
   another book and have bought all but seven coins that will be
   described in it.  For those seven images, I will write to the
   authors and/or publishers and request permission to use their
   image(s).  I have only been turned down a couple of times
   and that was very early in my numismatic "career" when no
   one knew me.

   In my request, I tell them that each image or group of images
   will have "Courtesy of (name)" on the page.  This has been
   very satisfactory to everyone.   I also add those people to my
   Acknowledgments and/or List of Contributors, and this has
   proven to be very, very satisfactory.  And the top ten
   contributors receive a special signed edition of my books as
   another  thank you.

   I hope this is of assistance to Yoissi Dotan, who has assisted
   me many times and I am anxiously awaiting his "Watercraft
   on World Coins, 1800-Present" book!"


ACROSS THE EDITOR'S DESK

   Random notes on items I've recently come across:

   COIN WORLD Editor Beth Deisher had a nice article titled
   "The Story Behind The Story" in the Autumn 2004 issue of
   the NLG Newsletter, the official publication of the
   Numismatic Literary Guild.  The article recounts the behind-
   the-scenes action leading up to last year's bombshell discovery
   of the long-missing fifth 1913 Liberty Nickel.  Kudos to
   Mason Adams, the reporter for The Roanoke Times, whose
   sleuthing led to the coin's rediscovery in a long-forgotten
   corner of a closet.

   Nick Graver forwarded to me a very interesting illustrated
   article about Louis E. Eliasberg and his famous U.S. coin
   collection, published in the March 25, 1962 Sunday Magazine
   of Baltimore's The Sun newspaper.

   The November 2004 issue of Penny-Wise, the official
   publication of Early American Coppers, Inc., has an
   article by NBS President Pete Smith updating his research
   on the Starred Reverse Cent.    In passing Pete mentions he
   is now "writing a book on Personal Tokens and Medals of
   American Numismatists.  I have identified about 6000 items."

   In the December 2004 issue of Bank Note Reporter, Mark
   Hotz describes and illustrates several interesting National
   Bank Notes with rubber-stamped oriental "chopmarks,"
   similar to the chopmarks placed on U.S. Trade Dollars.
   Have these been written up anywhere in the literature of
   National Bank Notes (or U.S. Paper Money in general)?

   While sorting through my library this weekend I came
   across the September 1882 issue of The Magazine of
   American History.  Beginning on page 635 is an
   contemporary article about the sale of the Bushnell
   collection "lately knocked down at auction in New York."
   "The three thousand specimens in the Bushnell collection
   brought something over $11,000, which speaks well
   for the interest taken in purely American numismatics."
   Three of the specimens were the unique Lord Baltimore
   penny, a Brasher Doubloon, and Good Samaritan
   Shilling.   We can only imaging what the Bushnell
   collection might bring if it were sold in today's market.

   Another item unearthed was the January 1993 issue of
   COINage magazine, with an article by Kari Stone
   titled "Heading For the Top,"  featuring the 15-year-old
   John Kraljevich, Jr., who is now an NBS Board member
   and cataloguer for American Numismatic Rarities.


NEED MORE ROOM FOR BOOKS? KNOCK OUT A WALL

   Local officials have given landmark preservation protection
   to the eight-bedroom house in Oxford, southern England, which
   was home to author J.R.R. Tolkien when he wrote his fantasy
   tales of The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings.  As a recent
   Reuters story noted, the author had the same problem faced
   by many bibliophiles: not enough room for his books.

   “The house -- at 20 Northmoor Road, Oxford -- was built by a
   local architect in 1924 for Basil Blackwell, then the owner
   of a now famous bookshop Blackwells.

   Tolkien lived there from 1930 to 1947 and is known to have
   written The Hobbit and most of The Lord of the Rings trilogy
   in the drawing room.

   The interior structure remains largely unaltered from the
   original plan, except for one wall which was removed by
   Tolkien himself between the former study and drawing room.

   Heritage experts say Tolkien wanted to increase the size of
   his study to accommodate the growing number of reference
   books he needed to write his epic works.”

   To read the full article, see:
   http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?storyID=6894035


BOOKS: WEIGHING HEAVY ON HOMES?

   Nick Graver writes: “Relocating book shelves following carpet
   replacement caused me to ponder: just what considerations
   folks observe installing heavy book cases in homes?  Since
   average homes are built for typical room occupancy, most book
   collections place a much heavier strain on them, long term.
   Has dealing with such loads been discussed?  Have homes
   sustained cracks or damage due to the weight of collections?”


DICKIN MEDAL: THE VICTORIA CROSS FOR ANIMALS

   We’ve discussed the Victoria Cross recently, but was
   anyone aware that there is a corresponding British medal
   for animal war heroes?  No, I am NOT making this up, not
   even the glow worms and pigeons.  From a November 24
   Reuters story:

   “Britain's most unusual war heroes -- including glow worms,
   elephants and monkeys -- will be honored Wednesday for their
   devotion to duty under fire.  Princess Anne will unveil a
   war memorial in London's Park Lane dedicated to all the
   animals and insects that endured hardship with the nation's
   armed services.”

   “Among those honored will be glow worms whose light was
   used by soldiers to read maps during the trench warfare of
   World War One.”

   “In 1943 the founder of the PDSA created the Dickin Medal
   to honor acts of outstanding animal bravery. The medal,
   dubbed "the animals' Victoria Cross" -- Britain's highest
   award for human bravery -- has been granted to 60 animals.

   One distinguished holder of the medal was Rob, the "para dog"
   who made over 20 parachute drops while serving on top secret
   missions behind enemy lines in World War II.”

   http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?storyID=6909046

   [The People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) is an
   animal charity founded by Mrs. Maria Dickin.  From the
   PDSA web site, which has a photo of the medal:

   “Between 1943 and 1949 PDSA awarded 54 Dickin Medals:
   32 pigeons, 18 dogs, three horses and one cat - "Simon"
   the mascot of HMS Amethyst during the Yangtze Incident
   in 1949 - received the Medal for displaying conspicuous
   gallantry and devotion to duty while serving with the
   Armed Forces or Civil Defence units during World War II
   and its aftermath.”

   “The Dickin Medal, a large bronze medallion, bears the
   words 'For Gallantry' and 'We Also Serve' all within a
   laurel wreath. The ribbon is striped green, dark brown
   and pale blue representing water, earth and air to
   symbolise the naval, military, civil defence and air
   forces.

   Several PDSA Dickin Medals have been put up for auction
   in recent years. The auction of "Simon" the cat's medal
   caused great excitement in 1993 when it went under the
   gavel for £23,000! ”

   http://www.pdsa.org.uk/pages/page01_13.cfm

   This page has photos of the Dickin medal being awarded in
   1947 to two Australian pigeons:
   http://www.awm.gov.au/encyclopedia/dickin/

   With only 54 WWII-era medals awarded, they are certainly
   rare. Have any of our readers seen one?

   The medals are still being awarded, and not just in
   British Commonwealth nations.  Three Dickin medals were
   awarded at New York’s “Ground Zero” on March 5 2002:

   “Guide dog "Salty" owned by Port Authority employee Omar
   Rivera and Guide dog “Roselle" owned by Guide Dogs for
   the Blind (California) representative Michael Hingson will
   receive their PDSA Dickin Medals in recognition of their
   devotion to duty as they led their owners down more than
   70 floors of the World Trade Center to safety.

   "Appollo" a German Shepherd from the NYPD canine unit
   and his handler, police officer Peter Davis, will accept
   the PDSA Dickin Medal on behalf of all the Search and
   Rescue dog teams that worked at the Ground Zero site
   and in Washington.
   http://www.guidedogs.com/media/media-Dickin%20Medal2.html

   BBC Radio produced a five-week documentary series about
   Dickin medal Awardees which aired beginning June 27, 2004.
   The shows are available online at:
   http://db.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/animals_vc.shtml

   On November 4 Spink offered a Dickin medal “Awarded to
   Commando, a red chequer cock pigeon, for gallantry with
   the Resistance and Special Operations Executive in France
   during 1942, this superb medal is expected to fetch
   £5,000-7,000.”

   The web page includes a photo of the pigeon and medal,
   Along with previous Spink prices realized for Dickin
   Medals (1983: SOE Pigeon, £5,000, 1993: Simon the Cat,
   £23,100)
   http://www.spink.com/news/press_centre/4020pigeon_pr.asp

   So, can anyone tell us the price realized for Commando’s
   medal?  Have Dickin medals been written up elsewhere in
   numismatic literature?
   -Editor]


FEATURED WEB SITE

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   “a Euro Coins Collector Guide”:

      http://www.eurocoinage.info/

  Wayne Homren
  Numismatic Bibliomania Society


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