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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 can go to the following web page Subscribe You may Unsubscribe Here 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 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 AUGUST 31, 2025

New subscribers this week include: Jarrod Ranney. Welcome aboard! We now have 7,031 subscribers.

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.

Taking a cue from Emeril Lagasse, longtime supporter Douglas Winter Numismatics is kicking it up a notch by becoming a Sponsor. Thank you! His new banner debuts atop this issue.

This week we open with our little birthday party, the 2025 NLG Awards, one new book, updates from the Newman Numismatic Portal, notes from readers and more.

Other topics this week include San Francisco Mint Melter & Refiner Edwin R. Leach, artificial intelligence in numismatic publishing, the Oklahoma city ANA, rippled surfaces, Hunter Hicks, the provenance of the 16th Fantastic 1804 Dollar, fixed price and auction previews, elongated cents, Falkland islands and Sri Lankan banknotes, and a coin treasure hunt.

To learn more about Korean Coins at the U.S. Mint, the Washington Cents, The Ribbit, "Nickel Working", numismatic newshounds, Snowden, Linderman, Woodin, Edgar Adams, the 1935 George V Silver Jubilee Crown in gold, numisnautics, and the penny presser at the Ohio State Reformatory, read on. Have a great week, everyone!

Wayne Homren
Editor, The E-Sylum

 

THE E-SYLUM TURNS TWENTY-SEVEN

The E-Sylum is twenty-seven years old this week. On September 4, 1998 the first issue of what we now call The E-Sylum was emailed to a list of members and friends of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society. Now archived on our web site as Volume 1, Number 1, that first message started the ball rolling. That email went to 49 people. As the word spread, subscription requests arrived from around the world and by September 15 there were 90 subscribers.

WHAT'S WITH THE FUNNY NAME? Well, our organization is the Numismatic Bibliomania Society, a group for people who love coin books and are crazy for any and all information about numismatics. Our print journal is The Asylum, so our electronic publication naturally became The E-Sylum. While The E-Sylum is free to all, only paid members of NBS receive The Asylum.

An excerpt from the September 4, 1998 message:

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2025 NUMISMATIC LITERARY GUILD AWARDS

David W. Lange Memorial Book of the Year - TIE
Korean Coins at the U.S. Mint & Korean Coins at the U.S. Mint
Mark Lovmo

David W. Lange Memorial Book of the Year - TIE
The Publications of Eric P. Newman: A Collector's Guide
Leonard D. Augsburger and Joel J. Orosz

Best Book: U.S. Coins
100 Greatest U.S. Coins, 6th Edition
Jeff Garrett

Best Book: World Coins
Korean Coins at the U.S. Mint
Mark Lovmo

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NEW BOOK: THE BUDDHAPADA TYPE GOLD COINS

The Buddhapada Type Gold Coins
By: Deme Raja Reddy and M Veerender

The origin of coins in India around the 6th and 7th centuries B.C. and the birth of Buddhism based on the teachings of Lord Buddha (563 B.C.-483 B.C) followed by its spread almost coincided. Unsurprisingly, Lord Buddha and Buddhism were represented in ancient Indian coins. The symbols that represented Buddhist faith were 1. tree in railing, 2. nandipada, 3. Chakra and 4. Eight-spoke wheel.

Another Buddhist symbol Buddha-pada which found its place in art and even in coins is a great revelation. The most significant observation was the finding of a hoard of 291 gold coins with the Buddhapada image from Mahbubnagar area. The design of gold coins with central image and images around the periphery is known from the coins of dynasties that ruled during the medieval period in Telangana. Though Buddhism flourished in Telangana in ancient times it disappeared with the revival of Hinduism from the time of Vish nukundins onwards in the region. The find of this hoard means that there were pockets of Buddhism in Telangana that flourished and issued such types of coins providing proof of the presence of Buddhism in this region for a longer period than known.

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NNP ADDS SAN FRANCISCO MINT NOTEBOOK

Newman Portal Adds San Francisco Mint Notebook

Recently discovered in a bookseller's stock by Wayne Homren, is a manuscript notebook of the San Francisco Mint Melter & Refiner, Edwin R. Leach. If the name sounds familiar, Leach was the son of the San Francisco Mint superintendent, Frank A. Leach, who saw the Mint through the 1906 earthquake and fire. The father, Frank A. Leach, later became the overall Mint Director.

The notebook, c. 1908-1909, discusses melting and refining processes and apparently represents a trip to the east coast, where Edwin Leach visited a number of smelting facilities. There are still great literature finds to be made "in the wild," as the discovery of this notebook clearly attests.

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VIDEO: GREAT NUMISMATISTS QDB MET

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ON AI IN NUMISMATIC PUBLISHING

Joel Anderson writes:

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NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: AUGUST 31, 2025

Chateau de Ramezay Museum and Library Medals
Ted Banning writes:

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
LIBRARIES ON COINS AND MEDALS (https://www.coinbooks.org/v28/esylum_v28n34a13.html)

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JEFF GARRETT: OKLAHOMA CITY GAMBLE PAYS OFF

To everyone's surprise, board members of the American Numismatic Association (ANA) decided about four years ago to conduct the 2025 World's Fair of Money in Oklahoma City. The decision shocked many dealers who were accustomed to the organization choosing larger metropolitan areas. Post-COVID, the board was given fewer options, and there had been a serious case of Rosemont, Illinois fatigue.

Oklahoma City had recently constructed a new convention center and hotel complex, and the city's various amenities, including being home to APMEX (one of the largest rare coin dealerships in the world) seemed appealing. After much consideration, the board bravely chose to try something new.

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SEPTEMBER 2025 GREAT AMERICAN SHOW

The Great American Coin & Collectibles Show comes to the Chicago area for the first time, Thursday to Saturday, September 25-27, 2025. The show will be in Hall F of the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, 5555 N. River Rd., in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois.

Numismatic artworks will be given away to the first 100 visitors each day.

The show is sponsored by Shepherd Expos Management and Amos Media, publisher of Coin World and Linn's Stamp News. There will be hundreds of dealers in the bourse; a featured display of California Gold Rush recovered sunken treasure artifacts; PCGS (www.PCGS.com) on-site grading and authentication; and auction lot viewing by Heritage Auctions (www.HA.com).

"This will be a golden event for visitors with a display of retrieved treasures and an important educational program about buying and selling gold," stated Larry Shepherd, president of Shepherd Expos Management.

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VOCABULARY TERM: RIPPLED SURFACE

Rippled Surface. Parallel rippled curves across the face on one side of a coin caused by grease left on a die or blank; or falling on either during coining; this heats up and imparts somewhat bubbly ridges during the heat of the coining impression. The problem of oil on the surface of either die or blank is the reason why both dies and blanks are treated before coining. Dies are cleaned with compressed air, blanks are metal cleaned. The effect was serious when knuckle-joint presses were used (either the Uhlhorn or Thonnolier presses) as oil spilled or dropped from the knuckle-joint above the bed where the striking took place. So serious was this problem in the 19th century that one firm, Greenwood and Batley, built a coin press with the knuckle-joint under the feed table to offset this problem!

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COIN WORLD – A TALE OF TWO ISSUES

When I returned home from the ANA Convention, I laid out my back print issues of Coin World in order. There is a gap between the issues of August 12, 2024, and April 21, 2025, when I did not receive the paper. While the weekly edition of Coin World was interrupted, the monthly edition was intermittent. I have the August 2024 and December 2024 issues followed by February, March and April and continuing. The last issue of Coin World Trends was the June 2024 issue and has not been continued.

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HUNTER HICKS PROFILED IN UVA TODAY

When Hunter Hicks first took a serious interest in collecting rare coins, his parents grew concerned. Their son's hobby didn't exactly match that of other preteen boys.

"Oh," they'd ask him, "you'd rather go hang out at a convention center with old people rather than, like, play soccer?"

As he did when he was 10, Hicks, now 21, is happy to respond to all inquiries regarding his unique passion. The University of Virginia fourth-year student runs a lucrative rare coin collecting business – Hicks Coins generated more than $960,000 in revenue in 2024 alone – in addition to studying at UVA's Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy.

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ON THE PROVENANCE OF THE 16TH 1804 DOLLAR

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ATLAS NUMISMATICS SELECTIONS: AUGUST 31, 2025

1083464 | GREEK. CORINTHIA. Corinth. Struck 4th Century BC. AR Stater. NGC MS (Mint State) Strike 5/5 Surface 5/5. 19.5mm. 8.65gm. Pegasus flying left, koppa below /Head of Athena to left, wearing Corinthian helmet; rose behind her neck. Ravel 997; BMC 327; HGC.4, 1848. High relief lustrous surfaces; an exceptional example.

Ex Astarte SA, Lugano Auction 1 (11 May 1998) Lot 96.

$9,850

To read the complete item description, see:
Superb Corinth Stater (https://atlasnumismatics.com/1083464/)

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1935 GEORGE V SILVER JUBILEE CROWN IN GOLD

Sovereign Rarities are proud to present for their 19th Auction to be held at their London office on Tuesday 23rd September an example of the George V Silver Jubilee Crown dated 1935 struck in gold.

This coin is one of the 25 pieces struck in gold that was supplied to the public by a ballot for the right to buy as it was so heavily oversubscribed with 1,329 applicants wanting to purchase an example at the £50 asking price in May 1935. While such coins do turn up for sale (Heritage sold one in late August 2025 for a total of $150,000) the really interesting thing with this one is that it has been family owned since it was obtained new in May 1935!

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KUENKER AUCTION SALE 427

Are you interested in Islamic coins? Then you should mark 7 October 2025 in your calendar. Auction 427 will feature a small but impressive collection of Ottoman and Turkish gold coins. Connoisseurs can look forward to 66 lots, covering the period from Selim I (sultan from 1512 to 1520) to the Turkish Republic in 1975. Moreover, the attractive ensemble includes a variety of historically interesting specimens, as well as great rarities and luxury pieces.

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EGYPTIAN QUEEN BERENICE COIN FOUND

For the first time, a gold coin featuring the Ptolemaic queen Berenice II of Egypt has been found in situ, more or less.

Technically, it was discovered while sifting archaeological material dug up from the "City of David" excavation under the former Givati parking lot in Jerusalem, of all places, the Israel Antiquities Authority revealed on Wednesday. So it hadn't been found exactly where it was dropped or lost, but its provenance is not in question.

According to the professional literature going back about a century, to date, about 20 coins showing Berenice, the wife of King Ptolemy III of Egypt, have been found, all in Egypt, says Robert Kool, head of the Numismatics Department at the IAA.

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WHITHER SQUISHED PENNIES?

Carissa Gooding, a pressed-penny collector in Columbus, Ohio, who makes very satisfying- to-watch TikToks in which she cleans souvenir pennies with a Q-tip and metal polish while telling stories about where she pressed the coins, recently had a self-described "penny mental breakdown."

She found an old pressed penny from the Cincinnati Museum Center among her things, which led her to drive two hours to the museum, both to see a Barbie exhibit and to check out the machine—but it was nowhere to be found. An attendant told her they'd gotten rid of it last year, a result of the cost of maintenance compared to the money they actually make from the pennies, not to mention the imminent end of penny minting. "I was freaking out about this silly little penny press," she told me. "After that, I went home and was like, I have to collect every single penny."

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US MINT ISSUES FIRST LASER-ENGRAVED COIN

As the American Numismatic Association concludes its annual convention – dubbed the "World's Fair of Money" – this weekend in Oklahoma City, the coin-collecting community continues to be plagued by one of its most pressing issues: A proliferation of Chinese-made counterfeits.

According to the association, such fakes are more widespread than ever. They're often sold, experts say, through online auction facilitators such as eBay to unwitting collectors fooled by too-good-to-be-true bargains.

The U.S. Mint says its latest coin release, featuring laser engraving, marks a leap forward in counterfeit-busting technology, and some believe the agency may be thumbing its nose at bogus coin makers in the process.

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FALKLAND ISLANDS BANKNOTES TO SHOW KING CHARLES III

[T]he Falkland Islands decided on a new set of banknotes and redesigns for the first time in over four decades. The redesign followed on a shortage of £5 notes which prompted a public consultation last year.

"Native plants and animals emerged as the public's favorite theme," said officials, who collaborated with banknote manufacturer De La Rue and a working group of local residents to bring the concept to life.

"This design celebrates our unique heritage and wildlife," noted the working group Falklands group.

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SRI LANKA NOTE FOR THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED

To mark its 75th anniversary, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) today, August 29, issued a Rs2,000 currency note with features for the visually impaired. This is the fifth commemorative currency note issued by CBSL.

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LOOSE CHANGE: AUGUST 31, 2025

English Pub Chain Bans Scottish Banknotes

SCOTTISH banknotes have been banned by hundreds of JD Wetherspoon pubs across England, it has been revealed.

Bosses at the bar chain reportedly instructed staff not to accept any Scottish £20 and £50 notes from late November last year.

The decision comes after Wetherspoon bosses were warned by the Bank of England last October that a large number of fake Scottish £20 notes were being put into circulation by organised crime gangs, according to the Scottish Sun.

The news outlet reported that some Scots have been left "embarrassed" after their Scottish notes were refused at Wetherspoon's English branches over the last year.

A spokesperson for the pub chain has since apologised for the impact the policy is having on its customers.

Eddie Gershon told The Scottish Sun that the banning of Scottish £20 and £50 notes does not apply in Scotland, along with certain towns and cities with close ties to the city.

To read the complete article, see:
Wetherspoon bans Scottish banknotes across hundreds of pubs (https://www.thenational.scot/news/25429475.wetherspoon-bans-scottish-banknotes-across-hundreds-pubs/)

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CHICAGO-AREA U.S. TYPE COIN TREASURE HUNT

A Rogers Park coin collector is gradually leaving a collection of rare, early American coins around the neighborhood for residents to claim through the rest of the year.

Jon Martin, 38, has "boxes and boxes" of coins, many of them from the early 1800s, that he's amassed over his lifetime — so many that he's decided to relinquish 10 of them and have a little fun in the process.

Three of the coins — an 1830 coronet head large cent, an 1806 draped bust large cent and, the most rare of them all, an 1800 draped bust half cent — have already been dropped and found in the neighborhood since mid-August.

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ABOUT THIS ISSUE: AUGUST 31, 2025

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