If you're wondering why last week's issue didn't hit your inbox until the wee hours of Monday morning, nothing bad happened. In fact, it was due to a very good occasion in ourhousehold - our oldest son Christopher graduated from high school, and several out-of-town relatives were on hand for a party and the commencement ceremony. I needed to work late Sunday to completethis week's issue.

Some of you are reading The E-Sylum for the first time today, but we've been publishing weekly since September 4, 1998, when I started the email newsletter to promote the NumismaticBibliomania Society. From our web site:

Email and the Internet were new to most people then, and I'd had to wait a couple years from my initial idea until enough NBS members even had email addresses. But by 1998 the time was finallyripe, and I had an additional personal reason to start the newsletter - I had a pregnant wife and my days of going to coin shows and club meetings whenever I wanted were behind me. The Internet wouldallow me to stay in touch with my friends and hobby from the comfort of my home office.

Right on schedule our son arrived December 18, 1998 as reported in Volume 1, Number 12. Now 'the kid' is bigger and taller than me, and heading to college in the fall.

The E-Sylum has grown a bit, too. From an article or two per week and 88 subscribers, we now have as many as 40 articles and over 3,000 subscribers.

Nummis Nova
I saw a need for a numismatic email newsletter, and since it didn't exist, I created it. And when I moved my family to Northern Virginia I didn't find any close-by clubs of the sort I'denjoyed in Pittsburgh. So I started one. Our kids were older by then, and it would be my one night out with friends.

I modeled it after The Sphinx Society, started by Ray Byrne in 1960. The group has no Constitution, no officers, no committee and no reading of the minutes. It's a pure social group, meetingmonthly for a dinner and numismatic fellowship. Here's a report from our latest meeting.

After work Tuesday June 13 I made my way to The Esposito's Italian restaurant in Fairfax, VA. I was the first to arrive, but was soon joined by Eric Schena, Dave Schenkman, Gene Brandenburg,Ron Abler and Wayne Herndon. Before long Joe Esposito, Steve Bishop, Mike Packard and Roger Burdette were there as well. We sat at a long rectangular table toward the back.

I was dead tired from the long weekend, but happy to see everyone. I didn't bring anything to show, but others did. Eric Schena showed us copies of a manuscript he'd written in college onearly Russian coinage.

Thomas Paine "End of Pain" Conder Token
Steve Bishop had a nice "End of Pain" token, a Russian copper, and some nice silver dollars. He provided these photos, but the one of the 1884-CC doesn't do it justice - it's agreat-looking coin. The other dollars had some interesting toning patterns from contact with other coins or objects.

The piece refers to Thomas Paine, the British-born revolutionary gadfly whose pamphlet Common Sense was enormously influential in the American colonies. It's not a favorable piece,showing a corpse hanging from a scaffold with the inscrition "END OF PAIN". The reverse reads "May the knave of Jacobin clubs never get a trick." It is one of several varieties ofanti-Paine Conder tokens. Joe Esposito identified it for me as Dalton & Hamer Middlesex 1105.

The piece was discussed on the NGC chat boards. Participant Conder101 wrote:

To read the complete article, see:
Middlesex hanging man (https://www.ngccoin.com/boards/topic/328650-middlesex-hanging-man/)

U.S. Silver Dollars
Here are the silver dollars.

Neat and Gas Boxing Match Token
Dave Schenkman showed a great boxing medal he'd picked up on eBay.

Dave writes:

Great piece. I'd never seen it before. It was an enjoyable evening. The place was thoroughly Italian with the menu in Italian as well. I ordered a salmon dish and it was wonderful.

From left, clockwise: Ron Abler, Gene Brandenburg, Joe Esposito, Dave Schenkman and Eric Schena.

I ended up having a long conversation with Roger Burdette about how different people perceive and handle money, and about the structural problems of the health care industry in the U.S. Soit's not always about numismatics, but always interesting conversation.

I was so engrossed I didn't get up to mingle at the other end of the table as usual. Upon leaving some kidded, "See you - it was nice not talking to you!" That's the one thing Idislike about our meetings - restaurants park us at long tables and it's difficult to see or talk with all of the attendees. Still, it was a great night of fellowship as always.