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About Us The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit association devoted to the study and enjoyment of numismatic literature. For more information please see our web site at coinbooks.org Subscriptions Those wishing to become new E-Sylum subscribers can go to the following web page Subscribe You may Unsubscribe Here Membership There is a membership application available on the web site Membership Application To join, print the application and return it with your check to the address printed on the application. Print/Digital membership is $40 to addresses in the U.S., and $60 elsewhere. A digital-only membership is available for $25. For those without web access, write to: Jeff Dickerson, Treasurer Numismatic Bibliomania Society P. O. Box 578, Weatherford, TX 76086 Asylum For Asylum mailing address changes and other membership questions, contact Jeff at this email address: treasurer@coinbooks.org Submissions To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com BUY THE BOOK BEFORE THE COIN Sale Calendar Watch here for updates!

 

Content presented in The E-Sylum is not necessarily researched or independently fact-checked, and views expressed do not necessarily represent those of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society.

WAYNE'S WORDS: THE E-SYLUM JANUARY 25, 2026

New subscribers this week include: Richard Jerram, courtesy Fred Liberatore; Ryan Howe and Wayne Prochaska, courtesy of Fred Holabird; Ralph Cole, and Gordy McCarville. Welcome aboard! We now have 6,664 subscribers.

Thank you for reading The E-Sylum. If you enjoy it, please send me the email addresses of friends you think may enjoy it as well and I'll send them a subscription. Contact me at whomren@gmail.com anytime regarding your subscription, or questions, comments or suggestions about our content.

This week we open with a book review, a death notice, updates from the Newman Numismatic Portal with four more books, notes from readers, and more.

Other topics this week include the San José and SS Central America shipwrecks, encased coins, the FUN show, the Loye L. Lauder sale, Fulbright scholars in numismatics, fixed price and auction selections, and scientists who turned lead into gold.

To learn more about Roger Dooley, Doc Davis, Dr. Alan Stahl, Haym Salomon, creating the Newman Numismatic Portal, Croatian banknotes, why most coins are round, a REGARD ring, gold nugget stickpins, The Art of Medal Engraving, The Florentine Florin, the RMS Lusitania, the 1802 half dime, and the first Bulgarian banknote, read on. Have a great week, everyone!

Wayne Homren
Editor, The E-Sylum

 

BOOK REVIEW: NEPTUNE'S FORTUNE

Precise amounts of the precious metals brought on board the San José for what turned out to be its final voyage are impossible to ascertain. But as Julian Sancton tells us in his splendid "Neptune's Fortune: The Billion-Dollar Shipwreck and the Ghosts of the Spanish Empire," it is estimated that there was "as much as eight tons' worth of gold on board, more than had ever sailed in a single Spanish ship," and "more than a million silver coins," in addition to precious-metal contraband and—another estimate—600 or so people.

The ship would, over time, attain legendary status and prompt the widespread belief, on at least three continents, that it was, as Mr. Sancton writes, "the most valuable shipwreck in history." But where exactly did the San José sink?

For hundreds of years, interested parties guessed wrong. Then came Roger Dooley. Born in New Jersey in 1944 to a Cuban mother and an American father, Mr. Dooley was 3 when his parents separated. After several years of moving about, he was living in Cuba with his mother and brother when, in 1959, Fidel Castro took control of the island nation. Beguiled by Castro's soldiers, 15-year-old Roger joined the army. But he was also entranced by diving (courtesy of the American television show "Sea Hunt") and would become, Mr. Sancton tells us, a naturally skilled diver. The Caribbean was filled with centuries-old shipwrecks, and Mr. Dooley became enthralled by marine archaeology.

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CLAUDE E. DAVIS (1926-2025)

It is with sadness that I provide this announcement to the Numismatic Community, of the passing of Claude E. Davis, affectionately known as "Doc Davis" to many, on December 26, 2025.

Doc resided in Angola, IN, and was a veteran of WWII, Board Certified Surgeon, Pilot, Deputy of Angola PD, Advanced collector, and Patriarch of the Davis family. He is survived by his wife, Mary (Jeanne) Davis, sister Elizabeth Davis, and many children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Doc was a Life Member of the ANA, LM 1023. In the pursuit of collecting coins, first through trial and error and the help of others, he taught himself, which led eventually to an in-depth study of the pieces he wanted to acquire.

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LAWNICZAK RELEASES REFERENCES ON ENCASED COINS

James Lawniczak Releases References on Encased Coins

An encased coin is a coin – most often a U.S. cent - that has been set into a metal holder, usually aluminum, which was struck around the coin using dies. The holder typically carries advertising, a commemorative message, or a "good luck" slogan, while the coin itself is locked in place as part of the striking process. Encased coins first appeared around 1899 and were commonly used in the early to mid-20th century by merchants, events, and organizations as advertising pieces, souvenirs, or pocket charms. Because the coin was struck in place, an original encased coin will hold the coin tightly, with no gap between the coin and the holder.

The number of such issues in the U.S. is well into the tens of thousands, and the researcher James Lawniczak has put order to the chaos with his release of comprehensive references on encased coins of Michigan, Ohio and New York, numbering over 4,000 issues in total. Authors of similar catalogs are well-aware of the sustained effort needed to compile this data over a long period of time, and thanks are due to Jim for freely sharing this work.

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NEW BOOK: MEDALS COMMEMORATING HAYM SALOMON

The Newman Numismatic Portal website (https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/books) contains over 2,300 books. One of the newest works is "Medals, Etc. Commemorating Haym Salomon" by Mel Wacks, celebrating the "Financier to the American Revolution," available exclusively on the NNP.

The Portal describes Wacks' new work as follows:

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VIDEO: NEWMAN NUMISMATIC PORTAL

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NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: JANUARY 25, 2026

Croatian Banknotes Published in German and Croatian
Dusty Dragicevic writes:

For more information, or to order, see:

• https://www.velered.com/
• https://rbcurrency.com/en/p/kroatische-banknoten-eine-standardreferenz-dusty-dragicevic-1-auflage-2023-deutsche-version
• https://rbcurrency.com/en/p/hrvatske-novcanice-standardni-prirucnik-dusty-dragicevic-auflage-2024-kroatische-version

To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
NEW BOOK: CROATIAN BANKNOTES (https://www.coinbooks.org/v25/esylum_v25n23a06.html)
NEW BOOK: MACEDONIAN BANKNOTES (https://www.coinbooks.org/v29/esylum_v29n02a05.html)

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PRINCETON CURATOR DR. ALAN STAHL TO RETIRE

Princeton's Numismatics Collection, the oldest coin collection of any educational institution in the country, will lose its curator this year. Dr. Alan Stahl has held this role since 2004 and will leave in June.

The future of the curatorial position remains uncertain, according to Stephanie Oster, a spokesperson for the Princeton University Library.

"We are still trying to navigate through what the University is expecting, from a hiring perspective. If we're able to, we will post the position," Oster said in an interview with Stahl and The Daily Princetonian.

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JEFF GARRETT: 2026 FUN SHOW REPORT

By around noon, word started to spread on the bourse floor about the MASSIVE numbers of public participants trying to get into the show. There was a line snaking the length of the convention center, which is huge. I have heard that some members of the public had to wait over an hour and a half for their credentials to get in. Based on the line we saw, this was probably not an exaggeration.

Later that afternoon, the bourse was alive with activity, and the aisles were packed with rare coin buyers. Every table had multiple customers elbowing for attention. It was the most active bourse I have ever witnessed, and I have been to every major coin show for more than 50 years. To say the coin show was amazing would be a huge understatement.

Many observers commented that the 2026 FUN Show seemed more like a sports show or Comic-Con convention. Rare coins were finally having their day in the sun! This activity continued throughout the week, and we were selling coins as they were being taken from the showcase late Saturday afternoon. Luckily, we continued to buy coins during the convention and were able to keep the showcases from being empty.

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VOCABULARY TERM: SELF-PORTRAIT

Self-Portrait. The artist creates his own image for a medallic item, or, in rare instances, includes his image among human figures depicted on a medallic item. As can be expected, the artist will show his own portrait in the best manner, or at least how he wants the world to remember him or her. While these portraits are a form of self-immortalization, they are so important to the art world that many art and academic organizations encourage their creation. The American Academy of Arts and Letters, for example, requires a self-portrait, in any media, as a requirement for all new academicians.

The earliest medallic self-portrait, it is rumored, may have been the inventor of the screw press, Italian Donato Bramante (1444-1514). An architect, he may have been talented enough to design his own image, but he had dies made and he struck lead seals of his image with his new invention.

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MORE ON LOYE L. LAUDER

Last week Craig Sholley and Wayne Homren remarked that they were not familiar with Loye Lauder. I became aware of her in 1983 when her collection was put up for sale. The auction house, William Doyle Galleries was not known for numismatic auctions. The sale was promoted through Penny-Wise, the journal of the Early American Coppers Club (EAC). The large cents were catalogued by C. Douglas Smith, a well-respected member of EAC.

The 1915 New York Census listed her as Loyetta Lark. Her maternal grandmother was Loyetta Elizabeth Tressler (1848-1928). By the 1920 Census, she was listed as Loye E. Lark and Loyetta was never heard from again.

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BIDDING AT THE LOYE L. LAUDER SALE

Alan Weinberg writes:

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TREASURE TALK WITH BOB EVANS, EPISODE 11

In addition to their money, there were other signs of the wealthy society that once walked the decks of the Central America. Gold was money, but gold was also adornment, what we in the 21st century would call "bling."

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MORE FULBRIGHT SCHOLARS IN NUMISMATICS

After previously writing about Fulbright scholars with numismatic connections, I decided to conduct a follow-up investigation of two other Fulbrighters suggested by Pete Smith: Donald Erlenkotter and John Photinopoulos. Below, I cover a few highlights from sources about them on the Newman Numismatic Portal (NNP), and in The E-Sylum, Smith's American Numismatic Biographies, the Chicago Coin Club Chatter monthly newsletter, the Civil War Token Society website (www.cwtsociety.com), and several other references.

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WAYNE'S NUMISMATIC DIARY: JANUARY 25, 2026

On Tuesday January 20, 2026 I found myself working at an office here in Northern Virginia. Finishing my meetings a bit early I was able to stop at the post office in McLean to ship a book I sold from my library to a researcher in Oklahoma who'd been looking for a copy and found my earlier E-Sylum post about it.

Next I headed over to the Not Your Average Joe's restaurant in Reston. Lorne Lavertu was our host. Being super early I was the first to arrive for a change, and grabbed a seat at the bar. I ordered a drink and appetizer and was soon joined by Mike Markowitz. We didn't have much time to talk, but I learned about the January meeting of the Ancient Numismatic Society of Washington, DC and a talk by Dr. Jason Forsyth, the Curator of James Madison University's Sawhill Collection of Ancient Greek and Roman Coins and Antiquities. I was unaware of that collection, and so was JMU before it was rediscovered recently. Sawhill had been a heavy purchaser of Roman Republic coins from the John Adams collection.

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NUMISMAGRAM MEDAL SELECTIONS: JANUARY 25, 2026

103404 | GREAT BRITAIN. Farnborough Balloon School Royal Engineers silvered copper Medal. Issued circa 1907 (32mm, 11h). By Arthur Fenwick in Birmingham.

• H • M • EDWARD • VII • KING • H • M • ALEXANDRA • QUEEN / PROCLAIMED 1901, crowned and mantled jugate busts of Edward and Alexandra left // BALLOON SCHOOL ROYAL ENGINEERS, dirigible Nulli Secundus (British Army Dirigible No 1) flying left above townscape.

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STACK'S BOWERS: DEAN OAKES FAMILY COLLECTION

1793 Liberty Cap Half Cent. Head Left. C-2. Rarity-3. EF-40 (PCGS). The 1793 half cent is significant as the first United States half cent, the only issue of the Liberty Cap, Head Left design type and one of just two denominations struck during the Mint's first full year of coinage operations (the other is the large cent). Henry Voigt engraved the dies, and by mid-May the Mint had already prepared more than 30,000 planchets for the half cents, including having their edges lettered. All of the planchets were made from sheet copper. Actual coinage did not commence until July 19, however, with production on that date probably accounting for most or all of the 7,000 examples delivered to the treasurer the following day. The remaining 24,934 half cents were struck from July 23 to 25 and delivered on July 26, for a total mintage of 31,934 pieces for the 1793 Liberty Cap issue. The oft-published mintage of 35,334 pieces for this issue includes an additional 3,400 coins delivered with the Liberty Cap cents on September 18, 1793, that William R. Eckberg (The Half Cent, 1793-1857: The Story of America's Greatest Little Coin, 2019) believes were actually cents based on the records of Mint Treasurer Tristram Dalton. When half cent coinage resumed in 1794, the denomination featured a modified Liberty Cap design by Robert Scot with the portrait facing to the right.

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NOONANS TO SELL THE LITTLEBROOK HOARD

It was 22 years ago when Peter Gray was called by the builders who were working on a new extension to his house, Littlebrook Farm in Belchalwell Street, near Blandford Forum in Dorset, to say that they had discovered a pottery vessel containing 213 coins!

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NEW TRUMP COIN DESIGNS ANNOUNCED

The special President Donald Trump $1 coin - which is being minted to mark the country's 250th birthday - appears to be getting a more classic design, as opposed to the 'fight, fight, fight' imagery originally shared by the Treasury Department.

Several new designs of the controversial Trump coin, which Democrats are pushing to get blocked, were submitted to the Commission of Fine Art, the independent agency that advises the federal government on design aesthetics.

The trio of coin designs are all close-ups of Trump's face - with the word 'Liberty' over his head and the years 1776 to 2026 listed below.

Each one has the president looking in a different direction.

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CONTINENTAL DOLLAR TRIBUTE

A timely tribute to one of the most iconic and symbolic coins of the early United States, the legendary 1776-dated Continental Currency dollar, is now available exclusively from Rare Collectibles TV (www.RareCollectiblesTV.com).

The new, limited-edition Mint State silver and gold semiquincentennial commemoratives, featuring the dual date 1776-2026, honor the legacy of Founding Father Benjamin Franklin and the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776 that gave America freedom.

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THE FIRST BULGARIAN BANKNOTE

In the days when Bulgaria has officially adopted the euro and the lev is becoming part of history, we take a look at the first Bulgarian banknote, issued on 1 August 1885.

It is preserved at the Regional History Museum in the city of Gabrovo.

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MCKEESPORT BANKNOTES

In our January Collectors Choice Online currency auction next week we feature a couple of lots from McKeesport, Pennsylvania. Lot 98096 offers a colorful pair of early Obsoletes from the Monongahela Valley Bank with the spelling of the town as Mckee's Port, while lot 98431 offers an 1882 $10 Brown Back with the city shown as McKeesport.

The city was founded by David Mckee who settled in the area around 1755. In 1769, he established a river port at the confluence of the Monongahela and Youghiogheny rivers and was given exclusive rights for ferriage by Queen Alliquippa, a Seneca ruler who was friends with George Washington. In the 18th and early 19th centuries spelling and punctuation were not standardized in deeds, maps, newspapers and currency such as these Obsoletes. It was called McKee's Port which literally translates to the port belonging to McKee. Variants of the name include McKee's Port, McKees Port, and the more familiar McKeesport.

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U.S. FUND SUES RUSSIA OVER 1916 DEBT

A U.S. fund just dragged 1916-era Russian debt into a 2026 courtroom, with billions and geopolitical consequences on the line.

A dormant chapter of European financial history has reemerged in a contemporary legal arena, drawing direct lines between pre-revolutionary debt instruments and current geopolitical disputes. In January 2026, Noble Capital RSD, a U.S.-based investment fund, filed a claim in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia seeking over $225 billion in compensation from the Russian Federation, asserting that it remains liable for unpaid sovereign bonds issued under the Russian Empire in 1916.

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SCIENTISTS ACCIDENTALLY TURN LEAD INTO GOLD

Medieval alchemists dreamed of transmuting lead into gold.

Today, we know that lead and gold are different elements, and no amount of chemistry can turn one into the other.

But our modern knowledge tells us the basic difference between an atom of lead and an atom of gold: the lead atom contains exactly three more protons. So can we create a gold atom by simply pulling three protons out of a lead atom?

As it turns out, we can. But it's not easy.

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LOOSE CHANGE: JANUARY 25, 2026

CoinWeek Guide to the 2026 Semiquincentennial Circulating Coins

In 2026, the United States marks a defining milestone: 250 years since the Declaration of Independence. To commemorate that anniversary, the United States Mint has undertaken the most ambitious and philosophically unified redesign of circulating U.S. coinage since the Bicentennial of 1976.

For one year only, America's everyday coins tell a deliberate story. Each denomination contributes a chapter. Each design communicates a specific idea. Taken together, they form a coherent narrative about how liberty begins, how it survives, and how it must be sustained.

This article presents CoinWeek's fully expanded guide to the 2026 Semiquincentennial circulating coins. It integrates all known U.S. Mint background information, expands on the historical and symbolic meaning of every design, documents what comes next in the broader numismatic program, and concludes with CoinWeek's editorial perspective.

To read the complete article, see:
The Definitive CoinWeek Guide to the 2026 Semiquincentennial Circulating Coins (https://coinweek.com/the-definitive-coinweek-guide-to-the-2026-semiquincentennial-circulating-coins/)

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COLLECTIBLE CERTIFICATION SLABS

Accugrade
In 1984, Accugrade became the first company to seal graded coins in hard plastic holders, two years before the debut of PCGS. Early Accugrade holders are "photoslabs", meaning each contains both a coin and a black-and-white photo of the coin.

Slab collectors value these early examples at about $30 over the value of the enclosed coin. Later Accugrade holders, which do not have photos, earn a premium of around $15.

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ABOUT THIS ISSUE: JANUARY 25, 2026

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