Last week I asked about the "Three Thomas's" referenced on this 1796 Middlesex Farthing Conder token. -Editor

"More, Paine, and Spence"

"The Three Thomas’s were Thomas Spence, Sir Thomas More, and Thomas Paine. The Farthing token which was illustrated is Dalton and Hamer 1121. Another Farthing struck a year earlier (1795) lists the three Thomas’s in the center in four lines, surrounded by ADVOCATES OF THE RIGHTS OF MAN (D&H #s 1112-1119). These were part of Spence’s Political and Social Series of tokens."

"The three Thomas's are named on some of the Thomas Spence tokens.

Thomas Spence
Sir Thomas More
Thomas Paine

All three had objections to the British monarchy. Two were contemporaries. Spence issued protest tokens and authored a pamphlet series call "Pig's Meat or Lessons for the Swinish Multitudes". Here is one with the Royal symbols being trampled by the pig. Paine wrote "Common Sense", a factor in the American Revolution. Sir Thomas More was executed much earlier for his opposition to Henry VIII's establishment of the Church of England."

Thanks, everyone! -Editor

"Funny — when I looked at the description of When Money Talks, I thought, "I've got that already!" Sure enough I have Money a History, published by the British Museum Press in 1997. The front cover is identical — The Money-lender and his Wife, by Quentin Matsys c. 1514! Just thought I'd mention it as I am sure others will will have the same deja vu!"

It's certainly a familiar image. Nice catch. -Editor

"The four words are CYCLE, VALET, VANITY, FLORAL.

The Solution is COLLECTIVELY.

Does this qualify me for an E-Sylum Smarty Pants Award?"

Sure, why not? We have two winners for this one, but what the heck, I'll give out two Golds. -Editor

"I tried it, and got CYCLE, VALET, VANITY, FLORAL to produce CCEVLEITYLOL = COLLECTIVELY. If you prefer it in a picture, here goes:"

"I found this interesting and thought I would share it. This is an eBay listing for a government issue postal card. It is a little different than the picture postcards that many like to collect. This was mailed in 1897 by the Chief of Police. It is a notification about a robbery on New Year's Day 1897. Included in the stolen items were two five dollar gold coins and a child's bank with 35 copper pennies. Yes, they were referenced as pennies and not cents. I think the word penny has been engrained in people's minds for a very long time now. I suppose robberies were less common then and police were diligent about finding these types of criminals. "

I have seen early broadsides about stolen coins, but I think this is the first I've seen such a thing from the postcard era. -Editor

"Had a great radio interview last week about numismatics, which was an hour long. General public, easy chat, tips about collecting, etc. etc.

"Have also quite recently published a short series of numismatic videos in Spanish on YouTube. The title of the series is in English: N.S.I. - Numismatic Scene Investigation... Even though they are in Spanish, it's quite understandable for non-speakers...have a look if you can.

"Am currently working on a number of numismatic articles, investigations etc....progressing nicely..."

There are several videos available. Have a look! -Editor