WAYNE'S NUMISMATIC DIARY: MARCH 25, 2018

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V21 2018 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 21, Number 12, March 25, 2018, Article 23

While filling out my registration card Charles Morgan of CoinWeek stopped by and we had a nice chat. He would be busy the rest of the day filming videos. Look for the latest at https://coinweek.com/ .

William and Charles Barber
My first stop on the bourse floor was the Barber Coin Collectors' Society table where I met up with BCCS President John Frost. He told me about a project he'd been working on for some time. He'd made contact with descendants of father and son Mint Engravers William and Charles Barber. The Spring 2018 issue of the Journal of the Barber Coin Collectors' Society has the first of a series of articles John has written based on material in the possession of the family. A number of items were on display in an exhibit case.

Stay tuned for more information - a larger public exhibit is in the works for later this year. I signed up as a member, and you can, too. For more information on the BCCS, see: http://www.barbercoins.org/ .

Whitman Booth
My next stop was the nearby Whitman Publications booth, where the big event of the show was the release of the newest edition of the Red Book (A Guide Book of United States Coins). For those who haven't heard, longtime Red Book editor Ken Bressett has become the Editor Emeritus, making way for Jeff Garrett to take a larger role.

Ken, Dave Bowers and Jeff were scheduled to sign books for the public, but the week's snowstorms threw a monkey wrench into those plans. With flights out of New Hampshire cancelled and Amtrak shut down, Dave Bowers had to bow out. Ken Bressett had similar problems trying to travel from his home in Colorado Springs. Overall show attendance (both dealer and public) was down a bit because of these difficulties.

I took the opportunity to purchase a hardbound copy of the new Red Book for use later in the evening.

Mike Markowitz
While waiting at the checkout counter I ran into CoinWeek ancient coins columnist Mike Markowitz. He proudly showed me a great new acquisition he'd just purchased from Harlan Berk. It's a gold solidus of Constantine VI and Irene. Look for more information in one of his upcoming articles. He shared this today, from Berk's web site:

"Constantine VI and Irene; 780-797 AD. Constantinople, c. 792-7 AD. Solidus, 4.46g. Berk-235, DO-3, Sear-1594. Obv: Bust of Irene facing, wearing crown and loros, and holding cross on globe and cruciform scepter. Rx: Bust of Constantine VI facing, beardless, wearing crown and chlamys, and holding cross on globe and akakia."

By way of explanation, the loros was a heavily embroidered and jeweled wrap that was one of the symbolic imperial robes. The chlamys was a simpler garment, usually depicted with pleats. The akakia was a hand-held metal tube filled with ashes, that was supposed to remind the emperor of his mortality.

After Constantine was deposed and blinded, Irene put her portrait on BOTH sides of her gold coinage ("Heads I win, tails you lose"). That is one of the coins that every serious Byzantine collector longs to possess. I got mine from Waddell some years ago.

For a fuller story, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irene_of_Athens .

Stack's Bowers Table
Earlier in the week I'd been in touch with John Herzog of New York, who told me some of his U.. treasury bonds would be on exhibit at the Stack's Bowers table. So I stopped by to have a look. Impressive. I was especially intrigued by the Cherokee Nation bond.

Also on display were highlights from the Joel Anderson paper money collection. Wow! Sorry for the quality of my photos - it was hard to avoid glare from overhead lights.

Bource Floor Wanderings
I flitted about the bourse floor until almost 6pm. From a distance I saw Julian Leidman and Wayne Herndon with customers at their tables. I didn't interrupt, knowing I would have a chance to speak with them at dinner.

I came across Chris Neuzil seated at John Kraljevich's table talking to JK and Erik Goldstein of Colonial Williamsburg. I pulled up a chair and joined the conversation. Topics included Erik's January 2018 Numismatist article on the Continental Dollars, Chris' manuscript on medals of the War of 1812, technology changes, "kids these days" and the concept of "sitting naked in a bathtub filled with Pine Tree Shillings" ala a colonial Scrooge McDuck. I can neither confirm nor deny that sips of corn squeezin's were involved.

Others I spoke to at least briefly were Tony Terranova (at the table adjacent to JK's) and Ian Russell of Great Collections. I took a few minutes to call home to my wife, then trekked across the street to the Pratt Street Ale House.

My Numismatic Diary articles often feature the people and events at the monthly meetings of my Northern Virginia numismatic social group Nummis Nova. And often E-Sylum readers tell me how much they enjoy the write-ups and how they'd love an opportunity to join us sometime. Well, to make this easier, a couple years ago we started holding a dinner at the March Whitman Coin Expo in Baltimore. This year we met across the street from the Baltimore convention center in an upstairs room at the Pratt Street Ale House.

Due to a bout of the flu, our host Eric Schena was unable to attend. Many thanks to Eric for his work reserving the venue and making the arrangements. Get well soon! The same goes for Joe Esposito, who was also out sick. And due to the snowstorm the previous day, Roger Burdette bowed out after taking a fall on slick pavement.

I arrived early to handle hosting duties for Eric. The restaurant had everything under control. The room was already set up, and I began texting people to come early if they wanted.

In addition to myself, the regular Nummis Nova members attending were Chris Neuzil, Dave Schenkman, Julian Leidman, and Wayne Herndon.

Mike Merrill is a coin dealer from Maryland. Ben Swanson is a token collector from Baltimore; he and Mike were guests of Dave Schenkman. Coming in from the Pittsburgh area were my guests ANA Governor Tom Uram, his brother Jim, and Ray Oshinski.

Rounding out the list of attendees were Charlie Davis, Dennis Tucker, Jeff Garrett, John Dannreuther, Len Augsburger, Mike Markowitz, Neil Musante and Steve Roach.

We didn't do any formal introductions. People just arrived and joined the conversation. Topics in my vicinity included the show and people's travel difficulties, The E-Sylum and the new ANA Edition, families, John Dannreuther's new book and new house, the Northwest Territorial Mint bankruptcy, the May PAN show, and the Newman Numismatic Portal. A number of folks asked about Joe Levine, who has been recovering following hospitalization and is doing well.

Seated, clockwise from left: John Dannreuther, Ray Oshinski, Tom and Jim Uram, Wayne Herndon and Jeff Garrett. Standing in back: Steve Roach, Dennis Tucker

Clockwise from left: Ben Swanson, Charlie Davis, Chris Neuzil, Mike Merrill, Julian Leidman, Mike Markowitz, Len Augsburger and Dave Schenkman.

Clockwise from left: Neil Musante, John Dannreuther, Steve Roach, Ray Oshinski, Tom and Jim Uram, Wayne Herndon, Jeff Garrett and Dennis Tucker.

As a record of the evening I passed around the new Red Book for everyone's signature. I plan to donate it to the 2018 Numismatic Bibliomania Society fundraising auction.

People are what make this hobby one of the best there is. I greatly enjoy meeting up with all the friends I've gotten to know in numismatics over the years. The evening was quite a memorable one. Thanks to all who were able to attend this year.