The stories, research and information in The E-Sylum keeps me up in the late hours of Sunday, and I usually wake up early the next morning wanting to continue my "reading" and "education" which you support each week.

You know this is the month for Nobel Prizes, and I wish they were given for Numismatic endeavors, for you would capture the prize. Keep what you are doing - the hobby needs the education you provide.

In Monday's Wall Street Journal there was an article on the many different items collected by J. P. Morgan. It covered 5/8 of a page. However, there was NOT ONE word about his numismatic interest. Looks like coin collectors take a back seat in the Journal's opinion.

Any type of tiny symbol separating words in a coin or medal legend is commonly known as a "stop." Despite the possible inference from the ordinary meaning of the word, not all stops appear only at the end of a legend. In fact, it's probably rare that they do. As the article indicates, not all stops are dots. Regardless, roundish stops are often called "pellets" in cataloguing descriptions. I'm not certain whether to qualify as a "pellet" a stop by definition must be non-round to some extent. If a (round) dot would qualify as a variety of pellet, since all pellets are certainly not round, maybe a dot can be called a "round pellet." Inasmuch as I just made that term up, obviously it is not what anybody calls dots separating words in legends. Not yet, anyway.

Like Ken states, I too have seen “stops” used in catalog descriptions. A legitimate use of Stops were at the end of every sentence in telegrams. Remember those? Center dots far more accurate term and easier to understand.

I found more chopmarks on a 20$. Hard to make one out. The one on corner is a eagle head. Another is a name.