New Jersey coin dealer Tom Culhane died on October 29, 2015, at age 58. His whimsical business name was The Elusive Spondulix. So, what is a spondulix?

Tom attempted to explain on his website:

There is another explanation. In the W. C. Fields' movie My Little Chickadee (1940), Fields as gambler and con man Cuthbert J. Twillie says to his partner, "Have you any of the elusive spondulixs on you?" Culhane admitted this was the inspiration for the company name.

Spondulix is one of many slang terms for money. It generally refers to some quantity of money and not just a single coin. Other such terms include bread, cabbage, dough, lucre, moola or scratch.

The slang term comes from Spondylus shells that were used as a form of coinage dating back about 5,000 years. They were harvested from the Aegean Sea and formed into bracelets and ornaments. Their name in Greek is Spondulox.

Thomas S. Culhane was born on July 12, 1957, in Hoboken, New Jersey. He was a graduate of St. Peters College in Jersey City, New Jersey. He worked as a full-time coin dealer with various firms after 1979. His firm, The Elusive Spondulix, located in Union, New Jersey, was founded in 1986.

Culhane was an accomplished coin grader. He worked as a grading consultant for Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC) and Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS). He was also hired by Stack's to do grading for auction lots.

His knowledge was recognized outside the profession. When the TV quiz show Jeopardy wanted to verify the answer for contestants' questions, they sometimes called Culhane.

He was a contributor to the Guidebook of United States Coins (Red Book). Later he contributed articles for the introduction to the Official Blackbook Price Guide to U. S. Coins after 1997.

One of his specialties was Philippines coinage. He revised the book U. S. Philippine Coins, originally written by Lyman Allen, for the 6th edition. Another of his specialties was Irish coins and tokens.

To read the complete article, see:
What Is a Spondulix? In Memoriam: Tom Culhane (www.coinweek.com/expert-columns/spondulix-memoriam-tom-culhane/)

To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
VOCABULARY WORD: SPONDULIX (www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v08n25a13.html)
THE ELUSIVE SPONDULIX (www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v08n26a18.html)
NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: DECEMBER 8, 2013 : More on the U.S. / Philippine Coins book (www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v16n50a07.html)