"I loved the old Swiftie on the $5 bill.

"I'll put a mention of it in Scripophily as an alert to be diligent in searching officer signatures on stocks and bonds. They may have famous progeny!

"Can you imagine what that crusty old dude would think about the thing his great-granddaughter does for a living"?"

While Archie Swift was born long after the heyday of singer Jenny Lind, he likely would have been familiar with the career of the "Swedish Nightingale" and her extraordinarily popular concert tour of the U.S., where her 93 large-scale concerts earned more than $350,000 (equivalent to over $12 million today). The numismatics of Jenny Lind could be the topic of a whole 'nother thread. -Editor

"Jeff Starck and Larry Jewett from the Coin World Podcast reached out to me after they saw last week's E-Sylum. They interviewed me on their podcast and the episode is now out. Numi discussions start at the 17:55 minute mark. You can check it out on Spotify as well as other podcast providers.

"I've been making good progress updating Numi with the great feedback I've received from E-Sylum readers."

Thanks for helping out, folks, and check out the podcast. We'll look forward to Justin's next update on the app. -Editor

"I liked Dick Hanscom's suggestion to require all non-precious commemorative coinage be released into circulation at face value.

"At the very least, this would spruce up the presently somewhat boring state of our modern commemorative coinage. Currently all clad issues are guaranteed to be either MS69 or MS70, and little else. By placing these in circulation grading will once again play a factor in determining price and rarity down the line. Circulation is also one of the reasons the classic commemorative market is so interesting. When an entire issue does not circulate (and never will) it renders the market sterile and does little for collector sentiment.

"Make no mistake, clad dollar-sized issues (38mm) would still never circulate, but it would have been wonderful seeing any of the 27 clad half dollars of the modern series in circulation. John Jay Pittman had a good idea when he pushed for a circulating clad bicentennial quarter in 1976, and David Ganz did too when he pushed for a clad-only Statue of Liberty half in 1986. There's no end to improving what you can find in our pocket change. I say we dazzle them!"

Agreed! -Editor

"What is the purpose of a commemorative coin? It is to honor or remember a person, place or event, to remind the people of these things. What better way than to have a circulating coin? I believe the Harriet Tubman commemoratives call for a clad half, silver dollar and $5 gold. What percentage of the population are ever going to see these coins? If the half were issued to circulation, it would broaden the viewership tremendously even though the half dollar is not widely used - perhaps there would be demand

"When the Elizabeth Peratrovich Dollar was released, we purchased 3,000 of them from Mt. McKinley Bank and sold them for $1 each, or gave them as change. Most of those sold were sold to teachers. They wanted to instill some pride in their students (particularly the native American students) in the fact that a native Alaskan woman was worthy of being on a United States coin. How much more impact would there have been if the Mint had made any effort to put them in circulation in Alaska?

"Can't wait for the Alaska innovation Dollar!"

"Next year, I will be in New York in January 2024 for the New York International Numismatic Convention (NYINC). During the show I will present a talk on behalf of Philippe Théret and Xavier Bourbon on Dupré's work with the United States of America, Friday in the Morgan suite, 1 to 2 PM: "New Discoveries on Dupré's Medals for the United States".

Philippe and Xavier are the authors of a book : LE FRANC, DUPRÉ published in 2021."

Sounds like a must-see event for those attending the show. Mark your calendars today! -Editor

"At Thanksgiving dinner my 9-year-old great grandson was tossing out riddles to the family. He asked me: What has a head, a tail but no body? I had no idea.

"Answer: A coin.

"As someone with his nose in numismatics since 1958 you would think I would have known that one. Never heard it before. Happy Holidays."

Well, piedforts aside, coins do have a body, just a really, really short one. Good riddle nevertheless. Thanks. -Editor