You should have announced a new book..."Scams in Numismatic Literature", by M. N. Daycius."

I take my hat off to you. Very, very well done! You realise of course that this book should not be sold in some parts of Australia particularly where Chocolate is made, (Tasmania) - they would not understand the wonderful exhausting research that has obviously gone into this tome. Plus they make chocolate there! I am still going to send it to some chocoholics that I know.

1st April and All Fools Day apart, I know one person who claims to collect chocolate coins, and I have been trying to provoke him into responding to you. I hope he does so. Some of the better specimens are surprisingly realistic.

One or two familiar terms have a slightly different meaning in the field of edible numismatics. What does "mint condition" mean, for example, when applied to chocolate? Also "clipped", which means "teeth marks visible on edge" - perhaps even to the extent of a cut half!

I understand also that trying to preserve the condition of one's collection in hot weather is a significant issue.

Golly, how sorry I am that I ate all of my chocolate rarities last Christmas. Just goes to show that the statement "buy the book before the coin" is actually true. Another fortune has slipped through my grubby little hands. It's only 8:30 AM and I have already have had two April 1st "whammies" on my laptop. Do I dare go outside and start my car ??? Guess It would be better for me to just go back to bed, pull the covers up over my head and wait for my coo-coo bird to announce that April 2nd has finally arrived and that it is again safe to venture outside.

I'd like to Pickup a copy of the book on chocolate coins before it melts in your hands! However, I feel obliged to make one correction on a quotation I'm afraid you have gotten wrong: the German classic on this coin type is Handbuch der Schokoladenmünzenstanniolverpackungsvarianten, written by Wilhelm Wonker.

By the way, catalog number US-87 of this book is a bright and shiny 1933 double eagle. It is considered a major rarity, as most of the issue is rumored to have gotten eaten by an unidentified numismatic literature dealer from the US.

For the 2005 Early American Coppers convention in Annapolis, I had chocolate half and large cents made using molds made from real examples. They were dusted with a coppery substance and placed in individual plastic envelopes. One was made from the Small 5-Stems coin then in my collection. The rest (1,000) were made from common varieties. This was surprisingly reasonably priced.

The attendees at the reception were all told that there was a single rare chocolate coin, and that anyone who "cherrypicked" it would get a free night's stay at the hotel. I spent the next two hours worrying that it would be found by one of the wealthier members of the club. One guy who will be nameless spent about 15 minutes looking at pieces in the bowl, but he didn't find the cherrypick. Fortunately, it went to one of the younger members of the club, who has since become very active.

“Not in Pickup” (but in Rochette!)

Barton’s Bonbonniere

K-63A-40

Size 76mm, gold foil, a chocolate-filled “coin” produced by Barton’s Bonbonniere of Brooklyn, N. Y. and sold at candy counters throughout the country.

OBVERSE: -- Bust of the President facing left and on wide rim the legend, JOHN F. KENNEDY above, 1917-1963 below.

REVERSE: -- Large $25 above center, below, TO: …………………………… / FROM: …………………………. / (a small U inside a circle [i.e. a hecksher]) / MADE WITH MILK CHOCOLATE / NAT. AND ARTIF. FLAVORS / ¾ OZ. Around the outer edge – BARTON’S BONBONNIERE preceded by a small register mark / NEW YORK LUGANO SWITZERLAND.

EDGE: -- Reeded.

Listed and illustrated in Edward C. Rochette, The Medallic Portraits of John F. Kennedy (Iola, WI, Krause Publications, 1966), pages 95-96. (If you want a scan of the illustration let me know.)

The hecksher is a symbol used by the Union of Orthodox Congregations on food products to indicate that they are certified to be kosher