Regarding Tom De Lorey's piece about the steel cent webbing, I wrote a column on this subject for The Numismatist that references his comments. It ran in the August, 2015 issue, and it's also reproduced at the NGC website.

I'm always amused at what happens to the names of our two largest islands when they're mentioned by folks from other places. The English, for some reason, tend to refer to them as simply "North Island" and "South Island", whereas here they'll always take a definite article: "the North Island", "the South Island". Seeing "the Southern Island" in the quote below is a new one for my list! It's also a little ambiguous when used this way, because there's a third main island that's further south still - Stewart Island, which differs from the other two in not needing a "the", as well as being considerably smaller. (I can hear the voiceover from the opening credits of "Soap" in my mind at this point: "Confused? You will be ...")

"In 1861, gold was discovered in Otago in the Southern Island of New Zealand, touching off a gold rush that drew miners from as far away as California. Rumsey was one of the many Australians who would pull up stakes and head for the gold fields of this island colony."

Thanks for the piece about Edward Rumsey and his gold medal (the Eimer reference is 1306-B). He was responsible for the design of Auckland's Supreme Court building, which is heavily decorated by a German who came here in 1866 as an engraver! Anton Teutenberg, who was given a block of stone and told to have a go! He did a number of Maori heads, and the Queen and Prince Albert, and a series of rainhead gargoyles all of which are still in working order. There are around 40 pieces in all.

Attached is an image of one of his better medals and a fee-gratis genuine Gargoyle. I had the privilege of co-authoring a book on Teutenberg's medallic work, but the stonework gets a mention too.

I, too, have puzzled over the significance of "Sign of the 8." Some time ago I found this ad on newspapers.com. It's for a business other than the one on the store card. I don't remember exactly when or where I found it. Or perhaps someone sent it to me.

Tiffany also was a prolific medal producer, with many in gold and silver.

I am finishing up an article about a possible hoard of mid-eighteenth century billon beshlyks issued by the Giray Khans of Crimea. I would love to have someone who is knowledgeable on the subject have a look and basically fact-check what I have written and see if there are any errors, especially in attribution. These coins are notoriously hard to pin down due to the crude strike and having a second pair of eyes on it would be quite helpful before I try to have it published. If anyone is willing to have a look and provide feedback, they can contact me at my email address. Proper credit will be given.