Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 5, Number 33, August 11, 2002: 
an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society. 
Copyright (c) 2002, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society.

SUBSCRIBER UPDATES

 	We have six new subscribers this week: John Cali of the 
Rochester Numismatic Association, Doug Casey, courtesy 
of Peter Mosiondz's column in Canadian Coin News, Larry 
Gaye, Gene Hynds, Bob Pedolsky and Joel Shafer. 

Welcome aboard! After cleaning our mailing list of bad 
email addresses, our subscriber count is now 480.

LATEST ASYLUM ISSUE ON THE WAY

 	E. Tomlinson Fort, editor of our print journal, The Asylum, 
writes: "The Summer 2002 issue of The Asylum is at the 
printer and should be on its way to all paid-up NBS 
members in a week or so. The contents are as follows:

 	"The Fascinating Challenge of Numismatic Research," 
      by Q. David Bowers 

	 "Response to Fanning," by Pete Smith 
	 
	 "More on Identical Premium-Paid Lists," 
	  by David F. Fanning 

	 "Collecting Numismatic Literature in the 1960s" 
	  by David Hirt 
	  
	 "Storer's Numismatic Roots," by Frederick N. Dyer
	  
	 "Book Review: The Coins of Pontius Pilate," 
	  by David F. Fanning
	  
 	Speaking of The Asylum, your editor has nothing for the 
Fall 2002 issue. I strongly encourage anyone interested 
to send material. We accept a wide range of articles 
from the scholarly to the satirical and everything in-between.

 	We also love book reviews, not just new volumes but 
discussions of old classics (and not so classics) are welcome. 
Remember that in the Spring 2002 issue we printed a 
review of three works, the most recent of which was 
published in 1995 while the oldest was originally appeared 
in 1849! How does Crosby stand up after more than 100 
years? Is Morisson and Grunthal's "Carolingian Coinage" 
still the worst book ever published by the ANS?

 	If anyone wants to discuss possible topics or idea with me 
please feel free to reach me at etfort@aol.com."

LAKE BOOKS SALE #65

 	Fred Lake writes: "Lake Books announces that its mail-bid 
sale of numismatic literature #65 is now available for viewing 
on their web site at http://www.lakebooks.com/current.html

 	The catalog contains selections from the library of E. Tomlinson 
("Tom") Fort along with other consignors and has a closing 
date of September 10, 2002.

 	In addition to listings of United States and World auction 
catalogs, there are bound copies of "The Numismatist" from 
1913 through 1920; a complete run of the "Colonial Newsletter" 
through April, 2002; an original 1878 Sylvester Crosby "Early 
Coins of America", hardbound in leather; Andrew McFarland 
Davis works on Colonial Currency; "Ancient Jewish Coinage" 
by Meshorer; early "Redbooks"; reference material relating to 
tokens, medals, paper money and much more."

BUST HALF ATTRIBUTION GUIDE PUBLISHED

 	The latest publication from Money Tree Press is Edgar 
E. Souders' pocket-sized guide to "The Top 100 R4 and R5 
Capped Bust Half Dollar Varieties & Sub-Varieties 2002, 
118pp, $19.95. The book "was designed to be used as a 
field guide by those wishing to rapidly attribute a half dollar 
to its Overton number, rarity, price range and collector 
interest."

VISIT TO HO CHI MINH CITY, VIET NAM

 	Howard A. Daniel III writes that he will be in Ho Chi Minh 
City, Viet Nam, starting on August 13 and will depart on 
September 11. If you need any books from there or anything 
else, you can contact Howard at 

"Howard@SEAsianTreasury.com" now and while he is there.

 	He plans to visit EVERY bookstore in the city and look for 
anything connnected to numismatics, but also history, art and 
several other subjects. He will also be visiting several antique 
and numismatic stores and three or four collectors.

 	Howard is also in contact with many college students, and if 
any of you want to be corresponding with one of them so 
they can practice their English, but also as a friendly gestur 
to the Vietnamese people, he can put you in contact with one 
of them.

BOOK BUYING HABITS

 	Jim McGarigle writes: "I just acquired the first four volumes 
of Seaby's Roman Silver Coins for only $40 !!! It was a 
great "Buy it now" moment -- many dealers are asking $45 - 
$95 per book and I got the 1st four of the five for the low 
asking price of one. As a matter of fact, my book buying habits 
all around have improved a great deal since I joined this list. 
It has given me a great deal of valuable knowledge in both the 
fields of books and coins.

 	[Jim is the founder of the Ancient & Medieval Coins Club. 
See http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ancientandmedievalcoins/ 
-Editor]

CENTRAL AMERICAN NUMISMATIC CONGRESS

 	The First Central American Numismatic Congress will be 
held in Costa Rica September 18-21, 2002.

 	From the press release: "Please note that the First Central 
American Numismatic Congress will begin on September 
18 at 8:00 a.m.

 	Participants will register and receive supporting materials 
from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. Immediately following this the 
inaugural session will begin, followed by the presentations 
scheduled for that day." For more information:

 	Email: cocenu@bccr.fi.cr 
	
Web page: http://www.museosdelbancocentral.org

JOHN CLAPP INVENTORY LOCATED

 	In response to Bill Hancock's query, David J. Davis writes: 
"I own a photocopy of the John Clapp inventory of early U.S. 
dimes. It was given to me by Louis Eliasberg many years ago. 
I don't have the whole notebook. As I recall I just received 
the dime pages and there might have been some other 
information included." David and Bill are now in touch via 
email.

INDEXES SOUGHT

 	David Gladfelter writes: "Was an index ever published for 
"Literatur-Blatt, Beilage zum [supplement to] Numismatischen- 
sphragistischen Anzeiger" (Clain-Stefanelli 649b)?

 	This is the earliest periodical to my knowledge that was 
devoted entirely to reviews of numismatic books and 
bibliographic references. Twelve issues totaling 98 
consecutive pages were published from 1875 to 1879. 
The editor, Max Bahrfeldt, went on to publish, and later edit, 
"Numismatisches Literatur-Blatt" which was a forerunner to 
"Numismatic Review." If an index exists, I would like to 
obtain a copy of it. Would also appreciate copies of the 
indexes to the last 3 volumes [banden] of "Numismatisches 
Literatur-Blatt," vols. 24, 25 & 26.

 	Another periodical that often seems to come without its index 
is "Numismatic Review" published by Joseph and Morton 
Stack, 1943-47. I have the index to vol. 3 only and will copy 
it for anyone who wants it. I do not have those for vols. 
1, 2 or 4."

NEW TECHNOLOGY OBSERVED AT ANA NY CONVENTION

 	Dick Johnson writes: "The Paris Mint continues to be the 
leader in cutting edge technology for coin and medal 
production. I attended their briefing for the numismatic press 
at the ANA convention in New York City (Aug 1-4).

 	Paris Mint officials showed slides of their new products, some 
of which were on display at their booth, others so new they 
did not have samples to show yet.

 	Four items captured my attention the most -- three coins, one 
medal. One coin was part of a five-coin series on the 
Bicentennial of the Birth of Victor Hugo. It showed a woman 
in a dress on the reverse. It was covered in blue translucent 
enamel. The details of the dress were struck in the surface of 
the coins, which had a slightly sunken form. You could see 
through the translucent enamel and the slight depression 
formed the barrier to retain the enamel. Stunning!

 	Another coin is "in the shape of a wave" to quote their literature. 
Called the Ultimate Franc it was the last one franc denomination 
coin issued by the French Republic. Designed by Phillippe 
Starck, this has to be seen live -- no photograph can show the 
wave.

 	I am going to guess a preformed blank with the wave shape 
was used for striking, but I don't see how it could have been 
fed and struck in a coining press. These creative French! But 
do not even think about putting this in a vending machine or 
fare box.

 	The third coin was silver with a gold insert on a 2-franc piece. 
While this is not new, the insert was an unusual shape. The 
technology here was the critical tolerances of the exact 
depression in the surface of the coin, with the insert struck in 
gold and trimmed to match that depression.

 	They had no sample to show, but the best of my memory was 
the insert was roughly in the shape of the state of Minnesota. 
Believe me, friends, this is no easy task. I asked about their 
production problems at the press conference and the best they 
could say was it required exception quality control. I can 
believe that! But the resulting piece is exceptional!

 	They also had a calendar medal separate from their yearly 
series of calendar medals. This was a perpetual calendar. 
It contained 12 bushings (small holes) in an arc across the top 
of the medal with numbers 1 through 12 (for months); and 31 
bushings in an arc adjacent to the bottom rim (with numbers 
1 to 31 for the date).

 	A thin curved rod stretched from top to bottom with pins on 
each end which fit snugly in one of the holes at top and one 
at the bottom. Plug in the top pin for the month and the bottom 
pin for the date.

 	This was a highly creative concept. A for creativity. C for 
execution. The obverse bore no further design other than lines 
in similitude to longitude and latitude. The reverse was so 
mediocre that I don't recall the design.

 	Further, the Paris Mint displayed five, repeat five!, calendar 
medals for the year 2002: Four-Leaf Clover, Euro 2002, Tree, 
Zodiac and Le Petit Prince. All suitable to add to a calendar 
medal topic collection; any or all would nicely grace any 
cabinet. However, this is the most I have seen from any mint 
for a single year. This does indicate the popularity of calendar 
year medals and I presume the Paris Mint feels there is a 
market for this number. Will we see that many next year?

 	We searched the other booths, both mints, distributors and 
dealers for new technology without much success. We did 
observe some excellent hologram inserts at the Panda America 
booth manned by Mel Wacks.

 	While not new we did observe elsewhere some creative 
medallic boxes. These are slightly larger than a lady's compact. 
Several inspired by the new Euro in Europe; I can see Euro 
coins being kept in these boxes. Another had a clock inside 
as the lid swings open. When struck solid the same design for 
the boxes result in a paperweight."

TANTALUM

 	In response to Alan Luedeking's note about the properties of 
Tantalum, Michael Schmidt writes: "Tantalum can't be more 
conductive than silver but less than gold. Gold is less 
conductive than silver. Silver is the most conductive element. 
Gold is used on electronic contact points not because it is 
more conductive, but because it doesn't corrode. Tantalum 
does have a major use in electronics though. It is used to 
make capacitors. It provides a high capacitance value in a 
very small package."

G. D. LOPEZ SOUGHT

 	David Gladfelter writes: "A question for our e-readers: Does 
anyone recognize the name G. D. Lopez, presumably a 
collector active in the 1930s?

 	His/her name is not among Pete Smith's 1400 nor Martin 
Gengerke's 5600. It does not appear in any of the ANA 
membership lists from 1944-1964 nor in the New York City 
and State sections of those from 1930-40 (I didn't check the
other geographical areas). It does not appear in the ANS 
membership list included within the 1930 ANA membership 
list.

 	I have Stack's "housebound" set of catalogs for the year 1940. 
On the spine someone has written: "This book contains the 
G. D. Lopez collection -- see June 4-5, 1940 sale." The main 
content of that sale was a set of gold coins of the world. The 
consignor is not identified by initials, although other consignors 
are, none with initials G.D.L."

MONASTERY TOKENS

 	In response to Ed Krivoniak's question about Monastery 
Tokens, Gar Travis writes: "I would guess they are 
Communion Tokens. A web search can locate a number 
of references.

 	I would also recommend the text 'Communion Tokens of the 
United States of America by Autence A. Bason 1989 
(privately produced - may be found through numismatic book 
sellers)."

 	[Most communion tokens are made of metal such as lead, 
not cardboard. A web search on "monastery tokens" turned 
up nothing of relevance. Any other suggestions for Ed? 
-Editor]

THE FLYING EAGLET

 	David Lange writes the following in response to Ben Keele's 
query about publications that have undergone frequent changes:

 	"One title that comes to mind is the monthly magazine Coins, 
published by Krause. It began in the late 1950s as The Flying 
Eaglet, a house organ put out by error coin specialist Frank 
Spadone in Orange, New Jersey. This became Coin Press a 
couple of years later. When Krause Publications bought the 
magazine from Spadone, they renamed it Coins beginning with 
the January 1962 issue, and it remains in print today under the 
editorship of Robert Van Ryzin.

 	Following the recent ANA Summer Seminar in Colorado 
Springs, I spent an entire day on the lower level of the ANA's 
library reading through back issues of this publication. While I 
didn't encounter any groundbreaking articles, it was enjoyable 
seeing full-page ads for the many coin folders and albums that 
I now collect. It was also evident that both the editorial staff 
and the readers understood little about how coins were made 
and how error coins occurred. Of course, the U. S. Mint was 
very secretive and even openly hostile to inquiries from 
collectors and researchers until years later, so this is 
understandable.

 	One thing that is obvious from reading through publications 
from the 1950s and '60s is that collectors seemed to be 
enjoying their hobby more than they do today. While there 
were a few letters reporting the sale of overgraded coins, 
for the most part the published correspondence was upbeat. 
Most of it concerned oddities found in circulation. From the 
descriptions provided, these seem mostly to have been 
damaged or altered pieces, yet in most instances they left both 
the letter writers and the magazine's editor baffled. Today, we 
know so much more, and yet some of the magic is missing."

NUMISMATIC DINOSAURS

 	Responding to Dave Bowers' note about the lady who asked 
if a "numismatic bibliophile" was "some kind of dinosaur", 
Andy Lustig and Martin Purdy of New Zealand agree on the 
answer. Martin (who pegs himself as "late of the Lower 
Cretaceous") writes: "I hope he was honest and said "Yes". 
This could possibly give "antiquarian" a whole new meaning."

WHAT WE CALL OURSELVES

 	Dick Johnson writes: "When I was in the medal business I 
often spelled out the words "medal" and "metal" since both 
words sound so similar in speech. Particularly so on meeting 
a new acquaintance or they would think I brokered fabricated 
metal or such. "I was M-E-D-A-L dealer."

 	What makes matters worse there are two other words, called 
homonyms, that also sound like medal: "meddle" meaning to 
interfere, and "mettle" -- like temper of a sword blade -- the 
quality of temperament of a person's disposition or spirit.

 	I clipped an editorial from The New York Times, May 14, 
1992, and added this to my clip file. The article endorsed the 
action of composer Stephen Sondheim, who rejected the 
Medal of Art from the National Endowment for the Arts. It 
stated the new chairwoman meddled with the grants for 
several university art centers, an action which many in the 
art community objected.

 	Hooray for Stephen Sondheim! He upholds the spirit of his 
art commitment, attesting to his mettle. Too bad he didn't get 
his medal (which of course, is made of metal, but the Times 
didn't mention that!) Moral for medal administrators: don't 
meddle; it will diminish your mettle.

 	You paper money enthusiasts can call yourselves anything 
you wish, just spell it every time you meet a new acquaintance! 
I'll bet you go back to P-A-P-E-R M-O-N-E-Y."

FEATURED WEB PAGE

 	This week's featured web page is from the Pennsylvania 
Historical and Museum Commission site. It features 
Pennsylvania Governor James Pollack, who served as 
Director of the U.S. Mint following his appointment by 
President Lincoln in 1861.

 	"When the Panic of 1857 struck the economy, there were 
mounting bank and business failures, unemployment, and 
concerns about possible winter riots and martial law. 
Pollock called a special legislative session that convened 
on election day and pushed through a temporary suspension 
of the requirement that banks pay their depositors and 
those who held their bank notes in gold or silver, thus 
preventing more bank failures as well as protecting the 
credit rating of Pennsylvania.

 	In 1861, Pollock was chairman of the Pennsylvania delegation 
to the Washington Peace Convention, which failed to prevent 
the Civil War. That same year President Lincoln appointed 
him director of the United States Mint in Philadelphia. He 
served from 1861 to 1866 and then was reappointed by 
President Grant in 1869. From 1873 to 1879, he was 
elevated to superintendent of the Mint when the U.S. Mint 
became part of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. 
Pollock's leadership at the Mint led to adopting his suggestion 
for the "In God We Trust" motto on U. S. coins."

 	http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/bah/dam/governors/pollock.asp
	
	
Wayne Homren 
Numismatic Bibliomania Society