<PAGE> PAGE 1
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001 A000000 MINERVA FUND, INC
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<PAGE> PAGE 2
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<PAGE> PAGE 3
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080 A00AA00 FIRST NATIONAL UNION FIRE INSURANCE CO
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<PAGE> PAGE 4
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<PAGE> PAGE 8
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<PAGE> PAGE 10
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SIGNATURE JOHN J. PILEGGI
TITLE TREASURER
<TABLE> <S> <C>
<ARTICLE> 6
<SERIES>
<NUMBER> 1
<NAME> EQUITY PORTFOLIO
<MULTIPLIER> 1,000
<S> <C>
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<OVERDISTRIBUTION-GAINS> 0
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<NET-ASSETS> 63,542
<DIVIDEND-INCOME> 628
<INTEREST-INCOME> 98
<OTHER-INCOME> 0
<EXPENSES-NET> 277
<NET-INVESTMENT-INCOME> 450
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<DISTRIBUTIONS-OF-GAINS> (521)
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<AVG-DEBT-PER-SHARE> 0
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<NAME> FIXED INCOME PORTFOLIO
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<DISTRIBUTIONS-OTHER> 0
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<ACCUMULATED-NII-PRIOR> 0
<ACCUMULATED-GAINS-PRIOR> 0
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</TABLE>
<PAGE>
November 7, 1996
To the Directors of
Minerva Fund, Inc.
In planning and performing our audit of the
financial statements of Minerva Fund, Inc.
(the "Fund") for the year ended September 30,
1996, we considered its internal control
structure, including procedures for
safeguarding securities, in order to
determine our auditing procedures for the
purposes of expressing our opinion on the
financial statements and to comply with the
requirements of Form N-SAR, and not to
provide assurance on the internal control
structure.
The management of the Fund is responsible for
establishing and maintaining an internal
control structure. In fulfilling this
responsibility, estimates and judgments by
management are required to assess the
expected benefits and related costs of
internal control structure policies and
procedures. Two of the objectives of an
internal control structure are to provide
management with reasonable, but not absolute,
assurance that assets are appropriately
safeguarded against loss from unauthorized
use or disposition and that transactions are
executed in accordance with management's
authorization and recorded properly to permit
preparation of financial statements in
conformity with generally accepted accounting
principles.
Because of inherent limitations in any
internal control structure, errors or
irregularities may occur and may not be
detected. Also, projection of any evaluation
of the structure to future periods is subject
to the risk that it may become inadequate
because of changes in conditions or that the
effectiveness of the design and operation may
deteriorate.
Our consideration of the internal control
structure would not necessarily disclose all
matters in the internal control structure
that might be material weaknesses under
standards established by the American
Institute of Certified Public Accountants. A
material weakness is a condition in which the
design or operation of the specific internal
control structure elements does not reduce to
a relatively low level the risk that errors
or irregularities in amounts that would be
material in relation to the financial
statements being audited may occur and not be
detected within a timely period by employees
in the normal course of performing their
assigned functions. However, we noted no
matters involving the internal control
structure, including procedures for
safeguarding securities, that we consider to
be material weaknesses as defined above as of
September 30, 1996.
This report is intended solely for the
information and use of management and the
Securities and Exchange Commission.
PRICE WATERHOUSE LLP
