LEN AUGSBURGER'S NUMISMATIC DIARY: MARCH 30, 2025

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V28 2025 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 28, Number 13, , Article 20

This week we've got double diaries - Len and Wayne's Excellent Numismatic Adventures. First up is Len Augsburger, who made an interesting research side trip on his way to the Whitman Baltimore Spring Expo. -Editor

My Baltimore show trip began Thursday, March 27, at the Hagley Library in Wilmington, DE, about a 45-minute train ride from Baltimore's Penn Station. The Hagley features a picturesque reading room, more inspiring than industrial spaces found elsewhere. I was issued a reader card that will get added to an ever-growing collection of such things. Research targets included two copies of the rare Jacob Perkins Bank Bill Test (1809), one of the most prized items in the American numismatic literature catalog. This was the first American paper money counterfeit detector, the forerunner of the Laban Heath series and other 19th century detectors. A full article on the Bank Bill Test will appear in a future issue of The Asylum. At the Hagley I also viewed an account book of the U.S. chief coiner Henry Voigt, covering portions of his personal accounts from 1798 to 1837. Although not completely Mint-related, “Interesting” portions of this manuscript volume were shared with researchers Julia Purdy and Neil Musante.

Friday kicked off with a visit to David and Dad's Café for breakfast. Long time attenders of the Baltimore show will recall Burke's restaurant on Lombard Stret, an old-time Baltimore mainstay that sadly closed in 2011 to make way for a chain convenience store. Happily, David & Dad's at Charles and Lexington Streets is a credible replacement. Operating in an old bank lobby, the ambiance is immediately apparent, and the breakfast menu isn't far behind. You can even order a modern coffee drink, which would have been a non-starter at Burke's.

From there it was off to the Liberty Seated Collectors Club meeting at the Baltimore Convention Center. Education Director John Frost and Editor/Publisher Greg Johnson presented updates on club news and the recent publication of Gobrecht Journal no. 152, followed by a presentation from me on the early New Orleans Mint. The LSCC is presenting a four-day course on the New Orleans Mint at the upcoming ANA Summer Seminar, June 22-25, and a small number of seats remain available.

On entering the bourse, Julian Leidman occupied his customary front row center table. The rest of the day was all too short before leaving at 4:30pm to catch a flight home. I had conversations with Greg Bennick, Neil Musante, Charles Davis, Greg Johnson, John Kraljevich, Tony Terranova, Bruce Hagen, Wayne Homren, Jim Matthews, Stu & Maureen Levine, Craig Sholley, and several others. Brian Hendelson's case included the “Modesto Police Department” example of the Judd-1 silver center cent, a piece that sold for the bargain sum of $400 in 2006 in a police auction. Although not the nicest example, Brian's price was no doubt significantly higher! I found a single piece for my coin collection, an XF 1844-O half eagle from David Kahn.

For Newman Portal scanning, Kerry Wetterstrom brought several early issues of the Voice of the Turtle, the publication of the Ancient Coin Club of America. Newman Portal has lately been incorporating more literature on ancient coins, and these will be a welcome addition. Why a turtle? Google tells us “The ancient coins that famously depicted a sea turtle were those of Aegina, a Greek island in the Aegean Sea, around 600 BCE. These coins became a prominent symbol of the island's maritime power….[these] were among the earliest known coins used as a medium of trade in the ancient world.” Other possible material loans were discussed throughout the day and will no doubt appear on NNP in the coming months.