WAYNE'S NUMISMATIC DIARY: NOVEMBER 6, 2016

Dinner
This week brought another numismatic event for me. Thursday afternoon I left work early and pointed my car toward Baltimore for the Whitman Coin Expo. I parked in the Sheraton Hotel garage and made my way over to the convention center and the Stack's Bowers lot viewing room, where Len Augsburger said he'd likely be.

I didn't find him but I did quickly run into Joel Orosz who was also planning to meet up with Len. I pulled out my phone to give him a call. While it was still ringing we were greeted by Allan Schein. When I got Len on the line I learned he was at table 818.

Allan, Joel and I talked for a bit then walked together downstairs to the bourse floor. I stopped to register then caught up with everyone. Table 818 was Gerry Fortin's, but I caught up with everyone at Rich Uhrich's table - Bill Bugert was helping to man it. Bill and I spoke a bit about The E-Sylum, email newsletter distribution methods, and the two pieces I hoped to include today from the E-Gobrecht (which Bill so ably edits).

We ran into Darrell Low of the New York Numismatic Club. We spoke for a while, then me, Len and Joel headed over to Morton's for dinner. On the way we talked about our mutual friend the late John Burns, and at our table the discussion was mainly about the Newman Numismatic Portal.

Len and I ordered the crabcakes, and Len had the Miso Sea Bass. It was a very good meal (naturally). As we were finishing up, Dave Bowers and Mary Burleson of Whitman Publications sat down at a nearby table. Mary came over and gave us hugs. On our way out we talked a bit until their dinners arrived.

Colonial Coin Educational Forum
Next stop was the Colonial Coin Collectors Club Educational Forum at the Sheraton. The room was quite packed and I took a seat near the back next to Andy Newman. Very quickly Chuck Heck came over from a nearby table to profusely thank me for the help I'd given him in researching the Western Pennsylvania Numismatic Society. He was the third speaker, discussing the colonial coins owned by Charles E. Clapp, brother of WPNS co-founder George H. Clapp. Here's the official program:

7 pm: Joel Orosz and Len Augsburger: "Pattern Coinage of 1792"
8 pm: Syd Martin: "French Coinage for Colonial America"
9 pm: Chuck Heck: "Searching for Charles E. Clapp"

Up first were Joel and Len with a presentation on their highly anticipated book with Pete Smith on the coinage of 1792. They tag-teamed the presentation, taking turns for each segment. They made a case for considering the 1792 Half Dismes as regular issue U.S. coins rather than patterns, and showed compelling evidence that several were actually spent by Thomas Jefferson himself on a round trip from Philadelphia to his home in Virginia, Monticello. Several illustrations in the book are excellent original paintings by Pete Smith.

In the foreground of this picture are Chester Sullivan and Joe Esposito. At my own table was author Will Nipper - I spoke with him briefly at the first break. Next up as speaker was Syd Martin on the French coins struck for circulation in their North American colonies; as noted, Chuck Heck was up last.

Left: Syd Martin; Right: Chuck Heck

I learned a lot from all the presentations. Syd made a convincing case for the official "French Connection" in Colonial coinages, and Chuck definitively cleared up a longtime mixup of Charles E. Clapp Sr. (a wealthy real estate investor and discerning numismatist) and his son Charles E. Clapp Jr., a bond broker who went bankrupt in the Great depression.

I had a long drive home to Virginia and left about 9:45 as Chuck was wrapping up his talk. What a great evening of numismatic scholarship! I made it home by 11pm, half the time of a midday trip.

Newman Portal Presentation
Friday morning I turned around and headed right back to Baltimore. I parked at the Pier V public garage and walked several blocks down Pratt toward the convention center. It was a sunny but slightly chilly morning.

I entered room 301 around 9:30 where the Liberty Seated Collectors Club meeting was already in full swing. Len gave a short presentation on various ways people collect the series.

After the break a new audience began trickling in, including David Gladfelter, Maureen Levine, Andy Newman, Bruce Smith, David Sundman and several others. Len would be speaking again, this time on the Newman Numismatic Portal. About a dozen or so people were present, including some new faces I hadn't seen before. There were a number of thoughtful questions about building and using the site.

The bulk of Len's presentation was on material in the portal relating to Colonial numismatics, both coins and paper money. But before starting that section he surprised me and got a laugh from all of us with a picture of my younger self from a Pennsylvania Association of Numismatists Clarion article digitized on the Newman Portal.

Left: Len Augsburger speaking; Right: a young Wayne Homren

Newman Portal User Forum

The next event was the big one of the day - our first-ever Newman Numismatic Portal User Forum. A gaggle of us walked together across the street to the Pratt Street Ale House where we'd reserved the 2nd floor library room for lunch.

Len set up his computer and projector for a different presentation focusing a little more on the how-to of using the portal. I mingled a little and met some new faces like John Bolger who sat at my table to my left. That's him using a tablet to access the portal. Jim Neiswinter and David Sundman were across from me, and the three of us brought it up on our phones. Catherine DiTuri of the American Numismatic Society came by to introduce herself, but couldn't stay because she was manning the ANS table at the show.

Counting some latercomers, we had about 24 in attendance, including Bruce Smith, Allan Schein, Roger Burdette, Jeff Rock, Erik Goldstein of Colonial Williamsburg, Andy Newman, Maureen Levine, Roger Moore, Jim Glickman Terri Venresca, Gamal Amer and American Numismatic Society Librarian David Hill. After we ordered our lunches, Len opened with a presentation, then I got up to give a deeper dive on some key topics including using the hierarchical menus vs. search terms, the "front end" vs. "back end" (Internet Archive), in-copyright vs. out-of-copyright works, and third-party content vs. content written or curated by NNP.

Jeff Rock opened a discussion of the impacts on the market for out of copyright numismatic literature. Andy Newman answered questions about the origin of the Newman Portal idea, and Eric's strong support for making numismatic information widely and freely available. We closed with some great stories about Eric. I noted that if it had been the evening and we all had drinks in our hand, I'd raise a glass for a toast thanking Eric for his gift to the hobby. We closed with a round of applause and a lengthy to-do list of ideas for new content and software features.

Here are some pictures.

Left: John Bolger on his tablet computer
Right: Len and David Sundman

Front right: Jim Neiswinter
Far end: Allan Schein

Standing: Len Augsburger; Seated in foreground: David Gladfelter

Standing: David Hill; Seated in foreground: Roger Burdette

Seated in foreground: Jeff Rock and Bruce Smith;
At back in baseball jersey: Erik Goldstein

What a wonderful session! The room was lovely and the library theme was quite appropriate (the back wall was all shelving with some books for decoration). The food and staff were excellent. But the company and conversation were stellar. There was a clear sense of excitement over the existence and possibilities of the Newman Numismatic Portal.

Numismatic Literature Central: Charles Davis Table

Charlie Davis and Neil Musante showcasing Neil's book, Medallic Washington

Back on the bourse floor I made a beeline for Numismatic Literature Central: the Charles Davis table. He had quite a large spread, which he shared with Neil Musante.

Neil with Joe Levine (yellow jacket) and Bruce Smith (red shirt)

After visiting Charlie's table I stopped to meet one of our newest E-Sylum advertisers, Todd Pollock of BlueCC Photos. Next I spoke a bit with David Hill at the ANS table about a possible visit in January. Lastly I said hello to David Lange over at the NGC table.

Castorland Jetons
I had one last stop to make - the presentation on the Castorland Jetons by Chester Sullivan and Joe Esposito. A long display was set up at the front of the room. Where else can you see so many Castorlands in one place? Ray Williams was working the projector. I learned a few things from this talk as well.

On the way out I was stopped in the hall by Mike Shutty, author of some great recent numismatic books including Lost Cents, Dead Owners: Appreciating Coins in Decay . It was the first time we'd met in person. I apologized for having had to miss his 11am Educational Forum presentation due to the competing Newman User Forum. His title was Bent, Holed and Folded: Coin Talismans at Jamestown. Later Joe Esposito wrote to me:

So much numismatics, so little time. It was already time for me to head out into the Friday traffic jam to make my way home. I had a pleasant walk in the afternoon sun back to my car and pulled out of the garage at 3:30. At 6 o'clock sharp I finally pulled into a restaurant parking lot to meet my family for dinner. The show was a delight, but now I was solidly back in my real world with a wife, three kids, two in-laws and a yappy little dog named Max back at the house.

I'm lucky to live close enough to Baltimore to be able to attend these great shows without a lot of expense. I'm already looking forward to some great numismatic events in 2017.

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