"Regarding the 1854 Art Union of London Medal of William Wyon, I like the reverse design of Brittania. I recently came across this medal in the book "The Wyons" by Leonard Forrer, Reprinted from the Biographical Dictionary of Medallists, Vol. VI. Published by Spink & Son Ltd. London 1917. It can be found online at HathiTrust.org.

"The medal is signed on the obverse under the neck: L.C. Wyon - Leonard Charles Wyon, the eldest son of William. The story of the Wyon family's association with the British Royal Mint as engravers, several occupying the Chief Engraver position, as William did, is amazing. In addition, several others held the office of Chief Engravers of His or Her Majesty's Seals. William's coinage work included those bearing the image of King George IV, William IV and Queen Victoria. The list of coins and medals whose dies the Wyons produced is extensive. Anybody who has ever appreciated a 19th century British coin or medal, might look to one of the Wyons.

"The cover of the July 2025 issue of The Numismatist features an East India Company One Mohur gold piece; William had a role in the production of that coin in that he made a wax model from eminent sculptor John Flaxman's Lion and Palm Tree design that was initially considered for the obverse of an East India Company silver One Rupee coin but ultimately chosen for the reverse of the One and Two gold Mohur coins. Flaxman may have been inspired by the Siculo-Punic coins of the late 4th century bearing a very similar design for the reverse."

I like the reverse as well, and that's what initially caught my eye. Be on the lookout for a long-awaited book by Mark Jones on engraver William Wyon, to be published by SPINK. -Editor

"I've seen this previously. In my view, this is a satirical/anti-semitic piece...choose one of the alternatives as you wish. It's like altered Hobo nickels where sometimes the Hobo is exaggerated Jewishly and the reverse has a Jew sitting on a toilet.

"In hoc signo vinces is a well known Christian triumphalist phrase (see Wikipedia entry for the history). The Hebrew translates as "Kosher". The three balls are those of a pawnbroker's sign. Thus the Jew as pawnbroker/tradesman is represented as proclaiming that he is ironically triumphing, over whom? Well, obviously over his Christian customers. And he's calling the actions kosher, i.e. in accordance with Judaism, when again, obviously everyone knows that Jews, especially pawnbrokers, are sharpers."

Thank you. While European cities often have a Jewish Quarter, I was unaware of a U.S. city with a section so named. Odd piece. Sorry to publicize it, but glad now to know the background. -Editor

"I couldn't help but notice the reference in the latest edition to Anting-Anting medals. Coin World had a story about one such piece in its Readers Ask column in the July 29, 2024 issue (page 15). It was the first time I had heard of them, too."

"Over the years there have been many television shows that involved numismatics as part of the storyline. A recently aired two-part episode of Matlock, titled The Thief that was originally aired in 1989, involved a coin store employee who periodically stole rare coins from his employer's safe to pay off his gambling debts. The store is Koskoff Coins, whose name is strikingly similar to the real long-time US coin dealer Abe Kosoff. When the store's owner, Mike Koskoff (John Harkins), discovers the employee's thefts and his deletions from the computer's inventory, he confronts the thief and demands the coins' return or $40,000.

"When the employee is found murdered, Koskoff, whose gun is the murder weapon, is arrested and hires his friend Matlock (Andy Griffith) to defend him. Matlock inquires is the employee stole early American coins and inquired about Koskoff's 1804 silver dollar, which Koskoff said was still in the slabbed case.

"Matlock then shows his numismatic knowledge, particularly with US dollars, when he said he found a 1850 Liberty Seated Silver Dollar at a store in a nearby city in fair' condition. Koskoff mentions some of the rarities still in the store's safe, such as a 1804 dollar and a 1838 Gobrecht proof. To pay Matlock's high fee (often $100,000 as a retainer), Koskoff offers Matlock the 1804 silver dollar. However, Ben wants the Liberty Seateds through 1851 to seal the deal. Ben assures Koskoff that he won't sell them and Koskoff can come over to see them anytime. As to be expected, Matlock gets Koskoff acquitted."

Thanks for the report! You'd mentioned this one before, but without these details. There are screenshots on the "Coins on Television" website. -Editor

"The muse on the helmet appears to be like our Statue of Liberty with the torch lighting the way. Its location suggests to me the freedom of thought is the liberty being sought."

Thanks. -Editor

"There is indeed a medal by Ralph J. Menconi like the recent drawing shown in The E-Sylum: Struck by Medallic Art Company (Maco # 1970-117) for the Ohio Junior Chamber of Commerce, Columbus, Ohio. It does appear in Dick's Databank on the Newman Portal."

Thank you. NOTE: NNP has been having issues lately fending off bots reading its contents to train artificial intelligence. It's been offline today, but the University is working on the issue. -Editor

"We have always used USPS for our high value packages. However, registered mail has become a problem, sometimes sitting in the Fairbanks P.O. for seven days before leaving town. When the shipment is 30K and we don't get paid until it gets there, this creates an obvious cash flow problem. COC would be nice, but that is not fair to the receiver (one registered package recently was lost, then found, and took six weeks to get there).

"COC is Cash on Confirmation (of shipping). I send a product, they send a check. Does not work when the shipment takes weeks to get there, while the check will show up in a few days.

"I would like to switch to FedEx. Can anyone recommend a 3rd party insurer?"

"This is me at a coin show earlier today wearing for the first time a t-shirt that I very recently had custom made for me... "

Cool look! Time to start selling merch. See this week's "About This Issue" article for my oddball t-shirt. -Editor

I'm a fan of the Bizarro cartoons and Monday's cartoon has a numismatic flavor. My t-shirt in this week's "About This Issue" article is Bizarro merch. -Editor

"It looks like the book cover in this episode of Bizarro was modeled after Whitman's classic blue coin folders!"