Hazel Elizabeth

This morning at 7 AM Meg gave birth to our second child. She was 7 lbs. 9.4 oz. We named her Hazel Elizabeth. Both mother and child are doing well now. We're all just very tired.

Last night was a tough night for us. Henry got up four times before midnight. We brought into bed with us at #5. At some point, maybe 1AM, he threw up. It was pretty gross and was quite a mess. He was very scared and kept crying out, "wipe duck!" It took as a long time to get him settle and back asleep in his crib (as well as clean up everything). It could be a sleepy day today.

Two days ago I had some good luck with the coins.

3,840 quarters had four Canadians, three US nickels, three US dimes and one Canadian nickel.

1,350 dimes produced ten silver Rosies (2 x 1951, 1954, 1954D, 1956, 1960, 1962, 1963D, 1964D, 19??), one Canadian and one US penny. All of the silver dimes were in the 2nd to last roll I searched. Some of them were nice upgrades to the ones in my album.

1,440 nickels had just six Canadians (2 Ni).

I hit big with the pennies. 6,050 rounded up three hundred eighty-one Wheats (with one Steelie), fifteen Canadians and two US dimes. That's one of the bigger Wheat hoards I've come across. Most of them were rather modern (not many earlier than 1940). They were:

19XX, 1917, 1920, 1927, 1934, 1935(5), 1936, 1938(2), 1939(2), 1940(8), 1941(11), 1941D(2), 1942(10), 1943, 1944(31), 1944S, 1945(26), 1945S, 1946(23), 1946D, 1947(3), 1947S, 1948(19), 1949(10), 1950(9), 1950S(2), 1951(10), 1951D(9), 1951S, 1952(12), 1952D(8), 1953(10), 1953D(11), 1954(3), 1954D(5), 1955(11), 1955D(5), 1956(13), 1956D(27), 1957(17), 1957D(32), 1958(12), 1958D(18)

I had a big find on the floor of Costco too! I picked up a penny only to find it was 1977S! My first proof penny! It's also the rarest (by mintage) penny I've found, 3,251,152 (the 2nd rarest is the 1931D, 4,480,000).

Found: 8 pennies

Happy Father's Day!

This weekend despite a nasty summer cold that Henry had was a good one. On Friday we got Indian food with plenty of Henry's favorite, "pink chicken" (tandoori chicken). Then on Saturday we left the house early to go to the local science park. While there we went spent half of our time outside (it was so nice ... for once!). We played at their park, saw a red fox, saw some fish in a pond and then happened upon their polar bear. We've seen her before, but never swimming. After that we went inside. Henry got a bit scared by one of their exhibits, but after that all was fine. He stuck both of his feet (with shoes and socks on) in a big pool of bubble wash. It gave him some pretty cool bubble shoes. This Sunday Henry didn't make church and barely made it through my family's father day celebration. We came home early for an early nap. That seemed to help some despite his continual coughing. Meg me a special meal and gave Henry and I some good bonding time ... watching Wall-E.










My coins weren't so hot. 8,000 halves produced three 90% silver halves (1952D, 2 x 1964) and one 40% silver half (1966).

Found: 5 pennies, 1 nickel, 1 dime and two foreign coins (2 Canadian pennies)

Just a quick coin update ...

600 quarters had three Canadians, one US penny and three US nickels.

6,500 dimes produced three silvers (1944, 1946, 1949) and ten Canadians.

800 nickels turned up three Canadians (1 Ni), two US pennies and one Dominican Republic 5 Centavos (1981).

5,500 pennies rounded up seven Wheats, twenty-eight Canadians and two UK 1 penny. The Wheats were:

1942, 1946, 1955, 1956(2), 1957D(2)

Found: 1 penny

Here's a picture of Henry looking at my Buffalo nickel album. He actually said, "Henny like Dad's coin book" while I was taking this picture. I wish I had the audio.

Last night's coins were pretty good.

3,080 quarters rounded up four Canadians, two Bermuda 25¢, one New Zealand 10¢, one Bahamas 25¢ and four US nickels. The New Zealand coin is a new one for me.



3,000 dimes had one silver Rosie (1964), three Canadians, one UK 5 pence and four US pennies.

1,320 nickels yielded one Buffalo (1924), one War-Time (1943P), three Canadians and one Bermuda 5¢. That's the first new Buffalo I've found in some time and it's in pretty decent condition too!

5,500 pennies turned up thirty-eight Wheats, thirty-nine Canadians, nine US dimes and one Brazil 1¢. The Brazil coin is a new type for me. The Wheats were:

1919D, 1926, 1939, 1941(2), 1942(2), 1944(4), 1945(4), 1946, 1947(2), 1949, 1950D, 1952(2), 1952D, 1953, 1953D, 1953S, 1954S, 1955, 1955D, 1956D(2), 1957D(2), 1958D(4)



Found: 2 pennies

This weekend Henry, Meg and I had a great weekend. On Friday we went out for BBQ. Henry was a bit restless (he wanted to go outside and run in some tall grass), but the food was good. On Saturday morning we went strawberry picking at our favorite, local family fun place. Henry did really well; he listened well and picked only the red ones. After picking we had strawberry donuts, pet some goats and played on the playground. Henry had a lot of fun. That evening my Dad and I picked up and put together the baby's crib and Meg made Nana, Grandpa and us one great Indian meal. Throughout the weekend Henry was in a very silly mood. Today he insisted on bathing in the baby's tub and later he got his teeth brushed and was read to in the same tub.













8,000 halves turned up just one 90% silver half (1964).

Found: 2 pennies

First Pics - Merc Hoard

Today Meg and I had a big day. At the doctor's office while Meg was getting an ultrasound we got to see the new baby in more detail than we thought possible. They used a new 3D technology and with it they were able to create an image that was almost like a black and white picture. As expected the baby looks an awful like Henry did when he was born. It was tough to concentrate at work after that morning.




We've had some pretty funny time with Henry (at times, he's still full of no's). Recently Henry told us he "pretend pooped" after he farted and at another point he told us "Henny rock (in the chair) few minutes" when he was stalling before bedtime.

He also had a big milestone tonight ... he peed in his potty for the first time (on purpose).

My recent coin searching produced some truly amazing dime results ...

19 small dollars and 16,025 halves produced two 90% silver halves and twelve 40% silver halves (1965, 2 x 1966, 2 x 1967, 4 x 1968D, 3 x 1969D).

1,860 quarters rounded up two Canadians, one UK 10 pence, one Russian 5 Rouble and one Mercedes Championship medal.

The best was the dimes. 4,200 of them turned up fifty-one silver dimes, eight Canadians, three UK 5 pence, one Singapore 10¢, one Bermuda 10¢ and one Australian 10¢. Things were going pretty good (nothing too spectacular, but not bad) and suddenly I got a roll with almost all silver. In it were forty-five Mercury dimes, and eight of them were new varieties for me! Eight in one roll, holy cow! I didn't think that was possible anymore. The dates were:

1916(2), 1919, 1923, 1929, 1930, 1935, 1936(4), 1937, 1938, 1938S, 1939(2), 1940(2), 1940D(4), 1941S, 1942(5), 1942D(2), 1943, 1943S, 1944(5), 1944D(2), 1945(4), 1945S, 1946, 1948S, 1952, 1956, 1960, 1961D

The 1916 is the second oldest dime I've found.

1,120 nickels had five Canadians (1 Ni).

3,100 pennies rounded up twenty-two Wheats, twenty-nine Canadians and five US dimes. The Wheats were:

1924S, 1941(2), 1944(2), 1946, 1946S, 1947, 1948, 1950, 1952(2), 1955, 1956, 1956D(3), 1957D, 1958, 1958D

The 1924S is only the third one I've found. Still looking for the first new wheat of 2010!



I also finished a good book, The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn, by Nathaniel Philbrick. Like most people I knew the basics of this story before reading the book, but didn't know the details. This book definitely brought me up to speed. It's a good story and as always Philbrick does a capable job of telling the tale. Little of the book details Custer's actual last stand as not much is definite. I found that appropriate. Much more detail is given covering the second part of Custer's force which was defeated by same Indians almost simultaneously. The second force wasn't entirely wiped out like Custer's main force and so non-Native eye witnesses survived to tell the tale. My biggest complaint about the book is that Philbrick didn't cover the legacy of the Last Stand as much as I thought he would or should. Otherwise the book was exactly what I expected it to be.

Found: 4 pennies, 2 quarters

Redeemed: $1.90

It's been a busy couple of weeks for us. We've put up with a lot obstinate behavior and lack of naps, but we still got a lot done and had some good times. I finished painting the baby's room and put a new carpet in it. We're anxious to move all the furniture in (when we get it). Here are some good pictures we took recently.







Last week I did some coins; it just took me forever to get around to doing my write-up. Let's hope I'm a bit more timely in the future.

8,000 half dollars yielded twenty-nine 40% silver halves (1965, 3 x 1966, 6 x 1967, 12 x 1968D, 7 x 1969D) and one proof half (1981S).

5,360 quarters turned up ten Canadians, three US nickels, one US penny and one 50 Italian Lire (1985).

4,200 dimes had two silver Rosies (1946, 1960D), eight Canadians, one UK 5 pence, two Bermuda 10¢, one Mexican 10¢ and one US penny.

1,380 nickels produced three War Times (2 x 1943P, 1944P), three US dimes, one US penny and one UK penny. In the mix were also two key date Jeffersons (1949S, 1950).

9,350 pennies rounded up forty Wheats, ninety Canadians, two US dimes and one Barbados 1¢. The Wheats were:

1909 VDB, 1919, 1920, 1927, 1930, 1935S, 1940, 1941D, 1942, 1944, 1945, 1946(4), 1947(4), 1949, 1950D, 1951D, 1952, 1952D, 1953, 1954D, 1955(3), 1955D, 1956, 1956D, 1957(3), 1957D(3), 1958D(2)

Found: 8 pennies and 1 nickel