James Joyce, Edited For Grammar

Fans of the late Irish writer will of course flock to their nearest collectible coin purveyor to purchase their very own commemorative coin.

The 10 euro silver coin will sell for 46 euro, but only 10,000 will be minted so the value is sure to rise to nearly meet that sale price.

That is not the issue, of course, for those who so adore James Joyce that they would want to own a piece of memorabilia being produced by Ireland's Central Bank.

Oddly enough, that has become an issue.

The word 'that', that is.

Mr. Joyce's hair has been depicted as the flowing words of a quote from his masterwork Ulysses.

You would think, in Ireland, that someone would have the sense to pick up their (unread) copy and turn to the proper page, copy the quote verbatim, and then give the exact words to the person who was making the die for the coin.

But no, that was never done.

You would think, in Ireland where James Joyce is a national treasure, that someone would have taken the time to check the verbiage before the coins were struck in Germany.

But no, even that was lost in the shuffle---or whoever approved the model thought they knew Joyce inside out, top to bottom, and didn't need to verify their memory.

One word was added that did not belong. One small 'that' was inserted, as if some editor took a red pen to the text and inserted an extra 'that' to correct a grammatical error.

The coins have already been produced and it's too late, and too costly, to turn back.

So how does that 46 euro investment look now, knowing that only 10,000 coins with a misquoted line are out there? Starting to look like a veritable bargain, isn't it?