The E-Sylum v16#35 August 25, 2013

Sun Aug 25 19:08:50 PDT 2013

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The E-Sylum

  An electronic publication of
  The Numismatic Bibliomania Society

Volume 16, Number 35, August 25, 2013
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WAYNE'S WORDS: THE E-SYLUM AUGUST 25, 2013
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NBS EVENTS  AT THE 2013 CHICAGO ANA
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NUMISMATIC LITERATURE AWARDS AT THE 2013 CHICAGO ANA
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NEW BOOK: CIVIL WAR STAMP ENVELOPES
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NEW BOOK: MEDIEVAL EUROPEAN COINAGE 6: THE IBERIAN PENINSULA
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NEW BOOK: HISTORY OF OTTOMAN COINS, VOLUME 7
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NEW BOOK: MILK TOKENS OF SWITZERLAND
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REPRODUCTIONS OF THE WATKINS BROADSIDE OFFERED
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BOOK REVIEW: ANATOMY OF AN INGOT
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CATALOG REVIEW: MISSOURI CABINET OF U.S. HALF CENTS
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BIBLIOPHILE BLINDED BY BLAZING NEWMAN COINS
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DEMONETIZING OLD CURRENCY 
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NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: AUGUST 25, 2013
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ERIC SCHENA'S NUMISMATIC DIARY: AUGUST 25, 2013
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HOW TO PACK BOOKS
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LOVE YOUR NUMISMATIC LIBRARIAN, 2013
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ENGRAVER GILROY ROBERTS AND THE FRANKLIN MINT
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WHY PUT A SILVER PLUG IN A SILVER COIN?
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THE 1952 BRITISH WEST AFRICA SIX PENCE
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MORE ON THE FIRST NATIONAL OYSTER BANK NOTES
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L. G. KAUFMAN'S BANKNOTE SIGNATURE
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OCTOBER 2013 KÜNKER AUCTION SALES REVIEW
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MONEY & MEDALS AUGUST 2013 ISSUE PUBLISHED
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TURKISH MUSEUM EXHIBITS ANCIENT COINS
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THE NUMISMATICS MUSEUM OF UDUPI, INDIA
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NUMISMATIC VOCABULARY WORDS: CRORE AND LAKH
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MORE ON 3D PRINTING AND NUMISMATICS
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CACHE OF DECADES-OLD UNTOUCHED CLASSIC AUTOS TO BE SOLD
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ON MADE-UP MEDICAL TERMS AND LIMERICKS
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FEATURED WEB PAGE: COLLECTING PAPAL COINAGE
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Click here to read this issue on the web

Click here to access the complete archive

To comment or submit articles, reply to 
whomren at gmail.com

WAYNE'S WORDS: THE E-SYLUM AUGUST 25, 2013

New subscribers this week include
Frank Pugliese, courtesy of John Mutch,
Michael A. Merrill of Towson, MD, courtesy of Dave Schenkman, and
Carl Lester.  Welcome aboard!
We have 1,669 email subscribers, plus 243 followers on Facebook.

Many thanks to Bill Eckberg and other readers who wrote to congratulate me on the E-Sylum's awards from the Numismatic Literary Guild.   It was an honor and a pleasant surprise.

This week we open with reports from last week's American Numismatic Association convention, four new numismatic books, an offering of the Watkins broadside repros, and my review of Anatomy of an Ingot, the new book by Paul Franklin.

Other topics include Eric Newman's correspondence files, how to pack books for shipping, engraver Gilroy Roberts, the latest Money & Medals issue, printing silver and gold in 3D, and numismatic exhibits in Turkey and India.

To learn more about the Karl Goetz dies, Civil War Stamp Envelopes, milk tokens of Switzerland, Agoston Haraszthy, the Leamington Spa medal and the Crookshanks Barbershop token,  read on.   Have a great week, everyone!

Wayne Homren
Editor, The E-Sylum

NBS EVENTS  AT THE 2013 CHICAGO ANA

Elizabeth Hahn submitted this report on the NBS Symposium at last week's ANA convention in Chicago.  Thanks!
-Editor

NBS Symposium Summary: Karl Moulton and the "Franklin Hoard."

On Thursday, August 15, 2013, the Numismatic Bibliomania Society Symposium welcomed guest speaker Karl Moulton, who spoke about his new book, John J. Ford, Jr. and the “Franklin Hoard.” There was a good crowd of 30-40 audience members and Moulton spoke for about 30 minutes followed by 30 minutes of questions and further discussion.

Moulton’s book generated some buzz in the numismatic community when it was released this summer because of the focus of the subject matter, which has been of interest to many over the past few decades (not to mention the book's hefty 8 pound weight!). The book presents a good deal of documentation relating to the conflict between John J. Ford and Eric P.
Newman surrounding the Franklin Hoard. 

As Moulton repeatedly stressed during his presentation, this was not his story, but John J. Ford, Jr.’s and he was simply bringing all of the documentation together. In doing so, he tried to remain objective and did not attempt to authenticate or condemn any of the pieces, only to demonstrate the facts. 

Moulton discussed his own interest in the Hoard started back in 1967, after John J. Ford, Jr. wrote a lengthy document in an attempt to authenticate the
1853 USAOG proof $20 gold coins. One of these coins had been the focus of a Professional Numismatics Guild arbitration hearing the previous year, which questioned the genuineness of those particular pieces. The resulting conflict ignited an interest in Moulton to fully explore the controversy and bring together the facts. 

As a final point, there was an audience question that mentioned the 1999 ANA Chicago "Great Debate", which was recorded in VHS tapes, and I was surprised to learn that the only copies of this seem to be those in the ANS Library.

I will have more on Moulton’s presentation, the discussion of the controversy, and the audience reaction in my full article in the next issue of The Asylum!

Remember, only paid members of the NBS receive issues of our print journal, The E-Sylum!
-Editor

NBS General Meeting Pictures :
Here are some pictures provided by past NBS President Dan Friedus from the General Meeting.  Thanks!

ANA Library Manager Kendra Johnson, ANS Librarian Elizabeth Hahn

Here's Dan Hamelberg receiving the 2013 George Frederick Kolbe Award for Lifetime Achievement in Numismatic Literature from Marc Ricard.

Charity auction run by Dan Hamelberg and Dan Freidus

Another great annual meeting. Some $3,500 was raised for the club in the charity auction.  Look for more pictures and reports in the next Asylum.
-Editor

NUMISMATIC LITERATURE AWARDS AT THE 2013 CHICAGO ANA

Jake Sherlock of the American Numismatic Association forwarded a press release listing all the exhibit award winners from the recent convention.  Here's an excerpt with the numismatic literature winners.  Congratulations!
-Editor

The American Numismatic Association presented 53 competitive exhibit awards at the 2013 World's Fair of Money in Rosemont, Ill. Winners were announced at the exhibit awards presentation and reception Aug 16 and at the awards banquet that evening.

Thirty-eight exhibitors of all ages and experience levels, showing 49 exhibits, competed in this year's program. There were also two non-competitive exhibitors showing two additional exhibits.

Lawrence Sekulich received the Howland Wood Memorial Award for Best-in-Show for his exhibit, "Hwenne Gold Was Smite in Coign."

Class 17: Numismatic Literature, Aaron Feldman Memorial. Printed and manuscript
(published or unpublished) literature dealing with any numismatic subject.

First place: Jerry Fochtman, for "Dr. Daniel W. Valentine: Profile of a Numismatic
Pioneer."

Second place: Mark Wieclaw, for "Roman Coins and Their Values: The Evolution of the Most Used Reference on Ancient Roman Coins."

Third place: no exhibit

Jake also forwarded a press release on the 
-Editor

The ANA's 2013 literary awards -- recognizing articles published in the 2012 volume of the ANA's official magazine, The Numismatist -- were presented on Aug. 15 at the ANA World's Fair of Money in Rosemont, Ill.  The Numismatist was first published by ANA founder and inaugural editor Dr. George F. Heath in 1888 and this year celebrates its 125th anniversary.

The Heath Literary Award, introduced in 1949, acknowledges outstanding articles published in the preceding year. First place went to Q. David Bowers for his March 2012 article, "Era of Secrecy," which focused on the U.S. Mint’s practice of striking special coins for collectors in the late 1800s. Bowers received $250, a silver medal and a certificate. Bowers generously donated his $250 prize money to the ANA’s Dwight N. Manley Numismatic Library. 

Nancy Oliver and Richard Kelly, co-authors of the magazine’s monthly “Numismatic Chronicles” column, took second place ($100, a bronze medal, and a certificate) for their article "On the Wrong Track” (September 2012), describing a daring 1877 train robbery in which the perpetrators got away with thousands of double eagles. Bibliophile David F. Fanning received third place (a bronze medal and a certificate) for "Top 10 American Numismatic Books of the 19th Century" (February 2012), which exemplified how classic references continue to inform today’s collectors.

The Wayte and Olga Raymond ¬Memorial Literary Award, endowed by the late John J. Ford Jr., is presented for articles in The Numismatist that display original and comprehensive research in U.S. numismatics. Mark Fox for "In Search of Machin’s Mill’s" (December 2012) received first-place honors ($400 and a certificate), and David E. Schenkman was awarded second place ($200 and a certificate) for "The Numismatic Legacy of S.D. Childs" (October 2012). 

Funded by an anonymous donor, the Catherine Sheehan Literary Award for U.S. Paper Money Studies was presented to two authors. First place ($50 and a certificate) went to P. Scott Rubin for "New Jersey Currency of 1776" (July 2012), which considered Revolution-era notes and a historic hoard. Gerome Walton received second-place honors (certificate) for "Nebraska’s Smallest National Bank Town" (August 2012), in which he explained how surviving $10 and $20 notes tell the story of tiny St. James, Nebraska. 

Additional coverage of awards can be found in the September issue of The Numismatist --page 74.

The Heath Awards are well deserved - these were some great articles, and it's nice to see Dave Fanning's Numismatic Books article getting recognition.
Congratulations are also due to author and editor Brad Karoleff, who won the ANA's Harry J. Forman Dealer of the Year award.  Here's an excerpt from the ANA press release.
-Editor

Bradley S. Karoleff is the 2013 recipient of the American Numismatic Association Harry J. Forman Dealer of the Year Award, an award that was presented Aug. 13 at the World's Fair of Money Kick-Off event.

The award is presented annually to an ANA-member dealer who shows uncommon dedication to strengthening the hobby and the Association. The award is named in honor of the late Harry J. Forman, a Philadelphia coin dealer, author and ANA life member.

A prolific writer, Karoleff is a contributor to several publications, including: “A Guide Book of United States Coins” and “Handbook of United States Coins,” commonly known as the Red Book and Blue Book; Coin World; The Numismatist; he was co-author of the John Reich Collectors Society book: “Early Quarter Dollars of the United States Mint 1796-1838”; and he is the longtime editor of the John Reich Journal, which is the official publication of the John Reich Collectors Society.

Another E-Sylum contributor who got an award was David Alexander, who won the ANA's Numismatic of the Year award.
David forwarded a copy of his remarks on receiving the award at the ANA Banquet.
-Editor

Thank you, Wendell! This award comes on my fiftieth anniversary of joining ANA (# 44246, Don Scherer) and just before my 40th anniversary as Life Member #1973. ANA membership is a delightful contrast with an English organization I joined in 1967 which defined Life Membership as “seven years or DEATH, whichever comes first !!!” I got to know ANA in the early 1950s, reading The Numismatist in the Reference Room in the new Miami Public Library, which also had shelves of CIRCULATING coin books, a rare situation for the time. 

I think it is great that the firm with which I am associated, HARLAN J. BERK LTD. of Chicago, has already had two Numismatists of the Year: founder Harlan J. Berk and my good friend and recent NEWLYWED Tom DeLorey!!! We are the only numismatic firm that can claim this achievement!

Discussing this award with my colleague Barbara Gregory, I said that to me, numismatics is a very human thing! Money and value are certainly involved, and the collector has yet to be born who doesn’t gloat, if only in secret, over the growing value of his or her collection! Certified grading and “Slabbing” have reduced Numismatics for some of us to “two letters and two numbers on two pieces of plastic,” but it is vastly MORE!! Numismatics is as wide as the world, and NUMISMATIST should be a title of honor! 

 Going beyond the value, history and lore of coins is the reward of personal interaction with a cavalcade of friends and mentors past and present. Coming immediately to mind is my wonderful wife of 36 years, Pat. Dealers and co-workers, I was privileged to know were Abe Kosoff, William Fox Steinberg, Paul Kagin, Harvey and Larry Stack, John J. Ford Jr., Carl Carlson, Bob Archer; writers and publishers, Dr. John S. Davenport, COIN WORLD’S Margo Russell, Jay Guren, Russ Rulau, Beth Deisher, COINage Jim Miller, Lee Martin, Ed Reiter. ANA: Virginia Culver, Col. Grover C. Criswell, Virgil Hancock; ANS, Ute Wartenberg-Kagan; many friends in NLG, MCA, SIN, the New York Numismatic Club. My thanks go to all and hundreds more that I wish time would permit me to mention by Name!

THE BOOK BAZARRE 
Recently released! Coins: A Story Behind the Obsession. Check out a

fun and educational infographic.

NEW BOOK: CIVIL WAR STAMP ENVELOPES

Fred Reed forwarded this press release for his latest book,  Civil War Stamp Envelopes, the Issuers and Their Times .
-Editor

BNR Press announces the mid-October release of Fred Reed’s latest book, Civil War Stamp Envelopes, the Issuers and Their Times, 672 pages, 8.5 x 11inches, approx. 1,500 illustrations, $59.95 softcover or $79.95 hardcover (not Smyth-sewn), postage, handling and insurance per book $10.

Noted Civil War student and author Fred Reed’s latest opus on the turbulent monetary period of the U.S. Civil War era, Civil War Stamp Envelopes, the Issuers and Their Times, is available for purchase right now, according to a spokesman for the publisher, BNR Press, Portage, Ohio.

Mr. Reed is well known in the hobby for his intensive research and writings and the new book is his second in a projected seven volume look at mid-19th century money in a series that began 19 years ago with the similarly titled companion volume, Civil War Encased Stamps, the Issuers and Their Times.  That book, also published by BNR Press, earned several major hobby and publishing awards, and finished high on the Numismatic Bibliomania Society’s survey of the “most important” numismatic books of all time.

Reed calls the new book Part III of his “A Numismatist’s Perspective of the Civil War” series.  His encased stamp book was published as Part II.  Part I will look at the federal and private Postage Currency.  Part IV looks at Civil War era counterfeiting.  These last two subjects have been special interests of the author for many years, and have been addressed repeatedly by Reed in the various numismatic periodicals.

“Readers familiar with the earlier book will feel at home this time around too,” Reed notes.  “My book covers the same fertile ground, the Civil War small change shortage of 1862-1863 that gave rise to the encased stamps that I wrote about years ago, the Postage Currency that I have addressed repeatedly in my Bank Note Reporter columns, and now these Civil War postage stamp envelopes that I catalog, illustrate  and provide history, rarity, and prices for in the new book,” he added.

The book is subtitled “A History, Merchant Chronicle, Catalog, [and] Auction Summary, of the Postage Stamp Envelope Emergency Money of 1862.”  The author provides amply-illustrated chapters, essays that he labels “merchant chronicles,” on each of the 128 known issuers of this emergency scrip.  The catalog numbers employed in the new book are the same ones collectors have already become familiar with in the last two editions of the Friedberg’s Paper Money of the United States for which author Reed provided a catalog extract from the present work that was published in the 19th and 20th editions of PMUS.

Reed’s new opus catalogs 514 different varieties of the small envelopes that were printed to contain and preserve U.S. postage stamps in circulation as small change in summer and fall 1862.  Almost all varieties are illustrated, and extensive census and provenance data given, along with auction prices realized for these scarce monetary instruments over the last century of their active collecting.

“Collectors and dealers too will finally know which of these pieces are actually the rarest and potentially the most valuable instead of guessing or having to rely on the uninformed opinions of others,” Reed jested.  “For the last 40 years this marketplace has been a crap shoot, a roller coaster ride up to and over the five-figure price level with no seatbelts.  My book will level the playing field among those who have access to its wealth of information.  Then dealers and collectors alike can make informed, intelligent purchase and sales decisions,” he said.

The author credits more than 200 individuals and institutions for their assistance, and several of the prominent auction companies in this field that have unselfishly provided him illustrations and information.  He also thanks Central States Numismatic Society and the Society of Paper Money Collectors who provided funding for his research over the past six years.  A journalist for more than 40 years, Reed also develops the narrative history of the collecting and cataloging of this series that spans numismatics, philately, and paper money collecting.  

Reed has also had unprecedented access to all the great collections of the last two generations, and learned a great deal of  “inside scoop” that is faithfully reported here for the first time ever.  “I’m proud to say that the ‘fore-matter’ of the book includes essays by Chet Krause and Art Paradis, the two individuals who have formed the largest known collections of this series ever put together.”

“Postage and Fractional currency collectors especially should be interested in this forerunner stamp money,” author Reed suggests.  Knowing why, how and when these emergency instruments were used in the marketplace can bring the fractional note collectors additional insights and pleasure with their own collections whether or not they choose to embark on this until now poorly delimited and quantified series,” he added.

Books are expected to ship in mid-October.  Orders may be sent to the author Fred Reed at Department E, PO Box 118162, Carrollton, TX 75011-8162.  Please include correct postage ($10/book including insurance), Reed noted, and whether you want the volume(s) autographed.  Information on bulk orders and pre-publication discounts may be obtained from the author at fred at spmc.org or through his website www.fredwritesright.com and mention you heard about the book in The E-Sylum.

Wow.  There's been a sore need for such a reference for years.  Congratulations and thanks are due Fred for his painstaking work.   I've been fascinated with these coinage substitutes since I first read H. R. Drowne's American Journal of Numismatics article on them (but not when it first came out in the 1920s...).   I collected a few of these, which I later sold with my Civil War collections via American Numismatic Rarities.   I'm looking forward to seeing the book.

Kudos are also due  the Central States Numismatic Society and the Society of Paper Money Collectors for providing funding for Fred's research.  Great books don't happen by accident - lots of time, effort, and money are required to make them a reality.  Buyers are getting a bargain.
-Editor

NEW BOOK: MEDIEVAL EUROPEAN COINAGE 6: THE IBERIAN PENINSULA

The University of Cambridge has published a new volume in the Medieval European Coinage series.
-Editor

Medieval European Coinage

Volume 6. The Iberian Peninsula

Part of Medieval European Coinage

AUTHORS:
Miquel Crusafont, Societat Catalana d'Estudis Numismatics BarcelonaAnna M. BalaguerPhilip Grierson, University of Cambridge

This volume of Medieval European Coinage is the first English-language survey to bring the latest research on the coinage of Spain and Portugal c.1000-1500 to an international audience. A major work of reference by leading numismatic experts, the volume provides an authoritative and up-to-date account of the coinages of Aragon, Catalonia, Castile, Leon, Navarre and Portugal, which have rarely been studied together. It considers how money circulated throughout the peninsula, offering new syntheses of the monetary history of the individual kingdoms, and includes an extensive catalogue of the Aragonese, Castilian, Catalan, Leonese, Navarrese and Portuguese coins in the collection of the Fitzwilliam Museum. This major contribution to the field will be a valuable point of reference for the study of medieval history, numismatics, and archaeology.

Product details

PUBLISHED: July 2013
FORMAT: HardbackISBN: 9780521260145
LENGTH: 929 pages
DIMENSIONS: 252 x 199 x 57 mm
WEIGHT: 2.19kgCONTAINS: 136 b/w illus. 7 maps 41 tables 
AVAILABILITY: In stock

For more information, or to order, see:

Medieval European Coinage
Volume 6. The Iberian Peninsula

(www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/history/european-history-1000-1450/medieval-european-coinage-volume-6)

NEW BOOK: HISTORY OF OTTOMAN COINS, VOLUME 7

The latest volume in Atom Damali's series on the History of Ottoman Coins has been published.
-Editor

History of Ottoman Coins Vol. 7 / Osmanli Sikkeleri Tarihi - Cilt 7
Author: Damali, Atom 
Publisher: Nilufer Damali Egitim, Kultur ve Cevre Vakfi
ISBN: 9786058592605
Publication Date & Place: 2013, İstanbul
Dimensions: 215x305mm, 2500 gr.
Price: 110,00 € (Direct Delivery)

Book details

420 pp, color figures, hb, in Turkish-English bilingual.

OTTOMAN SULTANS - Osman III - Mustafa III - Abdülhamid I - Selim III - Mustafa IV

The Ottoman Empire was endowed with the power of creating one of the most extensive numismatic histories of the world by having coins minted at more than 130 mints as of the 14th century. However, the fact that the Ottoman coins had presence in very few mints whose collective number did not exceed the number of fingers in one hand as of the mid-18th century is the most obvious indicator of the crucial changes in the Ottoman history and economy.

These developments which greatly affected coin minting can be summarised briefly as follows:

The provinces, where gold or silver coins were minted in addition to Istanbul, were limited with Baghdad, Algeria, Egypt, Tripoli and Tunisia from the enthronement of Sultan Osman III, the 25th Ottoman sultan, to the end of the Empire. Two common features catch the eye when we analyze the history of these provinces that were very critical for the Ottoman Empire...

The present volume of this work, which is expected to be completed in nine volumes, covers the reigns of sultans Osman III, Mustafa III, Abdulhamid I, Selim III and Mustafa IV, and contains:

  Year-by-year chronological information regarding the 54 years of these sultanates; 

  The most significant historical developments of this period; 

  Detailed information on coins.

This volume includes the details of 71 coins of Sultan Osman III, 460 coins of Sultan Mustafa III, 401 coins of Sultan Abdulhamid I, 409 coins of Sultan Selim III and 56 coins of Sultan Mustafa IV; i.e. 1478 gold and silver coins. Additionally, the book provides the local history of all provinces which issued coins during these reigns and examines the characteristics of the coins minted in these provinces.

An inventory of the coins belonging to the sultans is provided at the end of the book.

For more information, or to order, see:

History of Ottoman Coins Vol. 7 / Osmanli Sikkeleri Tarihi - Cilt 7

(www.zerobooksonline.com/eng/product_details.asp?cat=&subcat=&product=8183)

NEW BOOK: MILK TOKENS OF SWITZERLAND

Adrián González-Salinas writes:

I was looking for "glas bier tokens" in Amazon and I found the following Swiss book:
"Milchmarken der Schweiz"

The Amazon listing doesn't say much, but here it is.
-Editor

Jetons Marken Molkerein - Geschichte Numismatischer Katalog mit Bewertungen / Milk Jetons - Token in Switzerland Chips Brands Dairies - History Numismatic Catalog (Fully in colour - komplett in Farbe) 

Hardcover – January 1, 2013
Hardcover: 600 pages
Publisher: Gietl & Battenberg Verlag Publisher , Germany; 1th 1. edition (2013)
ASIN: B00DRH0UX0

To order, see:

Milchmarken der Schweiz Jetons Marken Molkerein

(www.amazon.com/Milchmarken-Schweiz-Jetons-Marken-Molkerein/dp/B00DRH0UX0)

I found another listing on the publisher's site, which lists the publication date as "2013/2014":

Milchmarken der Schweiz

(www.gietl-verlag.de/milchmarken-der-schweiz/buchdetail/307/1/themen/neuerscheinung.html)

I contacted CoinsWeekly editor Ursula Kampmann, who writes:

I contacted the editor and the book has not been published yet. It will be on the market in November 2013.
I have asked for a review copy. When I get it, I will write a short review of the book.

The Gietl Verlag which has edited the book is the most important numismatic editor in Germany. And Ruedi Kunzmann has already published a catalogue of the beer tokens of Switzerland. He is also co-editor of the most important catalogue of Swiss money from ancient to modern times.

REPRODUCTIONS OF THE WATKINS BROADSIDE OFFERED

Dan Hamelberg  writes:

Regarding the Attinelli Watkins reproductions, as Joel pointed out in his article, there is one copy in the library of the American Numismatic Society.  With Frank Campbell's help, I discovered the Attinelli Watkins reproduction when he was ANS librarian.  The ANS also has the only known original of the Watkins broadside.  

I managed to find a source for high quality facsimiles a few years ago, and commissioned the production of a number of new facsimiles from the original Watkins broadside.  I donated them to the ANS, and so the ANS now has a number of Watkins broadside facsimile's of the Original broadside for sale.  All proceeds go to help with ANS library conservation projects. For availability and pricing, contact ANS Librarian Elizabeth Hahn at

hahn at numismatics.org
.  

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:

THE UNSOLVED MYSTERIES OF NUMISGRAPHICS

(www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v16n34a17.html)

BOOK REVIEW: ANATOMY OF AN INGOT

Anatomy of an Ingot by Paul Franklin
addresses the history of one particular silver ingot from the John J. Ford collection.
As I'd hoped, this is another of the "single coin books" that I enjoy for their focused, in-depth numismatic research.
It passes my "back of the book" test with flying colors for its inclusion of a thirteen-page Index, twelve-page Bibliography and a four-page Glossary of Terms.

The author has clearly done a tremendous amount of research in the obscure but fascinating field of precious metals assaying in the early mining days of the American West.  Focusing on three assayers associated with the ingot (Mathey, Kustel and Riotte), the book spans the second half of the 19th century and covers much of the early mining history in California and the territories of Arizona and Nevada.

The ingot was lot #3524 in the October 16, 2007 Stack's Ford Sale Part XXI.  Its earlier provenance includes the Waldo Newcomer collection, B. Max Mehl and Art Kagin.

>From the book's press release:

The most significant of the three assayers was Guido Kustel, who worked in the early San Francisco assay business with well-known names such as Wass, Molitor and Harazsthy. A German trained Mining Engineer and Metallurgist, Kustel ventured off to the Apache infested mountains of Southern Arizona to build the first assay and refining facilities at the famous Heintzelman Mine. He returned to California just in time to become one of the principal players in the early Comstock mining boom in Nevada. Although not a household name today, Kustel was one of the most famous mining engineers and assayers of his day, publishing three books that became ‘must haves’ for every mining engineer. He returned to San Francisco where he set up a number of assay offices and refineries.

The second player was Eugene N. Riotte, also trained in Germany, who travelled to Nevada just in time to participate in the newly discovered Reese River silver mines around Austin. He was later involved with a number of other assayers and mining engineers in solving the problems in refining the complex silver ores of Nevada.

The third member, Henry Mathey, emigrated from the gold mines of South America to the early mines of Darwin near Death Valley. Joining Kustel and Riotte in 1880 they set the stage for the origin of the silver ingot in question, but not in a way that one might have guessed. Mathey would go onto other achievements including developing the first tin mine in the United States.

While numismatists interested in these rare early ingots would certainly enjoy the book, there are tidbits throughout that can enlighten those interested in pioneer gold coinages and  the early history of the San Francisco Mint.

The list of characters appearing in the book is a long one.  I was pleased to see discussions of Agoston Haraszthy, the San Francisco Mint Assayer who was accused of stealing gold but was exonerated in the end when it was discovered that the unaccounted-for gold had gone up the chimney and been deposited on the roofs of nearby buildings.  Naturally, this discovery led to improvements in the gold processing process.

Haraszthy later founded a pioneering winery that still exists today in the wine country north of the city.  Franklin's book alerted me to the existence of a biography: "McGinty, Brian, Strong Wine, The Life and Legend of Agoston Haraszthy, 1998, McGinty  does a fine job researching and detailing the life of Agoston Haraszthy, one of America's most fascinating men."

Figure 89, Page 137

The book is very well illustrated in both black and while and color, with images on nearly every page.  Above is an 1867 assay office receipt of Boalt & Stetefeldt of Austin, NV.    These receipts are interesting collectibles in themselves as well as valuable records of bullion transactions.  "Note the certificate number, No. 2608 is located within an image of an ingot with assay chips cut off opposing corners."

Figure 24, Page 43

In addition to the great back-of-the-book research documentation, there are detailed footnotes on every page.   Note #97 describes the source of the above sample of the scrip notes used at the Heintzelman Mining Co. of Tubac, Arizona Territory.  The lion denotes the $10 denomination (and ten lions are depicted at the left and right sides of the note).   

This is an unusual style of scrip, and I'd never seen a note by this issuer before.  The footnote is particularly tantalizing because the source is unpublished.   Kudos to author Franklin for uncovering this gem (and so many others).  Here's the text of the note:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization
promoting numismatic literature. For more information please
see our web site at
http://www.coinbooks.org/.

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