Kathy Lawrence forwarded the recent copy of your somewhat interesting newsletter to me. I was looking to see and perhaps steal the Lincoln pattern coin in the Eric Newman/Heritage sale tonight. Well.. no theft here! I attended the sale in Schaumberg (Illinois) and the R8 coin should have honestly opened in the multiple 1000s (and it did), finally and quickly selling at $10,000 before the Heritage vigorish.

I have arranged with one of catalogers of the sale, Mark Borckardt, to share the pictures of the pattern with all of the serious Lincoln collectors out there. Some of your readers know that I have been working on a revision of King's Lincoln in Numismatics (which has turned into a total rewrite of the latter, with apologizes to Ernie) for some five years or so, and am happy to report that we are planning to getting the thing to a printer by the end of the year!

I was tickled to see so many collectors and dealers, a ridiculous number of whom I've met and raised a glass or ten to the hobby, contributing to the newsletter! I am sure that they were not necessarily trying to add something to the discussion but rather taking an opportunity to toot their own horns. John Burns , for example, is one who has an opinion on everything and, curiously, talked someone into publishing his future show schedule in this unassuming newsletter!

I saw George Cuhaj at Schaumberg but he was not close enough to engage. Tom Casper was there with his display of fobs. Paul Bosco? I still haven't seen his "new" shop! (Paul, don't use the word "dirtbag" in the same sentence with your own name.) Howard Daniel gets around but I didn't see him in Illinois. Joe Boling was there, judging (what else)? Johnny K. was there, "slumming."

The shellcards and Civil War tokens books by David Bowers are eagerly anticipated. (I dabbled with the shellcards a bit, some years ago, when I gathered all the previously 'cards published in TAMS before and offered them up in one, somewhat organized article.) Please support this effort.

To close, let me comment on the Karl Goetz dies that are floating around out there. They need to be policed! We cannot let these things get out to where they might be indiscriminately utilized to separate veteran and beginner collectors from their money! Use your voice to make the notion of restriking these dies anything but but wrong! Don't let the slimey Chinese crooks any opportunity to abuse the true intent of these works of art!