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NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: JULY 14, 2013

The E-Sylum (7/14/2013)


Book Content

Didier Vanoverbeek Located

Last week, Roberto Jovel asked about an article by Didier Vanoverbeek on the 1904 issue of El Salvador Pesos or Colones at the Hamburg Mint. Gar Travis located an email address for Vanoverbeek. Roberto writes:

I already obtained the same reference very recently, and contacted Mr. Vanoverbeek, who is kindly assisting in obtaining the information I need. Let me express my appreciation for the great tool that The E-Sylum is!

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see: NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: JULY 7, 2013: Query: Article on 1904 El Salvador Pesos Sought (www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v16n28a11.html)

Island of Stone Money License Plate

Regarding Yap Stone money, Tom Sheehan forwarded the following images.

Yap scooter Yap scooter plates

Tom writes:

The scooter is mine. I use it to putz around town and park it in front of my office where I sometimes meet people to buy or evaluate collections. It gets me 78 miles a gallon.

Since I have one piece of Yap Stone Money I thought it appropriate to have the Yap motorcycle license plate too.

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see: DAVID O'KEEFE AND YAP STONE MONEY (www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v16n28a21.html)

Rich Hartzog On Token And Medal Books Yet To Be Published
Rich Hartzog writes:

I do take minor issue with Dick Johnson on his list of Token/Medal subjects NOT having books. There are in fact books on:

  • Calendars - Two volume set Tempus in Numis by Sweeny/Turfboer
  • Dog License Tags - By Bill Bone on Pre-1900 Tags
  • Encased Coins - Oregon by Jim Hemphill, I think others exist.
  • Movie Money - I can't recall the title, but issued.
  • Wooden Money - several issued, years ago, by DiBella and Hudson, and Arizona Wood by Dow, and one on NY Wooden Money by Boughton

One of the problems with token/medal books is that the author/publishers often issue so few books, that the titles go out of print rapidly. Bill Bone has issued two editions of his book. But, I don't have the book on Movie Money, although I want to say it was done by Fred Reed. Another problem is that books would have to be so huge to be unaffordable. For example, I have over 1000 Illinois Encased coins in my collection, so any book on Encased would be massive (Even a 300 average per state would mean 15,000 listings).

As Peter Irion (not "Iron" as listed occasionally) says, which books make financial sense? If there is no collector base, it is hard to justify printing hundreds of copies. Perhaps now with POD (Print on Demand) books, more authors will be able to publish. How many people will buy a book listing the 7000 medals of Medallic Art? It will be giant, and expensive. A print run of 300 might be too many.

For example TAMS published Medals of the United States Mint, the First Century 1792-1892 and did a fantastic job of printing it. However, they spent so much on it, they couldn't make any money! They printed 3000 copies, sold 700, gave up, and sold some 2300 copies to me, losing about $42000 on the ones I bought. Published in 1977, it has taken me until now to sell the 2300 copies.

It's a wonderful book, and I have considered another supplement beyond my two Price Guides. But even this great book is not a hot seller. Not too many people want to print a 35 year supply of any book! Given the amount of work involved in producing a Second Century book, would the demand be enough to sufficiently reward the publisher? My two cents.

Thanks. Sorry I didn't catch the misspellings of Peter Irion's last name - we'll fix those in the archive. I did note Reed's Show Me the Money book last week, but it primarily covers paper notes. -Editor

Ron Ward adds:

You asked about US Mint Medals issued after Julian. The only publication is "Medals of the United States Mint Issued for Public Sale", Department of the Treasury, Revised 1972, Library of Congress Catalog No. 74-602460, 312 pages. Several copies are still available on Abebooks and Amazon. No later editions were published.

On page 312 are listed miniature presidential medals, through President Nixon, 1 5/1 inch diameter. These were from the Philadelphia mint (no mint mark) or Denver with a "D". These were available in bronze or gold plated. The latter were also available with a plated loop attached to the top rim so it could be placed on a chain or bracelet. I imagine that it would be impossible to find a set of all these medals today except for the bronze medals.

In 1972, the highest price for a large mint medal (Hayes, Indian Peace - 3 X 2 3/8") was $8.00 Over-the-Counter and $8.25 by Mail Order.

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see: DICK JOHNSON ON TOKEN AND MEDAL BOOKS YET TO BE PUBLISHED (www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v16n28a20.html)

Ferracute Chinese Cash Coin Identified
Ken Spindler writes:

The image of the machine-struck brass cash (denomination) coin in the article on the Ferracute Machine Company is upside-down. The mint name on it is Boo yuwan (left-right, once oriented (no pun intended) correctly), for The Board of Works, in Beijing. Subject to verifying the other side of the coin, it is almost certainly the pattern KM-Pn. 2, in earlier editions of Krause-Mishler at least, also catalogued as Hsu-3, attributed to New Jersey manufacture in 1897. That fits the story to a "T."

Thanks. Here's the corrected image.

Ferracute unlisted Chinese coin (corrected orientation)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see: THE FERRACUTE MACHINE COMPANY (www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v16n28a26.html)

More on Modern Spanish Coin Dating
Ken Spindler writes:

Perhaps the data about the range of years that "modern peseta" coins of Spain have been double dated to include the actual year of minting contained within a very small star or 2 stars are accurate, but the practice of noting (some) true years of mintage of coins of Spain within such stars dates back to 1868. So, the century on such coins can be "18," too.

Not only peseta denominations have been involved, but many coins of almost all denominations struck since 1868, small coppers to gold, show true dates in stars. The practice was not entirely consistent for all coins, however. I often point this fun factoid out to children (and parents) who visit our "Coins-for-Kids" give-aways of foreign coins at local coin shows and the annual County Fair here in San Diego, if I can locate a coin of Spain in the pile of donations from local collectors. Not surprisingly, a magnifier is a must for this study.

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see: FEATURED WEB PAGE: DATES ON MODERN SPANISH PESETA COINS (www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v16n28a35.html)

The Two-Masted Ketch
Yossi Dotan writes:

Regarding the article profiling Canadian coin designer John Horton, here is an image of the reverse of the tall ship coin he designed, The Ketch (not "the catch"!), KM#667, 20 dollars 2006. (The obverse depicts Queen Elizabeth II.)

The reverse depicts a ketch at sea shown against a hologram-enhanced sky with rolling storm clouds and lightning flashes. The two-masted ketch is rounding Cape Diamond in southern Quebec. The sailors depicted are preparing the ship for the storm. The ketch hails from the early 19th century. Today it is a popular recreational yacht.

Canada KM-667 SC2

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see: ARTICLE PROFILES CANADIAN COIN DESIGNER JOHN HORTON (www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v16n28a29.html)

2012 Finland 5 Euros Wildman Catalog Number
Regarding Bob Knepper's question about the Finland "Wildman" coin, Pabitra Saha writes:

Although I do not yet have 2014 copy of SCWC, but this info can be seen at numismaster.com. As of now, no KM # has been allotted to this coin.

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see: QUERY: CATALOG NUMBER FOR 2012 WILDMAN COIN SOUGHT (www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v16n28a13.html)

More on the Erlanger Jungle Inn Token
Regarding Harold Levi's Kentucky token, Jerry Schaeper Jr. writes:

C Myers - token obv This JUNGLE INN token is surely from Erlanger, KY. Not a common piece at all. I don't have a street address for it, but will try to locate something. Many of the Erlanger saloons were on Dixie Highway, a major Rt. 25 that went through Lexington and points South.

I live right on the Edgewood/Erlanger border. My town is Edgewood but have an Erlanger Zip Code (41018). The horse shoe, barrel, horse head, etc shaped tokens are very prevalent shapes for tavern tokens from my area. There are even chickens, a fish (from Covington), a boxing glove (from Erlanger), and a host of other odd shapes.

Thanks! -Editor

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see: QUERY: KENTUCKY HORSESHOE TOKEN INFORMATION SOUGHT (www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v16n28a18.html)

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