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List of Publications publisher Morten F.ske Mortensen, Drejogade 26 F .504, DK'210() Copenhagen 0, Denmark, a.n.a. - a.n.s. - i.b.n.s. 1 Koberne p£ auktionen over Ole Devegge's M8nt- og Medaille-Samling II 2den April 1867 kr^ (The buyers at the auction of Ole Devegge's coin and medal collection part II April 2 1867). This collection of the later medieval and modern coins of Scandinavia was so important that the catalogue still is used. 2. K^berne p& auktionen over Ole Devegge's Mynt- og Medaille-Samling III Containing the antique coins. kr 48,oo .3. The buyers at the auction of C. J. Thomsen' s medieval coins September 22 1876 kr 6g oq (Written in English language). Enormous collection of 12.683 coins. 4 Fortegnelse over J. F. v. Hegermann- Lindencrone' s Mpnt- og Pengesed- del-Samling kr 40 (Catalogue of J. F.v. Hegermann- L.'s Coin- and banknote-collection; ’°° 5. K^berne p& auktionen over J. P. B. Grimsgaard's Samling af norske Myn- ter og Medailler 5te December 1889 kr 3 2 oo (The buyers at the auction of J. P. B. Grimsgaard's collection of Norwe- gian coins and medals December 5 1889) 6. Morten Eske Mortensen & Jurgen S^mod: Bremerholms Kirckis Fattige (The church of the poor of Bremerholm). Listing the provenance of all known specimens of some rare tokens; first reference given dates 1781. Fortegnelse over danske m^ntauktions-kataloger kr 88,00 (Bibliography of Danish coinauction-catalogues). 1684 to 1979. 8. K^berne p& auktionen over J. V. Bergs^e's Samling af Trankebar- MOnter 29de Oktober 1895 ,, / i , Kr 3 c iOO llhe buyers at the auction of J.V.Bergspes collection of Tranquebar- coins October 29 1895). Bergspe's catalogue is still used as a referen- ce. Including the bibliography of Bergspe. Prices realized. ft Kpberne p£ auktionerne over H. V. M. Marck's danske Medailler og Je- £?'• 27 - APril 1897 & 2b - Mai 1900 kr fc4(00 (The buyers at the auctions of H. V. M. Marck's Danish medals and jetons April 27. & May 26 1900). Including a reprint of Bergspes "En literaer Protest". /O.Kpberne p4 auktionen over en M^ntsamling tilhqrende H. V. M. Ernst den 29. November 1915 Prices realized. out ofprint //. Kpberne p& auktionen over C. L.Rdbner's Samling af antique og moderne Mynter og Medailler Aalborg den 1 May 1810 soon lo b, released kr 72,oo (The buyers at the auction of C. L. RObner's collection of antique and mo- dern coins and medals held in Aalborg May 1 1810). Prices realized. All the above mentioned studies contains biographical infor- mations upon previous Scandinavian collectors as well as researchs over the dividings of their various collections. Dealerdiscounls not available Enquiries of exchange are welcomed July 1901 July 13 1981 Eric P. Newman 6450 Cecil Avenue St. Louis MO 631o5 Dear Sir Eric P. Newman Many thanks for Your friendly and detailed letter of June 26. Enclosed You will find a corrected copy of my little review. As You will see, I have rewritten the paragraph concerning the false countermarks (this was the part which mr. Coffing had framed). I hope the paragraph now shows to he moderated, and clearly points out the author's (Samods) oppinions. But please let me know if this part still isn't "weak" enough! The opening line about the US auctionfirms , was intended to catch the readers attention, but has now been dropped. I should like to ask You if You would be so kind to edite my English language. If You afterwards, please, will forward the review to a suitable publication of Your choice, I would be very grateful. Kind regards, Yours Morten Mortensen ESKE MORTENSEN »f>REJ0CARDEN« DREJ0GADE 26 F, 504 2100 K0BENHAVN 0. I have made ZAC Publishing firm to send You a copy of the Westindian book. i OKI. Al.i i ‘ *u. COUNTERFEIT COUNTERMARKS from the Danish West Indies On pages .... in the book "M0nter fra Dansk Vestindien" are mentio- ned, in chronological order, the sales, lists and collections of countermarks known to the author. In most cases the buyers' name are given. Many coins can be traced back to the 19th century. In the Parson collection. Part three, on auction in New Jersey in march 1966, there were some countermarks of which the following may be mentioned: US 1/2 $ 1855, US 1/4 $ 1854, US dime 1854 and US cent 1852. The coins used are too recent and the counterstamp is not known on older countermarks. Thus, the coins are fakes. This parti- cular countermark is easy to detect: There is no cross in the top of the crown. In 1967 Ray Burne declared them as fakes, stating that they were manufactured in 1960-65. In any case, another series of fakes was made from latest 1966, many of which were on the Ray Burne auction - and they were all sold as genuine I The coins used for the fakes came from USA, England, Fran- ce, Mexico, the Netherlands, Spain and Spanish America. The counter- stamps used are not known from any of the early countermarks, and the most commonly employed counterstamp for fakes is seen on a US cent which also served for a counterfeit stamp for the Swedish pos- session St. Bartholomy (cat. no. 1239) This coin being recognized as a fake was not sold on the Ray Burne auction. This did not happen with other countermarks by the same Danish counterstamp. From the Ray Burne auction some other doubtful countermarks may be mentioned: US 1/2 cent 1832 and Brazil 40 reis 1825. Both have the same coun- terstamp as a US cent 1839, which in 1967, by Ray Burne, was decla- red as an earl forgery. This counterstamp is not observed of any of the examined early countermarks. Also with regard to England 1/2 penny and English "Lady Godiva token" 1791 a counterstamp was used which is not known from the guaranteed old countermarks The early American countermark collections Guttag, Newcomer and Blom Carlsen, had in common that nearly all their countermarks were bought from Danish collections. The American catalogue writers Scott, Duffield, Blom Carlsen and Raymond did not know the many countermarks now circulating in the USA as they were not manufactured at that f ? Did you realize that most illustrated countermarks from the Danish West Indies in the Krause/Mishler Standard Catalogue of World Coins are modern fakes? This and a lot of other informations is found in "M0nter fra Dansk Vestindien" (Coins from the Danish West Indies) by J0rgen S0mod. The text is in Danish but the over 200 illustrated coins and tokens speak for themselves. Everybody will be able to understand the principal contents of the latest and most comprehensive reference book on the coins and tokens from the U.S. Virgin Islands contai- ning, all you want to know about this nimismatical area, such as catalogue, concordance with other works, mintage, alloys, patterns, history etc. Priece: D. 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When one reads this material it becomes evident how much is added to what previous writers have contributed to the subject. A substantial part of the book presents new information and opinions covering not only 18th century coinages, but countermarks and merchant's tokens. The author includes an extensive discussion of the distinction between genuine and false countermarks on which there has been so much emotional debate. He has traced listings of countermarked coins through auction catalogs beginning in 1870 and has noted the earliest appearance of each variety of countermark with the name of the buyer wherever possible. He distinguishes between countermarks undertaken by the govern- ment and the counterstamping done privately with the government's implied consent. He gives his opinion of the genuineness of the countermarked pieces in various sales, often disagreeing with the listing of the items. As to coinage of 12 and 24 skilling pieces under King Frederick V (1746-66) , he points out the way to distinguish between the work of the two die cutters, Wahl and Bauert . He also makes it clear as to how to dis- tinguish between the pieces struck in the Copenhagen Mint, the Kongsberg Mint in Norway and the Altona Mint in Germany. He points out that some coins under King Christian VII (1766-08) dated in the year 1767 were also struck in 1782, 1790, 1791 and 1800. His chapter on private merchant's tokens (1887-92) contains a wealth of new detail and information, including amusing biographical back- ground material for the national origins and prior occupations of the issuers. A description and listing of off-strikes is very useful since those monsters are usually overlooked. He traces an 1748 off-strike in lead from its early owner (Guildal) to its apparent disappearance for the present There are included hitherto unpublished sketches for new coins dated 1859 proposed by the metallist F. C. Krohn (1806-83). The author points how dangerous and detrimental it is to have forgeries and undocumented pieces appearing over and over again in various auctions. He names the auctions, the collector and the cataloger in which they are found. In one sale the author points out that there were more false countermarks than there were genuine countermarks. He explains that ST in monogram which was classified in a sale as that of Saint Thomas is nothing more than a transportation token of Trondheim Sporvei, a tramway in Trondheim, Norway. He shows that the Danish West India Company gold coins were not intended for circulation in the Virgin Islands, but were for use as trade dollars in Africa. The book includes a very useful concordance covering all former works on the subject. The author includes all the misspellings and variations in edge design. Finally he concludes that there are 69 different genuinely counter stamped coin types of the Virgin Islands and that there are no more than 10 examples known of any one variety. The book, although written in Danish, is so well illustrated (over 200 illustrations) and categorized that it is easily understood and fulfills a great need in a controversial field. The tables, laws, orders and other useful data support its conclusions. It is obtainable from FORLAGET ZAC, Gothersgade 10, 1123 Copenhagen K, Denmark, for 168 Danish Kroner (about $23). Dealers are entitled to a discount of 2570 for 3 copies to 407> for 10 copies. The publication of a piece of research on the coinage of a popular part of the United States by one steeped in its Danish colonial background is most welcome. 7/24/81