WAYNE'S NUMISMATIC DIARY: FEBRUARY 20, 2022

This past Tuesday was the night of my Northern Virginia numismatic social group Nummis Nova. Our host was Steve Bishop. He'd made a dinner reservation for us at the Public House Kitchen & Brewery on Battle Street in downtown Manassas. It was a cold night and I found street parking a couple blocks away. Most of our group of eight were already seated including Steve, Mike Packard, Jon Radel, Chris Neuzil. I took an open seat at one end next to Daryl Haynor and across from Tom Kays. A few minutes later Julian Leidman completed our number.

The place was small but packed with diners. Julian and I were the last to place orders. As usual some coins started circulating around the table. I didn't have much to show this time, just an item I'd just added to my ephemera collection - a catalog of items (including numismatic lots) sold to raise funds at the 1864 Great Western Sanitary Fair in Cincinnati. This will go in my Civil War numismatica binder.

From a recent Kolbe & Fanning fixed price offering, the catalog is

While the fare was mostly bar food there were several entrees and appetizers to choose from. When the food began arriving it all looked and tasted great. I shared a moment from my drive home after our January meeting in Vienna, VA. I was stopped at a traffic light and noticed the lighted sign atop the office building in front of me with the letters "NADA". Real conversation in my head:

Steve's Stuff
Steve Bishop collects a number of things including U.S. silver dollars, tokens, and Russian coinage. He had some of each at the meeting and provided these photos. Thanks! All were nice, but I think my favorite is the Half Cent token.

 

 
1863 Tennessee Civil War Token

 
Toned 1882-S Morgan

 
Russia Wire Kopeck (1613-45)

Tom Kays: The Rebel Coin Shop
Here's Tom's Third-Person account of the evening and a great account of a nearby local landmark.

Here is a composite picture of the February 2022 Nummis Nova crowd with Tom behind the camera and Julian still en route to Olde Towne Manassas from Maryland.

At my end of the table I saw some fine numismatic items passing in review including a PCGS Proof 66 Red-Brown 1872 Two-Cent-Piece, and PCGS MS-64 1882 Brown Indian Head Cent, several ANA certified Morgan dollars, an 1837 Hard Times Token (HT-73) Half Cent of Copper in NGC MS-63 Brown, an 1890-CC Proof-Like dollar, and a Q. David Bowers provenance, 1863 N. O. Underwood, ‘good for five-cents' Civil War Token from Dedham, Tennessee in PCGS MS65 Red-Brown.

In addition to Wayne's ephemera, I brought a Henry Chapman provenance, copy of Robert A. Vlack's, Early American Coins, Second Edition from 1965, which brought smiles to folks on the left side of the table in reminiscing about how it was that rare colonials cost so little back in the day.

 

Clockwise from left: Jon Radel, Chris Neuzil, Mike Packard, Steve Bishop. Daryl Haynor, Wayne Homren

Speaking of reminiscing, this restaurant/microbrewery is directly next door to one of Tom's old hangouts. The Rebel Coin Shop, across Battle Street from the Rexall Drug Store, and around the corner from the Five & Dime was where all the local relic hunters back since the 1970s would bring whatever they just dug, from the blitzkrieg of development engulfing Union Mills/Centerville/Manassas/Fairfax Station and all the Civil War camps nearby, where proud soldiers wearing fancy dress uniforms from their State militias would drill, camp, and lose every kind of rare accoutrement while living muddy and rough, awaiting action along the Bull Run in 1861 and a bit more bedraggled they would be back again in 1863.

Thousands of amazing relics including jaw-dropping coins were brought in, just next door back last millennium, and shown to the regulars in Jimmy Wilson's coin and relic shop. Experts in every type of historic artifact including coins, buttons, bullets, explosive ordinance, glass, military insignia, as well as, printing, whittling, moonshine, and even more arcane historic specialties could be found there.

On any given Saturday one would find respected book authors, local celebrities, annoying little kids who grew up to become numismatists, serious collectors, quietly successful diggers still covered in red Virginia clay with treasures to behold, tourists from up North who just happened to see the shop and wanted a souvenir, and Manassas locals who had time on their hands, who would crowd into the tiny shop amid ammo cases filled with Minnie balls to swap stories and ID relics.

Imagine an old black and white movie of a bunch of codgers sitting around a pot-belly stove, telling tall tales in the old-time general store, the only show in town. That is what Tom remembers was right next door to our dinner place, back when Manassas was still a small and somewhat depressed, historic southern town, before 21st century gentrification, an influx of microbreweries, and closure of a little relic shop the likes of which is not to be found again.

Everything I have is for sale
In commerce everything has a price. On the way out the door a question prompted Julian to remark that his motto is "Everything I have is for sale." That reminded him of the time a fellow dealer visiting his shop put that to the test.

A deal was reached for $60. Julian said, "I had a long jacket that day; it wasn't that cold and my car was just around the corner. I had to pick up my sister on the way home though, and she brought a friend but nobody seemed to notice."

If anyone tells you numismatists don't have a sense of humor, they're hanging with the wrong crowd. None of us could top that story and we headed our separate ways, all wearing pants as best I could tell. 'Til next month, everyone.

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