Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 2, Number 34: August 22, 1999:
an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society.
SUBSCRIBER UPDATES
This week's new subscribers are Georges Depeyrot of
France, Dennis Bumb, Eric Cheung, and Cathy Earley.
Welcome aboard! This brings our subscriber count to 203.
HELLENISTIC COINAGE OF MARSEILLES
Georges Depeyrot announces the publication of his book,
"Les Monnaies Hellénistiques de Marseille", 1999, 128 pages.
Thanks to E. Tomlinson Fort for providing a summary of the
Press Release, which yours truly undoubtedly butchered in
summarization:
"Marseilles was the most important Greek colony in Gaul. It
produced Greek coins for nearly 525 years beginning in the
middle of the 5th century BC.
The text discusses the major coin designs, such as a lion on the
reverse of the silver issues and a bull on the reverse of the
bronze issues. The work has a full listing of all the types struck,
their chronology, with illustrations in text, as well as four plates
at the end of the book and illustrations as well as an index to
aid in identification."
For more information, contact Georges Depeyrot via email at
Georges.Depeyrot@ehess.fr
HISTORY AND COINAGE OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE
Sam Kazmi of NumisART Galleries announces the publication
of David Vagi's new book, "History and Coinage of the Roman
Empire" He writes: "This two volume reference covers over 550
years of Roman history and coinage is unlike any previous work
on the subject.
This hardcover set -- with over 1,000 images included in 1296
pages of text -- covers the period between 83 BCE to CE 480;
reign of Sulla to the fall of the Western Roman Empire."
For more information, contact Mr. Kazmi via email at
skazmi@numisart.com
SO-CALLED DOLLAR BOOK
In response to last week's query by Bill Fivaz about the
So-Called Dollars book, literature dealer George Kolbe writes:
"How times do change. I recall in the late 1970s being offered
1,000 - yes, one thousand - copies of Hibler & Kappen
@$1.00 per copy and passing on the deal. These books were
a drug on the market, dogs! Anyone acquainted with the
numismatic literature marketplace knows the phenomenon
well: when a book is in print or widely available you can't sell it;
when it is out of print you can't buy it. Others more prescient
than I bought the deal (in all, there were several thousand copies
involved - the late Herb Melnick, I believe, was the seller) and
the buyers issued a price supplement to enhance sales of the
main work. The rest, as they say, is history."
EARLY ASSAYERS' WRITING SAMPLES
David Cassel's request for writing samples of early mint assayers
Eckfelt and DuBois turned up assistance from Pete Smith and
Joel Orosz. Pete wrote that "Craig Whitford sold a handwritten
document from Jacob Eckfeldt in his sale of October 6, 1995,
lot 264. The document is illustrated in the catalog."
Joel wrote: "I have two samples that are supposedly pertinent.
One is a purported inscription on the Mint Manual from Jacob
Eckfeldt, the authorship of which I doubt, and the other is an
inscription on Pledges of History which may have been penned
by DuBois. I will send photocopies to Mr. Cassel this
weekend."
To his note Joel added: "Keep the E-Sylum coming - as we
say in Battle Creek, it's Grrreat!"
HALF DIME BOOK UPDATE
Russ Logan writes "FEDERAL HALF DIMES 1792-1837
made its debut at the Chicago ANA. It is the first completely
new reference book on Bust half dimes since Valentines'
monograph 68 years ago. This reference book has over 300
pages of research material and describes in detail 123 die
marriages and 31 remarriages. The section on the 1802 half
dime describes 167 appearances of this coin since 1859.
Copies may be purchased for $75 by sending your check to:
R.J. Logan, Treas., John Reich Collectors Society,
P. O. Box 39541 Solon, OH 44139."
NLG AWARD TO CARL HONORE
Subscriber and Asylum author Carl Honore writes: "I was
privileged to win the editors award this ANA for the
best article to be featured in the Numismatic Literary Guild
Newsletter for last year. I wasn't there to receive it but I
wanted to thank all my peers for their help and encouragement
since I began writing in the hobby. Keep up the quality work
and thanks for a great newsletter."
NO CIGAR FOR NBS
The Asylum came away empty-handed from the ANA's
Outstanding Club Publications Awards for 1999. Authors:
sharpen your pencils and help us win next year! In the
Specialty Clubs category, we were bested by:
1st: Paper Money, Society of Paper Money Collectors
2nd: Errorscope, CONECA
3rd: John Reich Journal, John Reich Collectors Society
Congratulations to these organizations and their editors,
Gene Hessler, Deborah Wiles, and Brad Karoleff,
respectively.
HODDER'S COMMENTS ON THE "DEBATE"
Subscriber and "Great Debate" participant Mike Hodder writes:
"Wayne: I take exception to some of your comments about the
"Great Debate". If you ask around, I think you'll find that one of
the participants behaved badly and the other received official
ANA apologies for being subjected to a personal attack.
Further, there was no "threat of a lawsuit" leveled. Rather,
Buttrey stated that he had turned over his materials to his lawyer,
with instructions to deliver them to the NY State Attorney
General for prosecution of Ford, Stack's, and Hodder for
criminal fraud.
Finally, you will find, when you read my paper on the subject
of western assay bars to be published this fall by the ANS,
that a series of analyses of bars has already been carried out.
Bob Rhue's offer to fund further research is welcome, since
such work is not cheap and thousands of dollars have already
been spent."
FUNCTION ASSOCIATES SALE 48
Fred Lake notes that "Function Associates is holding its 48th
mail-bid sale of numismatic literature with a closing date of
September 28, 1999. The sale contains over 700 lots...
The catalog is available via email and may be sent in either
MS Word or WordPerfect format. Please specify which
format you prefer." Fred may be reach via email at
fredlake@aol.com
LOT DESCRIPTION OF THE WEEK
At the risk of stealing thunder from Joel Orosz' Printer's Devil
Column, I can't help but give the "Most Harshly Worded
Return Policy" award to lot 230 from the catalog of the
September 10-11, 1999 sale of Currency Auctions of America:
"This is the remains and rejects from the winning 1992
Memphis competitive exhibit of the world's worst 24-piece
Fractional Type Set. ... This group contains many of the
most wretched Fractional Notes to have ever been seen,
including a number of notes taped together and composed
of pieces of several different notes as well as a sprinkling
of notes we suspect to be counterfeit. ... There are no returns
on this lot for any reason. Anyone attempting to return it
will be shot."
The pieced-together "Frankenstein" notes remind me of
a rare mythical creature described by Woody Allen as
having "the head of a lion, and the body of a lion, but not
the same lion...."
FEATURED WEB SITE
On the heels of the ANA convention, it's time to revisit the
ANA website, home of a new online exhibit on the Lesher
Dollars, produced between 1900 and 1901 by Joseph
Lesher of Victor, Colorado. The text and illustrations are
courtesy of Adna G. Wilde, Jr.
http://www.money.org/lesher/lesher.html
The illustrations are outstanding, particularly the large
close-ups reachable by clicking the links under the smaller
photos. These may take a while to download depending
on the speed of your internet connection. Exhibits like these
sure make me glad to have a cable modem...
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 21701
(To be removed from this mailing list
write to me at whomren@coinlibrary.com)
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