Penny Wise

When I was a boy, somehow I wound up with an interest in collecting coins. I pursued this somewhat, and today still have the pair of books meant to contain the many types of pennies manufactured since 1909. I believe there is at least one volume which I do not possess, as those that I have carry me only to 1974. As with many childhood interests, this one dropped off for me after some time, although it remained in a latent form all these years. After all, I still have those books.

I have now recovered them from their remote prison in the closet with the intention of renewing the hobby, if only to the extent of filling out the books I have now. There are in them many empty places for coins, but today I can say there are fewer than there were, as I went through my change jar (a repurposed, now very heavy former pasta sauce jar) in search of any pennies on the list. Happily, I found that there were a number of them, including a number from the fifties, sixties and seventies.

It took a lengthy period of careful examination to find them. Many are rather damaged by their years in circulation, and the identifying features can be difficult to discern. I found it helpful to employ the magnifying glass on a rather fancy pair of nail clippers in order to find the date on some, and the rather smaller letter signifying the mint from which they came. It was worth it however, particularly in consideration of the most exciting find in that jar, which was a coin from the forties.

As I said, I mean at the very least to carry on with this burst of enthusiasm until I have completed the collection from 1909 to 1974, but wouldn't it be something if I went further? It seems to me this would be one of those hobbies glaringly incongruous with the personality of the hobbyist, or at least it might be from the perspective of those around me. Then again, perhaps I give myself too much credit for appearing too cool for numismatics. Probably I do.