WAYNE'S NUMISMATIC DIARY: OCTOBER 31, 2021

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V24 2021 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 24, Number 44, October 31, 2021, Article 18

On Wednesday morning I set off on an excursion to Pittsburgh. My prime purpose was to speak at the Pennsylvania Association of Numismatists (PAN) show on Friday, but I added a couple days to allow for visiting friends, relatives and doing a little sightseeing.

The Banks of Pittsburgh

Regarding the sightseeing I made a couple phone calls to confirm my destinations would be available. I was happy to score 2 for 2. I'd been curious about the fate of the classic lobby of the old Union Bank building downtown, where I'd once kept a safe deposit box for my collection. The lobby had high ceilings, an abundance of marble, and of particular numismatic interest, about a dozen 1906 Morgan dollars. Not real ones of course - they don't exist - but large plaster ceiling medallions. The branch was constructed in 1906.

I'd had to move my collection out when the building was sold to a developer. In the years since I'd moved from Pittsburgh, the building was turned into condominiums. I called the sales office and was happy to learn the lobby had been preserved, albeit now occupied by a high-end men's clothing store, Joe Orlando's. After arriving in town and parking my car, I walked to the store and entered through the same revolving glass doors I'd used so often years ago. And the Morgan medallions were still there.

Just up the street in the same block was my second destination - the Dollar Bank building. Founded in 1855 as a bank for ordinary working people, this downtown branch was erected in 1870 and still stands today as a nearly perfectly preserved example of the era's banking architecture. A few years ago the bank restored the stately brownstone lion scuptures, moved them inside and replaced them with exact duplicates. They also created a Heritage Center with museum exhibits of bank documents, photographs, and old-fashioned banking equipment. It's still a working branch and open to the public during normal business hours. Check it out if you're in town. I hope to work with the ANA to plan a tour during the 2023 Pittsburgh World's Fair of Money.

University of Pittsburgh
After lunch I met Garrett Ziss between classes in the Oakland section of the city, where he's a freshman at my alma mater, the University of Pittsburgh. He showed me an impressive bronze gate in the Cathedral of Learning that had been donated by famous local numismatist George Clapp. We had a nice walk around the campus discussing old buildings and new. The place looked very nice.

Bob Evans
On Thursday afternoon I walked from my hotel over to the PAN Show. The first numismatist I ran into was none other than Bob Evans who had an interesting observation on his entry into numismatics - "I started at the top". While most of us began by pulling coins out of circulation, as the Chief Scientist for the S.S. Central America recovery effort, he began by helping find and pull up from the bottom of the ocean a masssive haul of gold bars, gold dust and coins that had last seen the light of day in 1857 before the ship was lost in a hurricane. I'd enjoyed hearing him speak at the ANA World's Fair of Money in Chicago in August, where he displayed and rang the Central America's ship bell. He was sporting a spiffy money-themed mask.

Be Just and Fear Not
Right up front was the table of E-Sylum sponsors Dave and Melissa Kahn of David Kahn Rare Coins. We talked about the coin business, country auctions, selling on eBay and some neat items in their cases, like this engraved half dollar with the slogan "Be Just and Fear Not."

Talisman and Coiner
Becky Rush "Talisman" and Rick Lank "The Coiner" of Hagerstown Maryland had a nice table near the lecture area. We had great conversations about their books and numismatics in general. They've got some great ideas about promoting numismatics to the general public and have already succeeded in reaching some of that audience with their books.

Lincoln and Franklin
Channeling Abe Lincoln and Ben Franklin, Dennis Boggs and Patrick McBride performed Two Wars, Two Centuries. It was excellent, closing with an impressive recitation of the complete Gettysburg Address.

Bill Bierly and Howard Gibbs
The next day I came back in time for Bill Bierly's talk on Creation of the National Motto on Coinage Right afterwards I gave my own talk on "Howard Gibbs: Prince of Primitive Money" following a short update on the addition of Coin World and Numismatic News to the Newman Numismatic Portal. By the way, David Lisot was on hand recording presentations for NNP, so those unable to attend in person will have the opportunity to see what they missed.

Don Everhart
Retired U.S. Mint Sculptor-Engraver Don Everhart had a table where PAN Chairman of the Board Don Carlucci displayed Everhart's work on the Rachel Carson medal for the ill-fated 2020 Pittsburgh ANA World's Fair of Money.

Short But Sweet
I couldn't stay much longer after giving my talk - time to get on the road back home. I didn't see half the people I would have liked to talk to, but did get to chat at least briefly with Corleen Chesonis, Rich Crosby, Don Carlucci, Mike Drabick, Don Everhart, Dick Gaetano, Ed Krivoniak, Larry Korchnak, Simcha Kuritzky, Carl Waltz, Garrett Ziss and others.

"It was my first PAN show and I had a great time. I had a chance to talk with several attendees who I expected to see, as well as quite a few others who were pleasant surprises since they traveled quite a distance to attend the show. I was also able to pick up an 1828 C-3 half cent and an 1838 N-4 large cent (which fits in with our Clapp theme!)."

Great show! Already looking forward to seeing more numismatic friends at next month's Whitman Baltimore Expo (I'll be there for a while Friday afternoon).