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NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: AUGUST 27, 2017On Jody Clark's Effigy of QEII   Regarding Royal Mint artist Jody Clark's effigy of Queen Elizabeth II, Martin Purdy of New Zealand writes: I found this most interesting because of the quality of the original sketch - to me, that's much more lifelike than the finished product. Most numismatic effigies of the Queen have not been very good likenesses, and I wonder now whether the original sketches in all cases were better than the finished coins! I agree - it's a wonderful portrait sketch. -Editor
To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see: Old Holders Dick Johnson submitted these thoughts inspired by a Coin World ad. -Editor
WHO’S COLLECTING OLD HOLDERS? In a front section ad in Coin World this week is a solicitation for “Old Holders.” Eight slabbed coins are illustrated so it might be assumed the advertiser is soliciting empty plastic coin slabs. This is a first. Isn’t this counter to the concept that a slabbed, totally sealed and encapsulated coin is documented for that coin alone? Is it meant to insert another coin in its place? Or, perhaps, it is the beginning of a new collector fad, collecting empty slabs? If it is the later there already exists a “holder for such empty slabs.” It’s called a ... wastebasket. Or, perhaps the advertiser meant album pages. At least these can be recycled to contain coins inserted a second time. These, however, have little value. All this goes to prove one important rule in numismatics ... it should be emblazoned in the mind of every entrepreneur wannabe who wants to create a new product in the numismatic field. The Further The Product Is From Coins And Medals The Lower The Interest Of The Collector Public Will Be In That Product. All in all this is also an excellent example of why we should use the correct term in numismatic writing. Sultan Abu Baker Medal for Long Service and Good Conduct   Chip Howell was the only reader to take a crack at the "Persian coin or medallion" David Pickup asked about last week. Thanks! -Editor
Regarding the "Persian" medal, I cannot quite make out the reverse (which, though Arabic script, I suspect to be Malay) but the obverse says "Abu Bakar | Sultan" (R2L) and appears to depict this gentleman... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Bakar_of_Johor . I found the following webpage which appears to have the same medal for sale...  ...and I think this is its description: The Medal for Long Service and Good Conduct, instituted by Sultan Abu Baker as a reward for the police and civil service, reformed by Sultan Ibrahim on 17 September 1922, awarded in a single class, a silver medal. To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see: Pound Coin Joke Wins Fringe Award Readers Arthur Shippee and Chip Howell passed along this report about a coin-related joke that won the top prize at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Thanks. -Editor
Ken Cheng won the 10th annual Dave's Funniest Joke Of The Fringe with: "I'm not a fan of the new pound coin, but then again, I hate all change." The joke, from his show Ken Cheng: Chinese Comedian, won 33% of a public vote on a shortlist of gags picked by comedy critics. Cheng told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he was surprised the joke won the award because it had been a "groan er". "Audiences tends to groan at it a lot," he said. "I'm generally going after laughs, but I'll take the groan." Cheng said he came up with the joke when the government announced plans for the new 12-sided £1 coin in 2014. Cheng studied maths at Cambridge for a year before dropping out to play online poker professionally. His big break in showbiz came when he reached the final of the 2015 BBC Radio New Comedy Award. To read the complete article, see: Here are a few other jokes from recent festvals. -Editor
"I just deleted all the German names off my phone. It's Hans free." "I decided to sell my Hoover... well it was just collecting dust." "I was given some Sudoku toilet paper. It didn't work. You could only fill it in with number ones and number twos"  Wayne Homren, Editor The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org. To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum All Rights Reserved. NBS Home Page Contact the NBS webmaster 
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