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LOOSE CHANGE: SEPTEMBER 27, 2026Here are some additional items in the media this week that may be of interest. -Editor The Scripotime stock certificate website posted an article about Poyais, one of the most elaborate and deadly frauds in history. We covered this in 2022 because of the currency notes issued by the nonexistent nation. Wild story. Here's an excerpt, but see the complete article online. -Editor 
MacGregor transformed that strip of jungle into something entirely fictional: the Kingdom of Poyais, an independent nation of roughly 16,000 square miles, complete with a capital city (St. Joseph), a cathedral, a bank, a postal service, and a parliamentary constitution, all of which existed only in the documents he commissioned in London. He appointed himself Cazique, Prince of the Poyers, a title he claimed had been bestowed on him by the Miskito king. He designed a flag, minted a currency, and drafted a national anthem. He even granted himself the right to confer knighthoods. The genius of the scheme was not the invention itself but its packaging. MacGregor arrived in London in 1822 as a decorated foreign dignitary, traveling in a carriage with an elaborate coat of arms. He published a guidebook to Poyais, 355 pages of detailed geography, climate tables, and investment advice, written by "Captain Thomas Strangeways," an officer who did not exist. He commissioned an opera composer to write songs about the beautiful republic. He granted interviews, held court at parties, and let London society do the rest. In January 1823, the first ship, the Honduras Packet, landed its passengers at the Black River. What they found was not a kingdom but a swamp. There was no capital city, no cathedral, no bank, nothing but dense jungle, marshland, and a handful of scattered settlements. The second and larger expedition, seven ships carrying nearly 200 more settlers, arrived to the same reality. There were no roads, no provisions, and no way to make the fortune they had been promised. The settlers, to their enormous credit, attempted to build the promised colony anyway. They cleared land and planted crops in soil that would barely yield. Malaria, yellow fever, and dysentery did the rest. By the time a passing British naval vessel offered rescue months later, more than half of the settlers were dead, including, in many cases, entire families. The survivors who made it back to Britain arrived destitute, diseased, and furious.
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Roberto Menchaca García published a nice Numismatic News article on King Farouk of Egypt and his legendary coin collection. Here's an excerpt - see the complete article online. -Editor
The impressive coin collection, known as the Palace Collections of Egypt, was assembled by the king during his reign. The name refers to Farouk's official residence after his accession in 1936, the Royal Palace of Koubbeh, where he housed his collections. The collection was auctioned by the government in 1954 at the palace in Cairo. After the 1952 revolution, the Royal Palace of Koubbeh was converted into a presidential residence. The Egyptian government hired Baldwin's to catalog the items and Sotheby's to publish an auction catalog and conduct the sales event. The collection was hastily auctioned in nine exhausting sessions, during which 8,500 coins and medals were sold. The first session began on February 24, 1954, with the last on March 6. Given the short time frame in which all the pieces were auctioned, most were sold across 2,798 lots. To this day, that 1954 auction is considered the largest of the 20th century, and many experts believe it has not yet been surpassed in importance or volume by any other auction. The Cairo auction attracted the world's most renowned numismatic collectors, such as John J. Pittman and Ambassador Henry Webb. In fact, the cores of the famous collections that these men later assembled were built around the pieces acquired at this auction. The event also attracted a significant number of numismatic dealers, including Abe Kosoff and Hans Schulman himself. Everyone knew that the pieces would be sold for well below their real value due to several factors, such as the huge number of lots to be auctioned in such a short time, the remote location of the auction place, and the political instability of the country, which would prevent many interested parties from attending the event. Many of the buyers, like Pittman, even remortgaged their homes or took out credit lines to raise the money needed to buy as many pieces as possible.
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Video: Dan O'Dowd and the Tyrant Collection
Discover how tech billionaire Dan O'Dowd built the Tyrants of the Golden Horn Collection, consisting of more than 250 rare coins spanning 1,700 years of Byzantine history. Authenticated and graded by PCGS, this multimillion-dollar numismatic showcase now stands as one of the greatest ancient coin collections ever assembled.
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The country's first library robot helper lives at Mesa Gateway Library, and he is very cute! Why it matters: Romi is part tour guide, part selfie station and easily the library's most futuristic helper. How it works: Romi can greet visitors in eight languages and lead them to different parts of the library.
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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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