I particularly liked the story on the SS Central America Purser's safe. I wonder how they missed it the first time?

I have always liked the cover of Dye's Coin Encyclopedia. There is even a numismatic bibliography with a decoratively-stamped front cover.

There is no such thing as an opium Columbian half dollar, trade dollar, or any other late 19th century coin. Walter Breen made this up years ago. I reminded him that at the time anyone of any age could go into a drug store and buy all of the opium and derivatives they wanted. Breen also said that druggist R. Coulton Davis was able to get rare Mint restrikes and patterns by trading Mint officials laudanum (a derivative) for them. I won't mention Walter's "Midnight Minters" scenario he publicized and was widely accepted as factual at the time.

Whatever happened to Don Taxay has been one of the great numismatic mysteries of our time. Even his biography on the Newman Numismatic Portal did not have his full date of birth. That has now been fixed.

Donald Paul Taxay was born in Chicago on May 24, 1933. His parents were Julius Taxay and Ruth Weller. This is recorded with Cook County birth certificates. He had a sister Ruth who was seven years older.

He may have lived in Stamford, Connecticut as recently as 2008. He was connected with Rare Coin Collectors Co-Op, Inc. at 700 Summer Street in Stamford. I don't know the source for the report that he was still there in 2008.

For those not familiar with the story, Taxay disappeared from the known numismatic world around 1977. I have provided the start to the Taxay story. Who can bring it up to date?