Tuesday October 15, 2019 was the meeting night of my Northern Virginia numismatic social group, Nummis Nova. Joe Esposito was our host, and he'd chosen an Italian placecalled Villa Bella in Burke, VA. I was among the last to arrive and settled into a chair between Joe and Robert Hoppensteadt, straight across from guest Jonas Denenberg. Otherattendees included Tom Kays, Eric Schena, Dave Schenkman, Mike Packard, Jon Radel, Steve Bishop, and Julian Leidman.

We had a back room all to ourselves, and that was nice. Appetizers would soon be hitting the table and bread and olive oil were already distributed. I gave Tom Kays someduplicate or unneeded books from my library as donations to the Fairfax County Coin CLub's kid events. My only display items were a copy of Mike Shutty's new book Bent,Holed & Folded, and the Joe Redner One Vote Note by J.S.G. Boggs and Tom Hipschen. Both items had been discussed before in The E-Sylum.

Robert's Marcus Aurelius

Robert Hoppensteadt collects ancient coins with images of buildings. He showed us pictures of a very rare coin he'd purchased that day in a Gorny and Mosch auction.Here's the lot description:

Robert adds:

Great coin. Robert explained that the Decapolis was a group of ten eastern cities (including Damascus) that were chiefly inhabited by Greeks and maintained a Greekcharacter.

Schenkman's Tokens
Dave Schenkman can usually be counted on for some interesting material, particularly tokens. Here are two pieces he brought that night.

Dave writes:

The Coin Banjo
Outside of numismatics, Dave is a player and dealer in banjos. We discussed this tiny banjo I'd come across in the Newman Numismatic Portal photo gallery of the EclecticNumismatic Treasure (Miscellaneous section). Very cool item.

To see the complete NNP item, see:
Coin Banjo (https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/imagedetail/566649?col=511837)

Buy it Now for $1,250,000.00
Dave also remarked on this eBay lot with a wild price tag: "I have a feeling his price is a bit optimistic. I was amazed at the assigned grading also..."

To read the complete lot description, see:
COLOMBIA TREASURY DEPARTMENT DE PANAMA FRENCH CANALADMINISTRATION 5 c 1889 PMG (https://www.ebay.com/itm/COLOMBIA-TREASURY-DEPARTMENT-DE-PANAMA-FRENCH-CANAL-ADMINISTRATION-5-c-1889-PMG/174018914311)

It was another fine night of numismatic fellowship. It was a relatively short drive home for me. leaving time to put away my toys for another day.

To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
THE JOE REDNER POLITICAL NOTE (https://www.coinbooks.org/v22/esylum_v22n38a24.html)
NEW BOOK: BENT, HOLED, & FOLDED (https://www.coinbooks.org/v22/esylum_v22n41a03.html)