On Tuesday night I eased into a parking spot at the Vienna (Virginia) Community Center. I'd brought a heavy box of giveaway literature for the Fairfax Coin Club, and a luggage cart would have come in handy. I stopped a couple times to set it down, but I did manage to haul it to the upstairs room where the club was meeting. I spread piles of recent numismatic periodicals and spare books on the freebie table.

I also had a large National album for mint sets and a handful of vintage coin boards. I gave those to Daryl Haynor for the club to auction or raffle off. But not before I showed the group to the evening's speaker, Greg Bennick of Seattle. As noted a couple issues back, Greg was here to speak on his numismatic specialty, error coins. Greg thought the Indian Cent board would be a nice gift for his father, and I gave it to him.

While Greg, Daryl and the club officers got set up for the meeting, I grabbed a couple slices of pizza for a light dinner. I was also texting with my college student daughter, planning some Christmas gifts.Daryl ran an opening segment of coin quizzes, nicely produced with music and video in the style of a TV game show. It was very fun and educational.

Some 50+ members and guests were in attendance, and it was a knowledgeable and appreciative crowd, including a number of young faces. I saw some familiar older faces from my Northern Virginia Numismatic Social group, Nummis Nova; in addition to Daryl, Mike Markowitz, Lorne Lavertu and Tom Kays were there.

Greg's talk was an overview of error coins. I learned some things, and I had thought I was already familiar with the topic. He did a great job of making a complex topic accessible and understandable. He was very engaging and personable - I think everyone came away both entertained and informed. Here are some of my photos.

Greg ended with a discussion of his recent discovery of a rare mated pair of error Shield Nickels.

He had a number of people come up to him afterwards to ask a question, show him a coin, or get his business card. We walked out of the building a little after 9pm, and we soon met up again a mile or so away at the bar in Ristorante Bonaroti, a great restaurant where Nummis Nova has met in the past. We talked about a number of things, from the evening's events to recent and upcoming interviews Greg is doing for NNP and The E-Sylum, and some of my library consignments to the next Kolbe & Fanning sale, such as an archive of material relating to collector John A. Beck.

It was great to see Greg. It was a short meetup, but I would see him again later in the week at the Whitman Baltimore Coin Expo.

To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
ERROR SHIELD NICKEL MATED PAIR DISCOVERED(https://www.coinbooks.org/v26/esylum_v26n16a25.html)
FAIRFAX CLUB HOSTS ERROR COIN SPEAKER(https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n43a16.html)