I thought that the readers of The E-Sylum might find the following of great interest.

Ray Lockwood, education Director of Central States mentions in his quarterly column in "The Centinel" the following:

"In October, the Central States Board authorized $20,000 for grants of up to $5,000 for authors of numismatic books and/or video productions. To date, the total budget has been awarded to the following authors:

$5,000 to Robert Julian of Logansport, IN, to conduct research on a book covering the United States Mint from 1792 to 1837;

$5,000 to Neil Shafer of Milwaukee to complete work on a book titled: A Catalog of Panic Scrip of 1893, 1907 & 1914;

$5,000 to Fred Reed of Carrollton, TX, for research on a new book titled: Civil War Stamp Envelopes, the Issuers and Their Times

$4,000 to Dr. John Amato of Dallas, to finish work on his book, The Draped Bust Half Dollars of 1796-1797: Numismatic Background and Census; and

$1,000 to Harry Waterson of Branson, MO, to finish work on his book; The Medal of the Month Club. "

As a member of the Education Committee which formulated this program and as a current board member and hopefully the next Vice President of Central States, I am pleased with the awards Central States has made and will be recommending that we expand the program in the future.