Using Contemporary Newspapers for Numismatic Research
This item actually came from the Yahoo Colonial Coins group, but it's very appropriate for The E-Sylum. Discussing the latest American Journal of Numismatics issue from the American Numismatic Society, David F. fanning writes:

Ray Williams added:

On Lovett's "Confederate Cents"
Bill Eckberg writes:

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:HARPER'S WEEKLY "PROPOSAL" FOR A CONFEDERATE STATES COIN(www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v14n26a17.html)

Columbia As a Symbol for the United States

As Union soldiers went off to war, the national figure most often urging them on in political cartoons and political stump speeches wasn't Uncle Sam, but Columbia. Forgotten today even as her name adorns universities, rivers and cities across the country, Columbia was America's response to Britannia, a secular goddess who personified the national spirit. Both Britannia and Columbia were patterned after other goddess figures: Britannia copied Minerva's helmet, for example, and both symbols frequently identified themselves with the Goddess of Liberty by displaying or wearing the "liberty cap."

From these roots in classical symbolism, Columbia's identity gradually solidified during the first half of the 19th century. In these early days, Columbia, or her twin, the Goddess of Liberty, rivaled the American eagle in popularity as an emblem of public patriotic proclamation. While Columbia and Liberty remained more or less interchangeable, appearing on everything from weathervanes to tattoos, artists and writers intended Columbia to represent not just one virtue, liberty, but the entirety of American ideals.

To read the complete article, see:Hail, Columbia!(opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/02/hail-columbia/)

On Holed Slave Coins
Frank Colletti writes:

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:MORE ON HOLED SLAVE COINS(www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v14n26a07.html)

A New Steel Coin From India
Ultramodern numismatist P. K Saha writes:

P.K. Saha adds:

Treasure found in Indian temple
Alan Luedeking writes:

Treasure, thought to be worth billions of rupees, has been unearthed from secret underground chambers in a temple in the southern Indian state of Kerala.

Precious stones, gold and silver are among valuables found at Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple.

The riches are thought to have been languishing in the temple vaults for more than a century, interred by the Maharajahs of Travancore over time.

They have not been officially valued and inspectors are taking an inventory.

Inspectors say they will continue cataloguing the treasure for at least one more week.

Unofficial estimates say that the treasure discovered so far over four days of inspections may be valued at more than 25 billion rupees ($500m). But historians say that assessing the true value of these objects is likely to be extremely difficult.

To read the complete article, see:India: Treasure unearthed in Kerala temple(www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13994351)

A huge treasure has been found in a Hindu temple in southern India � gold and silver jewelry, coins and precious stones worth billions of dollars, Indian officials said Saturday.

To read the complete article, see:Treasure worth billions reported in Hindu temple(www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43621678/ns/world_news-south_and_central_asia/)