Still In The Sandbox: $2.22 + .925

Today I went to another playground (Sand's way easier to dig in, even if there's less to find) and ended up with about a dozen kids following me around. It was brutal. I only dug 5 coins, but the magic of living in Canada is that there's always the chance of a loonie or toonie: and yes, I dug my first toonie ever! It's even a new 2012 toonie... the steel is already rusting out a bit where the two metals meet.

Of course, it would be better in the UK, where you can find 1 and 2 pounds - so even in recent history, they have us beat. Argh. Time to get lobbying for that $5 coin. I had a second pleasant surprise when I noticed what I've tried to photograph here:

Yes, a piece of orphaned jewelery (my best guess: it's from an irritating jingly bracelet?) turned out to be sterling. Or at least it's stamped .925. It's still very shiny, but the lighter test (the only method of home assaying available to me) shows it to at least be silver on the outside. So this is my first silver find in any form! And it was free, so I'll use one of those annoying dancing fruit that my self-restraint has been keeping in check for over 500 posts: