How fast can you send it to me?

Gold just crossed the $1,100 mark as I write this.

The Internet allows me to see price fluctuations in real time.

The result is that I probably check the price more often than I should.

Silver is also up this morning, trading at $14.12 an ounce.

Stock market trading also is reported in nearly real time and anyone with a 401(k) retirement account can cringe at results as they come in.

In this environment of real time reporting, I now pivot to make an appeal to coin clubs.

If they would like something to appear in Numismatic News, there is an in-built delay of about three weeks if you go by cover dates, which often is how postal delivery is timed to get papers to readers.

That delay is unavoidable given the nature of weekly newspapers.

However from time to time I will get club news reports for the paper where the sender has built in his own delay.

In my email this morning I had the report of a club meeting that occurred nearly five weeks ago.

Add three weeks to the newspaper cycle, and if I put this in the paper, the news would be two months old before readers even see it.

That is just too old even by snail mail standards.

Had this email been sent to me a few days after the event, I could get it in as a general rule.

There are, of course, some exceptions to this.

Something could be said or done at a meeting that should be added to the permanent record.

Original research, even with a delay of a couple of months would be of benefit to readers.

Such research is rarely presented and it is to be treasured no matter when the account arrives.

Timeless information also holds up well. The story of how a coin came to be is something that would be true no matter when it was read. This can be written up to be of benefit to all readers of a newspaper.

The trick here is sometimes an element of urgency can be added by saying something like Speaker A gave an enthralling lecture about the missing cash from the Confederate Treasury at the December meeting and he will return with more information about it at the March meeting.

This turns old information into brand new and interesting information. Perhaps a few more people will attend the March meeting as a result.

There are also events that have a very short shelf life.

The main information in this morning’s email was that the club had a Christmas party.

Every reader will think this is old even if I could get it into a paper and mail it to subscribers today.

Of course, I can’t.

I hope what I am writing here will not discourage anyone from sending me club news.

I hope it will inspire individuals to get me the information as quickly as they can so readers can benefit from it.

It is my job to put that information in the best light possible, but sometimes I am not able to do it.

This particular club report is one of those times.

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

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