Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 2, Number 37: September 12, 1999: an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society. SUBSCRIBER UPDATES New subscribers this week are: Victor Holden, Terry Trantow, George Vanca, Spanish Colonial Cob specialist Roberto Mastalir of Ecuador, and Tom Serfass of the Eric P. Newman Numismatic Education Society. Also joining us are some members of my local club, the Western Pennsylvania Numismatic Society: Richard Crosby, Charles "Skip" Culleiton, Larry Dziubek, Ed Krivoniak, and Ted Shiff of Cybercoins. Daniel Koppersmith's email address is defunct. This brings our subscriber count to 227. PAY THOSE DUES! A number of NBS members have neglected to renew their memberships for this year by sending in their dues payment. While we hate to lose anyone, we cannot continue sending The Asylum to nonpaid members. The next issue, Vol XVII, No. 3, will be mailed only to paid-up members. Dues are $15 for U.S. members, $20 outside the U.S. Payments should be sent to Dave Hirt at the address at the end of this newsletter. If you're a member and aren't sure if you're paid up, let me know and I'll check with Dave for you. And if you're not a member yet, please consider joining - we'd love to have you in the fold. KOLBE BASS III SALE CATALOG APPEARS The third sale of the Harry W. Bass library is being offered by George Frederick Kolbe. The public and mail bid sale will be held Saturday, September 25th at the Long Beach Coin & Collectibles Expo in Long Beach, CA. The sale includes many rarities of U.S. and world numismatic literature. A four-page addendum to the catalog describes the final lot, the extremely rare Perkins' Bank Bill Test by Jacob Perkins, 1809. "Ex libris George and Melvin Fuld; lot 853 in the August 15, 1971 sale of the Fuld library, where it brought $320 on a $200 estimate. Later in the 1970's, it was acquired by William L. S. Barrett, in whose library it has resided until now." Only about six copies are known today of this landmark work produced by the Massachusetts inventor known in numismatic circles for his great contributions to the art of bank note engraving, as well as his dies for the 1788 Massachusetts copper coinage and the Washington Mortuary Medal die. WOODWARD MATERIAL FOR SALE Past NBS President Michael J. Sullivan notes: "Over the next few weeks I will be selling material from my library including 25+ Woodward catalogs, issues and some complete volumes of the American Journal of Numismatics, and my 20 Years of assembled research files divided by topics. The material will be listed over the coming weeks on E-Bay. If you are not already an active buyer in the topic of Numismatic Publications on E-Bay, take a look with this URL: http://listings.ebay.com/aw/listings/list/category530/ JOHN BERGMAN WEB SITE OPENS Literature dealer John Bergman writes that the web site for his business, John F. Bergman Numismatic Literature, is now open. The address is: http://www.numismaticliterature.com/ "The site features more than 3000 books and catalogs on ancient and medieval numismatics, bibliographies, rare and antiquarian books, a monthly book special and an article on book packing. Literature on modern coins, medals, paper money, etc. will be added in the near future." John's article on book packing is a *must-read* for both buyers and sellers of books. Buyers should insist on proper packing. Personally, I am always reluctant to make a second purchase from any seller who ships me a poorly packed book. Those who buy books on eBay should give negative feedback for any seller who doesn't treat numismatic literature with respect. John's article tells not just WHAT to do, but WHY, and it all makes perfect sense when you think about it. Plain "common sense", as John says. STEIGERWALT FPL HELP SOUGHT David J. Davis writes: "I need to correspond with someone who has a good run of Chas. Steigerwalt Fixed Price Lists. In doing my research on the 1802 half dime, I noted that Steigwalt had what seemed to be two different 1802s for sale. In FPL No. 10, May 1887, he listed "A very fine example" for sale at $150. In FPLs numbers 15, 16 & 18, he listed one as, "Good. Extremely rare. 100.00." In my latest purchase, a copy of, FPL No. 28, January 1892, he listed, "A good specimen of this extremely rare date. 100.00." (Is this the prior coin with a new description?). What I want to determine is: The first and last appearance of each coin, using the same description, and whether or not there are other listings that I haven't seen." ON MOVING A LIBRARY Speaking of packing books, a couple of years ago I wrote an Asylum article on moving a numismatic library, based on my experiences with moving my own library three times. Last weekend I helped one of our subscribers, E. Tomlinson Fort, pack up what he often calls "The Fort Memorial Numismatic Library" Since he's planning to rearrange his library when he gets into his new house, he cheerfully disregarded all of my anal-retentive box numbering advice. Where I would have said, "books from THIS shelf of THIS bookcase go in THIS box," Tom's philosophy was, "if it fits in THIS box, then it goes in THIS box." All of which made the task a bit easier, but packing over 80 boxes is never easy. Having visited his new home, I must admit I'm jealous of the spacious room set aside for his office and library. He and his wife are shopping for busts of Roman Emperors to place atop the shelves, in true classical fashion. Tom admits he is not the first to use this decorating scheme for a library - can any of you biblophiles identify the famous source for this plan? AUSTRALASIAN TRADESMEN'S TOKENS New subscriber Terry Trantow is "looking for related material and a copy of a catalog of Australian / New Zealand / Tasmania tradesmen tokens of the circa 1850-1880 era using Rennik numbers. Have a Rennik catalog from the 1970's which listed Andrews/Heyde Numbers but not aware of any reference using Rennik numbers." Another new subscriber, Ed Krivoniak has the answer: the catalog was updated in 1989: Skinner, Dion H., Renniks Australian Coin and Banknote Values, published by Renniks Books. The catalog lists Rennik numbers alongside the older Andrews/Heyde numbers. Another useful reference is: Lamphard, William H., Catalogue of New Zealand Coins, Currency, Tokens, Presbyterian Communion Tokens and Bank Notes, published in the New Zealand Numismatic Journal, vol 16, no. 1. THE STAR OF BETHLEHEM BOOK ANNOUNCED Ray Williams writes: "An NJNS member and new E-Sylum subscriber Mike Molnar has a book being published in October. ... I heard Mike give a mesmerizing talk about numismatic evidence of the Star of Bethlehem and how scientific evidence backs it up." From the Press Release: "Could the $50 purchase of an ancient coin by a Rutgers astronomer have unlocked the mystery of the Christmas Star? For years, scientists have looked, with little success, to astronomical records for an explanation of the magical star that guided the Magi to Christ's manger. Intrigued by the image he found on the latest addition to his coin collection, Michael Molnar thought there might be more to learn by looking, instead, at the teachings of ancient astrologers." The clothbound book has 208 pages, 7 photos, and 24 figures. It will be available in October by calling toll free 1-800-446-9323 to order. Congratulations, Mike! BOOKMARKS SOUGHT Not the internet browser kind, but the good old-fashioned stick-it-in-to-hold-your-place kind. Fotini Hatziefstratiou, a 23-year-old student from Greece is forming a collection of bookmarks from around the world, and has requested our assistance. "I have a unique and very interesting, in my opinion, collection of about 4000-4500 bookmarks. These bookmarks are from various materials, shapes, countries and styles. Most of them are advertising ones, those that almost all bookstores, booksellers, libraries, editions, museums, publications, stationary shops and the relevant business or organizations give away free to their clients. The majority of these bookmarks are from Greece, and only few of them are from some other countries all over the world. The bookmarks included in my collection are usually made from paper, but there are some made from metal, wood, fabric, plastic, and leather. ... It would be great to add some bookmarks from your beautiful country, which I hope I will visit soon." His email address is fotini@freemail.gr If you care to send him some bookmarks, his mailing address is Fotini Hatziefstratiou Narkisou 1, Galini-Oreokastro, Thessaloniki, T.K. 57013, GREECE. "GREAT DEBATE" TAPES Gail Baker, ANA Director of Education, reports that "the tapes from "The Great Debate" are now safely housed in the ANA Library. Anyone interested in two & one half hours of fascinating dialogue may watch them here in Colorado Springs - for now. We are hoping to be able to circulate them more widely in the future." FEATURED WEB SITE The Bank of Canada's web site was recommended to us by Michael Sullivan. Available on both English and French, the site includes an online museum of Canadian numismatics. http://www.bank-banque-canada.ca/ http://www.Bank-Banque-Canada.Ca/museum/ 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)
