May 12, 2007

Commemorative Jamestown coins

2007 Jamestown 400th Anniversary Commemorative CoinsAuthorized by Public Law 108-289, the commemorative coins are limited to maximum mintages across all product options of 500,000 for the silver dollar and 100,000 for the $5 gold coin. The coins will be sold by the United States Mint through the end of 2007 or until the coins sell out.

The coins tell the story of Jamestown as America’s first permanent English settlement that established democracy, free enterprise and a culturally diverse society in what became the United States.

The obverse of the $5 gold coin depicts Captain John Smith conversing with a Virginia Indian. The coin’s reverse pictures the Jamestown Memorial Church—the only structure remaining from the settlement’s earliest years. The gold coin sells for $255.
Comment:  This coin easily could have been Virginia's state quarter. Instead, the state went with a safer choice.

4 comments:

writerfella said...

Writerfella here --
Rob Schmidt is learning! And the phrase, "...easily could have been..." proves that point -- in proper writing, one never splits infinitives, a la Strunk & White. writerfella is proud that such a simple example of proper construction of the English language has been learned...
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'

Rob said...

I've known about split infinitives since I got straight A's in English 30+ years ago. I also know the "rule" is a guideline, not a hard-and-fast commandment of proper English. As Strunk and White wrote:

"The split infinitive is another trick of rhetoric in which the ear must be quicker than the handbook. Some infinitives seem to improve on being split, just as a stick of round stovewood does. 'I cannot bring myself to really like the fellow.' The sentence is relaxed, the meaning is clear, the violation is harmless and scarcely perceptible. Put the other way, the sentence becomes stiff, needlessly formal. A matter of ear."

Therefore, as Strunk and White suggest, I violate the so-called rule whenever the need arises. I.e., whenever it improves the flow and cadence. That's why my writing doesn't sound as stilted as yours sometimes does.

writerfella said...

writerfella here --
Safer than -$200 apiece, ya better believe it makes a difference about 'immigrant prejudice'. EuroMan believes that he always has occupied the rest of the world, even though it took him from 1575 A.D.until 1910 A.D. for the population of North America to fall below 110 million and then again to reach that same level.
The human population of planet Earth now exceeds 7 billions; how long from now will Earth's future population reach that same level again? Especially after the coming 'affliction'?
Count your fingers and your toes, and then be unhappy that none of you are Anasazi...
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'

Rob said...

I'm not sure what this has to do with the commemorative Jamestown coins.

The current estimate of the world's population is about 6.6 billion. It's projected to reach 7 billion in 2013 or so.