"My local coin club hosted the Northwest Coin Club Spring Money Show on March 18-20. On Saturday I was greeted by Remy and Michael Bourne.

"Remy Bourne was president of NBS briefly in 1989 and served on the ANA Board 2001 to 2007. Michael Bourne was the youngest charter member of the NBS and worked with Michael and Marlene Bourne numismatic literature dealers around 1981 to 1982 while he was in college at the University of Minnesota.

"Michael told me he is nearing retirement age and is consigning his collection of numismatic periodicals to David Fanning. These include periodicals originally collected by Remy and includes a complete set of The Numismatist."

Thanks. I haven't seen Remy in ages and don't believe I've ever met Michael although we've exchanged email correspondence. I'm approaching retirement age myself. I was an early member of NBS, but a bit too late to be a charter member. Great news about the sale! We'll look forward to hearing more as the date approaches. -Editor

"The Northwest Coin Club (NWCC) of Minnesota conducted a scout coin collecting merit badge class during the Spring Money Show March 18-20. Sixty-five scouts attended including five girls and sixty boys. All of the girls completed the requirements while fifty of the boys completed. Six adult leaders conducted the class and assisted with individual training.

"The class runs about four hours and includes time for a visit to the coin show. Scouts are expected to report back on what they observed. Registration fee is $5 but the scouts go home with a bag of swag worth considerably more.

"Attendance was the highest in recent memory but the class was not held in 2020 and 2021."

Thanks - great photo! Always encouraging to see youngsters learning about the hobby. -Editor

"Jim was a soft spoken, very decent but really intelligent and astute collector who many of you know had an exceptional collection of Massachusetts Half Cents that Heritage will also be selling.

"I knew Jim since my large cent days. He was always fair, honest and a bit pricey but always had exceptional material. We tended to do most of our business before and after big auctions. Resorting and trading up or down.

"He almost convinced me early on to get into half cents rather than New Jersey Coppers…..for a minute…. ;-)

"Rest In Peace Jim."

"I've known Jim for many decades. One of the nicest, most evenly tempered guys and true numismatists I've ever known.

"For perhaps five years I'd been urging him to finally auction his magnificent half cent collection.

"He nodded, agreeing with the assessment but just wanting to wait a little longer. Unfortunately, he will never see the classic auction catalogue, destined to be a reference, or watch his coins pass to a new generation like Bernard Edison aka Tettenhorst was able to do."

"I first met Jimmy at a Lanham Maryland coin show in 1972-3. Pretty sure I bought the cleanest surface, superb color, completely defect-free Massachusetts 1/2 cent 5-A in XF plus grade, with a cud. Kept that coin for 27 years. He was a superb dealer and a pleasure to deal with. He also became one of the finest friends a man can have. Will miss him greatly!!! "

Thanks, everyone. Jim will be missed. -Editor

"There is only one listing in the online token catalog, tokencatalog.com, that mentions M.C. Lilley but it is a very interesting one from a gathering of the Improved Order of Red Men, a fraternal organization, in Bridgeport, Connecticut. According to Google books, this event was in 1907.

"61ST GREAT SUN COUNCIL / C.C.U.S. / IMP. O.R.M / BRIDGEPORT, CONN. / CORN MOON C.S.D. 417 / COMPLIMENTS OF / THE M.C. LILLEY / & CO. / COLUMBUS, O. (bust of Indian in full headdress) copper 32mm"

Thanks - interesting item and organization. -Editor

"The entries in The E-Sylum about physical crypto tokens reminds me of what was probably the biggest financial error I've made in my life thus far.

"Back in 2011 (I think--I wish I'd kept better records), I bought 2 bitcoin tokens for $6 on eBay. I thought it was funny that supposedly digital currency had still been reduced to physical form. I thought it was a curiosity.

"A few years later, I found out bitcoin was now $40 a unit. I peeled off the holographic stickers, loaded the bitcoin into a digital wallet, and sold them for $80. I thought I had received a great windfall, and I still had the tokens.

"Another year or two later, I noticed on eBay these tokens, even when the bitcoin had been redeemed and sold, were selling for $100 each. I quickly sold both tokens, reveling in my good fortune.

"Now, of course, I know much more about bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, and blockchain. I don't have the over $30,000 per bitcoin or over $1,000 per redeemed brass tokens (just checked eBay again), but I do have a funny story. If I keep telling it, maybe someday I'll get the price of each telling under $1,000"

Yikes! We're all kicking ourselves for not putting together a denomination set... And I know how you feel after holding 100 shares of Tesla for two years, and selling at a slight loss a year or two before it finally took off. Right place, wrong time. -Editor

Here's the Monday, March 14th, 2022 Bizarro cartoon. -Editor