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Ohio undertakers issued a clever advertising note

Creating facsimile notes to distribute a religious, political or advertising message is not a new concept. As Wendell Wolka writes in his “Collecting Paper” column in the Aug. 20 issue of Coin World, the fractional notes in circulation in the 1870s were often mimicked by businesses and others to share messages with the public.

“My favorite example is a note issued in Sandusky, Ohio, by J.C. & C.F. Zollinger who were undertakers located at the corner of Wayne and Market streets,” he writes. The advertising gimmick was designed to resemble a 25-cent note then in circulation, with a message promoting the firm’s products and services — caskets, body coolers, hearses, and more.

Read about the note in Wendell’s column, found exclusively in the Aug. 20 issue of Coin World.

Alternate theories for cent mule clash

Mike Diamond writes about alternative theories explaining how unusual clashmarks found on a 1999 Lincoln cent might have occurred. Diamond believes that the coin was struck from a reverse die that was clashed by another reverse die, making it a mule and the first of this type. However, in a discussion of the error at an online forum for error coin collectors, other numismatists offered an alternative explanation for the coin — a floating die clash.

Diamond reviews a series of points about the two primary theories, writing, “How does this idea stack up against the mule clash theory? Let’s consider the physical evidence, using the 1999 cent as our starting point.” He then addresses a number of points before concluding that in his opinion, his original theory of a mule clash is still accurate.

Read the news article that is found only in the Aug. 20 issue of Coin World.

Architect’s bank buildings had a common feature

In his “Coin Lore” column, Gerald Tebben writes, “Not that long ago, every crossroads in America had its own locally owned bank and that bank was usually housed in the second-strongest building in town, right after the jail.” Bank buildings had to exhibit strength to reassure the bank’s customers, and that was often reflected in the structures’ designs.

Architect Arthur C. Lenander was a designer of bank buildings in the Midwest. “A hallmark of Lenander’s work was a sculpture of an eagle or an oversized coin. In Columbus, Ohio, Lenander’s Dollar Federal Savings and Loan Assoc. building was adorned with 28 Peace dollars, all dated 1907.” Other banks depicted coins with dates that also made no numismatic sense but had special meaning to the bank, like Lenander’s Central Ohio Federal Savings and Loan Association building, which “is topped by a 5-foot-diameter limestone Walking Liberty half dollar dated 1954, the year the structure was built.”

Read Gerry’s column, found only in the Aug. 20 issue of Coin World.

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