The E-Sylum:  Volume 10, Number 39, September 30, 2007, Article 18

WAYNE'S NUMISMATIC DIARY: SEPTEMBER 26, 2007: ROGER BURDETTE VISIT

Dick Johnson was the last numismatic visitor to my library in Pittsburgh.
Dick and his wife Shirley were in town for the Carnegie Hero Medal
Centenary celebration.  On October 15, 2004 they joined my whole
family for dinner at a nearby restaurant, then came back to the house.
We had a fun evening discussing numismatics, numismatists, The E-Sylum
and countless other topics.

I spent much of the next summer commuting to a new job in northern
Virginia, and in August of last year we sold the Pittsburgh house
and bought a new one in Virginia.  This summer I "commuted" even
farther for my assignment in London.  Now that that's over things
are settling down into a more normal routine.  Since we moved here
I'd been wanting to get together with Roger Burdette who lives just
a few miles away.  The publication of his latest book provided an
ideal opportunity, and Wednesday night he stopped by, becoming
the first numismatic visitor to my library in its new Virginia home.

Arriving about 8:30 after our kids were in bed, I introduced Roger
to my wife Dee, and we had a nice hallway chat about the neighborhood
and surrounding area.  When Dee headed upstairs for the night, Roger
and I sat down at the kitchen table to review a copy of his latest
book, 'Renaissance of American Coinage 1909-1915'.  I leafed through
the book page-by-page, questioning Roger on various topics and
illustrations.  He filled me in on the background of his research
and decisions about leaving certain things in or out of the book.
When I was done Roger kindly signed the book for me.

Next we walked into my office for a tour of my numismatic library.
It was a fun stroll down memory lane for me as I recounted how I'd
acquired and organized it over the years.  The bound Numismatist
set came from the library of Richard Foley of Pittsburgh; many other
periodicals such as the bound sets of Coin Collector's Journal and
Essay-Proof Journal came from the Donald Miller library.  My
incomplete American Journal of Numismatic set came from my purchase
of the publisher's backstock of the AJN.  My plated catalogs
(Chapman and others) came from the Miller library and one at a
time from many other sources.

I showed Roger a listing of my 50+ numismatic ephemera binders and
as an example pulled out the "Coinage Proposals" binder.  It holds
various pamphlets and other items relating to Universal Decimal
Coinage, Bimetallic Coinage, Robert Noxon Toppan's proposed
International Unit, and Nicholas Veeder's Cometallic Eutopia coins.
Also in the binder is a hardbound copy of Veeder's 1885 Cometallism
pamphlet, which I purchased in the John J. Ford library sale.

Looking at the binder list Roger asked about "M. N. Daycious" and
I recounted the story of the great numismatic bibliophile April Fool's
joke of 1992.

Like most collectors I can't resist showing off my collection, but
everything was in a bank safe deposit box except the last purchase
from my London trips; I pulled out two 1833 Robert Owen Labour
Exchange notes purchased from Simon Narberth to show Roger.

Before ending the evening I pulled out a copy of my library guest
book and asked Roger to sign it, which he gladly did.  The beautifully
bound blank book with my name in gilt on the spine was a gift from
E-Sylum reader Stephen Pradier in June 2004.  It was made by his
binder, Long's Roullet Bookbinders, Inc of Norfolk, VA.

I bid Roger goodbye sometime before 11pm.  One of the last things
I showed him was my E-Sylum "To-Do" pile, a foot-high stack of books
to be reviewed.  His new book only made the stack higher.  It includes
a copy of Karl Moulton's and Rusty Goe's new books, some that I
bought from London, plus some newer auction catalogs.  I'd tried
to whittle down the stack last week with my "Gleanings from Recent
Numismatic Periodicals and Catalogues" item.  It didn't help much
- the pile now looms larger than ever.   But it's all part of the
hobby fun.    We'd had a great evening visiting and chatting
numismatics, and that makes all the work worthwhile.

 HOMREN PAMPHLET AND EPHEMERA FILES
 esylum_v07n33a20.html

 SHADES OF MARTIN NATHANIEL DAYCIUS
 esylum_v05n15a06.html

 LABOR EXCHANGE NOTES
 esylum_v09n49a20.html

 WAYNE'S LONDON DIARY 29 JULY, 2007
 esylum_v10n30a23.html

 GLEANINGS FROM RECENT NUMISMATIC PERIODICALS AND CATALOGUES
 esylum_v10n38a11.html

  Wayne Homren, Editor

	coinbooks.org Web

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