The E-Sylum v10#22, June 3, 2007

[esylum at binhost.com]

Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 10, Number 22, June 3, 2007:
an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society.
Copyright (c) 2007, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society.


WAYNE'S WORDS: THE E-SYLUM 3 JUNE, 2007

Among our recent subscribers are John Meissner, courtesy of John and Nancy
Wilson, Andy Dickes of the American Numismatic Association, Ryan Weinheimer
and Beverly Lewis-Fifield. Welcome aboard!  We now have 1,123 subscribers.

I've got to dash to catch a plane, so no time for an overview of the issue.

Some interesting stuff, as always.  Enjoy, and have a great week.

Wayne Homren
Numismatic Bibliomania Society


NEW BOOK: INTERNATIONAL NUMISMATIC DIRECTORY

Bruno Colin forwarded the following book announcement:

"In an era of globalisation and the internet, the world of numismatics 
is still very scattered, and until now there has not been available any 
guide that lists the world's main professionals in one volume.  That is 
why, after the success of the first two editions of the EUROPEAN COIN 
DEALERS GUIDE, we are now proposing to broaden it to the entire world.

"After two years of research, we have managed to bring together FOR THE 
FIRST TIME around 4400 addresses, spread over 110 countries, on 400 
pages, in all sectors that may interest you: Mints, suppliers and 
manufacturers of equipment for collectors, numismatics magazine, 
publishers, medal manufacturers...and, of course, coin dealers. We 
have chosen a pocket format so that you can take the guide with you 
wherever you go, and have also provided listings by country, town/city 
and lastly alphabetically by name, to make searching easier.

"This guide is indispensable for professionals across the world. As 
the numismatics market is one of the most varied in the world, and 
it is important to be able to find contacts easily for buying, 
selling or simply obtaining information.

"This guide is also a reference for collectors, both experienced 
and beginners, whether at home or on a trip, or even on the Web, 
for research or simply for pleasure, who will find in the addresses 
they need.

If you are interested in our distributor's prices, please send an 
Email to sleclere at yvert.com. "

For more information (in French) see:
http://www.yvert.com/product2.asp?pf_id=2814 


HAEBERLIN'S AES GRAVE: MOST IMPRESSIVE NUMISMATIC BOOK?  

In his blog "A Gift for Polydektes" Ed Snible wrote (on Monday May 28): 
"I recently saw E. J. Haeberlin's Aes Grave (1910) at the ANS library. 
The plate volume is the most impressive numismatic publication I've 
seen.

"First, it's huge. The pages are folio size. I wish I had measured them. 
My recollocation is that each page was 3'x2', although that seems 
impossibly large. It is probably about half that.

"Second, the printing. The book was printed with a collotype process. 
This makes each page near photographic in quality. No masking or 
pixelization. The paper may have changed color but the ink doesn't 
look faded at all. The black and white printing gives them a dreamlike
quality.

"Third, the 'coins'. Very large Roman cast coins. Coins weighing half 
a pound. The designs aren't complex or especially lifelike. The 
primitive casting technology forced the Romans to use very simple 
designs. Simplification gives the coins a powerful and primitive 
appearance. The coin's large size gives them an alien appearance.

"Finally, the surfaces. I don't know if the rough surface represents 
a patina or the casting technology. The collotype process seems to 
have captured it perfectly."

To read the complete blog entry, see:
http://digitalhn.blogspot.com/2007/05/most-impressive-numismatic-book.html 


WORLD COIN CATALOGER FRED BORGMAN RETIRES FROM KRAUSE PUBLICATIONS

In his Monday blog Dave Harper of Numismatic News wrote: "Fred Borgmann 
retires at the end of next week on June 1. He has been a colleague of 
mine on the numismatic staff for my entire career here, now almost 
three decades.

"Fred's job was and always has been cataloging new issues from the 
world's many mints so that they get listed in the Standard Catalog 
of World Coins. It is a precision job in an age of corporate "whatever."

"The world's mints don't beat a path to our door and hand us computer 
disks or paper lists of everything they produce. Dealers have regularly 
sent packages to Fred to identify coins, assign them Krause-Mishler 
numbers and figure out what they are made off. He sometimes resorts 
to specific gravity tests to figure it out.

"All of this takes time, patience and encyclopedic knowledge of world 
coinage output. There is probably no other individual who has such a 
keen sense of what is going on with new issues.

"For nearly 31 years that is what he has been doing to the benefit of 
the collectors and dealers of the world who use the Standard Catalog 
both in print and in its new incarnation online in NumisMaster."

To read Dave's complete blog entry, see:
http://www.numismaticnews.net/buzz/Retirement+Closes+New+Issues+Career.aspx 

[Congratulations to Fred on such a long and fruitful career.  His 
tireless work provides a clear example of the huge value that authors 
and cataloguers provide the numismatic world.  Whenever you find 
yourself saying that the price of a new book is too high, consider 
how much time and effort would be necessary to replicate the information 
by compiling it yourself.  Still think it costs too much?  -Editor]


DICK JOHNSON ON THE KANASAS CITY KANSAN, REVEREND COOLE AND COIN WORLD
 
Dick Johnson writes: "The Kansas City Kansan was mentioned in last 
week's E-Sylum (in the article on the Medal of Honor winner). The 
Kansan holds a triple fondness for me.
 
"I was on the staff of the Kansan and it was there I met my wife. 
Shirley was a TV and church editor, while I was in the advertising 
department. Yes, it was an office romance, but that did not have 
the adverse stigma that office fraternization has today.  
 
"The Kansan also published my first newspaper article. I had 
interviewed Reverend Arthur B. Coole. He was the author of 'A 
Bibliography on Far Eastern Numismatics,' and had written extensively 
on Chinese coins. He had lived in China as a Methodist missionary and 
had built an extensive numismatic collection while there. 

I had purchased a copy of his book from Abe Kosoff and brought it 
along on the interview. I wanted Rev. Coole to autograph it. He did, 
both in English, and he pulled out of his desk his seal with the 
Chinese character bearing his name. He stamped this in red on the 
title page as well.
 
"After Rev. Coole returned from China to the United Stares he answered 
a call to a church in Kansas City. Shirley knew him well and paved the 
way for my interview. My resulting feature article told of his numismatic 
activities in China and a little bit about his collection. Incidentally, 
he gave part of that collection to Baker University in Baldwin Kansas, 
where he once attended. He later sold the remainder of his collection 
to Jack Klausen (who I knew as a car dealer in Kansas City that I sold 
advertising to). Jack later gave up dealing in cars to concentrate on 
coins, specializing in gold, and later moved from Kansas City to Reno 
Nevada.
 
"I was still on the staff of the Kansan when a call came from John Amos 
of the Sidney Daily News. They were the printers of Linn's Weekly Stamp 
News and wanted a similar publication for coins. He had learned about 
me from coin dealer Jim Kelly in Dayton. I met with him and circulation 
director Cecil Watkins at the airport in Chicago to discuss such a coin 
newspaper and the rest of the story is the beginning of Coin World."	


MORE ON VON BERGEN AND MAX MEHL

In response to Jim Hirtle's submission in last week's issue, Dan 
Hamelberg writes: "The notion that there was a relationship between 
Von Bergen and Mehl was interesting to me, so I did a little checking.  

"I have an 'agent's circular' produced by Von Bergen and sent to 
individuals who answered one of his newspaper or magazine ads. The ads 
were designed to attract individuals as coin agents. The circular made 
such statements as 'Our agents reap the benefit of $20,000 spent in 
advertising.'  Regarding the book, the heading was 'Of immense value 
to agents'.  I believe the circular is either late 1889 or early 1890. 
The circular is 8' x 10' and is printed on both sides.  The main heading 
on the front side is 'Office of Numismatic Bank, 89 Court Street, 
Boston, Mass.'  At the bottom of the back side are testimonials from 
3 individuals and are all dated September and October 1889.   

"The price of books to agents were based on the quantity ordered. One 
dollar each in paper covers up to $200 for 1,000 copies.  Books bound 
in cloth with gilt edges were $1.50 each up to $400 per 1,000.  The 
circular states 'Most of our agents handle the paper cover books, 
claiming that they can sell them just as easy for a dollar as the 
cloth bound ones.'  Wholesale orders were also available to booksellers 
and newsdealers.  

"It appears that Von Bergen's main business was selling books. Unlike 
Mehl, I don't believe that Von Bergen had any auctions or produced any 
fixed price lists (at least I don't have any such copies in my library).  
 
"I have a Von Bergen book dated 1913 and it is titled 'The encyclopedia 
of rare coins, stamps, old books, paper money.'  It has more general 
information than his previous books (272 pages).  There is a great 
section on the library sale of Robert Hoe sold by Anderson Auction Co. 
of New York in 1911-1912. The sale realized almost $2 million.  This 
is the last dated item I have in my library by Von Bergen. 
 
"I have a Mehl Star Coin Book purchased in a Charlie Davis sale in 
1993 that we believe is circa 1904.  We believe this is the first 
coin book produced by Mehl.  I have two other Coin Books before the 
1910 4th edition as well.  

"This would suggest that Mehl and Von Bergen had an overlap of almost 
ten years in business.  I checked the line drawings in Mehl's first 
coin book to those in a sampling of Von Bergen's books and there are 
some identical items.  The colonial coins, the California gold, and 
a few regular issue U.S. coins (early copper and the 1796 quarter) 
match up.  The other line drawings are different in comparison.  

"I also checked the photo plates in some of the early Mehl books to 
those in Von Bergen's and could not match any of them up.  I have 
all of the original printing blocks that Mehl used to print up his 
rare coin books and encyclopedias and fixed price lists.  It would 
appear that except for a few identical line drawings, Mehl made up 
his own illustrations for his books.  None of the printing blocks 
have a reference to Von Bergen. This is not conclusive evidence of 
a Mehl buyout of Von Bergen's book business, however.
 
"I would not discount the idea that Mehl and Von Bergen had an 
arrangement of some sort, but I feel that Mehl just took the book 
selling business that Von Bergen started and carried it to new 
heights.  Mehl was the first real coin 'huckster' in the business, 
so it would make sense that he took a good idea and ran with it.  
The best evidence for a 'deal' between Mehl and Von Bergen is the 
use of the term 'Numismatic Bank' and the layouts of the different 
books.  I don't know if the term 'Numismatic Bank' was a title that 
could have private rights, or if it was more of a generic term that 
anyone could use.  

"There is no doubt that Mehl copied the layout of Von Bergen's books 
as they are very similar in content.  Of course, if Mehl was still 
around he might say it was just an interesting coincidence.  In any 
event, until some hard evidence turns up to suggest that Mehl actually 
paid money for the rights to do what Von Bergen did, I would stick 
with the theory that Mehl saw a good thing and carried it to a new 
level.  
 
"My brief exercise in looking up the above information on the possible 
Mehl - Von Bergen connection did result in more questions.  Was there 
ever any correspondence between Mehl and Von Bergen?  Did Mehl ever 
visit Boston, and did Von Bergen ever visit Dallas?  How did Von Bergen 
market the coins he must have surely received from his book promotion?  
Was Anderson Auction Co, or Wayte Raymond or even Mehl himself involved 
with Von Bergen to market the coins he acquired?  The answer to some of 
these questions could indicate the link between Mehl and Von Bergen we 
are looking for.  But for now, so many questions, so little time."


E-SYLUMITES: MOST INFLUENTIAL AUDIENCE IN NUMISMATICS?
 
Dick Johnson writes: "If numismatics had a list of the 100 most 
influential people in the field like Time magazine's recent list, 
they would all be subscribers to The E-Sylum."

[Perhaps in the U.S. that is true, with an increasing audience in 
the U.K. and a handful of English-speaking numismatists around the 
world.  It's our readership which makes the E-Sylum what it is, with 
wonderful submissions from those in the know about often obscure 
yet always interesting numismatic-related topics.   -Editor]


INPUT SOUGHT ON PROPOSED AMERICAN NUMISMATIC SOCIETY MOVE

In a 29 May, 2007 letter to Fellows of the ANS, Dr. Ute Wartenberg 
Kagan asked for input on the society's proposed moved to a new location 
in New York.  She wrote: "Some of you may have heard that the American 
Numismatic Society's Board of Trustees has been discussing whether to 
move from its current location at 96 Fulton Street.  At its upcoming 
meeting in June, the Trustees will vote on a proposal to move to a 
new location in Manhattan.  As part of this process, the Trustees 
are interested in explaining the current plans and soliciting your 
views."

ANS Fellows are invited to a meeting on June 6, 2007 at 6 pm at the 
American Numismatic Society at 96 Fulton Street, where "ANS Officers 
and other representatives of the ANS, our brokers and other consultants 
will be explaining the proposed plans."

[The ANS has also arranged a conference call dial-in number for Fellows 
unable to attend the meeting in person.  I will forward my comments by 
email in advance of the meeting.  With Dr. Kagan's encouragement, I 
will also forward the questions and comments of E-Sylum readers who 
wish to represent the numismatic research community.  Please send me 
any input tomorrow (June 4) at whomren at coinlibrary.com.  I'll forward 
it to the ANS on June 5, the day before the meeting.  -Editor]


CANADIAN NUMISMATIC ASSOCIATION CONVENTION EDUCATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ANNOUNCED

Educational events for the upcoming 2007 Canadian Numismatic Association 
convention have been announced.  The convention will take place at the 
Sheraton Fallsview Hotel & Convention Centre in Niagara Falls, Ontario 
from July 11 to 15.  The events were listed in the May 29 issue of the 
C.N.A. E-Bulletin (v3n34). 

"Michael Walsh, C.N.A. Educational Chairman, is pleased to announce that 
at the 2007 C.N.A. Convention in Niagara Falls will feature the largest 
and most diverse educational symposium in the past 20 years. Fourteen 
speakers are now confirmed to present papers on Aspects of North 
American Numismatics on Wednesday and Thursday, July 11 and 12.

"The papers presented will be compiled and printed in a hardcover book 
later this year titled "Aspects of North American Numismatics II," 
following the format of the 1986 edition of Aspects.

Wednesday 11 July

Daniel Gosling - "The Life and Times of J Douglas Ferguson"
Philip Carrigan - "Auction Sales of the 19th and 20th Century 
   with Significant Canadian Content"
Graham Esler (Topic TBA)
Ron Greene - "Early tokens of Nelson, B.C."
Henry Nienhuis - "Canadian Error Coinage"
Dr. Peter Moogk - "The Value of Archaeological Evidence to 
    18th and 19th Century Numismatics"
David Bergeron - "Banking in the French Regime"

Thursday 12 July

Michael Walsh - "Weak Strikes on Canadian Coins"
Rob Turner - "The 1858 Canadian Cent"
Paul Berry - "The Double Tournois in 17th Century Canada"
H. Don Allen - "Ones' Own Money: Two Centuries of Cheque 
   Evolution in Canada and the United States"
Tolling Jennings - "A Short History of the Lasqueti Mint"
Ted Leitch - "The Eight Real in the New World"
Dr. Chris Faulkner - "Some Observations Regarding the 
   Production of the PEI Holey Dollar"

For times and other details, check the CNA web site:  
http://www.canadian-numismatic.org/2007symposium.php  


ANA CALLS FOR EXHIBITS AT MILWAUKEE CONVENTION

Also this week the ANA issued a call for exhibits at its upcoming 
summer convention.  Bibliophiles are encouraged to submit and 
application to exhibit in the numismatic literature class.

"The American Numismatic Association is inviting its members to 
showcase their collections, knowledge and creativity with fellow 
collectors by presenting a numismatic exhibit at the Milwaukee 
World's Fair of Money, August 8-12. 

"Exhibitors have the option to enter their displays in competitive 
(judged, with open and young numismatist divisions), non-competitive 
or marquee (invitational) categories. Competitive exhibits are judged 
on a variety of standards, including educational value, presentation 
and degree of difficulty. 

"For complete rules, application forms, and resources for preparing 
an exhibit, visit www.money.org (Select "World's Fair of Money" from 
the "Featured Links" tab, then select "Collector Exhibit Area 
Information & Applications"). Exhibit applications must be submitted 
by July 2. For questions or more information about presenting a 
numismatic exhibit in Milwaukee, call 719-482-9826 or e-mail 
convention at money.org."


WORLD PAPER CURRENCY COLLECTORS

Last week Bob Knepper asked about a book bearing the stamp "W.P.C.C. 
Library."  Joe Boling writes: "WPCC is World Paper Currency Collectors, 
an organization that was quite active until the early '90s. I don't 
recall who had the library nor where it went." 

[Can anyone tell us more about the organization?  Is it still active? 
If not, what became of its library?  -Editor]


JOHN BIG TREE

Ginger Rapsus writes: "I am seeking information on John Big Tree, who 
claimed to be one of the models for Fraser's Indian Head Nickel.  Was 
there a biography published some years ago?  I remember seeing John Big 
Tree on TV in the 60s."


SPAIN PLACES ROUTINE CLAIM ON ODYSSESY SHIPWRECK 

"The Spanish government has filed claims in U.S. federal court over a 
shipwreck that a Florida firm found laden with Colonial-era treasure, 
an attorney said Thursday.

'If the vessel was Spanish or was removed from that country's waters, 
any treasure would belong to Spain, said James Goold, an attorney 
representing the government.

Odyssey Marine Exploration Inc. CEO John Morris said in a statement 
Thursday that 'such a move was anticipated by Odyssey and is considered 
normal in Admiralty cases.'

The company has previously said Odyssey would notify all claimants once 
it conclusively determined the ship's identity. Odyssey said it was not 
found in Spanish territorial waters.

The company announced two weeks ago that it had discovered a shipwreck 
containing 500,000 gold and silver coins somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean. 
The Tampa-based company said the site was outside any country's 
territorial waters but would not give the exact location or name of 
the ship.

To read the complete article, see:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070531/ap_on_re_us/spain_treasure_ship 


BOOK BURNING PROTESTS LACK OF INTEREST IN BOOKS

Len Augsberger forwarded the following article highlighting a sad 
state of affairs in the used book business.

"Tom Wayne amassed thousands of books in a warehouse during the 10 
years he has run his used book store, Prospero's Books.

"His collection ranges from best sellers like Tom Clancy's "The Hunt 
for Red October" and Tom Wolfe's "Bonfire of the Vanities," to obscure 
titles like a bound report from the Fourth Pan-American Conference 
held in Buenos Aires in 1910. But wanting to thin out his collection, 
he found he couldn't even give away books to libraries or thrift 
shops, which said they were full.

"So on Sunday, Wayne began burning his books protest what he sees 
as society's diminishing support for the printed word.

"'This is the funeral pyre for thought in America today,' Wayne told 
spectators outside his bookstore as he lit the first batch of books.

"The fire blazed for about 50 minutes before the Kansas City Fire 
Department put it out because Wayne didn't have a permit to burn them.

"Wayne said next time he will get a permit. He said he envisions 
monthly bonfires until his supply -- estimated at 20,000 books -- 
is exhausted.

"Wayne said he has seen fewer customers in recent years as people more 
often get their information from television or the Internet. He pointed 
to a 2002 study by the National Endowment for the Arts, that found that 
less than half of adult respondents reported reading for pleasure, 
down from almost 57 percent in 1982.

"Dozens of customers took advantage of the Sunday's book-burning, 
searching through those waiting to go into the fire for last-minute 
bargains.

To read the complete article, see:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/05/28/book.burning.ap/index.html 

[If you can't even give them away, what DO you do with them?  Surely 
there are individuals and libraries somewhere that would take on some 
books, but finding them and shipping the books is time-consuming and 
expensive.  It's easy to see the storekeeper's frustration as well 
as the horror of the thought of books being destroyed. -Editor]

Dick Johnson adds: "You may have seen the picture or read the news 
story this week of the book dealer in Kansas City, Missouri who 
could not dispose of some books anyone wanted. So he burned them. 
He said he was protesting society's diminishing support for the 
printed word.'
 
"Well, there is a numismatic angle to this story, albeit slim. It's 
not that he included some numismatic books in that flaming pyre 
(although I could name a few candidates for such destruction). The 
numismatic connection is that his store was owned by my relatives 
from 1918 to the mid 1970s.
 
"Great Uncle Arthur Johnson first ran a grocery store in that same 
building beginning in 1918. Years later when a hardware store on the 
opposite corner became available he sold the grocery store to his 
brother Albert Johnson and Arthur moved the hardware store into his 
building. Eight of my relatives worked in those two stores across 
the street from each other over the years, including my grandfather, 
plus half a dozen aunts, uncles and then cousins, with the second 
generation taking over in 1954.
 
"In 1994 I traveled back to Kansas City. My sister drove me around 
to some of the old family sites. The hardware store was a bookstore 
by then, but the grocery store was still in business. We went inside 
and to our surprise they were still using the same old cash register.  
It still had Uncle Albert's name on it!"


QUIZ ANSWER: SPEND A PENNY

Last week I asked, "When used in euphemistic terms, what does the 
phrase 'Spend a Penny' mean, and how did it first arise?"

Tom DeLorey writes: "That's an old one. Pay toilets took one of the 
large British pennies, so if you got up and told your mates you were 
off to "Spend a Penny," it meant you were on the way to the 'loo'."  

NBS President Pete Smith writes: "I believe the phrase, 'spend a penny' 
is a euphemism for using a (public) toilet.  Sorry I can't stay and 
chat, but I've got to go see a man about a horse." 

Joe Boling, Ginger Rapsus and Ron Abler had the correct answer as well.  
Bob Lyall adds: "Sadly, inappropriate activity has caused many such 
public toilets to be closed down."

Martin Purdy of New Zealand writes: "I believe a penny was the price 
one paid to use a pay toilet when they were first introduced.  Last 
time I was at Heathrow the price was 20 (new) pence, so the price has 
gone up 48-fold (1 decimal penny = 2.4 predecimal ones) in the meantime!"

Gar Travis forwarded the following definition from a U.K. phrases web 
site:  "This refers to the (former) use of coin operated locks on public 
toilets. It was used mostly in the UK and mostly by women (men's urinals 
were free of charge). 

"Such locks were first introduced, at a public toilet outside the Royal 
Exchange, London, in the 1850s. The term itself is later though. The 
first recorded citation of it is in H. Lewis's Strange Story, 1945:

"'Us girls,' she said, 'are going to spend a penny!'

Dennis Tucker adds: "In response to your recent Quiz Question, I hadn't 
heard this expression, either, until very recently, and courtesy of 
fellow Yankee Kenneth Bressett.

"Ken has written a wonderful new book called 'Milestone Coins: A Pageant 
of the World's Most Significant and Popular Money'. It is at the press 
now and will debut at the ANA World's Fair of Money in August.

"In one of the book's essays, Ken discusses phrases and terms with 
numismatic origins ("filthy lucre," "pin money," "pass the buck," 
etc.). Among other examples, he offers this:

"In England the admonition 'Spend a penny' means do not be frugal---
just do it and spend the money. The expression originated with the 
public toilets that charged a penny toll to open the lock on the doors."

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/spend-a-penny.html 


CATALOG OF THE "OTHER" MONEY OF AMERICAN INDIANS?

Panda America issued a press release this week about its ongoing series 
of commemorative coins issued in association with various American 
Indian tribes.

"The coin series began in 2002; with two tribes that they currently work 
with: the Poarch Band of Creek Indians and the Shawnee Tribe. The coins 
attracted considerable amount of attention not just in the coin industry, 
where collectors are consistently searching for American History items, 
but also among casual Americans looking to learn more about America's 
History and Native Americans in general. 

"Because the coins are officially approved coins, Panda America has 
worked closely with each Tribe and each Tribe has approved every aspect 
of the process. Some Tribes choose to feature their logo or crest, while 
others feature specific individuals, former chiefs or leaders in the 
Tribes History, as well as pivotal events in the Tribes history.

To read the complete press release, see:
http://tinyurl.com/3a2nee

[Numismatists are familiar with Indian Peace Medals made for tribe 
officials, and wampum and other forms of money made and used by native 
Americans, but has anyone compiled a study of OTHER numismatic items 
associated with various tribes?  I assume there must be a number of 
token, scrip or commemorative issues made for or issued by tribes over 
the years, but I don't recall seeing a compilation of them.  Is anyone 
aware of one?  -Editor]


MANLEY-KAGIN ANA ETHICS HEARING TURNS ON AUCTION CATALOGUE EVIDENCE

Earlier in The E-Sylum we mentioned the dispute between Dwight Manley 
and Don Kagin over Kagin's handling of a transaction involving a western 
gold ingot that had been stolen from Manley.  An article by Dave Harper 
of Numismatic News discusses the dramatic hearing of Manley's complaint 
by the ANA board, which may be the first such event involving numismatic 
literature (an auction catalog) as a piece of evidence.

"The American Numismatic Association board of governors has decided to 
take no action on Dwight Manley's ethics complaint against Don Kagin.
Manley had asked the board to determine what level of due diligence was 
required by the ANA in a potential transaction involving a rare and 
highly identifiable California Blake & Co. gold ingot that later turned 
out to be stolen.

"The ANA board addressed that question May 29 in an all-day public 
hearing in Long Beach, Calif. The board's decision, which advised Kagin 
to improve his due diligence, was released to the public May 31. The 
decision can be read at numismaticnews.net.

"The two parties battled in a Westin Hotel ballroom arranged to resemble 
a courtroom from 9 a.m. until approximately 5:40 p.m.

"Manley as the complaining party was first to be sworn in as a witness. 
All witnesses were under oath and a court reporter took down the 
proceedings.  Manley alleged that Kagin knew or should have known that 
the Blake & Co. bar, one of just 34 known and one of just three of the 
Mold 3 type, belonged to him because he bought it in 2000 at a Sotheby's 
auction along with about 80 percent of the ingots put on the block at 
that sale.

"When it was Kagin's turn to testify, he said he did see the bar sold at 
the Sotheby's auction, at which he was also a bidder, to bidder L106 and 
that he "speculated" that the buyer could have been Manley, but he did 
not know that Manley was the buyer because he was not physically present 
in the auction room. Manley was in a skybox behind one-way glass 
overlooking the auction room and bidding by telephone using three bidder
numbers.

"Vartian pointed out that most of the bars Manley had purchased at that 
sale have since been sold by Manley to others. Some five and one-half 
years had passed from the time of the Sotheby's sale to the time of the 
actions under dispute, which occurred for Kagin during the 2006 Florida 
United Numismatists convention Jan.6 and continued until Jan. 24.

"The legal contest focused on whether Kagin knew who bidder 106 was. 
Manley said he told him in the auction room immediately after the sale, 
because he approached Kagin to buy a bar that Kagin had purchased.

"Kagin said he had written three bidder numbers onto the inside cover 
of his catalog, 106, 124 and 109. He circled them and wrote, "Manly? 
(sic)."

"The ANA board passed the catalog among its members to look at it and 
the notations in it."

[There is far more to the daylong proceeding than the excerpts shown 
here.  Readers are encouraged to read Harper's complete article (and 
all the accounts published in the numismatic press) for more detail.  
-Editor]


NICKEL COINS SNAPPED UP AND MELTED IN INDIA

The Tribune of Chandigarh, India reported Monday that lower-denomination 
nickel coins have disappeared from circulation and that gangs are buying 
them up for melting profit.

"With the Re 1 and Rs 2 coins having suddenly disappeared from 
circulation, several gangs are now collecting these coins from 
shopkeepers in the region for the intrinsic value of the metal content 
in these coins. With the cuperonickle (with copper and nickle metals) 
coins having a good quantity of nickel, the prices of which have touched 
an all time high of Rs 2500 per kg, these gangs are collecting the coins 
and melting them to extract nickel and sell it in the market. 

"The gangs are not just restricted to the traders in the urban areas, 
but have appointed "sub-agents" in the semi-urban areas to collect coins 
from people by moving from door-to-door. In Mubarakpur near Dera Bassi, 
one such "sub-agent" has been collecting the coins by paying the gullible 
villagers Rs 2 for every Re 1 coin and Rs 4 for every Rs 2 coin (old coin). 

"With this artificially created scarcity of coins in the market, it is 
the common man who is the real loser. More often than ever before, he 
is simply offered sweets for the change money that any shopkeeper owes 
him after deducting the bill for the goods bought."

To read the complete article, see:
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20070529/main9.htm 


SITCKERS ON BRITISH POUND COINS ADVERTISE HOTEL'S EVENTS

Appropriately timed due to the two items we carried last week about 
advertising uses of coins in Canada and the U.S., Chris Eimer forwarded 
this article from The Times of London regarding the use of stickers 
on British pound coins for publicity.

"The Royal Mint has rebuked a hotel for using coins to advertise 
entertainment. 

"The Golden Lion in St Ives, near Huntingdon, in Cambridgeshire, 
has been adding stickers to pound coins in the bar till and handing 
them out in change to promote its events. 

"A spokesman for the Royal Mint said: "We are not aware of any legal 
powers to prevent people using stickers on coins for advertising. 

""However, the Royal Mint disapproves of the use of the coinage in 
this way as it brings the dignity and integrity of the coinage into 
disrepute.""

To read the complete article, see:
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/money/article1848276.ece 

[So the practice of stickering coins in England is technically legal, 
though frowned upon by the Mint.  -Editor]

  CANADIAN RESTAURANT PROMOTION PUTS STICKERS ON NICKELS
  http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v10n21a18.html

  "SILVER SURFER" ALTERED QUARTERS DRAW U.S. MINT IRE
  http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v10n21a19.html

  David Ganz' article on the Silver Surfer quarter (Numismatic News):
  http://tinyurl.com/yrggv7


HERLALDIC ART COMPANY GOLD MEDAL ISSUE PRICE

New subscriber John Meissner writes: "I was doing a Google search for 
'Heraldic Art' and came across an earlier E-sylum where Rich Hertzog 
was posing a question about the issue prices for Heraldic Art medals 
(the Cleveland Ohio firm which started releasing half-dollar sized 
commemorative medals in 1959): 
 
"At least for issues #1 and #2 (Alaska and Hawaii statehood, respectively) 
of the Heraldic Art Co. gold medals, the original sales price was $40.  
This is according to the 1959 and 1960 Clifford Mishler "Medals and Tokens" 
catalogs, which I trust implicitly.  I have not been able to confirm this 
using contemporary numismatic articles or advertisements, however, it is 
possible that these prices were only available to those on the Heraldic 
Art Co. mailing list or subscription list.  I assume that these catalogs 
would also include original list prices for later medals in the Heraldic 
Art Co. series." 

  INFORMATION SOUGHT ON HERALDIC ART MEDALS 1959-1976
  http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v10n15a09.html
 

RESEARCHER NOTES GAPS IN INSTITUTIONAL NUMISMATIC PERIODICAL HOLDINGS

John Meissner writes: "The early "Numismatic News", "Coin World" and 
"Numismatic Scrapbook" issues are invaluable for tracing the history 
of coin clubs, personalities, etc.  I have been talking with a number 
of people at the ANA about the fact that every time I need to find a 
back issue of a publication, regardless of the series, I find gaps.  
This would suggest, since I am taking a random sampling depending on 
what I'm researching, that many of their holdings are not complete 
runs, which I find extremely troubling.  

"Just as an example, yesterday while I was at the ANA I found that 
they were missing the Spring 1991 issue of "FUN Topics" from the Florida 
United Numismatists.  Doubtless they are missing others in this series 
- this happened to be the one I needed.  Not too many people will get up 
in arms about a missing "FUN Topics", but I think that some people will 
recognize the problem if an entire issue of the Numismatic News cannot 
be found at either the ANA or the ANS, and that the headquarters for 
that publication has an incomplete issue (which proves that it exists).  

"My biggest beef is that the ANA is missing complete years of issues of 
Coin World, but I think the best way to point out this problem and to 
make people drop what they are doing and agree that it is a problem is 
to highlight one particular issue that appears to be lost.  

"I am willing to fill in these gaps at the ANA where I can, and have 
done so, for example, by contacting the Society of United States 
Commemorative Collectors.  The ANA was missing the earliest issues, 
which are the most important ones.

"Another thing that I found yesterday is that the ANA that isn't complete 
on the population reports/census reports from PCGS and NGC (missing a 
number of early issues in both cases).  Neither PCGS or NGC said there 
was much they could do about it.  I wonder if either company has archived 
complete sets of these reports, or if anyone would have a complete run 
that photocopies could be made from.  

"Most recently I have been trying to locate the 9 November 1964 issue 
of Numismatic News and came up empty at the ANA, ANS and Numismatic News 
itself.  If this issue is not on microfilm and no one has bothered to 
save a hard copy, then it is lost, especially if the people at Numismatic 
News don't care about completeness.  This Numismatic News publication is 
from only 40 years ago, for gosh sakes, and they probably printed up 
50,000 copies at the time.  Are they all gone?

[Gaps are a perennial problem for numismatic libraries.  It's a tall 
order to collect one of each single issue.  Institutions often must rely 
on the whims and resources of donors to build up and maintain their 
collections.  I'm sure some E-Sylum readers would be willing to help 
fill in the gaps once they know what's needed.  In the past we have had 
pleas for certain issues from the ANS library, for example.  If 
librarians or researchers are aware of such gaps, pleas make them know 
to our readers.  -Editor]


FEATURED WEB SITE: MINNEAPOLIS FEDERAL RESERVE BANK

This week's featured web site is recommended by John and Nancy Wilson.  
They write: "The Minneapolis Federal Reserve has some great information 
on early state banks in the U. S.; how many there were, and where they 
existed. It's great for research and information.  It was published in 
the Fed's September, 2006 Quarterly Review.  The author is Warren E. 
Weber from the Minnesota Fed's research department.   

http://www.minneapolisfed.org/research/QR/QR3012.pdf


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 
at this address:
http://www.coinbooks.org/club_nbs_member_app.html 

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 the U.S., $20 elsewhere.  For those without 
web access, write to:

David M. Sundman, Secretary/Treasurer
Numismatic Bibliomania Society, 
P. O. Box 82 Littleton, NH 03561

For Asylum mailing address changes and other membership 
questions, contact David at this email address: 
dsundman at LittletonCoin.com

To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, just 
Reply to this message, or write to the Editor at this 
address: whomren at coinlibrary.com

Those wishing to become new E-Sylum subscribers 
(or wishing to Unsubscribe) can go to the following web page:
https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum 

All past E-Sylum issues are archived on the NBS web site at this address:
http://www.coinbooks.org/club_nbs_esylum_archive.html

Issues from September 2002 to date are also archived at this address:
http://my.binhost.com/pipermail/esylum