WAYNE'S NUMISMATIC DIARY: SEPTEMBER 25, 2022

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V25 2022 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 25, Number 39, September 25, 2022, Article 21

Wayne Herndon was the host for the September 20, 2022 meeting of my northern Virginia numismatic social group, Nummis Nova. He chose the Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar at Fair Oaks Mall in Fairfax. I arrived around 6pm and several folks were already seated, including Wayne, Eric Schena, Jon Radel, Chris Neuzil and Mike Packard. I took a seat at the far end of the table near Eric and Jon, saving a seat for my guest Kellen Hoard who'd arrived in D.C. from the Seattle area to begin his freshman year at George Washington University.

The head of the table was in front of a blazing hot fireplace where Tom Kays and Julian Leidman took their seats. Steve Bishop and Dave Schenkman soon arrived and before long Kellen was there, too. I introduced him to the group although he already knew Julian and Eric. Eric was present when I had my first dinner with Kellen, his Mom Cathy Webb, Len Augsburger, his wife Debra Kurtz, and Joel Orosz during the 2016 ANA in Anaheim, CA. I met Kellen before the start of an NBS meeting thinking, "Disneyland is across the street and this kid wants to be here with us coin book geeks??? He's one of us!!!" I asked him if he and his Mom had plans for dinner and quickly arranged an outing. Here's my photo of the group before we headed to the restaurant. See my ANA Diary article (linked below) for more. A memorable convention.

Tom Kays wrote up this account of the Nummis Nova dinner, headlined in the classical style "NVMMIS NOVA". Thanks!

Tom's Take on the September 2022 NVMMIS NOVA Dinner
At the far end of the table, though it was a warm, dusky night in late summer, a great fire was blazing in the gas fireplace just inches away from poor Julian who said he didn't mind the roasting, but soon asked the wait staff to turn down the heat as he was half toasted with this rustic ambiance. We chilled out nicely after the blaze was dialed down to paltry embers with the flick of a switch.

Ensconced at the cool end of the table, our dinner guest, ANA Young Numismatist of the Year, Kellen Hoard, spent the evening in animated conversation with the numismatic luminaries who arrived early enough to sit at the head of the table near our exalted potentate and founding editor of The E-Sylum, sometimes known as the other Wayne but by all rights on center stage, being none other than Wayne ‘Homren.' I understand Kellen is interested in the rise and fall of third-party grading services seeking out obscure and short-lived slabbers as well as school medals for the George Washington University (GWU) he attends.

Cool end of the table with our guest, Kellen Hoard on the left, examining some numismatic treasure (See Julian with hair on fire, down at the inferno end)

Seen in passing were vintage pamphlets organized into their distinctive Homren Library binder including The United States Coinage of 1793 – Cents and Half Cents deaccessioned from the Reference Room of the Kansas City Public Library, the Collection of United States Cents catalogued by Henry Chapman of December 19, 1927, and a Sale of Cents and Half Cents The Property of George H. Meritt of January 3, 1879 by Bangs & Co., as cataloged by Ed Frossard. Also seen were the large and heavy recent publications: Manolo Prieto y la Medalla by the Museo Real Casa de la Moneda, Madrid, 2022 and Hand Grobe Kunst, Madaillenkunst in Deutschland von 2007 bis 2020, by Dietrich O. A. Klase of Munich, Germany, 2021.

Noteworthy was a Civil War token for the Battle of Fair Oaks (Seven Pines) in Henrico County, east of Richmond, Virginia, for Naglee's Brigade, that commemorates the battle of Fair Oaks Station on May 31st 1862 when Mexican War Veteran, Brigadier General Henry Morris Naglee was hit four times with musket balls and had his horse shot out from under him. He survived the war only to have a book The Love Life of Brigadier General Henry M. Naglee written by Mary Schell with whom he corresponded throughout the war, turned into a public scandal. The token lists the Union Army of the Potomac, IV Army Corps, Second Division, Provost Guard, including the First Brigade regiments of the 52nd Pennsylvania, 104th Pennsylvania, 11th Maine, and 100th New York and the Third Brigade, 81st New York, and 98th New York Regiments all of whom, some would say held many green and raw recruits, yet they fought under Naglee on his ‘first day' of command over them at Fair Oaks.

Impressive too were an Eric Newman pedigreed, Massachusetts Cent of 1788 (Ryder 9-M) in PCGS MS-64BN condition from the recent Sydney F. Martin Collection dispersal, and a collection of Morgan dollars, some in old holders and most with fine rainbow toning, including an 1881-S in PCGS MS-67+ with Green Bean, and an 1881-CC in PCGS MS-67 as examples.

Knowing we had a distinguished dinner guest, Kellen Hoard, who is in school at George Washington University, (a fine alma mater), I brought a little numismatic quiz, displayed in a case of genuine, dubious, counterfeit, and fantasy examples of half dollars. I asked folks to identify any ‘Bogus Busties' in the throng. I also asked if folks could tell which half dollars were unearthed with the help of metal detectors, which were not made in Philadelphia, and which traded for less than fifty cents back in the day.

As a hint, the answers are three, two (not the ones you would expect), six, and either two or four, depending … choosing which ones fit the bill in the box above is left as an exercise for the astute reader.

For extra credit: Can you identify any of the ingredients used to make the ‘medicine' advertised by the merchant counterstamp on the fourth row, fourth column coin. If you can't make it out it is Houck's Panacea from Baltimore Maryland, introduced about 1833.

New Orleans Mint smelter J. L. Riddell published the first illustrated guide in 1845, to warn bankers about bad Mexican dollars and U.S. bust half dollars commonly circulating in New Orleans in A Monograph of the Silver Dollar. Keith R. Davignon published a second edition of his book Contemporary Counterfeit Bust Half Dollars with variety / attribution guide listing more than 300 varieties. Visit the Contemporary Counterfeit Capped Bust Half Collector Club (www.cccbhcc.com) or Bad Metal Coin (www.badmetalcoin.com) if you want to know more.

You never know what interesting numismatic treasures or dregs will be seen at NVMMIS NOVA dinners.

Extra Credit Answer: Jacob Weaver (Doc) Houck's Patent Botanic Panacea was featured in his medicine show and touted as a cure-all remedy said to be made solely from vegetable matter with each batch taking about 150 pounds of sugar to 25 gallons of rye whiskey, along with 25 pounds of gum guaiacum (resin), five ounces oil of lemon, and one pound of oil of juniper to concoct. Patients were instructed to take one table-spoon-ful before breakfast, two at 11:00 o'clock, and two on going to bed. Increase or diminish the dose agreeably to the feelings. Houck also ran a Fancy and Staple Dry Goods store at 121 Market Street, (later 16 Hanover Street), Baltimore. Original blue glass bottles with his embossing are known. A bottle sold for $1.50 each. The list of diseases he claimed it cured in his advertisements included most every malady known to man from Small Pox, Yellow Fever, Consumption, and Influenza, to Quinsey, Palsey, Dropsy, Flux, Piles, Gleet, ‘Histerics,' Venereal Disease, ‘Wind on the Bowels,' and Erysipelous of St. Anthony's fire (you don't want to know).

Kellen's Koin Konundrum

2022-09 Nummis Nova Eric Schena work's Kellen's puzzle

I didn't get a good photo of it, but Kellen arrived with a great icebreaker for the group. It was a steel-colored metal disc the size and shape of a hockey puck with a small handle in the middle of one side and an Eisenhower dollar showing through on the other side. The goal - seperate the two components of the puzzle, the outer ring and the central portion with the coin. He deftly showed us how he did it effortlessly (multiple times!) Several of us tried us including myself, Jon and Eric Schena (pictured in deep concentration, right). I was the last holdout and finally said the magic words - "I Give Up!" Kellen revealed the secret that once known, makes it effortless. Great puzzle! You too could buy one online.

Later in the evening I got a photo of Kellen and Dave Schenkman - one of the newest and youngest writers for The Numismatist, together with one of the oldest (and most recognized with literary awards). Dave recently won the Carl Carlson award from the Medal Collectors of America. Congratulations! While Dave's a whiz researching and writing about tokens and medals, he's no slouch as a collector of U.S. and foreign. His displays for the evening included a beautiful unslabbed 1804 Columbian 8 escudos, an equally beautiful 1794 large cent, a Fugio cent, a Pine Tree shilling, and a 1770 Mexican 8 reales, all of which were slabbed AU. Nice!

2022-09 Nummis Nova HOmren Ephemera 1 binder

U.S. Large Cent Ephemera
I have several (OK, about seventy) binders of numismatic ephemera in my library. I brought along two containing ephemera relating to U.S. Large Cents (and Half Cents, too). I took these photos today while drafting this article.

Jon's Medal Books
Jon Radel brought two great new books on medals. I took these photos at the dinner.

Steve's Beauties
Steve Bishop collects medals, plaques, Russian coppers and many other items, including toned silver dollars. He provided these images of some of the ones he shared with us at the dinner. Thanks.

"I brought to the dinner two newly acquired items I got at the ANA World's Fair of Money in Chicago and two related items that I have had (and shown) before. First is the very large and impressive Naglee's Brigade medal in bronze by Werley. It was made to commemorate the Battle of Fair Oaks on 31 May 1862 during the Peninsula campaign, one of which was given to Brig. Gen. Henry M. Naglee as a token of admiration. This goes along with a previous purchase from an earlier ANA convention, the small soldier's medal awarded at Naglee's expense to members of his brigade for the same battle, though while our dinner was at Fair Oaks Mall, this Fair Oaks is outside of Sandston, east of Richmond."

"The second pair of items I brought was a silver Lovett Washington/Baltimore Battle Monument medal struck sometime around 1859, with a reported mintage of 25. This is a nice go-with the Lovett Battle Monument die, which I also brought with me. All in all, these two items made my ANA convention."

It was another wonderful evening, one that I was delighted to share with our new neighbor Kellen. We all wish him the best of luck in his studies at George Washington University, and hope he can join us again sometime. And if anyone owns or has images of medals issued by GWU, please let us know - Kellen is beginning to catalog them.

I gave Kellen a lift to the Metro station where he could catch a ride back to campus. I joked about being the "old guy with glaucoma and cataracts driving in the dark" until I realized I'd been so engrossed in our conversation that I'd forgotten to put my headlights on. Aren't cars smart enough to do that themselves these days? Anyway, I got him there and we both made it home safely.