Regarding the Diana Gambling token, it seems to me that a token is defined as a substitute for ‘real' money. As such, it will be made from a lesser or at least different material than the money whose substitute it is intended to be. Why would anyone create a gambling chip of the same size, weight, and material as the coin it's intended to replace?

What about all the Civil War tokens? Many Civil War tokens were made in copper the same as cents, and a number of them contained more metal than a US cent.

I am waiting for Dick Hanscom to get so frustrated with his home minting kit that he is going to throw something against the wall.

Dick, take your die to a professional private mint and have them strike it for you. They will know what to do and have the proper equipment to do it. I just hope you haven't received your mail order home heart surgery kit yet.

I just read The E-Sylum and Mr. Johnson's comments. While I was not laughing out loud, I was grinning from ear to ear. He obviously has me confused with someone who is trying to do this on a serious basis. By the way, does he have an address for that “home heart surgery kit?” I do have high cholesterol and I could save a bundle doing my own bypass.

I am not trying to duplicate the quality products of a real mint. I don't even call it a mint, just a workshop. I am just having fun, learning a little along the way, and trying not to hurt myself.

I am planning on being at the ANA in Boston. I hope Mr. Johnson is there. I would like to meet him. I did a little business with him years ago when he was with Johnson & Jensen. Perhaps I can put his mind to rest that I am not a serious threat to the well being of numismatic art.

The whole point of the project is to have fun. And E-Sylum readers have been a great help for which I thank them.

In some ways I find even more irritating the "books" which have every appearance of being printouts of Wikipedia articles, but, naturally never mention this. See, I suspect, Commemorative Coins of the United States: Modern United States Commemorative Coins, 50 State Quarters, Columbian Exposition Half Dollar, by Books LLC (Creator), as sold on Amazon.com. The description is very close to excerpts from Wikipedia, and, "purchase includes free access to book updates online." I'm not curious enough to spend $19.99 to confirm my suspicions.

Someday, though, I might work my way up to spending $14.14 for a copy of the blockbuster, Economy of Zimbabwe: Economy of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwean Dollar, Banknotes of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Industrial Index, Zimbabwe Stock Exchange by the same publisher, if only to see if it's printed on nice paper.

Of course, all of this is a pretty obvious result, in retrospect at least, of the print-on-demand technology combined with Amazon.com's willingness to market anything legal for anybody. Worrying about whether you'll sell enough copies to cover the editorial efforts, and the costs of the initial press run, is just so old school.