The plaque was issued in 1925, and was the largest of the medals of this design issued. "FUR VERDIENSTE UM DIE ZEPPELIN ECKENER" translates to mean the medal was awarded for MERIT for the most generous donors to help fund the program to revive the manufacture of zeppelins.

The Civil War token is a first impression full brockage of a storecard for F.P. Grocers in Philadelphia.

Good restaurant, as close to authentic Afghan food as we're going to see - I suspect. Julian & I had the lamb, not to pull the wool over your eyes but not baaaad at all (sorry, couldn't resist).

At dinner we talked briefly about indexing more than coin books, static ephemera, or images for ease of searchability and universal access. Even beyond e-books, and websites with good numismatic content, new types of media are growing in importance to numismatists including streaming video from on-demand Podcasts, YouTube channels, and interactive iPhone apps that have specialized coin information, collector tools and interconnectivity to a great body of people in the coin business.

I “cut the cable,” and no longer receive digital over-the-air broadcasts deemed “appointment” television, and no longer see commercials, but get news, entertainment, and follow the exploits of real people - local stars, who carry Go-Pro cameras as they enjoy coin related hobbies, and who edit their exploits, and post the best of their sagas for free access. Using high-speed Internet, home sharing among household devices, wireless connectivity, and second-generation Apple TV, I see great content in high definition television, when I am ready to watch it.

By following these stars on Facebook or subscribing to their YouTube channels you get mobile notification of new episodes as they are posted. Agree/disagree with something they say, or want to ask them a question, and you can comment or post them email, and maybe help them with content for future episodes, as only television executives used to be able to do. Sounds good? Here is an example with excellent numismatic content that may be of interest, free for your enjoyment on your mobile phone, iPad, or television.

The Hoover Boys – On YouTube search for “The Hoover Boys” and find about 130 episodes of about 25 minutes length, posted since 2014, with their “channel” available for you to subscribe to. Posted on Wednesdays, these videos follow a team of likeable guys, with Garrett metal detectors who go about saving history, one hole at a time. These videos maintain the excitement of boys in the woods looking for treasure, who really do find fields of dreams.

Based in Maryland, but ranging about the mid-Atlantic states, Kurt Franz, a fireman on weekdays, becomes a bit of an “Eastern Shore Indiana Jones” on weekends with a steady crew of friends, Brad, Bob, and others who go knocking on old farmhouse doors, seeking permission to detect plowed fields with the land-owner’s permission, eating their lunch, and saving real bits of American history as you tag along, seeing highlights of dawn-to-dark weekend digging without incurring sweat, sunburn, chiggers, and aching backs.

Best is their focus on coins in every episode, colonial and early Federal coins especially, with live digs that often go “bazinga,” in-situ views of what they find, in-the-field tentative IDs with the help of “Foo-Foo Juice,” follow-up numismatic research, with immediate cut-away to after-the-fact images of the coins cleaned up and identified by type, date range, and hopefully exact date, mint mark, scarcity and history.

The boys don’t take each other seriously, which makes their banter funny, but they do revere the history of the coins and objects they find. These videos are the best among the YouTube treasure hunting genre, due to excellent camera work by Kurt, with in-focus close-ups, honest never-seeded digs, steady commentary, quick timing, good story-telling, and bloopers. They all end with a final, back-of-the-pick-up truck review, showing the day’s junk and gems of numismatic excellence, true results of long but happy days digging, by an experienced group of friends, who walk some of the best and earliest sites the East Coast offers.

They disdain 20th century common coins and keep looking until the early stuff comes to light. Elizabethan hammered, Georgian coppers, Spanish silver pistareens, pillars and portraits, colonial State coppers, and early Federal coins and tokens with Liberty Caps, Draped Busts, Small Eagles, Seated Liberties, unknown mystery pieces, and even key dates come to light in good numbers, alongside other period artifacts of the past.

Stay tuned. No telling what numismatic treasures will be found this week, on the Hoover Boys. As Kurt Franz says, “Help clean up the ground, dig it all, and take your trash with ya’...Why?…Because all holes matter.”