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APRIL FOOLS ISSUE, 2018Our first issue of April brought with it several April Fool stories. Here's what readers had to say. The first comment, arriving shortly after publication, was "A couple of these articles look
like fake news." -Editor
  Joel Orosz writes: Great April Fool's story on World War II Remembered being made into a major motion picture. I knew it had to be a prank because if they ever make a numismatic movie, I'll surely be offered the leading man's role! Seriously, this story is a fitting addition to your great catalog of past pranks, including the ANS-ANA Merger, which still makes me chuckle to think about it! Fred Schwan deserves the credit for that one. It really was what he published in MPC Gram. One other story was my own doing, plus a couple items submitted by readers. See the links below for the
2007 story BLOCKBUSTER ANNOUNCEMENT: ANA, ANS TO MERGE; DUPLICATE SALE PLANNED. -Editor
To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see: Dennis Tucker of Whitman Publishing writes: The Mega Red press release was an elaborate ruse. The 4th edition is actually devoted to trimes, not dimes! OK, now I don't know what to believe... but I won't hold my breath looking for the trimes issue. -Editor
To read the complete article, see: Dave Lange writes: Gene Brandenburg's 1911 half eagle is a Philadelphia coin in at least one respect---the dies were made there. He can have it fixed by NGC at no charge, but if wants the label to note that it's the scarce repunched mintmark variety FS-501, that will be a $15 fee! For more information, see: Chris Bower writes: You know I looked for that "S" for at least 5 minutes before realizing what day you published it. To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see: Dave adds: Oh, and by the way, my story of the blue coin board was an April Fool's Day joke, provided courtesy of PhotoShop. Well I'll be a monkey's uncle - Dave got me on that one. -Editor
To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see: Pete Smith writes: I woke up on Sunday morning with the realization that it was the first of April, Easter and April Fools Day. My next thought was, "I wonder what Wayne is going to put in the issue of The E-Sylum tonight. Following are some observations. 1. I questioned the sale of the rights to World War II Remembered. Then I got to the final paragraph. I can see Joe Boling as General McArthur and Tom Hanks as Boling. However, casting Schwan as Eisenhower and Brad Pitt as Schwan could only be a delusion in the imagination of Schwan. 2. The grading services make occasional errors with their labels. I have handled pieces marked with the wrong denomination or mint mark. Some dealers may find a market for such errors. I have sent pieces back to be relabeled at no charge. Gene Brandenberg writes about a 1911 $5 gold piece with a labeling error. I am not sure if this is Gene's April Fools joke or Wayne's. 3. Then there is the story of rabbit coins that multiply. I would think that people would be eager to find extra coins obtained at no cost. 4. Finally I found the article Coin Collecting Goes Digital. I followed the link at the bottom to read a whimsical article about sports cards but not about trading digital coins. Pete's is the most thorough response to the issue. As noted, credit for the first two goes to Fred Schwan and Gene Brandenburg. Thanks to David Pickup for No Shortage of Rabbit Coins. The last
piece, COIN COLLECTING GOES DIGITAL was mine. I took a section of a real article on digital baseball card collecting and substituted coin collecting words and phrases. -Editor
To read the original article, see: To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see: Actually, the digital coin collecting piece might turn out some day to not be so far from the mark. What's happening in other hobbies could be a bellwether for what to expect next in numismatics. A
new day has already dawned.
Here's another questionable report published April 1st. If you spotted any others, let us know. Just don't call dealer grades and pricing "fake news". "Wishful thinking" or "creative writing" perhaps, but "fake news" is a little harsh... -Editor American Breakfast Cereal Coins  At Friday’s meeting of the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee (CCAC), design candidate portfolios were reviewed for the American Breakfast Cereal Heritage Act, which calls for a series of $1 commemorative coins that will enter into production in 2019, the 125th Anniversary of the introduction of Corn Flakes. To read the complete article, see: To read the last year's April Fool article summary, see: APRIL FOOLS ISSUE, 2017 (http://www.coinbooks.org/v20/esylum_v20n15a02.html)  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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