Category: Uncategorized

[Machine/Human translation]

Source.

1904

… correspondence of our meritorious partner Mr. Giuseppe Scalco, of Rome, a well known restorer of ancient coins, … some passages that may interest collectors and coin restorers…

“The main basis of any work is being skilled in the art and applying it afterwards to any undertaking. For example, I applied it in the hard stone engraving and in the work carried out I did not come in last place.

“I was lucky to know the numismatist Dr. Tommaso Capo, who, well appreciating my attitude, wanted to start cleaning the coins, sure (he told me) of the useful and complete success.

“This is the principle. You will know well that the hard engraving for the execution technique has no bearing on the cleaning of the coins; yet I found, by means of my reaction wheel [??], excellent support, and today, after years of experience, I can assure you that I have an effective means which, together with the burin, another indispensable work tool, is extremely successful. As you can see, I don’t have any secrets.

“Indeed, at first sight it would seem easy to carry out, yet difficulties arise such that solving them requires having many requirements, that is, art, lightness of hand in using the burin, an eye accustomed to minute things, attitude and limitless patience.

“Frankly, I declare myself satisfied with the result obtained, and more and more satisfied with having people who highlight its importance. 

“In these years of work I have counted thousands of coins brought back to life again and I hope to increase more and more the number.

I don’t know much. Knowing one doesn’t know is part of the struggles, right?!  I do know it has a long history and it’s tied up in White supremacy and US patterns of oppression.

In my little corner of the US (the greater NYC area) this has been made more frought by the recent NJ City shootings.  On my campus the Africana Studies and Judaic Studies department came together to lead our response.  And I’m grateful for that.

So what am I reading and thinking about in my efforts at self education and contextualization:

A CNN article on how Fake Twitter Accounts have been attempting to breed animosity.

An introductory essay intended to be part of a curriculum program by the Jewish Women’s Archive.

I’m ordering this edited volume.  Older, but seems a good collection of essays and set on a number of syllabi (one cool 1999 syllabi) I’ve seen on this topic.

Salzman, Jack, and Cornel West. 1997. Struggles in the promised land: towards a history of Black-Jewish relations in the United States. New York: Oxford University Press.

Goodreads link

Another book I’ve read parts of and which I want to spend more time with:

Goldstein, Eric L. 2006. The price of whiteness: Jews, race, and American identity. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.

Goodreads link

Haaretz has a whole tag of article both news and opinion on Jews and Blacks

I was particularly struck by this opinion piece: “Tempted to Compare anti-Semitism With Anti-black Racism? Just Don’t”

A 2017 NPR article with historical retrospective

I’m concerned this self education program doesn’t have enough Black voices on it.  I need to think about how to fix that…

Further suggestions for reading welcome.

and the Siege of Syracuse (and interesting illustrations)

Even when I was a post-doc in the early 2000s the standard practice was for numismatic photos to be taken from casts to reproduce at clearer B/W plates.

BUT trimming by hand can lead to a loss of data. (As can cutting out photos in photoshop!)

Here’s a nice comparison.  Left is the ANS photo and Right is Haeberlin‘s.

Ramo Secco