I can't tell you how much I admire your love and dedication to our hobby. The amount of time that you dedicate to The E-Sylum is truly admirable. I don't know how you find the time and patience to do this every week!

When I read the article on The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu, it reminded me of the children's book, Alia's Mission: Saving the Books of Iraq by Mark Alan Stamaty, although my favorite children's book of Stamaty's is Who Needs Donuts? which has amazing illustrations and a very sweet story.

I'm willing to bet you HAVE seen it before, and forgotten--she's been depicted at least TWICE on horseback, on the crown, first in 1953, then in 1977, on her silver jubilee.

I am very tired of the hyperconservative nostalgia that objects to anything other than a dead president or caucasian female on US coins.

St. Gaudens and Weinman created some lovely coins, but they have been dead for a long time. So also the designers of the Draped Bust, Seated, Barber and all other earlier coinages. Let their work live in the old coins they created. If you want nice, pretty examples of that kind of work and don’t have the budget for a real example, the Gallery Mint pieces are lovely and available at very reasonable cost. I love those pieces, too, but the world moves forward, not backward.

This is the 21st century. Get used to it.

In response to Pete Smith's challenge to identify the role played by W. F. Fratcher in the history of the ANA, I've found a connection. In 1888 William F. Fratcher of Detroit swapped his small press with Dr. George Heath for $25 cash and a group of stamps. Heath then used this press to print early issues of The Numismatist.

W. H. Fratcher was born in New York in 1868 and thus would have been quite a young man when the transaction occurred. The 1930 federal census shows him married and living in Detroit as a proprietor of philatake [sic] supplies. In earlier censuses he is listed in various other fields, such as news vendor or dealer in novelties. I suppose most stamp and coin dealers of that time drifted into it from other careers.

He and wife Luella [spellings vary] had a son, Vernon C. Fratcher, who was born in 1890. Vernon owned a confectionery business at the time of his WWI draft registration and is listed as an attorney in the meat industry in the 1940 federal census, so he obviously didn't follow his father into the hobby business. Dad must have been about 74 when the 1942 photo was taken, assuming that he was still living then. I couldn't find an entry for him in the 1940 federal census.

On another topic, I've learned from the printer that my new book will ship to me April 26. I'll be at the Central States show in Schaumburg that week, so I'm having just a few copies shipped there directly and will have the book for viewing and order taking on Friday and Saturday. For those who've already ordered, deliveries will begin the following week.

On yet a final topic, I've begun rebuilding my coin board website, though it's still not complete. The design is a bit plain for now, as my focus has been on getting the text and images loaded. I'll dress things up a bit, as time allows. I invite readers to take a look at this work in progress.

The restaurant I believe Dick is referring to is Bob’s Big Boy. Attached is a picture of the Big Boy himself. My recollection is that the figure was first drawn by a Disney animator on a napkin. I had my first Big Boy at the restaurant in Toluca Lake, CA in 1968.

My thanks to David Gladfelter for his contribution. First of all, as I said I saw this card by chance for the first time and found it very peculiar and interesting to me, and just purchased.

With regard to the coins, I asked a friend of mine who collects Ottoman coins and informed me as follows if I am not wrong:

a) The full image : Belonging to Sultan Abdulhamid’s era (Abdulhamid II ) ( 1293 - 1327 AH = 1876 - 1909 AD) , 1 kurush, nickel alloy, actual size image on the card and minted at Egypt Mint during his reign.

b) other coin partly under the 1 kurush : Again Abdulhamid II, 5/10 kurush, (“ as cited by the Ottoman coin collectors”), infact it is “half kurush” minted at Egypt Mint, nickel alloy, actual size image on the card.

The first year of Sultan’s reign, 1293, is clearly seen on it. Though clearly minted and easily read by everybody a big “ 5 “ on reverse, but it is NOT 5 silver kurush. Contrary it is the nickel coin of “5/10 kurush”, or in other words “20 paras” , or “half kurush“ as commonly called.

Lastly, again I am looking forward to hear from your estemeed subscribers other varieties of Brüder Kohn, Vienna cards, if any, bearing similar “embossed coin images”.