The annual car show opened today.

It is an event which this year features Ragtops and Roadsters. Which makes for nice displays and nice summer evening rides.

The show is expected to dway over 2500 show cars, some now more than a centruy old. There are 4400 vendor spaces in the swap meet area, with folks selling everything from valve covers and chrome to glass and bumpers.

The expected 125,000 visitors will be served by an army of community volunteers who handle everything from gate admissions and food service, to the clean-up. Proceeds get distributed in the Fall to the community organizations who participate.

My 1982 propane powered Checker Marathon is participating!

George

This year I took part in the second year of the two-year Gilroy Roberts Art of Engraving fellowship. The program was taught by Laura Stocklin, a participant in one of the yearly years of the program.

Last year, you may remember, I learned engraving and modeling in plaster. This year we hand engraved a steel die, as well as making the gravers for that purpose.

At the end of the week we also got to strike pewter examples of our designs.

One example of each die made (five participants) struck in pewter, with a uniform reverse of the ANA lamp of knowledge and Summer Seminar legend is available for $20. postpaid from the group (and may soon be on the ANA Website too).

George

The 2009 editions of the Standard Catalog of World Coins, 20th Century (36th edition), and Standard Catalog of World Coins, 21st Century (3rd edition) are now available.

This year, in addition to tremendously updated prices, improved discriptions and images you will receive in each book a DVD of the book, which you can then download onto your laptop and travel to shows lighter.

And for readers of this blog you can receive a 20% off-list-price discount if you use coupon code NB28 when you check out using the on-line bookstore at www.krausebooks.com

George 

The country size choice for currency production in 20th Centruy paper money seems to have deen determined by ease of production rather than other factors.

In European countries, the size of note was slightly larger - in width or height, and sometimes both, as the denominations inclreased in value.

These countries produced one denomination on each sheet of paper.

In the United States, starting in the colonial era and continuing thru the early large size note prodction era of the 1880s, the format many US printers used were notes of the same size, so that one sheet of four notes (as they were often printed) could mix and match denominations for the same issuer. So a note sheet may include a format of 1-1-3-5, or 1-1-5-10, or 1-5-5-10, or other formats.

The uncut sheets of Colonial and Continental Currency which are extant also show that several denominations were included on the same sheet of paper.

Thus, for ease of production, namely cutting, that the choice is made for same size currency.

(Granted since the larger format presses have been used, I know of no modern production facility which still mixes currency denominations on one sheet of paper).

So the size issue, is one of historical production convience.

Thus the court rule, as reviewed in the NY Times article, now puts the response to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, who, I must say is really on a learing curve, starting with the redesign of the currency since the 1990s with the "big head portraits", and now with color.

Sadly, I think it is still the vending machine industry in the United States which will keep us from getting different size currency.

George