From the Editor
by Maria Fanning

NBS members will soon be receiving the first issue of The Asylum that I have had the pleasure of editing. Many of you may know me through my work at Kolbe & Fanning Numismatic Booksellers and may have met me at the ANA's World's Fair of Money, the New York International Numismatic Convention or through email correspondence. I am pleased to be succeeding David Yoon, who has continued to produce an impressive publication for the past nine years. He has graciously offered his support and assistance in my first few issues and I thank him for leaving me with a vibrant journal. I know we all wish him the best for the future, be it in numismatics or archaeology!

The Asylum has a long history of being a hub of research and discussion for those serious about their love of numismatics. I hope to draw on that passion to include even more contributions from those we have not yet heard, as well as our excellent regular contributors. There is plenty of room for those with a scholarly bent as well as inexperienced writers with a passion for numismatic books and we want to hear about yours.

We have some fascinating articles in this issue. We are very lucky to have an article by P. Scott Rubin on his 19th-century auction catalogues, which we hope will become an ongoing series. We also have a spicy tale of love and murder written by no other than famed Mint Director William E. Dubois and brought to light by our own Joel Orosz. David Fanning shares another of his award-winning "Off The Shelf" columns, this one on Newcomb's book on 1801-03 cents, and Len Augsburger gives us an exciting update on what's happening with the Newman Portal.

To get to know you all better I have put together a brief 10-question multiple-choice survey about your collecting and reading interests. I hope that you will indulge me for a few minutes so that I can tailor content to what you want most to read. My ulterior motive is also to collect information on our readers' specific areas of interest and collecting habits to share with potential advertisers and help expand and improve our journal. You can take the survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/N295ZKS. Information will be kept anonymous. Your input is much appreciated!

I am excited to meet all of our readers, whether in person or by email, and would love to hear from all of you. If you have an idea for a submission, please let me know as soon as possible so we can fit it into our editorial calendar. Please feel free to contact me at nbsasylum@gmail.com at any time with suggestions or contributions for future issues. The deadline for the next issue will be May 1. Happy reading!

Maria Fanning

NBS Treasurer Terry White adds:

To participate in Maria's Asylum survey, see: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/N295ZKS