eBulletin for Coins, Culture, History and
Archaeology of
No.
5, June 2005 ISSN 0973-1962
Reesha Books International www.reeshabooks.com
-------------------------------
From the Editor’s Desk
-------------------------------
Welcome to the Reesha Books
International’s Newstainment Monthly, eBulletin for Coins, Culture, History and Archaeology of South Asia covering
all the latest discoveries, news, views, books, events, happenings and humour
in the fields of History, Culture, Coins and Archaeology.
This month, too we have a number of interesting features
for you. So here we go …
Features of the Month are:
3.
Alert
for Coin and Art Collectors
4.
Event
Diary
5.
Openings
in History, Culture & Archaeology
11.
Did
you Know?
13.
Quotes
on Money
Our Regular
Items
Research Data Supply Service (RDSS)
PS: To read earlier issues of the eBulletin in html
format, please log on to www.reeshabooks.com
and click on Earlier eBulletins.
· Update on the Excavations at the Harappan Site Bagsara alias Gola Dhoro in Gujarat
We are pleased to inform you about the
exclusive new discoveries by a group of Indian archaeologists from
·
New Evidence on
Humans left Asia for Africa, then Returned
Three newly
discovered primate species that lived 30 million years ago suggest that our
ancestors originated in Asia not
·
The
inhabitants of multicultural Christmas Island originally came from southern
Molecular
geneticist Dr Cheryl Wise, who was at
They say their findings may have implications when testing for inherited conditions more common in people from a particular ethnic background, like the blood disorder thalassaemia.
Wise and team
studied DNA in blood samples from 100 people who were living on, or were born
on, Christmas Island, the tiny Australian territory 360 km south of the
Indonesian capital
They studied differences and similarities in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), inherited from the mother, and Y chromosome variations, inherited from the father.
"Mostly
Christmas Islanders have come from southern
The
researchers found similar origins for both men and women. Log
on for further evidence.
·
Meditation changes what monks see
Meditation can literally change the way Buddhist monks see the world, reports a new study. It leads monks to interpret images in a positive way and expert meditators tend to linger on these 'happy' images the longest.
Professor Jack Pettigrew, an Australian neuroscientist from the
·
Reserve Bank of
In order to curb the nuisance of counterfeit notes by high-tech counterfeiters, the RBI has decided to issue new currency notes with additional features. These are:
i) Increased thickness and grammage of paper;
ii) Eletrolyte watermark;
iii) High light watermark of respective denomination, alongside Mahtma Gandhi watermark;
iv) Omron anti-photocopying to be included in Rs. 100 and Rs. 50 denominations, currently present in Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes; and
v) Year of printing.
DVD on Mohen-jo-Daro
Film produced for UNESCO made when
3.
Alert for Coin & Art Collectors
By Jim McGarigle (krisjim@charter.net)
Greetings Fellow Collectors,
Some of you may or may not be aware but our hobby is currently under attack. If you collect ancient or older (over 100 years old) world coins, time may be running out for you to enjoy this hobby. Now that said, I'm not a paranoid chicken little, nor am I an alarmist, fact of the matter is I'm a very laid back person but I have become aware of this trend over the last 9 years and am worried about the sudden momentum it is getting.
Back in the 1990s, the United Nations wanted the
While I do not want to demonize this philosophy, it is fair to say this is sort
of a cousin to the old Fascist philosophy that dragged us to war in the 1930s
and ‘40s. Matter of fact, when Mussolini rose to power, he spent much money on
Roman archaeological work as he wanted his regime to be identified with ancient
ruler of
Now that said, cultural patrimony has its place in a limited sense. I would
hope my own country would never give up its unique documents such as the
original Constitution, Bill of Rights, Declaration of Independence, etc. On
that same vein, I think the only proper place for the British Crown Jewels to
be permanently is in the
that reasonable premise, what about mass produced objects that were produced in
the thousands or even millions? This is where collectors of coins and common
antique objects part company with the archaeological community.
The AIA (Archaeological Institute of America), ASOR (American Schools of
Oriental Research) and many other prominent archaeological groups have been
pushing for the US government and other world governments to ban the
importation of foreign antique objects - items over 100 years
old. So far the
for differing reasons. GOP lawmakers saw it as an internationalist threat to
archaeological looting in their countries but yet did not want to shoulder the
cost of protecting their sites and were passing all the policing onto the
shoulders of the
In recent years things have changed. The GOP is trying to build a security net
around itself and also is looking for ways to limit trade with certain parts of
the
This combination of events bodes ill for collectors. Why? Because while
motivations may be different, there is now bipartisan consensus to restrict the
importation of antique objects regardless of how common they may be. While
UNIDROIT is still too radical for even some centrist Democrats and most
Republicans, we are already getting nickeled and dimed to death. The hobby is
about to be killed by the death of one thousand cuts.
> 2001:
> 2004:
The Miscellaneous (Omnibus) Trade Bill adds in import restrictions on objects
over 100 years old coming from
>
2004/2005:
> A bill,
much like the
>
>
> Moderate
Republicans are trying to get a treaty called the "Law or the Sea"
adopted by the
> In the
> In
> In
>
Those of us who might think of ourselves as citizens of the world as Socrates put it enjoy the cultures of the world. Now is a time of much international tension and rising nationalism. International trade and friendships can help thaw those problems by building trust across national boundaries and coin and stamp collectors really have been doing that well for years.
In Ireland Catholics and Protestants are still killing each other;
Ignorant politicians will not just wreck a hobby or a business, they will
stifle the building of international friendships at a time when we need to do
just that. While the ACCG began with a limited mission to protect the Ancient
coin hobby, it is clear we need to either expand its mission or create a sister
organization that will operate the same way to protect the interests of world
coins. Yes, I do not think the more modern stuff created by the Pobjoy mint is
under any threat, not the Euro or other much more modern coins designed for
commercial consumption. But the coins dating before 1900 all the way back to
antiquity are all going to get harder and harder to obtain at the very least,
at worst, if the countries of the world adopt and fully implement UNIDROIT and
UNESCO it will also mean repatriation without compensation.
Where does
all this leave us? Well, if you are a
What can you do to stop this trend? 2 things: 1st join the ACCG – the Ancient Coin Collectors Guild. Granted the
title of this organization says, "Ancient" but frankly both Ancient
and World coin collectors are in this together. If you collect or sell non-US
coins that predate
1900, this affects you. 2nd you have to get involved in the process. I know
many of us feel this is non-partisan (it is) but regardless of where you stand
politically, if you don't get into the process and I mean NOW, not next year or
the year after this hobby which is in full
swing right now will die out in less than 20 years with legislative trends
heading where they are. We need to organize as collectors and then organize
within the party we most prefer of the 2 major parties. With respect to the
Libertarian or Green or other 3rd parties – they don't govern and so they don't
make the day to day decisions of government and joining one of those will not
help us.
We recently have had mixed results within the Wisconsin Republican Party. As a
test pilot of sorts, we wrote a Collectors Rights Resolution. The way party
platforms develop is through issue based resolutions appearing in a
preponderance of states over a period of time by the votes of local and state
organization and by approval of committees. Anyone who has been involved in
politics with issues be it abortion, guns, education, the environment, labor unions,
etc knows this.
The ANA has given us encouragement but really is not focused on legislation,
the ANS has virtually betrayed the collecting part of it's membership in favor
of it's academic members and has decided to stay neutral and take no side, no
stand, no position at all. The PNG and IAPN have been very helpful but those
are professional organizations for dealers. If you are not a full time dealer
with a sizeable inventory, chances are you will not belong.
The ACCG however has this fight as its primary reason for being. We are here to
fight this fight. We wrote a resolution for collector's rights, it was passed
unanimously at the local
if they did not collect - and most did not - 99% would agree that this was
wrong in some way. Some people supported it because they saw it as an attack on
private property rights. Some people thought it sounded like a government with
nothing better to do wasting time and resources regulating a hobby. Some people
who were involved in politics for religious reasons recognized the tie between
Biblical coins to ancient coins and how the hobby could be tied to religious
education. Also in
publishing being in
At the Wisconsin Republican State Convention we - Wayne Sayles and I put up an
informational booth and had many positive conversations with grass roots
activists and even several lawmakers. When the resolution came up for a vote
however, disaster struck. Immediately beforehand, there was a contentious vote
over a badly written resolution. It was toward the end of the business day and
it was the last day of the convention. When our resolution came up, some one we
had not talked to rose and said this was also a frivolous resolution and he
moved to
table it. The crowd being impatient to leave quickly seconded the motion to
table. This was very strange; normally every resolution gets a chance for 10
minutes of debate for and against if people wish to debate it. A voice vote was
taken to table and it was close. I and at least 3 other people around the large
crowded hall called to divide. That means everyone has to stand to be counted.
The head count won the vote to table and the convention concluded in less than
5 minutes after that with closing remarks and a prayer.
Now I alone was able to pass it through 2 conventions, my county and my
district and was also able to pass it through 2 committees. My Congressional
District and my State Party committees approved it upon being educated. But
being 1 person and not being able to educate 51%
of the convention delegates the resolution ultimately failed. Not that it was
rejected. I truly feel if I had been able to stand and speak it should have
passed given the anti-UN sentiment prevalent in my party and given the other
things I already mentioned. It was a good effort,
we came awfully close but ultimately the resolution was a victim of ignorance
and haste.
This is not to say it was a wasted effort. I am a county party officer for at
least a 2 year term which will include the 2006 election cycle. I have plenty
of time to hammer this issue and build trust and respect with decision makers
in my party and I already have some of that. But if we are going to actually
win, keep our hobby from being killed by misguided archaeologists who are
misleading decision makers - we need to act. The ACCG needs members and it
needs doers. People who will
actually step up to the plate and say this is misguided, harmful and a waste of
government resources. Think about it, aren't our customs agents, airline
security and postal workers hard pressed enough with drug and terrorism
concerns? Should our government be thinning out its resources chasing coin
collectors? Coins are not grave finds, coins are not unique, and coins are /
were mass produced. What kind of waste and corruption will this lead to? Why
does the government want to bother itself with a hobby that isn't hurting
anyone and if anything
helping add to the economy and doing a fair amount of educational good?
If our government slowly buys into the UNIDROIT and UNESCO treaties, we won't
be able to import coins over 100 years old and we will have a tremendous burden
of proof upon us to prove continuity of ownership (do you save all your
receipts?) if and when we or our loved ones wish to sell the old coins we have.
If you cannot prove continuity of ownership then repatriation without
compensation to the country of origin is the next step.
So if you collect ancient coins or many world coins that are more than 100
years old, you may soon find yourself without a hobby if you do not act now.
Join and Volunteer: http://www.accg.us/membership/.
Karnataka Numismatic Society has organized their annual coin
fair, Nanyadarshini-2005, an All-India Exhibition of Rare
Coins and Currencies from 27th to 30th June 2005 at Sri Basava
Bhavan, High Grounds, Bangalore 560 001.
5. Openings
in History, Culture, Archaeology, Art & Linguistics
Good luck in your job search…
· Masters'
Studentships in History 2005-6
Department of History,
For more details log on to: http://jobs.ac.uk/jobfiles/HY077.html
· Lecturer,
Ancient History
Department of Classics and Ancient History,
For more details log on to: http://jobs.ac.uk/jobfiles/IY374.html
· Lecturer
/ Senior Lecturer
The Study of Islam, Dundee, Al-Maktoum Institute for Arabic and Islamic
Studies
For more details log on to: http://jobs.ac.uk/jobfiles/HX717.html
JEEP is a vehicle with unique Gear system. It was invented during World War II (1939-1945). It was named General Purpose Vehicle (GP). GP was changed into JEEP later.
Change Your Strategy …
One day, there was a blind man sitting on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet and a sign that read: “I am blind, please help!”
A creative publicist was walking by him and stopped to observe. The blind man
only had a few coins in his hat. The publicist dropped a few more coins in his
hat and without asking for his permission took the sign, turned it around, and
wrote another announcement.
He placed the sign by his feet and left. That afternoon the creative publicist
returned by the blind man and noticed that his hat was full of bills and coins.
The blind man recognized his footsteps and asked if it was him who had
re-written his sign and he wanted to know what did he write on it?
The publicist responded: “Nothing that was not true, I just rewrote your sign
differently”. He smiled and went on his way.
The blind man never knew but his new sign read: “Today is spring and I cannot see it!”
Well friends, when something does not go your way, change your strategy and
you'll see it will probably be for the best. Trust me; every change is in our
own interest!
When your newly born child
holds your little finger in his little fist,
that
you're hooked for life …
A school teacher scolded a boy for not paying attention to his mathematics and for not being able to solve simple problems.
She told him that you would not become anybody in life.
Well, the boy
was Albert Einstein!
(It is
because of the business-sense this story is included here)
An Indian
walks into a New York City Bank and asks to see the loan officer. He says he is
going to
Two weeks later, the man returns, repays the $5,000 and the interest, which comes to $15.41. The loan officer says, “We are very happy to have had your business, and this transaction has worked out very nicely, but we are little puzzled. While you were away, we checked you out and found that you are a multimillionaire. What puzzles us is why would you bother to borrow $5,000?”
Can you think of an answer?
The Indian
replied, “Well, where else in
A Newspaper fired Walt Disney
for
Lack of ideas …
It could save
someone’s life!
Let's say it's
6.15 pm and you're driving home (alone of course), after an unusually hard day
on the job. You're really tired, upset and frustrated. Suddenly you start
experiencing severe pain in your chest that starts to radiate out into your arm
and up into your jaw.
You are only
about five miles from the hospital nearest your home. Unfortunately you don't
know if you'll be able to make it that far.
How to survive
a heart attack when alone?
Quite often,
many people are alone when they suffer a heart attack. The person whose heart
is beating improperly and who begins to feel faint has only about 10 seconds
left before losing consciousness.
However, these
victims can help themselves by coughing repeatedly and very vigorously. A deep breath should be taken
before each cough, and the cough must be deep and prolonged, as when producing
sputum from deep inside the chest.
A breath and a cough
must be repeated about every two seconds without let-up until help arrives, or until the
heart is felt to be beating normally again.
Deep breaths get
oxygen into the lungs and coughing movements squeeze the heart and keep the
blood circulating. The squeezing pressure on the heart also helps it regain
normal rhythm. In this way, heart attack victims can get to a hospital.
Tell as many
people as possible about this. It could save someone’s life!!
Life is short
and
so is money
- Bertolt Brecht
Hello Friends,
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The eBulletin is subscribed by over 800 historians, numismatists, archaeologists and related institutions all over the world.
Dr.
Contributing Editor:
Dr. Ambika Patel, Curator-Lecturer,
Dept of Archaeology & Ancient History, M. S. University of Baroda,
Vadodara. (ambikamsu@yahoo.com)
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MUMBAI:
·
Gifts
R Us, Tarabaug Estate,
Near Charni Road Station, Mumbai 400 004; Phone: 022-5635 5178 (Contact
Persons – Kiran Shah, Raghu)
·
Coin
Gallery, 22A, Lansdowne
Road, Bright Lands Bldg, Behind Regal Cinema, Apollo Bunder, Colaba, Mumbai 400
039; Phone: 022-22852355 (Contact Person – Abdul Razak Shaikh)
·
Coins
Centre, Room No. 6, 1st
Floor, 121 Memon Manzil, Near Zam Zam Hotel, Opp. Shaifi High School, Baniyan
Street, Pydhonie, Mumbai 400 003; Phone: 022-2346 1574 (Contact Person –
Zubair Khan)
·
Coins
& Curios Centre,
28/30 Morvi House Compund, S B Path (Goa Street), Fort, Mumbai 400 001; Phone:
022-2265 8046, 98331 11958 (Contact Person – Ramesh Velunde)
Ahmedabad:
·
Coins
N Collectibles, No. 35,
Hotel Radhey, Gandhi Road, Ahmedabad, 380 001; Phone: 94260 58790 (Contact
Person – Harish D. Shah)
Mehidpur:
·
Ashwini
Research Center: Academy for Archaeology & Numismatics, Anant Bhawan, Ashadi Gali, Mehidpur,
Dist. Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh. Phone: 07365-233226 (Contact Person – Dr. R. C. Thakur)
Nagpur:
·
Numismatic
Art Gallery, 104
Sanskrutik Sankul, Jhansi Rani Square, Sitabuldi, Nagpur; Phone: 0712-2561165 (Contact
Person – Avinash Ramteke)
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Coin
World, Golchha Marg, Main
Road Sadar, Nagpur 440 001; Phone: 98222 20826 (Contact Person – Piyush
Agarwal)
New Delhi:
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Curios
Centre, 55 Gole Market,
New Delhi 110 001; Phone: 011-23744204, 23743041 (Contact Person – Goga
Jain)
Pondicherry:
·
Je
Cee Enterprises, 16
Chetty Street, Pondicherry 605 001; Phone: 0413-234 9180 (Contact Person –
A. V. Jaychandran)
Secunderabad
·
Numisphila Services, No. 9, First Floor, H. M. Ishaque Estate, M. G. Road,
Secunderabad 500 003; Phone: 93947 43039 (Contact Person – Kanti Kumar
Sevak)
Vadodara:
·
Shri
Mahavir Trading Co., Shri
Vallabh Pushti Complex, Shop No. 9, Krishna Sheri, Karoria Pole, M. G. Road,
Vadodara 390 018; Phone: 0265-242 1552 (Contact Person – Kirit Parekh)