WAYNE'S NUMISMATIC DIARY: MAY 1, 2022

I didn't manage to pull together a Numismatic Diary last week, so this is a little late. But on Tuesday April 19, 2022 I travelled to Alexandria, VA for another dinner meeting of my numismatic social group Nummis Nova. Our host was Robert Hoppensteadt, and the venue was Southside 815.

Attendees included Robert, Dave Schenkman, Tom Kays, Jon Radel, Mike Packard, myself and my guest Patrick Parkinson, author of John S. Dye and His Counterfeit Detectors. Patrick and I spent a good while talking about pamphlets relating to early U.S. banking history.

Up at the other end of the table Tom Kays was taking note of the items being passed about and provided this account:

In April, the Nummis Nova dinner bunch met at a Southern Comfort Food ‘Mecca' in Alexandria, chosen by Robert, our ancient-architecture-on-numismatics expert, the Southside 815 on South Washington Street. Their Tuesday night dinner specialty, a red beans and rice in rue, festooned with smoky kielbasa and spicy chorizo, smothered by a fried egg, sunny side up, with biscuits and cornbread captured the gastronomic attention of diners at my far end of the table.

Lighting was ambient so that iPhone pictures of the show-and-share items passing by are a tad bit quaint, meaning difficult to make out. Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures of the folks at table who, too, are a tad bit quaint, yet mostly photogenic except mid-chew or chin wag. The food was so delicious that jaws were working non-stop.

In passing I saw:

The Half Cent Handbook (Liberty Cap Varieties 1793 – 1797) by Ed Fuhrman (the new 2022 edition);
A large (11.5cm), cast bronze Medal of Merit awarded by the Aleksis Kivi Society as an annual award for the Finnish citizen who, for a longer period of time or during the year in question, has shown that Nummisuutan Esko has genuine Finnish perseverance and stubbornness;
A gold-anodized, aluminum, Bahamas Cat/Key Club Token – Good for one ‘Key' whatever taboos that may entail;
A rare $4.50 Round-Trip Fare, J. P. Lucas Virginia Bus Lines Token (closed in 1929). Dave will provide more particulars, and seeks information about the different denomination tokens issued by this Elizabeth City bus line serving the Virginia naval shipbuilding yards;
A bronze, Lighthouse of Alexandria (Egypt) ancient coin with fantastic image of the ancient wonder showing it in operation. Robert can provide more information about it;
Identification Discs of Union Soldiers in the Civil War – A Complete Classification Guide and Illustrated History by Larry B. Maier and Joseph W. Stahl;

The Identification Discs book was a recent addition to my library. Dave Schenkman followed up with images of his Virginia transportation token.

"This token will be the subject of a forthcoming article, and I'd be interested in hearing from anyone having information concerning the company or the man who owned it. The Lucas VA-CAR Bus Lines ran between Elizabeth City, NC and various points in the Norfolk, VA area, and was evidently only in existence for a few years during the late 1920s. The company also issued similar tokens bearing other denominations."

dschenkman@verizon.net

A two-sided, heavy, iron cross paperweight with brass medal insert made of ballast from the German commercial cargo submarine Deutschland that visited Baltimore, Maryland in July 1916, under the command of Prussian Captain Paul Liebrecht König, who met with the Baltimore mayor. Before America stopped being neutral, German ships and submarines conducted trans-Atlantic commerce, bringing European trade goods like dye stuffs to the U.S. After visiting Baltimore, the Deutschland visited New London, Connecticut that same summer, where she accidentally collided with a tugboat. Drafted out of the merchant navy into combat in World War I the Deutschland would later be credited with 21 sunk vessels as U-155;

A 1933 Buffalo Nickel (overstrike by Daniel Carr), useful for when you really need to fill holes in your date run, regardless of whether the U.S. Mint got around to it;

The phrenology book was mine. I've long forgotten how I acquired it, but it was just too amusing to deaccession.