A Holiday Story

My teenage daughter and I started a new tradition last year. As I have upgraded my 7070 album, I have put the replaced coins aside. Then, in December, I use them to make a coin-a-day advent calendar for my daughter. Since I don't have 24 upgrades per year (I wish!) I pad out the additional days with pennies for her LWC album.

My daughter doesn't collect coins (except when she finds an interesting one in the change drawer at work), which is good because she really can't afford it yet. However, she truly delights in filling the holes in her albums. She particularly loves the "really old" ones. Her favorite is her 1802 large cent in G4.

This year, besides a passel of wheat cents, she'll fill 12 slots in her 7070. Top highlights include an 1828 1/2c AU55, 1877 Trade $1 AUdetails/chopmarked/cleaned, and an 1828 50c XF40. A nice, deeply toned Pilgrim half in MS, too.

Knowing her love of old copper, I wanted to fill her last vacancy in that category, the classic head cent. I didn't have an upgrade, so I went on ebay and purchased a super-cheap 1810 that from its low-res photos seemed to have rough but evenly corroded surfaces. When I received it, I was delighted to find a very honest G6 with smooth, dense original surfaces. The photos - not the coin - were grainy! Got a great deal on that, for 30 bucks including shipping.

So, Merry Christmas to all! Hope Santa brings you silver and gold (and even some copper) this year.