"From 1962 to 1968 I lived in Redondo Beach, not that far away from Coin-A-Rama City. I was a regular visitor. I sold coins on the bid board and occasionally rented a bourse table on Wednesdays. What an amazing hub of numismatic wheeling and dealing it was.

"My wife Linda and I were good friends with Eileen Lawson. Eileen was a major force in Southern California coin clubs and numismatic organizations and conventions. She was smart as a whip and selfless in devotion to promoting her chosen hobby. She died fairly young and deserves far more credit than generally accorded her.

"In later years I visited Coin-A-Rama City a time or two. The magic was gone."

Thanks - it's great to get these first-person accounts from people who were there. -Editor

"I learned of the recent auction of the Saint Gaudens Hettie Anderson sculpture sale from your newsletter. It had a $40k-$60k estimate which I told my wife I thought was very conservative. Indeed, it did in fact sell for $200k (including premium) on Nov 17th. Indeed, it belongs in a museum."

Thank you. Congratulations to the new owner. -Editor

"I was extremely surprised to read about Harvey Richer's passing.

"I met Harvey at the ANA in Chicago when he taught a class in Newfoundland gold coins. While I had no prior knowledge in the coins of Newfoundland I was fascinated by his talk and decided to collect the set of Two Dollar Gold coins. I purchased his book and even contacted the ANA to get his email address and send him a short note telling him how much I enjoyed his class and that he had inspired me to start my new collection. He responded with a nice reply.

"At this time I did not know who Harvey was. To me he was just a nice man who gave back to the hobby by writing a book and teaching a class. To find out that he was an eminent Astronomer was a complete shock to me.

"At the 2022 ANA I saw Harvey when he was selling his 100 Greatest Canadian Coins and Tokens book at Whitman's booth. While I had no intention of buying the book, I just wanted to say Hi, I left not only with a book, I left with a signed inscribed copy!

"An additional surprise in the article was the 1944 birthdate. I never would have guessed that he was 78 when I last saw him.

"I try to stay informed regarding the people in the hobby by reading hobby publications, Coin World and the Numismatist especially, and attending the ANA Summer Seminar and Fall Show when it is in Chicago. Your weekly newsletter is also a great source for this information. However, it really hits home when the news is about someone I knew and had actually met.

"Thank-you for your effort on the newsletter. I hope you never wonder if you actually have an impact in someone's life, but if you do wonder, this email should reinforce the fact that you do."

Thank you. It's always fun to put together, and nice to know it's read and appreciated. -Editor

"The last issue of the E-Sylum illustrated a 1981 ANACS certificate for an 1892 Proof Nickel with a repunched 1 & 2. As the Senior Authenticator and variety specialist at the time I would have handled the piece, though I cannot claim to remember it."

"The same issue has a nice writeup of the Money Museum at the National Bank of Detroit. As a student at Wayne State University beginning in the Fall of 1968, I would occasionally after classes walk down Woodward Ave. to downtown Detroit to visit coin shops and old book stores along the way, and at least twice to visit the Money Museum. Sometime during my years at Wayne State I asked Charles Hoskins if there might be a possibility of a part-time job at the Money Museum, but he explained that the exhibits were basically static, and his was a one-man operation.

"(I do remember that one of the exhibits was a complete original set of the Thomason Medallic Bible displayed as though fruit on a tree-like structure inside a tubular glass case, the medals attached to the ends of the branches by means of metal loops pinched down under the high rims on either side! I strongly suspect that the soft White Metal medals were permanently damaged by these rings, but I do not know that for a fact.)

"By the time I graduated in 1972 Hoskins had gone on to found ANACS in Washington, D.C., and when I heard that he was looking to hire an Assistant Authenticator I once again asked him for a job. However, he hired fellow Detroiter John Hunter instead, which left me at liberty to go to work for Coin World when an opening came up in 1973. ANACS moved to Colorado Springs in 1976, without Hoskins, and I was offered a job there in 1978."

Thanks for your notes - the best part of The E-Sylum is hearing directly from the people who were there as hobby history was being made! -Editor

"I liked the big framed stamps. I had an idea to enlarge stamps to fill an 8.5 X 11 and the postal service could sell them for $5 to collectors and raise money at the same time. I made some up and mailed them to my then congressman Greg Pence. That was in 2020. NEVER heard back. My new congressman Banks, is no better. I've pitched him the idea to modify our existing coin designs with different versions of the same people, now for the last eleven months.

I believe the enlarged stamps would generate a lot of money for the postal system. I even hung some of the enlarged stamps up and they look great. But alas, I'm not a lobbyist so there was nothing in it for them. Anyway, those enlarged stamps look cool!"

I like them, too. Great artwork, so often overlooked. -Editor

"Do you recall your skepticism regarding Morgan Dollars at less than melt values? Well, unless the U.S. changed their coin design (and the spelling of UNUM) then I believe your instincts were correct. Had to see one to confirm (and yes I'm pursuing the seller to correct their false advertising). My guess is at best they use melted Morgans in the silver used to plate the non-silver cast bell."

Ugh. No angel's getting their wings when that one rings... Thanks for the follow-up! -Editor

"Fifty years ago, on December 2, 1973, a man used a ruse to get into Harvard's Fogg Museum. Once inside, he pulled a gun, tied up a guard and opened the door for three more robbers. They went to the third floor and used the guard's keys to open the coin room.

"The robbers removed a safe with 2650 coins on loan from the Dewing Greek Numismatic Foundation and additional coins from the Harvard collection adding up to more than 6000 ancient Greek and Roman coins and 105 medals.

"Value of the loss was estimated at $5 million dollars. It was the largest art theft in the United States up to that time."

Thanks - what a sad event. -Editor