While I love looking at and studying old guns, my interest in “antique” firearms is almost purely from the shooter’s perspective. I don’t own any firearm I can’t shoot – no high dollar collectible wall hangers for me! When I started working on The Handbook of Modern Percussion Revolvers (from Krause Publications, due out in the […]
Archives for August 2013
Chaos and Elkington Owls
Aestheticism is the Rodney Dangerfield of design movements: It can’t get no respect. Vintage English silver cups are quite common but examples from the Aesthetic Movement, decorated with owls, moons, stars and exotic plants, are the oddballs of the graphic design world and have a unique beauty if you look for it.
The Susan B. Anthony Dollar and History Lived
When the Susan B. Anthony dollars were released to commerce they were considered an absolute failure. The quarter-sized dollars got confused with the existing coins, even West German businesses didn’t want Susan B. Anthony dollars.
The Golden Age of Comic Reprints
Just recently, I received a big box filled with books from one of my favorite publishers, Fantagraphics. This company, which has been around for years, publishing everything from The Comic Journal and Amazing Heroes (trade journals for comic fans) to Love and Rockets, the award-winning series from Los Brothers Hernandez, to a line of sex […]
The Coin Geek 4: Of Forty-Eighters and Forty-Niners
(There is little more enthralling or evocative than a huge gold ingot of assayers gold, and little assayers gold more intriguing that that of Justh & Hunter, two names numismatists will recognize instantly from its intimate connection to the most famous lost treasure shipwreck of all, the S.S. Central America. Read on for John Dale’s entertaining history […]
Charlie Brown, Peanuts, Charles Schulz and The Meaning of Life
“I love mankind – it’s people I can’t understand!” – Charlie Brown I’ve long maintained that everything I know about writing I learned from MAD Magazine and everything I learned about philosophy – from Agnosticism to Zen – I learned from Peanuts and Good Ol’ Charlie Brown. The latter has been on my mind much […]
A Painting Comes in from the Cold
Appraisal events are funny things. I’ve had the opportunity to be on both sides of the table and it’s equally thrilling. The most entertaining and interesting stories are from people’s families and the objects that have passed down from generation to generation. Surprisingly, those objects are not always beloved – or even wanted.
The Coin Geek #3: Nickels and Vending Machines
The vending machine was restocked at work today, giving me a bit of inspiration for this post. This year marks the centennial of the Buffalo nickel, struck between 1913 and 1938. The Buffalo nickel’s design, by noted sculptor James Earle Fraser, made 21st-century comebacks to appear on both a 2001 silver commemorative coin and […]