The E-Sylum v15#42 October 7, 2012

[esylum at binhost.com]

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


Volume , Number 42, October 7, 2012
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WAYNE'S WORDS: THE E-SYLUM OCTOBER 7, 2012
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KÜNKER OFFERS NUMISMATIC LITERATURE AUCTION NOVEMBER 7-8, 2012
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NEW BOOK: THE MODERN COINAGE OF CHINA 1866-1949
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NEW BOOK: GUIDE BOOK OF UNITED STATES COINS, PROFESSIONAL EDITION, 4TH ED.
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REVIEWER SOUGHT FOR AMERICAN SILVER EAGLES GUIDE BOOK
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BANK NOTES OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE WINS IBNS AWARD
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USMINTRESEARCH.COM SITE CREATED
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MORE ON DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN COINS FROM U.S. MINTS
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MORE ON WASHINGTON BEFORE BOSTON MEDAL VARIETIES
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MINIATURE AND POCKET-SIZED NUMISMATIC LITERATURE NOW ONLINE
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NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: OCTOBER 7, 2012
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MAMMOTH CATALOGING PROJECT OF MEDAL-OF-VALOR WINNERS
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ARTICLE PROFILES MINT DIRECTOR NOMINEE BIBIANA BOERIO
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QUERY: HOW WAS THIS CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION AWARD MEDAL MADE?
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BROOKGREEN GARDENS FOUNDERS MEDAL
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READER THOUGHTS ON DEMONETIZATION
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X-RAY FLUORESCENCE SPECTROSCOPY FOR DETERMINING COIN COMPOSITION
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QUERY: HAS ANYONE SEEN THIS LIBERTY HEAD DESIGN?
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QUERY: COUNTERMARKED 1791 WASHINGTON CENT IN HARZFELD'S SIXTH SALE
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THE WINICK COLLECTION OF MECHANICAL BANKS
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BONNIE AND CLYDE MORGAN DOLLAR BRINGS $32,400
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ALASKA NATIONAL BANK NOTE MAKES HEADLINES
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ARTICLE ON THE FAIRBANKS LOCKSMITH NATIONAL BANK NOTE THEFTS
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GEORGE III  COPPERS WASHING UP ON DELAWARE'S MONEY BEACH
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HOWARD DANIEL'S NUMISMATIC DIARY: OCTOBER 7, 2012
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MORE ON THE HO HI WHANG TOKEN MYSTERY
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FEATURED WEB SITE: ORIENTAL NUMISMATIC SOCIETY
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Click here to read this issue on the web
	
To comment or submit articles, reply to 
whomren at gmail.com




WAYNE'S WORDS: THE E-SYLUM OCTOBER 7, 2012






No new subscribers this week.
We have 1,595 email subscribers, plus 190 followers on Facebook (the 199 reported last week was a typo). 

s
Harvey Stack, Jim Duncan and Michael J. Sullivan all  reported not receiving their e-mail edition of The E-Sylum last week.   Sorry!  I'm not sure what happened - I confirmed that their addresses are all still on our list.  


This week we open with a numismatic literature sale from Europe and announcements of two new books.
Other topics include a web site for early U.S. Mint research, the Washington before Boston medals, a countermarked 1791 Washington cent, Brookgreen Gardens, and Alaska National Bank Notes.


To learn more about the nominee for Director of the U.S. Mint, demonetization, X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, shootin, lynchin and hangin, Clyde Barrow's silver dollar, and a most melancholy catastrophe, read on.
Have a great week, everyone!


Wayne Homren
Editor, The E-Sylum




	
KÜNKER OFFERS NUMISMATIC LITERATURE AUCTION NOVEMBER 7-8, 2012


Eric Vanhove forwarded this item about an upcoming numismatic literature auction emailed to customers of the Künker firm.   
-Editor




Our eLive Auction 12 offers something very special for you in the coming months of October and November: an auction of numismatic literature. 


The 1,600 numbered catalog items comprise monographs; commemorative publications; magazine series and auction catalogs, partly from the libraries E. Beckenbauer and F. Weitzinger of Munich; 75 bibliophile works including “Appel’s Repertorium zur Münzkunde”; (“Appel’s Archive Register on Coin Science”) of 1820/1822 and 1824/1829; “Des Teutschen Reichs Münz-Archiv” (“Coin Archive of the German Empire”) by Hirsch from 1756/1768; a complete series of “Kohlers Historischen Münzbelustigungen” (“Kohler’s Historical Coin Amusements”) parts 1-22,1729/1750 and 1764/1765, in superb condition; a series of van Loon’s “Beschryving der Nederlandsche Historipenningen” from the Netherlands ; J.G.Lori’s “Sammlung des baierischen Münzrechts” (“Collection of old Bavarian Coin Minting Permits”) ; as well as the extremely rare volumes “Monnaies en or” and “Monnaies d’argent” (“Gold Coins”, “Silver Coins”). 


In addition , at the eLive Auction 12 you will find 1000 monographs, essays and special edition publications on ancient and modern numismatics with many standard works, but also rare and sought-after monographs. The emphasis here is on books of ancient and German numismatics. 


Among the journals which are also on offer are, furthermore, two rarities: the complete series of “REVUE BELGE DE NUMISMATIQUE ET DE SIGILLOGRAPHIE” (“Belgian Review of Numismatics and Document Seals Study”), volumes 1-148, 1842-2002, as well as the complete series of “REVUE NUMISMATIQUE”, 1836-2009. 


The conclusion of the auction consists of 320 auction catalogs, many in impeccably preserved condition and bound fully in linen. 


For this special eLive Auction there will once again be a printed catalog.


Fax: +49 (0) 541 96 20 222
Phone: +49 (0) 541 96 20 20
Email: service at kuenker.de


To access the catalog, see:

/www.kuenker.de/templates/Images/muenzen/katalogauktion/ela12.pdf



To read the complete article, see:

www.elive-auction.com




Here are a few images I pulled from the catalog.  Check it out!
-Editor



















	
NEW BOOK: THE MODERN COINAGE OF CHINA 1866-1949


Joe Cribb, Former Keeper of Coins and Medals at the British Museum, forwarded his Preface to a new book from Spink by N.J. Wright on the modern coinage of China.  Thanks!
-Editor




The opening of the new Canton (Guangdong) mint in May 1889 to mass produce coins using British made machinery marked the beginning of a revolution in industrial processes in China. The collected papers in this volume create together an account of how within fifteen years machine-made coins were in production at mints spread throughout China, and how within twenty five years the new coins had replaced the traditional coinage system which had served China for the previous two millennia. The use of machine made coins predated the establishment of the Canton mint as imported Spanish and later Mexican dollars had circulated widely in coastal regions since the sixteenth century. 


Although the Chinese imperial authorities allowed these foreign coins to circulate, they strongly resisted the adoption of such coins for their own coinage system. In the 1860s Britain tried unsuccessfully to persuade China to change this situation by offering to produce a new machine made silver coinage at its mint on the island of Hong Kong. It was, however, the circulation into southern China of coins made in the Royal Mint in London for use within Hong Kong which eventually convinced the provincial government in Guangdong that there were practical advantages in issuing their own machine-made coins.


The many narratives presented in this volume document the establishment of mechanised mints and their issue of new coins from the opening of the Canton mint until the establishment of the Renminbi (People’s currency) in the early years of the People’s Republic of China. In doing so they also illustrate the dramatic political history of China from the western interference during the last decades of the failing Qing Empire, through the establishment of the new Republic by Sun Zhongshan (Sun Yat-sen) in 1912, its collapse into regional warlordism, the attempted reestablishment of the Republic under the Guomindang and the Japanese invasion until the eventual establishment of the People’s Republic in 1949. As well as being a story of political change, it is also a record of the provision of Western technology and expertise to China as it emerged from the authoritarian conservatism of the Qing imperial state into a modernised industrial nation.


This volume presents the collected research papers of Richard Wright, drawing them together from the various journals in which they were originally published between 1974 and 2003 into a newly set version. The articles have been standardised, replacing the differing formats of those appearing in the Numismatic Chronicle, the Numismatic Circular, and rescuing the rest from the relative obscurity of the more difficult to find publications in which some of them appeared. To the thirty seven articles are added another published here for the first time. Four appendices draw together additional material, and a fifth publishes Richard’s last revision of his article on the British medals commemorating the Keying Junk, a maritime marvel of the 1840s.


Richard’s achievement in these articles and now in this volume is a remarkable example of the quality of numismatic research contributed by collectors. He follows a long tradition of the process of collecting developing into a curiosity no longer satisfied by the available reference work. Building on the work of Kalgan Shih, Eduard Kann and Tracey Woodward, all like him collector scholars, he was able to focus on sources
largely unavailable to them to expand and often correct their understandings. Although since the establishment of the People’s Republic Chinese research on China’s modern coins has continued the investigation of the coins and sources, Richard’s contribution has been to bring into focus the wealth of information available in British archives and collections. These sources have been particularly rich in new information and new understandings.


I was privileged, early in my career, to see Richard in action as he turned to the British Museum collections in search of clues. From the early 1970s I helped him in a small way in showing him the date and source of acquisitions of Chinese machine made coins, and commenting on aspects of the designs which had occurred to me as I went through the collection matching them to Kann’s catalogue. With pleasure I saw the fruits of his diligent research as he published article after article. As he came towards the end of his focus on Chinese coins I asked him about the possibility of publishing all his articles in one volume. I am embarrassed to say that after getting his agreement to the suggestion other tasks took me away from the possibility. I am delighted that Helen Wang has now taken up this idea and with further help from Richard and the generous support of Philip Skingley at Spinks, this volume has now been completed. It will make the immense value of Richard’s contributions
  to the study of the modernisation of China’s coinage more visible and more available to the scholars of China’s modern history, numismatic scholars and coin collectors.


It is a pleasure to see this volume appearing in Richard’s eightieth year. It signals the recognition that is due to his outstanding contribution to Chinese numismatics. I congratulate him on what he has achieved and celebrate the advances he has made in creating an understanding of this fascinating period in China’s history.


For more information or to order, see:

staging.spink.com/books-publications/book-description.aspx?id=67




	
NEW BOOK: GUIDE BOOK OF UNITED STATES COINS, PROFESSIONAL EDITION, 4TH ED.


Dennis Tucker forwarded this release on the latest book from Whitman Publishing. Thanks!
-Editor




Whitman Publishing has released the fourth edition of its expanded version of the best-selling Guide Book of United States Coins (known within the hobby as the “Red Book”). The 384-page volume, called the Professional Edition, is intended for intermediate and advanced collectors, numismatic researchers, professional coin dealers, auctioneers, and investors. It is available online (including at Whitman.com), at bookstores nationwide, and from hobby dealers and booksellers.


The Professional Edition is 45% larger than the regular-edition Red Book, at 8.5 x 11 inches, and is spiralbound for convenient reference. It retails for $29.95.
Features of the Professional Edition include:


Detailed coverage of every federal coin type, half cents through double eagles, plus classic commemoratives, Proof and Mint sets, and bullion coins.

Expanded valuations, including multiple Mint State and Proof levels, plus Full Steps, Full Bands, Full Head, Full Bell Lines, Cameo / Deep Cameo, and other specialized designations.

Certified-coin population summaries (PCGS and NGC) for every date and mintmark—including the number certified, the average grade, the percent in Mint State, and the finest Proof.

Recent auction data for coins listed.

Additional die varieties in every denomination, with close-up photographs for easy identification.

High-quality, full-color photographs (more than 1,600 altogether) of Mint State and Proof coins, for every type.

Detailed research, estimated mintages, and market information on early 1800s–early 1900s Proof coinage, including gold.

Expert guidance on striking and sharpness characteristics for each type—valuable information when comparing coins for purchase.

Insight on availability and condition rarity for each type.

Detailed grading instructions, including for Mint State and Proof coins.

Informative chart notes that expand on the history, characteristics, and market values of significant coins.

Enlargements of key focal points and varieties—many more than in the regular edition.

A section on the U.S. Mint’s silver, gold, and platinum bullion coins.

An appendix on “Great Collectors and Collections of the Past.”



The Professional Edition’s editorial team consists of Senior Editor Kenneth Bressett, Research Editor Q. David Bowers, and Valuations Editor Jeff Garrett. Dozens of hobby leaders contributed their expertise to the book’s production.


“The first Professional Edition Red Book was published in 2009,” said Whitman publisher Dennis Tucker. “Over the years we’ve made useful improvements and additions. Innovations in the fourth edition include combined certified-coin population data from NGC and PCGS; a table of popular die varieties found in Proof and Mint sets; hundreds of new photographs; and updated chart notes based on the latest numismatic research.”


All of the book’s coin valuations, certified populations, and auction data have been reviewed and updated for the new fourth edition.


“The Red Book Professional Edition gives its users real-world market information on every coin ever struck by the U.S. Mint,” said Whitman president Mary Counts. “As a single-source reference book it has no comparison.”


#   #   #


A Guide Book of United States Coins, Professional Edition, fourth edition
Senior editor Kenneth Bressett; research editor Q. David Bowers; valuations editor Jeff Garrett.


ISBN 0794837365
384 pages, full color.
8.5 x 11, spiralbound softcover.
Retail $29.95



	
REVIEWER SOUGHT FOR AMERICAN SILVER EAGLES GUIDE BOOK


Dennis Tucker of Whitman Publishing also forwarded this offer to E-Sylum readers.  Who will be the first to take him up on it?
-Editor



 
I have an advance advance copy of American Silver Eagles: A Guide to the U.S. Bullion Coin Program (our main shipment of advance media copies won’t go out for another week or two) that I’d like to offer to an E-Sylum reader who’s up for writing a book review.


American Silver Eagles has generated more pre-publication excitement and interest within the hobby than any other title in my recent memory. Collectors obviously love their modern coins and bullion!


I can be contacted by potential reviewers at dennis.tucker at whitmanbooks.com.


To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:

NEW BOOK: AMERICAN SILVER EAGLES: A GUIDE TO THE U.S. BULLION COIN PROGRAM

(www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v15n40a03.html)



	
BANK NOTES OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE WINS IBNS AWARD


Bank Note Reporter published  an article about the International Bank Note Society's Book of the Year awards, and the top honors went to  Bank Notes of the Ottoman Empire.
-Editor



 
The International Bank Note Society has awarded its Book of the Year honors for a book published in 2011 to Devlet-I Aliyye-I Osmaniyye (“Bank Notes of the Ottoman Empire”) by Mehmet Gaciroglu.


In presenting the award, the IBNS said, “Several reference works on the bank notes of the Ottoman Empire have been written in recent years, but the recently published, award-winning volume by Mehmet Gaciroglu is an impressive contribution to understanding paper money issues in the Ottoman Empire.”


For each denomination identified in the book, descriptions include the dates of issue, size of the note, the group of issue, signatures, quantity issued, seal used, serial number range and remarks.


Where bank notes are illustrated, watermark and signature varieties are adjacent to the bank note “which makes the identification of a banknote very easy for the reader.” Values for the notes are given in the grades Fine, VF, EF and UNC.


“Not just a catalogue, the book includes biographies of Sultans and descriptions of the seals used on the notes,” the IBNS said. “Towards the back of the book is a section with colour plates of specimens, essays, artist’s sketches, errors, endorsement stamps and cancellations. Included are the British Gallipoli notes, German legion issues, municipal currencies and local Hebrew, Armenian and Greek issues.”


To read the complete article, see:

IBNS Names Its Book of the Year

(www.numismaster.com/ta/numis/Article.jsp?ad=article&ArticleId=25804)










	
USMINTRESEARCH.COM SITE CREATED


David Finkelstein published the following notice in the September 30, 2012 JR Newsletter, a publication of  the John Reich Collectors Society.  Knowing many E-Sylum readers might be interested, I'm reprinting it here with permission.
-Editor



A website has been created to serve as a message board and data repository for anything U S Mint research related. The website is www.USMintResearch.com.  The website went live in August, 2012, and focuses on the First and Second United States Mints from 1792-1839, Mint personnel, policies, procedures and operations, research at the National Archives and other facilities, and U S coins prior to 1840. Why 1792-1839? This covers all U S coins struck after the Coinage Act of April 2, 1792 and prior to the Seated Liberty series. Eventually the website will be expanded to include the other Mints and additional series of U S coins.


Participants are encouraged to post documents, research, images, pictures, in-progress articles, and theories, and engage in discussions.


Access to the website is currently restricted.  In order to gain access, you have to be invited.  The website requires a secure login.


If you are performing research and want to participate, please send an email with your name and reason for joining to David Finkelstein at 

dfinkelstein at comcast.net
.



	
MORE ON DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN COINS FROM U.S. MINTS



Eric von Klinger writes:


The Sept. 30 E-Sylum mentions two references on foreign coins manufactured by the U.S. Mint: an early 1960s monograph published by Whitman, and a Government Printing Office publication in various editions in the 1960s and '70s. Mention should also be made to  "Foreign Coins Struck at Mints in the United States,"  by Philip Steiner and Michael Zimpfer. This book was published somewhat later and includes private mints. Another book, which I have not seen, is by Harry Scheerer (second edition, 1996). Perhaps another reader can supply further information.


    The claim is sometimes made that the U.S. Mint struck the 1833 American Colonization Society coppers for Liberia, but this claim is probably in error. Congress first authorized the Mint to accept foreign coinage contracts in an act of 1874. The first undisputed foreign coinage by the U.S. Mint consisted of 1- and 2.5-centavo pieces dated 1876, for Venezuela. The Mint suspended acceptance of foreign contracts after 1983, when a final production for Panama took place, but  an exception was made to mint the 2000-dated 1,000-kronur Leif Ericson commemoratives for Iceland.





-Editor






To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:

DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN COINS MANUFACTURED BY MINTS OF THE U.S.

(www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v15n41a16.html)



	
MORE ON WASHINGTON BEFORE BOSTON MEDAL VARIETIES








John W. Adams writes:


I have read Donald Scarinci's blog on the Washington Before Boston medal. As to die varieties of the medal, no one ever has or ever would challenge the contention that his "F1" was the first variety struck. After all, we have the gold medal at the Boston Public Library and the silver medal at the Massachusetts Historical Society as enduring witnesses. What Donald will find as he furthers his research is that his "F2" and "F2-1", whereas these varieties were brought into production after "F-1", this was not an unbroken progression: there are examples of "F-1" that are from a later obverse die state than most of the "F-2's" and "F-2.1's". 


Confusing, yes, but the study by Glenn Mooney that you cite does a pretty good job of sorting it out.  


We should also point out that the Error Reverse used on "F-2" was probably ENGRAVED before the reverse on "F-1", given that the BPL owns a set of cliche's with the Error Reverse paired with the "U" reverse (which, because of Jefferson's objection, was never used) and the American Numismatic Society owns a framed set of shells in which the Error Reverse is paired with the obverse in a totally uninjured state. Clearly, Paris Mint employees of the time used these dies in an undisciplined, even whimsical,  fashion.



John adds:


The quality and thoroughness of Mooney's research is fully up to the standard set by Sylvester Sage Crosby; it is a shame that more people have not read his work.
His 1976 paper, though obscure, remains the last word on the subject.




A copy of Mooney's paper is in the American Numismatic Society library.
-Editor



To read the complete article, see:

WASHINGTON BEFORE BOSTON MEDAL VARIETIES

(www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v15n41a20.html)



	
MINIATURE AND POCKET-SIZED NUMISMATIC LITERATURE NOW ONLINE


Speaking of the American Numismatic Society library, ANS Librarian Elizabeth Hahn sends this follow-up to her post from last week.  Thanks!
-Editor




Just a quick follow-up to my last note about the exhibit of miniature numismatic literature in the ANS Library. The online portion can now be viewed at:



http://numismatics.org/Library/Exhibit5Mini



I hope to see some E-Sylum readers at the ANS Annual Meeting on Saturday, October 20th! Events start at 3:00pm. As always, there will be a handful of library duplicates for sale. Please note that there is no list of these duplicates, but other duplicate items will continue to be listed on the library support website on an ongoing basis:



http://numismatics.org/Library/LibraryDuplicates



I will put a note out when this list is updated, which should happen in the coming months.


To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:

MINIATURE AND POCKET-SIZED NUMISMATIC LITERATURE

(www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v15n41a19.html)



	
NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: OCTOBER 7, 2012


 Edge Markings on Julian's Political Satire Medals 
Dave Alexander writes:


Regarding the edge markings on the R.W. Julian satirical medals: 
Anyone seeking in-depth information on these edgemarks should
consult my book "American Art Medals, 1909-1995, Circle of Friends of the
Medallion, Society of Medalists (ANS, 2011). Page 44 provides a full
listing of company edge marks along with color photos of the marks on
actual Society of Medalists medals. To my knowledge, this was never
done before for the collecting public. Another minor observation: it
is always stimulating to know that Brother Joe Boling is on the prowl,
fearlessly publicizing typos. FREIE UND HANSESTADT HAMBURG!



To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:

MORE ON R.W. JULIAN AND HIS POLITICAL SATIRE MEDALS

(www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v15n41a14.html)


 Charles A. Watters 
Pete Smith writes:


A search for biographical information on Charles Waters is unlikely to be productive.  I would suggest looking under Charles A. Watters with two t's.



David Stone writes:


Thanks so much to Pete Smith. Of course he is correct -  Watters, with two t's, is the correct spelling. Just a mental lapse when I wrote the note.



To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:

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