"I was saddened to read about Dennis Boggs' health scare at Summer FUN, but I'm relieved to hear he's on the road to recovery. Dennis is not only a remarkable Abraham Lincoln reenactor, but also a wonderful ambassador for our hobby and a good friend.

"I first met Dennis in 2008 when I hired him to portray Lincoln at the Whitman Publishing booth during the ANA World's Fair of Money in Baltimore. Our goal was to create a memorable attraction for collectors, and Dennis exceeded every expectation. I still remember then-ANA event manager Brenda Bishop saying that "our Lincoln was the hit of the show." We brought him back for Whitman's 2009 Philadelphia Expo launch and several other events, even issuing a special NGC-certified "Meet Mr. Lincoln" commemorative slab.

"Looking back, I sometimes joke that I inadvertently launched Abraham Lincoln's numismatic career. In reality, it was Dennis' extraordinary talent, authenticity, and genuine warmth that made him such a beloved fixture on the coin show circuit. He has introduced countless collectors—young and old alike—to the history behind our nation's coinage in a way that few others could.

"I'm pleased to see the hobby rallying around Dennis during his recovery. I wish him a full and speedy recovery, and I look forward to seeing "Mr. Lincoln" back on the bourse floor before long."

As of publication time, nearly $7,500 has been raised from 56 donors. Katie Williams reports that Dennis was back at home and resting. -Editor

I enjoyed the WSJ review of The Banker Who Made America. I agree with you that the book is a challenge to finish. It is very detailed and full of interesting, and somewhat overlooked, facts about the founding of our country.

While the WSJ review is accurate, there is another side to the book that I found most interesting. It presents the conflicts that shaped the nature of the U.S. These conflicts were new to me even though I pride myself as a student of U.S. history

For example: our nation had two opposing groups fighting for control, in addition to fighting the British. One, the lenders, were the bankers and business men who felt it was important to receive interest in return for providing debt, and the other, the debtors (farmers), who wanted help or forgiveness in paying back the debt. As a banker and a debt provider, Willing had to navigate between these groups.

Another conflict was between individual founding fathers. I knew that Jefferson and Adams had their differences, but I was surprised at the bitterness between them as they forged our nation.

After reading the book I felt a greater understanding of the people and the times surrounding the start of the U.S.

I encourage you to finish the book. Your knowledge of the time period is probably superior to mine, but hopefully you will find it as engaging as I did.

I did read some more of the book this week, and I see what Chris means - history looks clear-cut in hindsight, particularly when seen through the eyes of historians who go overboard in trying to make a coherent story to present to readers. In the moment, the world back then looked and felt a lot like the world of today - messy and confusing, with multiple factions, opinions, and hot takes on the moment. Nobody knows nothin' and only a fool would be confident about how it all ends up. -Editor

A minor correction from Greg Bennick's latest interview with Eric Jensen - I know that it is probably just a phonetic transcription error from a phone conversation. Eric starts "I had a friend Len Booth down in London, Ontario" - I'm sure he is referring to our mutual long time friend Len Buth who resides in London, ON (and pronounces his name as "Booth".

Thank you. Ron Confortin of the London Numismatic Society also pointed this out. Sorry - we've corrected our archive. -Editor

"The Daniel Garrison Brinton medal mentioned in last week's E-Sylum is a US Mint medal. Julian documents that one silver and one gold example were struck in 1898-1899, then 100 bronze examples were struck in 1899-1900 (fiscal years starting in July).

"Most (all?) of the US Mint records cited by Julian are available on the Newman Numismatic Portal, with several big caveats. They're not indexed, so it's very hard to find them in the first place. If you can find them, they're almost entirely handwritten. The people doing the writing had, um, "varying" levels of penmanship, and some of the documents have degraded since they were written. But if you can find them and you can read them, their data is among the best we've got for medal production in the period."

"I found the article titled Trump Dollar Coin Design Revealed interesting. Some of the cited articles are from publications left of center and would want this coin stopped. I can't wait to read what the US Mint posts about the coin rather than what news organizations say that the mint said. Personally, I want to see this coin minted. I have seen so many people lose their minds over it. Some have even said that they would boycott the Mint, not just the Trump coin, but, all products. I doubt that's going to do much."

"The obverse looks a lot like his Georgia mugshot."

"If we're going to have a $1 Trump coin in base metals, shouldn't there also be a 1776-2026 Melania Trump First Spouse gold coin? That would be consistent with all the other Presidential dollar coins issued in recent years, starting with George and Martha Washington.

"Trump himself would probably have mixed feelings about doing it. On the one hand, he loves gold. On the other, he might not appreciate being "outshone", figuratively or literally, by his wife on the coinage. I won't try to predict his reaction. But, if there's time to produce his "Presidential" coin, there's certainly time to mint Melania's, too."

We could go around in circles on the topic, but this isn't social media and we don't want to turn into that. But I'll leave with links to newer articles on the topic from varying perspectives. The first is from dealer Mike Fuljenz. -Editor

I randomly came across this article in the Jan. 1952 issue of Ohio Architect about the interior design of the new office of the Ohio Savings and Loan. There is a focus on the artist Owen Coghlan's wall murals "Each of the three sections of the mural depicts the coins of a civilization." There is a closer view of the mural "Money-The Medium of Exchange" that "shows the evolution of money in North America and Britain." The other murals were for "Greek and Rome and the Orient." It says that Coghlan researched the topics himself.

In later 1952 issues of Ohio Architect, the interior decorators, Irvin and Company, used Coghlan's mural in an advertisement.

I wanted to ask the readers: Do these murals still exist in Cleveland? Where was this building? I did not see an address for the office listed in the article, just that it was located on the "West Side."

Interesting discovery. Can anyone help? Does this building still exist? Does the mural? -Editor