"The interview with Julian Leidman reminds me of a little story of my own.

"About 20 years ago I was in Washington DC on a business trip. I was lucky to have some old friends put me up at their Silver Spring, Maryland home. Between their house and the Metro I noticed Bonanza Coins and found a few hours to stop by. I had a great time going through a decent bit of foreign coins. Where I am from, near the West Virginia - Kentucky border, there is not much interest or inventory of foreign coins around, so this was a treat. I had pulled out a nice little pile but when we added it all up I just didn't have the cash on me and no banks nearby where I could get any. "No problem" said Julian, "Just send me a check."

"I was a bit stunned - here I am a stranger who just walked into the shop and he sent me home with about $150 worth of coins unpaid for. Of course I sent a check as soon as I got home but I will never forget the guy for his kindness and trust."

"I very much enjoyed the linked video interview with Richard Lobel in the latest E-Sylum. One thing that jumped out at me - at around 42:15 he mentioned a "New Zealand George VI dollar" which he had restruck. Now there weren't any George VI "dollars" here, so the nearest contender would be the 1949 silver crown. This isn't at all rare and I have no knowledge of any private restrikes ever being made. Could that have been a slip for one of the 1936/37 Edward VIII fantasy crowns with the NZ reverse, at least one version of which I believe is on the list of items he's produced over the years?

"He mentions George VI again at 43:15 when he talks about marketing the NZ items through M.R. Roberts in Sydney. It would be good to have this clarified if possible."

"The answer is that years and years ago I bought five plasters done by Humphrey Paget at a Christes auction. I kept them for years, and when Tower Mint was slow on business and short on money I had them make dies and strike them for me. New Zealand, Prince Philip pattern 25p (see Noonans auction 7-8 June 2023 Lot 501), East Caribbean and two South American countries. Most are listed in Unusual World Coins by Bruce.

"The strange thing was that I had silver blanks made in the USA - it was the time of rounds. It was cheaper to have .999 ones poured than have .925 ones. This came in handy when the Royal Mint questioned Raphael. He said that he knew nothing about them, which the Mint believed as they said they were .999 silver and they knew he didn't use that metal. I had supplied him the blanks. The entire mintage of NZ inc silver, cn, and bronze (?) was sold to M. R. Roberts of Sydney. The Prince Philip issue was sold to Richard Nelson of The Money Co. Tower Mint were so bothered by the Royal Mint questioning that they destroyed the dies they had made."

"Regarding the call for niobium coins to reduce the government deficit, I don't know if that was for pure niobium coins or plated.

"Canada has issued 1 ounce silver coins with some niobium content for years, such as the two illustrated below. The 2016 firefly one sold for US$110.31, while the 2014 flower piece (that's one ugly looking flower!) sold for US$139.95.

"The Royal Canadian Mint usually does not issue just one coin. Niobium adorned coins come in either three or four to a set.

"Mintages run up to 6,000. If you multiply the quantity 10-fold based on population, it wouldn't help the deficit much, but give collectors of gift-ware something else to add to their accumulation of non-coinage coins."

"Many thanks for the piece on Reed/the Durham Museum in Omaha. We have a family farm in NW Missouri we visit twice a year. One time we went up to Omaha to see the UP Museum but didn't know the Durham even existed. Enlightenment comes to Grasshopper. I'll go up there in October."

Glad to help. I'm adding this to my bucket list, too. -Editor

"A member at the NGC Collectors Society ("coinsbygary") posted an image of the New York Recorder illustration mentioned by Patrick Parkinson."

Thanks. Nicely done. -Editor

Robert Cassling submitted a follow-up and new question about that box accompanying his purchase of a Bechtler $5 coin. -Editor

"Most of Newman's Pioneer gold coins came with a small, protective cardboard box. I don't know of any other Newman coins that were accompanied by these types of boxes; rather, most of his coins were stored in small kraft envelopes on which Newman typed the coin descriptions and cost codes.

Because of this, I suspect that Newman purchased most of his Territorials en masse, which means they probably came from Colonel Green via Newman's partnership with B.G. Johnson, which means they probably came from Waldo Newcomer."

Can anyone help? -Editor