Looking Into The Future, Admiring The Past...

There are coins everywhere in the United States. If you really think about it, there are millions upon millions. Kind of a silly thing to collect, no? Well we all know it is not silly.

I am sitting here tonight putting the finishing touches on my Washington golden dollar collection, really kind of reflecting upon what the heck I am doing. Everyone is collecting these coins, am I wasting my time? I am fascinated by coins, espically the old ones, as is everyone, but they have "actual" value. Coins made of precious metals. What are we collecting now?

I came home from work this afternoon and took my new roll of P Washingtons out of a cardbord box they were delivered in from the mint. "Finally, finished with the Washingtons" I thought to myself. I headed downstars to my drafting table, which has recently turned into my coin workshop.

My dad sees me placing the final Washington roll into my roll holder and says, "Have you ever seen Grandpa's silver dollars?"

Dont get me wrong, I have obviously searched my entire house for old coins. I have seen my dads silver certificates and Buffalo nickels. I am 24, I have searched every nook of my parents house, but I dont necessarily go searching through my parents personal belongings.

Two minutes later my dad comes downstairs with an old envelope. You know the one, kind of yellowish color, feels more like a napkin than a paper envelope. I set it down on my table. "How come I have never seen these before?"

I look at the front of the envelope. There is very faint writing on the front, I cannot even make out the words, just the numbers.

$1


50


10


"That is Grandma's handwriting," my dad says.

So weird to see her writing, she has been off to a better place for almost 20 years. I can barely remember her.

I proceed to gently pour the coins onto the table. Silver, copper, Morgans, indian heads, mercurys, franklins, libertys...

"Not as many silver dollars as I remember, I wonder what happened to the rest of them" my dad stated.

Beautiful coins, pretty much all worn, but oh so amazing to see for the first time. One by one I carefully started to turn the coins heads up to get a good look.

"Some of these coins are in pretty good condition" I stated as I slowly turned over a few Mercury dimes, (kind of trying to sneak up on a 1916 D).

"Here is the one that Grandpa always had," said my dad as he picked up a larger coin (with one thumb firmly placed on the obverse of the coin).

"Your killing me dad, dont touch the face like that."

He set the coin back down on the table. After a closer look, it is a Peace dollar, 1923. Darkly tarnished it was not a coin that knocked me off of my chair.

"Grandpa's dad died in January 1923" my dad said.

My Grandpa was born in 1910, he was only 11 years old when my great grandpa died of diabetes. Insulin was discovered right around that time, too late to save his life. My great grandpa died in his 30s.

"When he died Grandpa gathered up just about all the money he could and got this silver dollar."

Kind of one of those moments your entire body gets a chill. Usually happens to me when the White Sox pull out a win in the bottom of the 9th.

I am sure this coin meant a lot to my Grandpa. Its then I realized this is not a coin collection. It is a lot more than that. My grandmas writing on the envelope, she had obviously started a small collection of indian head pennies. 1899, two 1900s, 1901, 1902.. She, for a short time anyway, put some effort into this. I started wondering if my two uncles had some coins from my grandparents.

Its wierd, sitting there, looking down at coins that my grandparents had spent time looking at. Holding this silver dollar that my grandpa had obviously held many times. Its more than a coin collection, much more. It actually means something. Collecting these golden dollars today is just for fun, but in the future, the collection will mean much more to someone else. Its weird to say, but I felt a connection to my grandpa today that I have never felt before. Even though he passed on just over a year ago.

It doesn't matter that my Washington Dollars are not real gold. It didnt matter that I didnt discover a 1916 D.

I carefully started to place the coins back into the envelope.

"Dad, why dont you let me put these into air tites or something. Some of these older silver dimes are actually slightly bent under the weight of the heavier coins."

"No, dont worry about it" he said, as I handed him the envelope.

My dad and I went out to dinner tonight and had a great conversation. We continued on for a short while longer about coins. My dad told me how my grandpa's friends went off to war, and how he felt like he needed to do something at home. Back then the banks were pushing to collect gold coins to help the war effort. Looking back now it was more of a scam, but at the time, it was a thing a lot of people did. He took all of the gold coins he had to the bank and cashed them in. I am glad he held on to the 1923 Peace dollar. It is not mine now, but I am confident that it will be my favorite coin sometime in the future.

In the meantime, back to collecting my golden dollars.



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