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LOOSE CHANGE: AUGUST 9, 2026Here are some additional items in the media this week that may be of interest. -Editor Don Cleveland passed along this article about a new commemorative coin from the Royal Australian Mint. Thank you. -Editor 
A new 50-cent coin has been released into circulation, marking two defining moments in First Nations land rights. The coin depicts the 1966 Wave Hill walk-off, where Gurindji man Vincent Lingiari led about 200 Aboriginal stockmen, workers and families in strike action. What began as a protest over poor wages and conditions at Wave Hill station in the Northern Territory became a lightning rod for the national land rights movement. Nine years later, then-prime minister Gough Whitlam ceremonially returned a small portion of Gurindji land and poured a handful of soil into Lingiari's hand. The photo — taken by Mervyn Bishop, a renowned First Nations photojournalist — became a defining image in Australian history. The following year, the landmark Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 was passed, the first Australian law that allowed traditional owners to make a title claim.
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If you cringe when seeing an Olympic athlete bite their medal, brace yourself for this one. -Editor
She recently topped it off by winning gold in the women's 100m backstroke S9 at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games. Aside from being a decorated swimmer, Tai is also a guitarist, a multi-instrumentalist (leave some talent for the rest of us!), and a member of the alternative rock band BLUSH! In a video she posted on social media, Tai notes that her newest addition to her arsenal of gold medals looks like a guitar pick. "I just won gold at the Commonwealth Games, and my medal looks like a guitar pick," she says before launching into Megadeth's Symphony of Destruction – from the band's fifth studio album, 1992's Countdown to Extinction – on her Fender Telecaster Deluxe.
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On Facebook August 4th, the Bank of Canada Museum posted this image of an interesting colonial note. -Editor 
2 shillings and 6 pence, Island of Saint John, 1790 [On this date] in 1769, Prince Edward Island became a separate colony from Nova Scotia! Back then, it was known as the Island of Saint John, only becoming PEI in 1799. This early note is a treasury bill issued by the government of PEI for 2 shillings and 6 pence. It circulated as legal tender to pay for any debts or fees owed to the government.
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Live-auction app Whatnot is in the news again with another couple Wall Street Journal articles. One is about its addictive qualities, and another is on the $545 million it just raised from investors, giving the firm a valuation of $20 billion. -Editor 
Coins and bills to be auctioned on Whatnot Sean Harding downloaded Whatnot, a live-shopping app, after rekindling his childhood baseball-card collecting hobby. Within four months, the 45-year-old accountant had spent almost $1.4 million—from his savings, personal loans, money borrowed from a friend and finally from his employer's company credit card. When his wife discovered the full tally, she filed for divorce. "I just kept telling myself one more time, then I'd sell it all and make all my money back," Harding said. "But it was so easy to just swipe right. You don't even remember how many times you've done it." Seven-year-old Whatnot is one of the fastest-growing shopping platforms in America. It allows people to bid, around the clock, on trading cards, squishy toys, designer fashion and instant ramen, auctioned live in high-energy shows within the app.
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Wayne Homren, Editor The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org. To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com To subscribe go to: Subscribe All Rights Reserved. NBS Home Page Contact the NBS webmaster 
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