The E-Sylum v7#40, October 3, 2004
whomren at coinlibrary.com
whomren at coinlibrary.com
Sun Oct 3 19:01:50 PDT 2004
Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 7, Number 40, October 3, 2004:
an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society.
Copyright (c) 2004, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society.
SUBSCRIBER UPDATE
Among recent new subscribers is Ian Milne. Welcome
aboard! We now have 691 subscribers.
LAKE BOOKS SALE 76 CLOSING DATE
Fred Lake writes: "Hurricane Jeanne did not spare us here in
St. Petersburg, Florida. Our power has finally been restored
after more than three days without lights, air, computer and
everything else that we rely on electricity for.
As a result, we have set a new closing date for our sale #76.
It will close on Tuesday, October 5, 2004 at 5:00 PM (EDT).
The sale is available on our web site at
http://www.lakebooks.com/current.html
Bids will be accepted until that time.
All bids that have been received via US Mail, email, and/or fax
have been entered and you may wish to email us to see if we
missed anyone. Your patience and kind thoughts for us during
this troubling summer have been most appreciated."
THE HISTORY OF COIN PRESSES
Dick Johnson writes: "We are glad Dan Gosling is back from
his five-week dream vacation enumerated in last weeks
E-Sylum and is now asking questions. To answer his inquiry
on Taylor & Challen coin presses, he need go to only one
source: Chapter 14 of Denis R. Coopers book "The Art and
Craft of Coinmaking; A History of Minting Technology." Dan
will find there a picture of a Taylor and Challen press on page
153 and the reason they were so popular at mints around the
world they employed the knuckle-joint action to efficiently
strike coins and could do this at a rapid rate (at the same
time inserting the blank and ejecting the struck piece). All
coining presses today that are not hydraulic employ this
knuckle-joint action.
Perhaps a capsule history of the coining press would be
useful for Dan (and perhaps all E-Sylum readers!).The first
diestruck coins were made by hammer and anvil no press.
Similar hammered techniques continued for more than a
thousand years. Leonardo da Vinci drew a press for striking
coins, medals and seals in his notebooks in 1500. Da Vinci
recognized you need a blank to strike so he put two presses
back-to-back one to blank, one to strike the design (with
the same blow!). But da Vincis press was never built (until
20th century IBM had one build from da Vincis drawings,
it is now in the Smithsonian Institution).
In 1506 an Italian, Donato Bramante (inspired by a fruit press)
built a screw press but only did blanking on it. In 1550 Max
Schwab of Augusburg built a workable screw press which
could both blank and strike, and made other equipment (as
rolling mills to roll metal strips for blanking). He tried but failed
to sell this equipment to mints in Germany and Italy. He
succeeded, however, with the French who imported his
equipment but met with resistance from French moneyers
(who still made hammered coins).
By 1641 the screw press was finally in use at the Paris Mint
but the same thing happened in England, where the first screw
press arrived but was prevented to strike coins. England
overruled the moneyers and had a screw press in use at the
Royal Mint by 1652. [America obtained its first screw
press for the 1652 Pine Tree Coinage]. The screw press
was in universal use (and remained so until 1892 when it was
entirely replaced by hydraulic presses).
It was a German mechanic, however, who revolutionized
coining. Diedrich Uhlhorn (1764-1837) invented the
knuckle-joint action press in 1812. He patented his invention
(1817) and built a factory to sell his presses to national mints.
He called his invention a "lever press" and sold 57 such
presses to nine European mints by 1847.
In 1835 a Paris machinist, last name Thonnelier, also perfects
a knuckle-joint press (similar to Uhlhorns technology). He
does not build these presses, instead he sells drawings and
plans to build his style presses. The U.S. Mint bought
Thonnelier's plans in 1833, and their first such press was built
by Merrick, Agnew and Tyler; in1840 Franklin Peale
rebuilds it. In each case the mints either had to build their
own or hire "constructors." In 1858 an engineer at the U.S.
Mint, David Gilbert, rebuilds their Thonnelier press for greater
strength. Morgan & Orr was one of these constructors at the
Philadelphia Mint. Joshua Morgan and Arthur Orr built these
over three decades including a heavy duty coining press in
1874 (to accommodate a new steam engine installed at the
mint).
The Paris Mints Thonnelier press was built by J.F. Caili et
Cie, who act as agents and build these for European mints.
Thus every Thonnelier press has a different nameplate,
the name of the constructor (never "Thonnelier").
Meantime in 1862, at the Second International Industrial
Exposition in London, two coining press manufacturers
exhibited Uhlhorns sons, then in charge of the Uhlhorn
factory, and Ralph Heaton, flush from acquiring all the
Soho Mint equipment, purchased at auction in 1850 (who
then used the name "Birmingham Mint"). As often happens
at trade expos, these two press makers met and formed a
consortium. Heatons get permission to build presses using
Uhlhorns technology. Heatons build presses for the
Mandalay Mint in Burma by 1865 but build 12 Uhlhorn-style
presses for their own Birmingham Mint.
Now Taylor and Challen were also coin press manufacturers,
founded 1850 by Joseph Taylor, competitors to Ralph
Heaton. They stepped up their activity and developed an
improved coining press. This is what is shown in Cooper in
chapter 14. They could supply complete press room
equipment (as they did for the Sydney Mint, Australia).
Early in the 20th century, another German firm, Schuler,
enters the manufacture of coin presses. Schuler presses are
now in use around the world. They developed a new
technology instead of the dies on a vertical axis going up
and down with blanks fed horizontally, one style of Schuler
press uses a horizontal axis with gravity fed blanks vertically.
They also developed "indexing" and a method of double
striking (as for proof coinage).
In anticipation of tremendous need for new coins for the
decimal conversion in the British Empire technicians at the
Royal Mint in 1950 build 12 Uhlhorn-style presses in
their workshop, still utilizing this 140-year old technology
but with modern improvements.
Today coining presses are made in Germany (by Schuler,
Grabenel), in Austria (by Reinhard & Fernau), in England
(by Heaton, Taylor & Challen and Horden Mason &
Edwards, now a division of Americas Cincinnati Milacron),
in Belgium (by Raskin), and in Sweden (by Arboga). Both
national mints and private mints buy these presses as
coining technology expands universally."
[Many thanks to Dick for his detailed submission. Every
numismatist should become familiar with the basic history
of coin presses. -Editor]
CLINT HESTER INFO SOUGHT
Ron Guth writes: "Here's a question for your readers:
The name Clint Hester shows up in pedigree chains for the
1884 and 1885 Trade Dollars and I've seen the claim that
he was the consignor of those coins to the Menjou sale,
possibly with other rarities. Does anyone know from
whence that claim arose and whether or not it is true?"
BOOK AUTHOR SOUGHT: SCRIBSON?
Dan Gosling writes: "In the ANA's Dwight N. Manley
library there is a listing for: JB40.E5 RARE BOOKS
English, Scotch, and Irish coins; a manual for collectors,
being a history and description of the coinage of Great
Britain, from the earliest ages to the present time.
London, Gill, 1883. 160p. ill. 20cm. 1c.
Does anyone know the name of the author? Is it James
Scribson?"
SCHOOL LIBRARY BOOK PROJECTS
Regarding last week's item about donating numismatic
literature to schools, Bruce Burton writes: "In Austin, Texas,
The Capital City Coin Club (of which I'm currently president)
has for many years now provided new "red books" to school
libraries around the area. I don't recall how many went out
this year but suspect between 20 and 30 copies of the 2005
edition."
EATON, ALVORD & BARDEEN ARTICLE
Gregg A. Silvis has a great article in the September 2004
issue of Penny-Wise, the official publication of Early
American Coppers, Inc on three early numismatists,
William Colgate Easton (1851-1936), Frederick Reed Alvord
(1868-1923) and Dr. Wallace S. Bardeen (1866-1921).
CATALOG DATA FOR THOMAS MEDAL IN BOIS DURCI
Dick Johnson writes: "In answer to Philip Mernicks inquiry
(from London) of the George Thomas Medal in last weeks
E-Sylum: You didnt give the artists first name of the medal
you have it was Alfred Borrel (1836-1927) -- because
after the U.S. Civil War Tiffany & Co in New York City had
several medals made for them in Paris. Alfreds father Valentin
Maurice Borrel (1804-1882) engraved the more famous medal
of Cyrus W. Field for Laying the Atlantic Telegraph Cable
Medal of 1867.
The medal you have was ordered by the State of Tennessee
for award (in gold) to George Henry Thomas (1816-1870)
American Army Commander. He was nicknamed "The Rock
of Chickamuga" for his defense of his position in the September
1863 Civil War battle. One tough general!
A medal similar to what you have may have been exhibited in
the Paris 1867 Expo, however Tiffany did not exhibit it later at
the 1901 Buffalo Pan-American Expo in the Tiffany Pavilion
in the Manufacturing and Liberal Arts Building. The Cyrus
Field Medal, however, was exhibited among this most
extensive medal exhibit Tiffany ever mounted. Incidentally all
the medals in this exhibit were goldplated. When I cataloged
the firms medal collection in 1972, some of these goldplated
medals were still intact. I even have some of the lesser ones
in my Tiffany collection. The more famous ones had all since
departed prior to my inspection.
Dies for your Thomas medal were indeed made at the Paris
Mint in the 77mm size. A diestruck reverse cliché was sold
14 December 1991 by H. Joseph Levine in his 51st Presidential
Coin & Antique auction (lot 553). The same dies COULD
have, indeed, been used to make the bois durci wood medal
you have.
Your data on bois durci is essentially correct. It is a wood
paste made of hardwood sawdust to which albumin was
added that is pressed, dried and molded under heat (imagine
a waffle iron with steam heat!). The source of the albumin
was animal (or human!) blood, with most sources stating ox
blood mostly employed. The original color was a rich
blood-red, however with time the composition darkened,
turning first to red mahogany, then brown, and finally to black.
If your piece is solid ebony black it is now stable and believed
to remain so in the future. It is believed the originator of this
process was a French artisan, Charles Lepage, in the 1850s
(for whom LePage glue is named after). When these pieces
are cataloged they are often mistakenly called gutta percha,
vulcanite or even Bakelite. The term is French and means, of
course, hardened wood. Other objects were made of bois
durci in exotic detail, include buttons, brooches, combs, even
snuff boxes and picture frames.
You did spell Chickanauga correctly. It is in northwest Georgia
here in the American colonies. It was the 1863 field of battle
during the Civil War and is now the site of the Chickamauga
and Chattanooga National Park.
This internet article verifies and expands on my notes:
http://www.plastiquarian.com/lepage.htm
Here is a web site on bois durci:
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/Bois_Durci
Scroll down and click on Plaques A - L and see two
Lincoln plaques made of this material. Or. click on
Plaques M -Z and see two George Washington plaques.
I auctioned several bois durci plaques in the past. They are
similar to each other, with the same background and lettering
all alike. I much prefer cast bronze plaques, or galvano
casts of copper (or silver!) from models by different talented
bas-relief artists. I consigned several dozen casts and
galvanos in Joe Levine's Presidential Coin & Antique auction
last December, and have more coming up in his next auction
for those interested in displayable medallic art."
NEW YORK TIMES ON NATIONAL COLLECTOR'S MINT
The October 2, 2004 New York Times had an article about
the National Collector's Mint, maker of the controversial
"Ground Zero" relic items being marketed these days, and
drawing the ire of the U.S. Mint.
"The days of Avram C. Freedberg as a distributor of
pornography are well behind him. No longer is he involved
with such businesses as the exquisitely alliterative Dirty
Dick's Dynamite Discount Den. No longer does he mail out
videos and magazines in discreet packages.
Fifteen years have passed since he struck a deal with the
federal government to make a collection of obscenity
charges go away. He paid $600,000 in fines, agreed to get
out of the pornography business and set out to reinvent
himself.
He moved on to other direct-mail opportunities, including
National Collector's Mint, which sells "collectible" coins
- anything from classic American silver dollars to
numismatic schlock. Gradually, Freedberg the Dirty Dick's
Den guy was replaced by Freedberg the civic-minded citizen
of Stamford, Conn., chairman of this nonprofit board,
member of that.
Ah, but destiny was not finished with Avram C. Freedberg,
and it beckoned after the collapse of the World Trade
Center."
[The article goes on to discuss how the National Collectors
Mint obtained some silver recovered from the World Trade
Center vault of the Bank of Nova Scotia, and used it to
create the "coins". The article then asks, "BUT how do we
know that this silver is Ground Zero Silver?"
"To find the answer, a visit was paid to a dreary industrial
park in the Westchester County village of Port Chester,
where Mr. Freedberg runs his business in a warehouse-style
building. The small lobby reeks of cigarette smoke.
A receptionist's disembodied voice answered the doorbell's
ring. A request to speak with Mr. Freedberg was answered
with a written statement delivered to the lobby."
Len Augsberger saw the same article. He writes: "The
New York Times business section on Saturday, October 2nd
offered a numismatic two-fer. An article on the front page
delved into the dealings of one Avram Freedberg,
ex-pornographer, currently doing business as the "National
Collector's Mint", which sells WTC recovered and coined
silver under the imprimatur of the Northern Mariana Islands
(a commonwealth of the United States). Well known
numismatist David Ganz is serving as an attorney for Mr.
Freedberg, and was quoted in the article. Ganz responded
to a reporter's question inquiring as to the authenticity of the
"Ground Zero silver". According to Ganz, "Mr. Freedberg
has an opinion letter from a very respected law firm" vouching
for the provenance of the silver. "I'm not authorized to tell
you" the firm's name, he added.
Later on in the same section, a review is found of "Undertow",
currently playing at the New York Film Festival. The plot
apparently revolves around a sackful of gold coins hidden in
an auto junkyard in the deep South. No word on the
provenance of these pieces, whether they were U.S. gold, or
perhaps NMI commemorative issues in the same vein as the
above items."
Full text available at http://www.nytimes.com (free registration
required).
ANS BUILDING NAMES QUIZ CONTINUES
Last week's quiz question regarding the numismatic
luminaries whose names are chiseled in stone on the
old American Numismatic Society building in New
York is "a Polish historian and numismatist. His works
on Polish history ... were published in twenty volumes.
In addition, he wrote two important works on numismatics:
the two volume La Numismatique du mayen age (1835)
and Etudes numismatiques (1840)."
Ron Guth of coinfacts.com writes: "Thank God (or is it Gore?)
for the Internet. The answer to your name quiz is Joachim
Lelewel. Ten years ago I never could have found the answer
to your quiz...today, all it takes is two minutes on Google!
Here's a good bio of Lelewel:
http://3.1911encyclopedia.org/L/LE/LELEWEL_JOACHIM.htm
Keep up the good work!"
On to the next name on the list for this week's quiz. This person,
a "Russian numismatist, is credited with the creation of the interest
in oriental numismatics throughout Russia and is considered the
founder of modern Islamic Science in Russia. [He] wrote more
that 143 publications and manuscripts .."
NEW U.S. FIFTY RELEASED
This week the Houston Chronicle published an Associated Press
story about the release of the new U.S. $50 bill.
"A new $50 bill with touches of red, blue and yellow hit the
streets today, and a new $10 bill is in the works. It would be
the third greenback to get colorized to cut back on counterfeiting."
"Government officials used one of the new $50s on Tuesday
morning to buy a $45 U.S. flag, which came in a box, at a shop
in Union Station. Old $50 bills will continue to be accepted and
recirculated until they wear out.
[OK, so who has that first $50 bill to be spent? Was the
serial number recorded and the transaction documented? It
would be a shame for that historic note to be lost to future
generations of collectors. -Editor]
As for plans for the new $10 bill, Alexander Hamilton, the
nation's first treasury secretary, is expected to stay on the
front, with the Treasury Department remaining on the back,
Thomas Ferguson, director of the Bureau of Engraving and
Printing, said in an interview."
"The new $10 bill is expected to be unveiled this spring and
put into circulation in fall 2005. That last time the note got a
new look was in 2000, when Hamilton's portrait became
oversized and moved slightly off center.
"As with the $50 and the $20, there will be subtle background
tones and tints. They will be different from those used on the
other two so each of the notes will start to be even more
distinctive and easier for people to differentiate quickly,"
Ferguson said. He wouldn't say what the colors on the new
$10 would be."
"The colorizing project is part of a broader effort to make
the bills harder to counterfeit, especially against the backdrop
of readily available digital technology.
"We've been working closely in cooperation ... with the
manufacturers of ink jet printers, editing software, computer
software in order to make it more difficult for people to be
able to use that kind of technology to counterfeit," Ferguson
said. As part of that effort, certain technology also has been
incorporated in the new $20s, $50s and eventually the new
$10s, he said.
To read the full story, see:
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/2818489
BUDDHA COIN OFFERED
From a September 28 Reuters article: "An Indian gold coin
which is nearly 1,900 years old and shows one of the earliest
depictions of Buddha is to be sold at auction where it is
expected to fetch up to $27,000.
The coin, about the size of a finger nail, shows Buddha on one
side and the Indian ruler Kanishka I on the other and dates
from Kanisha's rule in the first quarter of the second century.
It is one of only four such coins, and the first to go under the
hammer since 1991."
[The coin will be auctioned by Morton & Eden Ltd on
November 23. -Editor]
To read the full article, see:
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?storyID=6355081
ANOTHER MENTION ABOUT THE EARLIEST MONEY
Howard A. Daniel III writes: "I thought about looking in some
of my old Asian references for something about the earliest
money but I saw "The Beauty and Lore of Coins, Currency
and Medals" (Riverwood Publishers Ltd., Croton-On-Hudson,
New York, 1974) by Elvira and Vladimir Clain-Stefanelli and
thought they might have mentioned it. On page 185 is "It is
generally conceded that China preceded the West in the
invention and use of money."
RUPP TWENTY CENT PIECE BOOK
Hal Dunn writes: "Perhaps this is a merely coincidence, but the
Twenty Cent book was published in Fort Collins, Colorado,
the ANA is in Colorado Springs, and there is a Robert O.
Rupp living in the latter city."
[Hal provided the man's full address and phone number,
which I forwarded to Lane Brunner. Stay tuned for more
developments in the search. -Editor]
SAN FRANCISCO GENEALOGY SITE
Larry Mitchell sent us this note about another web site that
may be of interest to numismatic researchers. It "...
Contains a browsable and searchable list of birth records,
marriages, obituaries, and death records 'transcribed from
historic San Francisco [California] newspapers,' mainly before
1906. Includes related articles and full-text books; research
tips; a profile of San Francisco cemeteries; maps; and
research tips and annotated links to libraries, archives,
museums, and government agencies...." A labor of love of
local amateur genealogists: http://www.sfgenealogy.com/sf/
VERDIGRIS ON LITERATURE
Jeff Reichenberger writes: "In regard to Nancy Green's question
of verdigris on literature, I have not seen it first hand but I do
have some knowledge of printing inks. Years ago, metallic ink
colors such as copper, actually had microscopic flecks of the
metal in them to give the appearance of a metallic sheen. So
given the right atmosphere, verdigris surely could attack an
old copper inked catalog."
CANADIAN TWO DOLLAR COIN QUESTION
Christopher Rivituso writes: "I recently received a Canadian
two dollar coin, dated 2000, which is bimetallic. The lighter
metal was on the exterior, while the darker metal was in the
centre with Queen Elizabeth II's portrait. This has given rise
to a couple of questions.
I saw a Canadian two dollar coin in 1997. Maybe my mind is
playing tricks, but I recall it slightly differently; The darker
metal was on the exterior, while the lighter metal was in the
centre. Was that indeed the case?
Also, the year 2000 Canadian coins had a portrait of the
Queen that was used in Great Britain between 1985 and
1997. Why are they still using that? Would the Royal
Canadian Mint not have already adopted the current portrait,
seeing that Canada is in the Commonwealth? I know that
Australia has."
[On a recent trip to Niagara Falls, Canada, I noticed that the
cents had an updated portrait of the Queen, so the switch
has finally been made, at least on that denomination. Could
our Canadian subscribers enlighten us on the changeover
process? Thanks. -Editor]
SO WHO'S LOONIE?
Myron Xenos writes: "Dave's spin of the Loonie and the
U.S. dollar coins was interesting. However, I have a
counter-theory, encompassing two thoughts:
1. Certain politicians and the Crane Co. of Massachusetts
don't want to give up the lucrative paper business
2. Add up all the Susan B. Anthony and Sacagawea
dollars that were minted. Where are they? Sitting
in drawers, boxes, bags, the Treasury, etc. They cost
around 3 to 5 cents each to coin, and go into the
Treasury at $1 each. I wish I could do that...."
BINION DOLLAR HOARD
Regarding last week's item about the television show about
a Nevada silver dollar hoard, an anonymous subscriber writes:
"The CSI episode was based on the real-life murder of Ted
Binion, son of the founder of Binion's Horseshoe Casino in
Las Vegas. He was killed by his fiancée and her boyfriend in
order to secure the precious metals and coins he had buried
in a vault in the Nevada desert. The pair was tried and
convicted several years ago."
RARE SIKH COINS: COLLECTOR VS MUSEUM
Raising the age-old question of whether rare coins (or any
artifacts) are better off in museums or private hands, this recent
article from India describes a collection of Sikh coins:
"The first Sikh coin came into existence with the founding of a
Sikh kingdom by Banda Bahadur, a few years after the last
Sikh Guru Gobind Singh's passed away.
Historians say that though all the rulers brought in their new
coins as soon as they assumed power, the common factor in
each of them is that all the kings released coins in honour of
Sikh gurus."
"Researcher and numismatist Surinder Singh, who based his
work on empirical evidence, while citing several nuances in
the design of the coins to reigns of the kings during the period,
said that while most of the coins were shifted off by the British
to Bombay and Calcutta, some however remain in the
possession of collectors."
"When the British occupied the Punjab, the Sikh coin was of
pure silver and the British coin was 95 per cent silver. Where
the British rupee was sold of 16 annas in the market, the Sikh
coin was sold of 17 annas. The Britishers shifted almost 10 to
20 crores of Sikh coins to Bombay and Calcutta and converted
them into British rupees", said Surinder Singh.
Some of these coins are in the hands of a collector. Numismatist
Narinder Katwar of Mohali who has some 200 rare coins,
related to Sikh history, has refused to hand them over to the
museum. He says it is his life's passion, which he will always
guard zealously."
"... I personally feel that besides giving my collection to any
museum, I can preserve them better. And as its my personal
collection I want to keep it with me only".
The Central Sikh Museum in the precincts of the Golden
Temple in Amritsar, is home to a large number of the ancient
Sikh coins, providing a rare glimpse of the rich Sikh culture to
the people."
To read the full story, see:
http://www.webindia123.com/news/showdetails.asp?id=48829
FIRST CONFEDERATE CURRENCY COLLECTOR
We had no takers on last week's quiz to name the first
collector of Confederate Currency, according to the research
of Fred L. Reed III. Quoting from his article in the October
2004 issue of Bank Note Reporter, in 1866 the gentleman
"presented a collection of Confederate paper money and
postage stamps to the Boston Numismatic Society, of which
he was already a correspondent. That collection was
exhibited at the BNS meeting of April 12, and reported in the
May issue of the American Journal of Numismatics." The
gentleman also "subsequently donated a collection of
Confederate Currency and Confederate postage stamps, as
well as Confederate and Virginia bonds ..." to the American
Numismatic and Antiquarian Society. He was born in 1839
and lived to 1914. Any guesses now? No fair looking at
the Bank Note Reporter article, but if your library includes
the right issues of the AJN, your shelves are fair game.
FEATURED WEB SITE
This week's featured web site is on Irish coinage, and was
recommended by Ray Williams.
http://www.irishcoinage.com/
Wayne Homren
Numismatic Bibliomania Society
The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a
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