NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: JUNE 28, 2026

"I was sorry to hear of the untimely passing of former Coin World editor Bill Gibbs. His love of numismatics shone through every editorial, column and reader response he wrote. I found him to be a perfectionist in his writing. What always impressed me was the importance he and other staff writers for the publication placed on the ethical dimensions of relations between coin dealers and their customers."

1967 Park-Bernet Treasures of the Spanish Main Sale

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
WILLIAM TILDEN GIBBS (1954-2026) (https://www.coinbooks.org/v29/esylum_v29n24a05.html)

"I was interested to read about the 1715 dated Real with a pedigree from Henry Christensen. In the summer of 1966, when I was working for Sotheby's, I was sent to Melbourne, Florida, to make a selection of coins for the auction at Park-Bernet Galleries on 4 February 1967. Henry Christensen had by then sold a number of coins but Kip Wagner and his band of merry men wanted to make an impact with a big and well publicised auction. By then they had recovered a huge quantity of coins and the auction was certainly going to achieve that. I was impressed with their knowledge and the research into the fleet and the bounty it had contained.

The Christensen sales had come to the attention of Xavier and Ferran Calico, the leading dealers in Spanish and Spanish Colonial coins, from Barcelona, but the 1715 fleet was largely unknown in Spain. The sale was the first of the Treasure auctions, many were to follow. The sale included the Captain General's Emblem of Office (recovered on the beach between the high and low water mark), jewellery, an anchor, Chinese porcelain, ingots and, of course, coins, including the magnificent fully round ‘Royal' 8-Escudos of Philip V, dated 1714. The last lot in the sale comprised 11 Reales and 7 Half-Reales (all but one half-real undated - this 1714).

Sotheby's in their wisdom, did not let me attend the sale, but meeting Kip Wagner and his team was an experience - a large brandy at 10 o'clock in the morning. Going to the Cabin and swimming out to their salvage boat. Seeing the primitive salvage methods, a sieve in the bottom of an oil drum! Seeing a shark swim round the boat - it sped off when they shot at it. Talking to the State of Florida official who had to be on the boat to make certain the State got their share (every fourth item). I visited the bank where silver coins, mostly unsorted, were bagged and stacked to the ceiling. Alas, they never gave me one!

I was 21 and I am still proud of the catalogue. It covered mostly 'uncharted waters' and set a benchmark for future auctions."

Real photo postcard of millionaire COLONEL E. H. R. GREEN, son of financier Hetty Green, dates from around 1925. Edward Howland Robinson "Ned" Green, also known as Colonel Green, was an American businessman, the only son of financier Hetty Green, the "Witch of Wall Street". After his mother's death in 1916 and his inheritance of half of her fortune, Green built a mansion in Round Hill, Dartmouth, Massachusetts. He brought one of the first automobiles into Texas, a two-cylinder St. Louis Gas Car surrey, designed by George Dorris and is reputed to have been involved in the first car accident in the state, when the car was forced off the road by a farm wagon. He eventually owned a large fleet of cars. From WIKIPEDIA.

In this photograph, Colonel Green is seen motoring in a hybrid vehicle. He lost a leg as a child and, unable to operate a clutch, a gasoline / electric car was built for him. In 1923 a radio station was constructed at his estate in Dartmouth and the wooden box on the hood of his car houses what is considered to be the first car radio. The postcard measures 3 3/8 x 5 3/8" and is in very good condition with light soiling and toning on the reverse.

More on the Movie Zotz!
Regarding the 1962 magic coin-themed movie starring Tom Poston, Joe Onishchuk writes:

A Wisconsin jeweler stopped an 84-year-old Brookfield woman from losing $47,000 after she was pushed toward one of the clearest scam red flags: buying gold and handing it to someone else.

The woman was about to buy gold when a Waukesha jeweler realized something was wrong, according to WISN.

The station reported that the woman had been targeted by a con artist who wanted her to buy gold and hand over the money, but the transaction was stopped before the $47,000 disappeared.

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
MICHIGAN DEALER THWARTS GOLD CON (https://www.coinbooks.org/v29/esylum_v29n24a24.html)

Unfortunately the hosting company I was using has decided to shut down their operations by the end of this month.

Now I have started using different hosting services. But because of that all the links to the books I have published have been changed. The new links to download the books for free are as below: