The Cellar Image of the Day

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In December 2016, Graham Short, an artist who engraves tiny images on pinheads, defaced four of the new UK Ł5 notes with a miniature portrait of Jane Austen and a unique quote. Then spent one in each home nation: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

Whilst defacing currency is a crime, his last work -a portrait of the queen on a pinhead, raised Ł100,000, so it is estimated that each of these is worth up to Ł50,000. The one spent in a pie shop in England is still missing.

I hope Dana finds it.

Very cool idea, and well executed. I don't see how the government could be pissy about it but you never know.

I don't get the vegan reference, because he spent it in a pie shop?

By the way, Beest should like this.

The new Ł5 notes contain animal fat I was about to post a link to an article about that when the stupid computer crashed again

While I'm sure there are many lovely individuals in the vegan world, I've never met them. I meet the kind of vegans who should be tied to their chairs and forced to read some things.

http://tinyurl.com/lz5ma4u
http://tinyurl.com/6bsbsvo (wonder if there's a vegan menu)
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37034619

I hope the people who find those altered bills deserve them

Just like I hope the story about the Misha Collins bills is true...some huge Supernatural fan apparently wrote Are You Misha Collins? on a bunch of either fives or ones, across the top in small lettering...and a pic of Collins holding one up in a coffee shop appears to show handwriting matching the original post. (Not to mention that Jensen Ackles from the same show has now apparently TWICE walked into businesses and discovered fan employees had used Skittles to make portraits of him! I checked the pics and the colors & arrangements are different, and there's a photo set out there of his face when he found the first in a coffee shop.)

Also, having worked with tallow (I still hate the smell of rendering suet) when my mom used to hand-make soap, I can't imagine what they had to treat it with to keep it from spoiling!

Back in the days when the British Empire included India, riots were rumored to have been sparked when troops were told that the waterproofing on the packaging of their rifle ammo was a combination of beef (offensive to Hindus) and pork (offensive to another group, maybe Muslims, that supplied MANY soldiers to the British) fat.

As for the defacement of currency with things like these micro-etchings, that doesn't perturb me all too much. I probably wouldn't deface anything bigger than $5, but that's because I'm broke all the time.

Read another interesting little money-related blip the other day. A school kid in Texas tried to buy lunch with an old (pre-reissue) $2 and it failed the counterfeit pen test. All pre-reissue $2 bills will fail, it turns out. They had to call the grandmother who gave her the money to verify its origin! The article's on Forbes, so probably not TOO fake...

They do something with lard nowadays that allows it to be shelf stable for a couple of years.

I think it's funny that when we moved here, people thought it was odd Brits used suet to bake with sometimes (although we use a vegetarian version) ....suet is only for bird food. Now Beef tallow, duck fat and some other animal fat I can't remember off the top of my head bre the "in" luxury items in the cooking oil section of my store

yes, Atora is the brand we use. I have my MIL bring it periodically tho, ain't payin' those kind of prices (it's like a couple of quid in store, tops). Mostly I use it for the Christmas pudding and mincemeat

just curious, is there meat in mincemeat? And if so, why bother with vegan suet in animal mincemeat?

Yes, used to be meat, suet and a lot of booze, but now it's dried fruit and nuts. My Aunt used to make pies every holiday, Mincemeat, along with apple, and pumpkin or Boston Creme. My mother would ask, do you want apple, pumpkin, or mincemeat, the answer was yes.

I use Delia (no nuts -Beest hates). Any apples will do, I use whatever needs using first, and I do peel -easier than washing the wa/xwhatever off and the peel doesn't add anything

http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/i...tmas-mincemeat

Flour of England, fruit of Spain, Met together in a shower of rain; Put in a bag tied round with a string, If you'll tell me this riddle, I'll give you a ring. Usage charges are based on your plan. Airtime, overage charges, taxes, long distance, and other charges, restrictions and limitations may apply

On second thought maybe I'll just shoot you a text.

The third fiver has been found!

I shall continue to survey the cavernous void that is my wallet in the vain hope that the fourth example finds its way there.

Quote:

Elderly Irish woman finds five pound note worth Ł50,000 and donates it to 'help young people'

A famous engraver etched a tiny picture of Jane Austen on some five pound notes.

Each one is estimated to be worth Ł50,000, judging by the value of some of his other work.

Across Britain, people checked their fivers to see whether they had one of the four special notes.

The third one has now been found by an elderly Northern Irish woman, and she has kindly donated it to charity.

She sent it back to Graham Short, who engraved the notes, with a note asking him to use it to "help young people".

"Ł5 note enclosed, I don't need it at my time of life. Please use it to help young people," the kindly woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, wrote.

Mr Short's website reads: "The lady who found the note has surprised us all by sending it to the gallery and asking that it be used to help young people. So Graham and the Gallery will be working closely together to do so.

"Currently contacting outlets connected to Children in Need to try and give this to a good cause so we honour the request of the lucky woman who originally discovered the note.

"Stay tuned for more information as the story develops over the following days!"

The elderly woman didn't want to be famous, but just wanted her fiver to do some good.

“An old lady found it and she said 'I don't want my picture in the papers' and she said 'if it sells for a lot of money it will be better if young children could benefit from it',” Mr Short told the BBC.

Mr Short spent one of each of the four special fivers in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

They have been found in Ireland, Scotland and Wales but the five pound note he spent in England is still yet to be retrieved.

Mr Short's friend and fellow artist, Tony Huggins-Haig, who launched the project, said around 5,000 people have called up falsely claiming to have found it.

The series number of the remaining note is AM32885554.

"It would be wondrous if someone finds it who is deserving, who is blown away by it, and who wants to do something worthwhile with it," said 53-year-old Mr Huggins-Haig.

"It's been an incredible and humbling story thanks to Graham, who goes to incredible lengths to create artwork.

"It really is a Willy Wonka story, and one day all four stories will be told, of which the first three are incredible."

All of Mr Short's work is insured for at least Ł50,000, but Mr Huggins-Haig believes the notes could actually sell for up to Ł100,000.

Once again, please for the people who weren't paying close attention. How is English money denominated?

The basic unit of UK currency is the Pound. Often known as GBP and expressed by the symbol 'Ł'.

Ł1 = 100 pence. Coin denominations are 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p, 50p, Ł1 and Ł2.

Notes start off at Ł5, then Ł10, Ł20 and Ł50. The 'fiver' is the first of the notes to be issued in polymer form with the paper version gradually being withdrawn.
The larger denominations will follow suit. The foregoing applies to notes issued in England by the Bank of England.

Notes issued by Scottish and Northern Irish banks have different designs and Ł100 notes are also issued.

and yet the USA persists with $1 bills.... can we please enter the 21st century and shift to coins? or will the stripper strike be too much for the economy to handle?

I usually have 7 or 8 singles in my wallet and have at times had 20 or more. I don't want to carry that many coins in my pocket.

why do you need that many?

There's a $5 bill, there's no reason to have more than 4 singles on a regular basis. Unless you're a stripper on their way home from work. Or a punter on the way out. $20 in singles isn't exactly without volume. Do you roll them and pretend it's something else?

Because I have no social skills I always pay with a bill which will drain you merchants of maximum change.

We should probably adopt a system of farthings, shillings, guineas etc to keep Juan Foreigner confused and unable to sneak our cash out to use abroad

Yes, and adopt Whitworth measuring system to prevent manufacturing jobs from, from, from manufacturing.

In Guernsey they still have Ł1 notes

I have one in my purse from when I went to see Carrot for the first time.

(assuming they haven't stopped using them in last five years)

The USA still has $2 bills; but, they're in low production and seldom seen in circulation. That's why we still need $1 bills, so we can place our $2 bets all day long at the horse-racing track without tying up the line waiting for change. That many coins would be a drag.

I get $100 worth of $2 bills at the bank. I usually have to wait 2 or 3 days for them. I read recently the original series which ended in 1966, won't pass the pen test all the stores use. The twos from 1976 up will.

I tried to use a half dozen Sacajawea gold dollars at the farmer's market once and the guy didn't know what they were and wasn't sure they were US currency. He was really torn between not wanting to lose the sale, not wanting to be taken advantage of, and not wanting to look like an ignoramus. He reluctantly sold me the bread. A moment later his wife showed up, who knew me and the kids from their play group.

Her husband was visibly relieved that his wife knew me, he showed her the coins and sheepishly admitted that he had never seen them before, and asked her if she had. (still not 100% sure I wasn't a con artist) She rolled her eyes at him.

y'know you're in trouble when SWRHEAY does it in front of other people.

poor bastard