For some reason I decided to go through all our loose change. I ended up with $65 in US quarters, about $10 in miscellaneous failed US large denomination coins (three kinds of dollars and several Kennedy half-dollars), a small bucket of Canadian coins, and lots of foreign, rare and non-coins.
I’m going to post about the interesting ones.
As a kid I was into coins. Grownups knew I liked coins so they often gave them to me. Now as an adult I travel a certain amount, and so does Dan, which means we’ve accumulated quite a collection of our own. (375 Deutsche marks, really?)
Singapore, 1967
In the 80s we lived in an apartment above some guy in the Air Force, and I think a number of these Asian coins came from him. I have a soft spot for all coins with animals on them.
This was actually the first year Singapore issued its own currency (as Singapore dollars and cents). The pattern was discontinued in 1985, replacing the seahorse with the jasmine plant. Lame.
Italy, 1971
My mom went to Italy as a teenager but that wasn’t 1971 so I’m not sure of the origin here. I do think that more coins should contain butts.
The coin is made out of an alloy of stainless steel used only for the Lira, called Acmonital. I’ve been unable to figure out who Mr. Butt is supposed to be.
France, 1924
When I was young I found this in a purse that belonged to my grandmother. She wasn’t from France so I have no idea where it would have originated. I love that it’s in good condition since it was basically untouched for 50 years.
This coin is an aluminium-bronze alloy, part of a wartime effort to reduce the use of more valuable metals. Before 1920, the 2-franc coin was silver. Despite its age it’s pretty valueless, but it’s cool.
More in a later post.