Must've Been My Lucky Day!

I agree with this. There is no way to know what the true worth of that particular coin is. It could be a very important family relic of some kind. If so, then some effort should be made to get it back to the original owner. I know how awful I would feel if this happened to me and would not want to put someone else through that.

This is one of those situations where your actions, whatever the motivation, says much more about you than about the person who receives the gift. A few weeks ago, I saw a guy standing on a street corner. He had a sign that read, "Screw the do-gooders of the world, I just need a beer!". So I gave him $5 and wished him well. Honesty goes a LONG way with me... much farther than some obviously fake story!

I agree that those who knowingly facilitate a crime in any way should have a share of the punishment for that crime. That said, though, how would a dealer know that a particular coin was stolen? They are not numbered in any special way, so one coin looks just like any other from that year / series.

As to the lost / found coin... I once found a $5 bill floating in a school swimming pool. I took it to the office and left it for anyone to identify as to amount and location where it was lost. I never got it back and assume that someone claimed it. That did not cost me a thing. I didn't have it before I went swimming and I didn't have it when I went home that day. I like to think that some poor kid lost it and then got it back. If someone else got it instead, so be it. Not my problem. I did what I needed to do and that was that. I would do the same with a found coin.

True fack, Jack:

One of the five 1913 V nickels is in pretty rough shape, because the owner carried it as a pocket piece--in a hard plastic half dollar holder.

Is that a rattlesnake in your pocket, or do you just not care?

I agree with you on smoking. If nicotine had to be injected instead of inhaled, it would be illegal. Smoking is probably THE worst thing a person can do to themselves, other than jumping from a high place or throwing themselves in front of a speeding vehicle. The end result tends to be the same... just not as quick or clean for the smokers.

When I was young and stupid, I smoked. One day, I had a kidney stone and my doc put me in the hospital for a couple of days. While there, I shared a room with a 60-something year old guy who was dying of smoking-induced emphysema. His daughter and son-in-law came to visit him daily. Each time they came, he literally begged and cried for a cigarette. At that stage, it was all I could do not to say, "For heaven's sake, give him one. It can't hurt him now! But I didn't. I did put a pillow over my head to muffle him a bit. As long as I live, I will never ever forget that wracking gurgling nasty cough that seemed to come from the guy's toes all the way up his ravaged body. He died the next night. That was the cure. I never touched a cigarette again after that.

As to the guys in the alley... hey, at least they were doing something useful to earn their smokes. I probably would have given them something too.

Yeah, there is definitely something to that, Fred. Smoking really is a problem that is self-curing. Unfortunately, it takes time, money, and a lot of other things from people before it ends up taking their lives. I used to have a bumper sticker that read, "Tobacco smokes Y-O-U!" on it. Some folks just do not get the message, though.

I used to work work with a fellow for 25 years who smoked. A careless cigarette, probably in the cushions of a couch or chair, caught his house on fire and burned it to the ground. He and his wife got out OK but lost pretty much everything they owned, including a nice gun collection, family photos, etc. They continued to smoke. Then, his wife became very ill with cancer from her smoking and died at age 58. He continued to smoke. He has already received 2 messages of the terrible consequences of using this deadly drug but continues to smoke anyway. I've got news for him... there is no smoking in he|| because that is one of the ways that they torture smokers down there and Heaven is a no smoking zone. He will be SOL in either case.

I had to laugh when I read this. I once flew on a commuter flight from Chicago to Cleveland. That was a short trip but it was a hot muggy summer day and I got to sit between 2 sweating gals who weighed at least 300 lbs. each. Yes, my seat was between them and neither would switch with me. They couldn't, really, because there just wasn't the room for it. Anyway, there was PLENTY of "spillover" on that flight.



Yep... and they are not obese, they are "big boned"!