Stocking stuffers

Nation's Business, Dec, 1997

A couple of neat items caught our eye this year as gift possibilities:

* The MRI Bankers' Guide? to Foreign Currency is published quarterly; last summer's edition was the 24th. This is a paperback publication with a hardcover price: $60.

The publishers tout the book as a guide for American business people traveling internationally, but it's a lot of fun to page through even if you're not planning a trip overseas. Its 250 pages are filled with color reproductions of foreign currency, including a lot of bills no longer m use.

To order, contact the Monetary Research Institute, P.O. Box 3174, Houston, Texas 77253-3174; (713) 827-1796.

* For that gardener you know who really has everything, how about a box of bugs? The Bug Store in St. Louis sells boxes of predator insects praying mantises and the like--that will, as they say, chow down on the bad bugs.

Prices start at $29 (plus $2 shipping and handling) for a small box of predators (which will be delivered--most of them as eggs--in the spring, when gardeners need them).

Call 1-800-455-2847 or (314) 966-2287.

* In the October issue, we mentioned a booklet on how to foil pickpockets and other such grinches. The latest edition is 24 pages, up from 20, but the price is still $3.95 for a single copy, or $6 for two. To order, write Travel Companion Exchange, P. O. Box 833, Amityville, N.Y. 117010833; or call (516) 454-0880 for quantity rates.