When I meet people for the first time and they ask what I do, many are intrigued by the idea of book publishing. To some, it seems charmingly old-fashioned, like meeting a chimney sweep or a calligrapher. Makes me feel like I’ve stepped off the pages of a storybook. But I try not to get too deep into the weeds, because that’s when eyes start to glaze over.
“Coin books? Whoever thinks about coin books?”
Turns out a lot of people do. And there’s a wonderful resource for keeping up with the field: The E-Sylum, a free weekly email newsletter managed by Wayne Homren and published by the Numismatic Bibliomania Society.
It’s for collectors and anyone else interested in the history and artistry of coins, medals, tokens, and paper money—and the books written and published about them.
In just over 20 years, in an Internet environment swarming with noise, clutter, and confusion, The E-Sylum has emerged as a rock-solid haven for numismatic news and authoritative information. It’s entertaining, at times provocative, and always thought-provoking.
If you’re writing a book and want to talk with people who can aid your research, The E-Sylum is it: An invaluable meeting place, remarkably productive for crowdsourcing and dialogue.
And if you just want to keep up-to-date on new books published weekly, around the world, on every possible numismatic subject, The E-Sylum is the place to go.
I liken it to a fin de siècle Viennese café in the atrium of a numismatic research library nestled in the center of a 20-story, 10-block history museum. Yeah, you have to bring your own drink—but you can’t beat free admission to such a resource.
Visit The E-Sylum online. Take a look at a sample issue. Find out where the weird name comes from. And sign up to get the free weekly newsletter in your inbox. The world of hobby publishing awaits!
Dennis Tucker joined Whitman Publishing as the company’s publisher in 2004. The firm, which dates to 1916, is the Official Supplier of the congressionally chartered American Numismatic Association. Tucker’s focus is on nonfiction books including many standard references relating to the art and science of numismatics (the study of coins and related objects). Numismatics is a field that touches on financial and banking history, economics, artistry and design, technology, mining and metallurgy, political history, society, culture, and many other areas of the human experience.
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