ABOUT THIS ISSUE: NOVEMBER 8, 2026

My Numismatic Diary article this week covers my main numismatic adventure. Here's a cool license plate I saw along the way.

U.S. numismatists know the initials VDB as those of sculptor Victor David Brenner, creator of multiple medals and plaques but most famous for his design of the Lincoln Cent. Is the car's owner a numismatist? Or do the letters mean something else entirely? Is there a VDB 1 plate somewhere?

Seen online this week:

"Man introduced his wife to ChatGPT. She used it to plan his murder."
"Man, 97, dies dancing at his birthday party, to Staying Alive"

And here are some interesting non-numismatic articles I came across this week.

Where's the only royal palace in the U.S.? (https://interestingfacts.com/fact/theres-only-one-royal-palace-on-u-s-soil/)

The earliest U.S. presidents didn't wear pants. (https://interestingfacts.com/fact/the-earliest-u-s-presidents-didnt-wear-pants/)

Delivering Lincoln's Gettysburg Address in Pa. is ‘one of the greatest honors' (https://www.post-gazette.com/life/goodness/2026/11/04/billy-campbell-abraham-lincoln-gettysburg-address-pa/stories/202611080007)

The Rise and Fall of Variety Shows (https://historyfacts.com/arts-culture/article/the-rise-and-fall-of-variety-shows/)

5 Common Table Manners Invented To Stop Fights (https://historyfacts.com/world-history/article/table-manners-invented-to-stop-fights/)

Snap and crackle but no pop: Rice Krispies reformulated due to lack of rice (https://www.theguardian.com/food/2026/nov/03/kelloggs-rice-krispies-coco-pops-reformulated-rice-shortage)

Same as it ever was: David Byrne on why great ideas sometimes fall asleep (https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/11/02/talking-heads-david-byrne-why-great-ideas-sometimes-fall-asleep/)

The world capital of atoms (https://rationaloptimistsociety.substack.com/p/the-world-capital-of-atoms)

The Story Behind Edward Hopper's Iconic Painting, "Nighthawks" (https://lithub.com/the-story-behind-edward-hoppers-iconic-painting-nighthawks/)

Long-Lost Georgia O'Keeffe Landscape Goes to Auction (https://hyperallergic.com/long-lost-georgia-okeeffe-landscape-goes-to-auction/)

-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.