WAYNE'S NUMISMATIC DIARY: SEPTEMBER 22, 2019

Tuesday September 17th was Constitution Day in the U.S. It was also the meeting night of my northern Virginia numismatic social group, Nummis Nova. Wayne Herndon was our host for the evening at Mon Ami Gabi, a restaurant in Reston Town Center.

I was among the last to arrive at 6:30 and took a seat between Wayne and Eric Schena. Other members attending were Dave Schenkman, Robert Hoppensteadt, Chris Neuzil, Mike Packard, Tom Kays, Julian Leidman, Roger Burdette, and Jon Radel. Tom's guest was Jonas Denenberg, a young numismatist who belongs to the Fairfax Coin Club.

We were crowded around a fairly small rectangular table setup, but we managed to find enough room to pass around an interesting array of numismatic items. I brought along a couple of books purchased at last month's ANA World's Fair of Money.

I also brought along some star notes I'd discussed in my previous diaries and a group of dollar bills with several different political slogans. I had bought a stack of 50 of them from Tom Sheehan and selected one example of each type for my collection. I offered the others to the dinner attendees at face value.

Girl on the Silver Dollar

Roger surprised us with a gift for all attendees of a signed copy of his new book, Girl on the Silver Dollar. See the article elsewhere in this issue for more information. Roger is a careful and meticulous researcher. The book will likely be the definitive word for decades to come on the identity of the model for the Morgan silver dollar.

Dave's Delicacies
Dave Schenkman always has some great numismatic items to share. He kindly provided these images of his display items. Thanks! The first item is a crudely counterstamped 1797 British penny.

The song “Old Dan Tucker” was written in the early 1840s, and during that time was performed by the Virginia Minstrels. It has been recorded countless times over the years, by everyone from Pete Seeger to Bruce Springsteen. I got it last month from My good friend, Dick Grinolds, at the ANA convention. As I recall our conversation, it went something like this:

Dick: Here’s something I brought for you.
Me: That’s very neat; how much is it?
Dick: I paid $20, what do you offer?
Me: How about $35?
Dick: How about $25?
Me: What about $30?
Dick: Sold.

What a way to run a business!

Well, it's a great way to run a hobby, with people looking out for each others' special interests. Very interesting piece.

Here’s the silver British medal I passed around. It is dated 1702, and commemorates the capture of towns on the River Meuse.

The last piece is an interesting odd-denomination obsolete note, from Richmond, Ohio.

The Standard Catalog of Annandale, Vienna, and Dulles Coin Show Kids Auction Scrip
Tom Kays writes:

I invited Jonas Denenberg of the Fairfax Coin Club to join Nummis Nova for dinner. Jonas is a young numismatist who often gives coin talks, does original numismatic research, and also debuted his latest book, The Standard Catalog of Annandale, Vienna, and Dulles Coin Show Kids Auction Scrip. Jonas’ book is dedicated to Jon Radel, the creator of the rare Series 2 and 3 Scrip, who in a pinch, found a way to let the show go on, when Series 1 Scrip ran out, or was forgotten in moving boxes of supplies needed to run the Kid’s Auction.

Jonas covers the history of Kids Auction Scrip, the advent of the three series, postulates a new 4th series now that these events have transitioned from Nummis Nova to Fairfax Coin Club control, and captures rarity, provides a grading guide, talks to proper Scrip storage, and most wondrous of all, Jonas provides a price list showing the rare editions are worth much more than face value. This is how it is done folks.

Jonas further explains “Virtual Auction Bit-Bucks” once offered to E-Sylum readers, “backed by your good faith in our sketchy intentions to ever redeem them” still have no value. Jonas has our number for sure. Using modern marketing techniques Jonas has licensed his book and may need to go to a second printing soon. Jonas told Roger Burdette that he has not made any money on his book, and Roger assured him this is par for the course in the numismatic book writing business. Signed 1st editions are already sold out, and we look forward to the next numismatic title from the desk of Jonas Denenberg.

Networking with Wizard Coin Supply owner, Wayne Herndon, Jonas will have to wait a while before taking summer employment, since Wizard employees must be at least 16 years of age. Jonas is planning to enter a Young Numismatist exhibit on Saturday at the 61 st Annual, Virginia Numismatic Association Convention, Coin, Currency, and Stamp Show in Fredericksburg, Virginia at the Fredericksburg Convention Center, Carl D. Silver Parkway, Friday, September 27th through Sunday, September 29th, with a display of Odd Denomination U.S. Coinage, that I hope you see and enjoy.

FAO Coin Catalog
Jon Radel brought along a copy of this 2017 book on FAO coins - these were organized by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and issued by 119 countries. See the article elsewhere in this issue for ordering information.