Leibel Binyamin, known as LB, finds a mys­te­ri­ous trea­sure trove while walk­ing through the sub­way when the train he is rid­ing needs to be evac­u­at­ed. These cen­turiesold coins lead him to a meet­ing with the may­or of New York City and, ulti­mate­ly, to a trip to Wash­ing­ton, DC to meet the Pres­i­dent and First Lady. When that adven­ture con­cludes, he begins week­ly study of a dif­fi­cult book of Jew­ish mys­ti­cism; the book teach­es him how to be in two places at one time and how to trav­el through time. He puts his impres­sive dou­bling skill to work when bob­cats threat­en the safe­ty of some­one at his sum­mer camp. When he returns from camp, he and a friend trav­el back to 19th cen­tu­ry Vien­na in an effort to locate the source of a mys­te­ri­ous cry­ing sound they hear in shul. The nov­el ends with LB won­der­ing how he can help the Vien­nese fam­i­ly, a clear indi­ca­tion that a sequel is planned. Coins of Mer­it​’s plot is a bare­ly con­cealed device for teach­ing the read­er about the mid­dot (good char­ac­ter traits) of mod­esty and hon­esty — the author is clear about his goals in the pref­ace. Char­ac­ters are mere­ly sketch­es, and coin­ci­dences abound. The nov­el seems to be aimed at an audi­ence that is large­ly igno­rant of the sec­u­lar world. The author includes details that most oth­er chil­dren old enough to under­stand this book will not need, such as an expla­na­tion that the Pres­i­dent lives in a spe­cial res­i­dence called the White House. Grades 4 – 6.