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October 2007
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Budget History in My Hand
It is always gratifying to know when something comes your way which is a real bargain. I have one such experience I will speak of briefly. It must be something of worth because one of our more astute and truly knowledgeable collector members offered me “hundreds” of times what I paid for my piece. Now before you get excited for me (or envious) let me explain.
Back a couple or three weeks ago my wife was doing the shopping thing. We were together at a local shopping area within walking distance of a coin shop. Instead of sitting around waiting for Susan to be ready to move on I chose to go to the shop, with instructions to Susan than I would head back to whichever store she was at the time she was ready to go. A simple plan this was.
Unfortunately the numismatic areas I usually consider took little time to run through. I found nothing to speak of. It was my dilemma, either I found something to look at in the shop, or I find a comfortable chair by the lady’s department. Fortunately there were a few other boxes of material to dig trough. I spent some time in the limited notebook of world coins, but found nothing. I replayed the store’s supply of paper money. Just about the time I decided to head back to find my wife I glanced at a huge box of foreign (sorry p.c. folks – should be “Non-U.S.”) coins. The coins were only a dime each; I couldn’t go wrong investing a few minutes in this assortment..
My finds were fairly significant at first. I picked out a couple of current Canadian Quarter Dollars. Now that these are just about par with U.S. Dollars seemed like a dime was a good investment. I also picked out a whole variety of pieces to use as handouts during our Children’s sermon time. There are more usages for coins than simply in the “classroom.” I have a couple of things I do with the kids at church which help them acquire an appreciation of the diversity of God’s peace, as well as introduce them to the world of coin collecting.
I found one really worn item (remember we’re talking ten cents each) which I knew to be a half penny. (Yes we can use “penny” here because it was British) The coin carried a faint but distinctive bust of George I. The other item, which was somewhat like it, was a little clearer, but not much. It had a few distinct marks and a full date of 1787. After toying with it a while I figured it wasn’t a British half penny, even though there was quite a resemblance between the two. So what was it? It was at least a dime’s worth of curiosity.
My return home gave me cause to look
in more detail at the new acquisition. I
pulled out the good ole’ Guide Book of United States Coins (2007) and found my
coin on page 60. To save you some time
we are talking a very well worn, but still original, Post-Colonial,
Obviously our good friend who offered me “hundreds of times” over what I paid for the coin (remember I paid a dime for it) was making a genuine and honest offer on a worn item whose value isn’t great, as far as money is concerned. His offer was tempting. In reality, the coin is worth maybe half a tank of gas, monetarily speaking. At is at the moment worth more to me as an item of history and even more as a sign of what others have said for years; if “one looks long enough there are treasurers to be found. I’m bringing mine to the club meeting as a show and tell. I hope you’ll do the same with your unexpected treasurers..
Regards and God Bless,