The E-Sylum v10#21, May 27, 2007

[esylum at binhost.com]

Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 10, Number 21, May 27, 2007:
an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society.
Copyright (c) 2007, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society.


WAYNE'S WORDS: THE E-SYLUM 27 MAY, 2007

Among our recent subscribers are Eric Anderson, Tony Lopez,
David Powell and Dick Grinolds.  Welcome aboard!  We now have 
1,118 subscribers.

This week we open with an interesting theory proposed by Jim Hirtle 
on a publishing connection between B. Max Mehl and Boston dealer 
William Von Bergen.  Next, Dick Johnson reviews the new Amos Press 
numismatic book catalog and Dan Freidus tells us about his new 
literature exhibit at Amherst Collage.  In the news, much of the 
talk is about Odyssey Marine's massive shipwreck haul.  In response 
to earlier E-Sylum items, Bob Leonard discusses the infamous 
'Brother Jonathan' bars, and Kerry Rodgers inquires about banknotes
featuring Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter.  

Next is "Wayne's London Diary", an account of my numismatic adventures 
of the past week.  After that we return to some news items and other 
submissions, many on a military theme.  Next up are two items on the 
topic of coins as an advertising medium.  Along the way we also cover 
the launch of the new John Adams dollar coin and hear about the 
ceremony direct from the coin's designer, Joel Iskowitz.

Among the remaining topics are David Powell's Leaden Token Telegraph 
newsletters on early British lead tokens, and some speculation on 
whether coins were used to provide silver for the Manhattan Project.

This is a lengthy issue.  Next week's will likely be shorter and 
published early due to my travel schedule.  Please send any 
submissions early in the week.  To learn where misplaced U.S. Mint 
orders end up, read on. Have a great week, everyone.

Wayne Homren
Numismatic Bibliomania Society


WAS THERE A WILLIAM VON BERGEN - B. MAX MEHL ALLIANCE?

Jim Hirtle writes: "It has been my belief for a number of years 
that the "Star Rare Coin Encyclopedia" did not spring full-blown 
from the head of B. Max [Benjamin Maximilian], Mehl the famous 
Fort Worth coin dealer.  Now, I have discovered evidence that 
supports my theory and I am proposing this hypothesis.

"William Von Bergen -- a Boston coin dealer in the period of the 
1880s to the early 1900s was the author of two widely-read coin 
books which succeeded each other in the marketplace: first came 
THE RARE COINS OF AMERICA, ENGLAND, IRELAND, SCOTLAND FRANCE, 
GERMANY, AND SPAIN, followed by THE RARE COIN ENCYCLOPEDIA 
(UNIVERSAL COIN DEALERS DIRECTORY). 

"The early book went through about nine editions beginning in 
the 1880s (the earliest that I have been able to locate is dated 
1889), only to be replaced by the THE RARE COIN ENCYCLOPEDIA which 
went through about seven editions, the last being published in 1907.  

"Since every copy of the Von Bergen book that I own has a different 
colored cover, it is obvious to me that -- in the tradition of many 
such books of the period -- the buyer got a paperback copy which 
he then contracted with a bookbinder to put into hardback form. Thus, 
I have red, blue and maroon-covered copies of Von Bergen's works.

"The interesting thing about Von Bergen's works is that they disappear 
from the numismatic scene at almost exactly the same time that Mehl's 
works begin to appear.  Now, any student of numismatic literature will 
tell you that works of B. Max Mehl prior to about 1920 are very seldom 
met with if at all.

"In the 1920s, Mehl's Star Coin Book is a very prolific work but, prior 
to that decade, few Mehl works are available.  An Internet search of 
"Mehl," "B. Max Mehl," or "Max Mehl" will quickly confirm this fact.  
However, after many years of searching, I finally located the earliest 
copy of Mehl's "Star Coin Book" which I have been able to acquire.  It 
is dated 1910 and is described as the "Fourth Edition" which would mean 
that Mehl began producing it about the year 1907.  Interestingly enough, 
1907 is the last year that I can trace any Von Bergen book to (1906-1907 
Edition published in 1907).  This would seem to me to indicate that 
the two publishers' careers meshed neatly, with Von Bergen leaving 
the stage just as Max Mehl appeared.

"As further evidence of the business relationship of the two men, a 
study of Von Bergen's format and content would indicate that his and 
Mehl's works were very similar both in content, size, and scope with 
each containing much the same material about grading, how to mail coins 
to the company, and other general information. Even more interesting, 
Von Bergen referred to his business as the "Numismatic Bank," a name 
that Mehl used into the early 1920s for his coin operation. Note, in 
addition, that Mehl always carefully referred to himself as a "compiler" 
of his book, in effect saying that at least some of its content was 
not original with him.

"Based on the timing and similarity of the two men's books, it is my 
belief that Max Mehl and Von Bergen had some sort of business relationship 
in which the Texas dealer bought the rights to the Boston dealer's 
publication and business name and began producing the "encyclopedia" 
of the "Numismatic Bank" under his own name. This would certainly 
explain the fact that Von Bergen's book ceased publication at about 
the same time that Mehl's appeared, probably in the same year -- 1907."

[I don't have my library handy, but I think Jim's theory has a lot going 
for it.  I believe the earliest copy of the Mehl book that I own is the 
1910 fourth edition.  I had noticed the "Numismatic Bank" connection and
other similarities, but like many of us I assumed Mehl had just copied
the earlier book.  I had also assumed that the early editions that no 
one has ever been able to locate were made up by Mehl to make his book 
sound more established.  But the dovetailing dates make a Von Bergen - 
Mehl connection a possibility.  What are our readers' thoughts?  
-Editor]


LATEST AMOS BOOK CATALOG ARRIVES
 
Dick Johnson writes: "I was critical of the Amos Product catalog in 
the past. To be fair and balanced I must compliment the firm for the 
latest edition that arrived in my mail box this week.
 
"It carries twelve pages of numismatic books -- 107 books and CDs -- 
all on specialized aspects of our favorite subject, numismatics. 
You would be hard pressed not to find something offered herein to 
whet your interest, expand your knowledge, or perhaps, reveal some 
fascinating collectors' lore. Great reading all!
 
"Each book is illustrated in color. Brief description, retail price 
and Amos discount price. I had to search, however for authors' names 
(they are buried in each description). Oh, please, allow me one 
suggestion: put the authors' names in bold face type. Most of these 
books are labors of love with little chance of paying off the house 
mortgage with the book royalties. How about a little satisfaction 
of seeing the author's name in big black print? (Okay, tiny black 
print.)"
 
To read the nasty things I wrote last time, see:
http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v07n37a07.html  

And to read Beth Deisher's flagellation with a wet noodle, see:
http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v07n38a09.html  "


DAN FREIDUS EXHIBITS LITERATURE AT AMHERST COLLEGE LIBRARY

Dan Freidus writes: "I've got an exhibit in the library at Amherst 
College that will be there from this Wednesday through Sunday.  When 
I was an undergrad there I won a book collecting contest and I've 
stayed in touch with the college's librarians. They'll be hosting 
an exhibit on how the contest has affected my collecting over the 
past 25 years.  

"In actuality, that exhibit would have taken much more space than 
they had so what you'll see if you happen to be in the area is a 
slice of my collection.  The judges 25 years ago encouraged me to 
be more focused in my collecting.  Now my collection is mainly on 
U.S. coins and paper money of the colonial and Confederation eras, 
with an emphasis on financial and economic history rather than 
pure numismatics.

"The exhibit is comprised of 18th century paper money and financial 
documents, contemporary newspapers, 19th century books on these 
topics from either historical or numismatic perspectives, and a 
few auction catalogs. 

"If you can find Amherst, Massachusetts, you can find Amherst College. 
The Special Collections room will have longer hours than normal this 
week because of reunions.  The hours will be 9-noon & 1-4 on Wednesday, 
Thursday, and Friday; 8-5 on Saturday; and 9-1 on Sunday.   If anyone 
will try to make it to the exhibit, they can email me beforehand at 
dan1737 at gmail.com.  It's always nice to get together with another 
numismatic bibliophile."


CALL FOR PAPERS FOR THE NBS ASYLUM

Numismatic bibliophiles, researchers and collectors of all stripes 
are invited to pen an article for The Asylum, the quarterly print 
journal of our sponsor, the Numismatic Bibliomania Society.  Editor 
David Yoon will be away doing field work from June 18 through August 
4, and it would be good to get some additional drafts for the next 
issue before he leaves.  

E-Sylum submissions are often a great, easy starting point for a 
more complete article, particularly if you're able to provide some 
accompanying illustrations.  Please consider supporting the society 
that supports The E-Sylum.  I can think of four or five in this issue 
alone that could become great Asylum articles.  So give it a try!  
David's email address is dyoon at ix.netcom.com.


MORE ON CANADIAN BANKNOTE DESIGNER LESLEY SAWYER 1921-2007

In April we reported the death of Canadian banknote artist Lesley 
Sawyer.  Additional information about Sawyer and his work are in 
an article from The Globe and Mail of Toronto:

"Leslie Sawyer was a British commercial artist who set eyes on Canada 
only during brief visits until after he retired in his 60s. But he 
painted some famous Canadian scenes that appeared on the back of the 
country's banknotes, from the RCMP Musical Ride on the $50 bill to 
Moraine Lake in Alberta on the $20.

"The Canadian notes were made for Thomas de la Rue - which is still 
a huge maker of banknotes and stamps today - as part of a contract 
with the Bank of Canada. Mr. Sawyer spent almost his entire working 
career at Thomas de la Rue, where the first Canadian note he worked 
on was a new $5 bill in the 1950s.

"There have been six issues of Canadian currency since the Bank of 
Canada took charge of all banknote production in 1934. Until then, 
the government and the chartered banks both issued notes. Mr. Sawyer 
had a part in the design of the fourth series, which was issued from 
1969 to 1979 and nicknamed the multicoloured series by collectors.

"He was a fine artist, working on scenes on the back of the 
banknotes," said Mark Crickett of Thomas de la Rue...

"Leslie Sawyer was born in Epsom, a suburb of London. His father 
was a carpenter and the family grew up in nearby Sutton. Young Leslie 
showed a talent for drawing. Like most British children of the time 
who were not headed for university, he finished school at 14 and was 
apprenticed to a commercial artist.

"The war interrupted his apprenticeship and he joined the Royal Air 
Force, working as ground crew. He was stationed in North Africa for 
a while and the RAF enlisted his artistic talents to paint 
fierce-looking shark teeth on the noses of Kittyhawk fighter aircraft.

"Along with banknotes, he designed stamps for the United Nations and 
many different countries, including New Zealand, Jamaica and Gibraltar. 
His title was security artist, a job held by very few people - perhaps 
only 40 around the world at the time. Because of the danger of 
counterfeiting, the work of a printer such as Thomas de la Rue has 
to be secret. His name never appeared on any of his work."

To read the complete article, see:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070519.OBSAWYER19/TPStory
/Obituaries

  ARTICLE: CANADIAN BANKNOTE DESIGNER LESLEY SAWYER DIES
  http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v10n17a23.html


BRITISH NEWSPAPER SAYS ODYSSEY STOLE SHIPWRECK LOOT

British newspapers are in an uproar over the treasure salvaged 
recently by Odyssey Marine:

"The treasure hunters who recovered gold and silver worth an estimated 
£250million from a shipwreck off Cornwall spirited their haul to the 
United States in an apparent attempt to stop Britain staking a claim. 

"In a highly secretive operation, American firm Odyssey Marine 
Exploration worked on the wreck of an English ship, believed to 
be the 17th Century Merchant Royal, less than 40 miles from the 
British coast. 

"But Odyssey carefully avoided landing their treasure on UK soil. 

"If the 17 tons of coins, gold ornaments and tableware had been 
brought ashore, Odyssey would have been obliged to inform the 
Government's Receiver of Wreck, which would probably have impounded 
the haul, triggering a potentially lengthy legal row about ownership 
rights. 

"Instead, the trove was secretly moved to the tax haven of Gibraltar. 
Odyssey then chartered a jet to take hundreds of plastic containers 
brimming with coins to the United States on Thursday, where they 
have been analysed by Nick Bruyer, an expert in antique coinage.

"He said: 'The find is unprecedented. I don't know of anything 
equal or comparable to it.' 

"Odyssey, which used remote-control submarines - known as remote 
operation vehicles (ROVs) - to dive on the wreck, has remained 
silent about exactly where the treasure was found, or indeed which 
ship it came from." 

To read the complete story, see:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=
456350 

Odyssey Marine Exploration issued a press release on May 21 addressing 
several of the key questions asked by reporters. Here are a couple of 
interest:

"We have stated clearly that the recovery was conducted in conformity 
with Salvage Law and the Law of the Sea Convention, beyond the territorial 
waters or legal jurisdiction of any country. We do not believe that the
recovery is subject to sovereign immunity by any nation pursuant to the 
Law of the Sea Convention. 

"The coins were brought into the United States with a valid export 
license granted by the country from which they were exported, and 
imported legally pursuant to US Law." 

"We can confirm that Odyssey and the Disney organization have recently 
entered into a relationship on a number of projects, and that the two 
companies are in discussions relative to some new partnership 
opportunities. 

"We have immense respect for Disney and believe that a combination 
of Odyssey's authentic deep-ocean adventures coupled with Disney's 
story-telling, film-making, television and marketing capabilities 
will reap benefits for both companies, while providing the public 
with an unprecedented opportunity to enjoy the thrill of deep-ocean 
exploration. 

Regarding last week's report on the salvage effort, Lane Brunner of 
the American Numismatic Association writes: "Thanks for noting that 
the ANA was contacted regarding the recent Odyssey Marine discovery 
"Black Swan" in the story 'RECORD SILVER AND GOLD HAUL RECOVERED FROM 
SHIPWRECK OFF CORNWALL.'

"While I was indeed interviewed, I actually did not comment on the 
location of the shipwreck. The comments regarding the possible location 
were made by Mitch Stacy, Associated Press reporter in Tampa, FL, who 
was also being interviewed. Somehow, the BBC got us mixed up."

  RECORD SILVER AND GOLD HAUL RECOVERED FROM SHIPWRECK OFF CORNWALL
  http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v10n20a16.html


IS PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE EDWARDS PART OWNER OF ODYSSEY'S HAUL?

In a column published Wednesday by The Street, Brett Arends writes: 
"The question of the day: Just how much of the $500 million sunken 
treasure found in the Atlantic last weekend belongs to Democratic 
presidential candidate John Edwards? ... The populist one-term senator 
will get an undisclosed piece of the action from the sunken 
17th-century galleon. 

"The ship, laden with gold and silver, was found at the bottom of 
the Atlantic by a little-known exploration company, Florida-based 
Odyssey Marine Research (OMR). 

"Biggest shareholder: New York-based Fortress Investments, a private 
equity and hedge fund manager. Senior adviser and major investor: 
John Edwards. 

"Edwards' personal financial disclosures show he's an investor in 
the exclusive Drawbridge Global Macro Fund, which owns the 9.9% 
stake in OMR. 

"Ten percent of $500 million. After costs, of course."

To read the complete article, see:
http://www.thestreet.com/_breitbart/funds/followmoney/10358370.html


BOB LEONARD ON THE BROTHER JONATHAN BARS

On the topic of another recovered shipwreck, the Brother Jonathan, 
Bob Leonard responds to my earlier review of the book "Treasure Ship" 
by Dennis Powers.  He writes: "I feel well qualified to comment on 
the so-called 'Brother Jonathan' bars, as I have made a study of 
Western gold bars and coins and I too was in the audience, as Dennis 
Powers can verify by watching his videotape once more (both speakers, 
I believe, acknowledged my presence there).
 
"Powers should have relied less on the numismatically uninformed 
Supreme Court decision of 1998 and more on the irrefutable arguments 
of Prof. Buttrey regarding the authenticity of these bars.  As Buttrey 
pointed out, the inscription on them is anachronistic!  The faker 
carelessly used a Mint designation that did not exist at the time.
 
"And he should look also at p. 139 of his copy of Bowers' 'The Treasure 
Ship S.S. Brother Jonathan', where an 1859 "gold brick" of the U.S. 
Assay Office in New York is shown.  Another gold bar, correctly labeled 
'US Branch Mint Denver 1865' is illustrated on p. 10 of The Pioneer 
Western Bank: First of Denver 1860-1960 (Denver, 1984).  

For that matter, ANY U.S. silver or gold bar made at any time at any 
Mint or Assay Office will do, including the common San Francisco small 
silver bars.  These bars all have one thing in common: an eagle is 
depicted as part of the stamp.  This is because the dies for these bars 
were all made in the die shop of the Philadelphia Mint.  The only 
exception is the 1865-dated 'Brother Jonathan' bars, on which the 
eagle is missing!
 
"Even more to the point is why should anyone want gold bars anyway on 
a trip within the United States, or even to the west coast of Canada?  
Gold bars were ordered by depositors intending to ship their dust to 
Europe, where it would be reminted anyway, to minimize loss.  Within 
the United States and Canada, U.S. coins were in circulation and 
gigantic gold bars liable to be refused.  There was no mint in Portland 
or Victoria where bars could be recoined.
 
"If Powers supposes that there is any chance that these 'Brother 
Jonathan' bars are genuine, then he must think that everything is 
what it purports to be, provided the accompanying story is sufficiently 
entertaining.  I recommend that he select the subject of fakes --
documents, art, even coins -- for his next book."
 
[As I noted in my review, Powers did not profess to make a conclusion 
on the authenticity of the disputed bars.  But the book does add to 
the mix of facts and opinion on the topic, and proves that serious 
numismatics can be anything but boring.  The book is a good read 
for numismatists and laymen alike, and provides the best blow-by-blow 
description of the "Great Debate" event short of viewing the 
videotape itself.  -Editor]

  BOOK REVIEW: TREASURE SHIP BY DENNIS M. POWERS
  http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v10n18a05.html


WATERMARK BOOK SOUGHT: DEUTSCHE WERTPAPIERWASSERZEICHEN BY KURT LEHRKE

Bob Knepper of Anaheim, Calif. Writes: "What, please, is the date, 
publisher, and (if it exists) ISBN for the book "Deutsche 
Wertpapierwasserzeichen" by Kurt Lehrke?

"I have a poor photocopy of the thirteen page appendix of pictures.  
It was copied from the "W.P.C.C. Library" though I don't know that 
library. The book is not listed in "Numismatic Bibliography" by 
Clain-Stefanelli."


SAMUEL PEPYS, ADMIRAL DE RUYTER, AND NUMISMATICS

Dr Kerry Rodgers writes: "Thanks for the item in last issue of The 
E-Sylum concerning the 17th century currency units mentioned in Pepys’ 
Diary.  Pepys is highly pertinent in 2007. This year the Dutch 
celebrate the 400th anniversary the birth of Pepys’ nemesis, 
Lieutenant Admiral General Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter.

"Pepys worked for the English Admiralty and for over 20 years 
de Ruyter would become one of the uppermost issues in Pepys’ mind. 
After all it was de Ruyter who kept Pepys in a job. De Ruyter’s 
repeated victories over the English fleet kept Pepys busy pushing 
through supplies, planning reorganization of dockyards, and 
urging drastic reforms of the entire English naval structure.  

"When Pepys finally made to Secretary of the Admiralty he had the 
temerity to recommend the promotion of long serving officers rather 
than the cynical selling of commissions. And these reforms were 
needed as de Ruyter, the son of a beer porter, repeatedly demonstrated.
 
"de Ruyter did not play a major role in the First Anglo-Dutch War 
although he did best Vice Admiral George Ayscue at Plymouth. In the 
Second Anglo-Dutch War he inflicted serious damage on the English 
fleet at Carlisle Bay. His fleet did not escape unscathed, however, 
and he was unable to go on attack New York, the former New Amsterdam, 
as a prelude to liberating the New Netherlands. 

"On return to the Netherlands in 1665, the Dutch Regent, Johan de Witt, 
recognized de Ruyter’s mettle and appointed him commander of the Dutch 
fleet with the rank of Lieutenant Admiral.

"Admiral de Ruyter duly sailed forth to win probably his hardest-fought 
victory over the English fleet, the Four Days Battle of June 1666. 
Three months later he only narrowly escaped total rout at the St James’s 
Day Battle but the following year saw him make amends big time. He 
seriously embarrassed the English by launching a direct attack on 
England’s main naval base at Chatham at the mouth to the Thames. 

"Known as the Raid on the Medway it inflicted what is generally 
acknowledged to be the worst English naval defeat in history.  Not 
only did de Ruyter burn a large number of the English capital ships 
but he towed away the fleet’s flagship, HMS Royal Charles. Since 1066 
only de Ruyter is the only battle commander to succeed in bearding 
the English lion in its den.

"But there’s more!  

"When the first shots were fired in Third Anglo-Dutch War it was 
De Ruyter who pulled the Dutch chestnuts out of the fire. He won 
strategic victories over larger Anglo-French fleets at the Battles 
of Solebay (1672), the Double Schooneveld (1673) and Texel (1673). 
These actions directly averted the impending invasion of the 
Netherlands. The new rank of Lieutenant Admiral General was created 
especially for him by a grateful Dutch government in February 1673.

"Mind you, de Ruyter didn’t play favorites. He happily bloodied the 
noses of French, Swedish and Spanish admirals who came his way. He 
failed to take Martinique from the French in 1675, being forced back 
to Europe when disease spread throughout his ships. But in 1676 he 
took command of a combined Dutch-Spanish fleet to suppress the Messina 
Revolt. He fought the French at the Battle of Stromboli and again 
at the Battle of Agosta but it was at the latter he was fatally 
wounded with a cannonball scything off both legs. 

"He had engendered considerable respect among some of his enemies. 
When his body was brought back to the Netherlands, French king Louis 
XIV ordered canon to be fired in salute as the Dutch fleet passed 
along the French coast. A 2004 public poll for De Grootste Nederlander, 
The All Time Greatest Dutchman, saw de Ruyter take seventh place.

"And for numismatics the Dutch have released two coins and half a 
dozen municipal trade tokens to mark the anniversary – similar 
issues to those for Rembrandt last year.

"Oddly enough, given de Ruyter’s role as the savior of the United 
Provinces, I can find him on only one Dutch banknote. Is this 
correct?"

[So... can any of our find readers locate references to Admiral 
de Ruyter on Dutch banknotes?  How about coins or medals?  
-Editor]


WAYNE'S LONDON DIARY 27 MAY 2007

This week I found some time to follow numismatic pursuits.  After 
work on Tuesday I met E-Sylum subscriber Hadrian Rambach in the lobby, 
and we had a pleasant walk to the May meeting of the British Numismatic 
Society.  Hadrian is a tall and handsomely dressed young man who was 
raised in Paris, worked for three years at Spink in London, and now 
represents clients buying rare gemstones and Roman coins.   An avid 
numismatic bibliophile, we had corresponded often by email but had 
never met.

Arriving right at the start of the meeting we signed in and quickly 
grabbed chairs in the crowded and hot lecture room.  The speaker was 
Donal Bateson on the topic of "William Hunter and Eighteenth-Century 
Coin Collecting."  Dr. Hunter (1718-1783) was a wealthy London collector 
who assembled a grand numismatic cabinet which he donated to the 
University of Glasgow in Scotland. 

Shortly into the lecture I was pleasantly surprised to see a familiar 
face in the crowd.  Sitting a few seats over in the row in front of 
me was none other than NBS Governor John W. Adams of Boston!  I think 
he was as surprised to see me as I was him.  Small world, eh?  John 
had been doing research at the nearby British Museum.  Seated next 
to him was medal dealer and E-Sylum subscriber Christopher Eimer.  
Unfortunately, due to time constraints I was unable to chat with 
John - he and Chris had to make an early exit to meet their wives 
for dinner.

As the meeting ended Hadrian introduced me to numismatic literature 
dealer Douglas Saville, also formerly of Spinks, who put the first 
glass of wine in my hand at the Sherry Social following the meeting. 
Douglas couldn't stay long either, having to get home and assist his 
wife who is recovering from a hand injury.  But we exchanged cards 
and made plans for a visit before I leave London.

At the Social I had the opportunity to meet and talk with a number of 
great people, including E-Sylum subscriber Phil Mernick and his brother 
Harry. Upon stating my interest in U.S. Civil War numismatics I was 
quickly introduced to David Powell, who has given talks on the subject 
to a number of English societies.  We had a nice chat; David is now 
an E-Sylum subscriber and provided an item for this issue on his 
research into early British lead tokens.  I also enjoyed a long 
conversation with Frances Simmons, who with her husband runs the 
London Coin Fair (coming up on 9 June).

As the gathering dwindled Hadrian and I made our exit for dinner, 
walking to a nice Greek restaurant on Coptic Street near the British 
Museum.  My friend Myron Xenos of The Money Tree, who finds Greek 
restaurants like a ouzo-seeking missile at every American Numismatic 
Association convention, would be pleased.  The meal was marvelous, 
and Hadrian and I had a great conversation about numismatics, 
numismatic literature, and dozens of other interesting topics.  
The taxi dropped me off at my hotel about midnight.  Many thanks 
again to Hadrian and the members of the BNS for their welcoming 
hospitality.

Hoping to find time to meet with John Adams I emailed him and Chris 
Eimer before finally calling it a night.  The next morning on the 
way into the office my cell phone rang - it was Chris Eimer.  
Unfortunately, John Adams had a return flight to the U.S. that 
morning.  But Chris invited me for lunch at his club that afternoon, 
and luckily I was appropriately dressed in a suit and tie and had 
no meetings over the lunch hour.  I quickly accepted.

Meeting Chris for the first time at the fountain in Piccadilly 
Circus just after noon, we walked together to The Reform Club on 
Pall Mall.  Formed as a political organization in the 1830's, the 
gentleman's club is housed in a magnificent 1840 building with 
an immense marble central hall and skylight.  I was intrigued to 
learn later that Jules Verne used The Reform Club as the setting 
for the launch of Phileas Fogg's journey 'Around the World in 80 Days'.   

Chris and I enjoyed a nice buffet lunch in a grand room lined with 
portraits of past members, including William Thackeray.  The time 
passed quickly and soon I had to rush back to the office.  But we 
also made plans to get together another time during my visit.  Many 
thanks to Chris for his time and generosity.   Just don't tell my 
wife I've been frequenting "gentleman's clubs" in London... 

The rest of the week my numismatic activity was restricted to working 
on The E-Sylum in the evening and culling coins from pocket change.  
But a few museum visits on Saturday have some tangential numismatic 
interest.

Having seen many of the London tourist highlights with coworkers the 
previous weekend, I was ready to strike out on my own for some 
lesser-known sites.  I decided to follow the footsteps of an earlier 
American in London, Benjamin Franklin.  The house where he resided 
in London is the only surviving Franklin residence in the world.  
It turns out I had walked (or stumbled) right past it on a pub outing 
last week.  This time I went in for a visit.

The house at 36 Craven Street was Franklin's home and an unofficial 
Ambassador's residence for nearly sixteen years from 1757 to 1775, 
when Franklin beat a hasty retreat to Philadelphia on the eve of war.  
The house opened to the public for the first time just last summer 
after a five million pound restoration effort.  As an American history 
buff I was delighted and humbled to walk the same floors that Franklin 
paced in those uncertain pre-Revolution years.

As a numismatist I was pleased to hear the program acknowledge his 
innovations in printing paper money.  The "Benjamin Franklin House 
Historical Experience" may not be for everyone, though.  I'm sure my 
wife and kids would have found it dreadfully boring.  I was the only 
visitor at that time, if you don’t count the elderly Chicago couple 
who left one-third of the way through.  The museum has no artifacts, 
but an actress dressed as Polly (Franklin's landlady's daughter) guides 
you through the empty rooms accompanied by an audiovisual dramatization 
of events.  I enjoyed it, and most E-Sylum readers should too -- but 
leave non history buffs at your hotel.

The crowds who spurned the Ben Franklin house were to be found a few 
blocks away at the National Gallery.  Although I had been through there 
last week, I went back to proceed at a slower pace. I noted a couple 
paintings with numismatic references.

"The Tribute Money", painted by Titian about 1506-8 (and purchased by 
the Gallery in 1852) illustrates Christ in Matthew 22:17-22 - "Render 
unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that 
are God's"

Of interest to the collector in all of us may be Parmigianino's 
"Portrait of a Man", painted before 1524.  "The sitter is probably 
a collector of note.  He holds a Book of Hours, while valuable 
antiquities and a sculpted relief of Venus, a bronze status of Ceres, 
and coins surround him."

Next door at the National Portrait Gallery's Tutor Room was a display 
of ten coins titled "Early Coinage Profile Portraits".  "The 
earliest face of an identifiable English ruler shown upon a coin 
represents King Offa of Mercia produced in the late 8th century."  
The case included silver pennies, a groat of Henry VIII and gold 
sovereigns of Edward VI and Elizabeth I.

A nearby exhibit featured "Tudor and Jacobean Miniatures and Medals", 
including a silver medal "celebrating the marriage of Mary Queen of 
Scots and Lord Darnley July 1565...  However the following year the 
couple were estranged and in 1567 Darnley was murdered."  Too many 
visits to gentleman's clubs, perhaps?

The last numismatic connection I'll mention is a portrait of George 
Washington by Gilbert Stuart.  This view of Washington is the basis 
for the portrait on the U.S. one dollar bill.  "One of Stuart's many 
replicas of his best known portrait painted in 1796.  Assuring the 
impact of this portrait type, Stuart produced over seventy replicas 
and the resulting income led him to refer to it as "his hundred 
dollar bill'"

Despite the rain that greeted me when I left the museum, I walked 
about four miles back to my hotel in Notting Hill, down Oxford 
Street to Oxford Circus, past the Marble Arch and Hyde Park.  I 
was damp and tired, but it had been an enjoyable day.

To read the text of David Powell's U.S. Civil War Tokens talk, see:
http://www.londoncoinclub.fsnet.co.uk/DPowell/civilwartokens.htm 

The Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery:
http://www.hunterian.gla.ac.uk/collections/museum/coins/collections/history.
shtml 

To view Titian's Tribute Money painting, see:
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/cgi-bin/WebObjects.dll/CollectionPublisher
.woa/wa/work?workNumber=ng224

To view the Parmigianino portrait, see:
http://www.almaleh.com/ecriture/livres/parmigianino.html  


TINY PENNSYLVANIA MUSEUM DISPLAYS HOMETOWN MAN'S MEDAL OF HONOR

Our many readers who enjoy military history and numismatics may 
be interested to learn about the Eldred World War II Museum, which 
opened in 1996 in that isolated northwestern Pennsylvania town 
(population 850) whose biggest claim to fame is being the home 
of the Zippo lighter.

"'I like to tell visitors we have a world-class museum in a town 
of 850 people,' Tennies says. 'When people come here, they don't 
come by accident. You just don't happen to get here. This museum 
is a treasure off the beaten path.'

"Inside the museum is an exhibit of original artwork featuring 
cartoons of Pulitzer Prize winner Bill Mauldin, who chronicled the 
lives of ordinary GIs with the characters Willie and Joe. There 
also are exhibits commemorating World War II battles, an 8,000-
volume library and rare artifacts. 

"Eldred was the site of a munitions factory during the war... 
Tennies says Eldred was selected as the site for the factory because 
the National Powder Co. already was manufacturing explosives in 
McKean for the oil industry. Because Eldred was off the beaten path 
and near a railroad line, the town became the perfect spot to make 
explosives for the military, Tennies says. 

"Tennies gives tours of the museum and loves explaining the history 
depicted in the exhibits. His favorite exhibit relates to Mitchell 
Paige, a lanky kid from Charleroi who went on to win the Medal of 
Honor on Guadalcanal. The museum has Paige's medal, his Marine dress 
white uniform and other memorabilia Paige collected from Guadalcanal 
after the battle was over."

[The Medal of Honor display is the only numismatic content in the 
article, but I encourage readers to follow the link and read the 
rest of Paige's remarkable story. -Editor]

To read the complete article, see:
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/today/s_508039.html  

[Another story, published Thursday by the Kansas City Kansan tells 
the story of William Patrick Hogarty, who was awarded the Congressional 
Medal of Honor for “distinguished gallantry in actions” at both 
Antietam and Fredericksburg.

"It was a rare accomplishment: only 1,527 soldiers received the medal 
for fighting in the Civil War. Since that conflict, the medal has been 
awarded even less frequently. Only about 3,400 medals total have been 
awarded, including just 238 in the Vietnam War, which lasted much 
longer than the Civil War."  

The article doesn't seem to mention what became of Hogarty's medal, 
but the story of his experience in the war is remarkable. -Editor]

To read the complete article, see:
http://www.kansascitykansan.com/articles/2007/05/25/news/news1.txt


ON THE ORGAN DONOR CONGRESSIONAL MEDALS

Regarding an item in last week's E-Sylum, Joe Boling writes:  "As 
for the Congressional medal for organ donors, certainly it would be 
a Congressional medal - just like the one for the Tuskeegee Airmen. 
There would be multiple recipients, but it would still be a 
Congressional medal." 

  CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL FOR ORGAN DONORS?
  http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v10n20a12.html

[I'll blame it on jet lag - I forgot to note last week that Dick 
Johnson was the author of the piece on the proposed medal for organ 
donors.  We'll try to fix our online archive.  -Editor]


NORMANDY INVASION SHORT SNORTERS

Philip Mernick writes: "A few months ago a friend showed me some notes. 
They were military issues of 1944 for use in France and had been signed 
and dated during the invasion of Normandy. Could these be classified 
as "short snorters"?"

[I believe the answer is yes, although many short snorters have 
signatures dated over a longer period of time, chronicling a soldier 
or airman's journey through the war.  If the note is signed on only 
one occasion is it a short snorter or just a souvenir?  Regardless, 
these notes would be fun to research - it would be interesting to 
learn to stories of the signers.  See the next item for a new tool 
for military research.  -Editor]


MILITARY RECORDS AVAILABLE ONLINE
 
Dick Johnson writes: "If you are researching famous numismatists or 
perhaps engravers you can get their military records online. And 
it's free until June 6, if you hurry.
 
"Ancestory.com has placed 90 million military records online as of 
Thursday (May 24, 2007). The period covered is 1607 until 1975. You 
do have to sign up for a free account to view any documents you find. 
At the moment, however, the web site is rather slow, probably due 
to heavy traffic.
 
"'Ancestry.com, which is owned by Generations Network, spent $3 million 
to digitize the military records. It took nearly a year, including some 
1,500 handwriting specialists racking up 270,000 hours to review the 
oldest records,' according to the announcement."
 
To view Ancestry.com's announcement, see:
http://blogs.ancestry.com/circle/?p=1436 
 

CUTEST COIN NOMINATION: CROUCHING HARE WITH FLOWER

Philip Mernick writes: "The front cover picture (a hare) on the 
latest Morton & Eden catalogue (Ancient, Islamic etc. to be held 
on June 14) might promote some discussion by E-Sylum readers under 
an enquiry like Cutest coin? (I am not sure if "cute' has exactly 
the same meaning in English English & American English). The Morton 
& Eden web site doesn't have the front cover but does show the image 
I am thinking about under lot 210, page 23 of on line catalogue. 
It doesn't have quite the same impact as the large image on the 
printed cover but is still 'cute'."

[The 80-page catalogue takes a while to download. The description 
of lot 210 is partially quoted below.  It sure is a cute bunny rabbit.  
I don't recall ever seeing this coin pictured before. -Editor]

"Abbasid, al-Mu`tazz, donative dirham, obv., in centre, within border, 
a stylized bird walking left, with bulbous body, short beak and long
crest; in margin, al-Mu`tazz billah / amir al-mu`minin / a`azzahu billah, 
rev., in centre, within border, a hare crouching left with flower in its
mouth; in margin, sanat arba` / wa khamsin / wa mi`atain, 3.53g (Ilisch 
-), remains of mount in margin on both sides, otherwise good very
fine, toned and of the highest rarity, apparently unpublished £15,000-
20,000 See also front cover illustration.

"This remarkable piece appears to be the only known donative for 
al-Mu`tazz. While representations of living things on Islamic gold and 
silver coins are exceptional, the depictions of both the bird and hare 
are paralleled in other media, notably ceramics and metalwork. Similar 
depictions of hares are also found on a series of undated donative 
issues of al-Muqtadir (Ilisch B II 1-3)."

To view the complete catalogue, see:
http://www.mortonandeden.com/pdfcats/27web.pdf


CANADIAN RESTAURANT PROMOTION PUTS STICKERS ON NICKELS

In the 25 May edition of the C.N.A. E-Bulletin of the Canadian
Numismatic Association (v3n33), editor John Regitko discussed his 
discovery and research on an advertising campaign involving coins.  
Excerpts from the piece appear below:

I drove to my local Tim Hortons coffee shop on Saturday evening, 
May 19, parked the car and got out. I noticed a shiny coin lying 
on the ground, picked it up and looked at it. It was a 2006 nickel 
with a red round sticker on the obverse with the wording in yellow: 
“www./5centwings/.com” on 3 lines. What’s the next thing you do when 
you find a coin on the ground? You look for more, admit it! I found 
another 6 pieces.

I went on the Internet to see what it was all about. It took me to 
the Website of St. Louis Bar and Grill (whose corporate colors are 
yellow and red, just like the sticker on the nickel). It asks you 
to click on the coupon to download a printable copy. The coupon states: 
“Get an order of six wing pieces for only 5 cents each with the purchase 
of a beverage at any St. Louis Bar and Grill location. Print coupon; 
attach sticker from found nickel; and present at the St. Louis Bar 
and Grill near you! Valid between May 21 and July 21, 2007. Coupon 
holds no cash value. One coupon per person.” 

The coupon might hold no cash value, but the nickel the sticker was 
attached to has a value of 5 cents. Actually, 35 cents for me because 
I walked around the parking lot to pick up all 7. Anyway, I needed 
the exercise.

In view of the Dr Pepper promotion for a $1 million token, the current 
Volvo promotion for a sunken treasure chest with $50,000 in gold, and 
the ANA promotion where they placed stickers onto quarters, I thought 
I would check it out further. I contacted Barbara Wrona, Executive 
Assistant for St. Louis Franchise Limited, who forwarded my questions 
to Jordanna Shtal at their advertising agency, theadlibgroup Inc. 
According to their website, www.theadlibgroup.com, they also do work 
for Purina, Delta and Holiday Inn, among others. Here are the answers 
to my questions about the St. Louis Bar and Grill nickel campaign.

Q. How many nickels are you scattering around? 
A. On May 21st, the St. Louis Bar and Grill launched its 8-week long 
nickel campaign. 100,000 nickels branded with the website 
www.5centwings.com were scattered randomly near each of the 21 
restaurant locations across Southern Ontario.

Q. Did you place a special order directly on the Royal Canadian Mint, 
or did you work through your local bank?
A. The bank branch obtained them for us.

[Regitko secured a donation of 300 stickered nickels, which will be 
included in the 2007 C.N.A. Convention’s Main and Coin Kids 
registration kits, mounted on an explanatory card. -Editor]

"“It is not everyday that you see a web site address on a nickel. 
People are going to be curious who’s behind this and will visit that 
site to solve the mystery,” Brent Poulton, President of St. Louis 
Bar and Grill, says. Yes, it worked for me. “Keep your eyes peeled 
for nickels with red stickers at your local parks, bus stops, 
community centres, and high traffic locations,” he adds."

[The ad agency may have thought it was coming up with a novel 
method of generating buzz, but stickering, overprinting and 
counterstamping currency for advertising purposes has a long 
history.  E-Sylum subscriber Cliff Mishler has an extensive 
collection of "stickered dollars" which advertised U.S. businesses 
and political causes.  The removable stickers were likely a means 
of following the letter of the law outlawing the counterstamping 
or other alteration of U.S. coins for advertising or any other 
purpose other than use in the channels of commerce.   Coincidentally, 
the U.S. Mint has just come down on another promoter which violated 
the law in altering U.S. coins and returning them to circulation - 
see the next item.  -Editor]


"SILVER SURFER" ALTERED QUARTERS DRAW U.S. MINT IRE

This week the Associated Press reported that "A Marvel Comics hero 
is giving George Washington some company on the quarter, but the 
U.S. Mint doesn't think the stunt is so super.

"To promote the upcoming film 'Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver 
Surfer,' 20th Century Fox and The Franklin Mint altered 40,000 U.S. 
quarters to feature the character.

"The U.S. Mint said in a news release Friday that it learned of the 
promotional quarter this week and advised the studio and The Franklin 
Mint they were breaking the law. It is illegal to turn a coin into 
an advertising vehicle, and violators can face a fine.

"The altered coins are quarters honoring the state of California that 
entered circulation in 2005. They feature George Washington on the 
front, as usual, but a colorized version of the character on the back. 
All 40,000 are slated to be in circulation throughout the country by 
the end of Memorial Day weekend, and about 800 were released in each 
state.

"Fans who find the customized quarters can enter a contest online to 
win prizes and a private screening of the movie."

To read the complete Associated Press article, see:
http://www.centredaily.com/news/nation/story/107486.html 

[So, has anyone found one of the altered quarters in circulation?  
The article includes a picture of one.   Although the promoter professes 
to be operating in the bounds of the law, there is a clear delineation 
between altering coins permanently removed from circulation and 
altering coins to be returned to circulation.  

Stickered coins may be a grey area, but they are not permanently 
altered.  And if I alter a coin and either give it or sell it as a 
commemorative without returning it to commerce, that's OK.  But I 
would agree with the Mint that the Silver Surfer promoters crossed 
the line by returning the coins to circulation, where naturally they 
would be seen by a much larger audience as they pass from hand to 
hand.  -Editor]


THE AMERO: A EURO-STYLE CURRENCY FOR NORTH AMERICA?

Andrew Pollock forwarded an interesting article about a proposal 
for a common North American currency modeled after the Euro:

"On Monday, Bank of Canada Gov. David Dodge told the Chicago 
Council on Global Affairs that North America could one day move 
toward a euro-style currency. 

"Dodge's comments add to a growing list of comments from Canadian 
economists, academics and government officials supporting the 
idea of creating the amero as a North American common currency. 

"Dodge argued a common North American currency would help buffer 
the adverse effects of exchange rate fluctuations between the 
Canadian dollar and the U.S. dollar. 

"In October 2006, El Universal, a Mexican newspaper published in 
Spanish, reported in a little-noticed article the then-president-elect 
of Mexico and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper in their first 
meeting together shared a vision of a future North America united 
under a common currency. 

[The article notes that the initial concept paper on the amero was 
written by economist Herbert Grubel of Canada's Frasier Institute.  
Other long-time supporters of the concept are the C. D. Howe Institute 
in Canada, which has published several papers co-authored by Thomas J. 
Courchene of Queen's University and Richard G. Harris of Simon 
Fraser University calling on Canada to pursue a North American 
currency union.  -Editor]

To read the complete article, see:
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55840 

[The concept of a North American economic union has been around for 
a while.  A web search on 'Amero' and related terms returns a number 
of articles and web pages.  The upshot for numismatists, of course, 
should anything of the sort come to pass in the future, is what North 
American coins and banknotes would look like.  The Euro coins and 
notes provide a model, with individual designs honoring the countries 
making up the union, all under the common Euro currency system.  In 
a sense, we have this today in the U.S. with the state quarters now 
in circulation.  The states have input into the designs, but their 
striking and issuance is handled by the U.S. Treasury department. 
-Editor]

To read the complete article, see:
http://www.nsi-ins.ca/english/news_views/oped19.asp 


ADAMS DOLLAR COIN CEREMONY IN QUINCY

The second in the series of Presidential dollar coins was launched 
on Tuesday in Quincy, Mass.

"Shoppers, business owners and MBTA commuters got their first up-close 
look at the new John Adams dollar coin today. One Adams fan, Carlos 
Caso, 21, of Randolph, had been waiting since 5 a.m.

"‘‘It’s the first coin he’s ever been on. He’s never gotten recognition 
like this. I wanted to be the first to get one.

"Colonial Federal Savings Bank had sold more than 4,000 coins in the 
first 90 minutes.

"Joe Rainville, an accountant from Quincy who collects coins, bought 
225 coins.

"Barbara Gilliland, 82, a retired nurses aide, of North Quincy bought 
50 coins to send to friends in other Quincy namesakes across the 
country, in Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and California.

"She said she started visiting the cities after Quincy, Mass., sent 
flood assistance to Quincy, Ill., in 1993.

"Five days after the U.S. Mint officially released the new coin - 
the first ever to bear the second president’s image - Mint director 
Edmund C. Moy and descendant Peter Boylston Adams joined city officials 
to give the coin a full, ceremonial launch in Adams’ hometown, with 
exchanges for paper dollars and other activities."

To read the complete article, see:
http://ledger.southofboston.com/articles/2007/05/22/news/news03.txt 

[History buffs might like to know that the life of John Adams will 
be the subject of a new HBO miniseries based on David McCullough's 
recent book:

"David McCullough knows better than almost anyone what John and 
Abigail Adams’ 18th century world looked like.

"Having spent seven years researching and writing his Pulitzer 
Prize-winning biography of the second president, he says an upcoming 
HBO miniseries will be as close as it gets to the real thing.

"‘‘People who watch this are going to see the 18th century as it 
was in more ways than they’ve seen it before,’’ said McCullough, a 
consultant to the seven-part, $100 million production. ‘‘They’re 
going to see people with bad teeth. It’s not a costume pageant.’’

"Based on McCullough’s 2001 book and created by actor Tom Hanks’ 
Playtone Productions, the series stars Academy Award and Golden 
Globe Award nominees Paul Giamatti as the nation’s second president 
and Laura Linney as Abigail. It is scheduled to air a year from now."

"The HBO miniseries is being shot mostly in Colonial Williamsburg 
and other Virginia sites. Giamatti is known for roles in ‘‘The 
Illusionist,’’ ‘‘Cinderella Man’’ and the critically acclaimed 
‘‘Sideways,’’ among many others. Linney earned nominations for 
‘‘Kinsey’’ and ‘‘The Squid and the Whale.’’

"The HBO version of ‘‘John Adams’’ traces the first 50 years of 
the United States, from the Revolutionary War through Adams’ 
death, with John and Abigail’s love story as part of the drama."

To read the complete article, see:
http://ledger.southofboston.com/articles/2007/05/19/news/news04.txt 


DESIGNER JOEL ISKOWITZ ON THE ADAMS DOLLAR UNVEILING

I asked Joel Iskowitz, designer of the John Adams dollar obverse, 
to share his thoughts on the John Adams dollar ceremony.  He writes:

"As an artist, illustrator and designer, being present at the John 
Adams dollar coin launch ceremony was literally a dream come true 
for many reasons. First and foremost, I consider myself to be a 
narrative artist, meaning that I interpret my task to be 'Tell the 
story'. To my mind, art is about more than just the inner recesses 
of the artist's imagination or personal esthetic statement.  For 
me, artwork that adds something to understanding or edification of 
the viewer is most worthwhile. Art that speaks to the public and 
fulfills its mission to educate or heighten awareness and 
appreciation is what it's all about for me.

"Having the great honor of my interpretation of Adams' likeness 
(based on John Trumbull's painting in the National Portrait Gallery 
and masterfully sculpted by Charles Vickers of the U.S. Mint) selected 
to be the rekindled image of our second president becomes for me, a 
chance to add my voice to a dialogue that was begun in this nation's 
infancy.

"Moreover, although I take great satisfaction and pride in knowing 
my role in this, I fully understand that with the issuance of the 
coin itself, it now truly belongs to everyone.

"So to witness its launch into general circulation was to step back 
and witness the team effort soar off to it's own destiny.  Among many 
memorable experiences that day, there are three that stand out and 
I will cherish forever.

"The first was seeing the enthusiasm of the school children and their 
eager embrace of this little piece of history, knowing that it will 
open many portals of learning for them as the Presidential series 
continues.

"The second was listening to the poetic and stirring comments of 
Peter Boylston Adams (a seventh generation descendant of John and 
Abigail), both in his public remarks and the conversation I had with 
him after the ceremony.  We share a profound admiration of this 
'Titan of Independence' (as Jefferson named him).  Adams was an 
erudite man of deep principle, with the courage of his convictions.

"To hear once again how this ambitious lawyer risked his career to 
defend the British soldiers of the 'Boston Massacre' further enhanced 
the joy of seeing President Adams finally receive his place of honor 
on our coinage. 

"Another aspect of Adam's character that seemed to reveal itself more 
clearly in Quincy was that he set the archetype for the Presidents who 
were not aristocrats or war heroes such as George Washington. His was 
another type of greatness, born of hard work, study, scholarship and 
statesmanship.

"Third was the trolley tour of the Adams National park, where my wife 
and I were treated to a very informative guided journey through the 
generations of this great family's history in what is now named Quincy. 
This served to bring the man, his strivings, his character and place 
in history to life, much the way David McCullough's biography had done, 
but with tangible immediacy and intimacy.

"All in all, for an artist who wishes to tell an important story and 
for his art to be part of the permanent public record, this day will 
be cherished as long as I live.

"One last impression - John Adams spoke of how he wished that our 
Independence Day celebrations should be filled with music and parades 
and sports and fireworks etc. This sunny day had everything to make 
President Adams smile with delight."

[Many thanks to Joel for sharing his thoughts with us.   The Bank 
of England stubbornly refuses to release any of the Adams dollars, 
so I'll have to wait for my visit back to the states next weekend 
to look for one of the new coins.  -Editor]


BALDERDASH & PIFFLE: WORD AND PHRASE ORIGINS AND A NUMISMATIC QUIZ

British television has its own special flavour, and this week I 
happened to catch a BBC "reality show" with a special appeal for 
bibliophiles.  Following the typical forced-suspense format of a 
nervous moment of judgment before a panel of stern experts, new 
candidates for the earliest documented use of an English word or 
phrase are vetted before the editors of the venerable Oxford English 
Dictionary.  The Balderdash & Piffle show's web site invites readers 
to scour archives looking for evidence predating that cited in the 
dictionary.  

To attract a larger audience, the chosen words or phrases are rather 
common and often very recent.  One segment covered the use of "domestic" 
by police in reference to a violent family spat.  Another covered the 
euphemisms of war such as "collateral damage" and "regime change".  
And in the spirit of the lowest common denominator of humanity, 
another segment covered euphemisms for urination and defecation.

For example, the earliest known printed use of "Loo" in reference to 
the place where one goes to take care of such matters, was found in a 
1940 novel.  

"The story Sir Steven Runciman recounts places the origin of loo in 
the 1860s; yet despite the best efforts of Wordhunters and the OED, 
we still cannot be sure that anyone ever actually used the word until 
the beginning of the Second World War, more than 80 years later. 
Granted, what we are dealing with is a colloquial euphemism on a 
sensitive subject which is unlikely to have made it into the Times, 
Victorian sensibilities being what they were. Still, it is a leap 
of faith we cannot make to take it on trust that any word existed 
in English for the best part of a century on the basis of no 
evidence at all."

To learn more about the Balderdash & Piffle show, see:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/programmes/wordhunt/


QUIZ QUESTION: SPEND A PENNY

Speaking of phrase origins and meaning, here's a numismatic quiz.  
When used in euphemistic terms, what does the phrase "Spend a Penny" 
mean, and how did it first arise?  Hint: it's primarily a British 
term, so extra credit for any yank who can tell us the answer.  I 
hadn't heard it before.


YERINGTON COMMEMORATIVE SALE RESULTS

Following up on an earlier E-Sylum item, here is an update on 
commemorative coins being struck on an old Carson City Mint coin 
press:

"'Awesome' is the first word City Manager Dan Newell thinks of 
when reflecting on last Saturday's Main Street City of Yerington 
centennial celebration,

"The long-planned event, from last Friday's dinner and silent 
auction to Saturday night's firework finale, the City of Yerington 
could not have been privy to a finer 100th birthday.

"The City sold all but about 12 of the available gold Centennial 
coins, of which there will only be 250 minted overall. Of the silver, 
all but about 10 of an available 550 were sold while all available 
copper coins were sold. Newell said the Carson City Mint will soon 
produce the remaining 50 gold count, the remaining 450 silver count 
and will produce the copper coin indefinitely. He said hopes are 
these will be available within the next month."

To read the complete story, see:
http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070525/MVN01/705250340/1038
/MVN 

  CARSON CITY COIN PRESS USED TO STRIKE COMMEMORATIVE MEDALS
  http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v10n04a18.html


CHILD NEARLY KILLED WITH COINS

Coins can kill.  Doctors in India saved the life of a child by 
removing 11 coins from her throat.  But did the child swallow 
them willingly?

"According Dr. Darad, the procedure was difficult and risky. 
‘’The throat has the windpipe and food pipe close by. The food pipe 
was already long chocked with coins which seemed to have been forcibly 
inserted in the child’s throat right from her birth till she was two 
and half months. We could successfully remove 10 coins, had to abandon 
the procedure as the child was no longer in a position to bear it. 
Luckily, the eleventh coin came out on its own when the baby coughed,’’ 
Darad said, adding that since this was a rare case possibly in the 
world, they were preparing a full report to be published in a medical 
journal. 

"The presence of 11 coins in the throat of the child continues to be 
a mystery for the treating team of doctors as well as the police. 
“The victim’s mother, Jillubai, pleaded total ignorance in the matter."

"But on further probe, a panchayat functionary of Suthari village, 
pleading anonymity, said that the innocent, poor and illiterate Jilubai 
had already lost her seven children in a mysterious way. The killer is 
in the family and reason for this is that someone in the family did not 
want any child of Jilubai to survive to inherit the family property, 
he said. “There are illicit relations among the conspirators in the 
family. This is a well-known fact in the village. The police could 
easily nab the culprit if they seriously investigate the case,’’ the 
source said. 

"Meanwhile, sources said that Saniya, after removal of coins from 
her throat, lead a normal life."

To read the complete article, see:
http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=238113


WHERE YOUR MISPLACED U.S. MINT ORDERS WIND UP

On May 22 The Paris News of Paris, Texas published a story about 
a couple who made an interesting discovery along and old railroad 
track.

"It was a trip in the country to pick up firewood for a cook-out, 
but it turned into much, much more.

"Russell and Rennie Herron stopped their pickup along the pathway 
of an old railroad line just outside of Roxton to pick up some 
loose limbs.

"“As I moved the limbs, I saw it,” Russell said. “I yelled to my 
wife to come over and look, and she said: ‘Oh no, is it a body’?”

[The couple discovered an unopened box containing 500 one-ounce 
silver bullion pieces dated 1996.  They reported their find to 
the local Sheriff’s Office, which said they would forward the coins 
to the Secret Service; I'm not sure why they chose the Secret Service 
over the U.S. Postal Service. -Editor]

To read the complete article (registration required), see:
http://theparisnews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=193f2bb23a97c2bf


COIN ENGRAVED WITH VIEW OF TOWN 

A newspaper in Kent, England reported the discovery of an old coin 
with an interesting "love token" style engraving.

"A coin more than 100 old years contains possibly the smallest view 
of Tunbridge Wells ever created.

"The coin was found during building work at a farm near Goudhurst 
and is now with Tunbridge Wells Museum and Art Gallery.

"The Victorian silver sixpence is just three-quarters of inch across 
and had been made into a pendant. 

"One side has been ground smooth and engraved with a miniature view 
of the Pantiles as seen from the square in front of the Bath House.

"Experts say the work is skilfully done, and looks like the work of 
a professional engraver with a set of tools to create different 
effects - like the texture of the foliage of the row of lime trees 
along the edge of the Upper Walk.

"Although the coin’s date would have been on the side that has been 
erased, from the style of the Queen’s head on the other side it can 
be dated from between 1893 and 1901."

To read the complete article, see:
http://tinyurl.com/2eale5 

"The pretty colonnaded walkway known as the Pantiles has become 
probably the most well known view of Royal Tunbridge Wells. Once 
the playground of the gentry and royalty, the Pantiles remains a 
pleasant place to browse, shop, eat and drink and stroll.

"The Pantiles and Tunbridge Wells itself, owe their beginnings to 
the discovery of the Chalybeate Spring in the early 17th century 
and the popularity of the spa water amongst the gentry and royalty 
of Georgian England. As Tunbridge Wells grew in popularity as a spa 
resort, so did the area surrounding the Spring - eventually leading 
to the building of the colonnaded walkway in the 18th century, 
later known as The Pantiles." 

For more information on the Pantiles and Tunbridge Wells, see:
http://www.visittunbridgewells.com/pages/View.asp?Level=2&LevelID=90


DAVID POWELL'S LEADEN TOKEN TELEGRAPH NEWSLETTERS

David Powell has been organizing research efforts around a number 
of obscure early lead British tokens.  As he discussed with me at 
the May meeting of the British Numismatic Society, metal-detecting 
hobbyists are discovering more and more of these in their digs.  
Acting as a bridge between the worlds of metal detecting and 
numismatics, David has been bringing the two groups together to 
learn about and classify the often enigmatic issues.  To this end 
he publishes the Leaden Token Telegraph newsletters highlighting 
new finds and research.

He writes: "My newsletters are on www.leadtokens.org.uk; note that 
the site also contains a bibliography and index.  I have a write-up 
of an earlier version of my club talk on the subject, plus a further 
article on Communion Tokens, which are an allied subject since so 
many of them are lead.

"The Lead Token article, particularly Sect.8, describes the 
classification system which I have been trying to develop, although 
I need to update it in the light of recent developments and discoveries. 
The articles on each of the 32 types in LTT {see index for details} 
are more detailed; I need to bring them together and summarise.  If 
anyone wants to email me on the subject (at the address mentioned at 
the top of the newsletters), I shall be delighted to hear from them.

"The British Token Corresponding Society (TCS) has a website where 
there are links to articles on these and other subjects.  These are 
briefer, with the intention of establishing interest and making 
ourselves known to the outside world.  In addition to the three 
subjects already mentioned, I have also put something together for 
the TCS site on lead tesserae."

Leaden Tokens Telegraph homepage:
http://www.mernick.co.uk/leadtokens/ 

David Powell's Lead Token article:
http://www.londoncoinclub.fsnet.co.uk/DPowell/LeadTokens.htm 

David Powell's Communion Token article:
http://www.londoncoinclub.fsnet.co.uk/DPowell/CommunionTokens.htm 

British Token Corresponding Society:
http://www.tokensociety.org.uk/ 


SILVER COINS AND THE MANHATTAN PROJECT

My chat with Harry Mernicks at the British Numismatic Society meeting 
turned to the topic of the large quantity of silver used in The 
Manhattan Project which created the first nuclear weapon.  Harry 
had seen a reference to this and wondered if it were actually silver 
coins that had been melted for the project.   As often happens, I 
discovered that we had touched on the topic in an earlier E-Sylum.  

  ATOMIC NUMISMATICS
  http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v06n23a21.html 


But the E-Sylum item doesn't settle the issue of whether coins were 
actually involved.  I checked the Internet for other sources and 
learned a few more details.

"Huge amounts of material had to be obtained (38 million board feet 
of lumber, for instance), and the magnets needed so much copper for 
windings that the Army had to borrow almost 15,000 tons of silver 
bullion from the United States Treasury to fabricate into strips and 
wind on to coils as a substitute for copper.31 Treasury silver was 
also used to manufacture the busbars that ran around the top of the 
racetracks."
http://www.atomicarchive.com/History/mp/p4s4.shtml 

"The first shipment of silver bullion was made from the West Point 
Bullion Depository in October 1942 to the Defense Plant Corporation 
at Carteret, N.J. There the silver bars were reformed as cylindrical 
billets. Then came another secret trip, this time across New Jersey 
to the Phelps Dodge copper plant at Bayway, where the billets were 
rolled into strips 5/8 of an inch thick, 3 inches wide and 40 feet 
long. A third stage to the journey sent the newly-rolled strips to 
Milwaukee, where the Allis Chalmers Company wound them with wooden
insulation around giant steel spools and encased them in another 
steel unit. The completed units, resembling 19-square-foot doughnuts, 
were then shipped to the Y-12 Plant.
http://www.oakridger.com/stories/051606/opi_20060516028.shtml 

[These documents give confirmation that large quantities of silver 
from the U.S. Treasury were used in the Manhattan Project. They state 
that the silver was shipped in bar form, but make no mention of coins. 
Would coins have been melted to create the bars?  Well, I doubt it - 
these bars probably came from strategic stockpiles.  Has anyone ever 
comes across a reference to this silver transfer in government 
records?   Any indication that coins were actually involved?  
-Editor]

Found while looking for other things: a Manhattan Project silver lapel pin:
http://www.mphpa.org/classic/PH/Misc/MPP-623.jpg 


THE PRICE OF ORANGES

Here's a recent jokes from the The Good, Clean Funnies mailing list:

"Mrs. Golden was shopping at a produce stand in her neighborhood. 
She approached the vendor and asked, 'How much are these oranges?'

"'Two for a quarter,' answered the vendor.

"'How much is just one?' she asked.

"'Fifteen cents,' answered the vendor.

"'Then I'll take the other one,' said Mrs. Golden."

To print or email this funny to others, go to
http://www.gcfl.net/archive.php?funny=20070521


FEATURED WEB SITE: BENJAMIN FRANKLIN MEDAL

This week's featured web site is about the awarding of the Franklin
Institute's Benjamin Franklin Medal to physicist Albert Einstein:

"On Wednesday, May 15, 1935 Albert Einstein received the Benjamin Franklin
Medal in a ceremony. It was awarded in recognition of his fundamental
contributions to theoretical physics; especially for his theories of
relativity and his work on the photoelectric effect.

"The Franklin Medal is one of the highest awards of the Franklin Institute.
It was and still is awarded for special performance in the field of science
and the arts."

http://www.einstein-website.de/z_information/honours.html 


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