At their May 28 meeting, the members of the Ottawa Numismatic Society voted unanimously in favour of making the Society's award-winning publication, moneta, free for all to enjoy.

"The members felt it was important for the promotion of the hobby and numismatic education to make moneta available free to as many people as possible," said Steve Woodland, the Society's president.

moneta was first published in 2010, and that same year won first place in the American Numismatic Association's Outstanding Local Numismatic Publication competition. "Coming in first among 500 competitors - in just our first year of publication - was a great achievement," said editor-in-chief Serge Pelletier, "but given the amazing contributors we have, I was not entirely surprised."

The magazine-format publication is profusely illustrated with large colour images. While it is distributed electronically, it is conceived to be printed. The ten issues of 2010 added up to 282 pages, while the 2011 issues totalled 376 pages. "And we have articles in both English and French," Pelletier said.

"Given that we're the club that serves the Canadian capital, and that we have members from both sides of the Ottawa River [i.e., from Eastern Ontario and western Quebec], the membership felt it was essential to be bilingual," said Woodland.

"During our first two years, the publication's content was, on average, 70% in English and 30% in French," said Pelletier, "but this year, we're happy to say that we're fully bilingual at 50/50."

Money collectors and numismatists are invited to read the publication on the Society's website at www.ons-sno.ca.