West Coast Report #3

We're back. Our trip was great. We went up to Vancouver and had a good time. Vancouver is a beautiful city. I sure wish the dollar was stronger like previous times I have been to Canada, but regardless it didn't stop us from enjoying ourselves. I used PriceLine to get us a good deal on the hotel ($100/night) and we saved a bit by buying breakfast and snacks at a nearby grocery store.

While there I managed to do some coin roll hunting! (No surprise to my friends, I'm sure.) I went through a lot of quarters. I'm not sure how many, but I got seven rolls from two banks and abused a bunch of vending machines (put change in, hit the "Return Change" button). In total I found 22 varieties I needed. They were 2000 Health, 2007 RCM, 2000 Community, 2007 Para. Curling, 2007 Ice Hockey, 2005 Sask., 2002 Canada Day, 2007 Curling, 1976, 2005 Alberta, 1995, 2004 Poppy, 1992 Alberta, 2000 Creativity, 2006 Bravery, 2000 Family, 2006 Breast Cancer, 2000 Natural Legacy, 2000 Pride, 1999 March, and 1992 Sask. I even came across two US quarters in the bank rolls, one of which I needed Montana 2007D. It was much more difficult than I thought it would be to find 1992 and 1999 commemoratives.

I also went through some dimes and nickels. I found two dime varieties I needed, 1996 and 2003 Royal Diademed. In circulation I came across two US nickels.

I asked for half dollars at the two banks I went to, but neither had them. One teller even told me, "they don't come like that."

While in Canada I redeemed three cans for the hell of it. I got 15 cents. They have a great recycling program in the province that gives varying amounts for different redeemables.

While dumping my waste coins this morning I realized that I passed by a New Zealand one cent in some dime rolls.



(The picture isn't a picture of the actual coin I found. It is the same type, however.)

Found: 4 pennies (1 at the Seattle airport, 3 at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport), 1 dime (at the Seattle airport), 2 quarters (1 on the plane at DFW, 1 at DFW), 12 foreign coins (all Canadian, 8 pennies, 1 nickel, 1 dime, 3 quarters, 1 dollar coin; mostly near vending machines and on the street)