The E-Sylum v14#35 August 21, 2011

[esylum at binhost.com]

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The E-Sylum
  
  An electronic publication of
  The Numismatic Bibliomania Society


Volume , Number 35, August 21, 2011
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WAYNE'S WORDS: THE E-SYLUM AUGUST 21, 2011
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IRWIN STOFF'S BRENNER COLLECTION
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NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: AUGUST 21, 2011
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QUERY: THE WHITMAN BLACK BOOK SERIES
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QUERY: GUIDELINES FOR PUBLISHING BANKNOTE IMAGES IN QATAR
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QUERY: LEWIS COMMISSARY TOKEN INFORMATION SOUGHT
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QUERY: COLONEL CUTTING CONDER TOKEN COLLECTION INFORMATION SOUGHT
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THE H.O. GRANBERG FAMILY AND THE 1804 DOLLARS
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QUERY:  LANGUAGES  AND MARKS ON PORTUGAL'S 2.5 EURO COIN
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TREASURY DOCUMENTS LIST DEADBEATS OF THE PAST
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ALAN WEINBERG ON THE 2011 CHICAGO ANA CONVENTION
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DAVID HARPER ON THE 2011 CHICAGO ANA CONVENTION
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WAYNE'S NUMISMATIC DIARY: AUGUST 21, 2011
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ALTERNATIVE COMPOSITIONS FOR U.S. COINS SOUGHT
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ROYAL MINT TO ISSUE COIN FOR QUEEN'S DIMOND JUBILEE
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THE COINS OF ANCIENT NEAPOLIS
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FEATURED WEB SITE: NGC COIN EXPLORER
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Click here to read this issue on the web





WAYNE'S WORDS: THE E-SYLUM AUGUST 21, 2011





Among our new subscribers this week are
Dave Hoch,
John Bowers,
Glen McClelland, and
Nicolas Maier.
Welcome aboard!
We have 1,448 email subscribers, plus 156 followers on Facebook, including
Brandon Katrena.


This week we open with, well... nothing on numismatic literature.  With everyone busy at the ANA convention, I've gotten no announcements or reviews of new books, which is a rare event lately.  We do have some articles relating to numismatic literature though, and my numismatic diary includes some information on the NBS general meeting.  


Hopefully we'll have more to report next week.
I made it to the convention despite the rocky start to my trip, and despite my short stay there, I had a great time.  It was nice to see so many NBS members and E-Sylum readers all in one place.  It was bibliophile heaven for a day.


Meanwhile, we do have quite a few notes from E-Sylum readers following up on earlier aritcles.  Other topics this week include Irwin Stoff's Brenner collection, the H.O. Granberg family and the 1804 Silver Dollar, alternative compositions for U.S. coins and the coins of ancient Neapolis.


To learn more about the Harmless Squirrel, Whitman "black books", 
appealingly naked coins, and pencils, read on.
Have a great week, everyone!




IRWIN STOFF'S BRENNER COLLECTION


Dick Johnson submitted these thoughts inspired by last week's mention of the Stoff collection of works by Victor David Brenner.  Thanks!
-Editor




David Hirt mentions the catalog of  Irwin Stoff's Brenner collection in last week's E-Sylum. Stoff's Brenner collection was a major part in a celebration tribute to Victor David Brenner. As the date of the centennial of the famed engraver's birth -- June 12, 1871 -- approached, Stoff and I wondered what we could do to celebrate the event. We both collected Brenner medals so we merged our kindred interests and came up with the concept of a massive Brenner medal exhibition. Little did we realize the acceptance of that idea.
 

First I suggested to my boss Bill Louth to issue a Brenner Centennial Medal. "Good idea," he said, "propose the idea to Presidential Art Medals who can sell the medal to collectors." I came up with the idea of using the Brenner's Lincoln portrait on one side -- Medallic Art Company owned this design and had the existing model -- with a self-portrait of Brenner on the other. Brenner had modeled his self portrait in a pallet-shaped medal in 1898 under guidance of Louis Oscar Roty as one of his early modeled designs.
 

I presented the idea to Jim Harper of Presidential Art. He liked the idea, gave us the green light to proceed. I gave a  photo of that self-portrait to Julius Lauth, art director of Medallic Art who commissioned sculptor Rolf Beck to make the model.
 

Next Irwin and I gather a list of what we could exhibit. His collection was extensive. I was able to add to it what he lacked. I took plaques off the wall at Medallic Art, medals out of exhibit cases, a couple medals out of the storeroom and even had a couple new pieces made from  galvano molds and dies we had on hand. I wrote a catalog of the sixty most  important pieces by Brenner.
 

Then Irwin and I had to find a secure place to exhibit it. What would be the best place we could think of in New York City? At that time the Chase Bank had their Money Museum across the street from Rockefeller Center at street level (1254 Avenue of the Americas). This would be our number one choice.  We contacted Gene Hessler, curator at the time.  HE like the idea as well. We were hitting home runs at every turn. He would empty an entire wall behind glass at the far end of their exhibition display. 
 

With the dimensions of that wall, Irwin and I bought three pieces of plywood to fill the wall. Irwin had his own firm in the garment district. "Can we cover those boards with cloth," I asked him. "Leave that to me," he replied.
 

On the Saturday before we were to install the exhibit, I laid out the boards on the floor of Medallic Art's showroom. Irwin had acquired (wholesale, of course) an entire bolt of purple velveteen. We cut and fastened this to the boards. We laid out where the medals and plaques were to be located and put nails under these to support the medallic items. A week later we took the prepared boards to the Chase Bank. Set the cloth covered boards in position and placed the medallic items in place.
 

Meanwhile, I had sent a letter on Medallic Art Company stationery to Eva Adams, Director of the Mint, with my best language making an appeal that we are honoring the U.S. Mint's most famous sculptor on the centennial of his birth. It would be very secure and protected exhibition. Is there anything the Mint would care to exhibit at that time?
 

Eva Adams and my boss Bill Louth were on extremely good terms (Bill even named her a director of the firm when she retired from the Mint). SHE liked our idea as well. Home run again!
 

She agreed to send Brenner's original models from the Philadelphia Mint's vault, but also the original galvanos made from his models. These had not been on public exhibition since 1910 when the American Numismatic Society mounted their fame International Exhibition of Contemporary Medals.
 

But that's not all! She also sent chief engraver Frank Gasparro for opening day! And he brought his original models and galvanos of his 1959 reverse which replaced that year Brenner's original wheat reverse!
 

Wow! We had no idea such an exhibit of Brenner medallic art would have such an appeal! And that everyone we contacted wanted to assist and aid in the exhibition. Everyone felt the tribute to Brenner was justified.
 

But that's not all!  Before opening day I went into Bill Louth's office and took off the shelf behind his desk a small bust of Abraham Lincoln. It was created by Brenner and bore his signature on the back.  I took this to the Chase Bank and got Gene Hessler to open a circular citrine to place the Lincoln bust in the center of the exhibition area.
 

(There is more to the history to that Lincoln bust. In 1972 new owners of Medallic Art consigned 105 pieces of sculpture for sale at Sotheby's in New York City. I attended that sale and purchased that very Brenner Lincoln. It is on the shelf above my computer as I type this article.)
 

Opening Day was planned for June 12, 1971 -- the actual centennial day! --  On Sunday, June 6th we had publicity in the New York Times. Tom Haney devoted nearly his  entire weekly coin column to this exhibition. 
 

But it was Irwin Stoff's interest in Brenner, and his Brenner medal collection that was the start of all this. He ultimately consigned his Brenner collection to NASCA for sale in their December 6, 1978 auction sale (#16) with a follow-up in sale #19, May 2, 1979.
 

Question of the week:  What do you remember of NASCA?  What do the initials stand for, and what about the two principals, Douglas Ball and Herbert Melnick?


To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:

MORE ON BRENNER'S FOOTBALL MEDAL

(coinbooks.org/esylum_v14n34a17.html)




WINNER: 2011 “BOOK OF THE YEAR”!

Congratulations to Joel Orosz and Leonard Augsburger: their Secret History of the First U.S. Mint: How Frank H. Stewart Destroyed—And Then Saved—A National Treasure won the Numismatic Literary Guild’s prestigious “Book of the Year” award. If you haven’t ordered your copy yet, visit www.WhitmanBooks.com or call 1-800-546-2995. Entertainingly written, richly detailed, and profusely illustrated in full color. Hardcover, 336 pages, $24.95.





NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: AUGUST 21, 2011


  A Harmless Squirrel 
James Higby writes:


Regarding the name of one of our Facebook fans, Ecureuil Inoffensif is French for "Harmless Squirrel."
 What's that all about?




Well, on the Internet nobody knows you're a dog.  Or a prankster.  Or someone with a sense of humor and knowledge of French.  
-Editor


 Bank of England Replacement Notes 
Regarding Re Dr. Ali Mehilba's proposed book on worldwide replacement notes, 
Antoine Scrivener writes:


Anyone attempting to navigate the labyrinthine ways of the replacement notes of the Bank of England would do well to consult Token Publishing's "Banknote Yearbook".



To read the earlier E-Sylum item, see:

HELP SOUGHT FOR UPCOMING BOOK ON REPLACEMENT NOTES

(www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v14n30a04.html)

 Toxic Substances on Paper Money
Regarding toxic substances found on paper money, Leon Saryan, Ph.D. writes:


In toxicology, the dose makes the poison.  More poison leads to more adverse effect.  The scientists from New York have found a contaminant on money, but do they discuss whether that amount is toxicologically significant?  The BPA levels on currency seem miniscule, especially compared with those on the cash register receipts we all receive and handle when making purchases (using a "thin film" of BPA as part of the way the receipt is printed).  
 

If this stuff is toxic, why not go after the more contaminated items--the cash register receipts--rather than pointing a finger at currency?  Tell us how much BPA is found on the receipts, and whether that amount is harmful, and whether the receipts should be banned from use.
 

I have been a toxicologist for thirty years.  In almost every instance I can think of, if a big problem is solved the little ones tend to disappear.
 

If these scientists were the first to find that the thermal receipts were contaminated by BPA, that would be important.  Otherwise I am not impressed by the New York study.



To read the earlier E-Sylum item, see:

DIRTY MONEY: ALL BANK NOTES ARE TAINTED WITH BISPHENOL A

(www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v14n34a21.html)

 Abbott Press and Self-Publishing
Regarding my question about Abbott Press, Ginger Rapsus writes:


I have been considering self-publishing for some time now, and I find Abbott Press' prices to be quite expensive.  Lulu is cheaper, and there are other POD (print on demand) companies that can do the job for lower prices.  Does Abbott Press supply anything else with their publishing package, such as ISBN, editing etc?  I highly recommend "The Fine Print of Self-Publishing" by Mark Levine for anyone thinking of self-publishing.  BTW, I plan to publish for the Kindle.  




Their services are listed on the web site.  I believe an ISBN number is included.
-Editor



To read the earlier E-Sylum item, see:

KRAUSE PUBLICATIONS PROMOTES ABBOTT PRESS FOR NUMISMATIC AUTHORS

(www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v14n34a14.html)

 Handling the Raw Nova Constellatios 
Regarding the Nova Constellatio pattern set, Bruce Lorich writes:


Those of us who were on the staff of Bowers & Ruddy Galleries when the Garrett collection was sold had a lot more opportunity to see these famous Nova Constellatio pattern coins than anyone else ever has, other than Garrett himself perhaps, or John Ford. I held each of them in my hands and examined them at length under a glass. I assume that Ford did as well. I also held and felt the heft of each of Garrett's Brasher doubloons. Now they are all embedded or held in plastic, through which their gleam does not come across quite so appealingly as when "naked."




I never had that opportunity and envy folks like Bruce who've had the opportunity to examine great rarities "raw".   I gotta agree – it just ain’t the same.
-Editor



To read the earlier E-Sylum item, see:

1783 NOVA CONSTELLATIO PATTERN COINS ON DISPLAY AT 2011 CHICAGO ANA

(www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v14n34a08.html)

 More on Coin Presses 
Peter Gaspar (E-Sylum subscriber #1) writes:


I enjoyed rereading Dick Johnson's "The History of Coin Presses" 
originally in the October 3, 2004 E-Sylum and reprinted August 7.  Readers interested in the subject might want to read my 11 page plus two plates paper "Coining and Die-Making Techniques in the 17th Century" published in volume 3 of the series "Metallurgy in Numismatics" edited by M.M. Archibald and M.R. Cowell, Royal Numismatic Society Special Publication No. 24, London, 1993.


Unfortunately, do not have an electronic version of the paper, but if I receive several requests for it, I will have it scanned and provide it.



To read the earlier E-Sylum item, see:

E-SYLUM'S BEST: THE HISTORY OF COIN PRESSES

(www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v14n32a19.html)

 Notes From Bob Neale 
Bob Neale writes:


[1] Re: 8th Coin World Almanac. I've used my 1st edition (1976, 883 pp) many times and often thought of upgrading to a newer one. I hope that The E-Sylum will publish more reviews of the latest edition with emphasis on things beyond the lack of coverage of medals, which are probably way too extensive for inclusion in what is likely to be the last edition in printed book form. But, I'll probably buy the new Almanac anyway.
 

[2] The note about Mihm's article in the Boston Globe made me wonder: do any E-Sylum readers regularly, or occasionally, write about numismatics for their local newspapers? That could be quite useful to promote the hobby, especially in those areas of the country where radio and TV pieces are not aired.
 

[3] There have appeared several suggestions for additions to the 16 U.S. government-authorized minting facilities about which I first inquired in v13 #23 (June 2010) and listed in v13#24. It would be great if someone decides to compile and write an article about the latest (final?) list. Although I do expect to go through the E-Sylum issues to assemble the present list for myself, including Ganz' striking (had to do it) Mint for a Day, I'm not prepared to independently confirm those entries since my original 16, as necessary for publication. It's sufficient for me to take the word of the well-respected numismatists from whom the additional suggestions have come. It's been fun!




THE BOOK BAZARRE
DAVID SKLOW - FINE NUMISMATIC BOOKS offers Mail Bid Sale No. 14 on 
October 15, 2011, including:
 
Paper Money works from the Library of Myron Xenos
.
www.finenumismaticbooks.com.
PH: (719) 302-5686, FAX: (719) 302-4933.  EMAIL: numismaticbooks at aol.com. USPS: Box 6321, Colorado Springs, CO. 80934. Contact me for your numismatic literature needs! 





QUERY: THE WHITMAN BLACK BOOK SERIES



Glen McClelland writes:



I am a collector of the Whitman Black Book series of books published in the early 1960s.  The problem is I'm not sure how many titles were published. I have contacted Whitman Publishing to see if they had a list, but they said that their records no longer went that far back. 


I recently saw that Joel Orosz has a new column in Coin World dedicated to books on numismatics so I contacted him and asked if he knew how many different titles there were. He wrote back saying he had wondered the same thing himself. He also suggested that I contact you to see about publishing a list in The E-Sylum. Attached is a list of the titles I have. Do any of your readers know of other titles?




Below is Glen's list.   I could swear this was a topic covered once before, but I was unable to locate it in our archives.  
-Editor



Alaska’s Coinage Through the Years
By Maurice M. Gould and Kenneth Bressett


The Colonial Coinage of The U.S. Virgin Islands
By Lincoln W. Higgie


Confederate States Paper Money
By Arlie R. Slabaugh


Foreign Coins Struck at the United States Mints
By Charles G. Altz and E.H. Barton


A Guide Book Of United States Fractional Currency
By Matt Rothert


Hawaiian Coins, Tokens and Paper Money
By Maurice M. Gould and Kenneth Bressett


Moneys of the Bible
By R.S. Yeoman


The Money of Puerto Rico
By Maurice M. Gould and Lincoln W. Higgie


Money Tells the Story
By Rear Admiral O.H. Dodson



Patriotic Civil War Tokens
By George and Melvin Fuld


The Silver Dollars of Africa 
By John S. Davenport


United States Territorial Coinage for the Philippine Islands
By Neil Shafer



The number "13" sticks in my head regarding these Whitman Black Books.  There are twelve listed above. As a collector of Civil War Tokens I know there are titles for both Patriotics and Store cards.  So below I've added that to the list, taking the title (and image above) from a copy in my library.  Does this complete the list?
-Editor



A Guide to Civil War Store Card Tokens
By George and Melvin Fuld




QUERY: GUIDELINES FOR PUBLISHING BANKNOTE IMAGES IN QATAR



Web site visitor René Preston writes:


Do you know where I can find guidelines for photographing Qatar currency?
The photo may be in a book sold in Qatar. So, I want to make sure I follow their guidelines




I have a hard enough time remembering the rules for illustrating U.S. currency.  As far a Qatar goes, I would just contact the nearest Qatari embassy.  Any other suggestions, readers?
-Editor





QUERY: LEWIS COMMISSARY TOKEN INFORMATION SOUGHT









Web site visitor Tammy Granger writes:


I was reading your article about military tokens because I was doing research to see if what I have is a commissary token.  I have a token that on one side says what I think is "N. (or H) M Lewis" at the top. "Commissary" in the middle and "Not Transferable" underneath that.  The other side says "Good For" around the top then "10" in the middle and "In Merchandise" around the bottom.  It is in really rough shape so not sure it would show up well on a photo.  I thought maybe you could help me identify it.




I asked Tammy to send me photos or perhaps a scan of a rubbing, in case the inscriptions didn't show up well in the photos.  She sent both!  I hadn't made or even thought of pencil rubbings in years, but I gave her instructions.   I wonder how many numismatists even know how to do this anymore (or even have pencils!).  It's probably still a useful technique for bringing out details of worn or corroded coins.
-Editor









To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:

BOOK REVIEW: MILITARY TOKENS IN 'A GUIDEBOOK OF UNITED STATES TOKENS AND MEDALS'

(www.coinbooks.org/club_nbs_esylum_v14n18.html)




 KOLBE & FANNING SEPTEMBER 15, 2011 SALE HIGHLIGHTS


Key Works on Various Topics Including
 Official Copies of Leonard Holland’s 1959 Pennypacker 
Large Cent Sale Documentation
A Fine Original Set of Tolstoï’s Monnaies Byzantines
Sheridan Downey’s 1993 Overton Sale and Downey Sales 10–26
An Original 1957 Contract of the Sale of the 
George Mihailovitch Collection of Russian Coins


Catalogue Available soon at Our Web Site: www.numislit.com
Printed Catalogues $10.00


KOLBE & FANNING NUMISMATIC BOOKSELLERS
141 W JOHNSTOWN ROAD, GAHANNA OH 43230-2700
(614) 414-0855 • df at numislit.com • 
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