TOM KAYS NUMISMATIC DIARY FOLLOW-UP

"John Radel provided an excellent review of the Oscar II silver presentation medal that I brought along. I couldn't do better job myself. The other two items I passed around were the 1968 German Apollo 8 medal and the 1930J German (Weimar Republic) 5 Reichmark. The Apollo medal is a guilty favorite of mine, being minted in Germany and all. Just quirky enough to hold my interest. The 5 Mark is a one year issue (very low mintage of 33,000) commemorating the Graf Zeppelin's 1929 around-the-world flight. Taking off from Lakehurst Naval Air Station, New Jersey, and landing there to end the journey was the fastest circumnavigation of the globe at the time.

I very much enjoyed the evening of food, drink and "coinsy" conversation. Conversation down at my end of the table ranged from Wayne Herndon's recounting of Wizard's recent business activities and upcoming events and shows to Roger Burdette's discussion of current and past research projects and his suggestion of perhaps starting a "writer's table" at some local and regional shows were numismatic writers could attend and interact with attendees and collectors regarding their publications and all things numismatic. I also enjoyed chatting with Mike Packard and learning about his colonial Massachusetts and Connecticut coin collections. Jonas Denenberg even popped down our way toward the end of the evening to add some levity and youthful insight!! "

"Adam - Eva" is a 1987 medal by Kauko Räsänen (1926-2015), arguably the most famous Finnish medalist, famous for his pioneering multi-part medals and being the second artist not associated with the U.S. to win the Saltus Medal Award in 1986. 60 mm, ca 170 g, bronze, in an edition of 50 struck by Sporrong Oy, a nominally Swedish private mint very active also in Finland. This was a medal financed by the artist, i.e., not commissioned by a client, or a "vapaa mitali" to use the Finnish term. P 134 or HK 132 to use the standard catalogs in the Finnish market.

"I brought it to dinner largely as a contrast, or foil even, or vice versa (sometimes I don't think too deeply about what I grab as an interesting pairing on my way out the door) to an earlier plaque of Eva I acquired much more recently from Hungary. My interest in items from Hungary is more recent, and I acquired this plaque only in September, so I have less to pass along about it. Sometimes the research lags the acquisition of pretty things--many of you probably understand how this goes. It's an undated plaque by Berán Lajos (1882-1943). A one-sided, cast plaque of 185 by 79 mm in bronze.

Right: Bronze Eve Plaque (Magyar emlekveretek plakettek) by the Hungarian artist, Beran Lajos (1882 – 1943)

The rest of the story for Terracotta – Item #2: This four and a half inch (11 centimeters) diameter terracotta, high relief roundel of Benjamin Franklin with legend: B. FRANKLIN – AMERICAIN and 1777 date was the work of Giovanni Baptista Nini (1717 – 1786), who was an Italian sculptor working in Paris. This image of Franklin in rugged frontiersman fur cap was used on medallions and snuff boxes popular in France during the American Revolution. This simple image appealed to the French people which served to embody the rugged American spirit of Franklin as a ‘natural man' who was only being practical when he stepped off the boat from America wearing a fur cap to keep his bald head warm. Ben soon sent for more fur caps to wear throughout his stay in Paris which set him apart from the overly fancy French styles of couturiers to the Court of Versailles.

The rest of the story for Silver Medal – Item #3: Jon Radel writes that he didn't bring it, yet he remarks that the Swedish government was a great proponent of horse breeding, specifically to ensure a supply of suitable horses for cavalry use, and as such sponsored this as a prize medal. The medal pictured is by Johan Adolf Lindberg (1839-1916), or more commonly Adolf Lindberg, who has signed this particular medal as "A. Lindberg." Lindberg ran his own studio in Sweden starting in 1864, though it was a number of years before he started producing medals. In late 1897 he was appointed to engraver at the royal mint, after the death of Lea Ahlborn, and as such engraved all official medals.

See [J Adolf Lindberg, https://sok.riksarkivet.se/sbl/artikel/10414, Swedish biographical lexicon (art by Ulla Ehrensvärd), retrieved 2022-10-20] for a biography. The medal itself, and the very similar earlier medals by Lea Ahlborn, not to mention later medals with the bust of Gustav V, are relatively common. I found examples of several varieties for sale on eBay, though they largely aren't nearly as nicely toned as the example we saw at dinner.

The rest of the story for Bronze Plaque – Item #4: This large (14.5 x 18.8 cm) bronze plaque of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, dated 1911, was made for the Grolier Club by John Flanagan who would go on to create the Washington Quarter design used from 1932 to 1998. The Grolier Club was founded in 1884 as a society of bibliophiles, antiquarians, and graphic artists in America. The Grolier Club promotes the study, collecting, and appreciation of fine books and works on paper.

The rest of the story for Bronze Medal – Item #5: This is an 1893 bronze, Chicago World's Fair medal for The Ferris Wheel (Highest point 264 feet). George Washington Gale Ferris Jr., a 33-year-old engineer from Pittsburgh, came up with the idea for his famous wheel after Daniel Burnham, the eminent architect charged with turning a boggy square mile of Chicago into a world-dazzling showpiece, assembled an all-star team of designers and gave them one directive: Make no little plans.

But Ferris had not only been challenged to think big; the huge attendance expected at the fair inspired him to bet big. He spent $25,000 of his own money on safety studies, hired more engineers, and recruited investors. On December 16, 1892, his wheel was chosen to answer Eiffel's tower at the 1889 Paris Exposition. It measured 250 feet in diameter, and carried 36 cars, each capable of holding 60 people.

More than 100,000 parts went into Ferris' wheel, notably an 89,320-pound axle that had to be hoisted onto two towers 140 feet in the air. Launched on June 21, 1893, it was a glorious success. Over the next 19 weeks, more than 1.4 million people paid 50 cents for a 20-minute ride and access to an aerial panorama few had ever beheld. It is an indescribable sensation, wrote a reporter named Robert Graves, that of revolving through such a vast orbit in a bird cage.

But when the fair gates closed, Ferris became immersed in a tangle of wheel-related lawsuits about debts he owed suppliers and that the fair owed him. In 1896, bankrupt and suffering from typhoid fever, he died at age 37. A wrecking company bought the wheel and sold it to the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis. Two years later, it was dynamited into scrap.

"It wouldn't be a Nummis Nova dinner without at least one toned Morgan dollar. This is a beautiful 1881-San Francisco, a date known for its superb quality, with a nice crescent of rainbow toning produced by the overlap of another coin as it sat in a sulfur-impregnated mint bag.

To get scientific, the formula: 4Ag + 2H₂S + O₂ = 2Ag₂S + 2H2O applies.

"Ag₂S is silver sulfide, the layer formed on the surface of metal. O₂ is oxygen, and H₂S hydrogen-sulfide which is present in the atmosphere. While black in nature, silver-sulfide forms in layers of various thicknesses which creates colors seen through human eyes, through a process called Thin Film Interference Effect (TFIE). A perfect example of what this means is that we see rainbows in soap bubbles based on the angle viewed. TFIE ranges in scale from light-yellow through green. To avoid confusion, this is the scale used for silver-sulfide thickness and not the wavelength scale for human eyesight, where red is at the end. Thereby, green is the final stage before a coin looks black and ruined. Next in the necessary brew for toning are gases in the air. Specifically, sulfur, combined with moisture accelerates the process. Trace amounts of sulfur may occur from cigarette smoke or appliances running on natural gas. In conjunction with the atmosphere, contaminants contact the surface of the coin from materials contain hydrogen-sulfide such as paper, cardboard, tissue-paper, manila envelopes, canvas, etc. Add heat and humidity (2H₂O) for rainbows to appear."

THE BOOK BAZARRE

JOSHUA McMORROW-HERNANDEZ has written A Guide Book of American Silver Eagles, the newest volume in Whitman Publishing's Bowers Series. The info-packed reference addresses both the investor and the collector of this popular bullion series. 384 pages. Available December 2022. Order your copy online at Whitman.com , or call 1-800-546-2995.