Tuesday October 15, 2019 was the meeting night of my Northern Virginia numismatic social group, Nummis Nova. Joe Esposito was our host, and he'd chosen an Italian place
called Villa Bella in Burke, VA. I was among the last to arrive and settled into a chair between Joe and Robert Hoppensteadt, straight across from guest Jonas Denenberg. Other
attendees included Tom Kays, Eric Schena, Dave Schenkman, Mike Packard, Jon Radel, Steve Bishop, and Julian Leidman.
We had a back room all to ourselves, and that was nice. Appetizers would soon be hitting the table and bread and olive oil were already distributed. I gave Tom Kays some
duplicate or unneeded books from my library as donations to the Fairfax County Coin CLub's kid events. My only display items were a copy of Mike Shutty's new book Bent,
Holed & Folded, and the Joe Redner One Vote Note by J.S.G. Boggs and Tom Hipschen. Both items had been discussed before in The E-Sylum.
Robert's Marcus Aurelius
Robert Hoppensteadt collects ancient coins with images of buildings. He showed us pictures of a very rare coin he'd purchased that day in a Gorny and Mosch auction.
Here's the lot description:
Decapolis, Gadara. Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, 161 - 169 AD (25.19g). 161 ad. Mzst. Qais. Vs .: ????????O??S ???O?????S ??? ?????S, laurel busts of Marcus Aurelius
l. and Lucius Verus r. facing each other. Rev .: ?? G???? [O?] / ? ? ? G / ? S??, four-columned temple front, enthroned statue of Zeus with Nike and scepter, in the gable dating
??C. Spijkerman 46f .; RPC IV online 6673. Very rare, four examples in RPC.
Ex Collection Shlomo Moussaieff, London. Acquired between 1948 and 1980s.
Robert adds:
"The auction did not have diameter listed but one in RPC from the same obverse dies was 31mm and this looks to be a bit bigger with full legends."
Great coin. Robert explained that the Decapolis was a group of ten eastern cities (including Damascus) that were chiefly inhabited by Greeks and maintained a Greek
character.
Schenkman's Tokens
Dave Schenkman can usually be counted on for some interesting material, particularly tokens. Here are two pieces he brought that night.
Dave writes:
The Red Top Cab Co. token is very unusual; I’d love to know where the company was located, and how it was used. It is brass, 45mm.
I’ve been cataloging sports schedule tokens for many years. Most of those issued prior to 1950 are rare, and this one is no exception. Buffalo was a member of the class AA
International League, and the token has its 1917 home schedule. It is nickel plated brass, 39mm.
The Coin Banjo
Outside of numismatics, Dave is a player and dealer in banjos. We discussed this tiny banjo I'd come across in the Newman Numismatic Portal photo gallery of the Eclectic
Numismatic Treasure (Miscellaneous section). Very cool item.
To see the complete NNP item, see:
Coin Banjo (https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/imagedetail/566649?col=511837)
Buy it Now for $1,250,000.00
Dave also remarked on this eBay lot with a wild price tag: "I have a feeling his price is a bit optimistic. I was amazed at the assigned grading also…"
To read the complete lot description, see:
COLOMBIA TREASURY DEPARTMENT DE PANAMA FRENCH CANAL
ADMINISTRATION 5 c 1889 PMG (https://www.ebay.com/itm/COLOMBIA-TREASURY-DEPARTMENT-DE-PANAMA-FRENCH-CANAL-ADMINISTRATION-5-c-1889-PMG/174018914311)
It was another fine night of numismatic fellowship. It was a relatively short drive home for me. leaving time to put away my toys for another day.
To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
THE JOE REDNER POLITICAL NOTE (https://www.coinbooks.org/v22/esylum_v22n38a24.html)
NEW BOOK: BENT, HOLED, & FOLDED (https://www.coinbooks.org/v22/esylum_v22n41a03.html)
Wayne Homren, Editor
The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization
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To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor
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