BOOK REVIEW (BENNICK): SIEGE NOTES OF THE WORLD

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V29 2026 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 29, Number 1, 2026, Article 3

Greg Bennick submitted this review of Siege Notes of the World 1793-1913 by Dr. Lawrence Korchnak. Thanks. -Editor

There are two ways to read Dr. Lawrence Korchnak's new book Siege Notes of the World 1793-1913. One could read it passively, as a reference book, where it sits upon a shelf and, might one happen in the wild upon a possible siege note, one could use this book to look it up. This is not the best or most exciting way to read this book.

The other way to read this book is actively, utilizing it as a launchpad for true numismatic education, where it is paired with Korchnak's first book, Siege Coins of the World: 1453-1902 (published by CNG), and used as a means of learning more about the history, sieges, and conditions that led to specific note types to be issued. This reviewer far prefers the latter approach.

A topic on which less substantive information has been published than most other numismatic areas, siege notes can, because of this book, develop from here. Enthusiasts, or those curious about the topic, now have this book to serve as a synthesis of known information in one reference. This is a much-needed solution. For example, nearly 40% of the referenced bibliographic sources in this book were not published in English! Dr. Korchnak has done a service to the student of siege notes by compiling the most important information from known sources into one concise volume.

The book establishes the topic through a short foreword and introduction, which describe the what and why and how of siege notes. We learn that these notes were issues of desperation during times of duress, used to pay mercenary forces when no traditional means of currency (or possibly coin) might have been available. A closer read notices that there have been only nineteen known times when such notes were produced. These nineteen instances are each explored as a chapter in the book.

Each entry is an encapsulation of both the issued note and its history, presented as a historical anecdote first, describing the siege and the conditions in which the note was released. From there, the known examples of that type are listed by denomination and variety. The reader will note that some entries are listed as "Reported, not verified" when an example supposedly exists but has not been seen or catalogued. This serves as an excellent place for readers to do their own research and locate examples of, or information about, those issues. This speaks to the active reading approach referenced earlier. Siege notes are out there, and are waiting to be found. This is a work that will help you better identify and understand them.

Photos of any known examples are in color, with each listing including a catalog title that includes denomination, a brief description, a reference to a source if the note appeared in another volume, and a rarity determination (for which the author has extrapolated a scale based on a combination of prior work on French notes, and auction / sales history of known sold examples).

There are no prices in the book, so think of it not as a catalog giving both valuations and descriptions, but rather as more of a research volume from which one can explore the topic and look into auction records and prior sales for more information on one's own. One gets the sense while looking through the entries here that the occasionally sparse information on a particular issue is not because information has been excluded, but rather because it simply doesn't yet exist as fully developed.

It is clear throughout the work that Dr. Korchnak is devoted to as full an exploration of siege issues as the current body of information available allows. He has put a tremendous amount of time into a subject upon which little else has been written. With that in mind, this is a groundbreaking book.

A slim volume, totaling 89 pages, Siege Notes of the World should not be taken as lacking in substance based on size, but rather as a full, or slowly filling, storehouse and synthesis of currently available information. It is up to the active student and reader to interpret this book as a gauntlet thrown, and to take the next step, as the author requests, to "conduct further research" into this area.

Any numismatic area develops through a collective decision to do more research, find and compare new or existing examples, and communicate and share the results with other enthusiasts. In numismatics, especially in developing areas of study, someone has to take the first step to delve deeper and to open doors through which others may pass. In terms of siege notes, Dr. Korchnak has successfully done exactly that.

Siege Coins of the World 1453 1902 book cover

For this reviewer (and admittedly a new student of the topic), my first step when presented with Siege Notes of the World was to purchase a copy of the author's prior book, Siege Coins of the World: 1453-1902. The coin volume is a behemoth in comparison, at 332 pages, but this is because there are both more known examples and a wider range of people collecting and discussing them. Finding the volumes complementary meant having an immediately expanded resource with which to study notes. The coin book offers a thorough foundation for a similar topic upon which more research has been done. As one might expect in terms of study, two volumes are better than one (as an aside, one might sometime consider the reviewer's personal coin library to notice, as many numismatic bibliophiles could relate, that a few thousand volumes are better than one!). In terms of this book, I would recommend doing the same and purchasing Siege Coins of the World: 1453-1902 to go along with your copy of Siege Notes of the World 1793-1913.

From here, a reader would be wise to take the initiative and learn more about each siege and its history. Understanding why the notes were issued yields information about what the notes themselves are. As Marshall McLuhan famously stated, "The medium is the message," describing the idea that how an idea is communicated shares vital information about the idea, possibly even more importantly at times than the idea itself.

In Siege Notes of the World 1793-1913, McLuhan's concept applies as we explore the ways in which that notes were printed, why they were made, and also the functional aspect of what material they were actually printed upon. This idea is a concept learned from the book itself, as it is both explicitly stated and also inferred.

A note issued on a cloth fragment was not issued this way because the issuers liked fine fabrics but possibly rather because all precious metals had been used up for the issuance of siege coins, then all base metals as well, then possibly maybe even all leather, leaving the issuer only fabrics upon which to print. While this sequence is conjecture on the part of the present reviewer, it speaks to the piecing together of the what behind the physical note and the conditions supporting the why behind their reason to be. Certainly, in terms of coins, when no metal remained, other materials were used out of necessity. That necessity, engaged in by a people who were at the end of their resources due to a literal ongoing battle or siege, helps paint a clear picture of the conditions under which such pieces were issued. This is a critical part of the story, and Dr. Korchnak sets this essential tone clearly.

This is a book that will serve the active reader as a starting point and will present many questions as it offers definitive facts and answers. Siege Notes of the World 1793-1913 will spark the numismatic mind, and that in itself certainly speaks to a positive review. Direct participation in the hobby is what allows it to grow, and this is a book that actively promotes such an approach.

Let other volumes sit passively on the shelf. Have Siege Notes of the World 1793-1913 offer opportunities not just for expansive education about history, but also practical discovery as one begins to seek out and potentially find new as- yet-unseen notes in the world. Those treasures are out there, and this book serves as a solid introductory, and simultaneously advanced, guide to the subject.

Kolbe & Fanning, 2025. 8vo, original dark gray leatherette, printed in silver. iv, 92 pages; illustrated in color.

In lieu of prices, the book does attempt to estimate rarity, which is more constant than pricing and can be used as a proxy for pricing in relation to recent sales of these very rare numismatic items. -Editor