Outings

This weekend was a weekend of outings. We had several successful outings. We went to Target, to the grocery store, and to a local park. Henry slept through all of them. It was good to be out a bit more than we have been in the past. We'll have to keep it up. We had to skip a birthday party though because we couldn't calm him on Saturday afternoon. He gets to riled up at times. Afterwards there is a usually a big crash and the above is a picture of him napping with his mommy.



I also finished reading another book, Pottery in Roman Britain, by Guy De LA Bedoyere. It was disappointing. I know for many the topic couldn't be more boring, but I thought it'd be interesting. Among all things left by the Romans pottery is without doubt the most plentiful, widespread, and complete. A whole book about it, however, is just a bit too much for me. Although the books are short, 64 pages, and small the series that this book is a part of looks promising. There are a handful concerning ancient coins I might look into.

Found: 6 pennies (4 at the car wash, 2 at Shaw's), 1 dime (at Shaw's)

Redeemed: $7.40

Barber

The past fews days Henry's been smiling more. I tried to capture it in this photo session, but I wasn't fast enough. It's very cute and makes him look a less serious/grumpy. He's seems to really enjoy play time now on Meg's or my lap. It's very rewarding.

Yesterday and today I did a whole lot of coin roll hunting.

I searched 9,000 half dollars (nine boxes) and found ten 90% silver halves (1906, 1942S, 1950, 1962, 1962D, 5 x 1964), thirty-nine 40% halves (4 x 1965, 6 x 1966, 13 x 1967, 10 x 1968D, 6 x 1969D), and seven proofs (1980S, 1977S, 3 x 1995S, 2001S, 2003S). The 1906 half was a great one for me! It's my first Barber half and the oldest half I have found so far. It's in really good condition too. I'm not sure how much it is worth, but I think it is the most valuable coin I've found. Strangely, it was from the first box I've ever gotten from a new source I'm trying out. I've also never gotten that many proofs before in one box, nor did I ever get multiples of the same variety in one sitting.



I also hunted through 3,720 hand rolled quarters. The produced two silver Washingtons (1961D, 1964), five Canadians, and one Dominican Republic 25 Centavos. One of the silver quarters was one I needed. That's a pretty good week for me ... two in one week!



6,050 dimes turned up four silver Rosies (1948D, 1959, 1963D, 1964), six Canadians, one UK 5 pence, and one Norwegian 25 ore. I have never found a coin from Norway before and it comes right after I spoke with co-worker about getting me coins from his Norwegian trip! What an odd coincidence, I think. This denomination is out of circulation so it's good to find it in a roll.




I also did pretty good with some nickels. 520 of them produced one War Time (1945S) and one key date (1938S). I kept trying to wish the little S on the back of 1938 nickel to be a D, but it didn't work. The hunt for the 1938D goes on.

Lastly, I searched 1,500 pennies and found five Wheats (1918, 1942, 1944, 1946, 1957D), twelve Canadians, and one Euro 2¢.

Found: 4 pennies (2 at work, 2 at Bank of America), 1 dime (at Sovereign Bank), 1 quarter (at Sovereign Bank)

The Calm

Last night was a good night for us. Henry was quite content. Perhaps he realized his parents still needed to rest from the weekend? I was told he went for a nice 1/2 hour walk with Meg during the day and with me he was able to amuse himself in his chair for almost 45 minutes. Slowing he's learning to bat the toys above him.

I did some coin roll hunting while he stared at his shaking toys.

I searched 3,680 hand rolled quarters and found one silver Washington (1939), ten Canadians, four US nickels, one Canadian nickel, and one Brazil 10 Centavos. The silver quarter is the 2nd oldest US quarter I've found. It's tarnished, but is not too worn.



I also inspected 1,400 hand rolled dimes. They produced just two Canadians.

After that I searched 1,760 hand rolled nickels. In them were five Canadians, two US dimes, and one Bahamas 5¢.

Lastly, I looked through 1,550 pennies and found five Wheats (1919S, 1952, 1955D, 1956, 1957D) and seven Canadians.

Found: 12 pennies (1 outside Newbury Comics, 10 at the car wash, 1 at Stop & Shop), 1 foreign coin (a Canadian penny at the car wash)

Easter

This weekend was Henry's first Easter! We celebrated it in his maternal hometown. To get there he braved his longest car journey, two hours. The ride out on Saturday was uneventful as he slept most of the way. Once there the town was instantly notified and he received many guests. He met the first female his own age (three weeks apart) and my wife and I spent our longest time away from him. We went to Friendly's for one hour to have ice cream sundaes. We enjoyed the quiet. I'm sure my wife would have traded it for a full a nights sleep, however. Easter Day went well too. Henry made it through the day in only two outfits and wore pants for the first time. He was a big hit with the entire family.



Before we left I did some coin roll hunting. It was one of my best nights!

I searched eight boxes of halves, 8,000 coins. In them I found thirty-seven 90% halves (1939, 1940, 2 x 1942, 1942S, 1945, 2 x 1945S, 1950, 2 x 1954D, 1958D, 2 x 1963, 2 x 1963D, 21 x 1964), sixty-seven 40% halves (2 x 1965, 9 x 1966, 23 x 1967, 23 x 1968D, 7 x 1969D, 1970D), one proof (1989S), and two mint set halves (2004D, 2006D). I had a great feeling before I started tearing into these boxes. Two boxes were showing Walking Liberties at the ends and one box was showing 6 or 7 silvers. This is by far the most Walkers and Franklins I've found in boxes. I was also surprised to find my second 1970D, especially so soon after finding my first. I wish every Thursday could go like this last one.

I also looked through 6,640 hand rolled quarters. They produced one silver Washington (1964), twelve Canadians, and one UK 10 pence. I also found my first 2008 coins in this batch, 2008P Okalahoma and 2008D Okalahoma. I actually found a 2008D before a 2008P!

400 dimes and 280 nickels turned up one War Time nickel (1943P), three Canadians dimes, and one Canadian nickel.

Lastly, I searched 3,150 hand rolled pennies. In them I found thirty-two Wheats, forty-one Canadians, one US dime, and one Barbados 1¢. The Wheats were:

1918(2), 1930, 1935, 1941(2), 1941D, 1942, 1944(3), 1944D, 1945(2), 1946, 1946D, 1947, 1948, 1950(2), 1951, 1952, 1953, 1953D, 1955(2), 1956D(3), 1957D(2), 1958



Last night when we got home I finished reading Tracking Marco Polo by Tim Severin. It is the first book he wrote and tells of his first adventure. As a geography student he decided that he wanted to do some summer traveling like students in other majors did, so he attempted to duplicate Marco Polo's voyage to China. Two friends joined him on two motorcycles (and two side cars). They rode from England all the way to Afghanistan before authorities ended their journey. The northeast part of Afghanistan was too violent at the time period to continue and China wouldn't give them the proper visas. Along the way they lost their sidecars, one motorcycle, broke bones, were jailed, and nearly got robbed several times. At the end they drove from Kabul to Calcutta, 3,000 miles, on one bike! The book is shorter and a little less polished than his subsequent books. The journey is also less historical than his later ones, but this doesn't get in the way of his insight into Marco Polo. It was a great read. Sadly, I only have one and half of his adventure books left to read.



Found: 17 pennies (2 at Costco, 1 at Papa Gino's, 1 at Sovereign Bank, 4 at Mass Pike rest stops), 1 nickel, 2 dimes

Introduction to the Public

Yesterday I stayed home with Meg and Henry. The day went quickly. In the morning we went to the library. Our visit only last ten minutes, but Henry was good for most of it, progress was made. Later, after a pediatrician visit for a blocked tear duct, we went to Stop & Shop (a grocery store) with him. He was even better for that outing; he just looked around a lot. He had tons of awake time yesterday which we enjoyed ...until the evening when he had two big freak outs.



The above is a picture of some of Henry's playtime with his Mom. This was taken right before he peed on her. Yesterday was a four outfit day for Henry and a two outfit day for his Mommy (he spit up on her earlier in the day)!

During a quieter moment I searched four boxes of dimes, 10,000 coins. In them I found four silver dimes (1923, 1947, 1957, 1964D). The 1923 Mercury dime was one I needed for my album and it is my oldest dateable dime. Its condition is fairly good.

I rounded up eleven half dollars, but there wasn't anything good in them.

Found: 1 penny (at Bank of America)

Belly Button

Since yesterday morning Henry has shown two bits of progress. The first is we witnessed him repeatedly hit a toy above him for the first time. There wasn't much agility being displayed, but it was impressive. Second his belly button appeared.

At the bank I had some good fortune. The coin counting machine jammed and when the manager cleaned it he let me keep what was in the internal rejection bin. In it was two Ike dollars (one being gold plated), one bent quarter, two bent dimes, one penny, a French franc, a Jokers token, and a Theodore Roosevelt medal. The medal is about the size of a half dollar.



The back of the medal says:

THEODORE ROOSEVELT BORN OCT. 27, 1858 YOUNGEST MAN TO BECOME PRESIDENT; ORGANIZED THE "ROUGH RIDERS"; FIRST AMERICAN TO BE AWARDED NOBEL PEACE PRIZE DIED JAN. 6, 1919.

Later when I got home I did a little coin roll hunting.

160 quarters, 100 dimes, and 40 nickels produced three Canadian quarters and one Canadian dime. One of the Canadian quarters was one I needed for my album, 1983. It has been quite a while since I've found one for my album in rolls. It is relatively scarce as only 13 million were minted. The other modern Canadian quarters I need, besides a few recent ones, are:

1973 Large Beads (10,000)
1992 Newfoundland (11,405,000) *need upgrade
1992 Manitoba (11,349,000)
1992 Yukon (10,388,000) *need upgrade
2001 (8,415,000)
2003P Royal Diademed (15,905,090)

I also searched 2,450 pennies. They produced nine Wheats, twenty-four Canadians, and three Taiwan 1 Yuan. The Wheats were:

1939, 1944(2), 1946, 1948, 1953D, 1956, 1956D, 1958

Found: 6 pennies (at Sovereign Bank), 1 dime (at Sovereign Bank)

Visits

This past weekend was a nice three day weekend for us. On Friday we went to the pediatrician. Henry weighed in at 10 lbs. 15 oz. He gained over a pound in one week! He did pretty well at the doctor's office, too, with his new toy, his thumb. Later that day I bought my first two packages of diapers (Target Brand is definitely cheaper than the other brands) and we had some friends visit us. Henry got to meet his closest peer so far. There wasn't much interaction, however. On Saturday Henry made his first trek out to Nana and Grandpa's house. It was good having him there. He got to have his second encounter with his cousins and Meg and I were able to relax. And then on Sunday we visited with two more couples who each brought us a meal. It was a busy weekend, but a pleasant one.

I did some coin roll hunting on Thursday night and Friday morning.

I started with eight boxes of halves, 8,000 coins. In them I found nine 90% halves (8 x 1964, 1964D), thirty-three 40% halves (1965, 20 x 1966, 9 x 1967, 3 x 1968D), and three mint set halves (3 x 2002D).

I also went through 2,920 hand rolled quarters. They produced four Canadians, one Bahamas 25¢, one US nickel, and seven US dimes.

After that I searched 1,550 dimes, but they only turned up three Canadians.

I thought the dimes I found in the quarters were ridiculous, but the nickels outdid them. In 920 hand rolled nickels I found one War Time (1943P), five Canadians, one Somalia 5 Shilling, six US pennies, one Canadian dime, and forty-two US dimes! That's some sort of wrong denomination record for me.



Lastly, in 8,950 pennies I discovered sixteen Wheats, fifty-six Canadians, one Bahamas 1¢, and two US dimes. I was definitely hoping for more Wheats. The Wheat breakdown was:

1940, 1941, 1944, 1945(3), 1946(3), 1950D, 1951, 1956D, 1957, 1958(2), 1958D

Found: 10 pennies (1 at Sovereign Bank, 1 at Shaw's, 8 at the car wash), 1 dime (at work)

Redeemed: $7.90

Freakouts - 500,000 Dimes Searched

Yesterday was a really good day for Henry and us. The night before he only had one freakout and after that he was on his best behavior. It was good for us as he had some important visitors. His grandfather brought over three of his great-grandparents for a first visit. We had lunch with them at the house and everyone got to hold Henry for a time, sometimes two times. He was alert for the first third of the visit as well. In the evening his good behavior continued. I really enjoyed bonding with him on the couch and watching TV with him on my chest. Fortunately, he was good to his mom and only had one nightly freakout at 4:30AM this morning. As I left I told him I was counting on him giving his mother a nice break today. We'll see how he listens!

I did some coin hunting over the last two days. I went through a big mess of dimes and in doing so surpassed the 500,000 mark! In total I searched 12,200 dimes. In them I found eight silver Rosies (1951, 1954, 1956, 1957, 1959, 1960D, 1962, 1962D), two Canadians, two UK 5 pences, and one East Carribean States 10¢.

I also searched 880 hand rolled nickels and found one War Time (1943P), two Canadians, one MBTA (Boston subway/bus) token, and one German 50 Pfennig. I think the MBTA token is now worthless. In addition I looked through 400 hand rolled pennies and they produced just one Wheat (1942) and three Canadians.





Last night I finished a book I started at the hospital, Roman Towns in Britain, by Guy de la Bedoyere. It was a good read. I've read another book by the author and that is why I found this one on Amazon. I've also seen the author on the British TV show Time Team, one of my all time favorites. I really like his perspective on history. He doesn't try to draw ridiculous conclusions based on a couple of archaelogical finds, instead he presents them to his reader as is. Furthermore, he has a great way of presenting history in it's total context, one that that is similar to our own world in that both have an infinite number of facets to everyday life. A big plus about the author, in my opinion, is that he's into coin collecting and so there is lots of numismatic information in his books. The only drawback to the book was one needed a prior understanding of the Roman situation in Britain to enjoy it. I have a few more of his books on order.

Found: 12 pennies (at the car wash), 2 nickels (at the car wash), 1 dime (at the car wash), 1 quarter (at the car wash)

Nature's Pacifier ... 1970D

Last night Meg and I saw some good progress from Henry. He started sucking on his thumb. To non-parents (and me before last week) this would seem to be no big deal and one might even think, "aren't people trying to get kids to stop doing that!?" To us though this was a big step. Once he can do this routinely by himself he should be able to provide himself with tons of self-soothing, i.e. peace and quiet for us, especially Meg. Currently his favorite soothing technique is to cuddle with Mom. It's really cute when they are together, but it doesn't exactly give her many options. Stubbornly, I'm still trying to find a soothing techinique that works for me. I thought I had it with swinging the car seat, but he seems to have tired with that pretty quickly.

Yesterday was a good day in the coin roll hunting hobby as well, although as a sign of things to come my attitude is changing. I found one of my best coins last night and I would have traded it in a second for Henry to sleep a bit more.

At the bank a teller saved me a great silver Washington, 1961. It's one I need for my album. It's in pretty good shape too! A bit of a baby gift, I suppose.

At home I searched 6,960 quarters (all hand rolled). In them I found one silver Washington (1944), five Canadians, and one UK 10 pence. The 1944 one is the second oldest quarter I've found. Unfortunately I already have one of those. Oh well, it was fun to find and it was an upgrade.

I also looked through 8,000 halves. They produced twelve 90% silver halves (11 x 1964, 1964D), thirty-three 40% silver halves (1965, 5 x 1966, 9 x 1967, 14 x 1968D, 3 x 1969D, 1970D), and two proof halves (1982S, 2006S). I have those two proofs. The 1970D is fantastic. Only 2.1 million were minted and sold in mint sets. Of the non-proof 40% halves produced only .3% were 70D's. It looks great in the album. Now I just need to find a 1987P to complete my Kennedy album!

Found: 1 quarter (at work)

Best Find

Last Sunday was a big day for my wife and I. We welcomed our son into the world. We named him Henry Shaun. He came in at 10 pounds, 4 ounces and was about 22 inches long. The ordeal lasted 32 hours for wife. Almost all of his grandparents, aunts and uncles were waiting at the hospital for many hours. It was great to celebrate the event with all of them.

We stayed at the hospital until Thursday. The days passed quickly in one odd blur with visiting family and medical personnel. At then end of our stay my wife was pretty sick of being in her bed and I was quite tired of my vinyl recliner/bed that was next to her.



On Tuesday Henry came back from the nursery with his hair combed. I couldn't stop looking at him because he looked like a little man with this grumpy face.

Going home felt great. Immediately we all bonded with multiple napping sessions. Since then we've been introduced to all the pains and joys of new parents everywhere, lots of crying and diapers, but even more staring and wonderment at our new child. We can't believe he's finally here and already feel immensely blessed.



I stayed true to form and did some coin roll hunting over the past week. Some was before the birth and some was afterwards.

I searched 920 hand rolled quarters and found five Canadians.

I also looked through 10,150 dimes (two boxes and a whole lot of hand rolled). They only produced two silver Rosies (1953, 1964D), eleven Canadians, one Bermuda 10 cent, and one UK 5 pence. I was definitely hoping for more silver dimes. The 1953 was an upgrade for the one in my album though. It is in pretty good shape.

In addition I searched 3,720 nickels (mostly hand rolled). In them was one Buffalo (1920), one War Time (1945S), and thirteen Canadians. The Buffalo nickel in this batch was probably my best coin find of the last week. It is in great shape. One of the best ones I've found and one of the oldest with a date, too!

Lastly, I scanned 8,650 pennies (mostly hand rolled). They turned up thirty-four Wheats, seventy-six Canadians, two US dimes, one Euro 2 cent, and two Bermuda 1 cents. The Wheat varieties were:

19??, 1919, 1937, 1940(3), 1941, 1942, 1944, 1944D, 1945(2), 1946, 1952D, 1955(2), 1956(3), 1956D(3), 1957, 1957D(3), 1958(4), 1958D(3)





During my stay at the hospital I completed reading a used book I got some time back, Crusader: By Horse To Jerusalem, by Tim Severin. This is the ninth box of his I've read. This one was a bit different. Instead of recreating a sea voyage like most of his books, Severin recreated the journey of the first Crusade. He road on horse with a friend all the way from Belgium to Jerusalem. It took them two years and a few horses. I didn't know much about the first Crusade so I enjoyed that part alot and I didn't know much about horses so I learned alot there. He has a few more books that I plan on reading. I have them in my pile. One day I hope to meet him and get an autograph.

Found: 28 pennies (14 at the hospital, 2 at Stop 'N Shop, 1 in Marlboro, 1 at the Bank of America, 2 at Shaw's, 8 at the Car Wash), 4 nickels (3 at the hospital, 1 outside the liquor store), 10 dimes (5 at the hospital, 1 at the Bank of America, 2 at Shaw's, 1 outside the liquor store, 1 at the Car Wash), 6 quarters (all at the hospital), 1 foreign coin (a Canadian penny at Stop 'N Shop)

Redeemed: $5.00