RWB

At present, it's unlikely. Speakers, book signings, etc. don't attract unique visitors, so it's only an expense for the promoters.

Coin shows of any size are something I rarely attend. Even then it is to meet collectors, speak (Woof! Woof!), or sign books. I don't buy coins to "collect" but for research, and there is never anything for research in the rows of flat cases and concrete floors. I've examined some very special and unusual/unexpected coins during shows, but only because the owner or agent had contacted me previously. On the flip side, if a collector or dealer/museum person wants in-person help, I've driven to Baltimore or possibly Pittsburgh sole for that purpose, then turned around and driven home. It seems to boil down to my purposes and coin show purposes not aligning very well. Long ago I used to take coin photos at shows and used the time between customers to graze the bourse for SL quarters, WL halves and highest quality examples of type coins, but that got "old" quickly as the supply of unexamined coins diminished and dealers had piles of re-displayed retreads at show after show. A few years ago I tried to interest show promoters/sponsors in revitalizing the whole event with organization changes, technology, communication, activity integration and so forth -- I shudda' brought along hearing aids for them.

Thanks to member StrikeOutXXX for his informative update of the thread "1919 Mercury Dime - CONFIRMED: DDO Discovery Piece (Census in 1st post)." I certainly hope this makes it into a more stable, accessible format for future reference. URL: https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/937347/1919-mercury-dime-confirmed-ddo-discovery-piece-census-in-1st-post

Ask you local Postmaster (where you mailed the package) for his/her help. Two weeks for insured mail is not excessive given present postal service mismanagement. A lot of mail is arriving at regional and local offices in large batches, rather than a smooth manageable flow.

Here's a little data teaser relating to some of the later pattern pieces. Notice that many patters of 1879 did not show up in the Mint Cabinet of Coins until several years later. And -- there are some nickels in various metals dated 1866. Were these restruck by Superintendent Snowden for trading stock?

Bingo Barber.... was he the youngest son of William - the one who stayed in England to run a chameleon breeding farm?

In the ancient world counterfeit coins were commonplace. Every merchant had balances and weights used to check silver and gold coins, and other means to check metal purity. When the coin collecting bug hit Europe during the Renaissance, some of the demand was met fakes of well-known ancient coins, plus complete fabrications of new designs. There are modern collectors who specialize in various types of adulterated and counterfeited ancient coins, but most of us prefer to have genuine examples. For the OP's coin, authenticity conveys most of its market value.

True -- So long as we don't put them on "auto drive" and go to sleep.

Should a cigar smoking duck flop down to me with a great wad of cash, I would then decide what to do - and it might not be the use some would anticipate.

Coins were made for commerce. Among the best preserved are the few in the Michelson collection (CT State Collection) that were picked off the press by Louis Comparette.

Major purchase. Would not want to speculate about it on a public forum.

The letter implies that he had been stealing on several occasions, and was being required to re-pay the Chief Coiner, Eckfeldt, for what he confessed to taking. Presumably Eckfeldt handled it as if it were a loan and that made the legal part go away. The perpetrator, Benjamin Lenderbach, accepted time-served - preferable to hanging. I wonder if he became the first "hedge fund" manager ?

I leave the imaginative stories for the kid's bedtime.

Also known as "Bologna finish" and "clashed old die" double eagles.

Good stuff.

Three women in this gang. The Ingersol Gang specialized in nickels - most commonly used coin in America due to railroad (transit) fares.

Nope...that's the digit "4" below right of the 9.

That was supposed to be "funny" 'cause of the 1909 date..... flop...crash....burn. Barber's initial is at the truncation of the bust.

No, not really. None of it was something I could hope to ever own - even for a few weeks - so I concentrated on getting all the data I could and making sense of it.

Wow! That's quite a list. Sounds like StrkieoutXXX has the beginnings of an interesting numismatic article! [Several defalcations are mentioned in From Mine to Mint (near the back), but no conviction resulting in execution of the guilty party. A few got away with their loot. Most were put in jail.]

Where's the "V.D.B." ?

The public has an implied right to presume that anything resembling a coin, including the name of the country, and a legal denomination is a legal tender coin. Hence, pattern pieces are not coins, and neither are counterfeits. The Mint was consistent about using bullion value for pattern coins, or some other sales price based on metal and cost of production. In part this is why copper or bronze pattern examples of patterns did not require payment - the metal had no practical value.

I think so.....normally I'm on a chair.

Is that a knot or an owl at upper center? Maybe it's a rare Athenian tetradrachm? (The barbed wire seems to be listing, too.)

Confused --- If a Topic is listing, do I have to know which way -- port or starboard - it is listing? What about the amount of the list? If it heels or leans too much will my Topic sink to the bottom of the page? How do I correct for Topic listing -- can I add words, or maybe delete a post, or change the Topic title? This is all very confusing --- it's like I was told I could weigh less on the bathroom scale if I had a light on, but the weight just went up..... And there's this really rare coin I found at Wawa when I got morning coffee and a doughnut with lemon filling. It was round.