Tuesday, September 12, 2017 was the meeting night of my Northern Virginia Numismatic social group Nummis Nova. Howard Daniel and I were the hosts. We'd chosen Legal Seafoods at the Galleria inTysons Corner. I arrived around 6:15 to a nearly full house.

I took one of the empty seats between Roger Burdette and Mike Packard. Robert Hoppensteadt and Howard were across from us and soon Julian Leidman took the last seat on the end next to Robert.

We had three guests with us, although one of those was actually a former regular, Bill Eckberg. He'd retired to Florida a few years back, and was in town visiting after evacuating with hiswife ahead of the approaching hurricane. It was great to see him and chat for a while.

Wayne Herndon's guest was a banknote dealer visiting from Israel. Gene Brandenburg and Dave Schenkman brought their frend Mike Tresansky. Rounding out our party were Ron Abler, Eric Schena,and Steve Bishop.

I didn't have any numismatic items to display, but I passed around some literature - the newest Kagin's sale catalog, and the latest issue of Bo Tales, the official publication ofthe Original Hobo Nickel Society.

Here are some photos of our group.

From left clockwise: Wayne Herndon, Wayne's guest, Eric Schena, Dave Schenkman; Jon Radel, Ron Abler

Roger and I had a good discussion about his current research into the International Nickel Company private patterns. Ron Abler and I discussed the Newman Numismatic Portal and his work to provideimages from his Centennial medals book for the NNP image database.

Coin-Covered Siamese Tobacco Pipe
Howard's building a retirement home in Port St. Lucie, FL. It fortunately survived the hurricane well, although the new landscaping was now a mess. He passed along this interesting coin-encasedpipe. I'd never seen anything like this.

Howard adds:

Eric Schena's Italian World War I Service Medal
I didn't get a chance to speak to Eric Schena, who was seated at the other end of our table, but I saw his exhibits passed around. He writes:

Steve Bishop's Selections
Steve Bishop has wide-ranging collecting tastes. His displays for the evening included toned and slabbed Morgan dollars, medals and Russian coppers. He provided these images. Thanks!

Excellent plaque. Brenner was a master of portraiture.

I couldn't see the details in the restaurant's dim light, but the undertype shows clearly in the photos.

A beautiful coin. Thanks, Steve!

Fantasy CSA ID Tag
Dave Schenkman passed around this interesting item. Even in the dim light I suspected it was a counterfeit because of the poor date. But I couldn't make out the markings in the other side. I gota better look at the end of the evening. Dave explained the piece, a fantasy Confederate ID tag, and told me about an article he'd once written about them (which he kindly provided forpublication here - see the article following this one).

Here are some more images of the group.

Facing camera, left to right: Mike Tresansky, Steve Bishop, Bill Eckberg, Jon Radel, Ron Abler; Back to camera: Dave Schenkman, Eric Schena, Wayne's guest, Wayne Herndon.

From the far end of the table, looking up. from left, clockwise: Mike Tresansky, Steve, Bill, Jon, Ron, Mike Packard, Roger; Julian, Robert, Howard, Wayne Herndon, Wayne's guest, Eric, Dave,Gene.

Before leaving I spoke for a bit with Wayne Herndon. My sons Chris and Tyler have been working part-time for him at his Wizard Coin Supply warehouse.

It was another great night of numismatic fellowship, although I didn't manage to get around the table to mingle as usual. The food and drinks were excellent, and I'm glad our choice workedout. Many thanks to Howard for handling the legwork. 'Til next month!