Visit our NBS Sponsors

About Us The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit association devoted to the study and enjoyment of numismatic literature. For more information please see our web site at coinbooks.org Subscriptions Those wishing to become new E-Sylum subscribers (or wishing to Unsubscribe) can go to the following web page link Membership There is a membership application available on the web site Membership Application To join, print the application and return it with your check to the address printed on the application. Print/Digital membership is $40 to addresses in the U.S., and $60 elsewhere. A digital-only membership is available for $25. For those without web access, write to: Charles Heck, Treasurer Numismatic Bibliomania Society P. O. Box 2058, Bluffton, SC 29910-2058 Asylum For Asylum mailing address changes and other membership questions, contact Chuck at this email address: treasurer@coinbooks.org Submissions To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com BUY THE BOOK BEFORE THE COIN Sale Calendar Watch here for updates!

 

Content presented in The E-Sylum is not necessarily researched or independently fact-checked, and views expressed do not necessarily represent those of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society.

WAYNE'S WORDS: THE E-SYLUM MARCH 26, 2023

New subscribers this week include: Pablo Morales from Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico, courtesy Adrián González-Salinas; Daniel Baumbach, and Jerzy Chalupski. Welcome aboard!

Thank you for reading The E-Sylum. If you enjoy it, please send me the email addresses of friends you think may enjoy it as well and I'll send them a subscription. Contact me at whomren@gmail.com anytime regarding your subscription, or questions, comments or suggestions about our content.

NOTE: Jeff Shevlin reports that anyone that orders his new So-Called Dollars Volume I book from seeing the ad in The E-Sylum will receive a FREE copy of his award-winning book "So-Called Dollars from the Pacific Coast Expositions", while supplies last.

This week we have a whopper-sized issue, driven by some colonial coin controversy and a wealth of new book information, thanks in part to our friends at IAPN. We open with a literature sale, ELEVEN new (or recent) books, the IAPN book prize nominees, an update from the Newman Numismatic Portal, and more.

Other topics this week include military payment certificates, money of the Palestine Currency Board, coin bags, Feuchtwanger three-cent tokens, the 2023 Coinage of the Americas Conference, the 1870-S Half Dime, counterfeit Confederate notes, two dollar bills, and Zimbabwe's small change panic.

To learn more about David Edmunds, the American invention of modern money, Sikh religious tokens, coins of the Iceni, the U.S. Mint Coin Cabinet, Civil War artifacts, Proof Set packaging, sculptor Anna Hyatt Huntington, Gene Hessler's smallest book, the South African & International Exposition, and the quilled porcupine, read on. Have a great week, everyone!

Wayne Homren
Editor, The E-Sylum

JOHN DRURY RARE BOOKS STOCK AUCTIONED

Patrick writes:

BOOKS FROM THE REMAINING STOCK OF JOHN DRURY RARE BOOKS

DAVID EDMUNDS (1939-2022)

Many will already know that David tragically died in a car accident in February last year. He was on his way to view a few items in an auction in Colchester which is what he loved to do, and which had been his passion and working life for almost 60 years.

David grew up in a huge rambling rectory in a tiny village in northwest Essex where his father was the Anglican parson. There were the remains of a Roman villa in fields nearby and David and his brother spent many happy hours digging and finding hundreds of ancient coins and other artefacts. This evidently sparked a love of antiquities and in particular collecting coins and medals. He later read modern history at Jesus College, Cambridge, and his knowledge of English history was immense. His coin and medal collection grew, and with it, inevitably, his research into the collection of the required books on the subject. Thereby began acquisition of numismatic books, which before long grew into a full-time business.

David called the business John Drury Rare Books, rather than David Edmunds Rare Books (because I didn't want people turning up at the house with their old family bibles!), and, in any case, Drury was a family name. The first 30 or so catalogues were mostly on numismatics, but from then on, the subject range widened into economics, banking, law, philosophy, education, and social history. In those days there were no computers, and I would come home after a day's work in Colchester and type up (on a typewriter) catalogues from David's handwritten notes. And he never really mastered a keyboard – his cataloguing to the end was entirely by hand. He only used the computer to look things up – ODNB, Wikipedia, LHD, BL, etc. It wasn't long before it became essential for me to become properly involved and become tech-savvy. And so our roles were defined – he did the buying, cataloguing, and packing, while I did the database work, accounts, invoicing, photography, etc.

Read more here

NEW BOOK: EASY MONEY

Easy Money
American Puritans and the Invention of Modern Currency

Dror Goldberg

A sweeping history of the American invention of modern money.

Economists endlessly debate the nature of legal tender monetary systems—coins and bills issued by a government or other authority. Yet the origins of these currencies have received little attention.

Dror Goldberg tells the story of modern money in North America through the Massachusetts colony during the seventeenth century. As the young settlement transitioned to self-governance and its economy grew, the need to formalize a smooth exchange emerged. Printing local money followed.

Read more here

 

NEW BOOK: SOVEREIGN OF THE MARKET

Sovereign of the Market
The Money Question in Early America

Jeffrey Sklansky

What should serve as money, who should control its creation and circulation, and according to what rules? For more than two hundred years, the money question shaped American social thought, becoming a central subject of political debate and class conflict. Sovereign of the Market reveals how and why this happened.

Read more here

NEW BOOK: MILITARY PAYMENT CERTIFICATES, 5TH ED.

Comprehensive Catalog of Military Payment Certificates
Fifth Edition released at MPC Fest

The fifth edition of The Comprehensive Catalog of Military Payment Certificates is being released within a few days of the fiftieth anniversary of the withdrawal of MPC from use in Vietnam on March 15, 1973. The military money was completely discontinued on November 19, 1973. This colorful money was first issued on September 16, 1946, and collectors immediately added examples to their collections. The first catalogs of MPC began appearing in the 1960s.

The overall reason for issuing MPC was to attempt to control the black market which flourished in Europe at the end of World War II. The introduction (September, 1946) of this new money for use by military personnel necessitated additional, often interesting to collectors, issues.

The new edition by Fred Schwan and Larry Smulczenski is very different from the early books and even other numismatic books today. This edition consists of 240 full-color pages of information, images, data and charts of interest to collectors.

Read more here

NEW BOOK: U.S. MINT COIN BAG GUIDE

The February 12, 2023, issue of The E-Sylum, published by Wayne Homren, included an article on COLLECTING AND CATALOGING U.S. MINT BAGS. In his comments following the article, Wayne wrote, This is the fun and challenge of collecting numismatic ephemera. These artifacts served a purpose in their time, and most were later discarded after their useful life. The few that remain are interesting souvenirs and collectibles. Who will be the David Lange of mint bags? It would be interesting to catalog these and learn more about what exists.

I agreed that it would be interesting to catalog these and learn more about what exists. And so I began. I wrote AN ESSAY ON COIN BAGS that was published the following week on February 19. Again, editor Homren had comments. As I noted last week, coin bags are interesting souvenirs and collectibles, and a project to photograph and catalog them would be welcome.

Wayne had just told me that I needed to gather photographs so I began to harvest what I could find on the Internet. A week into the project I realized that my list of bags and file of pictures needed to be integrated into a book format.

Read more here

NEW BOOK: COINS OF THE FOURTH ABBASID PERIOD

The coins of the Fourth Abbasid Period And some history (552-656h/1136-1258AD)
by Yahya Jafar

Regular price £100.00

Read more here

NEW BOOK: COINS OF THE SIKH EMPIRE

Coins of the Sikh Empire, Punjab and the Cis-Sutlej States: Sikh Religious Tokens

Hardback
£75
Colour Illustrations
566 pp

This book introduces the rich heritage of the Sikhs in Punjab through coins and tokens. From the very first known coins issued by Baba Banda Singh Bahadur in 1711, to the last Sikh Coins issued by Maharaja Duleep Singh in early 1849, one can follow the rise and fall of the Sikh Empire. Gold Mohurs, silver Rupees and copper Paisa are well documented, with numerous unlisted types and varities.

Read more here

NEW BOOK: COINS OF THE ICENI

COINS OF THE ICENI
New book from Chris Rudd - Published February 2022

‘Now coins of the Iceni are easier to identify, easier to understand'

• 400 enlarged photos, mainly of coins from the incomparable collection of Dr John Talbot in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
• 60 colour illustrations and maps
• two-way ABC-COI concordances
• index of Icenian coins by type names
• A5, 96pp, paperback, £20 post free
• 978-0-9566889-5-8

Coins of the Iceni is a radical new catalogue of the Druid-designed coins of Queen Boudica's rebellious, theocratic, corpse-cremating, torc-hoarding, horse-revering, romanitas-resisting, oak-groving, Ica named, holy-island tribe. It is the most convenient, most comprehensive catalogue of the Celtic coins of Norfolk c.55 BC-AD 47. It makes them simpler to identify, simpler to classify. It names, describes, illustrates, dates and ‘rarefies' 250 Icenian coin types, sub-types and variants; more than twice as many as in Ancient British Coins. It also links them to the Druids and to 3,000 years of Norfolk's sacred prehistory. Coins of the Iceni has 96 pages, 400 enlarged photos, mainly of coins from the incomparable collection of Dr John Talbot in the Ashmolean Museum. Oxford, 60 colour illustrations and maps, two way ABC-COI concordances, index of Icenian coins by type names.

Read more here

NEW BOOK: MONNAIES ROYALES FRANÇAISES

Monnaies Royales de Louis XI à Henri IV

Author: S. Sombart
Publisher: Editions V. Gadoury
Year: 2022
€ 39.00

For this new work, the traditional method of classification of the Gadoury editions is respected: the coins are classified by reigns, chronologically then, within each reign, they are classified from the denomination of the smallest value to the greatest value, according to the prices of the time. The logical order of metals is respected with copper (from Henry III), billon, silver and gold.

The types are illustrated at their real size with, each time, the technical characteristics: metal and fineness in thousandths / the official weight / the diameter The rarity index is indicated in the type, from current "C" to "R5" , passing through R (= R1), R2, R3, R4. Generally, an R5 rarity index indicates a coin seen at 1 or 2 copies, R4 for 3 to 5 copies, etc.up to C for a common currency.

Only coins are quoted whose existence we have confirmed and have seen at least one example for sale. The dash "-" indicates an absence of quotation, for lack of sufficient elements to do so: number of R5 coins are for example known only in one copy.

Read more here

NEW BOOK: THE PALESTINE CURRENCY BOARD

The Palestine Currency Board: Its History and Finances
by Howard M. Berlin (aka The Numismatourist™)

Format: 8.5 x 11 (216 x 297 mm), full color, paperback and hardcover 291 pages, 72 tables, 52 pictures, 453 footnotes.

Paperback Edition
ISBN: 978-1-329-86836-6
Price: $40.95

Hardcover Edition
ISBN: 978-1-312-80877-5
Price: $57.95

Listed prices do not include shipping charges, if applicable.

Read more here

NEW BOOK: TOKENS OF LOVE, LOSS AND DISRESPECT

Tokens of Love, Loss and Disrespect 1700-1850

Publication date: January 2023
Publisher : Paul Holberton Publishing
Editor : Sarah Lloyd
Language: English
Illustration : 250
Format Available : Paperback
ISBN : 9781911300946
Dimensions : 240 X 170 mm
Price : £45.00

Coins from the 18th and early 19th centuries are physically and visually intriguing. In addition to their monetary uses, they were repurposed to communicate private and public messages - from ad hoc scratchings and punch marks to full-scale re-engraving of surfaces. This book aims to give 21st-century readers insight into that experience and to the many uno?cial purposes these objects served.

Read more here

NEW BOOK: MEDALS AND ARTISTS

Medaljer konstnärer (Medals and artists)

• A different book
• 414 pages
• Color
• A4 - Hardcover
• Nominated for best numismatic book in the world by IAPN!
• SEK 650

The book describes Carl Eldh, Eric Grate, Bror Hjorth, Carl Milles and Bruno Liljefors' entire medal issue, their medal art and the circumstances surrounding the actual issue and use of the medals. For the first time ever, a coherent picture of these artists is given. Each artist's medal production has been systematically documented, where the National Archives and the Royal Library with its newspaper archive have added significant and, for our time, partly previously completely unknown knowledge. Many previous question marks and uncertainties are now finally investigated and clarified. Biographies, contemporary descriptions, delicious illustrations and lots of enlargements and detailed pictures fill the book from cover to cover. The book is of course trilingual (Swedish, German, English), fully in color, A4, 421 pages.

Read more here

IAPN 2023 BOOK PRIZE NOMINATIONS

Read more here

Read more here

 

NEWMAN PORTAL ADDS U.S. MINT COIN BAG GUIDE

Pete Smith Writes U.S. Mint Coin Bag Guide

While most of us have seen a U.S. Mint coin bag here or there, no one has attempted a wider treatment of the subject, until now. Pete Smith's The Incomplete Guide to United States Mint Coin Bags (92 pp.) represents the first best attempt to restore order to the chaos of cloth banks utilized by the various Mints. Using online sources, as well as his own experience in the bullion trading business, Smith identifies the major categories of bags and creates a framework for collectors and future researchers.

Bags surely existed in massive quantities but are infrequently seen today. Smith notes that 56,470 bags would have been required for the 1940-S cent coinage and by extension asks, where are they now? Today, the most prized bags are those used to transport gold or Carson City coinage, and nearly all bags identified date to the 20th century.

Read more here

SMITHSONIAN MARKS 100 YEARS OF U.S. MINT COLLECTION

The transfer of the Mint Coin Cabinet a century ago transformed the NNC into a national and world treasure and gave it an eclectic mix of coins, medals, and alternative currencies. These objects had served as reference material for U.S. Mint officials and engravers since the Cabinet was formally established in Philadelphia in 1838. In the decades that followed and with funds appropriated by Congress, the Cabinet grew to include patterns, proofs, and uncirculated coins and medals made by the U.S. Mint itself, as well as a wide range of private issues and international coins and medals from across the globe. By the time the collection was transferred to the Smithsonian in 1923, it numbered over 18,000 objects and included many rare and unique specimen.

A century later, the U.S. Mint continues to help grow the National Numismatic Collection, by providing annual transfers of the new coins and medals it produces. The Mint Cabinet remains the centerpiece of the National Numismatic Collection and an incomparable resource for the study of U.S. coinage and its many connections to the history of money worldwide.

Read more here

 

MORE ON CONFEDERATION-ERA COPPERS

Read more here

NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: MARCH 26, 2023

On That 1950 Overdated Mint Bag
Bern Nagengast writes:

To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: MARCH 12, 2023 : Overdated U.S. Mint Bags (https://www.coinbooks.org/v26/esylum_v26n11a14.html)
MORE ON OVERPRINTED MINT BAGS (https://www.coinbooks.org/v26/esylum_v26n12a14.html)

Read more here

 

FEUCHTWANGER THREE CENT PIECE ORIGINS

Roger writes:

Feuchtwanger's 3-Cent Token Suggested by John Quincy Adams.

Here is the lot description from Heritage's 2023 May 22 Certified American Tokens & Medals US Coins Showcase Auction #60320,

Read more here

 

ROBERT COPSKEY MEDALS

Bob Copskey has taught sculpture at the Maryland Institute College of Art for many years. Here is some information on his commissions and medallions.

The School Sisters of Notre Dame commissioned him to make a 32" square bronze floor relief for the new Knott Science Building at the College of Notre Dame, Baltimore, MD in 2001. The School Sisters of Notre Dame also commissioned him to make a medallion using the same design. He sold them the rights to strike medallions in the future. Bedi-Makky in Brooklyn, NY cast the bronze floor relief, and the Jenkins Company in Baltimore struck the medallions.

Read more here

 

MOAF FORUM: THE INVENTION OF MODERN CURRENCY

MoAF/Fordham Financial Issues Forum (VIRTUAL EVENT)

Dror Goldberg, in Conversation with Richard Sylla, on Easy Money: American Puritans and the Invention of Modern Currency

Thursday, April 27, 2023 | 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM

Read more here

COAC 2023: 18TH & 19TH CENTURY DESIGN

Coinage of the Americas Conference 2023: 18th & 19th Century Design and Production

Generously sponsored by the Resolute Americana Collection and the Stack Family

American Numismatic Society (ANS)
New York, New York

Conference: September 22–23, 2023

Submission Deadline: June 1, 2023

Email submissions and questions to Dr. Jesse Kraft, ANS Resolute Americana Assistant Curator of American Numismatics at jkraft@numismatics.org.

The American Numismatic Society (ANS) is proud to announce the 2023 Coinage of the Americas Conference (COAC). Since the mid-1980s, COACs are considered the leading venue for the presentation of academic research pertaining to numismatics of the Western Hemisphere. Papers presented at COACs have routinely been published, resulting in a number of edited volumes that have become standard reference texts on their respective topics.

Read more here

ANA 2023 YOUNG NUMISMATIST LITERARY AWARDS

Submissions Accepted for ANA Young Numismatist Literary Awards

Submissions for the American Numismatic Association's (ANA) annual Young Numismatist Literary Awards competition are being accepted through April 1. The awards were established to encourage young writers in three age groups, all of whom will compete for cash awards and numismatic books.

Article submissions will be evaluated by a panel of judges that includes Bill Fivaz, Mitch Sanders and Kenneth Bressett.

Read more here

 

ANNA HYATT HUNTINGTON (1876-1973)

In past weeks we have discussed the mother and first wife of Archer Milton Huntington. He was left in a dark depression after his divorce from Helen. He was a tall man at six-foot-five-inches. During this time his weight grew to 350 pounds. His second wife brought him out of his depression.

Anna Vaughn Hyatt was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on March 10. 1876. Her father was Alpheus Hyatt Jr. (1838-1902), a professor of paleontology and zoology at MIT and Harvard. Alpheus and an older sister sparked her early interest in animals and the study of animal anatomy. Her mother, Audella Beebe (1840-1932), was a landscape painter.

Anna studied animals in zoos and the circus. Her first art teacher was Henry Hudson Kitson who dropped her as a student after she identified anatomical flaws in his work. She studied at the Art Students League under Hermon Atkins MacNeil. Later she worked with Gutzon Borglum.

Read more here

NUMISMATIC NUGGETS: MARCH 26, 2023

A Quilled 'Porcupine' Sceat

Anglo-Saxon England, Continental Phase (695-740), Sceat, Series E, Variety A, quilled 'porcupine' crescent right, enclosing four bars, rev. beaded votive standard, pellet either side of central annulet, two pellets in lower section ~ 'TOTII' inscription, chevron to periphery, 0.99g, 5h (SL 94-10; SCBI 69 [Abramson], 241; Spink 790B), attractively toned with underlying lustre, a pleasingly good very fine, a desirable example of this commonly encountered type

To read the complete item description, see:
ANGLO-SAXON ENGLAND, CONTINENTAL PHASE (695-740), SCEAT, SERIES E, VARIETY A, QUILLED 'PORCUPIN... (https://live.spink.com/lots/view/4-9AAD90/anglo-saxon-england-continental-phase-695-740-sceat-series-e-variety-a-quilled-porcupin)

Read more here

WAYNE'S NUMISMATIC DIARY: MARCH 26, 2023

Tuesday, March 21 was the night of my Northern Virginia numismatic social group, Nummis Nova. Eric Schena was our host and he chose the Founding Farmers restaurant at Reston Metro Plaza. I was looking forward to it as I'd never been there before, or even set foot on the new plaza that I drive by on my way to and from work. The plaza sprung up alongside the Washington Metro Silver Line, "... a transit-oriented, mixed-use, urban employment center in the community of Reston in Fairfax County, Virginia."

There's a Starbucks, a CVS drugstore, multiple restaurants and parking, amid residential and office space, including a Google office. LED lights accent the buildings at night.

Read more here

IDES OF MARCH COIN RETURNED TO GREECE

A rare and ancient gold coin that morbidly celebrates the stabbing death of Julius Caesar was returned this week to Greek officials by investigators in New York who had determined it was looted and fraudulently put up for sale at auction in 2020.

The coin, known as the Eid Mar and valued at $4.2 million, features the face of Marcus Junius Brutus, the onetime friend and ally of Caesar who, along with other Roman senators, murdered him on the Ides of March in 44 B.C. According to historians and experts, Brutus had the coins minted in gold and silver to applaud Caesar's downfall and to pay his soldiers during the civil war that followed the killing.

Read more here

DISCOVERING THE 1870-S HALF DIME

The 1870-S half dime is well-known as one of the few unique coins in the U.S. series and is a relatively modern entry into this exclusive club, being discovered only in the late 20th century. Heritage Auctions recently sold the piece as part of the Tom Bender collection, at the 2023 FUN sale, where it was graded PCGS MS64 CAC and realized $3.12 million.

The discovery story of the coin was not well publicized until Bill Burd, a longtime Chicago dealer, wrote in the June 1998 Numismatist:

Read more here

 

GEORGE WASHINGTON ON EARLY PAPER MONEY

George Washington's aversion his likeness appearing on federally-issued coinage is well-remembered. Resisting the monarchical overtones of such appearances, United States coinage initially featured an allegorical bust of Liberty, establishing a precedent of not including any chief executives on coinage which would persist for decades after 1792.

While the Constitution gave the right to coin money to the federal government (and denied it to the states), private banks were free to feature whatever motifs they wished on their notes. The first bank to disregard Washington's sensibility was, somewhat ironically, the Washington Bank in Westerly, Rhode Island. In 1800, less than a year after Washington's passing, the bank issued notes bearing his portrait. These notes are thought by obsolete paper money experts to be the first banknotes issued after the Revolution and Washington's death that featured the nation's first Commander-in-Chief.

Read more here

CONFEDERATE CURRENCY COUNTERFEITER CAUGHT

A Carthage man who is accused of counterfeiting and fraud by several people in various states across the U.S., has now been arrested and charged.

Carthage Police Chief, Bill Hawkins confirmed that Jeremy J. Tewell, 44, of Carthage was arrested Thursday (3/23) and is charged with forgery and felony stealing. Chief Hawkins said a person from the Carthage area contacted the police department, stating they too had purchased a counterfeit Confederate States of America bank note. Hawkins says the note was confirmed to be counterfeit by an unknown third party who specializes in civil war era currency.

It's not unusual to work a crime of forgery or various types of fraud, but this one is — in the fact that it deals with various types of currency, and it deals with multi-state victims. So, just trying to coordinate this into just one big case, it's challenging, said Chief Hawkins.

Read more here

THE TWO DOLLAR BILL DOCUMENTARY

Pablo Hoffman writes:

Read more here

ZIMBABWE'S LATEST SMALL CHANGE PANIC

Read more here

LOOSE CHANGE: MARCH 26, 2023

King Charles Maundy Ceremony in York

Charles and the Queen Consort will attend the Royal Maundy Service in York Minister on April 6.

During the Maundy Thursday event, the King will present 74 men and 74 women with specially-minted silver coins to the value of 74p – signifying Charles's age – to thank the pensioners for their service in local communities.

Last year, Charles, as the Prince of Wales, stepped in to carry out the custom for the first time, acting on the late Queen's behalf after she experienced mobility problems and could not attend.

He handed out coins to the value of 96p – to represent his mother's age – in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.

This year will be the first Maundy service since the death of Elizabeth II in September and the start of the Carolean age.

To read the complete article, see:
King to visit York to distribute Maundy money for first time as monarch (https://www.bracknellnews.co.uk/news/national/23408449.king-visit-york-distribute-maundy-money-first-time-monarch/)

Read more here