Notes from JWR:

Courtesy of SurvivalBlog reader M.E., I have posted a new downloadable Excel spreadsheet: Silver World Coin Melt Value Calculator. You might find this a helpful shortcut, especially since circulating coin weights are expressed in grams, while silver is typically sold (and quoted daily) by the troy ounce. In assembling the table, M.E. used the oft-quoted coin weight data available in books like the Standard Catalog of World Coins 1901-2000, and in the Charlton's Standard Catalogue of Canadian Coins. This spreadsheet will be kept available at my Investing static page, indefinitely. Thanks, M.E., I owe you a favor! Thanks also to reader Eric C. who kindly expanded the spreadsheet to include US Mint silver coins.

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Today we present another entry for Round 24 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest.

First Prize: A.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner's choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost between $500 and $600, and B.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees, in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $392 value.) and C.) A HAZARiD Decontamination Kit from Safecastle.com. (A $345 value.)

Second Prize: A "grab bag" of preparedness gear and books from Jim's Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR) with a retail value of at least $350.

Third Prize: A copy of my "Rawles Gets You Ready" preparedness course, from Arbogast Publishing.

Round 24 ends on September 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that articles that relate practical "how to" skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.