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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 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 22, 2023

New subscribers this week include: Douglas Lang, courtesy Akio Lis, and Samuel Skokan, courtesy Larry Lee. 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 an update on E-Sylum email issues, numismatic literature and ephemera sales, three new books, updates from the Newman Numismatic Portal, and more.

Other topics this week include U.S. Treasury bonds, medieval money, numismatics of the borderland, doubled dies, semiquincentennial coin design ideas, openwork, the LeVere Redfield burglary, Ron Gillio, fixed price and auction previews, tea tokens, and the Philadelphia Mint dime thieves.

To learn more about the paper currency issues of the Bank of Spain, Spanish treasure bars, Modern World Coins, the Frederick Taylor colonial coin auction photographic plates, the Van Wart Andre Captured medal, a Dance of Death medal, and New Zealand rarities, read on. Have a great week, everyone!

Wayne Homren
Editor, The E-Sylum

 

 

THE LONG AND THE SHORT OF E-SYLUM EMAILS

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WORKMAN BOOKS SALE 6 SELECTIONS

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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1795 $1000 U.S. TREASURY BOND OFFERED

Numismatic-adjacent material is a personal point of interest for me as a collector, and I relish the opportunity to handle items that fall just beyond the scope of coins, paper money, tokens, and medals. Such ephemera can often have a deep, intriguing history and, under the right circumstances, bring significant premiums due to their obscurity and scarcity. Both the internet-only and live sessions of our November 2023 U.S. Currency Auction feature unique examples of numismatic-related paper ephemera that are sure to pique the interest of paper money and exonumia collectors alike.

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NEW BOOK: MEDIEVAL MONEY

Medieval Money, Merchants, and Morality
Diane Wolfthal, with Steven A. Epstein, David Yoon, and Deirdre Jackson

2023
232 pages
8 x 10 inches
Hardcover
$44.95

A vibrantly illustrated, interdisciplinary volume that explores how art reflected and reinforced the complex ethical discussions that developed from the widespread role of money in the Middle Ages

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NEW BOOK: MODERN WORLD COINS, 15TH EDITION

Whitman Publishing announces the release of the 15th edition of A Catalog of Modern World Coins, 1850–1964, by R.S. Yeoman, edited by Arthur L. Friedberg. The 544-page book is available nationwide as of October 2023, in bookstores and online.

The revised and edited 15th edition features retail valuations by coin type for 300 nations and states, in up to four grade levels. Editor Arthur Friedberg and his team of experts from around the globe provide an accurate snapshot of the exciting market for more than 11,000 world coins.

The 1st edition of the Catalog of Modern World Coins was published in 1957 (at which time it listed coins from 1850 to 1955). Collectors quickly nicknamed it the Brown Book, after its cover color—similar to the Red Book, as author R.S. Yeoman's Guide Book of United States Coins was popularly known.

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NEW BOOK: NUMISMATICS OF THE BORDERLAND

A new book cataloging the numismatics of the U.S. / Mexico border is now available to the public. Numismatics of the Borderland: The El Paso / Juarez & Las Cruces Region 1st Edition by Jason Alan Elwell is a comprehensive literary approach that tells the story of where two countries and three states meet and their shared numismatic history.

Within the 220 pages of this hardback book, over 950 images can be viewed. All numismatic items have unique identification numbers, specifications, and descriptions. All listed items are documented with actual-sized / full-color imagery set in high resolution (unless otherwise noted). Also featured within this book are historical photographs and documents that help the reader better understand the context of borderland numismatics.

 

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NEWMAN PORTAL SCANS TAYLOR PLATES

Newman Portal Scans Taylor Plates from SNS Library

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VIDEO: DOUBLED DIES ON COINS

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THE VAN WART ANDRE CAPTURED MEDAL

The American militia men were hidden in the bushes having lunch and playing cards when they heard the horse galloping toward them. Springing from their lookout post near Tarrytown, N.Y., they confronted a stranger who was seemingly in a great hurry.

He was Maj. John André, head of British secret intelligence. But on this day, Sept. 23, 1780, he was disguised as a civilian, John Anderson.

Stuffed in André's boot were papers that laid out how to successfully take the American fort at West Point. He had only received the information two days earlier from Benedict Arnold, the commander of the fort, and André now was riding south in the hope of getting back behind the British lines.

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NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: OCTOBER 22, 2023

The Economy of British America, 1607-1789
Jeff Rock writes:

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: OCTOBER 15, 2023 : Review: The Economy of Colonial America (https://www.coinbooks.org/v26/esylum_v26n42a13.html)

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SEMIQUINCENTENNIAL DOLLAR DESIGN IDEAS

Based on this 1976 Frank Gasparro medal. 13 stars are larger.

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AI-GENERATED NUMISMATIC CRAPOLA

In an email with the subject line "Let's hear it for AI," Dick Hanscom writes:

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BUYER BEWARE: FAKE COINS AND BULLION

A small auction house has been accused of selling fake rare coins and bullions which has drawn the ire of numismatists around the country. However, a tribunal has ruled it can't stop the auction house from selling fakes and that it's up to the buyer to do their due diligence. Jeremy Wilkinson investigates.

Lipscombe Auction House in Nelson sells hundreds of rare coins per year, specimens that would go for thousands if they were genuine.

But some of them aren't real, as one buyer who spent nearly $8000 on various coins and supposedly silver bullions found out.

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EXHIBIT: MEDIEVAL MONEY AT THE MORGAN

Is it ironic that the Morgan Library and Museum is opening an ambitious exhibition about money in the Middle Ages?

Maybe, maybe not. Suitable was the word that Deirdre Jackson used. She is the on-site curator of Medieval Money, Merchants, and Morality, an exhibition that follows the rise of the monetary economy in the late Middle Ages and the early Renaissance, long before J. Pierpont Morgan helped to cement the foundations of modern America's financial infrastructure.

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VOCABULARY TERM: OPENWORK

Openwork. A pierced coin or medal, with an opening made as part of its artistic design, or cut out at a later time. Coins are found with square or round holes in the center, with little other openwork design. Openwork medals are somewhat more artistic in that the open area is usually not in the center but appears elsewhere in the design, as part of the artistic expression. All openwork is cut entirely through the item forming the most severe treatment and allowing showthrough with a view of any thing placed behind it.

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THE 1952 LAVERE REDFIELD BURGLARY

Everyone knows (or should) about the Redfield hoard of silver dollars. This week I will report on another sensational chapter in his story that got a lot of publicity at the time.

In 1952, LaVere Redfield lived in a fifteen room stone mansion on Mount Rose Street in Reno, Nevada, with his wife Nell and a Kerry Blue terrier named Mac. They had moved to Nevada in 1935 to take advantage of a state without income tax, corporate tax or inheritance tax.

Redfield hated the IRS and distrusted banks. He also hated to have his picture taken. He dressed like a common farmer in overalls and a plaid shirt to avoid being recognized as he walked downtown to gamble in the Reno casinos.

Nell and LaVere were away from home when burglars broke into their house around noon on February 29, 1952. They carted off an 18 x 24 x 36 inch green safe that weighed 400-pounds with currency, securities and jewelry initially valued at $2.5 million. Newspapers claimed it was one of the biggest thefts in U. S. history.

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RON GILLIO INTERVIEW, PART THREE

GREG BENNICK: I like it. So, you mentioned Western Coins and Antiques. I know I brought it up slightly out of sequence before. What could you tell us about Western Coin and Antiques?

RON GILLIO: Well, I had been going to Santa Barbara for about 10 years before I opened up in 1971, the store Western Coin Antiques. And it was just a regular coin store. I mean, it was a regular coin store. I dealt in all facets of coins, coin supplies for collectors. And then that was kind of the beginning of people investing in coins and especially in silver. So, I dealt in that. And Santa Barbara is a small town, but an old town. So, there's a lot of collections that come in my store. And I still travel. I would go to coin shows almost every other week. And on Wednesdays, I would go to Coinorama City in Hawthorne, California, which is a meeting place in the 60s and the 70s. So, it was an interesting business. And I had some interesting clients that developed into a good business. And I still have the store in Santa Barbara.

GREG BENNICK: Now, tell me this, the connection with antiques since you haven't brought up Antiques before. Western Coin certainly makes sense. Tell me about your connection to antiques and what was the association there?

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NUMISMAGRAM MEDAL SELECTIONS: OCTOBER 22, 2023

102468 | GERMANY. Hamburg. Satirical silver Medal. Issued circa 1708 or slightly thereafter. The supposed corruption of the imperial commission by the Jewish community (23mm, 4.64 g, 6h). By an uncertain medallist, marked "T." DU SOLST NICHT GESCHENCK NEHMEN (thou shalt take no gift...), hand putting forth a coin; across the middle, banner reading KOMSTU MIR ALSO (if you'll scratch my back...) // DENN GESCHENKE MACHEN DIE SEHENDEN BLIND (...for a gift blindeth them that have sight, and perverteth the words of the righteous, –adapted from Exodus 23:8 [2nd Book of Moses]), bust facing slightly right, with hand nearly covering face, though with eyes peering through; t on sleeve; across the middle, banner reading SO KOMME ICH DIR SO (...I'll scratch yours). [The underlined legends are meant to be read as a complete message, while the non-underlined legends are meant to be a separate complete message.] Edge: Reeded. Cf. GPH 1220-1 (different medallist); Brettauer 4796; Fieweger Coll. 345; cf. Vogel Coll. 8739 (gold). PCGS MS-62. Most attractively toned, with some cobalt and violet notes around the devices, and great brilliance remaining. Undoubtedly one of the more alluring examples of the type that one can hope to encounter. Compare to a similar (though highly inferior) example (PCGS AU-53) from a different medalist (Wermuth) that realized a total of $660 in the Stack's Bowers 2021 NYINC auction, lot 23546. $985.

The city of Hamburg had a festering issue between its Senate and Citizens' Council in the late 17th century, with its local Jewish population a chief concern. Though a Sephardic Jewish population had much more long-standing roots in the city, the Ashkenazi population was, in contrast, much more recent and without actual legal status regarding its ability to reside there. The Citizens' Council—dominated by orthodox Protestants—along with the Lutheran clergy sought to block any concessions by the Senate to the Jewish populations, with the issue eventually escalating much higher within the hierarchy of the Holy Roman Empire.

Emperor Joseph I appointed an imperial commission, led by Damian Hugo Philipp von Schönborn-Buchheim, to settle the dispute between the Senate and Citizens' Council in Hamburg. Ultimately, the commission redefined the legal relationships of the Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jewish populations in Hamburg, with the regulations becoming part of the new Hamburg constitution in 1712. It is quite likely that this satirical medal, along with the various others that share a common design and message, were meant to convey the idea that the Jewish citizenry had bribed the commission for recognition of their status, furthering an antisemitic viewpoint among the largely Protestant populace. Given the contemporary works of medallists like Christian Wermuth (who also contributed to this specific "series"), and his satirical issues like the "corn Jew," the concept of antisemitic medals would be completely within the context of the period, and seemingly a likely cause that would generate such a concerted medallic effort among numerous workshops.

To read the complete item description, see:
102468 | GERMANY. Hamburg. Satirical silver Medal. (https://www.numismagram.com/product-page/102468)

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ARCHIVES INTERNATIONAL AUCTION 88

ARCHIVES INTERNATIONAL AUCTIONS OFFERS HISTORIC U.S., CHINESE & WORLD BANKNOTE & COIN COLLECTION ON OCTOBER 24, 2023.

The auction will be held by Archives International Auctions at their offices in River Edge, N.J.

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DR. BUSSO PEUS FALL 2023 AUCTIONS

The autumn auction of the House of Dr. Busso Peus Nachf. extends over three auction days, which are reflected in two auction catalogs.

Day 1, October 31st , traditionally opens with the antiques (488 lots). The distribution of Greek and Roman characters is roughly equal. The majority of the ancient coins can demonstrate solid auction provenance, which in the case of No. 301, an Antoninian of Laelianus, goes back to the Prince Waldeck collection, auctioned in 1935, and in one case (No. 247) even to the 18th century. Among the Greeks deserve a magnificent tetradrachm of Mithradates VI. from Pontus (No. 110) and the title piece of the catalog, a gold trihemistater from Carthage (No. 177), minted in the middle of the First Punic War, special appreciation. The Roman world is represented with numerous rarities, starting with the provincial coins, where two rarissima (nos. 188, 189) from the Burstein collection, which were auctioned in our house over 20 years ago, next to a magnificent bronze of Cleopatra (no. 192) may be of some interest to connoisseurs. Among the Romans a pair of gold pieces recorded and depicted as unique in Robert Göbl's corpus of Gallienus is one of the highlights (nos. 292, 293). A solidus of Constantius II from Arelate (No. 317) and one of Magnentius (No. 322) both stand out with their good preservation and great rarity. Finally, the rarely offered Byzantine Emperor Alexander, a particularly desirable piece of gold, is also represented in the last part (No. 361). The antiques section concludes with a wide range of collector-friendly, low-valued lots.

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KUENKER AUCTIONS 395-397, PART 2

Auction 397: Coins from the Ancient World
A journey through the entire ancient world – this experience is made possible by auction 397 on 14 and 15 November. No matter what field you are interested in, auction 397 has something on offer that fits your collection perfectly. Many small and two large collections will be sold. The first one is the Dr. Kurt Conzen Collection, which was mainly acquired in the 1970s and 1980s from major auction houses. The second large ensemble is from the estate of Maître Robert Schuman. It consists of gold coins of excellent quality and covers both Greek as well as Roman and Byzantine gold issues.

A highlight of the sale is a necklace and a bracelet, probably made for Pauline Borghese, Napoleon Bonaparte's little sister. The necklace was among the great showpieces at the then very important Art and Antiques Fair in Delft in June 1966.

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NORTH WALES ROMAN COIN FIND

A pair of novice metal detectorists have discovered a giant Roman hoard of 2,733 coins worth tens of thousands of pounds.

David Moss, 34, and Tom Taylor, 35, found the remarkable haul of 2nd and 3rd century AD silver and copper-alloy coins in a ceramic vessel in a muddy field.

Tom is an avid watcher of Time Team so, with official permission, he and David carefully excavated the pot which was 12ins below the surface before wrapping it in bandages.

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A NUMISMATIC HISTORY OF NEW ZEALAND

In 1840, New Zealand was under the extension of British law upon the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. As a result, specific provisions from the British Imperial Coinage Act of 1816 were applied to the colony, enabling the standard gold, silver, and bronze coins to be used alongside various foreign coins, all of which were recognised as legal tender in New Zealand.

New Zealand Early Currency

In the mid-1800s, due to a shortage of coins, particularly copper ones, private merchants issued their own penny and half penny, commonly referred to as Tradesman Tokens, which remained in circulation until they were phased out of circulation in the 1880s.

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TEA TOKENS

The emergence of tea as a beverage in India is a unique social event in history. Sylhet, Assam, Cachar, Dooars, and Darjeeling were preferred for tea production, considering the hill climate favorable for tea production. These tea regions were known as Surma, Assam, Barak, and Brahmaputra valleys. Tea production began in the middle of the 19th century. At that time, it was unprofitable for the plantation authorities to pay the wages of the workers in the government currency. That's why workers were given tea-tokens as wages.

This facilitated the payment of daily, weekly, or monthly wages to a large group of workers. These not only reduced the hassle of storing large amounts of petty cash but also reduced the financial burden on tea planters. There were tokens of different values, pi, paisa, anna, and then. They were of all shapes and sizes; such as round, oval, triangular, hexagonal, and octagonal.

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1879 HONG KONG ORIENTAL BANK NOTE OFFERED

Stack's, Bowers and Ponterio is proud to present an extraordinary uncancelled 5 Dollar note dated March 7 and issued by The Oriental Bank Corporation. Only four to five notes of this type are known to be extant.

The Bank was original founded in Bombay as the Bank of Western India in 1842. It expanded rapidly in Asia during the 1840s with offices opening in Colombo (1843), Calcutta (1844), Shanghai (1845), Canton (1845), Singapore and Hong Kong (1846). The Bank was renamed Oriental Banking Corporation in 1851 after acquiring a royal charter.

The Bank continued its rapid expansion during the 1850s with offices opening in major cities such as Madras, Yokohama, Foochow, Hiogo, and San Francisco. By the 1860s it became the most powerful, oldest, and most prestigious Eastern exchange bank.

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THE MINT'S PRODUCTION MAINTENANCE DIVISION

The United States Mint production facilities rely heavily on advanced machinery to make our nation's coins. Whether machines are recent innovations or old favorites, Mint employees' expertise helps keep production on track. Meet some of these skilled technicians and learn how they serve an important role at the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia.

Engineering technicians at the Philadelphia Mint help keep the robotic packaging line working efficiently. AJ Neider is one of those technicians. He maintains a eight robots that package the Mint's annual uncirculated sets, fixing both mechanical and programmatic issues.

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PHILADELPHIA DIME HEIST THIEVES CHARGED

Federal authorities unsealed charges against four men Friday in connection with the brazen theft of more than two million dimes from a truck hauling them from the U.S. Mint earlier this year.

The $234,500 heist — with a haul weighing more than a ton — was the culmination of a spree of tractor-trailer robberies in which the same crew stole frozen crab legs, shrimp, meat, beer and liquor from trucks passing through the region, prosecutors said in court filings.

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