Tue. July 3, 2007

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We are not numismatists. We collect enough junk without having to horde coins throughout the house.

Be we do collect the state quarters that they began issuing in 1999. And we're up-to-date. There are only eight quarters left to go (including the current one - Idaho - which we haven't come across yet).

We could hang out at the bank waiting for the new coins to come in, but that's not a challenge. We have to encounter them in the course of daily commerce (asking friends to check their pockets is okay too), and we scrutinize every coin that passes our way.

I also keep the Lewis & Clark nickels, and the Husband collects wheat pennies, but it's not like we stop after we get one we're looking for. We save all that pass through our hands, in jars all over the place.

So, very much from habit, I always look at my change when I make a purchase, just to see what coins have crossed my palm. Yesterday I got two quarters, and I almost gave one back to the cashier, thinking she had given me a Canadian quarter (nothing against Canada, but the quarters aren't worth as much as U.S. quarters), when I noticed the date - 1899. I was holding a U.S. Liberty Head Quarter from the turn of the last century. So I said nothing and pocketed it.

I don't know anything about coins, but I do know that an 1899 quarter is not something that you'll be likely to encounter in pocket change. So I looked on eBay - there were several ranging from $1 to $55. They're not that rare to collectors. But, like I said, I'm not a collector.

I just think it's cool.