The E-Sylum:  Volume 9, Number 51, December 17, 2006, Article 32

OREGON COUNTY SELLS MEDALS TO FUND BRIDGE MAINTENANCE

Lane County, Oregon officials have come up with a numismatic
solution for funding local bridge maintenance:

"Lane County officials have learned that to make money, you have
to coin it. Literally.

"So they are minting 17 silver coins commemorating the county's 17
covered bridges in an effort to pay for some of the maintenance of
the spans no longer in service.

"And collectors are snapping them up.

"We didn't have any idea when we started what the interest would
be," Public Works executive assistant Vonnie Rainwater said. "It's
been very successful and well-received."

"After releasing the third coin last week, featuring the Office
Bridge in Westfir, the county has made at least $13,000, she said.
Two other coins, with the Goodpasture and Lowell bridges, were
released last year.

"The Goodpasture and Office bridge mintings were given a 500-coin
run, and 600 Lowell bridge coins were minted. The Goodpasture coin
cost $20 and the Lowell and Office coins cost $25. The first 25 of
each series were numbered and sold at auctions, Rainwater said.

"The No. 1 coin for Goodpasture bridge went for $400; for Lowell
Bridge it was $510, and the Office Bridge took in $280.

To read the complete article, see: Full Story

[OK, we numismatists know these are properly called medals, not
'coins', but it's an interesting concept nonetheless.  -Editor]

  Wayne Homren, Editor

	coinbooks.org Web

The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization 
promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org.

To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor 
at this address: whomren@coinlibrary.com

To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum