TOM'S NUMISMATIC DIARY: JUNE 25, 2023

Unidentified Nummis NoVa grouping of Not so Grumpy Old Men interrupted by a camera-wielding interloper, amid an Afghan feast of epic gustatory perfection

 

Nummis NoVa eats again! This time at Aracosia, an Afghan Restaurant in McLean, Virginia. The menu selections were expansive and the food fantastic since they revive classic recipes that bring the wholesome wisdom of our ancestors to table with kabobs, aromatic meats, ancient spices and saffron aplenty (even in the mock-tails) all without GMOs, preservatives, MSG, hormones, microwaves or thermo-nuclear cooking methods so prevalent today.

Isn't it time to form your own Nummis Elsewhere-dinner group, in your fair city, especially when you live too far away to commute to NoVa? Why not maintain and expand your enjoyment of numismatics goings-on, like these happy folks do each month? We would love to correspond with new numismatic dinner groups to share our secrets of eternal engagement and education in the hobby of coin collecting.

Nummis NoVa has met each month since October 17th, 2007, a total of 188 such dinners and counting. We must be doing something right for folks to keep coming back for more, and you can do it too! Don't let stacking coins turn you into a lonely miser, unable to share your numismatic triumphs and tragedies with others who don't get it. Some of us do, and you may find numismatists who can make acceptable dinner conversation. When you assemble a group having both faculties-in-one, let the dinner parties begin!

Many amazing show-and-share items circulated up and down our table. Here are candid snapshots of a few, seen in poor restaurant lighting and indifferent in-the-plastic packaging arrangement. Everything from modern medals showing perspectives of New York City, ancient Egyptian monuments, and Daybreak/Nightfall (think breakfast in the fry pan) to superb ancient coins made the rounds. Counterstamps also held sway at dinner with these three fine examples passing round.

 

Large Cents with counterstamps (Blanchard House (Saloon) of Monmouth Ill on 1847 host / WC (William Cleveland?) on 1798 host / Eagle Patented May 1854 on 1856 host)

 

Well-centered tetradrachm of Attica, Athens (165-142 BC) with head of Athena and Owl standing on Amphora to left of Asclepius, all within a wreath

 

 

 

Intriguing Scrip includes a 1911, (about uncirculated) 25 Cent Note from the Ideal Mercantile Co., of Aguilar, Colorado, an 1817 Jefferson County Bank, 75 Cent Note from Adams, New York (formerly in the Eric P. Newman Collection), and an 1838 dual denomination One Shilling /Twelve-and-a-half cents demand note from Port Byron, New York.

 

Modern medal depicts monument scenes in Ancient Egypt shown in fine perspective

 

Just your usual (MS-64!) 1859-O Seated Dollar seen through protective plastic

 

Case of typical coins mostly unworthy of discussion or a second glance at Nummis Nova dinners. (Sheesh - what a tough crowd.) Here are assorted English, French, Dutch, Swedish, Latin American, and early Federal coins ranging in dates from 1585 to 1849. Nothing to see here. Move along.

Dinner discussion topics at the far end of the table ranged from Wayne Homren's numismatic library and ephemera collection, how to deaccession an advanced (eclectic) coin collection using vetted and trustworthy agents, Wyman the Wizard and Ventriloquist, numismatic poetry written by Artificial Intelligence, development of Quantum Computing hardware using Helium Crystals, outsourcing the Tooth Fairy, collecting nuclear weapon artifacts, and where one finds rare transportation tokens such as digging in one's garden. In other words, it was a typical night of dinner talk for the Nummis Nova crowd.

Wishing you were there to freshen up the conversation and talk about something more interesting? Host the first Nummis Elsewhere dinner in your town or village. Let us know how it goes. Bon appetit!

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