WAYNE'S NUMISMATIC DIARY: MARCH 18, 2018

PREV ARTICLE NEXT ARTICLE FULL ISSUE PREV FULL ISSUE

V21 2018 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 21, Number 11, March 18, 2018, Article 23

Mouse Pad Mania
There was untold excitement at E-Sylum Central on Monday March 12, 2018 as a package arrived from Tsoi Wing Yip in Hong Kong. In it was the new Wheat Cent mouse pad I'd ordered for my desk from an eBay seller. It was a long overdue replacement for one I'd used for so many years I've lost track. Distributed by the U.S. Mint, it was gifted to me by reader David Gladfelter. It's clearly seen better days. For grins, I'll happily donate it as a gag lot / precious E-Sylum souvenir for this year's Numismatic Bibliomania Society benefit auction (I'll donate something nice from my library as well).

The mouse pad came out of a U. S. Mint press kit they put out when the Sac dollar was put in circulation. For some reason the kit had two of them so you got the extra. Mine is still kept in the kit so it's an MS70. Should I have it slabbed -- whatcha think?

These also were in the kit. The brochure touts various advantages of the dollar coin such as its use in vending machines. Strangely, it does not mention its prime advantage -- reduction in cost compared with the cost of maintaining a circulating paper dollar.

Nummis Nova
This week's big event was the regular March meeting of Nummis Nova, my Northern Virginia numismatic social group. Our host was Tom Kays, and he'd made reservations at Clyde's restaurant near Alexandria for Tuesday, March 13, 2018.

I was the first to arrive and took a seat at the bar, where I and fellow patrons were entertained by a rather loud woman who is apparently a regular there. I was relieved when she left and happier still to see fellow Nummis Nova regular Eric Schena walk in. He joined me at the bar and we had a nice conversation while awaiting the others.

Nummis Nova 2018 March Wayne Herndon and Tom Kays

It wasn't long before Dave Schenkman and Gene Brandenburg arrived, and we all headed toward our table. It was in a nearby room decorated with a hunting theme - there were racks of rifles next to the fireplace, and scores of duck decoys on shelves all around the room. Very cozy. Gene Brandenburg took this long shot of Wayne Herndon and Tom Kays.

The rest of the group arrived over the next 15 minutes or so. I sat across from Gene, Dave and Eric, and Wayne Herndon settled in next to me. The other end of the table held Mike Packard, Tom Kays, Robert Hoppensteadt, Steve Bishop and Lenny Goldberg.

Annandale Kids Event
Robert brought some ancient coins I'd purchased at NYINC to use as auction lots for an upcoming Kids Event at the Annandale coin show. He'd taken them home and attributed them for us. Thanks! It gave us an opportunity to discuss the last event. It was a memorable one, and since I haven't had a chance to write it up yet, I'll do it in the next article. It took place March 3, 2018.

Nummis Nova
Now back to Tuesday's Nummis Nova meeting. We always have some interesting material on hand, and here are some examples. Host Tom Kays challenged attendees as follows:

Theme is “bling.” Bring something that looks like a million bucks despite whatever its actual worth may be. From rare coin copies to high denomination currency facsimiles let’s see who can impress folks with what looks like a fortune in funny money."

I have two Gallery Mint 1804 Dollars in my collection, but didn't have time to locate and bring them. Here are what others brought. Some stick to the theme, but others are new purchases and other handy items. I brought a couple new books.

Absolute Money Notes
Dave Schenkman brought these delightful political satire notes.

Million Dollar Daivd Litrenta Note
Mike Packard brought this great piece of ephemera from dealer David Litrenta that makes a great companion for the tokens discussed earlier.

Coin Replicas
Tom brought a treasure poke filled with replicas of various coins. I spread them out for this picture.

Pictured under glass, in a fine Mahogany relic case, are venerable silver coins of early America. When I bring these cases to dinner, Gene usually opens them up and rearranges things to his artistic liking, after looking at both sides, and here is the result of his Feng shui placement of the cut pieces. I hope they harmonize to everyone’s satisfaction, in this unique configuration.

Pictured are an 1826 eight reales of the Central American Republic (NG – M), a 1617 Lion Dollar of Deventer, and an assortment of non-dug whole, and dug cut, pistareen pieces. The whole coins at center include one of the five unique crown varieties of 1718 from Segovia, an off-center, 1727 Cuenca half pistareen, and a dug 1733 quarter pistareen, a type Gene had not seen before.

All the cut pieces were dug at colonial sites in Virginia and range in dates from 1717 through 1738. These represent a mix of new and old acquisitions which simply look good together under glass, and surrounded by Mahogany. They fit in well with the cozy “Duck Room” atmosphere of our dinner at Clydes of Mark Center. It was marvelous!

“Double Brockages”???
In the What-exactly-ARE-these-anyway? department, Dave Schenkman writes:

Here are pics of the two “double brockages” (for lack of a better term).

Nummis Nova 2018 March Decoys book on shelf

Behind me was this shelf. Things aren't nailed down, since apparently their usual crowd is more reserved and well-behaved. I took a closer look at the Decoys book and discovered it was published by Krause Publications, an unexpected numismatic connection. Yeah, I put it back. Since the full title is The 100 Best Decoys we were expecting something in a Whitman Publications series.

What a great night! The food and company were marvelous, in a comfortable, relaxing setting. It's always a numismatic highlight of my month. 'Til next time.