The E-Sylum v18#14 April 5, 2015

The E-Sylum esylum at binhost.com
Sun Apr 5 19:01:06 PDT 2015


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


Volume 18, Number 14, April 5, 2015
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WAYNE'S WORDS: THE E-SYLUM APRIL 5, 2015
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NEW BOOKS IN THE MONETA SERIES: #183-184
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EL SITIO NO. 14 PUBLISHED
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NEWMAN NUMISMATIC PORTAL INTERVIEW MARCH 2015
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APRIL FOOL: PIERCED COINS
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DAVID GANZ ON FRANKLIN MINT FOUNDER JOSEPH SEGEL
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THE FRANKLIN MINT AFTERMARKET
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NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: APRIL 5, 2015
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MANKATO DAKOTA INDIANS HANGING ITEMS
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MORE ON COIN DEALER CHARLES L. STAKE
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MORE ON THE MONTROVILLE DICKESON PHOTO
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SELECTIONS FROM THE POGUE COLLECTION, PART I
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COMPARISON BETWEEN COIN AND BOOK COLLECTING
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RAY WILLIAMS FEATURED IN APRIL 2015 NUMISMATIST ARTICLE
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HAND-ENGRAVED 1849 PATTERN GOLD DOLLAR
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FREEDOM’S FIRST CON
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DIX NOONAN WEBB OFFERS AUSTRALIAN CONVICT TOKENS
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STANLEY GIBBONS FAILS TO COLLECT FOR £1M COIN SALE
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QUEEN HOSTS 2015 MAUNDY SERVICE
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PERSHING AND MARSHALL CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDALS 
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CHARLES RILEY NUMISMATIST MEDAL 2015
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MEDALLIST JOSEPH MOORE
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MALAYSIA BANK AUCTIONS SPECIAL SERIAL NUMBERS
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DEFIANCE BANK BUILDING HOUSES TUTTLE MUSEUM
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HARLAN J. BERK 193RD BUY OR BID SALE
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BANKNOTE ORIGAMI ANIMALS DISPLAYED IN RUSSIA
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FEATURED WEB PAGE: EXONUMIST.COM
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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 APRIL 5, 2015






New subscribers this week include:
Gary Smith,
Jeffrey Gresser, 
Gail Rollins and
Robin Hill.
Welcome aboard!
We now have 1,844 subscribers.


This week we open with two new books, one new periodical, and a video interview about the Newman Numismatic Portal project.
Other topics include  April Fool articles, early coin dealer Charles Stake, the Pogue Collection, coin and book collecting, and the 2015 Royal Maundy service.


To learn more about Royal Proclamation medals of Fernando VII, Joe Segal, Charles Riley, Ray Williams, the Tuttle Museum, Ed Moy's phone number, the Mankato Indian uprising, John Dannreuther's broken arm, and a hand-engraved U.S. pattern coin, read on.   Have a great week, everyone!


Wayne Homren
Editor, The E-Sylum




	
NEW BOOKS IN THE MONETA SERIES: #183-184


Here are the latest publications on monetary history from Georges Depeyrot. Thanks.
-Editor









Latest MONETA publications (March 2015) 


M 183, J. Ch. Moesgaard, Les trésors monétaires médiévaux découverts en Haute-Normandie (754-1514), Collection Moneta, 183, Wetteren, 2015, 308 p. ISBN 978-94-91384-51-6


For more information, or to order, see:

www.moneta.be/volumes/moneta_183.htm



M 184, Documents and Studies on 19th c. Monetary History, Korea, Le commerce de la Corée selon Victor Collin de Plancy ministre plénipotentiaire (1887-1906), S. Michon, préf. de G. Depeyrot, Collection Moneta, 184, Wetteren, 2015, 152 p. ISBN 978-94-91384-52-3


For more information, or to order, see:

www.moneta.be/volumes/moneta_184.htm
 

 
Order on Moneta www.moneta.be with Paypal 
Order on disdocs 

http://disdocs.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=11 

with Visa and MasterCard 
Follow Moneta on Facebook 

https://www.facebook.com/collection.moneta 
 


MONETA publishes books on numismatics, monetary history, economy, from antiquity to present, all continents, all languages, see www.moneta.be.



	
EL SITIO NO. 14 PUBLISHED


Horacio Morero, President of the Instituto Uruguayo de Numismática, submitted this summary of the contents of the latest issue of the club's publication El Sitio. Thanks!
-Editor



 
“El Sitio” N° 14 contains, in its 34 pages, three numismatic articles and the chronicle of the New Year celebrations.


The cover of “El Sitio” N° 14 shows the pictures of the 4 centesimos gold pattern minted in Paris in 1869. The set of three gold patterns (4, 2 and 1 centesimos) was auctioned by Heritage Auctions for $ 49,350 in January 5th, 2015.


The three published articles are the following:


1) Conchillas and its tokens: the Walker ranch and the Evans grocery, by Miguel Garepe Sallé. This is a nice story of these two issuers of tokens in the Conchillas city, in the Colonia Department. 


2) Royal Proclamation medals of Fernando VII:  initial fidelity to the Spanish monarch in the Virreinato del Río de la Plata, by Santiago Blanco.


3) Identifying shearing tokens (fourth part), by Horacio Morero. This article refers to five Ranchs: “Santa María” and “La Esperanza” in Durazno Department; “La Pradera” and “San Juan” in the Cerro Largo Department and “El Coronilla” in the Flores Department.


To read the complete issue, see:


www.iunuy.org/designroom00/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/ElSitioN%C2%BA14.pdf










	
NEWMAN NUMISMATIC PORTAL INTERVIEW MARCH 2015








At the Whitman Baltimore show last Friday I stopped by the CoinWeek table and was interviewed on video by Charles Morgan about the Newman Numismatic Portal project.   David Lisot ran the camera, and he deftly fitted me up with a microphone, like an experienced tailor measuring for a bespoke suit.  Charles took two pens from my shirt pocket, noting "...or else you'll look like Poindexter."  These guys are clearly pros who have done this before.  We did it all in one take, and I think it came out pretty well.  Check it out.  There will be something in the portal for every numismatist.


Chris Fuccione was the first E-Sylum reader to notice this was published.  Thanks!


To view the complete video, see:


CoinWeek: Coin Info to Be Online with Newman Numismatic Portal Project. VIDEO: 4:27.

(www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuLBxnlThHM)



	
APRIL FOOL: PIERCED COINS


David Pickup's article about a new book on pierced coins raised a few eyebrows last week.
-Editor



Ralf Böpple of
Stuttgart, Germany writes:


I got very excited by the headlines, reading that there would be a study on holed coins (one of the greatest mysteries for anybody collecting Mexican coins, like me). However, the article itself quickly left a hole in my heart...


By the way, the German word for hole is "Loch", just like the Scottish lakes (but from a different etymological background). It thus comes complete with the famous guttural sound that apparently German is famous for...



Bob Van Arsdell writes:


No mention of bitcoin files with holes in them?



Anne Bentley writes:


Great April Fool's article, Wayne. Kind of makes me wish the hole book was real ;-)




At least one U.K. reader was fooled and contacted a dealer inquiring about buying the book.  Maybe someone ought to write one!
-Editor



On a related topic, Ken Barr writes:


I posted my annual April Fool's Day article in the Usenet rec.collecting.coins newsgroup on 4/1.  
"New 'First Slabbed' Procedure Announced by American Numismatic Association"..



To read the complete article, see:


APRIL FOOLS!!!!

(www.kenbarr.com/aprilfools.html)


Scott Barman got in on the act in his Coin Collectors Blog:


Congress Reauthorized Old Denominations

(http://coinsblog.ws/2015/04/congress-reauthorized-old-denominations.html#sthash.RTpCVRUj.dpbs)


And don't forget the American Numismatic Society's April 1, 2015 post:


BUDDING BILLS PERPLEX NUMISMATISTS

(www.anspocketchange.org/money-harvest/)








Don't let my kids see this - they think money really DOES grow on trees...
-Editor



To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:


NEW BOOK: PIERCED COINS

(www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v18n13a03.html)



	
DAVID GANZ ON FRANKLIN MINT FOUNDER JOSEPH SEGEL


David L. Ganz submitted these thoughts on Franklin Mint founder Joseph Segel.  Thanks!
-Editor



The item about Joe Segel is the cause of my writing this email late on Sunday night. To say that his actions with Franklin Mint ignore serious numismatics (relegating him to the medal man) just doesn’t begin to reflect how intense a person he was and how he influences modern numismatics even today.  


Joe was born in 1931 and by a remarkable coincidence, went to high school in suburban Philadelphia with my ex-wife’s mother, Irene Lamnin. I was looking one day (casually) at her year book and found Joe’s picture labelled “Most Like to Succeed”. Wow, did he.
 

Joe figured out that you could take a lump of precious metal (first silver, later gold) invest in die charges and striking (minting) charges, and then triple his money after expenses.
 

Joe was a marketing genius (he also founded QVC) and hired top talent like GIlroy Roberts, then Chief Engraver of the US Mint (Joe hired him away), and strongly promoted the Token & Medal Society and the American Numismatic Association.
 

Segel opposed bicentennial medals, not coins but ultimately accepted the Bicentennial Commission's recommendation to do both.
 

My untold story about Joe Segal is that in 1969, just after I started college at Georgetown University, I was already well-known in the hobby as a writer. (My column “Under the Glass” was running in Numismatic News Weekly in addition to spot news items). So imagine my surprise when a letter from Franklin Mint arrived offering me a job with all of three weeks of college under my belt. (The salary was around $19,000 as I remember, stock options, and a whole lot more.) 


I never calculated what that would have been worth (and didn't become a Franklin Mint stockholder until the following year), but the stock went from $1.42 (in 1967) to over $42 a share by 1969 and then kept splitting. Eventually it became part of Time Warner and America on Line (AOL).  But I am getting ahead of myself.

 
All I ever wanted to be was a lawyer, so I said no., stayed the course, and as you know from my comment a couple of weeks ago, almost went to work for FAO (the oldest independent UN agency) after graduating Georgetown and going to work at Krause in Iola.
 

Anyway Joe Segel not only made medals but Franklin pioneered private mints striking foreign coinage - not only circulation strikes but proof versions for collectors.

 
 Joe Segel is 84 or so now and I haven’t seen or heard from him in years, but, wow, did his action have an impact on my life!


To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:


A SHORT HISTORY OF THE FRANKLIN MINT

(www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v18n13a14.html)









	
THE FRANKLIN MINT AFTERMARKET


Last week I asked, "Do any of our readers know of particular Franklin Mint issues that have seen interest in the aftermarket?"
-Editor



Ken Potter writes:


Yes, the Pharmacy Set, the Freemasonry set, and some other very limited editions have always done well for me.  I've been looking for over 20 years for a Franklin Mint Collectors Society Cruise medal to Mexico.  I'd pay quadruped spot or more to get one.  I have all the others.  Additionally, many pieces taken from sets have topical interest and sell well -- Babe Ruth, bla bla bla.  Corvette ingots also do well.



To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:


A SHORT HISTORY OF THE FRANKLIN MINT

(www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v18n13a14.html)



	
NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: APRIL 5, 2015


 Queries: Judd, Lohr Birch Cents Sought 
Saul Teichman writes:



Does anyone know who owns Dr. Judd’s plain edge Birch Cent which is the only other believed to grade Uncirculated besides the recently sold Garrett-Patrick coin ?  
To my knowledge, it has not appeared since its offering in the Kosoff’s Illustrated History of US Coins which was a fixed price list of Dr. Judd’s coins.


Also, the fixed price list of the Lexox Lohr patterns had a lettered edge example graded XF which is also unidentified.


Any help the E-sylumites can supply would be greatly appreciated.



To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:


THE BUSHNELL-PARMELEE BIRCH CENT BRINGS $1.2M

(www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v18n13a16.html)


 The Birth Cent Sold by  Stack's-Bowsers Galleries 
Tom DeLorey writes:


As to the $1.2 million "penny," here is a news blurb that called it a "Birth Cent." If you watch the attached video, you will see that it was sold by "Stack's-Bowsers Galleries!"




The article was written by St. Louis Fox2 crack reporter, "STAFF WRITER"
-Editor



To read the complete article, see:


America’s first penny sold at auction, worth way more than 1 cent

(http://fox2now.com/2015/03/28/americas-first-penny-sold-at-auction-worth-way-more-than-1-cent/)


To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:


THE BUSHNELL-PARMELEE BIRCH CENT BRINGS $1.2M

(www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v18n13a16.html)


 Another Reason to Like Ed Moy 
1792 was a hugely important year for American coinage.  When a 1792 Birch cent sold recently, former U.S. Mint director Ed Moy tweeted


Prototype US penny sold for 117.5 million pennies. There's a reason why my cell # ends in 1792!




A 1792 cell number is just too awesome.
And no, I'm not going to berate him for using the word "penny."
-Editor



To read the complete tweet, see:


Prototype US penny sold for 117.5 million pennies. There's a reason why my cell # ends in 1792!

(https://twitter.com/EdmundCMoy/status/581673823575121921)

 Where is Victor, Colorado? 

On a different topic, Tom DeLorey writes:


A minor quibble...Victor, Colorado is Southeast of Cripple Creek, not Southwest. We drove through there last Summer after visiting Cripple Creek.



Dave Hirt adds:


On the Lesher Dollars, there was a detailed account written by Dr. Philip  W.Whiteley, serialized in the Numismatic  Scrapbook Magazine in the 1958 Oct.-Dec. issues. It gave history, photos of the coins, pedigree information, and rarity.   If any of our readers have these issues, I believe they will find them interesting.  



To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see:


LESHER REFERENDUM DOLLARS

(www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v18n13a12.html)

 Red Book Frosted Flakes 

Dave Lange writes:


When I saw Mary Burleson holding the deluxe Red Book it took me a second or two to realize that it was not a box of cereal. That's exactly what it looks like in the photo, and I thought, Wow! That's cross-marketing in the extreme---Red Book Frosted Flakes.



To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:


NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: MARCH 29, 2015 : The New Deluxe Redbook

(www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v18n13a08.html)

 Coins of the British World 

Ed Hohertz came through with a nice image of the dust jacket from Robert Friedberg's book Coins of the British World (1962).  Thanks!  E-Sylum readers are the best.


To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:


NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: MARCH 29, 2015 : 'Coins of the British World' Cover Image Sought

(www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v18n13a08.html)


 Numismatic Library Photos 

Dave Hirt writes:


I really enjoyed the photos of the west coast library. I remember when I suggested readers do that, and sent photos of my library. Several people told that they liked them.



To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see:


THE DAVID HIRT NUMISMATIC LIBRARY

(www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v15n31a18.html)

A WEST COAST NUMISMATIC LIBRARY

(www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v18n13a35.html)



	
MANKATO DAKOTA INDIANS HANGING ITEMS


I get schooled every day while working on The E-Sylum.  And each day is a surprise, because I rarely know what topics will pop up or which article will generate response.  This week's hot topic is Matt Hansen's question about numismatic representations of the mass execution of 38 Dakota Indians by hanging on December 26, 1862, at Mankato, Minnesota.
-Editor



Pete Smith writes:


I grew up in New Ulm, Minnesota, about thirty miles upriver from Mankato. In August of 1862 the town was attacked twice by Indians. In early years this was called the Indian Massacre of 1862. Local militias repelled both attacks but the town was later evacuated to Mankato.


I graduated from high school in 1962, the year of the centennial commemoration of the event, then known as the Sioux Uprising of 1862. I participated in various events related to the centennial.


I then went to college in Mankato. I was very familiar with the site of the hanging. At one time a local museum had one of the timbers from the scaffolding used to hang the 38 Indians. I heard later that the timber had gone missing..


Another fifty years have passed and the event is now known as the Dakota Conflict of 1862, unless I have missed another politically correct change of name. I certainly would have paid attention to a medal depicting the hanging, but I can't recall seeing one.


There are a number of badges and medals related to the events in New Ulm. I have looked through the collection of such medals at the Brown County Historical Society. They do not appear on the market frequently and are expensive when offered.


There is a beer tray depicting the hanging in 1862 and some print items. Again they are actively collected.


I haven't visited the Blue Earth County Museum since I graduated from college. They might have some items related to the hanging. I can assume that if I haven't seen such medals, they are probably quite rare.




Alan found this image of the beer tray he mentioned.
-Editor








Jerry Adams of
Keller, Texas writes:


I was aware of the numismatic representation of the hanging of the 38 Sioux, and have held one of those medals in my hand and examined it first-hand. They are evidently pretty rare as it is the only one I have ever seen "in hand".  The one I saw and handled was at the National Token Collectors Association annual token show in Fargo, N.D. in September 2010.  Since the medal was issued in 1899 and the hanging was in 1862, some 37 years later, Mankato memorialized its history, just as Gettysburg or Chickamuga.  History is often written with blood.  








Alan V. Weinberg writes:


There are a number of rare 1862 Lakota Massacre Hanging advertising  items known. One is this very  rare brewery advertising  mirror in my collection.


There is also a large very colorful tin serving tray depicting the mass hanging of the 38 Lakotas. 


Seems the circa 1900 advertising crowd thought this Civil War era  mass hanging was worth celebrating in Minnesota history.









Kay Olson Freeman writes:


The token was made by Whitehead & Hoag Co., Newark, NJ. (marked “W. & H. Co. Newark, NJ” on reverse, under “Mankota, Minn”).
The partnership of Benjamin Whitehead and Chester Hoag started in 1892.


The scene of the hangings was first shown contemporaneously in Frank Leslie’s Illustrated News in January 1863. W.H. Childs did the sketch for the lithograph. This is the source for all depictions of the hangings.
I do not know who “W.H. Childs” was.


I first learned of the 1862 hangings through an article “A Souvenir Spoon with a Horrific Story” by Robert Wilhelm in the March/April 2006, SILVER magazine, p. 14.


Wilhelm’s article illustrated the scene (engraved finely) in the bowl of a silver souvenir spoon manufactured by Watson & Newell Co., Attleboro, MA.  The handle of that spoon was in the “Poppy” pattern @ 1902-1904.


A different souvenir spoon, called the “Mankota Spoon,” with the same hanging scene engraved (rather crudely) in the bowl, was discussed in 2008 on the PBS TV show “History Detectives.”


That souvenir spoon was then thought to be dated @ 1902.  No maker of the spoon was mentioned. Its handle design pattern differed from the Watson & Newell – not floral but baroque curves.


The TV show (segment can be read online) explained why souvenirs, such as Matt Hansen's token, would be made in the late 19th C. – early 20th C. about an event that occurred much earlier.



To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:


QUERY: MANKATO DAKOTA INDIANS HANGING ITEMS SOUGHT

(www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v18n13a20.html)









	
MORE ON COIN DEALER CHARLES L. STAKE


In the I-should-have-known-this-would-happen department, I quickly got a response from John Lupia about the question on Ohio coin dealer Charles Stake.
-Editor



John writes:


I had Stake on my website for some time now. I am planning a full biography of him to be printed as a small book at some future date. I am glad to see there is interest in him.  He had kidney and liver disorders and was a cripple. These conditions limited his capacity. He was a small time dealer, which was undoubtedly attributable to his ill health.   




Thanks!
John's Encyclopedic Dictionary of Numismatic Biographies‎ is available at his Numismatic Mall web site, linked below.  Here's a short excerpt from the entry on Stake.
-Editor








Stake, Charles Louis (1854-1886),  in 1873, he was a student residing at Old (School District) No. 16, Centre Street, Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio; from 1875 -1877: 16 Maple Street, between Perry and Wilkinson Streets, Dayton, Ohio; from 1878-1880: 24 Maple Street, Dayton, Ohio;  From November 1880 : 223 South Jefferson Street, Dayton, Ohio. He was a small time coin dealer from 1875-1886, who specialized in Early American Copper. 


He was born the only son of two immigrants to America, Louis Stake (c.1829/32-1920), a French  émigré  and his German born wife Barbara Stake (1835-1901). Charles was very frail and suffered from various medical complications and was a cripple early in life. Yet he established himself as a lesser-known and obscure coin dealer with sporadic ads in    Numisma. He published a coin catalogue, monthly fixed price lists, and small mail bid auctions that averaged about 200 lots each. His largest known mail bid auction was Sale #1. August 15, 1882, 230 lots.


When he first began he had graphic illustrated letterhead and business envelopes with a hand drawing of a 1793 S.4, B.5 Chain Cent (period after date) for his numismatic advertising  printed on cadmium yellow deep as well as tan colored paper stock.  He was coetaneous and a true contemporary of the Chapman brothers who began dealing nearly three years before they began dealing independently from Col. John W. Haseltine.

We first learn of his coin dealership in 1875 in the Dayton City Directory. However, this listing did not last but that single year and we do not see him again as a coin dealer until 1878 when he began correspondence with the Chapman Brothers.


Seven months later he published an ad in Numisma citing “a neat 16 page pamphlet”    Catalogue of United States Coins, etc., for 15 cents beginning in March. (See Remy Bourne, FPL, Vol. 1). At that time he also advertised to his mailing list clients that he would bid for them at coin auction sales for a nominal fee of 10 per cent. His stock comprised of better specimens culled from change of common and scarce United States coinage as well as Colonial coins. He specialized in United States Large Cents, but also sold half cents, medals, tokens, books and electrotypes.


He was a steady customer with the Chapman Brothers from 1879-1886, and was a great haggler over prices.


Stake held at least 35 coin auction sales that were typically published monthly beginning in August 1882 until November 1885, of which, only 13 are known...



The article is well footnoted and illustrated with examples of his printed envelopes, one of which I've shown above.   Read the complete article online for a full list of Stake's known publications, and more illustrations.
-Editor



George Kolbe writes:


Since 1988, Kolbe & Fanning appear to have handled a copy or two of the 1879 Charles L. Stake list mentioned by accomplished numismatic bibliophile Dave Hirt in last week’s E-Sylum, but only two Stake auction sale catalogues have come up for sale: one his “Seventeenth Coin Sale," dated April 26, 1884; the other, his “Twenty Seventh Coin Sale,” dated February 28, 2885.


In Sales 100 and 101, however, the following quite interesting Stake publication was offered:



Stake, Charles L., Publisher. PAMPHLET. GIVING LIST OF DATES, WITH THEIR DEGREES OF RARITY, OF THE GOLD, SILVER AND COPPER COINAGE OF TH[E] [U]NITED STATES FROM 1793 TO 1858. Dayton: No. 24 Maple Street, circa late 1870s? (4) pages, last blank. Single sheet, folded in half. Once folded horizontally, a trifle dusty. Very good/near fine.


Not in Attinelli; likely issued after 1875. American Numismatic Society   Dictionary Catalogue page 4568 (the sole citation located). The only example we recall ever having encountered. It is included here [as part of the John W. Adams collection of Attinelliana] because it clearly is a shameless plagiarization of the tabular portion of Mickley’s 1858 work
[DATES OF UNITED STATES COINS AND THEIR DEGREES OF RARITY].
 In comparison to Mickley, it is a mean production, poorly printed on cheap paper, with nary a creative flourish. The two letters of the title reproduced within brackets above are altogether missing and the spacing and typography of the remaining words in the title are askew. 


Charles L. Stake was a pioneering if parsimonious Ohio coin dealer. In the 1880s, he conducted at least thirty-five coin auction sales, only a third of which are recorded in Gengerke. His various publications were apparently issued in small numbers and, at least in the case of the title at hand, were deemed unworthy of retention by his limited clientele.



Kay Olson Freeman did some independent research on Stake.   Her information is below.
-Editor





Charles L. Stake was born 1854 in Ohio.  He died May 25, 1886, Dayton.  

Buried Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum, Dayton.

In the 1880 US Census for Dayton, there is a notation that he is crippled.
Charles never married. He always lived with his parents. Charles died before his parents and his only sibling, a sister, who was older and married.

His father, Louis Stake, was born in Alsace-Lorraine. [The name may have originally been “Staeke.”]

His mother, Barbara nee Paul, was born in Germany (Baden?)  They married in Ohio in 1852. Barbara’s 1901 obituary, written in German, is online.

Louis Stake was a “last maker” for shoes.



Charles L. Stake in Dayton, Ohio City Directories:


1873 – CLS, student. old no 16 Centre

1874 – CLS no listing. Father Louis Stake, last finisher. 16 Maple betw. Perry and Wilkinson

1875 and 1876 – CLS, 18 Maple betw. Perry and Wilkinson [no occupation]

1877 – CLS, coin dealer. 18 Maple

1878 – CLS. 24 Maple. [no occupation]

1879: CLS, old coins. 16 Maple betw. Wilkinson and Perry

1880 – CLS, dealer in coins, 16 Maple St, betw Perry and Wilkinson

1881 – CLS. 223 S. Jefferson betw. 5th and 6th [no occupation]

1882: CLS, numismatologist. 223 S. Jefferson, between 5 and 6th. [also listed in 1882 business directory as Numismatologist]

1883, 1884: CLS, dealer in old coins.  223 S. Jefferson St.

1885: CLS, [no occupation].  223 S. Jefferson [final listing in directories]



Advertisement in Aug. 6, 1883, Troy (NY) Times. Charles L. Stake, 223 S. Jefferson St., Dayton, Ohio, endorses a patent medicine, Hunt’s Remedy.
Stake says he was a  “severe sufferer of weakness of kidneys and torpid liver.” [which was cured by Hunt’s Remedy]



Another numismatologist! Thanks, everyone.  This is great information.
-Editor



To read the complete article, see:


STAKE, CHARLES LOUIS
  
(https://sites.google.com/site/numismaticmallcom/encyclopedic-dictionary-of-numismatic-biographies/stake-charles-l)


To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:


QUERY: CHARLES L. STAKE

(www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v18n13a09.html)



	
MORE ON THE MONTROVILLE DICKESON PHOTO


  Julia Purdy wrote to Cowan Auctions for input regarding the Montroville Dickeson / Perrin Whitman photograph issue.  Here's their response.
-Editor





Thanks for your inquiry and interest in Cowan's Auctions. Thanks as well for providing us with links to the images we previously offered at auction that include the gentleman identified as Perrin Whitman. This identification almost certainly came via an outside scholar and former archivist at the Smithsonian that helps us in identifying figures in these early American Indian photographs. This scholar has written several books on American Indian photography, so she truly knows her stuff! Thus, we would agree with you that the gentleman pictured in the images is Perrin Whitman.




Steve Frank performed an interesting experiment with the photos.  Here are his results.
-Editor



I had asked the question that set Julia off on her research that calls into question whether the original labeling of the photo is correct or not. 


The funny thing, it took me several times going back to the photos, and concentrating more not he eyes before I eventually sided with Julia on the debate. 


Whether or not Dickeson would have been photographed with west coast tribal chief, I don’t know, but his area of work centered around the burial mounds and artifacts in the Ohio Valley. 


I told Julia that this reminds me of another little test I made a couple years ago. I am 53 and showed my Kindergarten class picture to several people to guess which kid I was.


8 of the people I asked were women, and 10 men.


They all took a minute or two, and only 1 of the men got it correct. 6 of the 8 women picked correctly!


That is a tremendous difference in results!!


As I wrote to Julia, I would suggest that the male participants try a little experiment, and get their spouses involved!!


Show the photos to their wives, and let them choose. 


There might be some surprises….women tend to look deeper, and the eyes play a more significant role.


Of course, this is a generalization, and there will be many exceptions, but short of hiring a facial recognition expert from the FBI, I would love to see the results of the spouse experiment!



Thanks, everyone.  Remember that Internet meme from a few weeks ago, about the photo of a dress some people saw as white and gold, and others saw as black and blue?  We had fun with that in our family, and opinions were divided about 80/20.    I was in the minority, but I'm used to getting outvoted in my house.  What do your family members say about the photo?  


Below is the composite image Steve put together with the known portrait of numismatic author Montroville Dickeson on the left, a photo of Indian interpreter Perrin Whitman on the right, and the photo of someone attributed as Montroville Dickeson with an Indian chief in the center.  As always, you can click on the photo to see a larger version in our Flickr archive.
-Editor








The New York Times has the best article I've seen on the dress photo topic.  See:


Is That Dress White and Gold or Blue and Black?

(http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/02/28/science/white-or-blue-dress.html)


To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:


QUERY: IS IT REALLY MONTROVILLE DICKESON IN THIS PHOTO?

(www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v18n13a10.html)



	
SELECTIONS FROM THE POGUE COLLECTION, PART I


My Stack's Bowers Pogue sale catalog (Part I) arrived the other day, and here are a few items that caught my eye (not like that aren't ALL worthy of attention, but I've picked a few).
-Editor


 Lot 1002: 1794 Flowing Hair Half Dime 






1794 Flowing Hair Half Dime. Logan McCloskey-3.


While the definition of what constitutes a Specimen has changed over time, the fact remains that a handful of special coins exists among coins struck at the Philadelphia Mint in the 18th century. They are distinctive not just for their grade, or their eye appeal, but for their method of manufacture and the care with which they were struck. Many, though not all, of these special coins happen to be from the first years of their design type. The reason they were produced was never recorded, and they rarely meet the modern definitions of what a “Proof coin” should be. However, experienced numismatists have long focused on these coins and elevated them, knowing that a scant few are just so clearly different from their ilk that particular forethought must have been involved in their creation.


This is one such coin, a first-year half dime of the Flowing Hair type that represents the birth of the denomination and the design type as coined within the Philadelphia Mint. Enough high grade 1794 half dimes have survived to identify this specimen as unlike the others. Rather than the cool, rolling, frosty luster of a typical Mint State 1794 half dime (prize coins in their own right), this example is boldly and undeniably prooflike. While many early strikes show some level of reflectivity, this coin displays purposeful polishing of the planchet that reflects both planning and a high level of interest of this particular specimen’s aesthetics from before the die faces met its surfaces. Further, the strike is far in excess of what even a boldly struck Mint State coin exhibits, with full details in all feathers, every star center, every denticle, and every strand of hair. A lint mark is noted over the left wreath end, near U of UNITED. The die state is exceptionally early, as 
 evidenced by the lack of the thin die crack that runs between stars 5 and 6 to the back of Liberty’s head on a diagonal through E of LIBERTY on the vast majority of coins.


To read the complete lot description, see:


1794 Flowing Hair Half Dime. Logan McCloskey-3. Rarity-8 as a Specimen. Specimen-67 (PCGS).

(www.stacksbowers.com/BrowseAuctions/LotDetail/tabid/227/AuctionID/6071/Lot/1002/Default.aspx)


 Lot 1034: 1796 Draped Bust Dime 






1796 Draped Bust Dime. John Reich-4. Rarity-4. Mint State-66+ (PCGS).


The finest example of a coin may not always be the prettiest, but this Superb Gem JR-4 1796 dime is almost certainly both...


Pedigree: Provenance: The Malcolm N. Jackson Collection; United States Coin Company’s sale of the Malcolm N. Jackson Collection, May 1913, lot 1000; Hank Rogers Collection, likely acquired in the 1940s; Hank Rogers to Jimmy Hayes at the American Numismatic Association Convention in New Orleans, by sale, August 1972; Jimmy Hayes Collection; Stack’s sale of April 1983, lot 1139; Paramount’s session of Auction ’84, July 1984, lot 612; Foxfire Collection (Claude E. Davis, MD); acquired with the Foxfire Collection, en bloc, by sale, October 5, 2004.


To read the complete lot description, see:


1796 Draped Bust Dime. John Reich-4. Rarity-4. Mint State-66+ (PCGS).

(www.stacksbowers.com/BrowseAuctions/LotDetail/tabid/227/AuctionID/6071/Lot/1034/Default.aspx)


 Lot 1128: 1808 Capped Bust Left Quarter Eagle 






1808 Capped Bust Left Quarter Eagle. Bass Dannreuther-1.


Celebrated by numismatists for over a century, this coin has been lavished with an embarrassing array of superlatives. Abe Kosoff called it “a dream coin, out of the famous Col. Green Collection,” further saying “to own this gem is to own a prize, indeed.” Its virtues have been sung by David Akers, Jimmy Hayes, and John Dannreuther (who broke his arm while accompanying Jimmy Hayes to buy this coin in 1983; luckily, the seller, Dr. Herbert Ketterman, was capable of setting the fracture). David Akers kept a framed photograph of this coin on his office wall.


Provenance: Lorin G. Parmelee Collection, before 1890; New York Coin and Stamp Company’s sale of the Lorin G. Parmelee Collection, June 1890, lot 856; John Story Jenks Collection; Henry Chapman’s sale of the John Story Jenks Collection; December 1921, lot 5792 (plated); Col. E.H.R. Green Collection; Col. E.H.R. Green estate to Burdette G. Johnson, via Eric P. Newman; B. Max Mehl’s Golden Jubilee sale (Jerome Kern), May 1950, lot 11; Dr. J. Hewitt Judd to Dr. Herbert Ketterman; Dr. Ketterman to Jimmy Hayes in Kansas City, Missouri, via sale, 1982; Stack’s session of Auction ’84, July 1984, lot 1372; David W. Akers Inc.’s session of Auction ’89, July 1989, lot 1361.


To read the complete lot description, see:


1808 Capped Bust Left Quarter Eagle. Bass Dannreuther-1. Rarity-4. Mint State-65 (PCGS).

(www.stacksbowers.com/BrowseAuctions/LotDetail/tabid/227/AuctionID/6071/Lot/1128/Default.aspx)









	
COMPARISON BETWEEN COIN AND BOOK COLLECTING


Dennis Tucker submitted these thoughts on coin collecting and book collecting.  Thanks! 
-Editor




I was reading Allen Ahearn's "Book Collecting: A Comprehensive Guide" (G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1989) tonight. He makes a comparison between coin collecting and book collecting, and the market forces and factors in each discipline.


"The prices in this book are intended only as guides. Most dealers in collectible books do not handle rare books per se; they handle scarce books. However, very fine copies of scarce books are rare. These fine copies command high prices from knowledgeable collectors and libraries because these buyers realize the true relative scarcity of such material. I am certainly not particularly knowledgeable about other collecting fields such as coins or stamps, but my impression is that if an individual wanted five very fine examples of a certain 'rare' coin or stamp and was willing to pay the going (not an inflated) price, they could be found within a few weeks. On the other hand, if an individual wanted to buy five very fine copies of a certain edition of a particular title, it might take a few years. And this is not just for books costing thousands of dollars; it's true of books that sell for only a few hundred dollars (or less)."



Ahearn's analysis of the rare-coin market, and also of the rare-book market, was modified a bit when the 1995 edition of his book was published. "Very fine copies of scarce books are rare" was softened to "very fine copies of scarce books border on being rare," and all discussion of particular "very fine" rare coins being hunted down five at a time over a matter of weeks, as if they were Thomas Kinkade prints or limited-edition Beanie Babies, was completely gone.



	
RAY WILLIAMS FEATURED IN APRIL 2015 NUMISMATIST ARTICLE



Dave Ginsburg writes:



The New Jersey Numismatic Society is pleased and proud to note that the April 2015 issue of  The Numismatist   includes an article by Ray Williams, our Vice President!


The article “An Evening with my Collection” features Ray’s reflections on nine types of coins and medals in his collection, which focuses on coins, tokens and medals that were used in, or pertain to, the lands that became the United States of America before the construction of the United States Mint in 1792.


Congratulations, Ray!  



Ray adds:

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