Welcome to The E-Sylum: Volume 6, Number 32, August 10, 2003:
an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society.
Copyright (c) 2003, The Numismatic Bibliomania Society.


SUBSCRIBER UPDATE

  Among recent new subscribers are Steve Roach of
  Columbus, OH, and Jeff Starck  Welcome aboard!
  We now have 582  subscribers.


NBS SECRETARY-TREASURER

  As previously announced, the new Secretary-Treasurer
  of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society is W. David Perkins.
  He may be reached via email at wdperki at attglobal.net.
  The society's mailing address is now:

  NBS
  P.O. Box 212
  Mequon, WI  53092-0212
  USA


LAKE BOOKS 70TH  SALE

  Fred Lake writes: "Lake Books announces that its 70th Mail-
  Bid sale of numismatic literature is now available for viewing
  on their web site at: http://www.lakebooks.com/current.html

  The sale features Part One of the library of Dr. William E.
  Hopkins, EAC #85. In addition to fine reference material on
  Early American Coppers, "Hoppy" was also interested in
  Ancient and World coinage. Many unique items will be found
  in this 508-lot sale, including "Robby" Brown's inventory of
  the 1986 sale of his Large Cents with handwritten notes.
  Also, an original 1883 "Andrews" obtained from Dr. George
  French with annotations by that noted numismatist.

  A full 8-volume set of the BMC "Coins of the Roman Empire"
  by Mattingly etal. in mint condition is listed in addition to many
  volumes relating to ancient coinage.

  Special commemorative editions of the "Redbook" and books
  relating to Tokens and Medals are part of the sale."


ELIBRON NUMISMATIC TITLES

  Ed Snible writes: "My previous estimate of 50+ Elibron
  numismatic titles was low.  I've been combing their web site.
  I've found over 100 titles and continue to find more.  I've
  been keeping a list of the titles I find at
  http://www.lakebooks.com/current.html"


CANADIAN E-SYLUM SUBSCRIBERS

  Doug Andrews of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada writes:
  "We may only be the largest country in the Western
  Hemisphere, and you may not particularly like our beef
  exports at the moment, but Canada was omitted from your
  list of countries we NBS members, and E-Sylum readers,
  are proud to call home.

  We don't even object when America watches much of its
  television news being read by Canadian journalists, or when
  you continue to listen to music sung by our talented Canadian
  divas. And as far as our many so-called "comic entertainers"
  are concerned that make you laugh south of the border, well,
  the joke's on you!

  To stretch a popular (but somewhat inaccurate) metaphor, I
  am confident that it wasn't your intention to see Canada left
  out in the numismatic cold!"

  [Mea culpa!  Our northern neighbors are indeed well
  represented among our readers.   Sorry for the oversight.  I'm
  sure there are other countries that were left off the list as well.
  This may look like a well-organized publication, but that's just
  a facade. In the mad rush to get an issue out the door we
  sometimes forget the most obvious things.  Sorry.  -Editor]


NEW ORLEANS BOOK LOCATED

  Dave Ginsburg writes: "I'm pleased to be able to say that
  I've received a copy of "A History of the United States Mint,
  New Orleans, Louisiana" by Charles J. Collins Jr. that I
  asked about a few weeks ago.

  Shortly after my inquiry, I received a response from an
  E-Sylum subscriber who owns a copy (stored offsite,
  unfortunately for me).  However, he thoughtfully referred
  me to an acquaintance of his who, very kindly, sent me a
  photocopy."

  [Look for more information on this book in a future issue
  of our print journal, The Asylum.  -Editor]


NEW ORLEANS PLANTERS' BANK INFO SOUGHT

  Bob Leonard  writes: "I am developing a corpus of PB
  counterstamps on cut quarters of Mexican dollars, issued by
  the Planters' Bank of New Orleans.  In The Numismatist,
  June 1921, Duffield wrote, "I have records of where they
  have appeared eight times in sales, only one of them in a
  foreign sale, but it is probable that the same pieces have
  appeared in sales more than once.  In two instances the cut
  coin was described as a counterfeit."  Duffield's records
  appear to be lost (neither the ANA nor ANS preserves
  them), and I have had little success in tracing these eight
  auction appearances, though I am aware of two pieces
  published by Howland Wood in the American Journal of
  Numismatics.  Can any E-Sylum reader help?

  Also, Frank Van Valen told me that he saw an old
  illustrated book in Dave Bowers' library on several
  occasions that pictured one.   This was a French book,
  in horizontal (landscape) format, published in 1863, Frank
  recalled, and showed the PB counterstamp on a plate of
  "Coins of America" (in French).  Dave does not recall
  possessing such a book, and I haven't found it in any
  bibliography or library yet--though I have pretty scanty
  information to go on.  If anyone recognizes it, I'd like to
  purchase copies of the title page,  plate, and key to the
  plate.  Thanks!"


RARITY OVERDOSE

  Last week I asked if  any E-Sylum readers were among the
  group of six experts who examined the 1913 Liberty Head
  nickels on display at the American Numismatic Association
  convention in Baltimore.  Until last Wednesday, Eric Newman
  had been the last  living person to view all five of the coins
  together.

  Tom DeLorey writes: "On Sunday afternoon, after the show
  closed, I was privileged to be allowed to follow the exhibit
  into the Security Room where ANA Curator Larry Lee let me
  pick up and look at each coin out of the display case.  The
  ANA and Smithsonian coins were in Kointains, the Walton
  piece in its 40-year-old Capital Plastic holder, and the other
  two in slabs. All I can say is WOW. A tremendous rush. I
  have handled five 1804 dollars over the years, but not all at
  once."

  Susie Nulty of ANA headquarters writes: "You mentioned the
  5th 1913 Liberty Head nickel in your last newsletter. Donn
  Pearlman took a few interesting pictures that you may see at
  http://www.money.org/press/5thnickel.html including a photo
  showing six of seven authenticators with the five genuine
  nickels."

  [Thanks for the photos, Donn - numismatic history in the
  making!  The authenticators were Mark Borckardt, John
  Dannreuther, Jeff Garrett, David Hall, Lawrence Lee, Paul
  Montgomery and Fred Weinberg.  COIN WORLD and
  Numismatic News had cover articles.  As a numismatic
  ephemera collector, I especially enjoyed the COIN WORLD
  photo of the envelope in which the long-missing nickel was
  stored for 41 years (p34, August 18, 2003 issue).  On it
  was written "This is a changed date and not real 1913.
  George used it for display instead of real one which has
  never been located."   -Editor]


LILLY GOLD BAR PRONOUNCED A FAKE

  One previously-thought fake was declared genuine, and
  another famous numismatic item was declared fake.  In what
  would have been front-page news in the numismatic press
  were it not for the hoopla over the 1913 Liberty Nickels
  was a presentation at the ANA convention by Bob Evans,
  Fred Holabird and Dave Fitch where they presented their
  evidence that the Justh & Hunter gold bar in the Lilly
  collection at the Smithsonian Institution is a modern
  forgery.   NBS Vice-President John Adams attended the
  presentation and sends this report:

  "The subject of Western precious metal ingots has been a hot
  one in recent years. Some new light was shed on the subject
  at a Numismatic Theatre presentation at ANA 2003. The talk
  was appropriately entitled "The Good, The Bad and the Ugly."

  Three scientists who were intimately involved with the recovery
  of treasure from the S.S. Central America - (Bob Evans, Fred
  Holabird and David Fitch) -  gave a well-illustrated presentation.
  Unfortunately, a late start foreclosed any opportunity for Q&A.

  The first 45 minutes of the talk were devoted to establishing
  the authors' mining credentials (impeccable), expertise in
  analytical instrumentation (considerable) and knowledge of
  Western history (well up the learning curve). Whereas some
  analytical data were discussed, most was held in reserve to be
  used against future perpetrators of fakes, to whom the speakers
  said "We will bust you".

  The final 15 minutes of the talk were devoted to much-awaited
  comments on good ingots and bad ingots.  First discussed were
  some well known fakes, such as a series of ingots ostensibly
  from Wells Fargo. Then the authors turned to four ingots in the
  Smithsonian Collection. One of these was deemed a fake, one
  was considered doubtful and two (one gold ingot and one silver)
  were declared to be genuine. The ingot declared a fake was
  done so partly on historical grounds that there was evidence
  that the  alleged maker, Parsons & Co.,  never made any gold
  bars at all. In the talk - but not in the published paper - the
  authors alluded to another Parsons bar which, being traceable
  back to  ownership by a well-known California family in the
  19th century, is almost certainly good.

  The whole subject is a complicated one.  Not discussed in the
  one hour available were future plans, if any, to test the many
  remaining bars at the Smithsonian. Nor were any plans put
  forward to test/validate the many ingots now in collectors'
  hands.  Thus this category of numismatics is likely to remain
  in limbo until future publications by the Evans group, a rumored
  paper being written by John Kleeberg and/or a Stacks' catalog
  describing the considerable volume of ingots in the John J. Ford,
  Jr. Collection."

  [Reuters and the Associated Press each carried stories on the
  announcement.

  "Scientists compared the museum piece to ingots recovered
  from a ship that sank off the coast of California in 1857 while
  carrying thousands of gold rush coins and bars, according to
  a study published in the August issue of Numismatist magazine.

  The bar, a gift from the estate of pharmaceutical tycoon Josiah
  Lilly, was revealed to be of modern origin. Bob Evans, the
  geologist who coordinated the investigation, said in a statement
  that Lilly had not known the bar was a forgery."

  http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?storyID=3203238

  "... researchers said it's more likely the bar dates only to the
  1950s.    ...   The scientists used new technology to study the
  chemistry of the ingots. Evans said they also compared the
  questionable Smithsonian bar to genuine ingots recovered
  from an 1857 shipwreck.

  Evans said the ingot at the Smithsonian has the words, "Justh
  & Hunter assayers" stamped on it. The genuine bars, he said,
  had only "Justh & Hunter" on it -- without the word "assayers."
  According to Evans, the fake ingot had a date and location of
  the manufacturer on it; the real ones do not have those markings.

  http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/South/07/31/offbeat.smithsonian.fake.ap/


COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG NUMISMATIC FORUM

  In the Colonial Numismatics mailing list on August 7th,
  E-Sylum subscriber Dave Menchell reported on the recent
  forum at Colonial Williamsburg.  His note is reprinted here
  with his permission:

  "For those of you who did not have an opportunity to
  participate in the ANA course on 18th century numismatics
  at Colonial Williamsburg following the Baltimore Convention,
  I just wanted to provide a brief summary.  The course was
  well planned, with an introductory discussion of the economics
  and coinage circulating in Virginia during  the 18th century,
  given by John Kraljevich.  The participants then toured the
  facility where much of the research and conservation of
  artifacts is conducted.  A particularly fascinating demonstration
  was the delamination of a piece of Colonial currency previously
  sealed between two pieces of acetate.

  The highlight of the course was the second day, in which the
  Colonial numismatic collection was brought out.  After a short
  discussion on the circulating coinages of the period by Joseph
  Lasser, the coins and medals, largely assembled by Joseph
  Lasser and donated to the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation,
  was brought out and displayed on two parallel tables.  The
  material was divided up into several trays by category, with
  curators seated behind the tables and the salivating collectors
  seated in front, eager to see and handle the goodies in the
  cases.  What was there to see?  The range and quality of the
  material was simply spectacular: virtually complete runs of
  Mass silver Oak and Pine tree coinage (a number with Hain
  pedigrees), an NE shilling, several Willows (with sharply
  defined trees!), Somers Island coinage, a number of New York
  pattern pieces (George Clinton, a knockout Eagle on Globe,
  Confederatio, Standing Indian and NY Coat of Arms, etc.)
  several Continental Dollars, including a brass specimen, rare
  Washington pieces, including a Getz silver half dollar, the oval
  gold Funeral medal previously owned by John Marshall, a
  multidenominational pattern copper, Roman Head cent, Non Vi,
  etc. great medals, such as the 4" Jefferson Indian Peace medal,
  a gold William and Mary College medal, the silver De Fleury
  medal, silver and copper examples of the Germantown medal,
  a silver Kittaning medal, and other pieces too numerous to
  mention.  I would suggest that the ANA extend the course a
  day just to allow more time to examine the collection.

  The third day the group visited the brass foundry to see how
  brass counterfeits would have been produced in the 18th
  century.  Molds had been made from a 1771 British halfpenny.
  The group observed how molten brass was then poured into
  the mold.  After cooling, the molds were opened and, viola,
  a tree of 12 brass counterfeits popped out!  The coins were
  wirebrushed to remove any residual sand (to the horror of
  the people watching), sawed off the sprues, then finished by
  the participants with files to smooth the edges.  A little pickling
  in sulfuric acid to darken the planchets, and you have a very
  nice cast counterfeit, which we were allowed to keep.  A
  very nice touch!

  Although there wasn't enough time to see everything, there
  is also one of the premier libraries in the country containing
  material dealing with Colonial history.  If the course is
  repeated, I would encourage everyone to sign up.  You
  could also contact Eric Goldstein, who said that he would
  be happy to go through items from the collection with
  individuals, given some advanced notice.  The only sad note
  was, having bid on some of these items in past sales, the
  realization that the material in the collection will not be available

  to collectors in the future.  Oh well, we all had an opportunity
  to examine these great coins and there was no bidding pressure
  or drained bank accounts as a result. Anyone interested in a
  very contemporary cast counterfeit?

  [A December 2002 press release describes the Joseph and
  Ruth Lasser donation of colonial era coins to the Colonial
  Williamsburg Foundation:

http://www.colonialwilliamsburg.org/foundation/press_release/displayPressRelease.cfm?pressReleaseId=142

  -Editor]


ANA EXHIBITS

  Due to time constraints I breezed through the ANA convention
  exhibit area at a slow trot, but noted several interesting exhibits:

  Class 1: United States Coins
  Second Place--Greg D. Ruby, "Symbolism of the
      Chalmers Shilling."

  Class 3: Medals
  First Place--Lenny Vaccaro for "A Selection of US Mint
  Medals from the War of 1812, Engraved  by Moritz Fuerst."

  Class 4: Tokens
  First Place--Millard W. Hajek for "Oyster and Fruit Packers:
     A Selection of Tokens."
  Second Place--T.E. Klunzinger for "The Nuremburg Streetcar
     Tokens of 1920."
  Third Place--Robert Rhue for "Hawaiian Plantation Tokens."

  Class 14: General or Specialized
  First Place--Howard A. Minners for
      "Birth of the Taler (Dollar)."
  Second Place--Emmett McDonald for
       "United States Coin Scales."
  Third Place--John Grost for "Leprosy's Numismatic Legacy."

  Class 22: Numismatic Literature
  Third Place--Radford Stearns,
      "Researching the Sestroretsk Ruble."


REVIEW:  NUMISMATIC BIBLIOGRAPHY AND LIBRARIES

  "Numismatic Bibliography and Libraries"
        by Francis D. Campbell, Jr.,
  Reprinted by Numismatics International, 1986, 42 pgs.
  Reviewed by Howard A. Daniel III

  I have seen several requests in The E-Sylum for information
  about numismatic museums and libraries around the world.
  This reference has a long list of numismatic libraries in Argentina,
  Australia, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, England,
  Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy,
  Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Scotland,
  Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United States, and
  most seem to have collections as part of them too.  It is written
  the American Numismatic Society Librarian and also includes
  information about numismatic literature.   This card-covered
  booklet may be available from your favorite dealer, but it is also
  sold by Numismatics International at http://www.numis.org for
  $5.00 plus $4.95 shipping and handling in the United States and
  it is calculated for other countries.  I think this is an excellent
  addition to the library of a traveling bibliomaniac.  If you want
  more information about it, please contact me at
  Howard at SEAsianTreasury.com.


GRADING SERVICE POPULATION REPORTS

  Rusty Goe writes: "An interesting sidenote to the inaccurate
  population listing for the 1873-CC "No Arrows" dime in the
  April, 2003 PCGS Population Report:

  Apparently after a bit of further research, PCGS discovered
  that the one example of this date that they had listed as an
  MS-64 was no longer in one of their holders, and they
  removed it from their listings as well. As a result, the next
  issue of their Population Report listed, not two, but zero
  1873-CC N/As dimes.

  Of course, the only known specimen of this date has been
  housed in an NGC MS-65 holder for quite some time.

  There are numerous instances of both of the major grading
  services retaining population entries for some of the more
  celebrated rare coins.  However, it is indeed beneficial to
  researchers and future generations of numismatists when
  these grading services audit their databases and accurately
  adjust the numbers."


LIBRARY ORGANIZATION

  In response to Dan Gosling's Topic of the Week, Library
  Organization, Granvyl Hulse, Numismatics International
  Librarian writes:  "For a moment I had a panicky feeling
  that the question related to a club library which should be
  by author with a printed subject index for cross reference.
  The answer for private libraries would depend on the size
  and subject scope. Any private library under a hundred
  books I would suggest alphabetical by author. For a private
  library with over a hundred books your preference of subject
  and author I think is the best.  I cannot stress a printed
  subject index with books filed by author strongly enough for
  those with libraries covering a broad range of topics. Some
  books are multi-subject and fit in no single location. NI uses
  the ANA subject index.  While it has its weaknesses they
  have been most kind in allowing us to modify it to satisfy a
  narrower breakdown."

  Len Harsel writes: "I use the "where-ever-it fits" system.  My
  shelves were built in by the former owner of the house and
  they are not adjustable!   I try to begin by subject and it falls
  away after that.  And even the subject grouping isn't alphabetic
  either! It's not easy being a bibliophile."


FROM COIN HOLDERS TO COIN ART

  Mr. Anonymous wrote:  "Okay. Dave Lange got in the last
  word last week.  (But adding the state of Maryland is for sale,
  over and above the governor in that little satire the week before,
  added a ninth Degree of Separation -- from ?coin.?)   What if,
  instead of collecting albums, bags, et al, we tuned our numismatic
  concentration inward. What six Degrees -- from ?coin? --
  would we find in the opposite direction?

  Coin - Metal Composition - Striking - Dies - Engraving -
  Artists - Art.

  If you studied one of these six Degrees wouldn't this be of more
  numismatic importance than coin albums? One book, one author,
  did just that!  ?Numismatic Art in America? by Cornelius
  Vermeule.  I even like this book's subtitle: ?Aesthetics of the
  United States Coinage.?


EARLY REFERENCE TO ERIE CANAL MEDALS

  Ed Krivoniak sends the following contemporary newspaper
  item from the American Traveller, Vol 1, No. 85 (April 25,
  1826):

  "Canal Medals.--We have seen one of the Medals struck in
  honor of the Canal celebration by order of the Corporation
  of New-York  On one side is Pan's visit to Neptune--with
  cornucopia, distant view of the ocean, light house, &c. with
  the inscription--"Union of Erie with the Atlantic."  On the
  reverse, are the arms of the state ; on the right the
  representation of the canal, with its locks, and on the left the
  city of New York.  The medal was designed by Archibald
  Robertson, and engraved by C.C. Wright, and struck by
  Pelletreu.  The whole is neat and appropriate.  The medals
  struck on composition will be presented to all the invited
  guests of the corporation ; silver ones will be transmitted to
  the President, Heads of Departments, Foreign ministers,
  Governors of States, &c.  It is with great pleasure we learn
  that three gold medals will be transmitted to the surviving
  signers of the Declaration of Independence.--New York pap."

  [A web search turned up an extract from the Buffalo Journal,
  Nov. 29, 1825, describing the ceremony for the completion
  of the canal, along with the detailed legislation indicating
  who was to receive an example of the medal.

  "The boat arrived in our harbor, from the Atlantic, on
  Wednesday the twenty-third instant, after a pleasant and
  quick passage, laden with a rich cargo of merchandize from
  New York, having on board a goodly number of passengers,
  a healthy crew, and an elegant keg filled with water taken from
  the "briny deep," which was presented by the Corporation of
  New York to the citizens of this village, for the purpose of
  being mingled with the waters of Lake Erie. This keg was
  handsomely ornamented with the arms of the city, over which
  were the words, in letters of gold "Neptune's Return to Pan,"
  and under the same, the words "New York, 4th Nov. 1825."
  Upon the other side of the keg were the words "Water of the
  Atlantic."

  After welcoming the return of the boat, with the Buffalo
  Committee, it was resolved that the ceremony of mingling the
  waters should take place on Friday, the twenty-fifth instant.
  On that day a large and respectable number of ladies and
  gentlemen, with the village band of music, repaired on board
  the boat, at the upper dock, and were towed from thence
  through the basin into the Lake, by several yawl boats, which
  were politely furnished by the masters of the different vessels
  then lying at the wharves. At ten o'clock, A.M. the ceremony
  of mingling the waters under a salute from Captain Crary's
  artillery, was performed by Judge Wilkeson..."

  http://www.history.rochester.edu/canal/bib/colden/
  http://www.history.rochester.edu/canal/bib/colden/App19.html
  http://www.history.rochester.edu/canal/bib/whitford/1906/j02-06.html

  Another search turned up some information on the medal's
  designer, Archibald Robertson:
  http://www.artnet.com/library/07/0724/T072415.asp

  -Editor]


GUNTER KIENAST LOCATED

  Greg Burns writes: "Browsing around came across the
  following in the E-Sylum v6n4.  Ask and ye shall receive?"

  Dale Krueger writes: "Does anyone know what ever
  happened to Gunter Kienast, author of the two books on
  Karl Goetz and his medals? ..."

  [Greg provided a mailing address for Mr. Kienast in
  Lincoln, NE, which I forwarded on to Dale Krueger.
  -Editor]


CONTROVERSIAL MISSOURI QUARTER DEBUTS

  Dick Johnson writes: "This is the week the much-criticized
  Missouri quarter is released to the public."   Dick pointed out
  an article by Todd Frankel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

  "Missouri's state quarter has caused trouble at every turn,
  or flip of the coin.

  It's altered the way the U.S. Mint designs the nation's
  quarters.  It helped foil a marriage and close an art gallery.
  It got a Baltimore newspaperman suspended. And it made
  a demonized celebrity of a Missouri artist."

  http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/6450725.htm
  http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascitystar/6451701.htm

  [Have any of our readers seen the quarters artist Paul
  Jackson affixed with stickers bearing his original design?
  He spent thousands of these as part of his protest against
  the Mint's changes to his design. -Editor]


COINLESS SLOT MACHINES

  An article in Wired magazine reports that
  "...  one casino after another is abandoning coin-operated
  machines, adopting instead slots with new technology, known
  prosaically as Ticket-in/Ticket-out, which replaces nickels,
  dimes and quarters with paper tickets.

  Players start off by inserting paper currency into the machines.
  The slot then keeps track of the winnings. When players are
  ready to cash out -- assuming there's anything left -- they get a
  bar-coded card, which they can take directly to a cashier or to
  another of the casino's slots."

  "The casinos and slot-machine makers say that players want
  them. They say players are tired of idling for up to 30 minutes
  before floor managers show up to pay off sizable jackpots --
  which the old slots never have been able to pay in full.  And
  they say players no longer want to lug around coin-laden cups
  or get their hands dirty gathering up hundreds of coins of
  questionable provenance."

  "But others feel nothing can replace good, old-fashioned coins.
  "Coinless machines take away part of the fun," says Brownstein.
  "It's like using a thick cond at m when you're having s at x."

  http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,59871,00.html

  [In the hopes of bypassing some spam filters, the above
  vowels have been replaced with  at  signs.  -Editor]


SEPTEMBER 11 COINS

  An August 6 Wall Street Journal article put the spotlight on
  "September 11" coins being marketed as relics from the
  2001 World Trade Center attacks.

  "The coins -- some gold, others platinum, but mostly silver --
  were in an underground vault below 4 World Trade Center
  that belonged to ScotiaMocatta, the precious-metals trading
  unit of Bank of Nova Scotia, also known as Scotiabank. A
  Bank of Nova Scotia spokeswoman said a coin specialist
  and wholesaler approached Bank of Nova Scotia and offered
  to buy some of the coins from the Toronto bank. The coins
  are being sold in plastic coin holders emblazoned with the
  phrase "9-11-01 WTC Ground Zero Recovery." The bank
  isn't involved in the sale of the coins."

  "It's morbid, disgusting and shocks the senses that any
  individual or corporation could capitalize on the Sept. 11
  tragedy in this horrid way," said Scott A. Travers..."

  "This is a rather extreme case of making money with the
  World Trade Center," said Ute Wartenberg Kagan, executive
  director of the American Numismatic Society..."

  "Shortly after the World Trade Center attacks, Bank of Nova
  Scotia said it would supply 3,800 ounces of silver it owned
  recovered from its vault at Ground Zero to make 427 "Angels
  of Courage" for the families of New York fire, police and
  emergency workers killed in the attacks. Additional angels
  were presented to dignitaries."

  [Subscription required]
  http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB106012198859689500,00.html

  [Morbid relics have a long history in numismatics.  For example,
  most recoveries of sunken treasure coins are basically grave
  robberies, as was the recovery of coins and ingots from the
  S. S. Central America and the recovery of Lt. George Dixon's
  "Lucky" $20 gold piece from the wreck of the Confederate
  submarine Hunley (see The E-Sylum v4n22, May 27,  2001).
   -Editor]


TOPIC OF THE WEEK

  Dan Gosling's topic of the week is:

  Should club bulletins be stored or bound?
       only in hardcover?
       cirlox or spiral or perfect bound?
       three ring binder? Does this reduce the value?
       boxed?


SMELLY BOOKS

  Jeff Hawk writes: "I got your address off the NBS website. I
  recently purchased on eBay a catalog from an auction in 1986.
  The catalog smells VERY musty, and is all but unusable.  Is
  there anything I can do to improve the smell of this book?
  Thank you very much for any help you can give me, either
  yourself or from the NBS membership."

  [Putting the book into a bag with baking soda may help.
  Letting it bake out in the fresh air and sun is another tactic
  I've heard of.   What else do our readers recommend?
  -Editor]


SMELLY MONEY

  An August 4, 2003 Reuters report says citizens of
  Bangladesh are rejecting currency that has been around
  the block a few too many times.

  "Bangladesh's currency notes have become so dirty that
  even fishmongers reckon they stink too much to use."

  "The notes are losing their usefulness as currency because
  people are becoming unwilling to take them, central bank
  officials say.  Fish-market traders, for example, have found
  that their customers are demanding coins as change, they say.
  http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?&storyID=3215203


ANOTHER BOB HOPE QUOTE

  Following up on the item about Bob Hope receiving a
  Congressional Gold medal, Bob Leonard writes: "The New
  Yorker left out Hope's other numismatic quip on this occasion,
  which I saw on TV at the time:  "I asked them to give me a
  nose job, but they said it would take too much gold!"


HOLY PYX!  THE SHROFF SAID MY SCISSEL IS CUPRIC!

 Bruce Perdue writes:  "I was directed to  the web site
 "Luciferous Logolepsy" by two different news letters that
 I receive.   The address is
 http://www.kokogiak.com/logolepsy/

  I thought our readers might find it as interesting as I did.
  with a great interest in books, how could you not be
  interested in words!   Some numismatic terms from the site
  follow:

  cupric
       adj. - applied to compounds of bivalent copper.
       cupro-nickel, n. alloy of copper and nickel used for
       making 'silver' and 'nickel' coins. cuprous, adj. applied
       to compounds of univalent copper.

  pyx
       n. - vessel for reservation of Eucharist; box containing
       specimens of newly-minted coins. trial of the pyx, test for
       weight, etc., of newly- minted coins.

  scissel
        n. - metal strip from which coins have been cut.

  shroff
        n. - banking expert specializing in valuable coins"

  [In our February 25, 2001 issue (v4n9), Michael Marotta
   brought up the definition of shroff.  "Scissel" is a new word
  to me.  It's nice to know.

  Interestingly, the following fortune cookie found me at
  lunch on Thursday:  "You are a lover of words / someday
  you will write a book."  -Editor]


FEATURED WEB PAGE

  This week's featured web page is J.D. White's "The Maria
  Theresa Thaler and How To Identify the Restrike."

  http://www.jdsworld.net/article/m_theresa_thalers.html



  Wayne Homren
  Numismatic Bibliomania Society