My northern Virginia numismatic social group Nummis Nova normally meets on the 2nd Tuesday of the month, but some forecasted bad weather caused a postponement to Wednesday. So it was Wednesday that I headed to a Tex-Mex restaurant called Silverado in Annandale. Steve Bishop and Tom Kays were our hosts.

I was the first one to arrive and took a seat in the bar and ordered a cold one. Before long Dave Schenkman joined me, and shortly afterward Eric Schena arrived as well and we were able to get seated at our table in the next room. The three of us sat around one end because we hadn't been able to talk much due to the seating arrangements the month before.

Howard Daniel was one of the next to arrive. He's been in Vietnam for months, and this was his first meeting since his return. He had with him a nice scroll given to him by his numismatic friends there (more below from Tom Kays).

Others attending the dinner included Jon Radel, Chris Neuzil, Aaron Packard, Joe Esposito, Wayne Herndon, and Mike Packard. Here are a couple photos taken with my phone by Eric.

I brought two items for show-and-tell: my copy of Truth Seeker: The Life of Eric P. Newman, and an unawarded but nice Belgian Carnegie Hero Medal, a recent eBay acquisition. Here are the seller's photos, which don't do the medal justice - it's beautiful in person.

Aaron Packard came with a number of nice tokens, and provided these images for The E-Sylum. Thanks! My favorites were the Tom Thumb token and the 1864 Lincoln campaign piece. For more information on these, see Aaron's web site:
www.novanumismatics.com

Eric Schena writes:

Nummis Nova met in Annandale at Silverado, a fine Tex-Mex establishment chosen by Steve Bishop. Present were Mike Packard, Wayne Herndon Joe Esposito, Dave Schenkman, Wayne Homren, Eric Schena, Howard Daniel, Aaron Packard, Steve Bishop, Chris Neuzel, Jon Radel, and Tom Kays ready for bib and tucker, I should say chips and salsa amigo.

Here we are posing for the camera. No, wait. Howard Daniel showed us a 2016 calendar from the CLB SUU TÂP TEM - TIÊN of Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam which included a nice group photo of all the club members, Howard included. They do that every year apparently. I like this.

Here is our table starting with the more mature end, headed by your E-Sylum editor in person. Pictured from left to right are Howard, Eric, Wayne Homren, Dave, Joe, Wayne Herndon, and Mike in deep contemplation of dinner.

At my side of the table things were rather jolly, of course since I was there, and because we had already decided what we wanted off the menu and could relax in typical fashion. From left to right are Chris, Steve, and over the invisible divide on the more solemn side, on his phone, Aaron. Not pictured were Tom (your iPhone photographer for the evening) and the mysteriously out-of-frame Jon.

Passing by during show-and-tell time were an Andrew Carnegie Hero Fund Medal, a Lao "Crocodile" Copper Ingot, one of three Eric P. NewmanPatents (did you know he is an inventor)? This one was filed December29, 1944 for a Safety Control System for Burners, and we used it as a book markin the signed, limited edition biography, "Truth Seeker: The Life of Eric P. Newman which passed by, followed by an uncut sheet (remainders)of Demand Bank Notes for denominations of twelve and one half cents, 25 cents and 50 cents from the "Anti-Eatam Iron Works of Antietam, Maryland,dated 18__, a token estimated at only five struck from Norfolk, VA from R. Chamberlaine with Washington obverse, a pair of Russian coins: a 5 Kopeckpiece dated 1793, but actually struck in 1797 over a 1796 10 Kopeck piece of the different cipher design, which, in turn, was struck over a 5 Kopecksof the usual design of Catherine the Great.

A binder with numerous U.S Army, Fort Lee, Virginia ephemera including Logistical Exercise (LOGEX) Payment Certificates circa 1967, toned,high Mint State (MS) silver dollars of 1879-S and 1890-S, Cardboard "Good Fors" from S.H. Robertson, Taylors Store Va, an 1823 New York Grand CanalToken from Tredwell Kissam makers of Hardware, Cutlery, and Looking Glasses, a General Tom Thumb Medal, World Map medal in white metal from theCrystal Palace, a four and one sixth cents token from 1884 good for one loaf of bread from F. M. Jack in Atlanta, and other most interesting tokensincluding from Sabins Music Hall, a Temperance Token from Albany House, and J. & L. Brewster, Manufacturer of Caps and Hats from New Orleans all ofwhich landed on my dinner plate before entrees were served. In other words this was a pretty normal night for our supper club.

At our end of the table we spent much time in amusing ourselves with the difficulties in locating War of 1812 Congressional Medals, from one that was used as a hockey puck to another that was said to be in the Smithsonian, but couldn't be located. We note that none of us had ever heard about thefts from the Smithsonian, as we have from other museums. It seems the Smithsonian holdings are so vast that items may turn up eventually from among the various buildings and divisions so that nothing is missing even if its present whereabouts are not known.