1892 Micro O Half Dollar Discovery: A "Secret Treasure" Of My Own

Numismatic News - My first memory of looking for certain dates on coins or Barr notes was with my father when I was young. My mother was a waitress, and we would often help with the counting and rolling of the tips she brought home. Whenever we found something noteworthy (forgive the pun), my father - a collector of trinkets and oddities of all kinds - would ceremoniously stash it away for safekeeping. I was fascinated by the idea of finding secret treasures in something as commonplace as currency. My interest in coins took a backseat as bicycles, motorcycles, fishing and a long list of other things occupied my interests as a young boy in the 1970s.



When my father passed away in 2003, I volunteered to spearhead the splitting of his collection of coins and currency with my brother. I bought a Red Book and several other books to help educate me on the value of the collection. Although my father's collection did not have anything of great value, the occasion reignited my fascination with "secret treasures," and I soon developed a full-blown passion for collecting coins. I began attending auctions and visiting local coin shops, adding to my own collection as well as educating myself on the topic. As I'm sure many coin collectors have experienced, over the years I've had quite a few friends and family ask me the value of something they have. From single coins to entire collections (and once, even a five-gallon bucket of silver halves!), I've become known as the local coin man.

Read the entire article