Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 2, Number 40:  October 3, 1999: 
an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society. 
   

SUBSCRIBER UPDATES  

   New subscribers this week are Bill Rosenblum,  D. Wayne 
   Johnson and Robert A. Levinson  This brings our subscriber 
   count to 240. 
   

BASS III RESULTS  

   Part 3 of the Harry Bass, Jr. Numismatic Library sales is 
   now history.  The sale was held Saturday, September 25, 
   at the Long Beach Coin & Collectibles Expo, by George 
   Frederick Kolbe.   Would any of the attendees care to 
   give us a report?   The prices realized list has been 
   published - here are a few  highlights:  

   Lot 5, the W. G. Jerrems set of The Numismatist brought 
   $27,000.    Lot 62, the deluxe leatherbound copy of 
   Ard Browning's 1925 work on U.S. Quarters brought 
   $8,500.  

   Lot 347, an advertising broadside for J.L. Riddell's 
   "Monograph of the Silver Dollar", 1845, brought an 
   astounding $2,700 on an estimate of $750.   Lot 411, 
   the Fuld set of Woodward catalogs, brought $16,000.  

   Lot 651, the Perkins' Bank Bill Test mentioned previously, 
   brought $6,500. 
   

BIBLIOGRAPHY UPDATE  

   Larry Mitchell has added four new sections to the numismatic 
   bibliography on the NBS web site, all under the MODERN 
   COINAGES section:  

      74: RUSSIA & CENTRAL ASIA 
      75: ISRAEL, TURKEY, PERSIA & THE MIDDLE EAST 
      76: EASTERN EUROPE 
      77: COINAGES: GREECE, CYPRUS & MALTA  

   The web site, with updated NBS officer information, is at 
   available at:  http://www.coinbooks.org/ 
   

GANZ COMMEMORATIVE BOOK PUBLISHED  

   David Ganz's newest book has just been published: "The Official 
   Guide to U.S. Commemorative Coins" (Bonus Books, 1999, 
   $13.95). 343 pp,  From the Press Release: "lavishly illustrated, 
   nearly 150 price graphs,  mintages for contemporary issues, 
   checklists and chocked full of useful information.  At bookstores 
   everywhere, and from Bonus Books, 160 East Illinois Street, 
   Chicago 60611." 
   

BANCO CENTRAL DEL ECUADOR BOOK SOUGHT  

   New subscriber Victor S. Holden of Hong Kong, China, is 
   looking for a copy of the Banco Central del Ecuador publication 
   'BANCO CENTRAL DEL ECUADOR: CINCUENTA ANOS' 
   (undated). If anyone has a copy they are willing to part with, or if 
   there is someone who could provide Victor with photocopies of 
   selected extracts for research purposes, he would like to hear 
   from them. Victor's e-mail address is:  victorh@hknet.com. 
   

1802 HALF DIME ARTICLES FOUND  

   In a note to David J. Davis, Joel Orosz forwarded references 
   to two items regarding U.S. 1802 Half Dimes:  

   "The first is "Another 1802 Half Dime Unearthed", about a 
   specimen discovered in Missouri that Ebenezer Locke Mason 
   had purchased, in Mason's Coin Collectors' Herald, for 
   September of 1879.  

   The second is "The 1802 Half Dime" , which follows up on the 
   story, and reveals the source to be E.F. Gambs, a St. Louis 
   Stamp and Coin Dealer.  This is in Mason's Coin Collectors' 
   Herald, for December of 1879.  This issue also carries an ad 
   for Gambs' business." 
   

O. A. JENISON BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION  

   Joel also had some information related to Michael Sullivan's 
   search for volumes from the library of O. A. Jenison:  

   "I do not know where any of Jenison's books may be (I have 
   none in my library).   I do, however, know a few things about 
   Mr. Jenison.  His full name was Orien Austin Jenison, and his 
   life dates were May 22, 1823 to August 6, 1895.  He spent 
   most of his life in Lansing, Michigan.  Jenison's coin collection 
   was auctioned by W. Elliot Woodward in his sale of June 
   22-23, 1881.  Until the opening of the Breslin Center in the late 
   1980's, the basketball arena of Michigan State University was 
   known as Jenison Field House, in honor, I believe, of Orien's 
   son.  I wrote about all of this, and more in my Printer's Devil 
   column in The Asylum, for Fall of 1994.  Good luck in finding 
   other pieces of Jenison's library." 
   

P.A.N. SHOW INFORMAL MEETING?  

   Are any bibliophiles planning to attend the Pennsylvania 
   Association of Numismatists' Coin Show and Convention 
   October 22-24?  The show is held at the Pittsburgh Expo 
   Mart in Monroeville, PA.   John Burns and I will organize 
   an informal regional meeting of the NBS if there is enough 
   interest.  

   Confirmed speakers for the show include money artists 
   jsg boggs and Thomas Raymond Hipschen, the portrait 
   engraver at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing responsible 
   for the new images of Franklin, Grant, and Jackson on our 
   new $100, $50, and $20 bills. 
   

CAVEAT EMPTOR  

   The laugh of the week comes from dealer Charles Davis: 
   "One of the nice things about selling on eBay is that photography 
   can be used at no additional cost thus allowing inexpensive items 
   to be illustrated.  One of the drawbacks, however, is the chance 
   that some rather naive bidders will get involved in something they 
   know nothing about.  

   Case in point: When I offer an auction catalogue I usually 
   photo the cover and an important page and place them side by 
   side in the lot description.  Last week I offered a Stack's sale of 
   George Perkin's Connecticuts with the cover and a plate page 
   illustrated. The lot sold for $15.50, and now the buyer wants her 
   money back because, despite the fact the item was sold under 
   the heading "U.S. Publications,"  the COINS WERE NOT 
   INCLUDED WITH THE CATALOGUE and thus I 
   misrepresented the lot. I enclose her letter below. I know I have 
   got $15.50 worth of laughs out of this and thought it would be 
   selfish for me not to share it with the group:  

   "Today I received the catalog that was pictured in the Ebay 
   auction for item #164384810.  

   On the Ebay page, the auction catalog cover was pictured on 
   the left, and what looked like some rather worn circulated coins 
   were pictured to the left, mounted in a board.  

   The coins were not included in the package I received.  

   If the catalog is the only thing that you were selling - and that I 
   paid $15.55 for - then that wasn't clear from the Ebay page, 
   and I'd like my money back. I will send the catalog back, 
   insured, but it definitely does not fulfill what I perceived as 
   being offered on the Ebay page.  

   I made a copy of the offer page at the time I placed my bid, 
   and nowhere can I find any mention that the only thing being 
   offered for sale was the catalog. I believed in good faith that 
   I was getting both things that were included in the picture." "  

   Perhaps this buyer would likewise be disappointed to find 
   that her Columbian coffee didn't actually come with a 
   pint-sized Juan Valdez and a donkey.  -Editor 
   

FEATURED WEB SITE  

   This week's featured web site is Chuck D'Ambra's "Tips 
   for Scanning Coins", a useful compilation of information 
   on creating electronic images of coins.  

      http://www.telesphere.com/ts/coins/scanning.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, 
  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)