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LOOSE CHANGE: MAY 18, 2025Here are some additional items in the media this week that may be of interest. -Editor A proposed sale of the banknote printing firm De La Rue has fallen through. -Editor 
Britain's De La Rue said on Thursday a consortium of British financier Edi Truell's companies no longer intends to make an offer for the banknote printer. Last month, De La Rue backed a $347 million takeover bid from U.S. private equity firm Atlas Holdings, while rejecting a higher preliminary proposal from Truell, citing concerns over its lack of committed financing and clear structure. De La Rue, which printed the new King Charles III currency notes in the UK, has been working to stabilise its finances following a pandemic-era slump in demand driven by the rise of contactless payments.
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Nick Graver passed along this USA Today article about the coins people let pile up. -Editor
That's the message from Kevin McColly, CEO of Coinstar, the company behind those coin-cashing machines you see in supermarkets. American consumers made only 16% of their payments in cash in 2023, according to the Federal Reserve. A 2022 Pew survey found that two-fifths of consumers never use cash at all. Many Americans regard both nickels and pennies as more nuisance than currency. The typical household is sitting on $60 to $90 in neglected coins, enough to fill one or two pint-size beer mugs, according to the Federal Reserve. Americans throw away millions of dollars in coins every year, literally treating them like trash. McColly thinks we should change the way we think about coins. To state the obvious, coins are worth money. Coinstar converts $3 billion in coins into spendable cash every year, one coin jar at a time. The average jar yields $58 in buying power.
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Lou Golino contributed a nice article to the ANA's Reading Room on the medals buried with Pope Francis. -Editor 
Each pope leaves a legacy that includes the coins and medals issued during their papacy. When the cardinals elected Pope Leo XIV on May 9, 2025, they ushered in a new era for these numismatic pieces. With excitement growing in the United States and around the world, interest in Vatican City coins will likely rise as well. Pope Francis II, Leo's predecessor, died April 21. He left behind a fascinating numismatic legacy—one that many people may not know about. Before his burial, someone placed inside his coffin 12 medals, tucked into a small pouch, to represent every year of his papacy. Each medal reflects his work and passions through its theme, design, and inscriptions. This story explores two of those medals—how they came to be and the acclaimed Italian coin designer who brought them to life.
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Bibliophiles and collectors of all stripes love a story about finding an important rarity. This one has made the rounds this week - an original Magna Carta. -Editor 
An extraordinarily rare original of Magna Carta has been discovered, hiding in plain sight in the archives of the Harvard Law School, where it was mislabeled as a mere copy of the document that served as a foundational text for the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution — and international human rights law today. The remarkable find was made by a pair of Magna Carta sleuth-scholars from Britain. The document, on sheepskin parchment, was purchased by Harvard in the aftermath of World War II from a London bookdealer in 1946 for $27.50 — or about $462 in today's dollars. The last Magna Carta sold, by Ross Perot's Perot Foundation, was purchased for $21.3 million in 2007 by businessman and Baltimore Orioles owner David Rubenstein and gifted to the National Archives in Washington. Magna Carta Libertatum, or the Great Charter of Freedoms, has been described by scholars as one of the most important documents in the Western world. First penned for King John of England during an open revolt by his barons in 1215 — and offered as a kind of peace treaty — the charter famously declares that even the king must follow the rules.
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Wayne Homren, Editor The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org. To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum All Rights Reserved. NBS Home Page Contact the NBS webmaster 
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