WAYNE'S NUMISMATIC DIARY: JANUARY 25, 2026

On Tuesday January 20, 2026 I found myself working at an office here in Northern Virginia. Finishing my meetings a bit early I was able to stop at the post office in McLean to ship a book I sold from my library to a researcher in Oklahoma who'd been looking for a copy and found my earlier E-Sylum post about it.

Next I headed over to the Not Your Average Joe's restaurant in Reston. Lorne Lavertu was our host. Being super early I was the first to arrive for a change, and grabbed a seat at the bar. I ordered a drink and appetizer and was soon joined by Mike Markowitz. We didn't have much time to talk, but I learned about the January meeting of the Ancient Numismatic Society of Washington, DC and a talk by Dr. Jason Forsyth, the Curator of James Madison University's Sawhill Collection of Ancient Greek and Roman Coins and Antiquities. I was unaware of that collection, and so was JMU before it was rediscovered recently. Sawhill had been a heavy purchaser of Roman Republic coins from the John Adams collection.

It wasn't long before we were seated at our table. Many of us kept our coats on because the restaurant's heating system was operating at half capacity. We didn't much care and had a fun time chatting coins and any other topic that came to mind. Here are some photos I took. Mine's the empty chair between Jon and Daryl.

 
From left: Erik Douglas, Wayne Herndon, Jon Radel, Daryl Haynor

Some handsome bibliophiles catching up on their reading.

 

Clockwise from left: Erik Douglas, Jon Radel, Julian Leidman, Roger Burdette, Mike Packard, Mike Markowitz, Chris Neuzil, and our host Lorne Lavertu with his back to the camera.

Wayne's Books
Normally we have more coins and other numismatic items circulating around the table, but with this subset of our group it was mostly books and other literature. I brought my copy of Mike Packard's new book on the Massachusetts coppers and he kindly inscribed it to me. I also had a copy of the new edition of Steve Starlust's book on medals, badges and souvenirs of the World's Columbian Exposition. Look for more information in am upcoming issue.

 

I also brought along a new purchase - Elizabeth Harris' 1991 Bird & Bull Press publication on The Art of Medal Engraving, number 97 of 230 copies.

 

 

More Books
Also seen was this nicely organized binder of banknotes nominated for the International Bank Note Society's 2025 awards. More below from Jon Radel. Other publications included The Florentine Florin, the January 2026 issue of Penny-Wise, and the Autumn 2025 issue of The Medal - the latter courtesy of Jon Radel.

 

 

 

Jon writes:

More Cameos

 

Here Daryl Haynor reads a draft of a new article by Roger Burdette with Julian Leidman in the background. Next, Julian reviews a couple slabbed coins.

Banknote of the Year Candidates for 2025
Jon followed up with these better images of selected binder pages. Thanks. He reported that eBay is a good source for individual notes.

 
Fiji, Curaçao and Sint Maarten

 
Falkland Islands

For more information, see:
IBNS Banknote of the Year (https://www.theibns.org/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=138&Itemid=51)

There was a lot of both numismatic and non-numismatic conversation, with some crossover contemporary comments such as "Was Greenland nominated?" and regarding requested secrecy about an unpublished research paper, "Is it Epstein-related?" Topics at my end of the table included research assistance and roadblocks Chris encountered while working on his book on post-Comitia Americana Congressional medals, problems searching the Newman Numismatic Portal, using AI to transcribe handwriting and translate it from French, the FUN Show, and the silver market.

It was a cold but quite enjoyable evening with great company and numismatic fellowship. 'Till next time.

To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
NEW BOOK: REFERENCING COLUMBIANA (https://www.coinbooks.org/v28/esylum_v28n10a04.html)
NEW BOOK: CENTS AND HALF CENTS OF MASSACHUSETTS (https://www.coinbooks.org/v28/esylum_v28n41a04.html)

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web