"I'm not so sure these were cast. Perhaps their planchets were?"

Good question. The pictured coin does not look cast. Can anyone shed light on this? -Editor

"You said you forgot that Golda Meir was born in the U.S. You didn't forget because she wasn't. Born in Kyiv in what was then the Russian Empire, Meir immigrated to Wisconsin as a child with her family in 1906."

Guess I didn't read the article closely enough - it does say she arrived in the U.S. as a child. -Editor

"I have wonderful photo taken when shaking hands with Mrs. Meir. This was after an extended one and one-half hour meeting with the Prime Minister. I was part of a State Department Delegation to meet with principals of Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Israel, in that order. Mrs Meir said she enjoyed the questions posed by the Delegation member seated next to me and me. Ms Meir asked where I was from and I said a suburb of Milwaukee. In response to her question, Which one? I replied, Chicago! at the instance the photo was snapped.

"Golda Meir was an Israeli stateswoman, politician, teacher, and kibbutznik who served as the fourth Prime Minister of Israel. Born in Kiev, she emigrated to the United States as a child with her family in 1906, and was educated in the US, becoming a teacher in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

"The gentleman seated next to me and I asked all the questions for one hour. No one of the other 10 members of the delegation had asked any questions. Unbeknown to us, the air conditioner behind the PM blocked out our questions and her responses. After one hour her chief of staff, Simcha Dinitz, said her next appointment had arrived. The PM waved him off and said, I am enjoying these questions! Mr. Dinitz, who is in the photo, subsequently was Ambassador to the US, 1973-79."

"Another entertaining and fascinating half hour spent reading this week's E-Sylum! Thank you! In the article on the Irene solidus, you suggest she holds a crucifix. I wonder whether a more accurate term might be a cruciform scepter."

Good point - you could be right. -Editor

"I experimented with ChatGPT a few times recently, once asking it to produce a brief biography of me in a numismatic context. It started out reasonably well, with material doubtless extracted from some of my online publications ... but then it went on to say I'd served as President of the British Numismatic Trade Association, of which I've never even been a member. That left me a little mystified, as well as being suitably cautioned about the reliability of the program, at this stage at least."

"I just want to say a few words on your recently noted passing of Norm Peters. I knew Norm for 20 years and he was one of my favorite old-time numismatists, someone I truly enjoyed speaking with at length. He was very knowledgeable and willing to share research. I found it strange that his limited obituary did not mention his mail order coin business. Over the years I bought quite a bit of various exonumia from his pricelists. The last list that I saved is dated No. 167 from Spring 2020.

"The last time we spoke he was busy researching a very rare complete five piece set of Norse American medals that he had just acquired. Rest in peace Norm, you will be missed."

I was curious about some coal company notes I saw on eBay. They were being offered in quantity, and I wondered if these were remainders or reproductions, as many of these scrip notes are rare today. So I reached out to the expert, Dave Schenkman. -Editor

"The notes are neat, but very common. They are listed in my forthcoming book, "Coal Mine Company Obsolete Notes and Scrip," which will be published this summer, and I noted "In January 1901, The Hailey Ola Coal Company was incorporated as the result of a merger between Hailey and the Ola Coal and Mining Company (see Ola for notes of this company). Hailey owned 50% of the new company's stock, with the remainder split between L. W. Bryan, James Elliott, and G. L. Blackford, owners of the Ola company." Haileyville was named for Daniel Morris Hailey, a wealthy doctor who owned several mines in the area."

"Some weeks ago I bought the amazing book "The Liberty Seated Dollar 1840-1873" by Weimer W. White [Sanford J. Durst / Numismatic Publications / New York, NY / (c) 1985 / 83 pages, blank, (4) / 15.8 x 23.5 cms]. Even if I haven't Liberty Seated Dollars, I enjoyed reading the history of this marvelous coinage series.

I have a doubt about Mr. White's signature because it appears on an adhesive label and including the book's number (in my own case: 157 of 500 hard cover books). My question is: Do all "The Liberty Seated Dollar 1840-1873" books were signed by Mr. White using an adhesive label or are there some exceptions using this practice?"

I checked my copy of the book, and it has a similar white label with White's signature. My copy is No. 96. What do others see in their copies? It's possible that some examples exist without the label, as there is a space for a handwritten number.

Liberty Seated Collectors Club President Len Augsburger doesn't have a copy of the hardbound, but notes that the now standard work is Liberty Seated Dollars / A Register of Die Varieties by Dick Osburn and Brian Cushing (2018). -Editor

"The Royal Canadian Numismatic Association (RCNA) will be holding its annual convention in Halifax, Nova Scotia, from July 20 to July 22.

"While the official dates are July 20-22, the activities begin on Wednesday July 19, with a coin grading workshop and a two-day educational symposium session.

"On Wednesday afternoon, Lloyd Chan will be speaking about collecting the coins of Alexander the Great; Doug Shand, a diver, will speak on archeology and Nova Scotian shipwrecks; and Mark Dalrymple who will speak of the numismatic legacy of Alexander Keith and his brewery.

"On Thursday morning, Jeff Wilson will discuss Nova Scotia exhibition medals; Kyle Knapp will speak on how counterfeiting was death and about forgeries, replica's, and unofficial coinage in Colonial America; and François Rufiange will speak of the Canadian Victory Nickel of 1943.

"On the afternoon, Eric Leighton will speak of the train on the 5-dollar note of the Dominion of Canada of 1912; Michael Turrini will discuss the money of the Titanic; and Geoffrey Bell will close the symposium with a talk on banks and rails.

"The remainder of the convention will include the usual meetings of specialized clubs, a bourse with 28 dealers from across Canada, and the annual banquet where Canada's highest numismatic awards will be presented."

Sounds like a great event! -Editor