WAYNE'S NUMISMATIC DIARY: JULY 20, 2025

Time sure flies. Tuesday was the monthly dinner meeting of my Northern Virginia numismatic social group, Nummis Nova. Mike Packard was our host, and he chose Maggiano's Little Italy restaurant in Tyson's. The food and wine are always great, and this was where we held our second meeting and the first that many of our regular members attended.

I arrived a little early and found Mike Markowitz, Eric Schena and Dave Schenkman already congregated at the bar. It was around 6 o'clock and our reservation wasn't until 6:45. Tom Kays joined us while we passed around some of the coins and books we'd brought. Eric showed off a great non-numismatic book, a pioneering history of mining in Virginia.

I'll let Tom Kays start us off with one of his trademark takes on the evening.

Tom's Take

Nummis Nova dines again in the Oh, So Fashionable Tysons Galleria at Maggiano's Little Italy. Clockwise from center, on a first name basis by now, are JK, Mike P., Tom (behind camera), Wayne, Erik, Steve, Roger, Julian, Robert, Mike M., Dave, Eric, and Jon. Walking the shopping mall before dinner one is awash with one-named designer retailers (not outlets) including Cartier, Chanel, Dior, Gucci, Montblanc, Prada, Rolex, and Versace. In what other mall would you find tuxedoed security escorts, Foreign Currency Exchanges, Day Spas, and the Ritz-Carlton catering to wealthy European and Middle Eastern visitors come for a day of retail splurging? This is the dinner spot where the experimental, second Nummis Nova meeting convened, twenty years ago and where some of us first met the three first Nummis Nova diners who congregated a month prior, wondering if random coin collectors, dealers, and numismatic book authors would share polite dinner conversation and have anything newsworthy to say about the hobby.

Befitting our fashionable surroundings, an exclusive ascension to the crown fashion show of tiara selections for young Queen Victoria were on display at the bar even before dinner, in a dizzying array of rare and heavy gold coronation and personal medals, (circa 1837-1841). On the reverse of the last medal Victoria finally settles on her choice of headgear, not just any old princess's tiara, but the Imperial State Crown, with assessor scepters as seen at Westminster. A wise choice back then for dinner functions with foreign dignitaries, but now British imperialism is out of favor, and so her crown remains locked away in a garret in the Tower of London. Such are the seasons of fashion.

Also seen at table were many unusual items including: a Spanish colonial one real of Charles IIII with 19th century counterstamp from Nortones Cigar Store – Richmond, VA; a selection of beautifully toned, uncirculated coins including an 1886 Morgan dollar, 1863 and 1922 Cents; a pair of bronze medals from Belgium including La Maison de Surete Civile et Militaire a Anvers of 1856, and Notre-Dame a Anvers of 1845; a 25 Cent Wisconisco Canal and Coal Company Scrip of 1838, a $1/$10/$1000 advertising note from the Shinplaster Bank (from ten to thousand dollars in shin plasters executed in the best style on demand) which was a lithography enterprise willing to print unregulated notes for wildcat banks; an 1826 $5 advertising scrip from Baltimore for Hobson & Witherspoon, Merchant Tailors; and more numismatic items, pictured under soft, restaurant mood lighting and within their protective plastic cases below:

Glowing proof, 1865 Seated Liberty Half Dollar;

Roman Empire (457 – 474 AD) Gold Semissis of Leo I from Thessaloniki with Victory inscribing a shield;

Twenty-Five cent Sutler Token for the 27th Regiment U.S. Colored Infantry;

1920 Winged-Liberty Dime struck 20% off-center;

122 x 124 mm, bronze medal from Hungary – Szivattyugyar Szerencs (1970 – 1980);

A small case of wonderment appeared at dinner, having more odds than ends, of recent acquisitions. Sometimes historic items appear so underwhelming at first glance they need descriptive tags for anyone to appreciate them. Here you see a mélange of stampees, guillotines, ancients, counterfeits, errors, and items dug up after centuries in the ground, along with genuine coins, medals, and tokens spanning more than two millennia.

Highlights include an unusual 1871 Robert E. Lee portrait in white medal by Rudolph Philipp Laubenheimer (1833 - 1905), two bits dug on Cumberland Island, Georgia, coin buttons of Ferdinand VII and Isabella II bearing resemblances to gold and silver coins, an Anchor on a Santo Domingo four maravedis host from the 1550s, a 1713 Peace of Utrecht Medal showing the English fleet at the end of hostilities in the War of Spanish Succession, one of Syd Martin's down a rabbit hole obscure tokens for Tobago stamped on a Birmingham counterfeit host in imitation of a French Colonial copper sou marque (These are of local interest as many similar were found at French Army campsites after they left Saint Dominque under Napoleon's response to slave revolts in Haiti. The French troops recuperated from tropical diseases near Norfolk, Virginia in 1800 where dug TBo tokens posed a mystery), an image of Roma/Roman citizens voting under Publius Licinius Nerva (the Moneyer) in the Ponticulus of the Comitia on a denarius of 16 asses value, along with a silver Antoninianus from Lugdunum, gold half guineas from nearby at the Tower Mint, King George III's incuse ghost facing the wrong way, and a Thomas Jefferson birth year half-a-Spanish-milled dollar. Pretty mundane stuff for the Nummis Nova crowd, yet I hope in the running for this month's Weirdness Prize at Nummis Nova's Show and Tell.

Case of Wonderment close-up – Medal in Tribute to the
Memory of Gen. Robert E Lee – 1871 - by Rudolph Philipp Laubenheimer

Case of Wonderment close-up –Voting circa 106 BC -
Roma/Roman citizens voting under Publius Licinius Nerva (the Moneyer)
in the Ponticulus of the Comitia on a denarius of 16 asses value.

As always, new numismatic literature in print, or about to be in print, or with amazing inscriptions circulated including Notes on the Establishment of a Monetary Unit by Thomas Jefferson personally inscribed to Wayne with appreciation and admiration with forward by Judy Shelton; The Moby Dick Doubloon by Mike Markowitz; The Evolution of U.S. Minting Technology (1793-1840) by Craig Sholley; Niall Ferguson's The Ascent of Money – A Financial History of the World; Striking Gold in Alaska – Making Tokens from Placer Gold by Dick Hanscom 8th Edition; and the latest C4 Newsletter (Many of us have it in our mailboxes but have not yet read it).

Nummis Nova brings to coin dinners what Neiman-Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Salvatore Ferragamo bring to the Tyson's Galleria Mall which is boutique browsing of unusual and high-end merchandise all under one roof.

Five Books and a Coin
Last month I didn't bring a single numismatic book, but I made up for it this time, starting with two titles relating to the U.S. Mint.

The first is a nice reprint of Thomas Jefferson's Notes on the Establishment of a Money Unit and of a Coinage for the United States by economist Judy Shelton. If her name rings a bell, she was nominated by President Trump for the Federal Reserve Board in 2020 and 2021. I'd bought it online from a used book dealer who noted it was inscribed. When it arrived, I saw that it was inscribed "To Wayne". Wayne who, I don't know. But it was a nice coincidence.

Here are a couple sample pages. The book consists of a six-page Foreword by Shelton followed by photos of each page of Jefferson's manuscript with a transcription on the facing page.

The second is a hot-off-the-presses copy of a new book by Craig Sholley, The Evolution of U.S. Minting Technology. It just arrived this week and I haven't had a chance to read it yet. Here's my poorly-focused photo of a couple sample pages.

Third was a softcover version of the 2011 book Quarterama about the designs for the 50 States and National Parks quarters. It was recently discussed in a David Lisot video article. The bookseller did a horrible packing job - it was basically tossed into a plastic bag with no cardboard or other packing material, and arrived bent. Glad it's just a filler for my library.

To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
NEW BOOK: QUARTERAMA: IDEAS AND DESIGNS OF AMERICA'S STATE QUARTERS (https://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v16n02a07.html)
VIDEO: AMERICA'S STATE QUARTERS (https://www.coinbooks.org/v28/esylum_v28n25a07.html)

The remaining two books were the new 8th edition of Dick Hanscomb's Striking Gold in Alaska (more elsewhere in this issue), and a copy of Supernote that Steve Bishop brought as a giveaway. I quickly snagged it and look forward to reading it.

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
NEW BOOK: SUPERNOTE (https://www.coinbooks.org/v28/esylum_v28n17a05.html)

Here are some better images of my newest error coin, an off-center 1920 Mercury dime. Purchased online from E-Sylum supporter Jon Sullivan. Everyone at the dinner liked it.

I'll finish out with some of my other photos for the evening.

Obsolete paper money and ad notes

Roger Burdette reads Mike Markowitz's Top Ten Medieval Coins
presentation while Julian Leidman examines a coin

Group shot

Eric Schena makes a point to John "JK" Kraljevich

John Kraljevich examines a coin

Here are some additional notes and images courtesy our attendees.

Queen Victoria Gold Medals
Here are Dave Schenkman's images and notes on some of the amazing gold medals he brought along.

1837 Accession Medal

This 36mm gold 1837 medal for the accession of Queen Victoria is listed by Brown as number 1764. He only lists in silver and bronze, but mentions that it was possibly struck in gold also. The engraver was William Wyon.

1838 coronation

This is the official in gold for the 1838 coronation of Queen Victoria. The engraver was Benedetto Pistrucci, and medals were struck in gold, silver, and bronze.

1841

This is listed in Laurence Brown's tome as number 1991. He estimates that about twenty were struck. It is 45mm and weighs 42.2 grams. The engraver was William Wyon.

Steve's Beauties
Steve Bishop sent these photos of the coins he shared at dinner. Thanks.

1863 Proof Indian Cent

1865 Proof Liberty Seated Half Dollar

886 Morgan Dollar Toned

1922 No D Strong Reverse Lincoln Cent

Norton's Cigar Store, Richmond, VA
John Kraljevich writes:

27th Regiment U.S. Colored Infantry
John adds:

Wow - what great history. This is what is so compelling about numismatic research. One never knows where the trail might lead. Great pieces.

It was another wonderful evening of numismatics and numismatic fellowship. I'm already looking forward to next month.

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