RARE! FRANK LAPA_RUSSIAN WIRE MONEY 1st ED! NUMBERED 666/1000 NOTORIOUS MURDERER

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Frank A. Lapa, Russian Wire Money - self-published 1st edition. 16 pagescopyright June 6, 1967number 666 of 1000 copiesA910733...in fine condition - intact - with just a slight split to the bottom of binding edge, and ordinary corner wear. Lapa would go on the brutally murder a fellow coin dealer. The book was numbered by the author himself - and he was sure to have pondered any taboo significance of this specific copy, as would most educated in the Western Judaeo-Christian tradition. Satisfaction and authenticity is guaranteed for this rare and fascinating book, of interest to collectors of historical and numismatic books, as well as those interested in signatures, relics of crime, and self-illustrated texts (by a counterfeiter AND murderer, no less). There was at least one more edition of this book, with several thousand copies printed, but this is the coveted hand-numbered first edition. Read a little below about his life and craft:The E-Sylum: Volume 6, Number 1, January 5, 2003, Article 12 FRANK LAPA Following up on last week's discussion, Bill Rosenblum adds: "Frank Lapa was convicted of murder and has passed away. (I believe while he was in jail.) If my brain was working at a better pace I could come up with more details, such as who he murdered. It's a shame that we remember the criminal and not the victim (who was a customer of mine!). My excuse, other than the aging process, is that my two grandchildren (2 & 5) have been visiting the past week and I'm into Dr. Seuss, dinosaurs and bunny rabbits this week rather than numismatics. Happy New Year to you and all the E-Sylum readers." Neil Shafer writes: "Just a few comments about Frank Lapa. I knew him rather casually for a number of years- sometimes stopped into his shop in Chicago I believe, bought some coins and a little paper from him. He was certainly knowledgeable in several areas of numismatics. But I never saw an individual who could get so furiously angry at something or someone in a twinkling; Frank could do that. He was convicted of killing Ray Yablun and spent years in prison. Hobby New Year to all!" Rich Hartzog writes: "His wife, Joan, was an early member of TAMS, and on the 1966 ANA Convention Committee, in Chicago; as well as a graduate of the Roosevelt University Numismatic courses; and a contributor to French Emergency Tokens, 1914-22. I believe she is still alive, in California." Tony Tumonis writes: "Regarding Frank Lapa the Counterfeiter, one of his more common counterfeits was the (1345-1382) Silver Denar of Poland/Lithuania featuring the Spearpoint and Cross on the obverse and Columns of Gediminas on the reverse. To an experienced numismatist it was an obvious fake, for the artistry was not near an original. However, someone new to the field could possibly be duped. I don't think his fakes were that good." Scott Semans writes: "I've heard a number of secondhand stories about Frank Lapa, his behavior at coin shows, the murder, and his time in jail, but perhaps others can relate these. While in prison, he produced a revised version of his Kandy Kings of Ceylon, © 1986, in 8.5x11 spiral bind, though I'm not sure he ever marketed this edition. I have a 3x scan showing 5 Lapauanian items from my black museum and would be happy to send the scan to anyone wanting a copy. The Russian piece is Feodor Alexievitch, not a particularly rare item. The clumsy Lithuanian wire piece is Vytautas, 1384-92, Vilnius Mint and I'm not sure if this is a fantasy or a known type. The others are modern: Cambodia, Danish E India Co. and British E. India Co. The last is actually a fairly common type. He also produced and actively marketed an Andaman Islands token. When visiting another dealer I saw a roll of Thailand 4 Att 1876 that had come from Frank, all brilliant UC and with edges so sharp you could have shaved with them. The dealer returned them, and I have never seen this piece on the market, but they must still be out there somewhere, and it's a very scarce type in UC. He liked to copy things that were obscure, not necessarily of great value. None of the pieces in this scan are particularly deceptive to someone familiar with the real items, but I do recall the Thai pieces as being pretty good, except for the sharp edges. Paul Schultz writes: "There was an article on Lapa's activities in The Numismatist several years ago. From the note I wrote in my copy of his Russian Wire Money book, it was November 1996, p1346-1348, "The Other Side of the Coin" column by Ed Rochette. The heading for the column was "Murder Most Unconventional." There is also a postscript in a letter to the editor, February 1997, p127. I seem to remember that Lapa spent less time in jail than one might have expected (a few years?) and then died relatively soon after being released from prison." [A search of the Numismatic Index of Periodicals (NIP) at the Harry Bass Foundation web site brought up the following listings for Lapa (see harrybassfoundation.org/search_numlit.asp ). One reference is to the Numismatic Scrapbook, and the others are to The Numismatist. BOOK REVIEWS/ Vatican City 1929 (Frank A. Lapa) /ANA/Vol.82/1969 SEP/Pg.1241 BOOK REVIEWS/ Russian Wire Money (Frank A. Lapa) /ANA/Vol.80/1967 SEP/Pg.1143 BOOK REVIEWS/ Check List Of Siege And Necessity Issues, 16th-20th Century (Frank A. Lapa) /ANA/Vol.81/1968 MAY/Pg.607 BOOK REVIEWS/ Kandy Kings Of Ceylon (Frank A. Lapa) ] /ANA/Vol.82/1969 FEB/Pg.174 [SHIPWRECKS & TREASURE TROVE]./ The other side of the coin: the unlucky oysterman of Willapa Bay (Edward C. Rochette) /ANA/Vol.104/1991 OCT/Pg.1632-34/ill. GENERAL/ Lapa, Frank /Scrapbook/Vol.35/1969 SEP/Pg.1348 -Editor] Bob Leonard adds "I attributed some Roman coins for Frank Lapa when he had an office in downtown Chicago around 1964-5, and still have a number of foreign coins that I purchased from him at various times (including some Russian wire money which I believe to be genuine). Frank was an artist and had a drawing board and drafting instruments, etc. in his office. A number of his paintings are still around. He issued several price lists. As far as his other forgeries are concerned, the only one that comes to mind is a square copper piece purporting to be from the Andaman Islands, which he "discovered" in the early 1970s. But I believe there are others, as Bill Rosenblum says. Perhaps a list is available somewhere; if so, it should be published. The story of his arrest is rather long, but briefly, Chicago coin dealer Ray Yablun disappeared August 13, 1975 after leaving Chicago, on his way to Los Angeles to attend a coin convention. I can't find clippings on the balance of the story, but a body was discovered a few weeks later which was identified as that of Yablun by a finger ring, and informants appeared who said that Lapa killed Yablun with an ashtray stand. Lapa sold a 1795 eagle that was supposedly Yablun's property in a Wilshire Boulevard coin store the same day Yablun vanished, and Yablun's "denim leisure jacket" (old-time coin dealers were such fashion plates!), empty wallet, and several business checks were found in a trash can in the same block as the coin shop the same day. On the basis of this evidence and testimony from Lapa's "accomplices," he was convicted of Yablun's murder and sentenced to prison in California. But I have always wondered whether Lapa was framed. My friend Bob Greinstein, who now works for Harlan Berk, visited Yablun's store the day after his disappearance and found "no coins" there (there must have been some coins). Lapa claimed that the 1795 eagle was consigned to him (he was Yablun's "employee and West Coast agent, having moved his office to Beverly Hills from Chicago) and not stolen. Yablun was accompanied on the flight by a "Mr. Van Cleef," though he was supposed to be traveling to Los Angeles to meet with a customer of this name; L.A. police concluded that the name was phony. Was the battered body, identified only by Yablun's ring, really his? Were the "witnesses" to his murder truthful? Did Yablun clean out his store, arrange for a body and witnesses -- then ditch his wife, frame his employee, and skip? Who was Van Cleef? Lapa is the author of three booklets, Russian Wire Money, Check List of Siege and Necessity Issues, and Kandy Kings of Ceylon 1055-1295 A.D., all self-published and nicely illustrated by him personally. He thus joins a short list of authors of numismatic books who have served time in prison, others being Walter Breen, Robert H. Burnie, and Lynn Glaser. Perhaps there are more. Lynn Glaser is an especially sad case; the dust jacket of his Counterfeiting in America (1968) says that he published his first numismatic article when he was 15. In the early 1960's he was a frequent contributor to the Numismatic Scrapbook and Numismatic News. But according to Miles Harvey's The Island of Lost Maps (Random House, 2000), Charles Lynn Glaser served seven months for map thefts around 1975; in 1978 he was arrested for further thefts, pled guilty, and served six months more; he pled guilty again in March 1992 to mutilating a copy of the 1628 edition of Munster's Cosmographica, by cutting a map out of it; out on probation less than a month later, he was discovered in the stacks of Lehigh University, wearing surgical gloves and carrying a hammer -- not the usual accouterments of a library researcher. (We fervently hope that he does not return to numismatics!)."Wayne Homren, EditorThe E-Sylum: Volume 5, Number 52, December 29, 2002, Article 7 LAPA COUNTERFEITS Bill Rosenblum adds: "However, murderers and counterfeiters as one are not new. The late Frank Lapa was one. Frank was perhaps one of the most knowledgeable US dealers in foreign coins in the 1960's and early 70's but had many flaws. He was a counterfeiter and maker of fantasies of many different coins, among them rare Russian wire money. At the 1973 Boston ANA I had a beautiful gold wire coin that a client had given me on consignment. I showed it to a potential customer and his first words to me were, "Ah, a Lapa." A year or so later he wrote me a letter (these were the days way before the fax and email) asking me how much I would pay for a 1947 Palestine coin, (A very rare date, most of which were melted due to the impending independence of Israel). While the letter did not specifically say it, it sounded like if I offered Frank enough money he would make it for me. Sadly, not too long after that Frank was arrested for the murder of his ex-partner in California." [I feel compelled to add that opinions expressed are those of the writers and not the Numismatic Bibliomania Society. Interesting, though. Can anyone provide us with references to the Lapa counterfeits or his arrest? Was he convicted? -Editor] read more

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