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<p>[QUOTE="Broucheion, post: 4968159, member: 104887"]Hi @<a href="https://www.cointalk.com/members/malleus-maleficarum.113425/" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/members/malleus-maleficarum.113425/">Malleus Maleficarum</a>,</p><p><br /></p><p>A little more information on the Stearns' Bicycle Shop Tokens</p><p><br /></p><p>I will quote in full two postings to the Moneta-L list from the late Marvin Tameanko that I saved because they finally explained to me where this odd item comes from.</p><p><br /></p><p>[Personal note: When I was a boy of around 8 or 9, I found my example in a grassy area in front of the apartment I lived in. Excited, I showed it to my father, who was generally knowledgeable about history and could read ancient Greek. He immediately saw the date and explained that this must be a modern reproduction of a coin he knew as 'the most beautiful Greek coin'. I'm sure the thrill, even if it was an imitation only, shaped my future collecting habit. You might even see my initials scratched into the obverse. I've learned since.]</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1194120[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]1194119[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><blockquote><p><br /></p><p>To: "Moneta-L" <Moneta-L@Egroups.com></p><p>From: "tameanko" <tameanko@idirect.com></p><p>Date: Sat, 9 Sep 2000 19:05:55 -0400</p><p>Subject: [Moneta-L] Re: Copies of Syracusan decadrachms</p><p><br /></p><p>Dear Listfellows, (am I the first to use this term?)</p><p><br /></p><p>Mark Little inqiuired [sic] about the above copies and they are well known to most old-time collectors because they were mass produced as tourist souvenirs in Europe starting just after the 1st World War. I have seen many of them in dealers' junk boxes at coin shows and, over the years, purchased 8 of them. Some of them are cast from the British Museum electrotypes and are quite good. They were made in Pot Metal (White Metal) which is a copper alloy heavily leaded to make a good casting material. They appear as silver at first but after a few years the copper takes over giving them a brown color. Often too much lead was used in the alloy and this crystallizes at the edges of the coin and crumbles into dust. The most famous of these copies was the 1920's Stearns' Bicycle Shop token made in Gold plated, low grade silver and copper examples and given as 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes in bicycle races sponsored by this company of Syracuse, New York. (Get the connection?) These medals or tokens have the name Stearns in pseudo-Greek letters on the reverse and the date in Roman numerals below. A photo of one can be seen in my article on Syracusan Decadrachm copies in the Celator, July, 1990.</p><p><br /></p><p>Regards,</p><p>Marvin Tameanko</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>To: "Moneta-L" <Moneta-L@Egroups.com></p><p>From: "tameanko" <tameanko@idirect.com></p><p>Date: Sun, 10 Sep 2000 11:42:54 -0400</p><p>Subject: [Moneta-L] RE: More on copies of decadrachms of Syracuse</p><p><br /></p><p>Dear List,</p><p><br /></p><p>Several people have asked me off-list for more information on the above so I wish to add the following to my previous note. The decadrachm of Syracuse was probably the most copied of all the ancient Greek coins. Many were made from other copies or copied copies with the quality of the casting deteriorating through each generation. Some were made in tin, zinc, copper alloys or so-called "white brass" , others were made in copper and then silver plated. I have examples of each of these. I also have one that is an electrotype but not made by the British Museum who marked the edges of their copies with BM or some other letters. My Stearns copy is in a good style of the artist/engraver Kimon type, perhaps having been made from a British Museum electrotype or an original coin. The date on the Stearns copies in Roman numerals is 1897, when they were first made as advertising tokens for the business maybe given out with each purchase of a bicycle. My example is made of white brass with a light silver plating. I recently saw a Stearns copy at a coin show on sale for $100.</p><p><br /></p><p>Regards,</p><p>Marvin Tameanko</p><p><br /></p></blockquote><p>Thanks to Mr. Tameanko. RIP.</p><p><br /></p><p>- Broucheion[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Broucheion, post: 4968159, member: 104887"]Hi @[URL='https://www.cointalk.com/members/malleus-maleficarum.113425/']Malleus Maleficarum[/URL], A little more information on the Stearns' Bicycle Shop Tokens I will quote in full two postings to the Moneta-L list from the late Marvin Tameanko that I saved because they finally explained to me where this odd item comes from. [Personal note: When I was a boy of around 8 or 9, I found my example in a grassy area in front of the apartment I lived in. Excited, I showed it to my father, who was generally knowledgeable about history and could read ancient Greek. He immediately saw the date and explained that this must be a modern reproduction of a coin he knew as 'the most beautiful Greek coin'. I'm sure the thrill, even if it was an imitation only, shaped my future collecting habit. You might even see my initials scratched into the obverse. I've learned since.] [ATTACH=full]1194120[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]1194119[/ATTACH] [INDENT] To: "Moneta-L" <Moneta-L@Egroups.com> From: "tameanko" <tameanko@idirect.com> Date: Sat, 9 Sep 2000 19:05:55 -0400 Subject: [Moneta-L] Re: Copies of Syracusan decadrachms Dear Listfellows, (am I the first to use this term?) Mark Little inqiuired [sic] about the above copies and they are well known to most old-time collectors because they were mass produced as tourist souvenirs in Europe starting just after the 1st World War. I have seen many of them in dealers' junk boxes at coin shows and, over the years, purchased 8 of them. Some of them are cast from the British Museum electrotypes and are quite good. They were made in Pot Metal (White Metal) which is a copper alloy heavily leaded to make a good casting material. They appear as silver at first but after a few years the copper takes over giving them a brown color. Often too much lead was used in the alloy and this crystallizes at the edges of the coin and crumbles into dust. The most famous of these copies was the 1920's Stearns' Bicycle Shop token made in Gold plated, low grade silver and copper examples and given as 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes in bicycle races sponsored by this company of Syracuse, New York. (Get the connection?) These medals or tokens have the name Stearns in pseudo-Greek letters on the reverse and the date in Roman numerals below. A photo of one can be seen in my article on Syracusan Decadrachm copies in the Celator, July, 1990. Regards, Marvin Tameanko To: "Moneta-L" <Moneta-L@Egroups.com> From: "tameanko" <tameanko@idirect.com> Date: Sun, 10 Sep 2000 11:42:54 -0400 Subject: [Moneta-L] RE: More on copies of decadrachms of Syracuse Dear List, Several people have asked me off-list for more information on the above so I wish to add the following to my previous note. The decadrachm of Syracuse was probably the most copied of all the ancient Greek coins. Many were made from other copies or copied copies with the quality of the casting deteriorating through each generation. Some were made in tin, zinc, copper alloys or so-called "white brass" , others were made in copper and then silver plated. I have examples of each of these. I also have one that is an electrotype but not made by the British Museum who marked the edges of their copies with BM or some other letters. My Stearns copy is in a good style of the artist/engraver Kimon type, perhaps having been made from a British Museum electrotype or an original coin. The date on the Stearns copies in Roman numerals is 1897, when they were first made as advertising tokens for the business maybe given out with each purchase of a bicycle. My example is made of white brass with a light silver plating. I recently saw a Stearns copy at a coin show on sale for $100. Regards, Marvin Tameanko [/INDENT] Thanks to Mr. Tameanko. RIP. - Broucheion[/QUOTE]
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