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LOOSE CHANGE: MARCH 31, 2024Here are some additional items in the media this week that may be of interest. -Editor
Seeing Double: Same Person on Both Sides of a Coin Charles Morgan and Hubert Walker of CoinWeek published a fun piece on people portrayed on both sides of the same coin. They are more examples of this that you may have thought of - check it out. -Editor 
A rare occurrence on coins from the United States, there are still a few examples of the same individual being portrayed on both sides of a coin. In our experience, the obverse is usually a portrait bust, and the reverse shows that an individual in some place or tableau is historically related to them. The Lafayette dollar was struck in 1899 and is the first commemorative dollar coin issued by the United States. The coin features a jugate or accolated portrait of George Washington and Lafayette on the obverse, and a depiction of Paul Wayland Bartlett's statue of Lafayette mounted on horseback on the reverse. Interestingly, this silver dollar is also the first appearance of George Washington on a U.S. coin. 50,000 coins were struck, with 12,000 being sent to France for sale. In France, the coin sold horribly, and 10,000 were returned. The Lafayette dollar found more interest from American collectors. In total, 36,000 coins were sold, and 14,000 were returned to the Mint and melted.
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Undercover Cop Catches Gold Scammer In the good news department, here's a Washington Post story of a Maryland undercover cop who nabbed a gold bar scammer who'd bilked victims of hundreds of thousands of dollars. -Editor Lisa Bromley has done a lot during her 30 years as a police officer in suburban Maryland. Undercover drug buys. Armed robbery investigations. Working car crashes. But it wasn't until last week that she found herself disguised in a wig and a coronavirus mask, playing the role of a scam victim in her 60s who police say had already been bilked out of about $789,000 worth of gold bars. Her hope: Their target would soon pull into a parking lot in Montgomery County's sprawling Leisure World community looking for more gold. The plan worked, law enforcement officials said in a news release Friday announcing the arrest of Wenhui Sun, 34, of Lake Forest , Calif. Local and federal authorities say his scam was part of a growing trend by swindlers. Often posing as federal investigators, they persuade their targets to buy gold bars — and turn them over for safekeeping — while purported investigators try to identify thieves who might otherwise have raided the target's bank accounts. Sun is being held without bond in the Montgomery County jail and is charged with theft over $100,000 and attempted theft over $100,000, according to court records. Sun's attorney could not be reached.
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Numismatic Investment Literature For bibliophiles, CoinWeek published a short item about numismatic investment literature. -Editor
Numismatic investment literature is a genre of often pulpy numismatic books that focus primarily on the coin market and offer various pointers or advice on how to invest in coins and turn a profit. These titles focus less on technical aspects of numismatics or historical research. Often, the assumptions made by the authors of these titles are unscientific or self-serving.
To read the complete article, see:
Wayne Homren, Editor The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org. To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum All Rights Reserved. NBS Home Page Contact the NBS webmaster 
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