Member perks Texas-sized in TNA

Are you a member of the Texas Numismatic Association?

Any collector living in Texas should be.

For a good reason, I will cite the September/October issue of TNA News I was reading.

In the issue, I found the annual notification of the organization’s grants for the American Numismatic Association Summer Seminar and the Fund Your Library Grant.

What are the qualifications for the two types of grants?

I was surprised to find out.

Two grants to the ANA Summer Seminar are made to individual TNA members.

These cover tuition and travel to Colorado Springs, Colo.

What you have to do to be eligible is simply enter a drawing.

That’s it?

You'd better believe it, even though I had a hard time doing so.

Where’s the requirement to have been an active collector for the last 40 years, or an active Young Numismatist?

Where’s the required essay to say how much you would like to go, or how much you appreciate the generosity of TNA members?

These are nowhere to be found.

Simply enter by Dec. 31, 2017.

The drawing will be held Jan. 19 at the TNA Winter Board Meeting taking place at the Houston Money Show.

The TNA began taking entries to this drawing Aug. 1.

As of Sept. 10, nine entries had been received.

Now I know that more entries will be submitted between now and year's end.

How many might there be? I don’t know.

If it is 50, 100 or 200, I sure like those odds of winning one of two grants to go to the Summer Seminar.

This chance of winning alone has to make a TNA membership one heck of a deal.

Interestingly, the criteria for the library drawing are more numerous, but not by much.

To win one of the five $125 prizes to buy books, the entrant to the drawing must have been a member of TNA in good standing during the year of the drawing and for two years prior.

Wouldn’t you like to fund your book purchases this way?

Five lucky TNA members, or member clubs, will be able to do so.

In case you want to join TNA, annual dues are $20.

Mail them to Lawrence Herrera, TNA Secretary, 4717 Lovers Lane, Dallas, TX 75209.

Buzz blogger Dave Harper won the Numismatic Literary Guild Award for Best Blog for the third time in 2017 . He is editor of the weekly newspaper "Numismatic News."

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