TOM KAYS' NUMISMATIC DIARY: AUGUST 25, 2024

 

Julian served as host for the August Nummis Nova dinner at Jerry's Seafood Restaurant (Home of the ‘Crab Bomb') in Bowie, Maryland. Pictured from the left are Mike Packard, Julian Leidman and his guest Erik Douglas, Tom Kays and Jon Radel. The fact that we met, not in Northern Virginia, but far away across the Potomac River in Maryland, reduced the number of diners in attendance but not the enthusiasm of the group.

The Crab Bomb by the way was ‘da bomb' with no filler, just a softball-sized scoop of fresh crab lightly braised in butter and served no nonsense with two sides such as Old Bay Plank Fries and Vanilla Apple Sauce. Yum!

First off, no, Julian is not retiring, but he is bringing Erik Douglas in to run in person, some of the day-to-day business of the Bonanza Coin Shop (Buyer of Rare Coins and Currency) in Silver Spring, dealing with new acquisitions, while Julian focuses on Julian Coin (his on-line store) and on deaccessions of existing stock. Erik is an IT professional, teacher of Physics, and now heir to one of the last and finest brick-and-mortar coin shops in the Washington D.C. area.

 

The buzz that night was all about the bestowal of Nobel Prizes in Numismatics to Nummis Nova! Jon Radel, our resident expert in Finnish Medals, journeyed to the former Stock Exchange Building in Stockholm, Sweden to pick up our medals. He distributed them to us at dinner. Here Mike's dental work determines the fineness of his gold medal the old-fashioned way.

Alfred Nobel was a Swedish chemist, inventor, and businessman who discovered how to stabilize nitroglycerin, leading to patents for Nobel's ‘dynamite,' blasting caps, and a total of 355 different patents. Not wanting to be remembered as a ‘merchant of death' due to his arms factories, one of which blew up in 1866, he bequeathed his vast fortune (31 million Swedish Crowns upon his death in 1896), to foster advances in science, literature, and peace among nations. The first prize was awarded in 1901 to Marie Curie.

They say it was Bertha von Suttner who answered an ad of Nobel's for a secretary and supervisor of household, and who worked for Nobel for two years that convinced Nobel that he must work for disarmament or his legacy would be remembered poorly. She would win the Nobel Prize in 1905. Nobel Prize medals are normally awarded in Oslo, Norway with winners having been determined by the Norwegian Parliament, but Jon discovered ours in the gift shop of the Nobel Prize Museum in Stockholm. They don't ship, so you must go there in person to get them. As new Numismatic Nobel Laureates we must not fall victim to the ‘Nobel Disease' where esteemed recipients begin to lecture on topics far beyond their expertise. Let us stick to talking about numismatics.

The beautiful book Mauritz Hallbergin Kokoelmat (The Mauritz Hallberg Collection) Volume I – Medals, passed around the table. Emil Fredrik Mauritz Hallberg was a Finnish politician. Since 1920 the Society of Swedish Literature in Finland has awarded his medals for special achievement.

 

 

Also seen at the table were this pair of French coins, each subject to ‘coin-flation' to keep up with the rising value of silver. On the left is a former Syd Martin coin, a 1555 Billion Douzain (1/12 Ecu) of Henry II re-coined in Paris, circa 1693 as a sol with ‘Eight Ls' for Louis XIIII. Many of these old Henry II host coins were stamped in 1640 with a ‘fleur-di-lis' in beaded circle for export to the Canadian French Colonies. This one was oddly revalidated for continued circulation in France after nearly 140 years. Beside it is a demi-ecu of Louis XIIII of that same eight L's design, newly re-coined in 1693 with the Palms reverse at Montpelier.

 

Sailing by before Crab Bombs arrived was this case with an arrangement of ‘doubloons' picturing historic ships issued according to Poseidon, Sovereign of the Seas.

As crab bombs pleasantly filled our happy stomachs and the subject of Mardi Gras doubloons started, our host Julian claims to have original die trial pieces from H. Alvin Sharpe, the very first of the Mardi Gras pieces struck. As always, this Nummis Nova dinner was a delight and well worth the terrible Beltway traffic and mystery of navigating on the far side of the Potomac for us Nummis Nova regulars.

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