ABOUT THIS ISSUE: JANUARY 18, 2026

It was another typical E-Sylum week, where I didn't have a chance to start the issue until Thursday, when I sent Garrett some material to work on. He's doing a wonderful job. While I apologize for the length of the auction section, I just can't resist showcasing all the great material coming up for sale. I always learn something new from these offerings, and enjoy the lot descriptions and photos. It's a great way to learn - flash cards for numismatists!

We have another few obituaries in this issue. Remember, if you don't go to people's funerals, they won't come to yours.

The Schweinhund Center Misadventure
One non-typical numismatic interlude happened on Tuesday. I was driving home from work when a text arrived and I had Google read it to me. It was Greg Bennick wondering if it would be possible to join him at the Montgomery County Coin Club in Silver Spring Maryland, where he was on his way to give a talk on counterstamps. Knowing I live in Virginia, he hadn't thought to mention it earlier. I dictated my response - "Silver Spring is on my way home!"

Greg sent me the address and I pulled into an I-95 rest stop to recalibrate my trip. With the meeting not starting until 7:30, I called my wife, then looked for nearby places for dinner. I ended up at Regina's Restaurant, a Mediterranean place in a strip mall on Georgia Avenue in Wheaton. Next to a Salvadoran grocery and across from a pawn shop, it turned out to be a nice friendly place for dinner. I had souvlaki chicken skewers and a glass of Cabernet. I'd recommend it for anyone who finds themselves in the area.

I arrived at the meeting location, the Schweinhaut Senior Center about 7:15. As I walked in, someone walking out asked if I was here for the coin meeting. I said yes, and they said, "it's cancelled." Huh? What? More people were walking out. I checked my phone and Greg had already sent me a text. Apparently there was a mixup over the contract for the room. My mnemonic for the venue came back to mind - "der schweinhund center."

I made my way inside, swimming upstream against the departing crowd. I found Greg in a nearly empty meeting room talking with my fellow Nummis Nova members Julian Leidman and Erik Douglas. We chatted for a while, then moved the conversation to the parking lot, where we were joined by Simcha Kuritzky. We covered a number of topics, from the FUN Show to the state of the numismatic market. While it didn't make up for missing Greg's talk, it was still a fun time with numismatic friends. I dropped Erik off at the nearly Metro station before heading home to Virginia.

Finally, here are some interesting non-numismatic items I came across this week.
Roman Emperors and their Illnesses (https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Roman-Emperors-and-their-Illnesses/p/56949)
The shape of time (https://aeon.co/essays/when-we-turned-time-into-a-line-we-reimagined-past-and-future)
How to Improve Your Content Diet in the New Year (https://www.readtheprofile.com/p/content-diet)
The American Dream needs a factory reset (https://rationaloptimistsociety.substack.com/p/the-american-dream-needs-a-factory)
Discarding the Shaft-and-Belt Model of Software Development (https://secondthoughts.ai/p/the-new-model-of-software-development)
10 Breakthrough Technologies (https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/01/12/1130697/10-breakthrough-technologies-2026)
Analyze your poop — get instant insights (https://www.cleverpoop.com/analyze-your-poop)

-Editor

Wayne Homren
Wayne Homren is the founding editor of The E-Sylum and a consultant for the Newman Numismatic Portal. His collecting interests at various times included U.S. Encased Postage Stamps, merchant counterstamps, Pittsburgh Obsolete paper money, Civil War tokens and scrip, Carnegie Hero Medals, charge coins and numismatic literature. He also collects and has given presentations on the work of Money Artist J.S.G. Boggs. In the non-numismatic world he's worked in artificial intelligence, data science, and as a Program Manager for the U.S. Department of Defense.

Garrett Ziss
Garrett Ziss is a numismatic collector and researcher, with a focus on American paper money and early U.S. silver and copper coins. He is also a part-time U.S. coin cataloger for Heritage Auctions. Garrett assists Editor Wayne Homren by editing and formatting a selection of articles and images each week. When he's not engaged in numismatics, Garrett is pursuing a Master's Degree in Quantitative Economics at the University of Pittsburgh.

Pete Smith
Numismatic researcher and author Pete Smith of Minnesota has written about early American coppers, Vermont coinage, numismatic literature, tokens and medals, the history of the U.S. Mint and much more. Author of American Numismatic Biographies, he contributes original articles to The E-Sylum often highlighting interesting figures in American numismatic history.

Greg Bennick
Greg Bennick (www.gregbennick.com) is a keynote speaker and long time coin collector with a focus on major mint error coins and US counterstamps. He is on the board of both CONECA and TAMS and enjoys having in-depth conversations with prominent numismatists from all areas of the hobby. Have ideas for other interviewees? Contact him anytime on the web or via instagram @minterrors.

John Nebel
Numismatist, photographer, and ANS Board member and Fellow John Nebel of Boulder, CO helped the ANA and other clubs like NBS get online in the early days of the internet, hosting websites gratis through his Computer Systems Design Co. To this day he hosts some 50 ANA member club sites along with our coinbooks.org site, making the club and our E-Sylum archive available to collectors and researchers worldwide.

Bruce Perdue
Encased coinage collector (encasedcoins.info) Bruce Perdue of Aurora, Illinois has been the volunteer NBS webmaster from its early days and works each week to add the latest E-Sylum issue to our archive and send out the email announcement.