The E-Sylum v19n50 December 11, 2016

Sun Dec 11 17:54:47 PST 2016

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The E-Sylum

  An electronic publication of
  The Numismatic Bibliomania Society

Volume 19, Number 50, December 11, 2016
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WAYNE'S WORDS: THE E-SYLUM DECEMBER 11, 2016
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KOLBE & FANNING OFFER THIAN CONFEDERATE CURRENCY ALBUM 
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NEW BOOK: WORLD ORDERS, MEDALS AND DECORATIONS
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R. S. YEOMAN'S MOST USEFUL NUMISMATIC BOOKS
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NEWMAN PORTAL RELEASES NEWMAN MUSEUM VIDEOS
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HELP IDENTIFY THIS CATALOG OF ENGLISH COINS
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OMSA CAMPAIGNS AGAINST PURPLE HEART LEGISLATION
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NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: DECEMBER 11, 2016
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CHARLES BARBER "WOLFE TONE" TRIAL PIECE  
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THE BLIND COIN COLLECTOR VISITS SMITHSONIAN
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VOCABULARY TERM: ORANGE PEEL
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SILAS CURTIS STEVENS (1837-1919)
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BERNHARD COUNTERFEITER ADOLF BURGER DIES
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VAN ALLEN'S 1964 MORGAN DOLLAR ANALYSIS
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CBS SUNDAY MORNING VISITS CARNEGIE HERO FUND
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THOUGHTS ON THE U.S. MINT AND ITS PRODUCTS
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AUDIO: Q&A WITH RHETT JEPPSON OF THE U.S. MINT
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VIDEO: HOW MUCH U.S. CURRENCY COSTS TO MAKE
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NETFLIX COIN HEIST MOVIE
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MODERN FAKES OF ANCIENT COINS
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AVOIDING FAKE ANCIENT COINS ON EBAY
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IDENTIFYING OVERSTRUCK RUSSIAN COPPER UNDERTYPES: PART III 
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“UNA AND THE LION” PROOF SET OFFERED
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SOUTH GEORGIA SHACKLETON EXPEDITION COIN
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LONDON AUTHORITY IMPOSES MUDLARK PERMIT FEE
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CNG TRITON XX SALE HIGHLIGHTS
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STACK'S BOWERS 2017 NEW YORK COINS AUCTIONS
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STACK'S BOWERS 2017 NEW YORK PAPER AUCTIONS
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SPINK 2017 NEW YORK BANKNOTE AUCTION
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SELECTED TOKENS AND MEDALS FROM RECENT AUCTIONS
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HIDDEN PROPAGANDA IN WWII-ERA CHINESE BANKNOTES
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VIOLA DESMOND TO APPEAR ON CANADA'S $10 BILL
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IRAN MAY CHANGE ITS CURRENCY
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MORE ON ANIMAL FAT IN THE POLYMER BANKNOTES
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LIBRARY BOOK RETURNED 120 YEARS LATE
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AMAZING COIN STACKING VIDEOS
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FEATURED WEB SITE: OPERATION BERNHARD
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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 DECEMBER 11, 2016

New subscribers this week include: 
Mark Johnson and
Stuart Williams.  
Welcome aboard! We now have 2,042 subscribers.

This week we open with a headline lot from the Kolbe & Fannning 2017 New York numismatic literature sale, and one new book.  Other topics this week include the Wulfing collection, Purple Heart medal legislation, the Barber Wolfe Tone piece, dealer Silas C. Stevens, Operation Bernhard counterfeiter Adolph Burger, the Carnegie Hero Fund and its medals, modern fakes of ancient coins, and lots and lots and lots of coming auction highlights.

To learn more about the Thian Master Album, Richard Yeoman's Twenty-Five Most Useful Numismatic Books, the Newman Money Museum, the orange peel effect, corpses on holiday, a 1964 Morgan dollar hub analysis, the Lost in Space Robot dollar, the Coin Heist movie, Una and the Lion, mudlark permits,  the silver stater of Eminakos, the Swedish Palmstruch of 1666, a globus cruciger, Frank's faleristic library, and the rude gesture of Confucius, read on. Have a great week, everyone!

Wayne Homren 
Editor, The E-Sylum

KOLBE & FANNING OFFER THIAN CONFEDERATE CURRENCY ALBUM 

Here is one of the U.S. highlights of Kolbe & Fanning's 2017 New York sale - a magnificent Thain Confederate Currency album.
-Editor

The catalogue for Kolbe & Fanning’s 2017 New York Book Auction has been posted to the firm’s online bidding platform at 

auction.numislit.com. Every lot is illustrated in color and absentee bids can be placed at any time prior to the sale. Live internet bidding will be available during the sale itself through the same platform.

One of the highlights of this year’s sale is an original copy of Raphael Thian’s enormously important work The Currency of the Confederate States of America, Its Issues, Types and Series. This remarkable book, produced in very limited numbers beginning around 1885, is Thian’s magnum opus, exploring the paper money issues of the Confederacy in great detail and illustrating the text with actual specimens of Confederate paper money. The volume comprises not only a textbook on the subject, but a collection of the notes themselves: this particular example includes 297 specimens of Confederate currency, with only six of the rarest being 19th-century photographic reproductions. It is one of only a few such “Master Albums” in private hands. 

Raphael P. Thian (1830-1911) worked as chief clerk for the Adjutant General’s Office of the United States Army. He produced several works on the subject of Confederate currency, all of which were published in very small numbers. His 1880    Register of Issues of Confederate States Treasury Notes... has long been regarded as one of the rarest substantial works in American numismatics. Unlike Thian’s earlier works, the Master Albums sought to illustrate every variety of Confederate note issued, including watermark and plate variations and other differences deemed too minor to be included in an album more concerned with types. These Master Albums are usually undated, though three known examples bear presentation inscriptions dated between 1906 (this copy) and 1908. Given that Thian died in 1911, the Master Albums represent Thian’s final word on the subject that had fascinated him for so much of his life. 

Thian once wrote that “the history of the purse is as valuable as that of the sword.” As numismatists, we tend to agree. This example of a Master Album would constitute an extraordinary addition to even the most advanced numismatic library or collection of Confederate currency. 

Printed copies of Kolbe & Fanning’s 2017 New York Book Auction have been mailed to active customers on our mailing list. A PDF of the printed version is also available on the main Kolbe & Fanning website at numislit.com for anyone wishing to download the sale or search by keywords. 

The sale will take place on Saturday, January 14, 2017, beginning at 12:30 p.m. eastern time, at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in Manhattan in conjunction with the 2017 New York International Numismatic Convention. Please contact David Fanning at df at numislit.com with any questions.

I concur that this is "one of the rarest substantial works in American numismatics."   That qualifier "substantial" is important; while there are plenty of ephemeral and lesser items that may be unique, the Thian Master Album is one of the most important works ever produced on American numismatics, and it's a legendary rarity.  This is a rare opportunity to acquire a numismatic library centerpiece.
-Editor

To visit the Kolbe & Fanning web site, see: 

www.numislit.com

NEW BOOK: WORLD ORDERS, MEDALS AND DECORATIONS

Frank Draskovic submitted the following notice of the  availability of new and previous volumes of  Barac's Reference Catalogue of Orders, Medals and Decorations of the World. Thanks!
-Editor

Several collector pals who already have the first three volumes of Borna Barac's excellent series, "Reference Catalogue of Orders, Medals and Decorations of the World", have asked on multiple occasions when the final book, Vol. 4 of the identification and price catalog will be published. After several years in preparation they are now finally available and as the Euro is so low these days, the book is less expensive by at least $20 even though it is the largest volume so far, 576 pages with 7000 color pictures of ODMs (Orders, Decorations & Medals)! Each book measures 6 3/4" x 9 1/2".

I've ordered a quantity for So. Calif. Orders & Medals Society members for delivery at the December meeting later this month, but should any E-Sylum reader want a complete set, I'll be glad to supply it. The cost for a four volume set is $325 postpaid and insured for shipment within the USA, if paid by check or money order; $335 if paid by Paypal. For shipments to California addresses, add 9% sales tax. Foreign shipment is not available, but I can refer foreign buyers to a European supplier. We will likely have safer and faster mail service in a quantity shipment, than if the publisher mails single copies which are more easily lost in transit from Europe. Due to the lower Euro, a four volume set is now about the same price as most of us paid for the first three volumes only, thus it's a good time to buy all four as exchange rates can reverse. Books are shipped from Europe to California, then I'll trans-ship, so kindly allow about 30 days for delivery, especially during the ho
 liday season please.
1/2".

Since late 1988 when I began to build my faleristic library, I've spent multi-thousands on hundreds of books on individual countries, many being quite scarce or rare. I'd not want to give those up, but for someone who would like a handy desk top ODM reference and price guide for just about every order insignia or medal one would normally see, this handsomely produced series fills the bill nicely. Highly recommended.
1/2".

Reference Catalogue Orders, Medals and Decorations of the World to 1945. By Borna Barac.
1/2".

Volume 1. More than 3500 color illustrations, countries A – D, 360 pages. Includes Afghanistan, Albania, Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Croatia, Cuba, Czech, Dahomey. APPENDIX: Austrian WWI insignia, Croatian WWII insignia and Bulgarian insignia.
1/2".

Volume 2. More than 5500 color illustrations, countries D – G, 488 pages. Includes Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, England (United Kingdom), Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany (Anhalt, Augsburg, Baden, Bavaria, Brandenburg-Bayreuth, Brunswick, Bamberg, Bremen, Danzig, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hannover, Hanseatic cities, Hessen, Hohenlohe, Hohenzollern, Isenburg-Birnstein, Cologne, Limburg, Lippe, Lübeck, Mainz, Mecklenburg, Nassau, Oldenburg, Prussia, Reuss, Saxony).
1/2".

Volume 3. More than 6000 color illustrations, countries G-P, 480 pages.
Germany continued (Schleswig-Holstein, Schwarzburg- Rudolstadt & Sondershausen, Thuringen, Thurn und Taxis, Trier, Waldeck, Westphalia, Württemberg, Würzburg, German Empire, Third Reich), Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Hawaii, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India incl. Princely States, Indochina  (Annam, Cambodia, French Indochina, Laos), Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Italy (Lombardy, Lucca, Mantua, Naples & Sicily, Modena, Parma, Rome, Sardinia & Kingdom of Italy, Tuscany, Venice), Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lebanon, Liberia, Lichtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mexico, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru.
1/2".

Volume 4. More than 7000 color illustrations, countries P – Z   576 pages. Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal , Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia & Yugoslavia, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland , Thailand, Tonga,Tunisia, Turkey, United States, Uruguay, Vatican Venezuela, Yugoslavia (WW II), Zanzibar , Chief’s Medals of British Empire, Bhutan, Costa Rica, Cameroon, Jordan, Malaysia – Johor, – Kedah, – Kelantan, – Sarawak , Nepal, New Caledonia, Syria, Tadjourah.

Frank can be reached by email at

fdraskovic at hotmail.com
.
-Editor

For more information (including sample pages of the earlier volumes), or to order from the publisher, see: 

www.ormedec.com

R. S. YEOMAN'S MOST USEFUL NUMISMATIC BOOKS

Scott Miller writes:

I recently came across a list from a talk at the 1952 ANA entitled Twenty-Five Most Useful Numismatic Books selected by R. S. Yeoman.

Scott kindly provided a scan of this interesting item.  
My OCR made a jumble of the text's tabular format, so here's the image.
-Editor

It's a great list for 1952; any such list would be greatly different today, although  I'll bet Crosby's Early Coins of America would still be prominent.   What are the other "keepers" from this list that haven't been superseded by newer works?
-Editor

NEWMAN PORTAL RELEASES NEWMAN MUSEUM VIDEOS

The latest additions to the Newman Numismatic Portal are videos of the Newman Money Museum. Project Coordinator Len Augsburger provided the following report. Thanks.
-Editor

For those who have not had the opportunity to visit the Newman Money Museum at Washington University in St. Louis, a 12-minute overview video is now available on the Newman Portal.  Brief remarks from Eric P. Newman are interspersed throughout and provide Eric’s rationale and thinking behind the museum project.  Although the Newman Money Museum certainly contains any number of numismatic treasures, a closer look reveals the true challenge – to think more deeply about how societies physically interact with money, and how money conveys more than just monetary value. While the heyday of bank-based numismatic museums (the Chase Manhattan, the National Bank of Detroit, and others) is long gone, the Newman Money Museum continues on at Washington University in St. Louis, and this presentation provides an opportunity for anyone to make a virtual visit.

In addition to the overview video, individual videos of each separate exhibit in the museum have been posted, as well as the famous "talking Ben Franklin" animatron that greets museum visitors.

Link to Newman Money Museum videos on Newman Portal: 

https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/multimediadetail/515508

Here are selected stills from the videos.  There are 30 in all - enjoy!
-Editor

HELP IDENTIFY THIS CATALOG OF ENGLISH COINS

Len Augsburger writes:

E-Sylum readers are familiar with the Newman Money Museum and Newman Numismatic Portal, both administered through Washington University in St. Louis.  Another important resource at Washington University is the John Max Wulfing collection, an assemblage of Greek, and especially Roman, coinage. Wulfing Curator William Bubelis forwarded a manuscript document acquired by the collector Wulfing, c. 1900, likely in Europe. This catalog represents either an actual collection or perhaps was intended to serve as a collector's guide.  The script is neat throughout and likely represents a final copy prior to any publication. Can anyone identify the document or the author?

Interesting.
Perhaps our British readers can help with this.  Does this look familiar to anyone?  Thanks.

In 1987 the American Numismatic Society published a catalog of the Roman Republican coins in the Wulfing collection, as volume 7 in their Ancient Coins in North American Collections series.   Below is a link to a Washington University video about the collection.
-Editor

To view the Wulfing collection video, see: 

John Max Wulfing Coin Collection

(https://classics.artsci.wustl.edu/media/wulfing-coin-collection)
or

The John Max Wulfing Coin Collection

(https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/book/524382)

Newman Numismatic Portal Partner of the Week

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