The E-Sylum v21n15 April 15, 2018
The E-Sylum
esylum at binhost.com
Sun Apr 15 19:22:41 PDT 2018
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The E-Sylum
An electronic publication of
The Numismatic Bibliomania Society
Volume 21, Number 15, April 15, 2018
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WAYNE'S WORDS: THE E-SYLUM APRIL 15, 2018
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MORE KOLBE & FANNING SALE 149 HIGHLIGHTS
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BRYCE BROWN OFFERS JR JOURNAL BACK ISSUES
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Q. DAVID BOWERS' LATEST BOOK PROJECTS
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BOOK REVIEW: CONFISCATION
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VIDEO: PAPER MONEY OF SCOTLAND
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SPEAKER: WEINMAN ON THE 1933 GOLD DOUBLE EAGLE
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RON LERCH (1938-2018)
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CENTRAL OHIO NUMISMATIC ASSOCIATION ON PORTAL
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NEWMAN PORTAL SEARCH: HARDING INAUGURAL MEDAL
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PROVENANCE OF THE VERY FIRST LEGAL TENDER NOTE
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VIEWING COINS FROM MULTIPLE ANGLES
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NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: APRIL 15, 2018
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BANKNOTE PROTECTOR LETTERPRESS PRINTING
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IN PRAISE OF FORRER’S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY
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VOCABULARY TERM: SET
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HERBERT FREMONT SOVEREL (1861-1924)
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2018 ANA CLUB PUBLICATIONS CONTEST
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2018 ANA SUMMER SEMINAR COURSE ON MEDALS
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NUMISMATIC NEWS CLOSES IOLA BUILDING
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APOSTLE ISLANDS QUARTER RELEASED
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ROB GRONKOWSKI IS A COIN COLLECTOR!
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1796 COIN LADLE
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NUMISMATIC NUGGETS: APRIL 15, 2018
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BEWARE TRANSLATED PERSON AND PLACE NAMES
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THE INTAGLIO MINT
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WAYNE'S NUMISMATIC DIARY: APRIL 15, 2018
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ANIMALS ON ANCIENT COINS: PROVINCES AND MONEYERS
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1823 "PATCHED 3" CAPPED BUST HALF DOLLAR
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NEW VICTORIA BRITISH INDIAN COINAGE DIE VARIETIES
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THE 1920 SYDNEY SOVEREIGN
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TAIWAN WEIGHS REMOVING CHIANG KAI-SHEK PORTRAIT
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CANADA'S THUNDERBIRD COIN
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VIDEO: LOVE TOKEN BRACELET APPRAISAL
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NUMISMAGRAM MEDAL SELECTIONS: MUSIC
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THE GERMAN MANIA FOR SAVING
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SOMEONE STOLE MY ENTIRE BOOK
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DOYLE AUCTION HOUSE GOES HIGH TECH
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BRONZECHAIN: NEW HALLMARK FOR BRONZE
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IN OTHER NEWS: APRIL 15, 2018
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FEATURED WEB SITE: BANK OF JAPAN CURRENCY MUSEUM
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Click here to read this issue on the web
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To comment or submit articles, reply to whomren at gmail.com
Content presented in The E-Sylum is not necessarily researched or independently fact-checked, and views expressed do not necessarily represent those of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society.
WAYNE'S WORDS: THE E-SYLUM APRIL 15, 2018
We now have 5,809 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. Contact me at whomren at gmail.com anytime regarding your subscription, or questions, comments or suggestions about our content.
This week we open with highlights from the next Kolbe & Fanning numismatic literature sale, notes from Bryce Brown and Dave Bowers, a book review and an author video interview.
Other topics this week include the 1933 Double Eagle, letterpress printing of banknotes, Forrer's Biographical Dictionary, ANA news, the latest U.S. Mint coin launch ceremony, the Intaglio Mint, animals on ancient coins, the 1920 Sydney Sovereign, music medals, and the Bank of Japan currency museum.
To learn more about Corpus Nummorum Italicorum, the Harding Inaugural medal, George Blake, Marshall Lefferts,
Apostle Islands quarter designer Renata Gordon, Phalon's Hair Cutting token, Baseball Schedule tokens, slave badges, and Canada's Thunderbird coin, read on. Have a great week, everyone!
Wayne Homren
Editor, The E-Sylum
MORE KOLBE & FANNING SALE 149 HIGHLIGHTS
Here are some more highlights from the Kolbe & Fanning Sale #149, closing April 28, 2018. Thanks.
-Editor
MORE HIGHLIGHTS FROM KOLBE & FANNING’S APRIL 28 BOOK AUCTION
Kolbe & Fanning Numismatic Booksellers will be holding our Sale 149 on April 28, 2018. The sale includes 500 lots of books on ancient, foreign and U.S. coins, being further selections from the extensive library of William A. Burd, among others.
Some highlights include:
Lots 20 and 64
Lot 20: the complete three-volume set of Attianese on Greek coins of Calabria
Lot 43
Lot 43: a lovely set of the first edition (1859-68) of Cohen on Roman Imperial coins, bound in matching red half morocco
Lot 64: a set of the comprehensive catalogue of the McClean collection, now residing at the Fitzwilliam Museum
Lots 142 and 218
Lot 142: an attractive and rare 1614 illustrated edition of Vico on the 12 Caesars
Lot 218: George Francis Hill’s massive catalogue of the Gustave Dreyfus collection of Renaissance medals
Lots 273 and 312
Lot 273: a copy of the very scarce original edition of Prou’s classic study of Carolingian coins, unopened and in the original card covers
Lot 312: the Clain-Stefanelli’s complete set of the original edition of Corpus Nummorum Italicorum
Lots 378 and 431
Lot 378: a set of the first edition of Andrew McFarland Davis’s Colonial Currency Reprints
Lot 431: a bound volume of Lyman Low’s sales, complete for 1904 and 1905, and entirely priced
Lot 472: a complete set of hardcover catalogues of the John J. Ford, Jr. collection, as sold by Stack’s, 2003-13.
Bids may be placed via post, email, fax or phone, as well as online. Kolbe & Fanning uses Auction Mobility as our third-party online bidding platform. Auction Mobility is an app-based platform allowing users the ability to participate in the sale through phones, tablets and computers. To register for the sale, bidders must go to bid.numislit.com and sign up. Once you have set up an account, you may browse lots, place advance bids, or participate in the live sale online. Those wishing to participate on their devices can download the Kolbe & Fanning app through the Apple or Google Play Store.
The printed catalogue of Sale 149 has been mailed to active customers. A PDF of the printed catalogue has also been posted to our main website at numislit.com for those who prefer that format. Bids placed via post, email, fax or phone must be received by April 27, the day before the sale, in order for them to be processed. Advance absentee bids may also be placed online at
bid.numislit.com; live internet bidding will be available during the sale itself through the same platform.
Kolbe & Fanning Numismatic Booksellers LLC is a licensed and bonded auction firm in the State of Ohio. For more information, please see the Kolbe & Fanning website at
numislit.com or email David Fanning at
df at numislit.com. To register for the sale, go to
bid.numislit.com. We look forward to your participation.
To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
KOLBE & FANNING SALE 149 CLOSES APRIL 28, 2018
(http://www.coinbooks.org/v21/esylum_v21n14a02.html)
BRYCE BROWN OFFERS JR JOURNAL BACK ISSUES
The JR Journal is the official print publication of the John Reich Collectors Society. Numismatic literature dealer Bryce Brown of Connecticut has announced a sale on back issues in the electronic JRCS Newsletter.
-Editor
I'm holding a "50% off" sale of JR Journal past issues to reduce the JRCS inventory. This offer is valid for all orders received in April. Don't delay, because I only have one or two of many of the scarce issues.
For more information, or to order, see:
https://jrcs.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=74a0e3c37d154d935bdeb2daf&id=1930c784be&e=b41672a77d
For more information on the John Reich Collectors Society, see:
https://www.jrcs.org/
Q. DAVID BOWERS' LATEST BOOK PROJECTS
In the April 12, 2018 installment of his Stack's Bowers blog, author Dave Bowers discusses his latest projects.
-Editor
Hoards and finds are endlessly interesting. My Lost and Found Coin Hoards and Treasures book published by Whitman has been a best seller. I was delighted when I unexpectedly received this from the Midwest Book Review, a firm that makes recommendations to libraries and others:
"Synopsis: Lost and Found Coin Hoards and Treasures: Illustrated Stories of the Greatest American Troves and Their Discoveries is a richly illustrated book of true stories about lost and hidden treasures. Author Q. David Bowers takes you on an exploration of treasures from sunken ships, bank vaults and reserves, hidden compartments, buried chests and boxes, old safes, hideaways of pirates and privateers, cornerstones, barrels and casks, Mint and Treasury storage, wrecked buildings, caves and crevices, old estates, time capsules, forgotten collections, attics and basements, and other lost and hidden places. These valuable treasures and hoards of American coins had vanished from memory, but now many of them have been found. Some are still missing, and awaiting discovery! Lost and Found Coin Hoards and Treasures: Illustrated Stories of the Greatest American Troves and Their Discoveries is your ticket for an exclusive look behind the curtains of time, by a master storyteller a
nd America's best-known numismatist.
"Critique: An absolutely fascinating and profusely illustrated read from beginning to end, Lost and Found Coin Hoards and Treasures: Illustrated Stories of the Greatest American Troves and Their Discoveries is impressively well researched, written, organized and presented from beginning to end. Enhanced with an informative Foreword, Introduction, Credits and Acknowledgements, Endnotes, and an Index, Lost and Found Coin Hoards and Treasures: Illustrated Stories of the Greatest American Troves and Their Discoveries is very highly recommended for personal, community, and academic library collections."
Gosh, this makes me want to write another book!
Actually, at any given time, with the help of friends and researchers, I am usually working on several. Coming up soon will be the next edition of the Deluxe Guide Book of United States Coins, called Mega Red. My assignment is to update what is already there plus to add a couple hundred pages of new information and features. Mega Red 4, just released, has a special feature on dimes—dates, mintmarks, and varieties, plus information on minting and distribution and a special contribution, quite humorous, by Dr. Joel Orosz.
The S.S. Central America is on the front burner—a companion to the 1,054-page book published in 2001 (and today selling for more than issue price on the antiquarian book market; over 4,400 copies were sold). The new book, well underway, details the 2014 additional discovery and will be about 200 to 300 pages in length.
This brings me to the point of this week's discussion: a book can sharply enhance your enjoyment of numismatics. For a "good read" I repeat the special offer made a while ago for my book, U.S. Liberty Head Double Eagles: The Golden Age of Coinage. We had a very good response for this offer, but still have some copies available if you missed it the first time.
The list price of this book is $49.95. I offer you one for $25 plus $5 shipping to U.S. addresses. This offer is subject to availability.
To order: Call our Wolfeboro office at 866-811-1804 to purchase using your credit card. Or, you can send a check for $30 made out to Stack's Bowers Galleries to SBG/Book Department, PO Box 1804, Wolfeboro, NH 03894.​
To read the complete article, see:
Fascinating Coin Treasures!
(http://www.stacksbowers.com/News/Pages/Blogs.aspx?ArticleID=2929)
BOOK REVIEW: CONFISCATION
Robert Whitehead of Sautee-Nacoochee, Georgia submitted this review of Confiscation: Gold as Contraband 1933-1975.
Thank you!
-Editor
Thanks for the recommendation on Kenneth Ferguson’s new book “Confiscation.†This proved to be a well written retelling of the events surrounding the Roosevelt Administration’s confiscation of gold coins and the surrounding actions by Congress to affirm his decisions. While the times were different, and the Great Depression created the environment, I have always thought the action was excessive.
Mr. Ferguson’s explanation of the times, the events, and the Roosevelt actions help bring into focus which actions were needed and which were not needed. For any collector this is an important book to understand how world events can shape political actions that ultimately have great impact on our hobby. I would recommend this book to anyone remotely interested in the topic.
To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
NEW BOOK: CONFISCATION: GOLD AS CONTRABAND
(http://www.coinbooks.org/v21/esylum_v21n12a04.html)
VIDEO: PAPER MONEY OF SCOTLAND
David Lisot of CoinTelevision has published a video interview with Jonathan Callaway, author of the new book, Paper Money of Scotland.
-Editor
The long awaited book on Scottish bank notes is now available. After more then 10 years of research and study a compendium of two volumes has been released by Pam West as publisher of Britishnotes.co.uk and written by Jonathan Callaway and Dave Murphy. It contains information on all the Scottish notes printed since 1690. This is the book for Scottish notes!
To watch the complete video, see:
“Paper Money of Scotland†Book Now Available for Bank Note Collectors. VIDEO: 3:31.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OBFMsFNWCs)
To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
NEW BOOK: PAPER MONEY OF SCOTLAND
(http://www.coinbooks.org/v21/esylum_v21n09a09.html)
SPEAKER: WEINMAN ON THE 1933 GOLD DOUBLE EAGLE
The Pennsylvania Association of Numismatists has arranged for U.S. Mint Senior Legal Counsel Greg Weinman to present a lecture at their upcoming May show about the 1933 Double Eagles.
-Editor
Greg Weinman to present 1933 Gold Double Eagle lecture at the Spring PAN Show
Greg Weinman is Senior Legal Counsel at the United States Mint. In this role he serves as
counsel to the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee and the Mint’s Artistic Infusion Program.Â
Greg has served as the senior counsel responsible for managing the 1933 Double Eagle litigation.Â
Before coming on board with the United States Mint in 1997, Greg served six years as a Senior
Attorney with the Internal Revenue Service specializing in public contracts and licensing.Â
Between 1999 and 2000 Greg served the United States Mint as the Program Manager responsible
for the development and launch of the Golden Dollar. Greg is a native of Ohio where he earned a
Bachelor of Science in Education degree from the University of Cincinnati in 1988, and briefly
taught high school social studies before earning his Juris Doctor degree from the University of
Toledo in 1991. Greg is licensed to practice law in the District of Columbia and the State of
Ohio.
Â
The strange case of the 1933 Double EaglesÂ
In March 1933, as one of the many measures designed to reverse the Great Depression, President
Franklin Delano Roosevelt issued a Proclamation prohibiting payment of gold coin. This resulted
in the melting of 445,500 1933-dated, but never issued $20 Double Eagle gold coins previously
struck at the Philadelphia Mint. The only specimens to leave the Mint lawfully were two 1933
Double Eagles given to the Smithsonian Institution in 1934 for preservation in the National
Numismatics collection. Â
Â
After a 1933 Double Eagle appeared at auction in 1944, a Secret Service investigation led to the
recovery of nine stolen pieces that also were subsequently melted. A tenth piece was recovered
in 1996, with that case ending in a unique settlement under which that single coin was monetized
and issued by the United States Mint and sold at auction in 2002 for $7.6 million. Ten more
specimens surfaced in 2004, this time in the possession of the family of the Philadelphia Jeweler
who had facilitated the distribution of the stolen Double Eagles in the 1930s. Litigation ensued.Â
Â
Mint Senior Legal Counsel Greg Weinman will discuss and answer questions about the
extraordinary and intriguing case of the 1933 Double Eagles, the history, the litigation, and the
Mint plans for the preservation and display of these historic national treasures.
Mr. Weinman’s presentation will occur at the PAN Spring Dinner on Thursday evening May 10th
and again on Friday morning at 10:30am in the PAN Show Lecture Area. More information is available at
PANcoins.org.
THE BOOK BAZARRE
CARSON CITY MORGAN DOLLARS.
The fourth edition of Carson City Morgan Dollars has been updated and expanded with new historical photos and information about these popular and historic coins. Get your copy for $24.95 online
at
Whitman.com
, or call 1-800-546-2995.
RON LERCH (1938-2018)
On Saturday Fred Holabird wrote this remembrance of his friend Ron Lerch. Thanks.
-Editor
My good friend Ron Lerch passed away last night at the age of 80 years young. When I spoke to him last week, he was happy as a lark and full of life.
Ron and I met at Wendall Hammon’s new shop in Old Sacramento in 1974 or 1975, about the time I also met Ken Prag and Bob Greenwood in the same shop. Back then I was a budding young collector, mostly of stuff from my hometown area of Pasadena. It wasn’t until I moved to Nevada for my new job as an exploration geologist in 1976 that I started collecting Nevada.
Over the first few years of the mid-1970’s, Ron and I would see each other at various events around Sacramento. The paper collecting hobby was really just in its infancy, fed by John Howell, Bob Greenwood and Wendall. Wendall seized on the opportunity and created a book and paper show in Sacramento. This is where the world got to meet Ron Lerch and friends and experience his deep knowledge in western collecting. At the show, instead of splitting up the four paper guys – Ron, myself, friends Ken Harrison and Bob Greenwood, Wendall put us all together. It was a masterful move which kept us all close as friends and colleagues. As I recall, Ken Prag was also nearby, as were old friends Bill Berger and Jim Smalldon.
Ron was a staple at all the great western bottle shows since the 1970’s, setting up to trade, buy and sell tokens. He loved the collecting and the commraderie of the diverse interests of the collectors.
Ron and I became fast friends way back then, which continued forever. Whenever one of us needed info, we’d call. It was interesting that our two giant directory libraries were a compliment to each other – what I didn’t have, he did, and vice versa. We made great research friends.
Ron’s collecting passions crossed many, many collecting fields. I considered him an expert in a huge number of fields, especially western trade tokens.
He was a champion of men, a true gentleman, and a champion collector.
R I P
I'm sorry to hear this news. Ron was an E-Sylum subscriber and contributor, with quite a number of references in the Newman Numismatic Portal. he will be missed.
-Editor
CENTRAL OHIO NUMISMATIC ASSOCIATION ON PORTAL
The latest additions to the Newman Numismatic Portal are newsletters and presentations of the Central Ohio Numismatic Association. Project Coordinator Len Augsburger provided the following report.
-Editor
Central Ohio Numismatic Association (CONA) Content on Newman Portal
The Central Ohio Numismatic Association (CONA) has contributed its newsletters (2011-date) and presentation materials to Newman Portal. Apropos of tax day, Gerald Tebben recently presented at a CONA meeting on “Coins, Tokens, Checks, and 1913,†and this slide deck is now available on Newman Portal. Tebben traces various numismatic objects associated with taxes, from the whimsical (the Russian “beard tax†medal) to the practical (state sales tax tokens valued at 1/10 of a cent) – certainly more interesting than another recitation of the tax regulations for collectible coins! Newman Portal acknowledges Gerald Tebben for his assistance in providing the CONA material.
Image: Peter the Great Russian “beard tax†medal
Link to CONA Newsletters on Newman Portal:
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/publisherdetail/525608
Link to CONA presentations on Newman Portal:
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/publisherdetail/525609
Link to “Coins, Tokens, Check, and 1913â€:
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/book/544304
NEWMAN PORTAL SEARCH: HARDING INAUGURAL MEDAL
Project Coordinator Len Augsburger offers observations related to content being searched for on the Newman Numismatic Portal. This week's search term is “Harding Inaugural Medal.â€
-Editor
This week a Newman Portal user searched on “Harding Inaugural Medal.†This is one of the rarest pieces in the inaugural series. Neil MacNeil’s The President’s Medal (1977) records a census of two or possibly three in gold, four in silver, and “possibly less than 60†bronze pieces. Newman Portal uncovers only a small number of auction appearances, including two bronze examples in Stack’s Rich Uhrich sale (2/2008, lots 3626 and 3627, realized $29,900 and $14,950 respectively). The MCA Advisory (July 2007) notes a silver example in the 77th sale of Presidential Coin and Antique that sold for $40,825. Joe Levine illustrated the silver piece on the catalog cover, and regaled readers with the tale of a pair of these rare medals:
“This is one of only seven known silver Harding medals, two of which reside in institutional collections. It is an old friend! We first saw this medal over thirty years ago when, in response to our Washington Post ad seeking Harding Inaugural medals, we were summoned to the office of a prominent D C. real estate developer. He had told us that he possessed two Harding medals (which we just knew were going to prove to be U.S. Mint medals!) Imagine our surprise when we were shown not just two Harding medals, but two Harding Inaugural medals in silver! The two medals were owned by the family of Samuel J. Prescott, a Washington, D.C. banker and real estate developer who also was the chair of the D.C. Republican Party. Unfortunately, our offer for the pair was refused….â€
Image: Harding Inaugural medal from the Stack’s sale of the Rich Uhrich Collection (2/2008), lot 3627.
Link to MCA Advisory (July 2007) on Newman Portal:
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/book/512293?page=11
Link to Presidential Coin and Antique Sale #77:
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/auctionlots?AucCoId=511514&AuctionId=511929&page=110
Link to Stack’s sale of the Rich Uhrich Collection:
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/auctionlots?AucCoId=3&AuctionId=516996&page=361
PROVENANCE OF THE VERY FIRST LEGAL TENDER NOTE
Peter Huntoon submitted this update on the provenance of the first $1 U.S. Legal Tender Note. Thanks!
-Editor
Provenance of the Very First $1 U.S. Legal Tender Note
I figured I had run out of leads when I sent an update to E-Sylum concerning the three notes that Salmon P. Chase saved while serving as Lincoln’s Secretary of the Treasury. Through phenomenal good luck, I was wrong. A sensational revelation pertaining to his 1862 $1 legal tender note has emerged.
The notes under the glass are the following:
• $10 Demand Note, Act of July 17, 1861, serial number 1, plate position A.
• $1 Legal Tender Note, Act of July 11, 1862, series 1, serial number 1, plate position A.
• $5 National Bank Note, Act of February 25, 1863, Original Series, The First National Bank of Washington, DC, Treasury sheet serial 9, bank sheet serial 1, plate D.
As related previously, each of the three represents the first of its kind.
First $1 1862 legal tender note, Series 1, serial 1, plate position A. Photo from Reinfeld (1960, p. 62) that Reinfield obtained from the Chase Manhattan Bank collection.
Chase served as Lincoln’s Secretary of the Treasury during the Civil War between March 7, 1861 and June 30, 1864 and later as Lincoln’s appointee as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court from December 6, 1864 to May 7, 1873. He was the architect of the Treasury’s entry into the currency-issuing business so he was positioned to obtain the first of each. Best of all, in the case of the $1, he had seen to it that his portrait graced the note.
We knew that the $1 legal tender had been saved by Chase and carried by him to show off to friends and acquaintances. Its first numismatic appearance was at the hand of George Blake, the renowned turn-of-the-last century currency collector who exhibited the note at the 1914 American Numismatic Association convention in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Blake happened to have been born in Springfield in 1858, although at the time of the 1914 convention he was long a resident of Jersey City, NJ.
You might be interested to know that the convention was held August 22-26 in the White and Gold Hall of the Municipal Auditorium, whereas the business session was held in the magnificent Mahogany Room of the same building.
The official headquarters hotel was the Hotel Kimball, which “is the largest, most modern, and only absolutely fire-proof hotel in Springfield.†A suite of rooms was reserved for attendees as follows: rooms with running water and free use of bath $1.50 for one person per night or $2.50 for two. Not good enough, then reach for a suite with parlor, chamber and bath at $5.50 for one person per night or $9 for two. And by the way, “The roads throughout the New England States are of unexcelled quality, and those planning to go to the convention by motor should not hesitate to do so, as a tour through the beautiful scenery of New England is one not to be missed.â€
The $1 ended up in the Chase Manhattan Bank collection in New York City. I surmised that Blake sold it to the bank, but from there I lost track of it because it did not arrive at the National Numismatic Collection in the Smithsonian Institution when the bank donated its paper money collection to the nation.
Joe Sande caught me at the 2017 International Paper Money Show at Kansas City and advised that the Chase Bank still has the ace and it now resides in a small collection of historic treasures that is in their corporate offices in New York. It is in an exhibit that is not accessible to the public that also includes the Hamilton-Burr dueling pistols, among other high-power objects.
Of course, retaining ownership of the note by the bank made all the sense in the world. The first U. S. $1 note complete with Chase’s portrait goes straight to the very heart of the corporate identity of the bank. I should have anticipated that.
Luminary numismatic researcher Gene Hessler, author of U. S. Essay, Proof and Specimen Notes; The Engraver’s Line; An Illustrated History of U.S. Loans; The International Engraver’s Line as well as the Comprehensive Catalog of U. S. Paper Money, e-mailed me after he read my update with information that simply knocked my socks off.
Gene served as curator of the Chase Money Museum from 1967 to 1977. He was involved in the decision that led to the retention of the note by the bank in 1977.
Gene was prescient enough to save a photocopy of the most important document in existence that fleshes out the pedigree of the note. Feast your eyes on the content of a memo written and signed by George Blake in 1916 that tells how the note got from Chase to him.
New York, May 9, 1916
Statement of ownership of the very first one dollar note issued by the United States
This note bears the portrait of the late Hon. Salmon P. Chase, Secretary of the Treasury, and formerly Governor of Ohio, and was issued to him in August or September 1862.
Some time later Mr. Chase presented it to Horatio Beall, who came also, I believe, from Ohio.
>From Mr. Beall it passed to his daughter Alice, afterwards Mrs. Will, who is now a widow living in Chevy Chase, Maryland.
Mrs. Will retained the note until it was purchased by me in the year 1914.
(signed) George H. Blake
A numismatic paper trail doesn’t get more definitive than this!
Who was Horatio Beall? He was a manufacturer and purveyor of equestrian supplies, leather goods and related items in Washington, DC, during the period when Chase was in government there. Shown is Beall’s advertisement from the 1864 Washington City Directory.
Beall died March 27, 1865 on the eve of his 44th birthday. His daughter Alice died in 1933 at age 83. One discrepancy in Blake’s writeup is that it says Beall was from Ohio. In fact, he was a native of Georgetown/Washington, DC.
We don’t know the relationship between the men; that is, whether it was simply professional or also had a social dimension. You wonder how the topic of Chase’s $1 bill came up and the exchange was perfected. But, at least we know that it happened so that the previous time gap in the story is nicely covered!
Of the three notes Chase is known to have owned, this is the only one for which we know the entire pedigree.
George Blake was in the sole leather and belting business for 47 years. For 44 years, he served as the secretary and treasurer of the National Association of Leather Belting Manufactures. His proximity to New York City and his gentlemanly demeanor allowed him to cultivate bankers there and elsewhere in the country in his quest for large and small size U. S. type notes. At the time, he was the foremost ferret who acquired and sold a significant percentage of the low and fancy serial numbered large and small notes that were saved from his era. Notes attributed to him populate the large size type note listings in the Gengerke census.
His greatest claim to numismatic fame was that he encouraged Col. Edward Green, Hetty Green’s son, to collect serial number 1 Series of 1929 sheets. He then served as the fellow who contacted the bankers across the country in order to assemble that enormous trove on a commission basis for Green. This effort turned out to be a retirement project for him and served as the ultimate source for most of the number 1 1929 nationals that are in numismatic hands.
Blake had a long association with The Chase National Bank and its management, which, in part, explains how he sold the first LT $1 to the bank. He was featured in advertisements for the bank as its oldest living depositor on his last birthday. He died December 26, 1955, the same year that The Chase National Bank merged with The Manhattan Company to create The Chase Manhattan Bank. Incidentally, the Burr/Hamilton dueling pistols, which are displayed with the first $1 LT, came down through the Manhattan Company, of which Arron Burr was the founder.
Blake’s scholarly legacy included publishing United States Paper Money including Fractional Currency, also the Coinage of all United States Mints since their Organization in 1908, which was the first organized listing of U. S. paper money and coins. His research comprised the core of Frank Limpert’s catalog United States Paper Money, Old Series, 1861-1923, first published in 1949, where he is acknowledged as a collaborator. He also served the ANA as its Treasurer from 1922 to 1949, after having been on its board of directors. He was posthumously inducted into the ANA Hall of Fame in 1970.
Sources of Information
Beall, Horatio, https://www.ourfamtree.org/view.php?pid=270036&aid=31078
Erlanger, Herbert J., March 1951, Medals of the New York Numismatic Club, George H. Blake: The Numismatist, p. 271-272.
Gengerke, Martin T., on demand, U. S. paper money records, a census of U. S. large size type notes: CD produced on order, gengerke at aol.com.
The Numismatist, July 1914, The Springfield Convention, Aug. 22-26, 1914: p. 339-340.
The Numismatist, February 1956, Obituaries, George H. Blake, LM 150: p. 166.
Reinfeld, Fred, 1960, A simplified guide to collecting American paper money: Hanover House, Garden City, NY, 128 p.
Smith, Pete, 1992, American Numismatic Biographies, Blake, George H.: Gold Leaf Press, Rocky River, OH, p. 31.
To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
PROVENANCE OF THE VERY FIRST FEDERAL NOTES
(http://www.coinbooks.org/v20/esylum_v20n52a14.html)
VIEWING COINS FROM MULTIPLE ANGLES
Last month we discussed the Rutgers University project to create digital images of Roman Republic coins in their collection. Andy Singer forwarded a link (see below) to a set of demo images of their 360 degree photography. Thanks.
-Editor
To view the demo images, see:
https://rucore.libraries.rutgers.edu/rutgers-lib/40950/JPEG/play/#size:800,bgcolor:000000,start:1
To browse the collection, see:
http://coins.libraries.rutgers.edu/romancoins/browse.html
To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
RUTGERS DIGITIZES ROMAN COIN COLLECTION
(http://www.coinbooks.org/v21/esylum_v21n11a17.html)
NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: APRIL 15, 2018
Correction: Charles E. Anthon, Eli K. Price
Dave Hirt of Frederick, MD writes:
In the vocabulary term series under U.S. Series it states that Charles E. Anthon was president of the
Numismatic and Antiquarian Society of Philadelphia. This is not correct. Professor Anthon was president of the New York Numismatic and Archaeological Society. He died in 1883.
The president of the Philadelphia society was Eli K. Price. He died in Nov. 1884.
To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
VOCABULARY TERM: SERIES
(http://www.coinbooks.org/v21/esylum_v21n14a14.html)
On Collector Marshall Lefferts
Dave Hirt writes:
I would like to comment on the bio. of Marshall Lefferts, As usual John Lupia does a great job in providing us with information on 19th and early 20th century collectors. this information is really a history of numismatics in America. Thank you, John.
Lefferts had a fine collection. It is rated a B+ by Adams. He was still a young man when his collection was sold in 1881. I wonder why he stopped collecting coins? Perhaps his marriage and having two young children took all his spare time.
Thanks, Dave. I'll bet that collection would have made a great legacy for his descendants had it remained intact until today.
-Editor
To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
MARSHALL CLIFFORD LEFFERTS (1848-1928)
(http://www.coinbooks.org/v21/esylum_v21n14a15.html)
On the Metal Formerly Known As Columbium
John Phipps of Atlanta, GA writes:
I really appreciated the item and link about Niobium. It took me way back to the beginning of my career working in a materials analysis lab. We had a request to test for the percentage of Niobium in a sample. Nobody knew how to do it so it was given to me, the newest guy, to figure out.
This was before the internet so I had to turn to my college textbooks. Once I figured out that Niobium was called Columbium when I was in school it got a lot easier. Of course my textbooks were newer that the older guys books and had that name change information in a footnote. That was a nice feather in my cap that year. Good memories!!
To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
NIOBIUM COIN CASE STUDY
(http://www.coinbooks.org/v21/esylum_v21n14a30.html)
More on the "Janus Head" Copper
Bill Eckberg of Florida writes:
Thanks for posting the interesting material on the “Janus Head†copper. I’ve always wondered - though not enough to attempt any original research on the subject - why a three-headed coin is called “Janus.†I guess that is cleared up. As to the 1/2D inscription, I was under the impression that the denier/denarius symbol was always a lower case d. And I was always under the impression that £, s, d stood for livre, sou, denier in French, not the Latin.
Kraljevich’s piece in the supposed Continental dollar was fascinating as well.
Thanks. Also regarding the Janus piece, Julia Casey reminded me of an earlier item she submitted that may have some bearing on the issue - a 1776 newspaper article discussing imported copper coinage. I passed this along to author David Stone.
-Editor
To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
THE 1776 JANUS COPPER
(http://www.coinbooks.org/v21/esylum_v21n14a12.html)
CONTINENTAL DOLLARS REVISITED
(http://www.coinbooks.org/v21/esylum_v21n14a13.html)
1776 BRITISH ARTICLE ON MASSACHUSETTS STATE COINAGE
(http://www.coinbooks.org/v21/esylum_v21n03a14.html)
On Golf Ball Markers and Guitar Picks
David Powell of North West London writes:
The British coin which is the same size as a golf marker is the 5p. For several years the Isle of Man acknowledged the fact and issued five pence coins with golfing themes on them; below, 1994-95 on the left and 1996-99 on the right.
The obverse showed a standard portrait of the Queen with inscription and date. I have no idea whether anybody actually told her that her image was regularly stamped into the ground by golfer's feet so that she could be putted over cleanly without diverting the ball.
Ken Berger of San Diego writes:
I believe that one of the ball markers that Dave Klinger shows is really a guitar pick (Although I guess it could be used as a ball marker).
Ken provided some reference links. We've discussed guitar picks made from coins before; see the E-Sylum link below.
-Editor
For reference, see:
https://coinguitarpicks.com/
https://www.etsy.com/listing/101608116/any-year-quarter-coin-guitar-pick
Thanks, everyone.
-Editor
To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
2003 LIBERTY PLATINUM GUITAR PICK
(http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v17n49a40.html)
THE NUMISMATICS OF GOLF
(http://www.coinbooks.org/v21/esylum_v21n14a27.html)
UFO Coin Shot Down
Dr. Kavan Ratnatunga of Sri Lanka writes:
The Royal Canadian Mint has Escaped from Reality in this UFO issue and brought themselves down to the level of minor states and Australia which mint coins and stamps as a business. Will it sell is the only criterion. Numismatics should ignore these products and not even catalog them with regular circulating coins. Like Unusual Coins maybe the NCLT should have a separate catalog in the SCWC series and make the main catalog of manageable size. They have it for SCWPM as specialised issues.
For a skeptic's take on the event, see:
Stefan Michalak's Story: No Aliens Required.
(http://www.theironskeptic.com/articles/michalak/michalak.htm)
To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
ROYAL CANADIAN MINT ISSUES UFO ENCOUNTER COIN
(http://www.coinbooks.org/v21/esylum_v21n14a31.html)
BANKNOTE PROTECTOR LETTERPRESS PRINTING
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