ABOUT THIS ISSUE: AUGUST 9, 2026

My non-E-Sylum numismatic activity this week consisted of buying some obsolete scrip notes found on eBay and a reference group of contemporary counterfeit U.S. coins. More in my next Numismatic Diary.

While not numismatic, one recent chore involving gold was when I went to a local jewelry store and had them cut off my wedding band. I hadn't been able to get it off for the last ten or fifteen years. Smarter people than me (like my wife) get their rings resized once in a while. I just thought, "Oh, I'll lose weight and it'll come off again." Right - a doctor told me the problem was arthritis and recommended the jeweler. So there I was, letting someone use a glorified can opener to slice the thing open and get it off my poor finger. I was told to wait a month to let the finger recover - it still has an impression from the wedding band. So after the ANA convention I'll get the ring restored and resized. I'll be walking around the show barehanded, but sorry ladies - I'm still taken.

Finally, here are some interesting non-numismatic articles I came across this week. With the Pittsburgh ANA coming up, the first one is somewhat timely - it features a house half a block from my old home there. King Avenue was a hotbed of numismatic literature in those days, with two large numismatic libraries within a couple blocks - my own, and that of my good friend E. Tomlinson "Tom" Fort, former editor of The Asylum. With our different interests (U.S. for me, medieval coinage for Tom), there was little overlap.

This Highland Park Home Has Its Own Block (https://www.pittsburghmagazine.com/hot-property-5454-wellesley-ave-highland-park/)

The Man Who Brings [Ventriloquist] Dummies to Life (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/08/arts/ventriloquist-dummies-austin-phillips.html)

The little robot that could … fix America's sidewalks? (https://san.com/cc/the-little-robot-that-could-fix-americas-sidewalks/)

People used to believe left-handedness could be cured. (https://historyfacts.com/world-history/fact/left-handedness-cured/)

Edgy Vanity Plates Test Limits of Free Speech (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/06/us/politics/the-docket-vanity-plates-speech.html)

Paul Simon's joyful ‘Graceland' is turning 40. Does it deserve an asterisk? (https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/08/05/graceland-40-paul-simons-masterwork-is-better-controversy/)

Tacky, Rude and Beloved: Is an I-95 Landmark [South of the Border] Worth Saving? (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/08/us/south-of-the-border-carolina.html)

The wizard behind the names of billion-dollar companies (https://thehustle.co/originals/the-wizard-behind-the-names-of-billion-dollar-companies)

Abraham Lincoln imposes first federal income tax (https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/august-5/lincoln-imposes-first-federal-income-tax)

How One Man's Cure for Loneliness Started a Movement (https://www.wsj.com/us-news/how-one-mans-cure-for-loneliness-started-a-movement-b4d386dd)

-Editor

Wayne Homren
Wayne Homren is the founding editor of The E-Sylum and a consultant for the Newman Numismatic Portal. His collecting interests at various times included U.S. Encased Postage Stamps, merchant counterstamps, Pittsburgh Obsolete paper money, Civil War tokens and scrip, Carnegie Hero Medals, charge coins and numismatic literature. He also collects and has given presentations on the work of Money Artist J.S.G. Boggs. In the non-numismatic world he's worked in artificial intelligence, data science, and as a Program Manager for the U.S. Department of Defense.

Garrett Ziss
Garrett Ziss is a numismatic collector and researcher, with a focus on American paper money and early U.S. silver and copper coins. He is also a part-time U.S. coin cataloger for Heritage Auctions. Garrett assists Editor Wayne Homren by editing and formatting a selection of articles and images each week. When he's not engaged in numismatics, Garrett is pursuing a Master's Degree in Quantitative Economics at the University of Pittsburgh.

Pete Smith
Numismatic researcher and author Pete Smith of Minnesota has written about early American coppers, Vermont coinage, numismatic literature, tokens and medals, the history of the U.S. Mint and much more. Author of American Numismatic Biographies, he contributes original articles to The E-Sylum often highlighting interesting figures in American numismatic history.

Greg Bennick
Greg Bennick (www.gregbennick.com) is a keynote speaker and long time coin collector with a focus on major mint error coins and US counterstamps. He is on the board of both CONECA and TAMS and enjoys having in-depth conversations with prominent numismatists from all areas of the hobby. Have ideas for other interviewees? Contact him anytime via instagram @minterrors. He can also be reached by email at minterrors@gmail.com.

John Nebel
Numismatist, photographer, and ANS Board member and Fellow John Nebel of Boulder, CO helped the ANA and other clubs like NBS get online in the early days of the internet, hosting websites gratis through his Computer Systems Design Co. To this day he hosts some 50 ANA member club sites along with our coinbooks.org site, making the club and our E-Sylum archive available to collectors and researchers worldwide.

Bruce Perdue
Encased coinage collector (encasedcoins.info) Bruce Perdue of Aurora, Illinois has been the volunteer NBS webmaster from its early days and works each week to add the latest E-Sylum issue to our archive and send out the email announcement.