Something happened to me today that only my fellow childhood numismatists will appreciate: I glanced through my pocket change and noticed something distinctly odd – a well-worn dime. On a closer look, turned out it was a silver Roosevelt from 1948. I hadn’t found a silver coin in circulation in decades.
This was once the holy grail of a child collector, who couldn’t afford much more than face value for coins anyway. I used to go down to the bank, in the mid-70s, and buy rolls of pennies to go through, looking for “wheaties.” I still have all of the ones I found. I even found a few Indian heads, although those were extremely rare even then, and I haven’t seen one since.
Anyway, this dime is a common date and barely in “very good” condition, worth less than a dollar; as little as 12ยข depending on where you look. I’m not retiring on it. But after 60+ years of traveling from drawer to pocket, I found it and it’s going into my childhood collection, which I still have. Utterly meaningless, except that it made me happy.
I found a mercury dime a few years ago and had much the same reaction. As a cashier, I remember on a couple of occasions having people spend money that was obviously from a coin collection (a old $2 bill, a silver certificate, JFK dollars, etc) on cigarettes. I remember feeling sad on those occasions to see people in such straights, but I bought the currency out of the till and added them to my collection.
A friend had a parent who was a toll collector in the 60s and 70s who would fill up huge bottles with silver coins whenever anyone paid tolls with them. They made a tidy profit on them when the Hunt brothers tried to corner the silver market.
And now it’s made a few more people happy by your sharing it. Thanks.