TOM KAYS' NUMISMATIC DIARY: NOVEMBER 17, 2013

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V16 2013 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 16, Number 47, November 17, 2013, Article 19

On Tuesday, November 12, 2013 I went to the dinner meeting of my Northern Virginia numismatic social group, Nummis Nova. It was held at a little Greek Restaurant called Vaso's Kitchen in Alexandria. Tom Kays took the below candid group photo and photos of many of the numismatic items being passed around the table. He provided a great write-up, so Tom's our star diarist for this week. Thanks!

In the group photo that's the dapper Chris Neuzil on the left, followed by Aaron Packard, Jon Radel, Ron Abler and me at the far end in the grey shirt. On the right we see Joe Levine and Lenny Goldberg. Everyone else is obscured, but that's the back of Julian Leidman's head at the far end. He'd been stuck in traffic and arrived late, but settled in and held court from the nearby bar. Other attendees included Gene Brandenburg, Dave Schenkman, Eric Schena, Steve Bishop, and Mike Packard. Ron was our host - his gourmet chef wife helped pick the restaurant, and it was superb. -Editor

Nummis Nova diners are seen above at VASOs Greek Restaurant, formerly the Dixie Pig, in Alexandria, with Wayne Homren presiding from the vicinity of bar. Tom snapped this table photo inches inside the front picture window, indicating the cozy surroundings, but less than stellar “mood lighting” thwarting professional coin photography. The following pictures were taken directly off the table cloth amid menus, as show-and-tells floated by.

Tom sat far opposite Wayne, and saw these items pass quickly within the first few minutes of the evening, well before we ordered dinner. With so many interesting numismatic items floating along, just a fleeting snapshot is all that would suffice for many, with some of the stories behind the items lost in the din at the far end of the table and only revealed now, in The E-Sylum, if the “shower and teller” took time to tell again what they brought and why they esteem it above others like it.

Some large displays of items must remain a mystery, left to your imagination, such as a collection of pre and post-war wooden money including nickels, double nickels, shillings, and dollars, and a frame of dug, Spanish billion blancas of Ferdinand and Isabella, monogram maravedis of Philip III, Austrian Empire coins with Jamestown era dates and French first empire military buttons (cuffs with regimental numbers) that were present, but went by un-photographed.

Ron Abler announced with grand ceremony and after much clinking of glassware, his release of A Cabinet of Centennial Medals: Exploring the Medals of the 1876 Centennial. He says this achievement launches the start of a numismatic catalog, an “iBook,” a searchable database, a downloadable and printable e-book and a perpetual collaboration with the numismatic public to add any new discoveries of 1876 Centennial material Ron has not yet seen (of which we doubt exists) to be retrofit into the on-line book and released anew in current version with each download staying the most complete possible.

Ron brought and passed around the premiere medal from the 1876 Centennial, the U.S. Centennial Large Commemorative Medal, Variety 1, in Bronze.

Aaron passed around a binder with some beautiful 1850s – 1870s daguerreotype parlor store cards, druggist tokens and even an 1866 Irish Republic, Fenian Brotherhood token.

In a reprise of a prior dinner’s theme this unusual Marine Presidential Helicopter Squadron challenge coin made the rounds.

A Gorham, uniface, So-Called Dollar with William Jennings Bryan’s complements passed by as well, and no, it was not obtained in person, despite the relative maturity of some senior Nummis Nova members and immaturity of others who might think to wonder and ask.

Dave Schenkman passed around a rare die for tokens with “All Goods Warranted” – “Established 1857” and a pocket watch face at center. The image is reversed at right for ease of reading.

Also present was a beautiful and impressive copy of Dr. Philip L. Mossman’s new book “From Crime to Punishment – Counterfeit and Debased Currencies in Colonial and Pre-Federal America” Numismatic Studies 27 by the American Numismatic Society, New York, 2013, now on sale directly from the ANS.

Thanks again, Tom. In addition, Dave Schenkman presented the group with a quiz. The question was, "In what year was this token made?" My guess was similar to everyone else's - we were all within about a decade of each other. So what do YOU think? I'll compile the responses and Dave and I will decide what (if anything) to reveal next week. He's planning to write up this piece in a future Numismatist column, and he'll save the answer for publication first in his article. -Editor

Also, Eric Schena provided some better images of his Bryan items plus images of two Alliance, OH Labor Exchange notes. One is pictured below, and the other is in a separate article later in this issue about books on the Labor Exchange movement in the U.S. Thanks! -Editor

MONOGRAPH SALE

As 2013 comes to an end, so does the 100th anniversary of the Buffalo nickel. It is appropriate then, to close-out my monograph dedicated to the one and only 1913 Buffalo nickel struck in copper. I have a limited number of the 2011 monograph “A Forgotten Nickel” available for purchase at a price of $5.00 postpaid. It is the story of the Buffalo Nickels that were housed with the five 1913 Liberty Nickels. Told in collaboration with Mr. Eric P. Newman and illustrated with original photographs by the author. Here is a link to the archived E-Sylum discussion.

I also have available a small number of my 2007 monograph “Charter Legacy, The William A. Ashbrook Diaries”. This is a chronicle of Ashbrook’s diaries from 1905 to 1920 with an emphasis on the numismatic content and other historic happenings of the period. The price is $5.00 postpaid. Here is a link to the archived E-Sylum discussion.

You can order both items for $9.00 postpaid. Please send an email to reserve a copy: jkreichenberger@hotmail.com First come-first serve, when they’re gone they’re gone.

Correspondence and/or payments should go to:
Jeff Reichenberger
P.O. Box 3572
Oshkosh, WI 54903