Under the spell

I was strolling around the town centre when I spotted a chap selling giant plant pots, an antique, ornate birdcage and... this printer's galley filled with letters.

Having always worked in newspapers, the trappings of the publishing industry are always a source of fascination - particularly now that everything is computerised.

So although I had a nice shot from the farmers' market as a potential blip, I couldn't resist posting this instead.

I've been trying to identify the typeface - another obsession that I won't bore you with for very long. I think the letters are something like Impact or Helvetica Condensed Black, but the numbers are a mystery. Look at the numbers 3, 5 and 7 - they are really stylised. They'll probably be a really well known font, so apologies for my ignorance if they are!

Anyway, I reckon this was used to make posters.

And the price? Well, select the fourth number from the right in the back row and the number slap bang in the middle of the second row from the back. Not cheap!