A Coin's Life

Well not having read your larger work I wasn't commenting on style, simply tone. You may very well be more along the lines of Tolkien or Lewis in style (both great friends in life, but Lewis was a very prolific Christian writer, so yeah, nothing dark like yours!), but death and morbidity is a hallmark of not only Shakespearean tragedy, but also of Greco-Roman drama. Oedipus kills his father to sleep with his mother and as a result he digs his own eyeballs out of their sockets - oh, and his wife hangs herself when she finds out. And anyone with a bloodlust would surely appreciate the violent murder, rape and child sacrifice depicted in Titus Andronicus, from the very beginning to end (it was banned in England by the Victorian period). And while it is not literature per se, for the love of God never read what the Emperor Caligula did during his short reign in the 30s. And I mean literally the 30s - he was a Roman Emperor from 37 to 41 AD. What he did goes far beyond mere torture - he was and remains the supreme yardstick of all that is horrific is compared to, and no writer to this day has come close to describe what he did during his actual life. He makes the Marquis de Sade look like a teddy bear. Once you have read graphic tales of what he has done (if you can find one still in print), there is seriously no going back to your life as it was before. Really. Don't do it.

Of course I'm sure your stories are very original, and I don't mean to suggest they are in any way too similar to other tragedies, or that they have already been done. I just wanted to point out that you should not be overly concerned with what others think of your own true voice. As a writer, write for yourself and let it all hang out! If people can't take it, they'll let you know, and then you can tone it back. I simply wanted to point out that tales of violence and death are not uncommon in literature throughout all of human history, they were just banned at some point, or have been "swept under the rug" and not considered acceptable to teach in main stream Lit courses. Consequently they're by and large no longer part of the cultural zeitgeist. So by all means write what feels true to you, just know that others have written very dark and somber stories also, and have been loved all the more for it!

And anyway, this is a coin forum lol! How bad can it get?! ;)

I've been waiting a while for something like this! I'm gonna tell about the coin that actually got me into coin collecting. Me and my dad were doing some remodeling in our house and were tearing out an old mantle that had probably been there for about 60-100 years. When we destroyed it, inside we found this worn down and damaged Standing Liberty quarter, next to an old can of beer and a tin of coffee. While I don't know exactly how this coin came to be, in my mind I imagine some works sitting around, having some beers and some coffee, making small talk, and this just slipping out while they were all having a good time.

This was a good one. Hopefully it can get going again.

That was brilliant!

Doubled Die


By ChildOfTheWheat



Chapter 1


"Barb, as a friend, I suggest filing for bankruptcy! I mean, there's no possible way to just, well, pull money from a hat! I'm sorry, but I think you should file for bankruptcy." It's ironic in a way; Barb thought that they would file for bankruptcy, when they live on a plot that was occupied by a bank in the 1950's. Anyway, she'd more than likely suffer the consequences than file for bankruptcy. After what happened last time she filed, she knew she could never file again.
A year or so ago, Barb opened a small shop that sold books, coffee, and other small things. Unfortunately, the same year a Barns 'n Nobles opened up down town, and she lost so much money she had to file for bankruptcy. The embarrassment alone was almost too much to bear, and early the next year, she divorced her husband.
After her visit with Burt, the banker, Barb did everything she could to get money. She sold things on ebay, she painted pictures, she made crafts, and she even went as far as to buy a metal detector, not that she ever used it. Barb just wasn't into adventuring, and the metal detector had just been another waste of money for her. But soon enough, she would find out that saving the metal detector was the best decision of her life.

One night, when Barb was bored, she decided to go to the library. When she got in her '76 camaro, she drove down to the gas station to get a coffee. After she paid in cash, the cashier gave her an interesting penny. The penny was dated 1955 and had two wheat things on the back. When she got to the library, she looked it up on the computer. Sure enough, this was a rare coin. Hmm. she thought maybe there is a market for these things. She quickly switched over to ebay, and with the quick flick of her wrist, she found what she was looking for.
As she was browsing, she found that the coin was worth about $1.50 in the condition that it was in. However, Barb wasn't ready to sell it quite yet. She liked having something unique, but inexpensive. So, Barb held onto the coin and checked out the latest edition of The Red Book, and went home.
After reading some of the Red Book, Barb found an interesting piece: the 1955 double die obverse which is worth over $2,000 a piece, and could be picked up by a metal detector. Well, she thought, I own a metal detector! I wonder where I could find these coins though.



Chapter 2



The next day, Barb had a meeting with Burt at his office. "So, I need the money in 3 days, otherwise the bank will confiscate your house" Burt said. "Well," started Barb, "I don't have the money yet, but I'm working on it!" "That's not good enough though, Barb. I need that money! You're not taking this seriously enough! We will take your house and everything in it! Don't you see?! But, if you could just give me the money in time, you'll be fine." As Barb starts to walk out Burt says "And don't spend any money on any lottery tickets!" Barb just rolled her eyes, got in her car, and drove to the casino.

When Barb got home, she was depressed." 3 more days until the bank seizes my property, I guess I should call my mom and ask if I could move in". Barb thought. Just as she picked up the phone, she heard what sounded like digging out side, and then everything went quite. Barb paused, alarmed, and called the police. She looked out the window just in time to see a squad car pull up and two young men run into the woods. "Why were they digging?" she wondered.

At around 2 AM the police left. After inspecting the area, the police concluded that the juveniles had been digging a spot to hide beer, as the hole was filled with 6-packs. The police were somewhat suspicious as to why they were burring booze, but for now there was no suspects.


Chapter 3


Barb woke up at about 8 in the morning. It was a fresh , beautiful day and the birds were sining. After a breakfast of leftover pizza, she went outside with her metal detector to see if she could find any more beer cans. She started sweeping her detector around, not really finding anything. Then, she got a hit! She dug down, singled out the place, and found a coin. Upon further inspection, it was a 1976 quarter. Well, free money I guess. Barb kept searching until lunch, and then she called it quits. She had searched half her property and didn't think she would find anything else. After a meal of freshly microwaved pizza, she layed down for a nap . About half an hour into her sleep, she heard voices coming from outside her house. She peaked out the window, and saw more people digging! She crept outside the house and looked to see what they were doing. Apparently, the young kids were trying to dig up cans! "Hah!" Yelled Barb. "I caught you this time! Hand over the booze or I'll call the cops!". The kids took off running, and left the cans behind. "Where do they find this stuff?" she thought. As she moved closer to the cans, she noticed something. They weren't beer cans at all! They were tin cans, and it looks like they were full of change! Barb immediately sweeped her detector over the ground, and dug up several more cans of coins. She took them inside and looked over them. She noticed that most of the coins were 1955 pennies, the same type as the one she received in change the other night. Upon careful inspection, she found that over half the coins exhibited extreme doubling. Unfortunately, she cleaned the coins herself before taking them to a dealer. When the dealer saw them, it was bitter sweet. For one thing, they were the rare variety, however they were pretty badly cleaned. He made an offer with her: $20,000 for all 500 doubled die wheat cents. Barb accepted, and she was able to pay off her debt.
THE END

I know it was a bad story, but cut me a break. Its my first one!

Here's a story on my 1962-D quarter.
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I was born in the winter of 1962 in Denver, Colorado. Me and all of my siblings got put into a bag, where we were delivered out to a bank. The bank wrapped us and put everyone else into the cash registers at stores. ...Only, I didn't get so lucky, and the roll I was in sat at a bank for 5 long years. Finally, in the spring of 1967, my roll was found and delivered to a grocery store. I got handed out in change to a young man who recognized that I was silver, unlike everyone else, and he proceeded to put me in a metal box with all of my silver relatives. I never saw the light of day again...

...Wait! Where am I? Is that a coin roll over there? No way! I don't believe this! Someone is actually wrapping me up with their change to take to the bank! From what I heard, the man wrapping me was the estate manager, because the owner had died. His silver collection was discovered, but the estate guy didn't realize the value, and was wrapping all the silver to take to the bank! Through the roll, I heard the guy ask the teller what the date was, ans she said, "It's May 27th." Then the guy said "OK, May 27th, 2014, that's the date for my deposit" 2014? I've been sitting around for nearly 50 years, and now I'm going back into circulation! My coin roll was taken to a wrapping facility, and I got handed out in change again, this time to a man who didn't seem to notice anything different about me. 6 months go by with me being among coins in his coin jar, and the guy takes his change to a Coinstar machine. He's so hasty in getting cash for his coins, he forgets to take me and I'm in the reject slot with some other coins! But 5 minutes later, a hand grabbed me along with the rest of the change. I thought it was the owner retrieving his coins, but it was another guy who started looking through me and my friends for anything interesting. He finds me, and his jaw drops. The guy seemed blown away that I was mixed in with the rejects, and put me and 3 dimes separate from all the other change. When I got back out, the guy put me on his dresser, next to a Kennedy half dollar and 3 more dimes.

I didn't realize this until now, but I'm incredibly lucky for a quarter. I was found in the right place at the right time. Since I was hoarded for many years, I'm barely circulated, but that makes me more valuable than any other quarter of my age.
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Well that's what I speculate happened with the silver quarter I found in the Coinstar machine with a bunch of other change last month!

Sounds plausible. Nice find.