Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 5, Number 34, August 18, 2002:
an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society.
Copyright (c) 2002, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society. |
| SUBSCRIBER UPDATES |
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We have three new subscribers this week: Erin Klatt of
Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, Stefan De Lombaert of
Belgium and Chris Fuccione. Welcome aboard! Our
subscriber count is now 483. |
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REMINDER: The E-Sylum will not be published Sunday,
August 25th, or Sunday, September 1st. |
| JOHN HULL BOSTON MINT BOOK AVAILABLE |
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In the July 14, 2002 issue, Ray Williams noted that Lou
Jordan's new book about the Boston Mint was at the
printer. It is now available for sale from the publisher,
University Press of New England. The book's full title
is "Studies on John Hull, the Mint and the Economics of
Massachusetts Coinage." (348pp, 55 illustrations, folio
size, cloth binding with dust jacket, $50.00) |
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Ray has posted the table of contents on the C4 website:
http://www.colonialcoins.org/lou_jordan_table_of_contents.htm |
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To order the book online, go to the publisher's web site at
http://www.dartmouth.edu/acad-inst/upne/ |
| NEW ONLINE EXHIBIT |
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Thanks to NBS President Pete Smith, Eric Holcomb and
his digital camera, exhibitor Jim Neiswinter and webmaster
Bruce Perdue, we now have another online numismatic
literature exhibit on the NBS web site. |
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"First Photographic Plate in American Numismatics" won
1st Place in Class 22, the Aaron Feldman Numismatic
Literature category, at the American Numismatic Association
convention in New York City earlier this month. |
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Congratulations to Jim on a fine exhibit. To view it, go to
our web site (http://www.coinbooks.org), click on "Exhibits",
then scroll down to the list of exhibits for all past years. |
| MPC BOOK WINS NLG AWARD |
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Howard A. Daniel III writes: "The fourth edition of the
"Comprehensive Catalog of Military Payment Certificates"
by Fred Schwan won the Numismatic Literary Guild (NLG)
award for the best new book about United States Paper
Money at the ANA Convention. There is also a "Collectors'
Edition" with many additional pages to add notes, information
about new pieces found, and other data. |
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You can contact the author at "MPCGram@Yahoo.com" or
at "FredSchwan@aol.com" for an autographed copy. The
former email address is also where you can request to be sent
the free emailed MPCGram newsletter, where MPC and many
other militaria is written about and discussed." |
| ANA CONVENTION NOTES |
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Your Editor had a great time at the recent ANA convention.
It was nice to see so many of our subscribers and put some
faces to the names. The NBS general meeting was well
attended and very enjoyable. |
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A Friday afternoon visit to the American Numismatic
Society library was a short but interesting diversion. I had
no agenda in mind and simply browsed through the pamphlet
files for amusement, making copies of a handful of items for
my own files, including: |
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A 1953 newsletter about Encased Postage Stamp literature
published by F. H. Ames, Jr. of Richland, Washington. |
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A September 1869 offprint from a Banker's Magazine by
William E. DuBois on "Propositions for a Revised System of
Weights and a Restoration of Silver Currency." |
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A June 1952 article by E. R. H. Dicken on "Scottish Beggar's
Badges" |
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A May 1961 Coin World interview with John J. Ford on the
menace of numismatic counterfeits made by the spark erosion
process. |
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An 1893 "Memoir of Jeremiah Colburn, A.M." by John
Ward Dean AM. |
| ANOTHER NEW SUBSCRIBER CAUGHT IN OUR WEB |
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New subscriber Chris Fuccione writes: "I was surfing last night
trying to find info on Massachusetts coinage in the 1800s and
I found your club's site. I've heard of your club but this was
the first time I was here and I was very impressed. Can I sign
up for your e-newsletter? " |
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[You sure can, and you just did! Welcome! -Editor] |
| PRICES REALIZED PROTOCOL |
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Bill Daehn has some questions for E-Sylum readers: "Most
numismatic literature collectors have many auction catalogs for
which they have no Prices Realized List (PRL). Certainly,
there were far more catalogs printed than PRLs for most sales.
Wouldn't it be nice to be able to easily acquire the PRLs we
need to facilitate pricing research? Yet I never see literature
dealers offering copies of them. Nor have I seen any offers
from collectors to make copies available from their libraries. |
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I presume PRLs are considered to be copyrighted materials,
and thus legal and ethical concerns prevent the free exchange
of photocopies. I'd like to hear from E-Sylum readers on this
topic. Is it unethical/illegal to exchange or sell photocopies of
PRLs? Do the dealers who presumably own the copyrights
care? If someone lets it be known that they'd make copies of
PRLs for E-Sylum readers, would anyone cry "foul"? Or must
we quietly seek the copies we need from trusted friends?
Opinions please." |
| MOULTON WEB SITE DEBUTS |
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Coincidentally, there is a new website for American numismatic
literature. It features the online listings of literature dealer Karl
Moulton, who has written several interesting numismatic articles
which can be reviewed on the site: http://www.coincats.com/ |
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Karl specializes in American coin auction catalogues and prices
realized lists from 1859 to date. There is a varied assortment
of other reference materials offered as well. |
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In response to Bill's question about PRLs, Karl writes:
"As far as I'm aware, there is no problem in copying any prices
realized for an auction of any sort. Since it is merely a reporting
of figures, there is no worry about any creative copyright
infringements. |
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I have the largest selection of American prices realized for
numismatic auctions, and have long believed they were an
important, yet overlooked factor in the overall coin market.
The first ever (4 page) printed prices realized list in this
country, printed by Ed Cogan, sold for over a hundred
dollars a page at a George Kolbe sale a few years ago." |
| NEW PUBLICATIONS |
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U.S. numismatic publications crossing my desk
recently include: |
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Bowers, Q.David, "More Adventures With Rare Coins,"
a sequel to his popular 1979 book. A hefty 459 pages
of great stories about classical and modern U.S. coins
and tokens. Published 2002. |
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Harris, Gordon L., "New York State Scrip and Private
Issues," a heavily-illustrated 192-page catalog of private
paper money, with rarity ratings. Published 2001. |
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Neale, Robert S., "The Bank of Cape Fear of
Wilmington, North Carolina," 192pp. Published 1999. |
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[Who else has some recent works to mention or review
for us?] |
| MONASTERY TOKENS? |
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Rich Hartzog writes: "I would not think that monastery
tokens are communion tokens, as such tokens are
basically given out as proof the person is eligible to
receive communion, for taking communion at a later date. |
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Tom DeLorey writes: "I highly doubt that Monastery Tokens,
whatever they are, would be communion tokens. In the closed
community of a monastery, there would not be a need to
identify the faithful qualified to receive the sacrament. |
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Bob Leonard writes: "I believe that Gar is mistaken about
"monastery tokens" being Communion tokens. They are
mentioned in "British Tokens and Their Values" by Peter
Seaby and Monica Bussell (Seaby's Numismatic Publications,
1970), p. 7: |
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"Seventeenth Century Tokens - These tokens were the first
genuine trade tokens to appear in this country. Hitherto crude
lead tokens either in imitation of long cross pennies or bearing
a rough design such as a pascal-lamb or a mitre had been
issued by the monasteries to pay artisans employed by the
monks. Villagers nicknamed them "Abbot's money" and they
had a small local circulation." The mitre tokens from East
Anglia are now thought to be "Boy Bishop" tokens. See
Michael Mitchiner and Anne Skinner, "English Tokens,
c. 1200 to 1425," BNJ 1983 (53), pp. 29-77, and "English
Tokens, c. 1425 to 1672," BNJ 1984 (54), pp. 86-163, for
additional information on early English lead tokens, including
a bibliography." |
| RESEARCH HELP SOUGHT |
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Asylum Editor-in-Chief Dave Fanning writes: "I am in the
process of working on a few research projects and am
looking for help on the following: |
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1. I am compiling information on extant copies of
Woodward's 92nd sale. I have been in touch with most
people who own one, I believe, but I'm sure there are
ones I don't know about. If you own a copy or know of
one in an institution, please contact me so I can ask a few
questions about it (basic bibliographical stuff). If the results |
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of my research are published, I will not use the names of
private owners. |
| 2. If someone has a priced copy of David McGilvray's sale of |
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the Henry Cook collection (July 30, 1862), would you
contact me? My copy is priced, but really amateurishly and
confusingly and I have a couple questions about particular
lots. |
| 3. I am in need of a photocopy or scan of T.H. Garrett's |
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signature and one of T.H. Garrett's name in W. Elliot
Woodward's handwriting. Would be very appreciative if
anyone can help me out. |
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Thanks. I can be reached at fanning32@earthlink.net or at
(614) 449-8408 (evenings)." |
| TANTALUM MEA CULPA |
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Following up on the recent exchange about the metal
tantalum, Alan Luedeking writes: "My apologies -- Mr.
Schmidt is right of course; moreover, I was wrong about
the conductivity of tantalum altogether: While it is quite
conductive, it is less conductive than both silver and gold,
having a thermal conductivity of 57.5 J/m-sec-deg and
an electrical conductivity of 80.321 1/mohm-cm. |
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Silver and gold both have significantly higher values. For
more information on all aspects of elements I recommend
the following interesting website:
http://www.scescape.net/~woods/elements/ .
I apologize to all for my misinformation!" |
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[While web surfing your Editor came across the following
related page - a listing by Tony Clayton of metals used
in coins and medals:
http://www.tclayton.demon.co.uk/metal.html
-Editor] |
| OF CABBAGES AND KINGS |
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We certainly cover a wide range of topics here in The E-Sylum.
David Lange writes: "While doing an Internet search on testing
laboratories to find a facility that could perform a SEM/EDX
analysis of a coin, I got the following reference: |
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E-Sylum v04n03
... could look up local laboratories offering SEM/EDX services
or x-ray ... www.coinbooks.org/club_nbs_esylum_v04n03.html |
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It seems the E-Sylum is like Mastercard . . . it's everywhere you
want to go!" |
| MEDALS BY JOHN PINCHES |
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Geoff Bell writes: "Could you ask our readers if they know
where I can locate a copy of the book "Medals By John
Pinches, A Catalogue Of Works Struck By The Company
From 1840 To 1969"? Thanks!" |
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[A web search located a couple of copies for sale. There
is also a copy in the ANA library. It was published in
hardcover in 1987, and later in paperback. |
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Can anyone provide us with some more information about
the firm and its work? See this week's Featured Web Page
for a few early examples of the firm's work. -Editor] |
| EURO LAUNDERING |
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Kavan Ratnatunga writes: "I found this item of Early Stress
tests on the Euro which I thought you might find amusing
Berlin, January 2): |
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"Euro notes survive being washed at close to boiling
temperatures but should not be ironed, a German daily said
on Tuesday after its reporters put the new money through
some everyday stress tests. The Bild newspaper found the
notes looking as good as new, only wetter, after a half-hour
wash at 95 degrees Celsius and a quick spin dry. They also
survived being put through a tumble drier. |
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But when the notes were ironed, their shiny security strip,
which displays their value, quickly became pockmarked. The |
| notes' embedded security thread also burned when put through |
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a microwave, Bild reported. |
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The notes changed colour and shrank briefly when dipped in
red wine, but expanded again as they soaked up the fluid.
Needless to say, the coins were completely destroyed when
run over by a tram." |
| FEATURED WEB PAGE |
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This week's featured web page features Medals of Robert
Burns. The page is published by the Hunterian Museum,
University of Glasgow, Scotland. |
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http://www.hunterian.gla.ac.uk/Archives/MetalicBard/burns_medals.html |
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,
write to David Sklow, NBS Secretary-Treasurer,
P.O. Box 76192, Ocala, FL 34481. |
For Asylum mailing address changes and other
membership questions, contact Dave at this email
address: sdsklow@aol.com |
| (To be removed from the E-Sylum mailing list |
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write to me at whomren@coinlibrary.com) |