NUMMIS NOVA

On Tuesday November 16 I got moving early in the morning as usual, with a case of bedhead of Warholian proportions. Someday I'll take a selfie. But I pulled it all together, made myself presentable for work and headed to my office.

It was a productive day and afterwards I happily pointed my car toward McLean, VA where a meeting of my northern Virginia numismatic social group Nummis Nova awaited. Roger Burdette was our host and he'd made a dinner reservation at J. Gilbert's, a great steak & seafood house.

Tom Kays was the first to arrive and I walked in right behind him.We grabbed stools in the bar to wait for the others. Soon Dave Schenkman, Eric Schena, Chris Neuzil and Wayne Herndon arrived. Before long Roger came in, settled some confusion over the reservation, and soon we were all walking back to a private room.

I'm a terrible photographer, but at least this shot was amusing.

I sat across from Roger at one end of the table and someone managed to cut him off of most of the group photos I took. Like I said, terrible photographer. Blame the glass of wine in the foreground. Anyway, clockwise from front left areMike Packard, Chris Neuzil, Tom Kays, Daryl Haynor, Julian Leidman, Steve Bishop, Wayne Herndon, Dave Schenkman, Eric Schena and Roger Burdette's arm.

Wayne's Show-N-Tell

A few meetings ago I brought along some of my collection of works by "Money Artist" J.S.G. Boggs. This month I brought a framed piece from his 1993 "Magic Money Machine" performance in Indiana, PA.

A more recent acquisition for my numismatic library was a copy of The Fantastic 1804 Dollar inscribed by Ken Bressett to Walter Breen. I also brought along some Breen letters and article manuscripts.

Other items included ephemera from last month's PAN show and the new book on physical bitcoins. These are pictured below in Tom Kays' writeup.

Eric's Ephemera

Eric surprised me with some gifts for my numismatic ephemera collection - a couple copies of the 1990 Harrisburg Coin Club show program, and a 1976 Stack's ANA auction catalog printed by Coin World. By its very nature ephemera typically gets used once and discarded, often making the formerly common quite rare. These particular items may never be valuable but they make interesting additions to a collection. Thanks, Eric!

Bob Hendershott's Wooden Nickel

Dave Schenkman shared this "50mm wooden piece issued by Bob Hendershott. It is signed by him and dated 8-7-98, which was the last day of the Portland ANA convention."

I got to meet Bob a few times at ANA conventions. He passed away in 2005 at the age of 106. He was one of the founders of the Florida United Numismatists, Inc. in 1955, and attended the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair in person as a 6 year old. This spurred conversations about other long-lived numismatists such as Eric P. Newman, who also reached the 106 milestone.

To read earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
ROBERT L. HENDERSHOTT, 1898-2005(https://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v08n13a02.html)
BOB HENDERSHOTT AND THE 1904 WORLD'S FAIR(https://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v08n13a03.html)
VIDEO: INTERVIEW WITH ROBERT HENDERSHOTT(https://www.coinbooks.org/v23/esylum_v23n20a13.html)

1778 North Carolina Eighth of a Dollar Note Dave also brought along some great paper items.

Dave has written an article about the printer of this note (he was the first printer in North Carolina) due for publication in the January 2022 issue of ANA's The Numismatist.

Ohio & Kentucky Coal, Iron & RR Co. Notes

Dave writes:

Tom's Table Talk
Tom Kays submitted this photo and writeup of his experience at the dinner. Thanks!

Our 'saintly-appearing' host Wayne lights up the bar with a stained-glass halo of hearty welcome.

Nummis Nova members met at J. Gilbert's Steak House in McLean, Virginia for their November dinner.In person meetings seem to be rare events these days, made all the more fun by their infrequent nature.We were ushered from waiting at the bar back to our usual private room, in order not to disturb normalsteakhouse diners with our ribald coin talk and numismatic shenanigans, a wise choice.

The first numismatic morsel to appear at table from our grandiloquent host Roger, was photocopy of aletter written in 1877 to O. H. La Grange, Superintendent of the U.S. Mint at San Francisco, regarding anodd double dime. The 1875 dated 20-cent piece in question had a reeded-edge and not the normalplain-edge. The writer, Director of the Mint, HR Linderman, wanted to know if it had been tampered with, or perhaps it might have been oneof the first struck, something like a pattern piece? He enclosed the coin and asked for its returnregardless of the answer. Do any legitimate 1875-S, reeded-edge 20-cent pieces exist? The letter raises questions toponder.

Next at table came the Encyclopedia of Physical Bitcoins and Crypto-Currencies by Elias Ahonenwhich raises even more questions about types of wealth undreamed of, back when silver, 20-cent pieces circulated. And then I saw The Art and Craft of Coinmaking - A History of Minting Technology by DenisR. Cooper, a former Superintendent of the Royal Mint which floated by. This is a scarce book from the1960s with a letter about D. R. Cooper's new digs at the London Office of Taylor & Challen Limited, St.Stephen's House, Victoria Embankement, where he continued with consulting in the design and supplyof minting machinery.

Next a framed J. S. G. Boggs 'Boggs Bill' listing Wayne K. Homren as passed in review. Its serial number (16061993) made it extra special as a from June 16, 1993. It is an 'error note' with mismatched serial numbers as well, but you might expectsuch surprises from high art.

Eric sent along a Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival Lucky Encased Centfrom Winchester, VA with a high grade 1931 Lincoln Cent enclosed. This comes from a 'local' site nextdoor to his house, associated with the long traditions of the Town of Winchester and with Patsy Clinethe country singer and a hometown girl.

You may appreciate the diversity and depth of interest that we all bring to dinners by what we thinkworthy of Everything has a story to tell. Along came The Fantastic 1804 Dollar byEric Newman and Kenneth E. Bressett with a dedication page written to Walter Breen in 1962. Thisstarted much discussion about Walter Breen and his wife, the noted author Marion Zimmer Bradley,author of The Mists of Avalon.

A dinner menu from the recent Annual Fall Banquet of the PennsylvaniaAssociation of Numismatists (PAN) combined both coins and dinner in a wonderful manner, having beenpasted into blue Whitman coin folders by Tom Uram to celebrate the Centennial of Morgan/Peace Dollars of 1921 by reissue of both in 2021.

Assortments of random numismatic objects began whizzing past quickly before the appetizers and breadand butter were served, as we do not want greasy fingerprints on our treasures. The feeling issomething like opening the door of Doctor Who's TARDIS, not knowing where or when the next thingyou see hails from.

Piling up on my right was a collection of miscellany including a post card with animage of The World's Greatest Travel Car, a Model-T sporting a coin shop on wheels in its bed, thenNorth Carolina Colonial Currency from the Eric P. Newman Collection including a note signed by notable,James Davis in 1778. Also a ten-dollar Boone Furnace - Coal, Iron, and Railroad Company note fromKentucky of 1874 and then 'A Round TUIT wooden nickel issued in Portland, Oregon in 1998 by RobertL. Hendershott, Numismatist and Expert on the 1904 Saint Louis World's Fair appeared, followed by acatalog from the Tyrant Collection of U.S. Type Coins - The World's Most Valuable Private CoinCollection.

I saw fine old silver coins (New Purchases or ) including French Diximes andDouzains of Louis XIV and XV, old Spanish cobs, pillars, and portraits from Philip III to Ferdinand VII, fulland half Leeuwendaalders of the Low Countries ("How low were they?" someone asked) and some earlyU.S. coins including bust Half Dollars among other numismatic objects of note, each having a tale to tell,but not having time enough to share all their stories before the hungry dinner crowd dug in.

Personally,I no longer bring such commonplace things as two-headed large cents to show and share, since thenormal ambiance of fine dinner lighting keeps their ruddy copper toned oddities in the dark. In fact, Ibrought and wore a hands-free, head mounted LED Miner's Lamp during the pre-dinner round-to beable to see and be able to tell you all about the curiosities passing along my end of the table, all thewhile minding not to glance up and blind my cross table dinner partners when they spoke. Sorry Wayne!

I talked at length with Wayne Herndon (the other Wayne) of Wizard Coin Supply who told of how theU.S. Mint Fulfillment Center in Memphis, Tennessee sent him a sealed truck and dedicated driver, tocarry a single pallet, slightly filled at the bottom with his American Innovation Dollar coin order. Whilewell worth the $4.95 shipping charge, the delivery failed to come with keys or instructions on how toopen the steel-bar reinforced, official U.S. Mint Seal locking the back of the truck, used to keep thedriver, or anyone else from tampering with the order en route. Hammers and crow bars would not cutit, so that you will have to ask Wayne for how this story involving turns out.

By now foodorders were assembled and entrees appeared, causing us to put show and shares away and stifling ourconversation to a polite, mouth-filled standstill, while we supped on steaks and sundries. Now this iswhat a Nummis Nova dinner should do. Fill us with stories of numismatic variety and with gustatorydelight. After a fine steak dinner the rest of the evening was a pleasant blur of digestion andcamaraderie with ever intruding thoughts of returning to the real world tomorrow morning. Some of usneeded to drive large commercial vehicles loaded with coin supplies to the Whitman Coin Show in Baltimore for dealer set-up at a major sales event the next day. Such is the life of the coin enthusiast.

Wrapping Up

Thanks, Tom. Here's a shot I took after dinner from the other end of the table.Clockwise from left: Julian Leidman, Steve Bishop, Wayne Herndon, Dave Schenkman, Eric Schena, Roger Burdette, Mike Packard, Chris Neuzil, Tom Kays (in the dark) and Daryl Haynor.

WHITMAN BALTIMORE EXPO

My numismatic adventures for the week were only beginning. After a morning meeting at the office I headed up to Baltimore for the Whitman Expo. One of my first stops was the table of Sheridan Downey - he's compiling electronic files of his catalogs and pricelists for the Newman Numismatic Portal.

I also ran into NBS Board Member Dave Steine, who was speaking with Doug Winter at Doug's table. We discussed the utility and value of priced and named auction catalogs and whether their presence on NNP reduces their value. While it does remove some otherwise interested buyers from the market, Doug and I were in the camp of those interested in physical copies as a tangible connection to the hobby's past. Much as I love the Portal, in the end it's just a photo album with pictures of things we bibliophiles value - there's no substitute for the real item.

Other NBS Officers I spoke to at the show were David Fanning and Len Augsburger. I caught up with David at the table of John Kraljevich and helper Erik Goldstein. The four of us would have dinner that evening along with Charlie Davis and Neil Musante. We had to scramble when I learned that Sullivan's, where Len and I often dine, was closed. And Morton's was booked until nearly 8pm. With JK's help we found a nice Italian place a few blocks up Charles Street.

But I digress. My main mission was to make the rounds and visit our E-Sylum advertisers; we couldn't keep this going without their support. Doug Winter has been a stalwart from the beginning of our HTML era, when we could include images and offer more than just text-based ads. In addition to Doug, David and Charlie, at the show wereHarry Laibstain Rare Coins,Julian Leidman, Bob Rhue, Northeast Numismatics,Dave and Melissa Kahn,Pierre Fricke,Daniel Frank Sedwick,Classical Numismatics Group, Dennis Hengeveld of World Banknote Auctions, Jeff Garrett, and more.

Some folks were not at their tables when I stopped (David Michaels of CNG, and Bob Rhue, for instance), but others were just busy with customers (such as Dennis Hengeveld, Pierre Fricke and Don Kagin). I spent much of my time talking with others between customers, and didn't get around to taking many photos.

Among the advertisers and other friends I spoke with at the show were Julian Leidman, Chris Neuzil, Rick Lank and Becky Rush, Dave Lange, Jesse Kraft of ANS, Dan Friedus, Charlie and Neil, Alan Weinberg, Julia Casey, Chris McDowell, and Melissa Kahn. Somehow I managed to miss Wayne Herndon's table.

One unplanned interlude occurred at the back of the hall where I heard a noise and turned to see that a showgoer had fallen onto the concrete floor. A wheeled cart was caught on the leg of a chair and may have been what caused him to lose balance. Four or five of us managed to lift him up and onto a chair. It took every last one of us - the guy must've weighed 300 pounds. Expo Center security staff came quickly and were quite professional. They helped the man get back on his way.

Daniel Frank Sedwick

A couple of the few photos I took were at the table of Daniel Frank Sedwick, LLC. I had nice conversation with him and Augi Garcia about their recent sale and the state of the numismatic market.

We'd recently discussed Global Certification Services holders and I came across this one in one of their cases. I also had a conversation with Jeff Garrett about these - see his note about these elsewhere in this issue.

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
QUERY: GLOBAL CERTIFICATION SERVICES(https://www.coinbooks.org/v24/esylum_v24n46a13.html)

Jeff and Mary Lynn Garrett

One of the last tables I visited was that of Mid-American Coin Galleries, where Mary Lynn and Jeff Garrett were just closing up shop.

Dinner and Farewell
Our dinner was at Sotto Sopra. Len and I walked the few cold blocks up Charles where John, Erik and David were already seated at a back table. Neil and Charlie joined us a bit later.

Conversation flowed about numismatics, the show, and everything else in the world. Everyone speculated on the meaning of the "Women's Exchange" building sign on Charles street - "How exactly does that work, anyway?" Turns out the Woman's Industrial Exchange of Baltimore City had been in operation there for 140 years, providing work and assistance for needy Baltimore women.

Having awoken at 4am it had been a long day for me. It was a great show and dinner, but I marched back to my car for the hour-long drive home. I'll look forward to seeing people again at the next major show.