RW Julian's article on coin myths

[shirohniichan]

I am glad some dedicated numismatic historians continue to slog through records to bring us the facts, and I just finished reading the following article by RW Julian:

 

Some Facts Are Really Hobby Myths

 

His section "Minor Silver Coins Struck After 1878" caught my attention as I also discovered the common myth to be untrue. I'm thinking of adding a section of my book-in-progress on the US 20 cent piece to give a better understanding of coinage at that time in history. As the value of silver dropped, silver US coins that had been sold for export in the early 1870s came flooding back from overseas. Also, the Bank of Canada actively withdrew US coins from domestic circulation and replaced them with its own issues (silver coin production began in 1870).

 

Keep up the good work, numistorians!

[DirtyGoldMan]

Cool! The book is available on the Kindle. Just ordered it and am already reading it on the iPad.

[brg5658]

Thanks for the post. I just read the article and also ordered a copy of the book from Amazon. Apparently the book was published in 2009, but I hadn't heard about it. Thanks for the link! Appreciate it.

 

-Brandon

[RWB]

Bob Julian is probably the #1 numismatic researcher - in US or Russian.

[Catbert]

Cool! The book is available on the Kindle. Just ordered it and am already reading it on the iPad.

 

Which book is that? If it is the book that is shown in an inset in the article does not seem to be from the same author. What am I missing?

[shirohniichan]

Bob Julian is probably the #1 numismatic researcher - in US or Russian.

 

очень хорошо! (thumbs u

[noow]

Good reading.

[DaveG]

I'd like to echo Roger's comments about RW Julian being a pre-eminent numismatic researcher (although I also think Roger's being a bit modest).

 

However, I'd like to offer a comment about this sentence:

 

For reasons that are still somewhat obscure, beginning in the fall of 1877 large numbers of these silver coins were shipped back to the United States, promptly clogging Treasury vaults.

 

I suggest that the drop in the world price of silver had a lot to do with why silver coins were shipped back to the US.

 

According to Fractional Money by Neil Carothers, the average gold value of the silver in a dollar in fractional - half dollar to half dime - silver coins was 89 cents in 1875, 87 cents in 1877 and 81 cents in 1879.

 

I suggest that, at a certain point, US silver coins were worth more as coins in the US than they were as silver in some other country and it was profitable to ship them back.

[shirohniichan]

I'd like to echo Roger's comments about RW Julian being a pre-eminent numismatic researcher (although I also think Roger's being a bit modest).

 

However, I'd like to offer a comment about this sentence:

 

For reasons that are still somewhat obscure, beginning in the fall of 1877 large numbers of these silver coins were shipped back to the United States, promptly clogging Treasury vaults.

 

I suggest that the drop in the world price of silver had a lot to do with why silver coins were shipped back to the US.

 

According to Fractional Money by Neil Carothers, the average gold value of the silver in a dollar in fractional - half dollar to half dime - silver coins was 89 cents in 1875, 87 cents in 1877 and 81 cents in 1879.

 

I suggest that, at a certain point, US silver coins were worth more as coins in the US than they were as silver in some other country and it was profitable to ship them back.

 

Yea, verily.

 

See my post above.

[brg5658]

Cool! The book is available on the Kindle. Just ordered it and am already reading it on the iPad.

 

Which book is that? If it is the book that is shown in an inset in the article does not seem to be from the same author. What am I missing?

 

Well, my understanding was that Julian was doing a review of that inset book? The book is not by him, but the summary article is. Maybe I'm missing something?

[RWB]

да!

[brg5658]

да!

 

So take away messages from this thread:

 

1) Read the great article linked to in the OP. It's entertaining!

 

2) All brilliant numismatists have first two intials of "RW", so please name your children accordingly so as to encourage more great research!

 

 

[shirohniichan]

да!

 

So take away messages from this thread:

 

1) Read the great article linked to in the OP. It's entertaining!

 

2) All brilliant numismatists have first two intials of "RW", so please name your children accordingly so as to encourage more great research!

 

 

As long as those first and middle names aren't "Richard Wagner", I have no problem with that suggestion.

[brg5658]

да!

 

So take away messages from this thread:

 

1) Read the great article linked to in the OP. It's entertaining!

 

2) All brilliant numismatists have first two intials of "RW", so please name your children accordingly so as to encourage more great research!

 

 

As long as those first and middle names aren't "Richard Wagner", I have no problem with that suggestion.

 

What's wrong with Wagner?

[RockMyAmadeus]

Good article, but I was hoping for something I didn't know. I thought this information was pretty common knowledge.

[brg5658]

Good article, but I was hoping for something I didn't know. I thought this information was pretty common knowledge.

 

Maybe it's common knowledge for someone with 23,000 posts. I found it interesting and informative.

[Chris1976]

My review of the book as of currently (about half way through the main text).

Fascinating Bacts, Mysteries & Myths about U.S Coins by Robert R. Van Ryzin

(ISBN-10: 1-4402-0650-3)

This book was purchased in New condition from a book reseller for $6.57 ($2.58 plus 3.99 shipping)

 

I had purchased the book as I find the information within it is rather interesting, but there is a one complaint with the book. The inserts about other coins that are randomly inserted within the pages are a bit annoying to me as a reader. You basically have two books in one as it seems to be easier to read the main text from cover to cover first and then start all over again at the beginning to read just the inserts. Aside from that, I enjoy the book and have been finding it difficult to put it down once you get started on reading it.

 

The section about the possible indian models used for the obverse design of the buffalo nickel is rather long and restates a lot of the information more than once while speaking about what others had written or researched on the subject, but that simply gives insite to how others had viewed the information presented in front of them. Once you get past that, the section about which buffalo had been used as a model, where the buffalo was located at in New York and why the design on the coin had been engraved to look as it does (why its head is down) is an interesting discussion/arguement between workers at each of the locations said to house the animal and the researchers that were attempting to determine a more defenitive answer.

[shirohniichan]

да!

 

So take away messages from this thread:

 

1) Read the great article linked to in the OP. It's entertaining!

 

2) All brilliant numismatists have first two intials of "RW", so please name your children accordingly so as to encourage more great research!

 

 

As long as those first and middle names aren't "Richard Wagner", I have no problem with that suggestion.

 

What's wrong with Wagner?

 

Oy-- where do I start?