The Numismatic Bibliomania Society

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Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 3, Number 49, November 26, 2000: 
an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society. 
Copyright (c) 2000, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society. 
  

SUBSCRIBER UPDATES 

   Ruth Ziesing writes: "My husband Vince died two weeks ago. 
   He was always interested in what you had to offer.  Thank you 
   very much." 

   B. V. "Vince" Ziesing subscribed to The E-Sylum the week 
   of the November 14, 1999 issue (Volume 2, Number 46). 
   At the time, he was subscriber number 247. 

   We have no  new subscribers this week.  The loss of Mr. 
   Ziesing brings our subscriber count to 352. 
  

NOTES FROM JOEL OROSZ 

   NBS Board member Joel Orosz writes: "I enjoyed this week's 
   E-Sylum as much as ever.  Two quick responses: 

   I think that the gold samples in Eckfeldt and DuBois would be 
   difficult to observe under a "Formica" disk.  The disks were 
   made of mica. 

   With regard to coin thefts, I wrote about the theft of the 
   Tammany Museum's coin collection in New York City, in 
   "The Great Coin Heist of 1796", which was published in The 
   Numismatist in February, 1999." 
  

MARIA THERESIA THALER LITERATURE 

   Ralf W. Boepple of  Stuttgart, Germany, writes: "I am writing 
   in reply to Serge Pelletier's inquiry about the Maria Theresia 
   Thalers.  Unfortunately, I don't have access to the items Mr. 
   Pelletier inquired about, but I would like to bring the following 
   work to his attention: 

   F. Leypold, Der Maria Theresien Taler von 1780. Vienna, 
   1976 (31 pp, 8 b/w tables).  As this is a standard work, he 
   might already know about it.  If not,  I will be more than happy 
   to get  into contact with him to see if  there is anything I can do 
   for him." 

   Bob Knepper writes: "Serge Pelletier asked for Maria Theresa 
   Taler information.  Other than having a couple, I know little - but 
   in 1998 I saw a book I probably would have purchased if the 
   store had been open.  It was "Lexicon of the Maria Theresien 
   Taler" by Walter Hafner.  Price was 795 Belgian francs.  It was 
   in the window of Willem van Alsenoy, Oudaan 6, Antwerpen, 
   Belgium B-2000.   Email at willem.van.alsenoy@pandora.be. 
   I've purchased several "wildman" coins and medals from Mr. van 
   Alsenoy but decided the book was not worth the addition of 
   international postage." 
  

LIBRARIES LINK COLLECTIONS TO ANSWER QUESTIONS 

   Newsscan Daily reports: "An international consortium of public 
   and private libraries is developing a free online reference service 
   that will direct queries to the appropriate reference specialist or 
   research collection around the world. "We know the quality of 
   information we have in libraries, and we want to bring that to 
   the Internet," says Donna Dinberg, systems librarian at the 
   National Library of Canada, one of the charter members of the 
   Comprehensive Digital Reference Service. "We also know the 
   chaos online," she adds, referring to the sometimes muddled 
   search results produced by online services such as Yahoo! or 
   AskJeeves. 

   Among the members of the network are the Library of 
   Congress, which is coordinating the effort, Yale and Harvard 
   universities, the National Gallery of Art and the National Library 
   of Australia.  Specialty collections, such as the one at Duke 
   University Divinity School, are included as well.  The consortium 
   is currently concentrated on English, but plans to be able to 
   handle up to 20 languages eventually. (Hollywood Reporter 
   20 Nov 2000)"    See http://www.newsscan.com/ to 
   subscribe to Newsscan Daily.. 
  

MINT REPORT HELP WANTED 

   Paul Hybert  writes: "My copy of the U.S. Mint Report for 
   the fiscal year ending June 30, 1886 has a small ink blob 
   covering a digit.  Does anyone on this list have a copy of 
   that report? On page 72, in the table for SWEDEN, what 
   is the last number on the "Silver" row under the heading of 
   "Coinage, 1885:" ?     My copy shows it as    "78,?81" 
   Paul can be reached at:   prh@ece.iit.edu 
  

1850 ECKFELDT-DUBOIS AND THE STREETER SALE 

   Dave Bowers writes: "Just a note to say that the 1850 edition of 
   Eckfeldt and Dubois, with the gold sample, comes in two colors 
   of cover--blue and red (I have copies of both). 

   Also, in the Streeter Sale held by Parke-Bernet years ago there 
   was a copy of this book--with a nice write up -- which, if I 
   remember correctly, served to call widespread attention to the 
   volume (at the time Thomas Winthrop Streeter's Americana 
   collection was sold, there was not a great deal of interest yet, 
   in numismatic circles, for the collecting of books). 

   The Streeter sale brought good prices, partly because the 
   Streeter trustees donated MONEY to certain institutions so 
   that they could buy his books in the sale. I was a competitor 
   for the Eckfeldt and Dubois book, but lost it and was amazed 
   at the high price. 

   I have the original suite of six or seven Streeter catalogues in 
   my library at home -- not at the office where I am writing this -- 
   and could provide more information.  No doubt quite a few 
   NBS members also remember the event which was held in the 
   second half of the 1960s. It was quite a sensation at the time." 

   [Editor's note: "THE CELEBRATED COLLECTION OF 
   AMERICANA FORMED  BY THE LATE THOMAS 
   WINTHROP STREETER" was sold by Parke-Bernet Galleries 
   of New York from 1966-70. The catalog consists of seven 
   volumes plus an index volume. 

   Streeter (1883-1965) was a consummate bibliophile who had 
   holdings beyond the material sold by Parke-Bernet.  For 
   example,  Streeter was also the "preeminent collector of 
   railroadiana" and donated the core of the American Antiquarian 
   Society's holdings of materials on canals and railroads.  See this 
   web page:  http://www.americanantiquarian.org/canalsrr.htm 

   From www.dartmouth.edu:  "As chairman of the board of the 
   Simms Petroleum Corporation from 1923 to 1930 Streeter 
   made several business trips to Texas from his home in 
   Morristown, New Jersey.  These visits prompted his interest in 
   collecting 'books, pamphlets, broadsides and maps relating to 
   Texas history' between 1795 and 1845.  Those acquisitions, 
   totaling almost 2,000 imprints, are now in Yale University's 
   outstanding Western Americana Collection." 

   Has anyone ever compiled a list of the numismatic rarities in 
   the Streeter library?  Where are they now?  Does anyone 
   have a book from the Streeter sales?  A copy of Jacob Perkins' 
   Bank Bill Test came from the Streeter sales in 1967, where it 
   realized $350 (as noted in Charles Davis' "American 
   Numismatic Literature")] 
  

WATERMAN LILLY ORMSBY, JR. 

   Most U.S. bibliophiles know of Waterman Lilly Ormsby 
   as the author of the rare 1852 work, "A Description of the Present 
   System of Bank Note Engraving."   But did you know his son 
   was also an important writer?   As a reporter for the New York 
   Herald in 1858, Waterman Lilly Ormsby, Jr. "crossed the 
   western states as the first through passenger in the Butterfield 
   Overland Mail stage from east to west."  The accounts are 
   collected in a 1942 work (reprinted in 1955) published by The 
   Huntington Library of San Marino, CA, titled "The Butterfield 
   Overland Mail." The book's introduction includes some 
   biographical information about both Ormsbys.  One interesting 
   passage: 

   "Twenty-four miles from our last station we came to the 
   Maricopas Wells, situated in a large plain of alkali soil and 
   coarse grass.  There are, in all, six or eight wells, and the water 
   is very good.  We found a number of Indians there, and one of 
   them had the audacity to ask me three bits (37 1/2 cents) for a 
   small melon which he wished to sell.  I showed him two 
   three-cent pieces, and the look of insufferable contempt which 
   he gave me would be worth a fortune to an actor in the right 
   place.  I am sure his melon would rot before he could get 
   another chance to sell it." (p99) 
  

U.S. MINT POLICE STAGECOACH IN PARADE 

   Speaking of stages, viewers watching Thursday's New York 
   City Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade were treated to the 
   sight of a special U.S. Mint float promoting the 50 States 
   Quarter series.  Atop the float was an antique U.S. Mint 
   Police stagecoach from the Denver Mint.  And atop the 
   stagecoach (I am not making this up...) was singer 
   Tito Puente, Jr, belting out (or was it lip-syncing?) a tune. 
   You don't see THAT every day... 

   A search of the U.S Mint web site turned up a press 
   release for last year's Macy's parade.  Then, the float 
   was promoting the Sacagawea dollar coin. 

   "November 25, 1999 - The U.S. Mint became the first 
   government agency to sponsor a float in the 73rd Annual 
   Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Approximately 60 
   million viewers were able to catch a glimpse of the new 
   Golden Dollar featuring Sacagawea, only one week after 
   coin production began at The U.S. Mint in Philadelphia. 
   The Golden Dollar coin float, sporting a Denver Mint 
   antique stagecoach, glided majestically from New York City's 
   Central Park toward Herald Square. Actors dressed in 
   vintage U.S. Mint Police uniforms escorted the coach and 
   five-foot replicas of the Golden Dollar..." 

   To find the full press release and see a picture of the 
   stagecoach float, go to http://www.usmint.gov/ and enter 
   "stagecoach" in the search box. 

   And while it has nothing to do with numismatics, a related 
   story from USA Today shows what can happen when parade 
   floats run amok:  "Meanwhile a woman who is seeking damages 
   from the city and Macy's after she was injured during the store's 
   1997 Thanksgiving Day Parade has sued five more defendants 
   for $10 million because of the accident. 

   Maria Clohessy, 47, of Pearl River, N.Y., was one of four 
   people injured when the Cat in the Hat balloon crashed into a 
   street lamp at 72nd Street and Central Park West because of 
   high winds." (23 November, 2000).  Oh, the humanity!!! 
  

FEATURED WEB SITE 

   This week's featured web site is an exhibit of Magicians' 
   tokens.  "Magicians' tokens have been produced since the late 
   1800's. Made of various materials including silver, copper, 
   white metal, nickel, plastic and even wood, these tokens or 
   coins served a variety of purposes." 

   http://www.magictricks.com/museum/tokens/mustoken.htm 
  

  Wayne Homren 
  Numismatic Bibliomania Society 
  

  The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a 
  non-profit organization promoting numismatic 
  literature.   For more information please see 
  our web site at http://www.coinbooks.org/ 
  There is a membership application available on 
  the web site.  To join, print the application and 
  return it with your check to the address printed 
  on the application.   For those without web access, 
  contact Dave Hirt, NBS Secretary-Treasurer, 
  5911 Quinn Orchard Road, Frederick, MD 21704 

  (To be removed from this mailing list 
   write to me at whomren@coinlibrary.com)   

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