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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: Jeff Dickerson, Treasurer Numismatic Bibliomania Society P. O. Box 578, Weatherford, TX 76086 Asylum For Asylum mailing address changes and other membership questions, contact Jeff 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 October 9, 2023 Stephen Album November 11, 2023, Workman's Books

 

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 OCTOBER 8, 2023

New subscribers this week include: Denny Polly. 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.

This week we open with two numismatic literature sales, one new book, a new coin album, a book review, updates from the Newman Numismatic Portal, and more.

Other topics this week include Mughal coins of India, St. Patrick coinage, Allison Jackman, Ron Gillio, Paul Ehrlich, the numismatic proof scale, Ben Franklin's currency printing plates, IMEX, Dahlonega gold, Jamaican banknotes, Australian coins and errors, and camp money.

To learn more about small California and Territorial gold coins, Ferdinand II Tyrolean Thalers, 1913 Liberty Head nickels, Philippine Emergency Notes, subsurface metal lattice images, NumiStudy, the motto "We Shall Persevere", coins of the Persian Governors, a rather inappropriate bullseye symbol and a famous pneumismatist, read on. Have a great week, everyone!

Wayne Homren
Editor, The E-Sylum

 

STEPHEN ALBUM LITERATURE AUCTION 2 SELECTIONS

Lot 98: Burnie, R. H., Small California And Territorial Gold Coins: Quarter Dollars, Half Dollars, Dollars, First Edition, Pascagoula, 1955, 96 pages, softcover three-ring bound. Contains an introduction, a short essay called "Notes on the Small California Gold Coinage" and many descriptions of coin types.

Lot 106: Challis, M.A.S. and C.E. Blackburn, Studies in the coinages of Carausius and Allectus, British Numismatic Society, London, 1985, 50 pages including 5 plates, softcover, ex Libris Stephen Huston.

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WORKMAN BOOKS SALE 6 ANNOUNCED

Workman's Books is conducting its Sixth sale, "Sale 6 - Selections from A Latin American Numismatic Library and other Consignments.". Accompanying the Latin American Numismatic Library is a sizeable consignment of books, catalogs, magazines, journals, and dealer fixed price lists on numismatics, orders & decorations, militaria, shipwrecks, sunken treasure, lost treasure, treasure hunting, lost mines, and treasure in the American West.

SESSION 1:

• Books: 1 to 467
• Auction Catalogs & Dealer Fixed Pricelists: 468 to 734

SESSION 2:

• Auction Catalogs & Dealer Fixed Pricelists: 735 to 1267
• Journals & Magazines: 1268 to 1345
• Posters: 1346
• Newspapers: Lot 1347
• Photos: 1348 to 1349
• Postcards: 1350 to 1351
• VHS Tapes: 1352 to 1354
• DVDs: 1355

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NEW BOOK: CORPUS OF MUGHAL COINS OF INDIA, VOL 1

Corpus of Mughal Coins of India, Volume 1: Silver & Gold Coins in the names of Babur, Humayun, Kamran and Akbar 1526-1605

Nilesh Gada (Author)
Dilip Rajgor (Author)
Legacy of India

The Corpus of Mughal Coins of India is a series of six volumes. The Corpus deals with all the coins issued by the Mughal Emperors within modern countries of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Nepal & Bangladesh. These coins include not only all the coins issued by the Mughal Emperors, but also all the coins issued by provincial rulers in the name and style of these Mughal Emperors. These include Independent Kingdoms, Princely States and East India Company. Catalogue of Mughal coins is classified as per chronology of Mughal Emperors. Each volume of the present series includes several rulers and their respective coins. A table of the classification of all the coins of these Mughal coins is appended hereunder.

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PERIODICAL: UNAN DECEMBER 2022

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NEW WORLD COIN ALBUM LINE LAUNCHED

International Fine Objects presents - World Coin Albums! After decades out of print, we are now manufacturing coin albums for collectors. The first available is a Silver Crown Type Set of Mexico, featuring many innovations:

• Slots for 35 different type crowns from from 1732 to 1995
• Safe EVF foam gaskets for irregularly sized colonial 8 reales and republic pesos
• A beautiful, hardcover, two-tone blue/cream cloth-bound folder with gold lettering
• Archival-safe, acid-free, PVC-free construction
• Pocket with logbook full of background history and checkboxes for the collector to record provenance

Read more here

 

BOOK REVIEW: MILLION DOLLAR NICKELS

The 1913 Liberty Head nickel is one of the most valuable and famous of all United States coins. Produced in secrecy and without official authorization in either late 1912 or early 1913, the coin is the last to bear the Liberty Head design created by United States Mint Chief Engraver Charles Barber design. Coin collectors became aware of its existence in 1919 when Mint employee Samuel Brown showed the nickels at a Chicago Coin Club meeting. Shortly before doing this, Brown had placed an ad in The Numismatist claiming that he was willing to pay $500 each for 1913 nickels. This was an enormous sum for a civil servant at the time but the ruse worked, and all five nickels were purchased by Colonel E.H.R. Green.

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NOVEMBER 2023 NNP SYMPOSIUM ANNOUNCED

The Newman Numismatic Portal today announces the next NNP Symposium, which will take place November 2-4. This is a free, online event that brings together a variety of numismatic speakers and covers a wide array of numismatic subjects. Featuring approximately 30 presentations, attendees will easily find topics of interest. This is the seventh such event, which was launched in fall 2020 in response to the pandemic.

In the area of U.S. numismatics, our feature presentation will cover U.S. material in the cabinet of the American Numismatic Association (ANA). Beginning with the 1804 dollar and 1913 Liberty nickel, the ANA collection includes important items in multiple areas of U.S. numismatics. Doug Mudd, the ANA Curator, will be on hand to answer audience questions following this presentation.

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NEWMAN PORTAL ADDS PHILIPPINE EMERGENCY NOTES

Newman Portal Adds Philippine Emergency Notes

Through the courtesy of author Kenneth J. E. Berger, the first (2016) edition of the volume Philippine Emergency Notes : Counterstamped, Signed & Initialed (CSI) Cebu Province is available on Newman Portal. Following the December 1941 Japanese attacks on Hawaii and the Philippines, increased government expenditures and public hoarding created a need for emergency money, which was authorized by the Philippine government in late 1941. Berger's work focuses on the counterstamped, signed, and initialed notes issued by the Philippine Central Bank in the Cebu region. An addendum to the work, also available on Newman Portal, supplies color illustrations of many of the Cebu notes.

Link to Philippine Emergency Notes : Counterstamped, Signed & Initialed (CSI) Cebu Province on Newman Portal:
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/book/632256

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VIDEO: ST. PATRICK TOKEN COINAGE AT ANS

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RON GILLIO INTERVIEW, PART ONE

GREG BENNICK: Hi, everybody. My name is Greg Bennick. I'm with the Newman Numismatic Portal, and this is yet another in a series of interviews with numismatists from a wide range of backgrounds. And today I'm with Ron Gillio, and we're going to be talking about his career, his background, and how he got his start in numismatics. And I'm really excited for this conversation. Ron, hi, how are you today?

RON GILLIO: Greg, I'm fine. This is a great opportunity to tell my story, and thanks for contacting me, and I'm very excited about doing this with you.

GREG BENNICK: I'm so glad. And for viewers, Ron has been very patient. We actually set this up two weeks ago, and just as we started the interview, my laptop died. And when I say died, I don't mean that the battery went out. I mean, like into Apple for serious repairs and the whole nine yards. So, Ron has been most patient and most gracious. And Ron, I really appreciate that. Thank you so much.

RON GILLIO: No problem.

GREG BENNICK: Great. Well, tell me, how did you get your start in the hobby? What got you interested in coins?

RON GILLIO: Well, it goes back to 1959. In 1959, I was at a movie theater in line. I bought my ticket, I got change. And when I looked at my change, there were some really shiny pennies in my change. And I had been looking at coins. I was always interested in kind of looking at coins. And I noticed that it was different from some of the other older pennies that were in the same change I got. Of course, it was the new Lincoln Memorial penny. And I was very curious about it. I lived at the time in the San Fernando Valley in Sherman Oaks, California.

And there was a coin dealer I found just around the corner almost from the theater, Bert Doling. And he was kind of my mentor that I went and talked to him. And he said, Yes, it's a new penny, you should buy some of these and keep them. So, I bought two rolls of 1959 Philadelphia pennies. He said, You get the Denvers at the bank, but these are better so get the Philadelphia's. And that's what kind of got me started.

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THE NUMISMATIC PROOF SCALE

I very much enjoyed reading Bill Groom's interview concerning counterstamps which is packed with information and sound insights. I think he's hit the nail on the head with his skepticism about many of the attributions contained in reference books, auction catalogs, and online auctions and price lists. And the "proof scale" discussed in Part 4 is a major contribution. The schema he has developed makes a lot of sense. They also would be of use when dealing with other types of numismatic material, such as maverick merchant tokens and award medals inscribed with the recipient's name where an absolutely certain attribution is often not possible. Of course, when dealing with inscribed award medals and merchants' tokens, most would fall into the 2-4 category while a large fraction of counterstamps, even after diligent research, would probably remain 0's or 1's.

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SUBSURFACE METAL LATTICE COIN IMAGES

New Groundbreaking Scientific Technique Unlocks Mysteries of a 1792 Judd-9 Silver Disme
By Robert Rodriguez

At the 2023 ANS Coinage of the Americas Conference, I presented, History Recovered: Saga of the 1792 Silver Disme, on September 22. As a result of our investigations, my colleague, Tony Lopez, and I conclude that the following 1792 Judd-9 silver disme is the Design Work Surface that was used to design the 1793 half cent. To arrive at this conclusion, our journey of discovery required the most extensive and intensive scientific investigation ever conducted in the field of numismatics that took place over a period of nearly 4 1/2 years.

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NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: OCTOBER 8, 2023

Second Life for the 2005 EAC Convention Brochure
Bill Eckberg writes:

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
VIDEO: MARK BORCKARDT AND PENNY WISE (https://www.coinbooks.org/v26/esylum_v26n40a10.html)

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LIBRARY COMPANY FRANKLIN EXHIBIT FEATURES MONEY

Ray writes:

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FINANCIAL DOCUMENT EXHIBIT AT IMEX

The Museum of American Finance, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution based in New York, has been invited to display some of the most important documents from its world-class collection at the first annual International Money Exposition (IMEX) in Nashville, TN, from October 27-28, 2023. IMEX is a global money show that is expected to attract more than 350 dealers and thousands of attendees from around the world.

As part of its mission to preserve and present the history and practice of finance in the United States, the Museum actively collects important documents and artifacts related to the capital markets, money, banking and free enterprise. The archive houses thousands of documents, certificates and examples of currency, including the nation's premier collection of 18th century US financial documents, as well as artifacts ranging from vintage stock tickers to Wall Street memorabilia. The collection also includes photographs, prints, books and periodicals pertaining to the history of finance, business and economics.

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VOCABULARY TERM: OFF FLAN

Off Flan. Design or lettering not appearing on a struck piece because a smaller than intended planchet was used to strike the piece. The design or lettering is in the die and intended to appear in the struck piece, but too small a diameter blank was used. Obviously, this missing detail is near the edge of the struck piece. The missing portion of the design or lettering is said to be off flan. The 1791 Liverpool Halfpenny bearing George Washington's portrait and intended for circulation in America were all struck on too small a planchet with parts of lettering in the legend off flan (Breen 1223).

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ALLISON W. JACKMAN

I first came across the name of Allison Jackman while doing research for a 1986 book. That was long before the Newman Numismatic Portal and I needed to find an actual physical copy of the 1918 Henry Chapman sale of his collection. The catalog had a memorable description:

This week I set out to see what else I could learn about him.

Allison Jackman was born in Pennsylvania in 1849, the son of David Kilbourne Jackman and Saraphina P. Ross. For the 1850 Census, David was a merchant in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania. The 1860 Census is interesting in that it lists the father as a gentleman and his son as Albisa in an apparent misinterpretation of the handwriting. The family was still living in Loch Haven, Pennsylvania. For the 1870 Census, David was listed as a farmer living in Bath, New Hampshire.

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THE DAHLONEGA GOLD MUSEUM

On Friday afternoon, I found myself wandering through the lovely downtown of Dahlonega, Georgia. For those of you who have never visited the small gold rush town in North Georgia, I highly encourage you to visit. It's a quaint town with restaurants, antique shops, and a classic downtown city hall which now houses the Georgia Gold Rush Museum.

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NUMISMAGRAM MEDAL SELECTIONS: OCTOBER 8, 2023

102353 | FRANCE. Lodge of Saint Germain silver Jeton. Issued 1787 (23mm, 3.74 g, 6h). JETTON DE ST. GERMAIN, compass, square, and acacia sprays // CURAT PAUPERES ([He] looks out for the poor), radiant Eye of Providence. Edge: Reeded. Labouret 448. PCGS MS-62. Lightly toned, with great brilliance; a minor planchet flaw near the edge of the reverse is noted for completeness. Fairly rare and interesting. $645.

Contemporaneous to the "first coins" of the United States, the Nova Constellatio coppers of 1783, this silver masonic issue from the Lodge of Saint Germain in France was struck just four years later, possibly inspired by the "all-seeing eye" iconography as seen on the Nova Constellatio coppers.

To read the complete item description, see:
102353 | FRANCE. Lodge of Saint Germain silver Jeton. (https://www.numismagram.com/product-page/102353)

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MDC OCTOBER 2023 FRENCH COLLECTION SELECTIONS

MDC Monnaies de collection is excited to auction The French Collection in October 2023. The collection of 540 lots, built over 40 years, includes the most beautiful coins from the French Revolution to the Fifth Republic, with a vast majority of Top Pop. Today, it is not possible to recreate such a collection. We know that many collectors will find in it the special coins they have been looking for. The auction will take place in Monaco at the Hôtel Métropole on the 11th of October 2023, from 1:30 pm to 4 pm (lots 1 to 296) and from 4:15 pm to 7 pm (lots 297 to 540), Nicolas Gimbert, Auctioneer.

To view the complete collection:
https://mdc.mc/auction/vente-aux-encheres-numismatique-12/

Read more here

 

WBNA OFFERS CHANG-MARSHALL JAMAICAN BANKNOTES

World Banknote Auctions is thrilled to announce its upcoming auction of the Isabella Chang Fong & Ian Marshall Collection of Jamaican Banknotes, a remarkable and unrivaled assembly of Jamaican currency. This collection, widely regarded as arguably the most extensive and specialized assortment of Jamaican banknotes of the Sterling era ever put together, will be sold to collectors and enthusiasts worldwide by World Banknote Auctions on November 3rd, 2023, at 10 AM PST.

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NUMISMATIC NUGGETS: OCTOBER 8, 2023

An Augustus Cistophorus

Augustus (27 BC – AD 14) AR Cistophorus, Ephesus, 11.76g. IMP CAE-SAR, bare head of Augustus right. Rev. AVGVSTVS, Capricorn right, cornucopiae before. (RIC 477; RPC 2213). Good Very Fine.

To read the complete lot description, see:
Augustus (27 BC – AD 14) AR Cistophorus, Ephesus, 11.76g. (https://thestrand.com/auctions/calendar/list#/lots/78349de7-ce29-48c3-a38c-bafa8842b641)

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ANCIENT COINS OF THE PERSIAN GOVERNORS

THE ACHAEMENID EMPIRE of Persia founded by Cyrus the Great (ruled 559-530 BCE) was eventually conquered (330 BCE) by Alexander the Great. Achaemenid kings ruled their vast, multi-ethnic state through a system of appointed governors or satraps, recruited mainly from a narrow elite of closely related Iranian families. Satrap is the Greek reading of the Old Persian word khshathapavan, meaning protector of the province. As the Persians gained control over regions inhabited by Greek-speakers, these governors issued Greek-style coinage in their own names, and even bearing their individual images. These were some of the earliest coins to bear portraits of living persons, and are of great historic interest to collectors.

An important visual element in the depiction of satraps was their distinctive headgear, the kyrbasia[1], a sort of loose hood with long ear flaps. But some satrap portraits are bareheaded, perhaps a concession to the customs of their Greek subjects.

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THE SULU PATTERNS OF BRITISH NORTH BORNEO

Our October 2023 Hong Kong auction contains many special numismatic treasures from all over Asia including a British North Borneo Pattern denomination set produced by the Birmingham Mint in 1878. Included are:

• Lot # 33436 – Copper Cent Pattern, AH 1295 (1878)
• Lot # 33440 – Copper 1/2 Cent Pattern, AH 1295 (1887)
• Lot # 33441 – Copper 1/4 Cent Pattern, AH 1295 (1887).

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THE 1922 AUSTRALIAN SPECIMEN PENNY

Further batches of penny dies were sent to the Perth Mint from both the Melbourne Mint and the Royal Mint in London throughout 1922, these allowed the Perth Mint to strike 1922-dated pennies right up until February 1923.

The total number of pennies struck by the Perth Mint during this period came to £15,110, or approximately 3,626,400 coins. The amount distributed locally in Perth ranged between £50 per month and £640 per month, which clearly shows that the vast majority of the pennies struck by the Perth Mint during this period (£10,000 out of £15,110, or around 66% of total production) were shipped to the Commonwealth Sub-Treasury in Sydney for circulation on the Eastern seaboard. The demand for pence by the local banks in Perth prior to 1921 was approximately £800 worth or 192,000 coins per annum, a sum that is clearly a modest fraction of the £10,000 ordered by Treasury.

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KING CHARLES III TO APPEAR ON AUSTRALIAN COINS

The Royal Australian Mint in Canberra has unveiled the new effigy of King Charles III that will appear on $1 coins before Christmas.

Since 1953, every Australian coin has featured Queen Elizabeth II, with the late monarch's coins remaining in circulation as legal currency.

From the end of this year, coins will begin bearing the image of King Charles III, and will feature some slight differences.

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AUSTRALIA FIREFIGHTER COIN BULLSEYE ERROR

Australia's 2020 $2 Firefighter coin was designed to be a collectable, but an error on the obverse side has made some even more so.

The coins were released in the aftermath of the Black Summer to commemorate the brave firefighters who battled bushfires across Australia, nine of whom died.

On the tails side, it features a male and female firefighter standing back to back as they wield their hoses against flames. A vivid, orange and yellow fireball sits in the middle.

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BRITISH MUSEUM SEEKS RECOVERY OF STOLEN ITEMS

The British Museum has launched a new section of its website dedicated to the recovery of 2,000 items that were stolen from its collection. Launching the public appeal today, the museum invites anyone who is concerned that [they] may be, or have been, in possession of the missing objects to get in touch by email.

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FRENCH COUPLE SUES DEALER

A legal case making its way through the French court system is raising questions about whether a person who has sold an artwork or artifact later determined to have a much higher value can seek further compensation.

An unnamed 81-year-old woman and her 88-year-old husband came across an African mask while clearing out their second home. While most of the contents of the home went into a garage sale, they decided to sell the mask to a local antiques dealer, who agreed to buy the mask for €150, or about $157, in September 2021.

Months later, they discovered through reading the newspaper that their mask had just made €4.2 million ($4.4 million) at a specialized auction in Montpellier. As it turned out, it was a rare Fang mask used in rituals in an African secret society. The object was brought back from Gabon by the husband's grandfather, who had been a colonial governer in Africa in the early 20th century.

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LOOSE CHANGE: OCTOBER 8, 2023

1926 China Tientsin Mint Pu Yi Wedding Type 20 Cents

Several times a week the Boston Gallery gets calls regarding world coins that people inherited from parents or grandparents acquired during travels in the past. Usually these accumulations comprise demonetized coinage often commonly traded as world poundage in the industry. There are a few instances when some silver coins are picked out of the lots. And then there was this exception.

A few weeks ago, a woman called and stated that she and her siblings inherited an accumulation of world coins and inquired if we would give her a valuation and an offer to purchase the coins. We scheduled an appointment to review her coins and give her an offer to purchase. When she came in, we found the collection to be better than the average accumulation of world coins that comes through the gallery. It contained many common silver coins circulated in different parts of the world and, hidden among them was a high-grade silver coin from China.

I informed the woman that she has a China, Year 15 (1926) Tientsin Mint Pu Yi Wedding Type 20 cents in high-quality condition and recommended she consign it to one of our signature auctions. This is a popular China type coin among collectors because it features the old emblem of China (the Twelve Symbol national emblem from 1912 to 1928) consisting of a dragon and a phoenix (or a peacock) holding sacrificial cups over an axe head on the obverse. The reverse features the value in Chinese within a wreath with the year and fractional denomination of the coin written in Chinese. The woman agreed with my recommendation of grading this coin and then selling it in one of our auctions. This coin was submitted to PCGS for grading and received a Mint State 62 designation. It is featured as lot 32433 in our October 2023 Hong Kong Auction.

To read the complete lot description, see:
CHINA. 20 Cents, Year 15 (1926). Tientsin Mint. PCGS MS-62. (https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/lots/view/3-15CTLW/china-20-cents-year-15-1926-tientsin-mint-pcgs-ms-62)

To read the complete article, see:
IT ONLY TAKES ONE… (https://stacksbowers.com/it-only-takes-one/)

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FEATURED WEBSITE: CAMP MONEY NOTES

This week's Featured Web Site is Dave Frank's Camp Money Notes. Found via News & Notes from the Society of Paper Money Collectors (Volume IX, Number 16, October 3, 2023).