In response to what we found in old books, the readership might be interested in Forgotten Bookmarks, A Bookseller’s Collection of Odd Things Lost Between the Pages of Books, by Michael Popek, NY: A Perigee Book, 2011.

Back in 1989-1990 or so during my second stint at Rarcoa in their new offices in Willowbrook, an elderly man and his daughter came in. With them were thirty or so $500 and $1000 bills. The man’s wife had died from Alzheimer’s and they were clearing out the house to sell it. While packing up the library to donate, one of the bills fell out of a book. He had no idea where it came from. They carefully went through all the books and found the treasure trove. Other searching of the house found more under the runners on the stairs going to the second floor. Where the wife got the money was a mystery, but he figured she was careful with the butter and egg money.

I once bought a copy of T.C. Compartette’s Catalogue of Coins, Tokens and Medals in the Numismatic Collection of the Mint which had a dozen or so four-leaf clovers inside. Symbols of Good Luck, four-leaf clovers could be preserved by drying out between pages of a book but left a stain on both pages.

I remember as a youth our backyard was full of clover. The children frequently found four and five-leaf clovers, and rarely six and seven leaves, instead of the usual three.

• There is an excellent Numismatic Theater Presentation by Adna G. Wilde, Jr. that is 46 minutes in length and covers extensive information on the carving, the distribution of the counter-stamps, numbering, population and auction results. It was produced at the Atlanta ANA Convention in 2001. The ANA library initially had VHS tape copies available.

• There were actually two four piece sets of medals issued in 1970. One set was issued by the US Mint and includes a large and small silver medal and a large and small silver bronze medal. The Medallic Art Co. also produced a very similar 4-piece set, with the same designs in 1970. Their medals are slightly smaller than the Mint’s set and do not have the “P” mintmark on the reverse that is visible on the Mint editions.

• The book “Carved in Stone, The History Of Stone Mountain” by David B. Freeman published in 1997 also is an interesting read about the town, the carving’s history and mentions in several places the coins and medals produced to help fund the carving.

The news article beginning “Researchers recently discovered that menorahs prominently adorned Muslim coins and vessels during the early Islamic period 1,300 years ago,” is just another example of clueless mainstream reporting of numismatics. Islamic coins featuring these designs have been known to numismatists for centuries. There’s nothing new about them. The article reminds me of the news articles that come out every few years announcing the “discovery” of coins featuring Cleopatra and expressing their shock that she didn’t resemble Liz Taylor.

The allegedly counterfeit UK pound coin appears to be simply a mint error known as a partial collar strike. It's always amazing that the general press never reaches out to someone with numismatic knowledge, but then that would kill a good story.

The House of Windsor is secure, thank you! The initials are code for Commonwealth Will Gain Even more. It refers to the Declaration of Independence lapsing and USA joining the Empire again.

Note designer Noad’s explanation: Noad said, "Prince George won’t have his own coat of arms or coronet until he’s 18.”