The FUN show was quite busy. As usual, I was too occupied at our booth or the grading room to do any shopping, yet I still managed to acquire something cool that found me. I'm attaching a photo I took of the item.

It is a homemade "coin board" reportedly fashioned by a teenaged Eric Newman and his father sometime during the 1920s before the debut of M. L. Beistle's pioneering holders. It is comprised of a sheet of heavy cardstock sandwiched between two sheets and glass and held together with metal clamps. The cardstock is cut and labeled for Missouri merchant tokens 1845-55. The holder fits within what appears to be a sliding drawer, and this is also seen in the photo.

This historic item was presented to me by Mark Borckardt on behalf of the Eric P. Newman Numismatic Education Society and Stu Levine. Mark and I discussed how the drawer was used and speculated that there may have been a cabinet into which it slid.

To vist Dave's Coin Collecting Boards web site, see:
www.coincollectingboards.com