The Numismatic Bibliomania Society

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V22 2019 INDEX       E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 22, Number 33, August 20, 2019, Article 16

WAYNE'S 2019 ANA DIARY: PART I

Thursday, August 15, 2019

You know those trips where everything that can go wrong, does? Well, my trip to Chicago for the 2019 American Numismatic Association World's Fair of Money was the opposite of that. I got up early and drove to the long-term parking lot at Dulles Airport. The parking shuttle came quickly, there was no line at security, boarding went smoothly, I got the next-to-last space in the overhead bins for my luggage, the hotel shuttle arrived within minutes, and checking into the Crowne Plaza at Rosemont at 10am local time I snagged the last currently available room. I was blessed. After dropping off my things I made my way across the street to the convention center.

Rosemont flowers2 2019 ANA

I've been to enough of these shows that I have a game I like to play on arrival - which numismatic friend or celebrity will I run into first? It should have been an easy call. Carl Wolf of the Chicago Coin Club was among the members manning a table just inside the door.

But I didn't have a lot of time so I started heading toward the room upstairs where the Numismatic Bibliomania Society board meeting would be held, and crossing the lobby I practically stumbled right into NBS President and Treasurer Tom Harrison and Chuck Heck. Together we made our way to the room where Len Augsburger was having a conversation with Ken Bressett and Dennis Tucker of Whitman Publishing. It was great to see them all, and the Redbook Editor Emeritus was looking hale and hearty. He and Dennis had to head over to the Numismatic Literary Guild awards lunch.

Soon the NBS Board was assembled for our meeting. It was a good one, kept moving along by Tom and featuring a great analysis of our financial position by Chuck. Bottom line: we're solvent! But there are always issues to address or be mindful of, and I think it was a very productive meeting with some interesting ideas for moving forward.

I had given an update on the E-Sylum ANA edition, but ducked out a bit early to run over to the NLG event. The E-Sylum didn't come away with a plaque this year, but I got to sit down with my fellow Nummis Nova members Dave Schenkman and Eric Schena, and have a nice brownie for a snack. I heard Ron Guth give a great history of how he built, sold and developed his CoinFacts site. Afterwards I met up with Mark Ferguson, who had been ably assisting with the NLG awards.

Next I found Bob Van Ryzin and Tom Michael at a table in the hallway. It was my first time meeting Tom in person. He's edited umpteen books at the former Krause Publications and is now with AIM Media, the new owner following the bankruptcy of parent company F+W. Bob had earlier retired after a long career writing and editing at Krause. I was pleased to hear that the new owners were eager to learn about the numismatic market, retain the Coin of the Year program and rebuild the publications.

Around the corner I found Dennis Tucker sitting with Bill Bierly reviewing proofs of his upcoming book on the In God We Trust motto in U.S. numismatics. It looks like a landmark work. I noted that for years the only information I had in my library on the topic was a thin pamphlet. This will be a meaty, well-researched book with many great photos.

Commemorative Legislation banner ANA 2019 PAN table ANA 2019
Show signage

Walking onto the bourse floor I ran into both Dan Hamelberg and Benjamin Franklin (my old friend Pat McBride dressed in full costume and going in and out of character). I introduced him (them?) to Dan and we had a nice chat. I asked Ben to refrain from taking air baths during his stay.

Workman Friedus Ricard NBS table 2019 ANA
Alan Workman, Dan Friedus, and Marc Ricard at the NBS table

I next found my way to the NBS table between numismatic literature dealers Charlie Davis and Kolbe & Fanning. I was there to meet up with Alan Workman who is working on upcoming numismatic literature sales of his own. I learned that the table had been swamped with visitors the day before. Here's a report from Mike Marotta.

NBS Table Tom and Pam Harrison
Tom and Pam Harrison at the NBS table; Photo by Mike Marrotta

Mike Marotta writes:

I attended the 2019 World's Fair of Money only for August 12th and 13th in order to speak at the Sundman Lecture Series. I arrived Tuesday afternoon and immediately went to the bourse floor. I met NBS members Joel Orosz, Len Augsburger, George Kolbe, and Betty Lawrence at the Kolbe & Fanning booth. Next to them, Tom Harrison and Pam Harrison were staffing the NBS club table.

Also on the floor, Gilman Parsons from Sonoma, California, (Booth 1622) was offering books that cost about as much as a home.

Before long Len Augsburger was back at the table again. LongtimeE-Sylum supporter Doug Winter dropped by and Len and I had a nice conversation with him on multiple topics, including venues for the ANA shows.

Throughout the rest of the show the table was manned at various times by myself, Kellen Hoard, Chuck Heck, Len Augsburger, and NBS President Tom Harrison and wife Pam. On display were some auction lots for the next day's fundraising sale.

Charlie Davis Neil Musante Charlie's table ANA 2019
Charlie Davis and Neil Musante at Charlie's table

The rest of my afternoon at the show was spent marching up and down the aisles.

Souvenir Card Collectors Ken Barr Stephen Patrick ANA 2019
Ken Barr and Stephen Patrick at the Souvenir Card Collectors table
McBride as Ben Franklin having ale ANA 2019

Around 6 o'clock I ran into Ben Franklin having an ale at the Crowne Plaza bar. I joined him and ordered a sandwich for dinner. Fellow bar patrons took their photo with him, holding up a $100 bill. "It's all about the Benjamins!", they said.

IAPN Cocktail Party
I was invited to the evening's Cocktail Party for the International Association of Professional Numismatists (IAPN). It was an enjoyable evening. I got to meet Catharine Lorber and her husband and several dealers from around the U.S. and the world. I as also able to spend some time chatting with Kerry Wetterstrom of Classical Numismatic Group. See the earlier article in this issue for IAPN's presentation of their 2018 Book Prize to Catharine Lorber.

IAPN social crowd2 ANA 2019
IAPN social crowd1 ANA 2019

That was enough for me for one day. I returned to my room where I was serenaded by fireworks from the nearby concert venue.

Friday, August 16, 2019

Signing the SS Central America Book
One of my first stops Friday morning was to the Goldberg's table to pick up a copy of the new book on the SS Central America treasures. There I ran into Bob Evans, Joel Orosz, John "JD" Dannreuther, and Dwight Manley.

SS Central America Bob Evans recording book transaction
Bob Evans filling out a receipt
SS Central America book Homren Evans SS Central America Bob Evans with Deluxe book
LEFT: Wayne Homren, Bob Evans
RIGHT: Bob Evans with a Deluxe copy
SS Central America book JD Manley Evans Homren
JD, Dwight Manley, Bob Evans, Wayne Homren. Photo by Joel Orosz

NBS General Meeting
I'm running out of time to complete this diary, and I know the event will be well covered in our print journal, The Asylum. So here are a few photos of our General Meeting and a link to a Flickr gallery for more.

NBS General Meeting 2019 ANA 1
NBS General Meeting 2019 ANA 5 Auction signups
Bidding paddles
NBS General Meeting 2019 ANA 8 Auction lots
Some auction lots
NBS General Meeting 2019 ANA 24 Kellen Hoard Tom Babinski
Kellen Hoard speaking with Tom Babinski

To visit the photo gallery see:
2019 ANA NBS General Meeting (https://www.flickr.com/photos/coinbooks/albums/72157710431581326)

Karl Moulton

KArl Moulton at his table 2019 ANA

I had a great conversation with Karl Moulton at his table, where I enjoyed looking at some of his numismatic literature.

We'll save some more for next week. What a great show it was.



Wayne Homren, Editor

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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

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