"Todd Sciore discovered that E. H. Fowler, who issued scrip notes from Ellisburg, N. J. In 1862, was its postmaster, but his notes aren't postmarked on the back. That's because he wasn't the postmaster in 1862 so he didn't have the circular date stamp then."

"In addition to some examples of merchant scrip, I've also found examples with Victorian trade cards where the local shopkeeper was also the postmaster. I've attached an example of a typical card likely given out by a local druggist and another that actually says postmaster on it."

Thanks. -Editor

"John Dannreuther and I recently completed a study of the Class II and III Restrike 1804 dollars. Briefly, characteristics common to all of the restrikes show that they were all struck at the same time and historical documents support the striking as being sometime between late 1859 and early summer of 1860.

"The characteristics allowed us to create the first emission sequence for Restrike 1804 dollars and that sequence shows that not only was the James A. Stack, Sr. Class III piece the first struck, but also that most of the Class III pieces were struck PRIOR to the lone surviving Class II coin. In fact, only the Linderman Class III piece is in a later die state than the lone Class II. This is, of course, completely the opposite of what many have previously proposed.

"For those interested in our findings, Stacks Bowers will be printing our monograph in the auction catalog. For those who do not get a copy of the catalog, we will be re-publishing the article later next year in the numismatic press."

Excellent - we'll look forward to seeing the publication. -Editor

"I've thoroughly enjoyed the two issues released since I've been subscribed, and look forward to reading more! I actually stumbled upon the newsletter while trying to find copies of books David Lange published while I was on a collecting hiatus, which have been surprisingly hard to locate despite not being that costly or long out of print. Do you happen to know if David sold all of the original print runs for his PennyBoard Press books, or if someone acquired the remainder of the books from his estate? I'm still looking for Volume 1 (National Coin Album) and Volume 3 (Whitman) of the Coin Collecting Albums series, and have had no luck thus far on Amazon, AbeBooks, eBay, or any of the E-Sylum advertiser websites, so any other suggestions would be appreciated."

I reached out to "Dansco Dude" Justin Hinh, who has been in touch with those handling David's estate and unfortunately, all volumes are now out of print. -Editor

"All of David's notes and research were passed to Akio Lis at the American Numismatic Association Library. The best bet to find volumes 1 and 3 is to call the ANA's library department and see if they have any extras they are willing to sell. You should specifically ask for Akio. I was at the ANA library this summer for their seminar, and they had a book sale where I was able to get extra copies of all three books for a friend. They may have a few extra available for sale."

"Hello from Tennessee! I read an article entitled "The Changing Face of Money" in the 9/29/25 Wall Street Journal and thought it may be of possible interest."

Thanks. I'd seen the article, but hadn't been able to get anything into The E-Sylum. It's a short but nice visual overview. This visual is particularly amazing - Workers examining the new small-size currency in the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in 1929. -Editor

"These two coins are stuck very tightly together with the copper pin (nail?). No wiggle or rotation. Not sure just why anyone would spike them together like that. Would anyone know why this might have been done?"

It's interesting - I haven't seen a pair like this before. What do readers think? -Editor

"As some of you may know, I use Ancestry.com a lot in my research on early Canadian numismatists (some of whom also lived part of their lives in the U.S.). I just released a video on how I deal with ones who somehow stubbornly resist my attempts to find them in the records."

Thanks! -Editor