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The E-Sylum: Volume 21, Number 17, April 29, 2018, Article 17

NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: APRIL 29, 2018

Hans Walter Obituary
Regarding Hans Walter, web site visitor Mary Burk writes:

I live in Mansfield, Ohio and I wanted to inform you that Mr. Walter has passed away. His obit mentions Operation Bernhard, so I researched it. I read your article mentioning yourself and a friend coming to meet him.

I didn't know him or anything about the above subject, but I liked your article so much I thought I'd let you know. I think it's important to share stories such as these. I pray to God that we never, ever experience anything like the Holocaust again. May Mr. Walter finally rest in peace.

Thanks for letting us know. That was Danny Spungen and Fred Schwan who visited Mr. Walter. Here's an excerpt of his obituary, and links to the earlier articles. -Editor

Hans Walter Hans Walter lived to see more in his first three decades than could fill shelves in a library. A life that was the material for a gripping memoir or historical movie ended quietly as he died peacefully in his sleep on Friday, April 20, 2018 in Whetstone Gardens and Care Center. He was 96.

Born December 14, 1921 in Berlin, Germany, to O. August and Pauline (Flatow) Walter, Hans came to this country in 1951, a survivor of five concentration camps - including Auschwitz. Hans was the last surviving member of the Jewish prisoners used in the Nazi counterfeiting exercise Operation Bernhard.

He was a life member of both the NRA and Kol Israel Foundation, a former member of Emanuel Jacob Congregation and retired from General Motors in 1980 as a model maker with 25 years of service.

To read the complete article, see:
Hans Walter 1921 - 2018 (https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/mansfieldnewsjournal/obituary.aspx?n=hans-walter&pid=188818010&fhid=22472)

To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
OPERATION BERNHARD SURVIVOR HANS WALTER (http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v18n31a33.html)
OPERATION BERNHARD WORKER HANS WALTER (http://www.coinbooks.org/v21/esylum_v21n16a09.html)

More on Ray Lockwood
Pete Smith writes:

The April 1 issue of The E-Sylum reported on the death of Ray Lockwood on March 29, 2018. He was a friend I knew through the Central States Numismatic Society. He collected conventional things like encased coins. I also remember him for his collection of clocks with coins on the clock face.

The May issue of The Numismatist has a memorial for Walter R. Lockwood, Jr. of Marion, Indiana. His funeral notice confirms that this is the man we all knew as "Ray."

I did a search of back issues of The Numismatist. He was most frequently mentioned as Ray Lockwood and less frequently as W. Ray Lockwood. I could not find a single reference in The Numismatist to him as Walter R. Lockwood, Jr., until his death.

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
RAY LOCKWOOD (1939-2018) (http://www.coinbooks.org/v21/esylum_v21n13a10.html)

Byzantine Gold Coin Bracelet Stolen
Jim Bulmer of Hornby Island, British Columbia writes:

Last Tuesday my wife Barbara and I traveled from Mannheim to Essen on the ICE train, and when we arrived, found that my wife's purse had been removed from her backpack somewhere en route. In it were all the usual things which will be a pain in the neck to replace, but there was also a gold bracelet we had just purchased. Thankfully our passports and my credit cards were not in it, but the bracelet is unique.

It consists of six Byzantine solidi from Justinian to Heraclitus and one holed late Constantinian. The clasp is an ancient black intaglio seal of Zeus and his Eagle.

The coins are typical Byzantine Solidi, one with 3 standing figures, one with obverse about 30% off center, and a couple of Facing Armoured bust type. The seal is black, about 1 1/4" encased in gold, Crowned Zeus in top half, Eagle in bottom half.

My friend who gifted it to us told us these jewelry pieces are now very rare as most have been broken and melted. This one is about 100 years old and made of genuine pieces.

The police were notified immediately and detailed descriptions taken...Nothing to do but wait. If the robbers were smart, they would have melted it immediately, but if they weren't, and one decided to sell it, maybe it will appear in the trade.

This was the work of professionals...they were fast, quiet and efficient, and probably worked as a team. This was our first theft in 25 years of train travel, and we were careful...but not enough. Thankfully we visited with friends who let us vent and helped us calm down.

As a side note, we were near Koblenz for the EUCOPRIMO ( European Collectors of Primitive Money) conference....Which was Fantastic!

I'm very sorry to hear this news. Everyone, please keep an eye out for such a bracelet in the numismatic marketplace. -Editor

The Enigma of the Famed 1862 Rupee
Pabitra Saha writes:

You recently published an article from Bangladesh numismatist about variation in Queen Victoria coins. Similar, if not the same, is also reported by a Mumbai numismatists.

Thank you. Pabitra kindly forwarded an issue of a journal of the Mumbai Coin Society. The article by Amit Surana titled The Enigma Of A New Obverse In The Famed 1862 Rupee is nicely illustrated. -Editor

1862 Rupee variety

For more information on the Mumbai Coin Society, see:
http://www.mumbaicoinsociety.org/

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
NEW VICTORIA BRITISH INDIAN COINAGE DIE VARIETIES (http://www.coinbooks.org/v21/esylum_v21n15a30.html)

Fake Bactrian Coins

Georges Depeyrot forwarded links to information on fake Bactrian Greek coins. Thanks. -Editor

Fake Bactrian coins

For more information, see:
A FLOOD OF FAKE BACTRIAN COINS (https://www.academia.edu/2077047/A_Flood_of_Fake_Bactrian_Coins)
A Flood of Bactrian Fakes (http://www.kushan.org/bibliography/bactrianhoard.php)

Medals Remembering Foreign Fighters

Dr Helen Wang is Curator, East Asian Money in the Department of Coins and Medals at The British Museum. She forwarded this abstract of a new article by Johathan Chappell that discusses the the issuing of medals to foreign fighters in the Taiping civil war. Thank you. -Editor

The memory of the foreign involvement in the Taiping war lasted long after the fall of the Taiping capital at Nanjing in 1864. The events were commemorated by various actors, Chinese and foreign, from the end of the war until the end of the treaty-port century in 1943 when the right to extraterritoriality was abrogated. This article explores the commemorations of the foreign role through three media: the issuing of medals to foreign fighters, the building of memorials to the foreign dead, and the writing of histories of the events. Across these media, different interest groups used the foreign interventions as a proxy for continuing debates about the role of foreigners in China and about China's place in the world. More broadly, the commemorations of the role of foreign fighters in the Taiping war is a case study in the transnational politics of memory.

To read the complete article absract, see:
Some Corner of a Chinese Field: The politics of remembering foreign veterans of the Taiping civil war (https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/modern-asian-studies/article/some-corner-of-a-chinese-field-the-politics-of-remembering-foreign-veterans-of-the-taiping-civil-war/52F6ABFE326FD8B8378A514482A6A799)

About That Blender Test...
Dollar bill Blender test Steve Bishop writes:

The blender test for verifying the authenticity of the dollar bill is interesting, but since it destroys the bill in the process, not very practical.

And I doubt the Bureau of Engraving and Printing would accept it for their mutilated currency redemption program... Maybe it would be a cool supplement to my morning superfood kale smoothie: "Add the BEP Boost and Feel Rich All Day!" -Editor

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
THE MAGNET AND BLENDER COUNTERFEIT TESTS (http://www.coinbooks.org/v21/esylum_v21n16a46.html)

Stacks-Bowers E-Sylum ad 2018-04-22 consign


Wayne Homren, Editor

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