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 Replies: 29 / Views: 3,812 |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
3098 Posts |
I visited my 94 year old mother today. She grew up in central Texas during the Great Depression. Times were very hard for her family back then.
As we talked, out of the blue she told me, "When I was a girl I once found a silver dollar on the ground."
My attention picked up very quickly. I asked her all sorts of questions: When did this happen? Was it a Morgan or Peace Silver Dollar? Do you remember the date on the coin?
She laughed and said it was just a big, dirty coin lying on the ground. She also told me that it was more money than she had ever had in her life; a fortune for a young girl back in the late 1920s or early 1930s. She said she felt rich!
I would have loved it had she remembered more details of her find, but at age 94 she has a lot to remember, and forget! It's a special little story about my mother I had never heard until today. Paul Bulgerin
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New Member
United States
25 Posts |
That's a great story! I remember feeling that way when I was a kid and I found a five dollar bill in a parking lot back in the early 80's. My dad is 83 next month. I sure hope he makes it as long as your mom has. Here's to many more years for them both!
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
3098 Posts |
Thanks, Buffbuff! She'll be 95 in November. She still lives on her own, drives, at least during the day, and spends hours on her computer working on family genealogy. Her one surviving sister is 98 and her sister-in-law turned 100 in April. My mother visited them both in Texas earlier this year and said they are still both sharp as a tack! I pray I inherited her genes! Paul Bulgerin
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
11880 Posts |
Certainly makes me want to appreciate what I have more. Thanks for sharing.  IN NECESSARIIS UNITAS - IN DUBIIS LIBERTAS - IN OMNIBUS CARITAS THE MAN IN THE ARENA, Theodore Roosevelt at the Sorbonne Paris on April 23, 1910: " It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat." My coin website: https://fairfaxcoins.com |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
12477 Posts |
That's a very nice story. I really wish that by the time I was old enough to appreciate it, my relatives who lived through that were still around to talk to. It's interesting, $1 in 1930 is equivalent to about $14 today, higher than a Peace dollar's silver value. In Memory of Crazyb0 12-26-1951 to 7-27-2020
In Memory of Tootallious 3-31-1964 to 4-15-2020
In Memory of T-BOP 10-12-1949 to 1-19-2024
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1475 Posts |
Thanks for sharing the story. I've never found a silver dollar, but I saved up and purchased my first Morgan when I was a kid back in late 70's which got me hooked on coins. I think I paid about $6.
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Valued Member
Canada
402 Posts |
I suspect you are undervaluing the purchasing of the silver dollar when she found it. When I was younger we used to work on the idea that compound interest doubled the amount of principal roughly every 7-8 years. Inflation increases n money supply etc would more than offset lower current interest rates.
Heck Saturday matinees in the late 50's admittance was 15 cents and a snack (popcorn or candy another 10
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Moderator
 United States
188161 Posts |
Nice story! Thank you for sharing.  |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
Quote:
It's interesting, $1 in 1930 is equivalent to about $14 today, Another way to look at it is in 1930 $1 was close to an entire days pay for a semi-skilled worker. A days pay for a semi-skilled worker today would be what $120 - $150? |
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Valued Member
South Africa
331 Posts |
Paul you are truly blessed to have a grandmother that old, if I where you I would document all her memories as a young girl, money related and personal, like how much did stuff cost back then, as most info as you can, you can always reflect back on that, and when you are 95 pass it on to your grandkids.
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Bedrock of the Community
United Kingdom
17918 Posts |
Great story!
My Mom passed away three years ago at the age of 92. She told me that as a girl she used to lie halfpennies on the railway line that ran at the back of her house, pick them up after they got squashed by a train, and then spend them as pennies! She also gave me an 1806 George III halfpenny that she was given in change once by a bus conductor instead of a penny: luckily she kept that rather than squashed it!
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Moderator
United States
56855 Posts |
Great read Paul. Maybe you should give her a well used silver dollar that she could use as a pocket piece. Tell your mom we said hey and be well. John1  |
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Valued Member
United States
406 Posts |
Fabuous story! I am glad to year that your parents are healthy and active! Looks like there are long-living genes in the family!
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Moderator
United States
34398 Posts |
Nice story--thanks for sharing!
"If you climb a good tree, you get a push."
-----Ghanaian proverb
"The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed."
-----King Adz
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1601 Posts |
Funny how memories can just appear out of the blue when in the right context! Unrelated, but my Mom is only 75 and still maintains that she doesn't remember what happened to my silver dollar collection when I moved out  ! |
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Rest in Peace
United States
10625 Posts |
Great story Paul. I was always amazed at the stories my mother told me about what my grandparents endured to survive the depression with 4 children. We certainly have a very different world we live in today. So much is taken for granted. Thank you for the reminder. |
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Replies: 29 / Views: 3,812 |
Posted 06/17/2017 10:39 pm
