I enjoyed reading the conversation with Mr. Gillio. It brought back a great memory. When I got out of high school, I spent 6 years in the Navy, 23+ months in Vietnam. I married and left the Navy and my wife and I had our first child. I worked for Texaco at the time. During my years, in the Navy, I did pick up coins and banknotes from all the places I visited. I had collected an obsolete bank note from my home town as well.

After my service, I was not an active participant in the hobby until one day when my wife saw an ad for the Long Beach Coin Show. She suggested that we should go and relax and enjoy. To make a long story short I stopped at Julian Liedman's table. He was from Maryland (Western Shore) and I am an Eastern Shoreman. You can take the shoreman from the shore but not take the shore from the shoreman.

Anyway, Julian had a beautiful display of U.S. Commemorative coins. I fell in love with them and wanted to buy several. I did not have enough money for them and had not brought a checkbook. I asked if he could hold them for me and I would come back the next day with the money. He said no, I can look at you and know you are honest. He insisted that I take the coins and pay him later. Well for me later was a quick 60 -mile round trip to bring him the money the same day.

He got me interested in collecting again and it has become a lifetime addiction. I have since been active in collecting, research, and editing for two nice obsolete Maryland banknote books. Money and Banking in Maryland by Kelly, et al. and I was also the Maryland editor of Volume 8 of the Whitman Encyclopedia of Obsolete Paper Money. Yes, I know I live in California but I have collected Maryland obsolete notes for nearly 50 years. I am also a historian -thus a trained researcher.

"What can you tell us about the future of the projected additional volumes of the Encyclopedia of Obsolete Paper Currency under the editorship of Q. David Bowers that Whitman was producing? Has it been scrubbed, shifted to an online resource, or merely delayed a bit to be resumed down the road?"

"Whitman has been steadily working on volumes 9 and above of the obsolete paper-money encyclopedia. Pennsylvania and New Jersey are the states next in line. This work has continued through the recent acquisition, and is proceeding as we speak. New York is shaping up to be a multiple-volume effort by itself. Specialists on these states and others are welcome to drop me a line!"

"Thank you for looking into this. I am delighted to see the project has not been scrubbed. These books are outstanding."

PHRYGIA, Laodicea ad Lycum. Caracalla. AD 198-217. Æ Medallion - 43mm 49 g. L. Aelius Pigres, Asiarch. Struck AD 214-217. Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / ? AI? ?IGPHC ACIAPX G ANETHKEN, • ?AO?IK?ON/N?OKOPON in exergue, emperor standing right on steps of distyle temple, holding wreath in right hand; on either side, pair of togate figures raising hand in acclamation; behind, troops standing, holding shields and spears; all within precinct enclosure, seen from aerial perspective; enclosure entrance composed of six columns; figure of Hygieia, holding serpent, standing in outer intercolumnations; uncertain figures (Pigres and spouse?) standing facing in central intercolumnation. Von Aulock, Phrygiens -; SNG München -; SNG Leypold -; SNG von Aulock -; BMC 227 (same rev. die); Friedlaender and von Sallet 876; SGI 2592 (same dies). An attractive architectural type and extremely rare.

This medallion commemorates an otherwise unknown address of the emperor Caracalla to the leading citizens of Laodicea during that emperor's advance across Asia Minor to meet the Persians. This issue appears to have been struck as a personal dedication of the Asiarch, as evidenced by the reverse legend. (CNG write up)

"Production of War of 1812 Congressional medals was ramping up in 1818 - 1820, about the time when coins that pass for proofs started to appear. Perhaps the medals - made with reflective fields and frosted relief - inspired experimentation with specimen coins such as the 1822 half from this die pair certified as a proof. The dies were still fresh when this prooflike was struck.

"Add this to the reasons I don't like slabs. You can't appreciate, let alone photograph, a PL in them."

"I brought a few eBay purchases: a run of proof Indian cents, a few nice Lincoln cents, and some nice Liberty and Buffalo nickels."