WAYNE'S NUMISMATIC DIARY: OCTOBER 19, 2014

On Tuesday I made my way after work to the Mad Fox Brew House in Falls Church, VA for the monthly dinner meeting of my numismatic social club, Nummis Nova. I arrived at 6pm and picked a spot across the tale from Jon Radel, who'd been the first to arrive. The meeting would be a little smaller than usual - regulars Gene Brandenburg, Aaron Packard and Joe Levine were all sidelined for health issues, and Roger Burdette had a family health matter to attend to.

The table soon filled up though. Joining us were Ron Abler, Dave Schenkman, Tom Kays, Steve Bishop, Mike Packard, Eric Schena, Julian Leidman, Wayne Herndon, and Howard Daniel. Soon the finely crafted microbrews and conversation were flowing freely.

I started by telling Eric Schena how I'd seen his profile in The Numismatist. I passed around my copy of the issue for everyone to see, then gave it to him so he'd have a hardcopy. There goes my complete set... (Not to worry, though - two members have offered up their copies as a replacement).

I also passed around my latest numismatic acquisition, an unawarded medal from the Swedish Carnegie Hero Fund (an eBay purchase). I've made a minor specialty of these, and was glad to be able to pick this one up.

Dave Schenkman had three nice British medals. He provided the following images and captions. Thanks!

1709 medal: Prince Eugene of Savoy and the Duke of Marlborough.
Silver, 44mm. Eimer 439

1712 memorial to the death of Princess Louisa.
Her brother, James III, is depicted on the obverse.
Silver, 51mm Eimer 454.

1830 medal: Accession of William III; the reverse depicts Neptune.
Silver, 43mm. Brown 1425, but unlisted in silver.

Dave said he'd set these aside many years ago after buying a collection at a coin show. I told him I wished I owned half of the coins, tokens and medals he'd forgotten he had.

I'd forgotten to ask him another question that had been on my mind since hearing an old song on the radio. Dave's a banjo expert, and I wondered how it was the predominant instrument in The Who's Squeezebox, a song ostensibly about a woman playing an accordion, is a banjo. Ah, the Mysteries of Life...

Another interesting group of coins passed around was this set of three gold Celestons (1959, 1960, 1961). See Tom Kays' article elsewhere in this issue for more background information. These got us into a conversation about micronations in general, and Tom was a fountain of information thanks to his recent reading of a do-it-yourself book on "How to Start Your Own Country ". We came up with the alternate title "Micronation Statecraft For Dummies"

You might guess by that advanced point in the evening’s festivities that selections of finely crafted microbrews were flowing freely, making some of us see micronation statecraft in an especially attractive light, as though seen through "beer goggles." Now some of the dinner party did not drink, so I leave it to you to decide which among us naturally tend to see the world tinted through "beer goggles." Not a bad thing, right?"

I passed on dessert and paid my tab. It was another fine night of numismatic fellowship. 'Til next time!

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web