About UsThe 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 SubscriptionsThose wishing to become new E-Sylum subscribers can go to the following web page
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MembershipThere 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 AsylumFor Asylum mailing address changes and other membership questions, contact Jeff at this email address: treasurer@coinbooks.org SubmissionsTo submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com BUY THE BOOK BEFORE THE COINSale Calendar
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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.
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Dale Batko (via Facebook).
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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 more highlights of the Robert A. Schuman, M.D. numismatic library sale, four new books on world coinage and medals, a video from the Newman Numismatic Portal, notes from readers, and more.
Other topics this week include French, Spanish and German coins, Pope John Paul II's travels, the 1936 dot cent, struck copies, auction previews, my ANA convention diaries, fake beer tokens, the Board of Lady Managers, and NumisTrends,
To learn more about the American Journal of Numismatics, Lyman Low's 1899 Hard Times Tokens, Spanish silver and the early U.S. Mint, gold slug design spoons, the numismatic Enders family, the Battle of the Cowpens medal, Mary Queen of Scots coinage, a Gothic crown, the Heeren Brothers company, the 1933 Double Eagle panel, and Korean banknote artist Lee Jong-sang, read on. Have a great week, everyone!
Wayne Homren
Editor, The E-Sylum
Here are more highlights of Kolbe & Fanning's 178th numismatic literature sale, featuring the Robert A. Schuman, M.D. library and closing on September 26, 2026. -Editor
The exceptional numismatic library formed by Robert A. Schuman, M.D., is being sold by Kolbe & Fanning Numismatic Booksellers on Saturday, September 26, 2026. The online catalogue can be seen at
bid.numislit.com. The focus of the Schuman Library is on U.S. numismatics, and it includes a wide array of classic auction catalogues (including a complete set of Lyman Low and U.S. Coin Company catalogues) as well as important works on large cents, Hard Times Tokens, and much else.
Some highlights include:
Maison Gadoury Numismatique has published a new edition of the book on French Royal Coins from Louis XI to Henry IV (1461–1610). -Editor
Monnaies Royales de Louis XI à Henri IV-2026
Author: S. Sombart
Publisher: Maison Gadoury Numismatique
Year: 2026
Language: French
45,00 €
Shipping from the end of September
The 2026 edition follows Gadoury's traditional and well-established classification system, while incorporating important updates and newly recorded coins.
Coins are arranged by reign in chronological order, then classified by denomination from the lowest to the highest value, according to the monetary system of the period. Metals are presented in their traditional sequence: copper, billon, silver and gold.
Moneda Española 1868-2024 is a recently published book on Spanish coinage, found via 2026 IAPN Book Prize Nominations. -Editor
Moneda Española 1868-2024
Rodríguez Soage, J. David
Enumismatic , 2025 , Vigo (Spain).
528 p. 28x21cm. ISBN: 978-84-09-68850-0
A catalogue of coins from the peseta to the euro. Includes variants, proofs, trials, errors, period forgeries, and collectible coins. A deluxe edition with full-size, color photographs and a hardcover. Limited to just 250 copies for the most discerning collectors.
The most comprehensive work on Spanish coinage of this period, providing not only the most extensive catalogue of pieces to date but also previously unpublished information on assayers, engravers, surrenders, decrees, orders, and communications from the Madrid Mint. The result of a collector's experience, 20 years of data collection, and over two years of exhaustive research using documents from the National Historical Archive, published articles, and period newspapers.
It offers valuable information for collectors, such as guides for detecting forgeries, and for those interested in entering the world of collecting, including explanations of basic concepts and coin production.
Künker is selling copies of the 2026 German-language book by Kurt Jaeger on German coinage since 1871 (the year of German unification). Here is the book description translated to English by Microsoft CoPilot. -Editor
DIE DEUTSCHEN MÜNZEN SEIT 1871
(German Coins Since 1871)
JAEGER, K.
The standard reference and citation work for coin collectors and coin dealers, now in its completely revised 29th edition — an essential resource for every collector.
There are no price lists and no auction catalogs that do not cite according to the catalog numbers of the "Jaeger." First published in 1942, this standard work has since become the foundational reference for the coin trade and collectors, and a numismatic bestseller of which several hundred thousand copies have now been sold. It is indispensable for anyone wishing to accurately identify and evaluate German coins from the founding of the German Empire onward.
A new book in Spanish has just been published. It is titled MONEDAS Y MEDALLAS CONMEMORATIVAS DE LOS VIAJES APOSTÓLICOS DEL PAPA JUAN PABLO II.
The new book describes commemorative coins and medals issued during and after the travels of Pope John Paul II to different countries of the world. The book describes not only those commemorative pieces but also provides information on the issues dealt with by the Pope in each country or city visit. As such it is a unique publication that combines numismatics and Papal interventions.
The eBook covers the first fifty such trips undertaken by Pope John Paul II between 1978 and 1991. A second part, covering the other official trips he made through 2005 -- the year of his death -- is under preparation and should be issued shortly.
The eBook is available, free of charge, at http://www.academia.edu/.
Thank you. The title translates to "COMMEMORATIVE COINS AND MEDALS OF THE APOSTOLIC JOURNEYS OF POPE JOHN PAUL II." Here is a Google translation of the book's Foreword. -Editor
The David Lisot Video Library on the Newman Numismatic Portal can be found at:
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/multimediadetail/522852
We highlight one of his videos each week in The E-Sylum. Here's one from 2016 with Brad Karoleff speaking about ... well, a long list of historical connections explaining how Spanish silver ended up being recoined at the early U.S. Mint. -Editor
Another video worth watching is the Official Red Book Podcast on the Secret World of Rare Coin Books with David Fanning. Maybe not so secret for longtime E-Sylum readers and NBS members, but it's a great interview with Jeff Garrett speaking with numismatic literature dealer David Fanning of Kolbe & Fanning. -Editor
In this fascinating episode of the Red Book Podcast, Jeff Garrett sits down with legendary numismatic literature expert David Fanning of Kolbe & Fanning Numismatic Booksellers — the world's longest-running rare numismatic literature firm.
From $14,000 coin books and annotated auction catalogs to the origins of die varieties, provenance research, and the evolution of coin photography, this episode dives deep into the hidden backbone of coin collecting: knowledge.
John Regitko of Toronto, Canada writes:
"The article about your start in numismatics in the last E-Sylum reminded me of how I got my start. Just like what happened with you, someone took the time to get me hooked. Here I am, 70 years later, a past-president and past-executive secretary of the Royal Canadian Numismatic Association, three consecutive ANA Best Local Coin Club Bulletin Awards, three consecutive RCNA Best Local Coin Club Bulletin Awards, owner of the Toronto International Coin Fair (the largest privately owned Canadian coin show at the time), recipient of national numismatic awards, and so much more.
"I got my start thanks to a coin dealer who took the time when I visited him when I thought I found what today is a million dollar coin in change...the famous 1936 dot cent."
With permission, we're republishing an article John wrote several years ago. Thanks. -Editor
Duane Feisel Contacted
Thanks to everyone who reached out with contact information for Duane Feisel. We got in touch, and he's doing well, still lifting logs in his 90s. -Editor
To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: SEPTEMBER 6, 2026 : Duane Feisel Contact Sought
(https://www.coinbooks.org/v29/esylum_v29n36a10.html)
Other topics this week include mystery metal rods theories, MS-Word Image Compression, and Gold Slug Design Coin Spoons. -Editor
Jonathan Brecher submitted this research update on an unusual engraved silver medal with wreath designs on both sides. Thank you! -Editor
I finally identified the wreath dies I asked about in 2019: Those are the dies of Washington and Lee University's Santini Prize Medal, Julian SC-63.
SC-63 is a very rare medal. It's not pictured in Julian. It took me seven years to find that the New York Historical Society has an example.
Allan Schein is requesting worn Buffalo nickels for youngsters learning about the American Bison at a Utah State Park. -Editor
The Bison Inspires
Antelope Island is the largest island in Utah's Great Salt Lake. Being isolated from the mainland it has been the home to American Bison since they were first brought on island in 1893. Pioneers first took up residence on the island in 1848, and the old farmhouse at the Fielding Garr Ranch is the oldest pioneer building still standing on its original foundation in Utah.
The Garr ranch is now a museum with the old buildings and original farm equipment maintained. The entire 28,000 acre island is a Utah State Park. Anywhere from 500 to 700 Bison roam freely over the fifteen mile long five-mile-wide island. Over a million people a year visit, and the numbers will only increase now that the new 15,000 sq ft visitor center was completed just a month or so ago.
Here's another entry from Dick Johnson's Encyclopedia of Coin and Medal Terminology. -Editor
Struck Copy. A replica made by striking with copy dies. A struck copy is not cast and not an electrotype, it is not struck with the original die nor made from the original hub (if it was so make). It must be from new dies, each side a copy die of the original; which could be cut by hand or machine, and will always have minor differences from the original. Numismatists seek to identify these minor differences to identify one or more diagnostic details to differentiate the original from the copy.
To classify or describe a struck copy it is necessary to know the intent of the maker: if the intent was honorable a struck copy can be considered a reproduction or facsimile; if the intent was questionable, it is an imitation; if the intent was dishonorable, the piece is a forgery or counterfeit. A special case of struck copies occurred in Russia where Russian mints made copies of early Russian coins (as an accommodation to wealthy Russian collectors). These are called novodels, a Russian term introduced to American numismatists by writer Walter Breen. See copies and replicas.
E-Sylum Feature Writer and American Numismatic Biographies author Pete Smith submitted this article on five generations of the Enders family, and their numismatic interests and connections. Thanks! Great hobby history. -Editor
David Enders Tripp corresponded with Eric Newman in 2002. In a December 16, 2002, response, Eric commented, "Your middle name reminded me that you might have numismatic genes in your DNA." At the time, David was not aware of the family connection.
Eric provided a copy of an Enders price list and David provided an old family letter and they both came from 15 Sheriff Street in New York City. In fact, the numismatic DNA runs through at least five generations of the family.
Stack's Bowers will be hosting their September 2026 Collectors Choice Auction from September 17-18. Select items are discussed below. -Garrett
"1781" (1845-1860) Lieutenant Colonel John Eager Howard, Battle of the Cowpens Medal. Paris Mint Restrike from Original Dies. Betts-595. Bronze. Specimen-64 (PCGS). 47.0 mm. Edge marked (pointing hand) CUIVRE, indicating that this medal was struck at the Paris Mint between the years given.
Stephen Album Rare Coins will be holding their Auction 56 from September 17 to 20, 2026. Here's the press release. -Editor
Stephen Album Rare Coins will hold its Auction 56 from September 17 to 20, 2026, at their offices in Santa Rosa, California. The auction is made up of 3,450 lots of Ancient, Islamic, Indian, Chinese, and World Coins and Banknotes. The first two days will be in-person bidding as well as on the internet, while the third and fourth days will be internet-only sessions.
Featured in the auction will be the Bob "Swamperbob" Gurney Collection of Cap & Rays 8 Reales, the Edward W. Rataj Collection of World, Ancient & Islamic Coins, the Dr. Dirk Löer Collection of Chinese Coins, and the Bernd Löer Collection of Chinese Coins.
Some highlights of the sale follow:
Sovereign Rarities will be hosting the Kilmarnock Collection & Part III of The Highcliff Collection on September 22. Additional select items are discussed below. -Garrett
Mary Queen of Scots (1542-67), Mary Queen of Scots (1542-67), silver Testoon of Five Shillings, dated 1558 both sides, first period before marriage (1542-58), Type IIIb, wide arched crown over Scottish arms, plain interior and crown band, M to left, R to right over a smaller letter A for Achesoun the die sinker, initial mark cross, legend with date surrounding, + MARIA. DEI. G. SCOTOR. REGINA. 1558., stop after date, rev. large cross potent with cross in each angle, legend with date surrounding, initial mark crown, IN. VIRTVTE. TVA. LIBERA. ME. 1558, 6.00g (S.C.B.I. 35:- Ashmoleon & Hunterian; S.C.B.I. 58:353 Edinburgh; S.C.B.I. 71:601, 602, 603 Stewartby; Burns 20 fig. 795; S.5408). Toned, one small rim chip, a couple of other rim nicks, well struck and centred, with clear identifying details, a bold very fine and extremely rare.
St. James Auctions will be holding its Auction 127 on September 25. Select items are discussed below. -Garrett
Commonwealth, crown, mm. sun, 1656/4, English shield of arms within wreath, rev. conjoined shields, mark of value above (S.3214; N.2721), certified and graded by PCGS as About Uncirculated 55
Longtime E-Sylum contributor Eric Hodge writes:
Thanks for your weekly blog. Mondays would not be the same without it. Also congratulations on reaching retirement. It seems you are already looking back and wondering how you had time to go to work.
Over the years I have communicated with your readers through your site whenever I needed advice, ideas or help with any research project. Generally the responses have been so positive and helpful that I thought some readers may be interested to know that now I have reached my 80th year I have decided to sell my collection. I wanted to be involved in the sale so now seems the right time. I wanted the catalogue to be more an historical document with provenance and other references. The sale is with Noonans of Mayfair, London on the 29th September 2026 and I belief they have met my brief.
My research will continue and your blog will remain one of the highlights of the week."
Congratulations on reaching 80! Here's the Noonan's press release. Good luck with the sale! -Editor
My last 2026 ANA Diary covered only my first day of the show in Pittsburgh - Tuesday, August 25. Much of that day was spent visiting with current and potential advertising sponsors, and I only made it thru part of my extensive list. I resumed my quest on subsequent days, often having to miss talks and meetings I planned to attend. I even missed an NBS event, the Symposium. But it was a productive, if tiring show.
Here's the T-shirt I wore Tuesday - a retirement gift from neighbors.
The rest of this installment covers Wednesday the 26th. I stayed at my hotel in the morning, working a bit on The E-Sylum, but mostly reviewing a collection of J.S.G. Boggs material I wanted to make an offer on. There was a lot of material, and the hotel bedspread was a convenient work surface to spread out and organize it. I also made a side trip downstairs to sell a box of excess books to numismatic literature dealer Jeff Starck. We missed seeing the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile, although it was back in front of my hotel by evening.
This segment discuses my time at the Pittsburgh ANA on Thursday, August 27th. I was working in my room again for the morning and missed a couple more meetings and talks. My first event was the Numismatic Bibliomania Society Board Meeting at 11:30, where I gave a report on The E-Sylum, touching on subscriber counts, advertising revenue, metrics (people really do click on the sponsor banners), and our use of artificial intelligence to assist with preparing the issue - not to write articles, but to gather text and images from webpages, crop images, and streamline formatting.
There's a special place in Hell reserved for counterfeiters who shove their wares at fundraisers for Girl Scouts and firefighters. Counterfeiters in Canada struck a local festival last year, inspiring new beer tokens with an anti-counterfeiting feature. -Editor
When the organizers of southern Vancouver Island's largest Ribfest realized they had been the victim of a 3D printer beer token scam last year, they were shocked and disappointed, but this year the BBQ sauce-soaked event came prepared.
After months of work, sharing tech from major international music and food festivals and a local approach, organizers hope a new beer token will thwart any tech-savvy criminals.
"We found the security flaws from last year were simply that the old coin was extremely duplicatable," Esquimalt Ribfest's coin developer, Jeremy Notheisz, told CTV News.
Jim Haas for submitted this article on the medals of the Board of Lady Managers for the 1893 Worlds Columbian Exposition. Thanks! -Garrett
The Board of Lady Managers for the 1893 Worlds Columbian Exposition that was originally scheduled for 1892, was organized in late November 1890. It was chaired by Bertha Honoré Palmer, wife of Potter Palmer, owner of the Palmer House Hotel in Chicago. She was a most formidable and capable woman who oversaw the construction of the Fair's Woman's Building that showcased art, inventions, and the industries of women from around the world.
Korean painter Lee Jong-sang, whose portraits were featured on Korean banknotes, died at the age of 88. -Garrett
Korean painter Lee Jong-sang, best known for creating the portraits of Confucian scholar Yi I and his mother, Shin Saimdang, featured on Korean banknotes, died Tuesday. He was 88.
Lee, who worked under the pen name Ilrang, was born in Yesan, South Chungcheong Province, in 1938. He graduated from Daejeon High School and Seoul National University's (SNU) College of Fine Arts, where he studied painting, before earning his master's and doctoral degrees in philosophy from Dongguk University.
Here are some additional items in the media this week that may be of interest. -Editor
Coins have been worn as jewelry for thousands of years. An ancient coin discovered in Poland was found holed for suspension. -Editor
Archaeologists found a bronze coin minted during the reign of Seuthes III, ruler of the Odrysian kingdom of Thrace, between 323 and 316 BC. It was produced at Seuthopolis, near present-day Kazanlak in Bulgaria, roughly 1,500 kilometers in a straight line from Lysa Góra.
The coin bears a mounted figure and mint mark on one side, while the other depicts Zeus wearing a laurel wreath. At some point after it left the mint, someone pierced it. Wear around the hole indicates that it was probably suspended from a cord or leather thong and worn as a pendant rather than simply carried as money.
Researchers regard it as the earliest well-documented ancient coin recovered from an archaeological excavation in Poland and an important piece of evidence for contact between Mazovia and southeastern Europe during the Early Iron Age.
To read the complete article, see:
2,500-Year-Old Longhouse and Thracian Coin Reveal Unexpected Iron Age Links in Poland
(https://arkeonews.net/2500-year-old-longhouse-and-thracian-coin-reveal-unexpected-iron-age-links-in-poland/)
Other topics this week include a Coin Flipping Study, and the time the U.S. Postal Service shipped gold to Fort Knox. -Editor
This week's Featured Website is NumisTrends.
NumisTrends is a collector-focused website built around a simple idea: before asking what a coin is worth, learn to identify what is actually in front of you.
Its free Coin Academy currently brings together eight plain-English guides on Morgan and Peace dollars, American Silver Eagles, metal value and premiums, grading language, modern collectible metals, Goldbacks, and preparing a collection for sale. Each guide is designed to help a collector ask better questions and points to supporting sources.
The Academy also includes Coin Quest, a five-question interactive exercise on common collecting decisions. A printable completion certificate is available, but the site clearly labels it as an educational activity rather than a professional credential.
I got moving early Monday morning and ran the equivalent of a 5K around our neighborhood. I'll keep training, but should be in good shape for the race on September 26th. I spent part of the morning on a task for the Newman Numismatic Portal, photographing and packing some literature and ephemera to send off for scanning. Tuesday morning I had my first full exercise session with my new trainer, and later that morning I was on an NNP Zoom call with Len Augsburger.
While continuing to clear off my desk this week, I took some time to read the December 2025 issue of The Journal of Early American Numismatics, particularly the articles by Julia Casey and Chris McDowell on the Fugio Copper and the Stepney Hoard, respectively. The latter has an extensive genealogical study on numismatist Walter H. Breen, clearing up a number of inconsistencies, omissions and fabrications in Breen's own stories of his upbringing. Quite interesting and revealing.
I also read Bob Van Ryzin's Numismatic News article about a fanciful connection between Shakespeare and early American colonial coinage (hint - the play The Tempest is based on the voyage of a ship connected with the Sommer Islands (Bermuda) and "Hogge Money."
On Saturday my lunch tab ended in .76, and I happened to have 76 cents in coins on me. I paid with those and a larger bill. The young man at the counter handed back the correct amount in paper bills and thanked me for paying with change. "It's a lot easier to count out the paper money." So maybe there's hope for the younger generation after all.
Finally, here are some interesting non-numismatic items I came across this week.
Purdue grad who flew would-be suicide mission on Sept. 11, 2001, shares story (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EObvbEcwE-0)
He's Seen Images of 9/11 From Just About Every Angle. Except This One. (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/09/nyregion/911-disposable-camera.html)
A Roman emperor died from eating too much cheese. (https://historyfacts.com/world-history/fact/roman-emperor-died-from-eating-cheese/)
7 Things You Forgot Happened During the Revolutionary War (https://historyfacts.com/us-history/article/revolutionary-war/)
6 Popular Foods That Came From the Military (https://historyfacts.com/world-history/article/foods-that-came-from-the-military/)
How to be a word detective (https://psyche.co/guides/how-to-be-a-word-detective)
The Dominican Baseball Factory (https://www.propublica.org/article/how-dominican-republic-baseball-factory-traps-players-mlb-santo-caraballo)
Scientists Are Making Concrete With Human Poop – And It Gets 42% Stronger (https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-are-making-concrete-with-human-poop-and-it-gets-42-stronger)
-Editor