Have I told you lately that you create the most interesting and comprehensive numismatic publication in the history of numismatics, exonumia, & c., single-handed and all by yourself, every week, that no other publication can compete with? Well, you do.

A slight correction to David Alexander's article on The Numismatic Scrapbook. Arlie Slabaugh was not mute. His speech had a curious lilt to it on account of his never having heard the normal cadence of human speech, but he was fully conversant.

In my present position as a Geography Professor, one of the courses I teach is World Regional Geography. It is a well-known fact that, every time Argentina experiences an economic downturn, the government raises the issue of the Falkland Islands (i.e. Islas Malvinas to Argentina) so as to get the populace to think (& complain) about something else. In fact, I just finished teaching my class about this last week. Too bad I didn't have one of the new notes available to show them.

It is very easy to order Hungarian coins, in base medal, and in silver You can also order the proof and mint sets and currency. They also sell medals and Hungarian coin books. They have very good prices compared what you have to pay in the States for them.

You can also have your name placed on pre-order list annually (this I recommend). You will be notified in advance when the coins become available. Most coins have a very low mintage between 3000-5000 pieces. Very nice detail. I have been doing this for the past 10 years and never had a problem. eMail is coins@hu.inter.net Web site is www.penzvero.hu Fax 36-1-800-8113-210-4448. Note if you go to the web site and register you can have the option to select English and not Hungarian.

I have a coin that purports to be a Russian "Pugachev" rouble in copper (picture below). It is struck over a copper 5 kopeck piece of Catherine II. Diameter - 41 mm. Weight - 44.45 gr, Netted edge. The Bitkin number is H-1001. If genuine, this is a very rare coin, R4 with less than 10 known. I would like to hear from anyone who can give me more information about this piece, such as: how do I determine it is genuine, known fakes, etc. Readers can email me at wudtrnr@gmail.com, or call me at 571-330-7285. Thanks.