The E-Sylum v20n09 February 26, 2017
The E-Sylum
esylum at binhost.com
Sun Feb 26 20:11:10 PST 2017
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The E-Sylum
An electronic publication of
The Numismatic Bibliomania Society
Volume 20, Number 09, February 26, 2017
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WAYNE'S WORDS: THE E-SYLUM FEBRUARY 26, 2017
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NEW BOOK: A GUIDE BOOK OF U.S. COINS, 71ST EDITION
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NEW BOOK: IMAGES OF VALUE
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MERCANTI TO RECIEVE DAVID RITTENHOUSE AWARD
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A MINT CHIP IN THE NEWMAN COLLECTION
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IMPERFECT COINS SOUGHT FOR WHITMAN PROJECT
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NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: FEBRUARY 26, 2017
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PROFESSOR HELLMANN'S 1970S TEST NOTES
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WHAT THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE MEDAL LOOKS LIKE
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COLONIAL ARCHAEOLOGIST NOëL HUME
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VOCABULARY TERM: OVAL MEDAL
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RALPH RANDOLPH BARKER (1856-1913)
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REDFIELD HOARD HOUSE FOR SALE
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WHEN TIFFANY REDESIGNED THE GREAT SEAL
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1823 FIND OF OLD NEW JERSEY COPPER
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THE END OF CIRCULATING GOLD IN THE WEST
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ARTIST LAURIE MCGAW'S CANADA 150 COIN DESIGN
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ENGLISH BREAKFAST CONSIDERED FOR COIN DESIGN
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NUMISMATIC NUGGETS: FEBRUARY 26, 2017
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MORE ON NOODLE MONEY IN AMERICAN PRISONS
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NEW YORK TIMES REVIEWS IMAGES OF VALUE EXHIBIT
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NORTHWEST TERRITORIAL MINT OWNER LOSES $38M VERDICT
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WAYNE'S NUMISMATIC DIARY: FEBRUARY 26, 2017
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MEDALS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
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MEDALS OF BONNIE PRINCE CHARLES
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MEDAL MARKS 450 YEARS OF NETHERLANDS MINT HISTORY
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CANADA'S NEW ENDANGERED ANIMAL CUTOUT COINS
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PETITION SEEKS TRUMP U.S. GOLD COIN
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COUNTERFEITING CURRENCY FOR THE VIETNAM WAR
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BILL ENGRAVED WITH MICRO-PORTRAIT FOUND
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INDIA ATM DISPENSES PLAY MONEY
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CHINESE BANKNOTE BOUQUET
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FEATURED WEB SITE: THE GREAT SEAL
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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 FEBRUARY 26, 2017
New subscribers this week include:
A. Rahn,
Rich Mahan.
Welcome aboard! We now have 2,727 subscribers.
Thank you for reading The E-Sylum. If you enjoy it, please send me the email addresses of friends you think may enjoy it as well and I'll send them a subscription with your compliments. Contact me at whomren at gmail.com anytime regarding your subscription, or questions, comments or suggestions about our content.
This week we open with two new books, a Rittenhouse award, and a piece of the first United States Mint.
Other topics this week include imperfect coins, the Nobel Peace Prize medal, the Redfield Hoard, the Great Seal of the United States, William Shakespeare, Bonnie Prince Charles, a Trump gold coin petition, and a banknote bouquet.
To learn more about collector Ralph Randolph Barker,
Tiffany designer James Horton Whitehouse, painter Alonzo E. Foringer, the Puffin Coinage of Lundy, Professor Hellmann's test notes, and oodles of doodles and noodles, read on. Have a great week, everyone!
Wayne Homren
Editor, The E-Sylum
NEW BOOK: A GUIDE BOOK OF U.S. COINS, 71ST EDITION
Dennis Tucker of Whitman Publications forwarded this press release on the new edition of the Red Book. Thanks.
-Editor
The 71st edition of the hobby’s Guide Book of United States Coins (popularly known as the “Red Book”) will launch at the Whitman Baltimore Coin and Collectibles Expo on March 30, 2017. It features new and extensively updated content reflecting the current market for collectible coins. To celebrate the 225th anniversary of coinage at the Philadelphia Mint (1792–2017), the hardcover version of the Red Book’s 71st edition includes a commemorative gold-foil portrait of David Rittenhouse, first director of the Mint, who was appointed by President George Washington. The Red Book can be pre-ordered online (including at Whitman.com) in several formats, and after the Expo will be available from booksellers and hobby shops nationwide.
Coin collectors have used the Red Book to value their collections since the 1st edition was published in 1946. Senior Editor Kenneth Bressett noted that “The Red Book continues to be a reliable standard reference written not only for collectors, but by collectors. Through their constant vigilance and input, hobbyists contribute to the Red Book’s consistency and reflection of market trends.”
At 464 pages the new 71st edition prices 7,900 entries in up to 9 grades each, with more than 33,000 retail valuations in total. “The Red Book is an invaluable source of current price information combined with important historical information for each issue,” said Valuations Editor Jeff Garrett. The book has 2,000 images, including enlarged close-ups of rare die varieties, with 442 of them new this year.
“The United States Mint continues to innovate with creative new coin designs, as well as updating its ongoing coinage,” said Whitman publisher Dennis Tucker. “The new Red Book contains the most recent Lincoln cents, Jefferson nickels, Roosevelt dimes, America the Beautiful quarters, Kennedy half dollars, Native American dollars, commemoratives, official Mint coin sets, and bullion coins.”
The 71st-edition Red Book includes the new 2017-P Lincoln cents, struck in Philadelphia with a “P” mintmark (the first ever on a one-cent coin) to honor the 225th anniversary of coinage there. The book also includes the final issues of the Presidential dollar program: Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan. Special coverage is given to the 1916–2016 gold Mercury dimes, Standing Liberty quarters, and Liberty Walking half dollars, and to the Mint’s new program of High Relief American Liberty $100 gold coins.
The 71st edition covers 94 additional new issues compared to the 70th edition, and 11 new coin sets. Mintages have been updated across the board using the latest numismatic research and government data. Data and information on modern Satin Finish coins have been revised and updated.
The 71st edition continues a section that debuted last year, covering foreign coins that circulated as legal tender in the British American colonies and early United States. This section includes photographs, history, and pricing for collectible Spanish-American, Dutch, French, and English coins dating from the 1550s to the 1820s.
Expansions and updates are also seen in the appendices. The appendix on modern U.S. Mint gold and silver medals lists more than 30 medals and sets, now including the Young Astronauts medals, Benjamin Franklin Firefighters medal, 9/11 silver medal, and others.
As in past years, collectors will benefit from the Red Book’s recent auction records provided for significant rare coins. Listed throughout the charts are 194 notable auction results. Combined with the listed retail prices, the auction data help advanced collectors understand the modern market for high-end rarities.
In addition, the appendix of the “Top 250 U.S. Coin Prices Realized at Auction” has been fully updated. Since the last edition 3 more coins have broken the $1 million mark, for a new total of 93. The coin at #250, a High Relief, Wire Rim, MCMVII (1907) $20 gold double eagle, sold for $27,050 more than #250 in last year’s edition.
In a positive measure of the health of the hobby and ongoing numismatic research, the Red Book’s bibliography includes 29 standard references published within the past five years.
The cover of the spiral-bound 71st edition shows three classic American coins: a 1787 Fugio copper, a Barber half dollar, and a Liberty Head $20 double eagle.
Research Editor Q. David Bowers calls the Red Book “a one-book numismatic library.”
All versions and formats of the 71st-edition Red Book will be available at its national debut at the Whitman Publishing booth during the Baltimore Expo, March 30–April 2, 2017, at the Baltimore Convention Center.
A Guide Book of United States Coins, 71st edition
464 pages
Full color
By R.S. Yeoman; senior editor Kenneth Bressett; research editor Q. David Bowers;
valuations editor Jeff Garrett
$15.95 spiralbound
$17.95 hardcover
$19.95 spiralbound hardcover
$29.95 Large Print Edition
$49.95 expanded Deluxe Edition (1,504 pages)
$99.95 leather-bound Limited Edition (250 copies)
For more information, or to order, see:
www.whitman.com
NEW BOOK: IMAGES OF VALUE
Researcher Mark Tomasko has created a significant exhibition at The Grolier Club in New York City entitled "Images of Value: the Artwork Behind US Security Engraving 1830s-1980s." Here's the press release. Accompanying the exhibit is an extensive illustrated catalog.
-Editor
Images of Value: The Artwork Behind
U.S. Security Engraving 1830s-1980s
at the Grolier Club
The paper money we handle every day depicts familiar portraits of presidents
and statesmen, but how many people know that a woman's portrait was once a standard
likeness on federal currency? Or that a notorious showgirl's portrait was engraved for
bond coupons? Or that a portrait of one of Queen Victoria's daughters was turned into
"Young America" for use on stock certificates? The exhibition Images of Value: The
Artwork Behind U.S. Security Engraving 1830s-1980s, on public view at the Grolier
Club from February 22 to April 29, 2017, presents a rare look behind the images that
appeared on bank notes and securities produced in the United States for over 150 years.
For the first time visitors can see a remarkable range of original wash drawings
and paintings, period photographs and prints used to engrave the images on documents
of value for the United States and countries ranging from Argentina to China to Spain,
along with the documents on which the resulting engravings appeared. The exhibition is
primarily from the holdings of Mark D. Tomasko, a private collector, scholar, and
researcher who documents the engravers, artists, designers, and bank note firms.
Much news has been made in recent months about portraits of women coming to
U.S. federal paper money, but in reality it’s a case of women coming back to federal
paper money. Martha Washington’s portrait was a constant presence on US Silver
Certificates from 1886 to the turn-of-the-century, and possible sources for the image used
are on display along with the Silver Certificates on which she appeared.
Before the Civil War banks were chartered by the states, and most local banks
issued their own bank notes. This created a large demand for quality paper money and
gave rise to a thriving group of bank note engraving firms, effectively making the U.S. the
world leader in security engraving by the late 1850s.
Exquisite miniature drawings by Asher B. Durand, George W. Hatch, Henry
Inman, and Thomas Birch illustrate the era when artwork needed to be drawn in a very
small size to be engraved. Photography later liberated the artwork from the miniature
size (the art could be photo-reduced to the size to be engraved). The result was the
golden age of wash drawings, 1850s-1870s, with marvelous allegorical and genre
drawings by American artists including the outstanding F. O. C. Darley, whose drawings
of the American scene set a high standard. Featured in the exhibition are Darley's
drawings of Union Civil War soldiers, and some of his genre subjects. Other noted artists
shown for this era include James D. Smillie and Walter Shirlaw.
American and European prints of the mid- and late-nineteenth century include
several remarkable mid-century French chromolithographs of female heads, an art
engraving of one of Queen Victoria’s daughters (turned into a security engraving entitled
“Young America”!), a large theater poster, and a large print of Rosa Bonheur’s Horse Fair
(one of the largest paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, at 8’ x 16’). Horse Fair
became an engraving 1 1⁄2” x 3 1⁄2” and was used on documents as diverse as an 1870s
Bolivian bank note and an 1880s New York City street railway bond.
By the twentieth century photographs became more commonly used as the
artwork source for bank note picture engravings. On view are photographs of Chinese
subjects turned into engravings on bank notes for China but produced by American bank
note firms. Other period photos used for engravings include a large panorama of Lower
Manhattan in 1904 and a portrait of Evelyn Nesbit, the “girl in the red velvet swing” who
became a decorative engraving for coupon bonds.
Alonzo E. Foringer, a muralist who had worked for Edwin Blashfield, is a star of
the show, with his large oil paintings of allegorical females produced from the 1910s to
the 1940s. The finest picture engravers created the best allegorical engravings of the
twentieth century from Foringer’s work, a marriage of engraving and art that has never
been equaled. Known today primarily for a World War I Red Cross poster, Foringer’s real
achievement is his bank note art, which graced the stocks and bonds of hundreds of U.S.
companies and at least 50 bank notes of foreign banks and governments.
Robert Lavin followed Foringer and became the second greatest security
engraving artist of the twentieth century, working in the 1960s-1980s. His allegorical
paintings, and paintings of working people (perhaps best described as “Capitalist
Realism”), became the leading picture engravings for stocks and bonds in the later
twentieth century. Some examples of other artists’ work of the 1950s and 1960s are also
shown in the exhibition.
CATALOGUE:
The exhibition Images of Value: the Artwork Behind U.S. Security Engraving 1830s-
1980s, sponsored by the Grolier Club’s Committee on Prints, Drawings, and
Photographs, is accompanied by a full-color catalogue with a preface by William H. Gerdts.
PUBLIC EVENTS:
Free Lunchtime Exhibition Tours led by curator Mark Tomasko: February 22, March 1, 8,
15, 22, and 29, 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm.
Illustrated Talk by the curator followed by a Panel Discussion on the Artwork Behind U.S.
Security Engraving: Tuesday, March 7, 2017, 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm.
ABOUT THE GROLIER CLUB:
Founded in 1884, the Grolier Club of New York is America’s oldest and largest society for
bibliophiles and enthusiasts in the graphic arts. Named for Jean Grolier, the Renaissance
collector renowned for sharing his library with friends, the Grolier Club’s objective is to foster the
study, collecting, and appreciation of books and works on paper.
VISITING THE GROLIER CLUB:
47 E. 60th Street,
New York, NY 10022
212-838-6690
Hours: Monday-Saturday, 10 AM to 5 PM
Admission: Open to the public free of charge
www.grolierclub.org
See an article later in this issue with more information and images about the exhibit. Meanwhile, bibliophiles and researchers should consider adding a copy of the catalog to their libraries. This looks like a quality production incorporating original artwork and of course, the scholarship is top-notch.
-Editor
Mark Tomasko adds:
It's an unusual exhibition, as I don't believe there has been another one like it, showing 150 years of prints, drawings, photographs, and paintings used for security engraving. There are over 250 items in the show, mostly in groups of three, namely (a) the artwork; (b) a die proof of the engraving; and (c) one or more documents of value (bank notes or securities, mostly) on which the engraving was used.
There is a 173 page catalogue, with most everything illustrated, in color, available for purchase at the Club or by mail from Oak Knoll Books, for $40. Every copy has an intaglio print as the frontispiece, of the signature image of the show, "Abundance," a painting by A. E. Foringer done in 1927 for American Bank Note.
IMAGES OF VALUE: THE ARTWORK BEHIND US SECURITY ENGRAVING · 1830s-1980s.
Tomasko, Mark D.
New York, NY: The Grolier Club, 2017.
8.5 x 11 inches
Paperback with flaps
174 pages
ISBN: 9781605830674
Price: $40.00
For more information, or to order, see:
IMAGES OF VALUE: THE ARTWORK BEHIND US SECURITY ENGRAVING · 1830s-1980s. - See more at: https://www.oakknoll.com/pages/books/129450/mark-d-tomasko/images-of-value-the-artwork-behind-us-security-engraving-1830s-1980s#sthash.TZ89Cpmj.dpuf
(www.oakknoll.com/pages/books/129450/mark-d-tomasko/images-of-value-the-artwork-behind-us-security-engraving-1830s-1980s)
MERCANTI TO RECIEVE DAVID RITTENHOUSE AWARD
A February 23, 2017 Coin Update article announces a prestigious award being given to former U.S. Mint Chief Engraver John Mercanti.
-Editor
The board of directors of Historic Rittenhouse Town, located in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, will award the 2017 David Rittenhouse Award to John Mercanti at its annual gala in May. “The David Rittenhouse Award honors those who demonstrate excellence as it represents one of the many contributions that Rittenhouse made to American History,” said Barbara Rittenhouse, board president. “David Rittenhouse was an amazing man. In his lifetime, he was an astronomer, inventor, mathematician, surveyor, and the successor to Benjamin Franklin as president of the American Philosophical Society. We reserve this prestigious award for those who’ve contributed their talents at the highest level to our nation.”
John Mercanti produced more coin and medal designs than any other employee in the history of the U.S. Mint. He designed the American Eagle platinum obverse and silver reverse; the 50 State Quarters reverses for South Dakota (2006), West Virginia (2005), Iowa (2004), Arkansas (2003), Louisiana (2002), North Carolina (2001), and Pennsylvania (1999), and the following commemoratives:
1984 Olympics gold $10 obverse and reverse
1986 U.S. Statue of Liberty silver $1 obverse
1989 U.S. Congress Bicentennial gold $5 obverse and reverse
1990 Eisenhower Centennial silver $1 obverse
1991 Mount Rushmore Golden Anniversary gold $5 reverse
1991 Korean War Memorial silver $1 obverse
1991 USO 50th Anniversary silver $1 reverse
1992 Christopher Columbus Quincentenary silver $1 obverse
1994 Vietnam War Memorial silver $1 obverse
1994 Bicentennial of the U.S. Capitol silver $1 reverse
1995 Centennial Olympics silver $1, Cycling obverse, Track & Field obverse
1995 Civil War Battlefield silver $1 reverse
1996 Smithsonian 150th Anniversary silver $1 reverse
1998 Black Revolutionary War Patriots silver $1 obverse
2000 Library of Congress bimetallic $10 obverse and silver $1 reverse
2000 Leif Ericson silver $1 obverse
2001 U.S. Capitol Visitor Center silver $1 reverse
2002 Olympic Winter Games silver $1 obverse
2002 West Point Bicentennial silver $1 obverse
2003 First Flight Centennial 50c obverse
2004 Thomas Alva Edison silver $1 reverse
2005 Chief Justice John Marshall $1 silver obverse
2007 Jamestown 400th anniversary $5 gold obverse
He is also the designer of the Perth Mint’s successful wedge-tailed eagle bullion series (which are sold directly by the Perth Mint as well as by third-party vendors like APMEX).
Born in Philadelphia, Mercanti received his artistic training at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the Philadelphia College of Arts, and the Fleisher Art Memorial School.
Previous recipients of the David Rittenhouse Award have included Derrick Pitts, chief astronomer and planetarium director of the Franklin Institute; Keith Thompson, executive officer of the American Philosophical Society; and Owen Gingrich, professor emeritus of astronomy and of the history of science at Harvard University and a senior astronomer emeritus at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.
The award will be part of a year-long celebration of the 225th anniversary of David Rittenhouse’s being named the first director of the U.S. Mint. (This anniversary, naturally, parallels the Mint’s own 225th anniversary; Historic RittenhouseTown, however, is a separate entity.) It will be presented to Mr. Mercanti on May 17, 2017, for his decades of service and outstanding work as the 12th chief engraver/sculptor of the United States Mint.
I would encourage E-Sylum readers who are in the area to consider attending the event to meet and honor a great gentleman and leader of the U.S. Mint.
-Editor
To read the complete article, see:
2017 David Rittenhouse Award to honor John Mercanti, 12th chief engraver/sculptor of the Mint
(http://news.coinupdate.com/2017-david-rittenhouse-award-to-honor-john-mercanti-12th-chief-engraversculptor-of-the-mint/)
For more information, see the Historic RittenhouseTown web site.
-Editor
The 2017 David Rittenhouse Award Dinner honors John Mercanti, former Chief Engraver and Sculptor of The United States Mint.
VIP ticket: $195
Includes VIP cocktail reception, dinner and early access to the silent auction
Regular ticket: $145
Includes dinner and silent auction
To read the complete article, see:
http://rittenhousetown.org/special-events/
A MINT CHIP IN THE NEWMAN COLLECTION
Newman Numismatic Portal Project Coordinator Len Augsburger provided this update on the digitization of the Eric P. Newman correspondence files. Thanks.
-Editor
Digitization of the Eric P. Newman correspondence files continues apace, with correspondents through the letter “J” now posted on the Newman Portal. In processing the letter K, we came upon an interesting letter of acknowledgement from Newman to Alexander Kaptik, who in 1966 donated to the Eric P. Newman Numismatic Education Society a specimen of timber recovered from the demolition of the first United States Mint in 1911.
Newman writes in part “We are simply delighted…It is one of those strange replicas which brings a nostalgic feeling to everyone in numismatics. It must be a wish that they could have been there to witness the operations. This piece of timber saw some beautiful coinage and witnessed brutal toil which went into its production.”
Kaptik was active in the Philadelphia Coin Club, bourse chairman of the 1957 Philadelphia ANA, and served on the Assay Commission in 1965. Kaptik likely received this piece from George Cucore, a fellow Philadelphia Coin Club member, as detailed in Secret History of the First United States Mint (Whitman Publishing, 2011), pp. 80-85.
Link to Newman correspondence on the Newman Portal:
https://nnp.wustl.edu/Library/Archives?searchLetter=E
IMPERFECT COINS SOUGHT FOR WHITMAN PROJECT
Dennis Tucker of Whitman Publishing forwarded this request for assistance on an upcoming publishing project.
-Editor
Whitman Publishing is looking for sharp, high-resolution photographs or scans of “problem” coins to illustrate in upcoming books. Hobbyists who share their images will be credited in the books’ acknowledgments.
“Most of the time we show Mint State pieces with strong details, to give our readers a good understanding of each coin type or die variety,” said Whitman publisher Dennis Tucker. “But coins with problems can be educational, too.”
The publishing firm is looking for coins with: PVC damage; bag marks; scratches; edge bumps, nicks, or dents; holes; or extreme wear.
Image files should be at least 300 dpi at two times actual size. Scans and cell-phone photographs are acceptable as long as the image is high-resolution and clearly illustrates the coin’s problem.
Collectors with images to share can contact Dennis Tucker at dennis.tucker at whitman.com.
This is something I'm sure most of us could contribute to in some fashion or other. Please reach out to Dennis if you think you might have useful item for illustration.
-Editor
To read the complete article, see:
Whitman Publishing Wants Your Imperfect Coins
(http://news.coinupdate.com/whitman-publishing-wants-your-imperfect-coins/)
NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: FEBRUARY 26, 2017
Ordering Lunch at the Old Treasury Vault
Eric Hodge writes:
I thank you, once again, for an informative and thought provoking weekly numismatic update. The item that attracted my attention was the second photograph in the Old U.S. Treasury Vault article. Is the gentleman standing right at the back using a mobile phone?
I think he's ordering pizza for the gang's lunch ...
-Editor
To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
THE OLD U.S. TREASURY VAULT
(www.coinbooks.org/v20/esylum_v20n08a22.html)
More On One-Cent Checks
Jeffrey Zarit writes:
When I moved from Chicago to Dallas in 1980, Illinois Bell Telephone sent me a one cent check that has been on the wall of my office ever since.
And
I stayed at the Sheraton in Mexico City many years ago and complained about the telephone charges that were charged. They sent me a check for 50 cents (25 cents a day) for my stay there and that check is also framed with the above one cent check.
Another reader writes:
I used to write one-cent checks as payment for credit card accounts. These were additional payments, after I had already made a payment in the minimum amount (or more). Reason I did this was twofold:
1) as a protest against the bank's high interest charges, by adding to their expense by making them process a check for one cent (and yes, they DID process them!).
2) This was back when the banks actually returned cancelled checks, so I figured/fantasized that if I ever got famous I'd have additional signed checks that I could sell to fans and collectors. Hey, a guy can dream, right?
Thanks, folks. In another souvenir from the era when banks returned cancelled checks, I was delighted to notice how artist J.S.G. Boggs had endorsed two checks I'd given him. In the rectangle reserved for a signature on the back of each check, he'd made a colorful drawing. Putting the two checks together the complete image of a motorcycle was revealed. I still have them.
-Editor
To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: FEBRUARY 19, 2017 : One-Cent Checks
(www.coinbooks.org/v20/club_nbs_esylum_v20n08.html)
More on Withdrawn Coins
David Pickup writes:
Last minted in 1956 the farthing was not demonetised until 31 December 1960, when they ceased to be legal tender.
Decimal Day was 15 February 1971 but many coins were not withdrawn for years. Sixpences were last minted in 1967 but were not withdrawn until 30 June 1980. These coins were favourites with the public and there was a strong attachment to them. I suspect there will be a similar reluctance to withdraw the penny if that happens.
Thanks. Old habits die hard. When people are used to using certain coins from childhood it's tough to let go.
-Editor
To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
'ROUND POUND' TO BE RETIRED OCTOBER 15, 2017
(www.coinbooks.org/v20/esylum_v20n08a27.html)
Bear Island, Norway
Last week I asked for more information about Bear Island, the location of this note from the Lyn Knight sale.
Dave Ellison writes:
Bear Island is the southernmost island of the Norwegian Svalbard archipelago. The island is located in the western part of the Barents Sea, approximately halfway between Spitzbergen and North Cape, Norway. The whole island was privately owned by the coal mining company Bjornoen AS from 1918 to 1932, when the Norwegian state took over the shares. The note dates from this period of economic activity.
Ron Haller-Williams provided some Wikipedia links.
Thanks, everyone.
-Editor
Bear Island (Norway)
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear_Island_(Norway))
Bjørnøen
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bj%C3%B8rn%C3%B8en)
To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
SELECTIONS FROM THE KNIGHT 2017 PCDA SALE
(www.coinbooks.org/v20/esylum_v20n08a19.html)
More On Grading Paper Money
Ron Thompson of
Decatur, GA writes:
I enjoyed and can relate to David Gladfelter’s comments on grading paper money. However, I can also empathize with the grading services a bit.
All grading is subjective so I would say to look at the item in the holder and not the grade on it when making a purchase decision. With that in mind, the more similar items you have graded the more consistency can be achieved in grading standards. Today billions of coins are being pumped out by the various mints. The biggest problem with these might be the tug between technical and market grading. Going back in time there were fewer coins produced that have survived and many different techniques used to produce them so more flexibility in what is graded for those coins would be expected. Similar points could be made for paper money, however, paper money is a relative new comer, both to the world and to grading so there may be a learning curve here.
Surviving U. S. paper money and documents from prior to and even during the Civil War could be far fewer than similar coin items and even if they survive they are more fragile. Survivability of paper money is also impacted by the fact that there is no underlining silver or gold value once the paper money is no longer honored. The result is that there are more problems (stains, pin holes, corner clips, uneven cuts, etc.) with generally limited surviving paper money and documents. This fragility has led some collectors and the grading services to encapsulate items that might not otherwise be encapsulated and graded. I have seen several items encapsulated by PCGS without grades presumably to protect them.
There is also another factor at play here, knowledge. There is a large amount of literature available on coins from ancient times to today. Thus expertise can and is developed quicker and easier for the coin collectors and graders than for paper money collectors and graders. Finding literature on many paper money series is relatively hard and expensive. Only in this century has the literature gap begun to be addressed. Newman issued his “vastly improved” (his opinion) fifth edition of The Early Paper Money in America in 2008. Whitman has started to update Haxby’s four volume set of Standard Catalog of United States Obsolete Bank Notes 1782-1866 (1988 – poor quality pictures) in 2014 with a projected 13(?) volume set (roughly $50-$60 a volume) of Whitman Encyclopedia of Obsolete Paper Money. These two cover continental & colonial and non-Federal obsolete bank issues only.
There are a number of insurance, mining, railroad, turnpike, merchant and other issues and lots of local scrip issues not covered by these references. This means you have to hunt for almost always out-of-print limited editions for a specify area or series, if there is something written on them. The Society of Paper Money Collectors has tried to address this by issuing a number of books on obsolete currencies by state but some need updating and others need to be issued. Presumably the grading services have extensive libraries to consult but graders need to learn and absorb this information before grading paper money. The graders always seem to be good at the grades, but not so much on the identification, variety and other factors. I suspect some are involved in OJT like we learned about some of the graders for medals. I have resubmitted and gotten corrections at no cost on paper money items I thought they have done a poor job with the identification/variety.
Bottom line, I would rather see a questionable item encapsulated with the appropriate comments on the front or reverse, rather than have the item rejected.
Thanks. All excellent points. Keep on collecting, studying, researching and writing, everyone!
-Editor
To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: FEBRUARY 19, 2017 : On Grading Services
(www.coinbooks.org/v20/esylum_v20n08a12.html)
More on the Puffin Coinage of Lundy
Regarding the Puffin Coinage of Lundy,
Ron Haller-Williams writes:
I'm surprised that the original Coin World article (and The E-Sylum item) did not picked up on these points:
(a) Harman was charged with contravening Section 5 of the Coinage Act of 1870, though this is briefly mentioned in the video, and the last few words of the Coin World headline hint at it: "(well, maybe not legally)".
He appealed from the verdict of the Petty Sessions (i.e. Magistrates' Court), to the High Court of Justice, where he also lost and was fined £5, with fifteen guineas (£15 15s) costs.
(b) There have been restrikes dated 1965 (by John Pinches), 1977 (by Coincraft?) and 2011. The 1929 originals have the edge inscription "LUNDY LIGHTS AND LEADS", while the others (and some patterns of 1929) have plain edges, except for a reeded edge on the 2011 6-puffin coin.
By the way, you faithfully reproduce the CoinWorld typo: Harmon for Harman in "“Harmon ordered 50,000 ..."
The video soundtrack states that the puffin was halfpenny sized and the half puffin was the size of a farthing – this is accurate only with reference to the pre-1860 copper coins.
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coins_of_Lundy
https://www.coincraft.com/1977-jubilee-lundy-set
twice shows the wrong original date (1928), and states that the 1965 sets were by the Franklin mint.
It also states that the Coinage Act case went to the House of Lords – as does
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Coles_Harman
Even without the legal hassle, Harman could not have made much from this enterprise (unless he envisaged selling some later, at a premium) - just £19 7s 6d on an outlay of £293 2s 6d, by my reckoning, for coins with a face value of £312 10s; that's ignoring postage, letters and presumably phone calls – plus the overheads of accounting for the things!
I had thought (obviously wrongly) that the edge inscription was the only feature which differentiated the 1965 issues from the 1929 ones.
Thanks! Who knew there was so much to know? (Not me).
-Editor
To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
THE PRIVATE PUFFIN COINAGE OF LUNDY
(www.coinbooks.org/v20/esylum_v20n08a26.html)
PROFESSOR HELLMANN'S 1970S TEST NOTES
Last week I asked if anyone had more information about the above test note illustrated in last week's article about the Lyn Knight sale. As usual, an E-Sylum reader was all over it.
Author Gene Hessler provided the following information from the 4th edition of his great book U.S. Essay Proof and Specimen Notes.
-Editor
[The late] Professor Roman Hellmann [who was the designer at the National Bank of Austria] had a close working relationship with Gualtiero Giori at De La Rue Giori in Switzerland. In 1971 when a particular printing press was in the development stage, Mr. Giori asked Professor Hellmann to design some notes to be printed when the press was ready. "The pioneering type of printing that Mr. Gori intended to create was called multi-intaglio or "'Orlof intaglio.'"
In 1970, during a visit to De La Rue Giori, Professor Hellmann met Director Conlon of the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and printing (1967-1977). Subsequently Professor Hellmann created two U.S. designs in a water color technique. One of them was in the conventional genre of the U.S. dollar but with greatly improved security devices. Sample prints were not possible, as the Orlof intaglio printing press would not be in existence until 1998. Both essays are identified on the face as Series 1970B. (Professor Hellmann sent this information to me. For his biography see The International Engraver's Line.)
Gene adds:
The back design, shown in The E-Sylum, with a parabolic reflector symbolizes the modern development trends in Edison's telegraphy, according to Professor Hellmann.
When I attended the Memphis show about ten years ago someone had an example of this back design. It was neither engraved nor embossed but printed by thermography, a printing method that poorly simulates intaglio. The source is unknown to me, even though the Knight catalog states Norway.
To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
SELECTIONS FROM THE KNIGHT 2017 PCDA SALE : Lot 616 U.S. Test Proof Note One Dollar
(www.coinbooks.org/v20/esylum_v20n08a19.html)
THE BOOK BAZARRE
SELECTIONS FROM THE JOHN HUFFMAN LIBRARY: Browse and Shop Approximately 3,000 Numismatic Books from the Respected Library
of John Huffman—All Books Discounted 40%. Click here or go to
www.SecondStorybooks.com click on “All Subjects” and select “John Huffman Collection”
WHAT THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE MEDAL LOOKS LIKE
An E-Sylum reader points out a glaring mistake in last week's item about the upcoming sale of a Nobel Peace Prize medal. Thanks!
-Editor
I saw your note on the upcoming Nobel Peace Prize sale . You mention the reverse isn’t shown. Well, unless I’m missing something, the obverse in the PR release isn’t even of a Peace Medal. That’s the Erik Lindberg portrait which was used on the Literature, Medicine, and Physics and Chemistry medals.
The designs for the Peace Prize were awarded to the Oslo-based sculptor Gustav Vigeland (1867–1943). I think it was the only medal he ever designed, and since he was not a medallist the reductions were done by Lindberg.
Here’s what the Peace medal portrait looks like.
Not as familiar as Lindberg’s.
Thanks! I guess the Publicity folks weren't talking to the cataloguers. I haven't had time to check the auction site to see if the lot description has been posted.
-Editor
For more information on the Nobel Peace Prize, see:
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/
To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
CHRISTIE’S TO OFFER NOBEL PEACE PRIZE MEDAL
(www.coinbooks.org/v20/esylum_v20n08a28.html)
COLONIAL ARCHAEOLOGIST NOëL HUME
David Sundman forwarded this New York Times obituary of colonial archaeologist Noël Hume. Thanks.
-Editor
Ivor Noël Hume, an accidental, self-taught English-born archaeologist who unearthed the earliest extensive traces of British colonial America, a town that had vanished after a massacre almost 350 years earlier, died on Feb. 4 at his home in Williamsburg, Va. He was 89.
In 1970, as the director of archaeology at Colonial Williamsburg, Mr. Noël Hume was searching in the ruins of Carter’s Grove, a nearby 17th-century plantation along the James River, when he and his colleagues discovered the remains of a once-fortified settlement called Wolstenholme Towne.
The site was founded in 1619 by 220 men and women who had arrived on the vessel Gift of God to establish a plantation for the Virginia Company of London. The settlement, named for John Wolstenholme, a prominent company shareholder, was about nine miles downstream from Jamestown, where colonists had first landed 12 years before.
As the head of archaeology at Williamsburg and an author of ultimately more than two dozen books, Mr. Noël Hume endowed the unvarnished artifacts he unearthed with a social and economic perspective.
The newspaper Antiques and the Arts Weekly recently credited his books, lectures and television presentations with propelling the field of historical archaeology “to the forefront of his profession.”
Reviewing his book “The Virginia Adventure,” the historian Arthur Quinn wrote in The New York Times Book Review in 1994 that Mr. Noël Hume “will charm the mute artifacts into speaking about subjects on which the written record has preferred to remain silent.”
David points out this paragraph, "which illustrates the positive aspect of collecting ancient coinage."
-Editor
Mr. Noël Hume, who had been fascinated by artifacts since he received a gift of ancient Greek coins as a child but who did not have a degree in archaeology, proudly considered himself to be a historical detective.
“Historical archaeology,” he wrote, “simply means hunting for physical evidence and reviewing it alongside the testimony of people who knew or saw what happened.”
To read the complete article, see:
Ivor Noël Hume, Archaeologist of Colonial America, Dies at 89
(www.nytimes.com/2017/02/19/us/ivor-noel-hume-dead-archaeologist-colonial-williamsburg.html)
VOCABULARY TERM: OVAL MEDAL
Dick Johnson submitted this entry from his Encyclopedia of Coin and Medal Terminology. Thanks.
-Editor
Reason for this Henry Ford Centennial Medal, 1963, was obvious for the oval Ford trademark or logo. Sculptor Ralph Menconi created an attractive oval obverse in horizontal format. Vertical oval medals are somewhat more common making this medal more distinctive.
Oval Medal.
An ellipsoidal shaped medal. This UNUSUAL SHAPE is aesthetically pleasing, more so if the oval shape is meaningful to the subject or topic of the medal, as an oval halo of a religious medal. Struck oval medals are created by striking within special COLLARS, or by the use of special TRIMMING DIES; cast medals can easily be made in oval shape. Among oval medals vertical ovals are slightly more popular than horizontal. Most CAMEO medals are likely oval in shape; oval medals makes excellent pendant medals.
Oval die problem. Oval medals present somewhat of a problem to the diesinker, engraver or sculptor not present in round medals, in that the shape of the obverse must exactly match that of the reverse (the contour of the oval is not too round or too narrow). This can easily be resolved in modeling by preparing two BACKGROUND PLATES or basins of the exact congruent and matching shape before building up the relief. See MODELING.
Oval Indian Peace medals. The first American Indian Peace Medals, bearing the standing figure of George Washington, were all oval shaped. These hand engraved medals were probably designed this way for their intended purpose of being pendants to be worn by American Indian chiefs as recipients.
Beginning in 1879, when the United States Mint created a series of struck Indian Peace Medals, five of these retained the oval shape (IP-43 through IP-47). All others in the series were round. The oval shape required all pieces to be struck with oval collar dies used with oval collars (an innovation of the U.S. Mint in 1879).
Modified ovals. If a vertical oval has one pointed end, shaped like an almond, it is called a MANDORLA. If it has two pointed ends, it has a name in Latin, vesica piscis. Both of these oval shapes are symbolic for saints, the Virgin Mary, or other religious themes.
Some oval medals were created with a separate wreath usually attached to it afterwards; this was often done in Latin American countries. These were enclosed with a SURROUND, the separate wreath was not in the die but soldered to the medal after both were struck. Oval medals made as pendants and given to wedding guests in 17th century Germany were called
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