The E-Sylum:  Volume 3, Number 1, January 2, 2000, Article 3

IT HAPPENS TO THE BEST  

   It drives collectors nuts when periodical publishers delay or 
   misnumber issues, and perhaps there's a quiz question in 
   there somewhere.  But mishaps aren't limited to numismatic 
   publications.   An Associated Press article published today 
   reports, "Normally punctilious about correcting its own errors, 
   The New York Times used the new millennium to fess up to 
   a mistake that had appeared on its front page every day for 
   more than a century.  

   Saturday's Times is actually issue No. 51,254 - not 51,754.  

   You hadn't noticed? - Neither had anyone else, according to 
   the paper, until 24-year-old news assistant Aaron Donovan 
   recently "became curious about the numbering" ... and 
   "wondered about the potential for self-perpetuating error."  

   Using a spreadsheet program, Donovan ran the numbers 
   back to issue No. 1 on Sept. 18, 1851, and discovered they 
   added up to 500 fewer than had been thought.  Then, doing 
   further research, he homed in on Feb. 6, 1898, as the date 
   of infamy.  

   On that day, he found, a now-anonymous predecessor ... 
   added 1 to 14,499 and came up with 15,000 rather than 
   14,500." 

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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