Wayne Homren

Among our new subscribers this week arePhoebe Stiles of Hallenbeck Coin Gallery,Charlie Ludvik, and returning subscriberPeter Mosiondz, Jr.Welcome aboard! We now have 1,345 subscribers.

Life throws you a surprise every once in a while. I got one on Tuesday while driving my nine-year-old son Tyler to his Little League game. I stopped at an intersection waiting for traffic to clear so I could make a left-hand turn. After two oncoming cars passed through I was about to start my turn, when WHAM!

We were hit from behind by another car that must have been going over forty miles an hour. No horn, no brakes, just WHAM! My car was pushed halfway to the next intersection before it stopped. The driver's seat collapsed backward and I ended up looking at the roof. I wasn't sure which end was up. But I sat up and looked back to see if Tyler was all right. Thank God he was, and so was I.

The back window had shattered and safety glass was all over the back seat next to Tyler. I dialed 911 but a Sheriff's vehicle was already on the way to us. I called my wife and told her 1) we're OK and 2) what happened. I got out of the car. I couldn't open Tyler's door, so I had him crawl to the front seat and get out the passenger's side.

When the officer arrived Tyler rode in his car while I drove my mangled car up and around the next corner. I got out and for the first time got a good look at the damage. Say what you will about Toyota safety today, but that ten-year-old car saved our lives. The whole back end collapsed. It's hard to believe we walked away from it.

My frantic wife arrived and gave us hugs. She carefully extracted our son's equipment bag from what remained of my trunk, and took him to his game. The tow truck driver gave me a ride to the field. Tyler played a great game!

Everyone suspects the young woman driving the other car was texting or otherwise distracted. Luckily, she was unhurt too, and didn't contest the charges against her.

Tyler had to take pictures of the car to school on Thursday since his friends didn't believe his story. Me, I remember what happened every time I move my neck. Can anyone recommend a good Virginia auto injury lawyer? At least I can still type unimpeded, so let's get back to numismatics.

First, I'd like to thank John Salyer for helping upload some of the images in this issue to our Flickr archive. To add insult to injury, our Internet connection was down for a couple days this week. Apparently our Comcast cable line was "accidentally" cut by workers installing Verizon FIOS nearby...

This week we open with items from three numismatic literature dealers, and announcements of FOUR new numismatic books. Next, we have an essay from Harvey Stack on the value of books and announcements from the Massachusetts Historical Society and Medallic Art Company.

Other topics include U.S. Regulated Gold, finding hard-to-find "common" world coins, the Gloucester token, and the 1944 Saudi silver riyal.To learn about Confederate interim depository receipts, the Middeldorf collection of medals and plaquettes, and the identities of our mystery "young numismatist" and the new historian of Medallic Art Company, read on. Have a great week, everyone!

Wayne Homren
Numismatic Bibliomania Society