"I really appreciate you including my interview with Greg Bennick in recent issues of E-Sylum. I enjoyed and appreciated Greg's enthusiasm for Canadian numismatics and exonumia. My main goal in agreeing to do the interview was to promote the J. Douglas Ferguson sponsored Geoffrey Bell Canadian Numismatic Resources – Geoffrey Bell ressources numismatiques canadiennes ( cnr-rnc.ca) website. It is a tremendous resource for Canadian numismatic literature.

"Other individuals I mentioned in the interview, who also have contributed to the website, are Len Buth (not Booth as previously pointed out) who has his An Alphabetical Listing Of The W.R. McColl 1903 Sales List Of Canadian Medals And Business Cards posted ( https://cnr-rnc.ca/buth-len/) and Ronald Greene (not Green) who has included his British Columbia Database and Yukon Token Database ( https://cnr-rnc.ca/greene-ronald/) as well as articles from his Greene Frogge Press website ( http://greenefrogge.ca/).

"I look forward to receiving and reading each issue of the E-Sylum. A great digital publication."

All great websites - click through and check them out!

We've updated our own website archive to correct the name spellings of Len Buth and Ronald Greene. -Editor

"Two things in yesterday's edition struck me. First, Justin Hinh's comments on AI grading were spot on. I agree with him that an AI system could probably be trained for technical grading, but that isn't what the market wants anymore.

"Second, I couldn't help but look at the two Draped Bust half dimes in the Heritage sale. One is graded Fine and the other AG details. No question that the one graded AG is damaged, but I can't see much difference in the amount of detail between the two. I am by no means an expert in half dimes, but perhaps someone could enlighten me as to why the large difference in sharpness grade between the two?"

TPG gradeflation upended everything I used to know about grading, so I have no clue. But here are the coin images and grades. -Editor

On another grading front, I reached out to Michigan-based entrepreneur Richard Colonna, the Founder and CEO of Quantitative Collectors Group (QCG) for an update. -Editor

"Yes, we have many updates that your readers may be interested in as we will also be at the ANA show in August, Booth 242.

As for the updates:

1) We will be running another Indiegogo Campaign with the Kickoff August 25 to October 8.

2) Response to our first Campaign was very positive with over 85 orders, 400 people on a waitlist and over 29,000 page views.

3) We plan to ship our first 100 units in December of this year.

4) And, lastly we would encourage your readers to visit our Indiegogo Campaign early as it will be in preview mode August 10, Our campaign offers more insight and pictures on what quantitative coin grading will be bringing to the coin collecting world."

Please understand that QCG is not trying to replace subjective 3rd Party Graders, but rather to provide a calibrated instrument that gives quantitative information about a coin that is currently not available, and is completely transparent and 100% repeatable.

Their table is already on my list, and I hope E-Sylum readers also stop by to learn more about their coin grading technology device. -Editor

"Boycott the mint over the Trump Dollar? There is a better reason. Prices. We have customers that we will disappoint this year because we will not be buying the regular proof sets (or any other product other than the bullions eagles) because of the outrageous price.

"The annual proof set is a traditional gift for many, but at $107 for base metal coins... we will take a pass."

I haven't ordered these since I was a kid. They always seemed pricey, but even accounting for inflation, that's a crazy number. -Editor

"What's that faraway cheer I hear about the Common Cents Act story? Why it's the spirit of Dick Johnson, of course, who argued for years against the wasteful production of the cent.

"While we're at it, why not start a Murder the Miserable Mill Movement? The persistence of the mill in retail gasoline pricing today is beyond stupid. It may have made some sense in the 1930s when the price at the pump held steady at 16 cents and a cut of a mill or two may have actually given the cheaper retailer a competitive advantage. Today, 9 mills times 30 gallons puts 27 additional cents in the retailer's pocket. Chump change? Maybe for you but not for some penny watchers. This won't take an act of Congress to bring about.

"End of sermon."

Yes, Dick railed against the cent for years - a selection of articles is linked below. -Editor

Julia Casey is on the case! An accomplished genealogical sleuth, Julia turned up additional information about the issuer of cardboard scrip discussed by Dave Schenkman in our last issue (in an article republished from the Civil War Token Society journal Civil War Era Numismatics). She located the firm in tiny Bloomville, NY (2020 population, 173 souls), and one of the proprietors in almost-as-tiny Hobart, NY (2020 population, 351). The issuing store's owners were Samuel McCune and William Blakely Peters. -Editor

"I jumped right on the E-Sylum reprint article about the McCune & Peters cardboard chits. I got a hit in the FultonHistory newspaper database in the scans of the Bloomville Mirror. A firm by this name was in the tiny village of Bloomville, Delaware County, NY c. 1858 +.

"Then, in the Nov 5, 1904 Hobart Independent, there is a story about one of the proprietors - William Blakely Peters- which gives some additional history."

Thanks, Julia! She sent all the details of her finds to Dave. Love it when E-Sylum readers can help solve a numismatic mystery. -Editor

Steve Starlust passed along this reminder about the upcoming Heritage sale of selections from his collection of Columbian Exposition material. If you're at the ANA show in Pittsburgh, visit the Heritage Auctions booth to preview lots and say hello to Steve who will be there with copies of his book on the topic. -Editor

I've written before about my travails with arithmetic-challenged cashiers flummoxed when I offer coins to round out the change I'm due. This joke from the Good Clean Funnies List offers another take on the situation. -Editor

Since my purchases came to $19.06, I handed the cashier a twenty.

"Do you have six cents?" she asked.

"Sorry," I said after fishing around my pockets, "I have no cents."

"Finally," she muttered, "a man who can admit it."