Sometimes the months just fly by. After work on Tuesday July 10, 2018 I made my way to the Pazzo Pomodoro restaurant in Vienna, VA. Mike Packardwas the host for this month's dinner meeting of our Northern Virgina numismatic social group, Nummis Nova.

I got there early and was the first to arrive. I was seated at a long table in a nice side room. As it happened we had the room to ourselves forthe evening. The rest of the place was busy for a Tuesday night, and we soon learned why - the food was excellent and the wine list amazing.

One of the next to arrive was our resident wine expert Gene Brandenburg who studied the list and ordered a magnum only to be told they'd justsold the last one. Fearing a reenactment of the Monte Python cheese shop sketch, I was relieved when they could supply his second choice, which heshared with me, Eric Schena and Dave Schenkman; we were all seated at one end of the table.

Others arrived and filled in the rest of the seats. Julian Leidman held court at the opposite end with Mike Packard between us and Jon Radel,Robert Hoppensteadt and Steve Bishop across. It was a small gathering this time. Tom Kays expressed regrets through the Meetup app, having to turnback after hitting traffic too slow to bear.

I started the evening off by circulating some non-numismatic catalogs I'd received, but ones where great numismatic items can sometimes befound. On the right is a page from Rex Stark's Catalog #88. He was unable to attend, but I'd planned to show Joe Esposito the Kennedy licenseplate. He's our resident JFK expert, having just published his book, Dinner in Camelot: The Night America's Greatest Scientists, Writers,and Scholars Partied at the Kennedy White House.

ISIS Coins?
I brought out the following recent acquisitions, coyly asking folks to identify them. Mostly I got shrugged shoulders and smartass comments like,"it's a round metal thing called a coin." Eric was the first to correctly guess these are coins issued by the terrorist group ISIS. Atleast I THINK that's what they are.

See the links below for earlier E-Sylum discussions about these. After publishing the articles I heard from someone who said they wereembedded with YPG troops in Syria fighting ISIS and he wanted to thank me for the articles, which had helped him identify some of the coins he andhis comrades had found in areas cleared of ISIS fighters. He said he would send me some, and after a very long wait a box had arrived in the mail acouple days earlier.

If I'm reading these right, they are (left to right):

5 fils, copper, 0.825" diameter
1 dirham, silver?. 0.825"
10 fils, copper, 1.0"
25 fils, copper, 1.33"

Matching these images with some identified by readers earlier, I could see they have a common obverse design which Chip Howell had translated assaying "Islamic State" around the top and "Caliphate for the Prophet's Pathway" below. I measured them and translated thedenominations, double checking against what readers had said before. At the meeting Jon Radel read the inscription on the silver-colored one and saidit stated "99.9 Fine Silver", confirming Chip Howell's reading.

I had thought it was nickel (and too light for aluminum). That inscription is a clue that it might actually be made of silver, but as Joncorrectly pointed out, these people aren't known far and wide for telling the truth. I don't have a working scale and forgot to ask someoneto bring one, so I don't know what they weigh.

Are these catalogued anywhere yet? Where? Krause's Unusual World Coins? I'm missing the 2 dirham from the set pictured earlier, butare there any more denominations? It's hard to find time, but I wouldn't mind exhibiting these or writing an article sometime. Any willingand able co-authors out there?

To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
QUERY: WERE THESE COINS MADE BY ISIS?(http://www.coinbooks.org/v21/esylum_v21n01a32.html)
ANSWER: WERE THESE COINS MADE BY ISIS?(http://www.coinbooks.org/v21/esylum_v21n02a11.html)

U.S. Mint Silver Dollar Box

I took pictures of this U.S. Mint product. Can anyone tell us more about it? Is this a gift shop product? The eagle logo connects it to the mint,but inside is a circulated silver dollar on no particular note.

Jon Radel looked online and found that the mint is selling similar boxes today (sans coins).

To read the complete product listing, see: AmericanEagle Silver Bullion One Ounce Presentation Case (100 Count)(https://catalog.usmint.gov/american-eagle-silver-bullion-one-ounce-presentation-case-100-count-SPB.html?cgid=collectors-boxes#start=1)

Bishop's Beauties
Steve Bishop always has some attractive new acquisitions to share. These are often nicely toned silver dollars, but his interests run far and wide. Iespecially enjoyed the Lincoln cent error. Thanks to Steve for providing these images.

$100 Bank of the Commonwealth of Virginia Note

Eric Schena exhibited a rare Civil War era Virginia banknote. He writes:

A very impressive note.

A Visit To Stack's Bowers
Eric also shared with us the story of his recent visit to Stack's Bowers Galleries. He writes:

World Coin Games
Tom Kays made a futile attempt at fighting traffic, but had to turn back and didn't make our meeting. But afterwards he took the lead to preparefor the next Kids Event at the upcoming Annandale Coin Show.

As you may recall from earlier E-Sylum articles, Gary Beals invented the World Coin Games as a fun, interactive way for young numismatiststo participate and learn. Using a dealer junk box style pile of loose foreign coins, the players form teams and compete in timed segments to seewhich team can find and identify coins from the most continents, the most countries, the most different metals, the most different shapes, the mostdifferent animals, etc.

Not knowing just how many different pieces we had in our treasure box, I suggested we seed the pile ordering a One of Each Country package fromEducational Coin Company (170 different!). Tom did this, picked up index cards and markers, and also located and purchased three world maps(we'll pass the hat to reimburse him).

The show is next weekend, so stay tuned for reports on how it goes. I understand the Virginia Numismatic Association is also planning the give theWorld Coin Games a try at their show this fall. Many thanks to Gary Beals for originating the concept.

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
INTRODUCING: WORLD COIN GAMES(http://www.coinbooks.org/v21/esylum_v21n20a27.html)

Flight 93 Congressional Gold Medal

Although it didn't take place this week, I wanted to publish this photo I took recently while visiting Pennsylvania with my family. On our wayhome we detoured to the Flight 93 Memorial run by the National Park Service in Shanksville, PA.

My next numismatic diary will likely be from the American Numismatic Association World's Fair of Money in Philadelphia, PA. I hope to see manyof our readers there. Look for me in the Numismatic Bibliomania Society events, the Money Talks presentations,or the NBS club table. It's alwaysnice to connect faces to email addresses. See you then.