Silver

Mexico is celebrating Christmas by issuing a silver bullion coin in two sizes, both of which contain a depiction of the manger scene. The 1988 Christmas commemorative is a 12-troy-ounce silver piece being issued only in proof grade and a 1-ounce proof. The obverse design shows Mary with Jesus lying in the fold of her mantle. They are surrounded by shepherds, farm animals and Magi with a starry sky behind them. The reverse shows the first cathedral in America, built in 1573 in Mexico City and still standing.

Watching the joyful interaction of America's two medal-winning eights yesterday, it would have been easy to assume both were gold. Minutes before the U.S. men's eight won a gold medal for the first time in 40 years, the women captured their first medal since 1984 - finishing second to Romania. "Watching the men win gold right after we captured silver was the perfect end to a perfect day," said Anna Mickelson. "We were able to cheer for them from the dock and hear the national anthem being played.

Since historic events often lead to the appearance of medals, a subcategory of collecting has to include historic non-events, too. To mark Ross Perot's potential candidacy for president, a Texas firm struck silver medals with a portrait of Perot, and the legend "H. Ross Perot for President. " Now that Perot has withdrawn from consideration, the medals have become a curiosity commemorating mostly the parallel between the medalist's quick response to events and journalism. The silver one-ounce medals were struck by John W. Grayson of San Benito, Texas.

It was a tough day for the U.S. rowers on Lake Banyoles, with one notable exception. In the men's four without coxswain, a crew from the Penn Athletic Club won a silver medal. The crew - Doug Burden, Jeff McLaughlin, Tom Bohrer and Patrick Manning - had beaten Australia's "awesome foursome" in July but was unable to overtake the Aussies yesterday. "The gold medal is what we all were after," said McLaughlin, a 26-year- old architect from Summit, N.J. " . . . Afterward, you ask yourself what- if this and what-if that, but there are no what-ifs.

Dmitri Domani walked off the SkyDome court yesterday, smiling, holding his silver medal aloft. The World Championship of Basketball book will show that his Russia team finished second at this year's tournament, but Domani feels it should be second place with an asterisk. "For our team, this is like first place," said Domani, the sophomore from St. Joseph's who made a strong showing in his first major tournament with the Russian national team. "The U.S. team is like in a box. They are in another class.

Marcel Brown of Philadelphia hit, punched, jabbed, smashed and ultimately struck gold last night in the boxing finals of the U.S. Olympic Festival, but Mike Rafferty, Philadelphia's other entry in the finals, was not so fortunate. Brown, in the first Festival of his career, survived early trouble to take a 3-2 decision over Juan DelGado of San Antonio, Texas, and capture the 112- pound (flyweight) gold medal. "This is wonderful," said the 5-foot-4 Brown, who had celebrated his 21st birthday four days earlier.

For two weeks, American Emily deRiel watched in wonder as hundreds of athletes climbed the Olympic medals podiums. She dreamed of joining them - but anyone can dream. To actually do it was almost too much to comprehend. Even as she held her own Olympic medal. "I can't believe it still," deRiel, of Havertown, Pa., said yesterday after winning the silver medal in the first Olympic women's modern pentathlon. "I feel like maybe I'll wake up tomorrow and it'll be the real thing.

Germantown Academy's Teresa Crippen won the silver medal in the 400-meter individual medley at the Pan American Games yesterday in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Fran Crippen, Teresa's older brother, won the open-water event over the weekend. Kathleen Hersey, of Atlanta, won the 400 IM. Also, Jessica Rodriguez, of Aurora, Colo., won the 400 freestyle. Corinne Showalter, of Sarasota, Fla, won the bronze medal. In other events: Sean Golden, of Camden, won a silver medal on the rings in the gymnastics competition.

Americans finished 1-2 in the men's pole vault for the second straight Olympics yesterday. Tim Mack cleared an Olympic-record 19 feet, 6 1/4 inches for gold andd Toby Stevenson cleared 19-4 1/4 for silver. Italy's Giuseppe Gibilisco won bronze with 19-2 1/2. Liu Xiang, of China, tied the 110-meter hurdles world record and set a new Olympic mark, winning the gold medal in 12.91 seconds. U.S. trials champion Terrence Trammell won silver in 13.18, while Anier Garcia, of Cuba, took bronze.

In a furious sprint to the finish, Hungary's Eva Risztov held off Haley Anderson of the United States by a hand to win the gold medal in the women's 10K marathon swim at Serpentine Lake. Anderson was right on Risztov's left shoulder coming to the line but couldn't overtake her. The American stuck up her left hand to nick the pad four-tenths of a second behind the winner, also slapping it with her right hand just to make sure she locked up the silver. "Of course, I'm disappointed that I missed out on gold," said Anderson, whose sister, Alyssa, won a relay gold in the pool.

(100% of the vote) Sheriff Republican *Jean Stanfield . . . 12,009 William E. Moore III . . . 2,212 Freeholder Republican *Joe Donnelly . . . 12,057 Stephen "Lance" Silver . . . 2,011 *Incumbent

THERE ARE ONCE again so many numbers on the summer-movie calender, it's starting to look like a math test. Question one: What do you get if you divide "Fast & Furious 6" by "Hangover 3?" Two furious hangovers? The number two is surely a theme: "Red 2," "Smurfs 2," Despicable Me 2," "Kick-Ass 2," the second JJ Abrams "Star Trek," the second Hugh Jackman "Wolverine," a second "Monsters Inc.," a second "300," a second "Percy Jackson. " There are two comedies about the end of the world - "The World's End" and "This is the End," and one of the two comedies about the end of the world is one of four movies with two directors - also "Girl Most Likely," "Lovelace" and "Way Way Back.

Before the enormous success of Silver Linings Playbook , both the book and the film, there was a young-adult novel called MonkeyShark . Don't expect a movie adaptation starring Bradley Cooper. But the poignant backstory of MonkeyShark and its protagonists - a redemptive tango of overcoming mental illness and miscommunication, surrendering old dreams and realizing new ones - would be a familiar plot to anyone who saw last year's Hollywood blockbuster starring Academy Award-winner Jennifer Lawrence.

T HE S ILVER Linings Playbook author Matthew Quick got a surprise invite to the Oscars on Sunday, along with his wife , novelist Alicia Bessette. "It's something you see on TV your whole life and you never think you'll be trafficking in that world," Quick told me. "There's Quentin Tarantino , Bradley Cooper , Jamie Foxx . You're not just an observer, you're talking about your next project, you're part of the game. " "There's still that kid that grew up in Oaklyn [N.J.]

    Argo , the Hollywood-saves-the-day thriller based on declassified CIA accounts of the rescue of six U.S. embassy workers during the Iran hostage crisis, capped its awards-season sweep with the 2013 best picture Oscar at the end of a long, long 85th Academy Awards ceremony. The Oscar was announced live from the White House by first lady Michele Obama. Argo glommed three Oscars in all, in a year when the trophies were spread around. Life of Pi had the biggest batch, with four gold statuettes, including Ang Lee for best director.

Through pure luck and timing, a middle-aged couple from Lancaster County scored arguably the best spot on the East Coast for viewing the Oscars on Sunday night. At 5:30 p.m., after driving in from Gap on a whim, Joanne Larkin, a teacher, and her husband, Gerard, who works for Verizon, waltzed into the Llanerch Diner and claimed The Booth. That now-famed square footage where Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence had a non-date over a bowl of Raisin Bran in Silver Linings Playbook . "My friend made me promise I'd kiss the spot where Bradley Cooper sat," Joanne Larkin said, "so I did. " Yuk. "Actually," she confessed, "I just kissed my fingers and touched the seat.

HEAVILY FAVORED "Argo" won the Academy Award for best picture last night, but there was a silver lining for Philadelphia. Jennifer Lawrence won Best Actress for her role as a troubled widow determined to woo a bipolar man (Bradley Cooper) in "Silver Linings Playbook. " The shot-in-Philadelphia movie had earned eight nominations - this was the only win. The excited 22-year-old Lawrence tripped on her way to the stage. "I feel bad that I fell. This is really embarrassing. This," she said, looking at her new Oscar, "is nuts.

FORGET THE Dolby Theatre, in Hollywood. Cawley's Irish Pub, in Upper Darby, had its own red carpet for the Oscars - and its own Bradley Cooper. OK, so it was a life-sized cardboard cutout of Cooper . . . and the red carpet was more like a wide strip of industrial-strength paper towel material taped to the tile floor . . . and it was definitely smokier than the Dolby Theatre. But, make no mistake, the pub on West Chester Pike was still the best place for "Silver Linings Playbook" fans to watch the Oscars Sunday night.

The last time Anne Cappelletti handicapped national awards, she was certain her son John wasn't going to win the 1973 Heisman Trophy. "Bill Lyon was at our house the night before," Cappelletti, 86, recalled Friday, referring to the former Inquirer columnist. "I said, 'Bill, what do you think?' He said, 'He doesn't have a chance.' " John Cappelletti, of course, did win the Heisman - "We were shocked," said his mother - and the Penn State back's stirring acceptance speech about a younger brother dying of leukemia resulted in the family's first brush with Hollywood, the 1977 made-for-TV film Something for Joey . Now, 40 years later, Cappelletti is equally pessimistic when asked to rate the Academy Award chances Sunday of best-picture nominee Silver Linings Playbook , parts of which were filmed on her Upper Darby block and in which she, reluctantly, played a small part.

IF THERE'S going to be a best-picture upset on Oscar night, "Silver Linings Playbook" stands the best chance of being the surprise winner. That's what Oscar watchers say. Problem is, they add, there's not going to be an upset. "The short answer is no, it's not going to win. Sorry to disappoint all of the movie's Philly fans," said Benjamin Eckstein, oddsmaker at America's Line, a nationally syndicated odds service. "Right now, 'Argo' is the favorite, and it's a huge favorite, with "Lincoln" in second," said Eckstein, known to longtime Daily News readers as Vegas Vic. "Argo" is a prohibitive 1-to-5, "Lincoln" is 5-to-1.