NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: APRIL 7, 2019

The April 1 issue of The E-Sylum is always amusing and a challenge to pick the "April Fools" items. What happens when the issue is not published on April 1? Does the foolishness extend to the issue published on the closest date?

I loved the article about Isaac Asimov's new book on numismatics and AI, a neat trick,considering that Asimov died 17 years ago. A good April Fool's article.

When I saw the article on Isimov Asaac's new book NUMISMATICS AND AI I had to laugh. The good doctor always enjoyed wordplay (and dirty limericks). I suspect he would have enjoyed this.

Thanks, everyone. Some people weren't sure about the bitcoin article, but it was real despite the amusingly cool graphic. Another one people speculated about was the stolen coin article, but I reached back to Doug Davis of the Numismatic Crime Information Center who confirmed to me that "The coins were stolen from a collector. No joke."

The only intentional foolish article was the Numismatics and Artificial Intelligence piece. David Pickup submitted the text and I came up with the illustration. For a belated April Fool's article, see Ken Barr's piece at the end of this issue. Thanks, everyone. -Editor

I had it tested with a spectrometer. The coin is a copy. It's made of copper-plated manganese and a Chinese import.

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
QUERY: 1771 PUGACHEV ROUBLE (https://www.coinbooks.org/v22/esylum_v22n12a26.html)

In February 2019 Jonathan Brecher issued a challenge to our readers to identify some unusual U.S. Mint medals featuring wreaths as part of the design. Some of the medals were rare "mules" - pieces struck with dies not originally intended or often seen to be together. Two were mules of two wreath-reverse designs. Now he has a new find for us. Click the images to find high-resolution images in our Flickr library. -Editor

Unlike the previous two, I haven't identified this one. Also unlike the previous two, this one is signed, with a small W B at 7:00 on the laurel (?) side. William Barber could make sense, except that I can't match up either side with any medal that he produced. But I can't find a good candidate for a different W B medallist either.

This appears to be a dual-use medal, passed from father to daughter. The central engraving on either side reads "Confirmation / May 15 - 1915 / First Communion / May 30 - 1915" and (I think) "John Keating Jr / Church of St. Peter / and Paul / Cumberland Md.". Smaller text was apparently added later: "First Communion Aug 15, 1940" and Jane A. Keating / St. Catherines Church / Wayne Pa.". The text on the name side has been partially effaced.

There was a John Keating Jr born August 6, 1906, in Cumberland, Maryland, who later moved to Wayne, PA. I don't see anything numismatically interesting about him or his family.

Silver, 51.2 mm. The quality is quite good, and has the stepped rim that Dan Carr noticed on the others. This could be a US Mint medal... but that's just speculation without something to match it up against.