Calling all Watsons

While many collectors are waiting for delivery of their Baseball Hall of Fame commemorative coins, I thought I would change the subject this morning. It might make the waiting seem shorter.

Greg Ruby emailed me an announcement of the formation of a new group that will meet at the American Numismatic Association World’s Fair of Money in Rosemont, Ill.

The organizational meeting of the Sherlockian Numismatists will be held at 11 a.m. Aug. 9 in Room 40 of the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center.

I consider myself a fan of Sherlock Holmes, the fictional British detective who lives at 221B Baker Street in London. I watched the old Basil Rathbone movies as a kid, read some of the Arthur Conan Doyle stories and have been enjoying the revival of the detective as a resident of modern London through the recent BBC series, “Sherlock.”

Even so, I wondered what such a new collector group might be able to do.

Ruby writes, “Readers of the Holmes mysteries can find references to counterfeit Bank of England 5-pound bank notes, British coinage, French gold coins, among others sprinkled through the stories.

“In addition, there are numismatic connections to many items mentioned in the 60 mysteries. In the last several years, many coins and medals have been issued with Sherlock Holmes related designs.”

To measure possible interest, Ruby asks all collectors who are interested in the Sherlock Holmes numismatic connection to email him at Greg@GregRubyConsulting.com.

As the old Sherlock Holmes used to say, “The game is afoot,” and the new one says, “The game is on,”

I think I just might look in on this meeting. How about you? Are you game for a new organization?

Buzz blogger Dave Harper is winner of the 2013 Numismatic Literary Guild Award for Best Blog and is editor of the weekly newspaper "Numismatic News."