----- Original Message ----- From: "Alan Cole" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "The Horn List" <horn@music.memphis.edu> Sent: Thursday, June 23, 2005 2:13 PM Subject: Re: [Hornlist] Coins as lever extensions, formerly HR
> 1. Adds thickness to valve levers that have worn down thin -- prevents > such wear on newer valve levers. > > 2. Provides for lengthening the levers to accommodate players with > shortish fingers. > > 3. Gives a tactile reminder to keep the fingers appropriately arched so > that the balls of the fingers are in contact with the wide parts of the > valve levers. > > 4. Silver coins on the valve levers are w-a-a-a-a-y cool ! > > BTW, I always thought the de riguer part was using older coins of genuine > silver (staying away from those newer, base-metal coins). If so, that > pretty much rules out using USA coins dated the same as the year the horn > was made, except for pre-1964 horns. Also, the way I heard it is that the > date on the coins is supposed to match the birth-year of the horn player -- > which also rules out USA silver coins except for folks already well into > middle-age & beyond. I am not familiar with Liberty Head dimes; don't the > USA horn folks usually go for Mercury dimes? (Might be 2 different names > for the same thing, I don't know.) "Mercury" dimes, pedantically known as Winged Head Liberty dime, was errantly given it's "Mercury" name because someone thought Mercury had a winged cap. They were made from 1916 through 1945, excluding 1922, '32, and '33. Various other "Liberty" designs on dimes (and everything else) existed all the way back to 1793 (1796 for dimes). The first real person to appear on a U.S. coin was Christopher Columbus (1892), although trial designs with George Washington were made in the 1860s. For the Chinese eBay horns, the best coins to place on top of the levers would be Yap stones. John Baumgart _______________________________________________ post: horn@music.memphis.edu unsubscribe or set options at http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
