Tuesday February 12, 2019 was the meeting night of my monthly Northern Virginia numismatic social group Nummis Nova. Steve Bishop was our host, and we metat a restaurant named The Espositos in Fairfax. Member Joe Esposito was absent, and so were the jokes about the restaurant connection (there is none).

Several folks were already there when I arrived, including Steve, Mike Packard, Jon Radel, Robert Hoppensteadt, Tom Kays and Dave Schenkman. Julian Leidmanarrived shortly after me. It was a smaller group than normal, with some being kept home by wintry weather. Wayne Herndon was at the Fairfax Coin Clubmeeting.

So-Called Half Dollars
I took a seat across from Steve and next to Dave Schenkman, who showed me a fascinating sample set of so-called half dollars. The group of ten pieces shows thevarious finishes available.

So what is "Tumbled Ormolu"? This is a fascinating set, which was probably used as a salesman's sample when taking orders for other medals.Has anyone seen anything like this before?

Obsolete Paper Money
Dave also brought some interesting recently purchased obsolete paper money, beginning with an amazing odd denomination from the Eric P. Newman collection.

Fascinating piece, worth one and a half bits. Payable at three stores in three cities as well as on board Lake Champlain Steam Boats, those were likely thetowns where the boats docked. I haven't consulted a map, though.

A much more common denomination - one bit was worth twelve and a half cents.

A very rare coal company note that brought spirited bidding. Congrats on all your acquisitions, Dave!

Russian Reoverstrikes and Pattern Copies
Steve Bishop brought some interesting Russian pieces. He writes:

Damnatio Memoriae
Robert Hoppensteadt passed around an interesting ancient medallion.

Robert writes:

To read an earlier E-Sylum article, see:
FEATURED WEB PAGE: DAMNATIO MEMORIAE (https://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v16n14a27.html)

It was another great evening of numisamtic fellowship. I'm already looking forward to our next meeting.