Yesterday while picking up coins a teller gave me a foreign coin she had been saving for me. I had no idea where it was from. I had some guesses based on the motifs used, but I didn't recognize the script. It took a bit of searching, but finally I discovered it was an Ethiopian 25¢. A new country for me! The eleventh of the year.



Other than that my coins were pretty boring yesterday.

50 small dollars had one mint set dollar (2006P).

3,720 quarters produced two Canadians, two US nickels and one US dime.

3,400 dimes yielded me one silver Rosie (1959) and six Canadians.

1,560 nickels rounded up five (3 Ni) Canadians.

8,600 pennies landed me one proof (1993S), sixty Wheats, nine Canadians, eleven US dimes, one Euro 2¢ and one UK penny (1971).

1912, 1920, 1935(2), 1937, 1940(3), 1941(2), 1942(4), 1944(7), 1945(4), 1946(2), 1946D, 1948, 1948D, 1950, 1951, 1951D, 1952(3), 1952D, 1953D, 1955(2), 1956, 1956D(3), 1957D(6), 1958(4), 1958D(6)

Found: two pennies

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone! Round one is over and round two is just around the corner. It was a good Christmas for us.

Christmas for me began on the 23rd. I had a great time taking the kids shopping on Friday. Henry was very excited to find a pair of earrings for Meg (he blew the secret and then later insisted she put them on). I was surprised I could get as much shopping as I could with them in tow. They definitely surprise me with patience sometimes.

On Christmas Eve we went to church early. Greg, Evan and I participated in our church's Christmas pageant. I was a shepard with one live sheep to lead to the front of the church and back. Afterwards we went to my sister's for supper. Meg and I wrapped presents when we got home.

The next morning all the gifts were under the tree when the kids woke up. We waited a bit and then opened them all up. The kids were much more into unwrapping than last year. Hazel did an excellent job (she even unwrapped on of Aunt Jess's gifts) and Henry didn't want to stop. If you ask Henry if Santa came to our house he'll still tell you he didn't, but I'm pretty sure he got his full share of stuff. After a special breakfast we went to Nana and Grandpa's for dinner, present unwrapping and much playing.

The spirit continued the next day when we had a supper at our house for Uncle Steve, Aunt Susan and cousin Rhea.

Now we're pretty beat, but very excited to enjoy the holiday with the rest of our family. I'm sure Henry and Hazel are ready for more presents!



Henry and cousin Liam posing for the camera.



Hazel in her Christmas mini-skirt.



Henry very excited about a package of Swedish fish he got. Hazel was just as excited about her package of gummy fish. I'm not sure both of them knew what they were. Hazel insisted on napping with her package.



Hazel looking on as Henry unwraps his big train present. At one point Henry exclaimed, "you got exactly what I wanted!" At other points he seemed a bit confused and was suggesting for some reason that all our presents had come from Nana. When we told them they didn't he didn't seem to mind, but told us he wanted to bring them all to Nana's house and asked if the gifts he opened at her house could be brought home.



An action shot of Hazel unwrapping. She's really pretty good at it.



I spent a good chunk of the day putting toys together. It was a lot of fun for me. Meg made us a special Christmas breakfast while I played with the train.



Henry showing me his gift from Uncle Jim and Aunt Carol. He didn't quite get that I wanted a picture of his face and the gift.



Nicole took this picture of Hazel in her Christmas outfit.

12 small dollars had nothing.

8,025 half dollars turned up just one 40% silver half (1967).

5,760 quarters produced six Canadians, two US dimes and one US nickel.

5,150 dimes turned up one silver Rosie (1961), four Canadians and one Polish 10 Grozy.

2,840 nickels yielded two dateless Buffaloes and four Canadians.

Found: 2 pennies

2,400 quarters had two Canadians and one US nickel.

1,200 dimes rounded up one Canadian and one US penny.

1,040 nickels yielded two Canadians (1 Ni).

3,300 pennies produced sixteen Wheats, thirteen Canadians, three US dimes and one Uruguay 1 Peso (1994). The Uruguay coin is the first one I've found from that country. It's the tenth new foreign country I've found this year! I now have just four countries left to find in the Americas, Haiti, Suriname, Bolivia and the Falkland Islands. (I haven't found in Chile in circulation. I found it as a coin counter reject.)



1934, 1936, 1940(3), 1941, 1944, 1945, 1946(2), 1947, 1950D, 1952D, 1955, 1956D

Found: 1 penny

Well, the weekend might have been more tiring that Meg and I wanted it to be, I'm still behind in shopping I want to do for Christmas and the kids aren't always on their best behavior these days, but I don't care! I had a nice birthday party and wonderful time at Henry's school yesterday.

On Friday we did our usual and ate at Friendly's. Then on Saturday I attended our church pageant rehearsal with Greg and Evan and Henry and Hazel spent time with their Cioci and Liam. Sunday meant a nice time at church (Hazel's still doing well in the nursery). In the evening Meg threw a birthday part for me at our house. It included a great meal of my favorites, football on TV and some kid crazyness.

Yesterday I went in to work late so I could attend Henry's school art show with Meg, Hazel and Nonnie (my mother-in-law). We had a wonderful 20 minutes. Henry showed us around, we marveled at his artwork (we don't see this level of expertise at home much) and had a snack. Meg and I are so proud of some very nice things the assistant teacher told us about Henry. We think Hazel's going to be ready for school very soon. She thinks she is ready right now.



This is a good shot of Hazel that Henry took with our camera. He's getting much more consistent with his camera work.



Henry and Hazel playing with their computers.



Me opening my birthday gifts with the cousins. At this moment I was looking at Liam's excellent homemade Star Wars birthday card. It says, "Star you are" ... excellent Yoda-speak!



Henry's still life. I think this is his best work yet.



Henry's picture and frame (in the center) as shown with other student's work. The assistant teacher told us that Henry spent almost the whole class making the frame, laying out the jewels exactly as he wanted them.



Henry and Hazel enjoying a snack in Henry's classroom. Hazel made herself instantly at home.

I've searched a lot of coin already this week. It's been decent.

169 small dollars had two mint set dollars (2 x 2005P) and one new one, 2011D Garfield.

11,920 quarters produced three silver Washingtons (1952D, 2 x 1964), fifteen Canadians, eleven US nickels, five US dimes, one UK 10 pence and one Cayman Islands 25¢.

5,550 dimes turned up two silver Rosies (1953D, 1957D), eight Canadians (including one 1959, 80% silver), one Barbados 10¢, one UK 5 pence and one Swiss ½ franc.

3,040 nickels rounded up three War Times (2 x 1943P, 1943D) and nine Canadians (4 Ni). That's only the 2nd 1943D nickel I've found!

2,500 pennies got me thirteen Wheats, twelve Canadians and one Bermuda 1¢

Found: 2 pennies

8,000 halves had nothing.

5,000 pennies produced twenty-one Wheats, thirty-nine Canadians and one Bermuda 1¢.

1917, 1918S, 1936, 1941, 1942(2), 1944, 1945(2), 1945D, 1946, 1949(3), 1952D(2), 1953D, 1955, 1956D(2), 1958

Found: 1 penny, 1 dime

The List

Although he doesn't read Henry still insisted that yesterday Meg show him "The List." We've explained some of Christmas to Henry, but the thing that has stuck with him most is that their is a list of toys that he's getting (somehow). He constantly says, "can we put that on the Christmas list?" and "do you think I'd like that for Christmas?" It's kind of cute. I just sure hope he's not disappointed that everything he's seen between mid November and Christmas isn't under the tree!

Hazel has been blissfully unaware (although yesterday she did want to open up Henry's gift while he was at school). We're very thankful she has been sleeping better and seems to have beaten her sickness. Lot's more talking has begun too! I can't wait to hear what she has to say even more.

I didn't find that much coin towards the latter half of this week. My trip to California kind of disrupted my game a bit.

50 small dollars had nothing.

1,040 quarters produced three Canadians and two US nickels.

700 dimes yielded two Canadians and one Irish 5 pence.

4,150 nickels rounded up one War Time (1943P), thirteen Canadians (6 Ni) and one Swiss 20 Rappen.

9,350 pennies had thirty-six Wheats, forty-five Canadians, one US dime, one Mexican $10 (1989), one Euro 2¢ and one Bahamas 1¢.

1918, 1925, 1929, 1941, 1942, 1944(3), 1945(2), 1946, 1948, 1948S, 1949, 1950D, 1951, 1951D(3), 1952, 1953(2), 1953D(4), 1954D, 1955, 1955D, 1956, 1956D, 1957D(2), 1958, 1958D

5,880 quarters produced silver Washington (1952, 1959D), nine Canadians, four US nickels, three US dimes, one Bermuda 25¢, two arcade tokens and one Lebanonese 500 Livres. The Lebanonese coin is a new country for me! It's the ninth new country of the year. In this batch was also a new modern one for me, the 2011P Chickasaw.



4,500 dimes rounded up four silvers (1944, 1960D, 1961D, 1964), twelve Canadians and one Bermuda 10¢.

Found: two pennies

This weekend it finally felt like the Christmas season to me!

On Friday we just had pizza out, but as usual these days we took the opportunity to take some side streets and find some more Christmas lights for the kids. Henry in particular is very into light displays. It's never been my thing, but since he enjoys it so much I find myself scouting out new streets without him to show him later when he's with me. Even small displays get him going. Hazel sometimes says "whoah" a few seconds later (she's still rear facing) at particularly large displays.

On Saturday I took Henry to VFW Christmas party with my sister, the nephews and my grandfather. Henry called it the "army station" (as opposed to the "police station"). We had a buffet lunch, saw a magician and got presents from Santa. Henry was a bit reluctant to go in (he was dragged in, I didn't have time for fuss), but was great inside. His aunt even got some special lap time with Henry! Premium beers were $2.25 ... I haven't experienced those kind of prices since fifteen years ago in college (or maybe twelve years ago in Poland). In the evening Meg and I were able to go out to Toys 'R Us and Friendly's as my folks were watching the kids.

Sunday, of course, meant church, but Henry and Hazel did very well there. For two weeks in a row now Hazel spent time in the church nursery with no fuss at all. She's not like her brother in that respect!

8,000 halves produced two 90% silver halves (1925 Lexington-Concord, 1964), fifteen 40% silver halves (3 x 1966, 5 x 1967, 3 x 1968D, 4 x 1969D), two proof halves (1999S, 2004S), two commemoratives (1925 Lexington-Concord, 1986S Statue of Liberty) and one Jamaica 50¢. The Lexington-Concord half is the second one I've found, 162,013 were minted. This one was on the end of bank roll so I saw it right away. It's in about the same condition as the other I found three years ago, but I'm still excited about it. It is only the fifth silver commemorative I've found. I hadn't found any commemoratives since April.

6,650 pennies rounded up thirty Wheats, thirty-five Canadians and one US dime. In the Wheats was one I've only found once before, the 1933D, only 6,200,000 were minted.

1919(2), 1933D, 1934, 1937, 1940, 1944, 1944S, 1945(3), 1946(3), 1947D, 1949, 1950, 1951D, 1953(2), 1954D, 1955, 1956D(2), 1957D(5), 1958

I had one of my better change finds today. At the toll booth this morning I got a dateless Buffalo. It's a coin I wouldn't be too excited about if I found it in a roll, but I don't think I've ever seen one in the wild before. I come across them in rolls at a rate of one per 8,054!

Found: one dime

The good news today is that Hazel seems to be doing better. She was still really tired this morning, but her fever wasn't present like it had been for the past three mornings. We're really hoping that's this the end of sickness (for this week, anyway). It's really difficult to see her so achy.

Lately Henry's been trying to spell a lot with some encouragement from Meg and I. I've been trying to get him to read a menu a bit and read Men vs. Women on bathroom doors. It's not always entirely successful though. He told Meg and I that "N-O" spelled "off" and Meg that "L-I-A-M" spelled our last name.

25 small dollars had nothing.

8,200 quarters rounded up one silver Washington (1963), seven Canadians, five US nickels, one Bermuda 25¢, one US dime and one gaming token.

7,550 dimes yielded five silver Rosies (2 x 1946, 1952, 1955, 1957), thirteen Canadians, one Swiss ½ franc and one UK 5 pence. The 1955 is only the second of this one I've found. It's the rarest of the Roosevelt's.

4,920 nickels produced two War Nickels (2 x 1943P), eleven Canadians (1 Ni), two US pennies, four US dimes and a key date Jefferson (1950).

11,650 pennies turned up fifty-five Wheats, eighty-six Canadians, six US dimes and one Euro 2¢.

1938, 1941(3), 1942D, 1944(9), 1945(3), 1946(4), 1948D(2), 1950, 1950D, 1950S, 1951, 1951D, 1952D(3), 1953(5), 1953D, 1953S, 1954D, 1955, 1955D, 1956D(2), 1957, 1957D(3), 1958

Found: 1 penny

Last night's coins were a bit ho-hum.

84 small dollars and 24 half dollars had nothing.

4,040 quarters produced eighteen Canadians, two Bermuda 25¢, two US dimes and one US nickel.

2,950 dimes turned up one silver Rosie (1962D) and five Canadians (including a 1967, 50-80% silver).

1,920 nickels rounded up one War Time (1945P) and two Canadians.

Last week I went on my annual work trip to San Fransisco for a developer conference. While I was gone Henry participated in the Jumpathon at his preschool. Meg and Hazel attended to encourage him and take pictures. I couldn't go because I was on the West Coast. Henry did really well and had lots of fun. He even wore a hat and cheered on his friends!





Henry and Hazel are very into Christmas decorations. We've been driving the long way home in the evenings from wherever we go so that we can see more lights. This weekend we took them to Tower Hill Botanical Gardens to see their trees. They had about twenty all done up. It was a great time. They were both really into it.





Before I left I searched some coin.

50 small dollars and 20 half dollars had nothing.

6,880 quarters produced one proof quarter (2001S RI), sixteen Canadians, eight US nickels, two Dominican Republic 25¢ and one French franc.

4,350 dimes yielded two silver Rosies (1956, 1959), eleven Canadians (including one 1951, 80% silver), one UK 5 pence and one Bermuda 10¢.

1,000 nickels rounded up one dateless Buffalo and four Canadians.

During my trip I concentrated on small dollars and pennies.

871 small dollars turned up one mint set dollar (2002D) and nine new ones (2009D John Tyler, 2010D Millard Fillmore, 2010D Franklin Pierce, 2010D James Buchanan, 2010D Abraham Lincoln, 2011D Sacagawea, 2011D Andrew Johnson, 2011D Ulysses S. Grant, 2011D Rutherford B. Hayes). It's been a long time (since July) that I've found a proof dollar. I'm not sure what's been up with that. In the beginning of the year I had some good luck finding those.

715 halves had nothing.

69,550 pennies got me two hundred sixteen Wheats, eighty-seven Canadians (one was a 1928, George V cent), one Singapore 1¢ (1984), one Barbados 1¢, one Euro 1¢, two Euro 2¢, one Euro 5¢, two UK pennies, one Australian 1¢ (1966), one German 5 Pfennig (1949), thirty-five US dimes and one Hong Kong 20¢ (1975). That breaks a record for me! I've never searched that much during a West Coast trip. I'm sure the housekeeper assigned to me hotel room found it strange to come across the gigantic trash bag stuffed with coin wrappers and a pile of broken down penny boxes. Unfortunately I didn't find any new Wheat varieties, but I did turn up one I have only found once before, the 1921S.

191?-?, 1919, 1919S, 1921S, 1925, 1935D, 1936(2), 1937, 1937D, 1938, 1939, 1940(2), 1940S(2), 1941(6), 1942(4), 1942S(2), 1944(11), 1944D(2), 1944S(8), 1945(6), 1945D(2), 1945S(2), 1946(9), 1946D(3), 1946S(7), 1947S, 1948(2), 1948D(2), 1949, 1949D(3), 1950(2), 1950D, 1950S, 1951D(6), 1951S(3), 1952D(3), 1952S(5), 1953(2), 1953D(6), 1953S(7), 1954, 1954D(4), 1955(2), 1952D(10), 1956, 1956D(17), 1957(3), 1957D(18), 1958, 1958D(32)





I also searched some this weekend.

8,000 halves yielded eight 90% silver halves (1954D, 1961D, 2 x 1963D, 4 x 1964), twelve 40% silver halves (1965, 1966, 6 x 1967, 3 x 1968D, 1969D) and one proof half (1987S).

3,450 pennies rounded up twenty-two Wheats, nineteen Canadians and one US dime.

1929, 1937, 1940, 1942D, 1944(5), 1946(3), 1951, 1952D, 1953, 1956, 1957, 1957D(3), 1958, 1958D(2)

Found: twelve pennies, two US dimes, one $1 bill, one foreign coin (a Canadian dime)

T-Day Report

25 small dollars had nothing.

8,001 yielded one 90% silver half (1964) and one 40% silver half (1967).

2,640 quarters produced eight Canadians, one US nickel and one UK 10 pence.

2,250 dimes rounded up four Canadians, one US penny, one UK 5 pence, one Aruba 10¢ and one Euro 1¢.

1,080 nickels had just six Canadians (1 Ni).

8,250 pennies got me forty-eight Wheats, sixty-three Canadians, three US dimes and one Barbados 1¢.

1919, 1930, 1933, 1934, 1935(2), 1940, 1941(2), 1942(2), 1944(6), 1945(2), 1946(4), 1946D, 1946S, 1947D, 1948, 1949, 1949S, 1950, 1951D(3), 1952D, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1955D, 1956(2), 1956D, 1957(2), 1957D(2), 1958D(2)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Yesterday Henry had a feast at school for Thanksgiving. "Feast" was the word to describe it. They ate with the other class and had small pizzas with no crust that didn't require any cutting up into pieces, carrot sticks and juice. Somehow Henry ended up stepping into the dip for the carrots. He didn't tell us how that happened. Afterwards Meg and the kids went to Target. Meg got Henry and Hazel a small Christmas tree with lights on it. They are very excited about it. It's now up in Henry's room. Henry's most proud of his ability to "turn it on" (plug it in). Not sure how excited I am about him and plugs, but I guess one has to start sometime.

Meg e-mailed me this cute story on Monday:

Owen was yelling that he wanted juice, but Lauren didn't get it right away because she was busy. So Griffin said to Owen, "You need to yell louder. She can't hear you." (she could) Owen subsequently started yelling very loudly that he wanted juice. Still no response from Lauren, so Henry piped up with, "You need to use your manners and say 'please'." Owen put the two together and yelled that he wanted juice, please. :)

25 small dollars had nothing.

8,000 quarters produced one proof quarter (2002S IN), thirteen Canadians, fifteen US nickels and five US dimes. Indiana is now the first state for which I've found the clad and silver proof varieties.

6,450 dimes yielded three silver Rosies (1952, 1963D, 1964), eleven Canadians and one UK 5 pence.

2,520 nickels got me one proof nickel (1980S), thirteen Canadians (4 Ni), eight US dimes and two US pennies.

4,550 pennies rounded up twenty-two Wheats, thirty-five Canadians and five US dimes.

1935, 1944(4), 1944D, 1945(2), 1946(3), 1950D, 1951D, 1953(2), 1956(2), 1957, 1958, 1958D

Found: five pennies, one nickel, one dime and one quarter

6,680 quarters turned up four Canadians, one US dime and one Panama ¼ Balboa (1966).

1,050 dimes yielded one silver Rosie (1964D) and five Canadians.

240 nickels got me one Canadian.

2,600 pennies produced one proof (1980S), fifteen Wheats, nineteen Canadians and four US dimes. This lot of pennies puts me past 3,000,000 pennies! (2007-2011)

1942(3), 1944(3), 1946, 1953(2), 1953D(3), 1956D(3)

Found: 1 foreign coin (a Austrian 50 Groschen)

When I got home yesterday I got a nice surprise from Henry he ran up to me saying, "Nonnie got Hazel new clothes! School was good!" Best of all Henry himself was in new pajamas! Somehow Meg used Hazel getting new fluffy clothes (some cute fleece wear) to convince Henry to not wear his same old pajamas to bed! It's miracle. I think he's worn the same pajamas for five months now. That's a lot of washing of the same set of clothes!

Last night's coins were pretty boring.

57 small dollars and 6 half dollars had nothing.

3,800 quarters produced eleven Canadians and one East Caribbean States 25¢.

950 dimes rounded up four Canadians.

880 nickels yielded one Buffalo and one Canadian.

4,450 pennies turned up twenty-four Wheats, twenty-six Canadians and five US dimes.

1924, 1937, 1938, 1941, 1944(3), 1944D, 1946(3), 1948(2), 1949, 1950, 1950D, 1952D, 1955, 1956(3), 1956D, 1957, 1957D

This weekend things went much smoother than last. We got some good housework done. It felt good to get a bunch of our leaves dealt with and we had some fun family time doing it to.











50 small dollars had nothing.

8,000 halves produced four 90% silver halves (1945S, 3 x 1964), four 40% silver halves (1965, 1967, 2 x 1968D) and two proof halves (1972S, 1976S).

3,560 quarters rounded up one proof quarter (1979S), three Canadians, two US dimes, five US nickels and one US penny (stuck to a quarter).

4,100 dimes yielded two silver Rosies (1947D, 1958D), three Canadians, two Swiss ½ francs, one Cayman Islands 5¢ and two US pennies (both 1943D steel Wheats).

880 nickels turned up two Canadians.

6,550 pennies got me thirty-nine Wheats, thirty-nine Canadians and one US dime.

1936, 1936D, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1942D, 1944(5), 1944D, 1945(2), 1946(3), 1950(2), 1952(2), 1952D(3), 1953(2), 1953D(3), 1955(2), 1955D, 1956, 1957(3), 1957D(3)

Found: 2 dimes (one was a 1960D silver dime)

Here's some pictures Meg took recently (except the first one, which was taken by Henry).

















13,400 pennies turned up one Indian Head (1895), four hundred seventy Wheats, ninety-five Canadians, seven US dimes, one Canadian dime, two Bahamas 1¢ and one Trinidad & Tobago 1¢. That's the second most Wheats I've come across in one sitting! These came mostly from fourteen rolls that were all from the same customer. The Indian Head was unrelated to this hoard. It's in very good shape. I also got a clipped penny.



1911, 1919, 1920, 1928, 1930, 1934, 1935, 1936(3), 1937(4), 1937S, 1939(2) ...

162 small dollars and 17 half dollars had nothing.

6,440 quarters yielded one silver Washington (1951D), eight Canadians, five US nickels, one Irish 5 pence and one UK 10 pence.

5,850 dimes produced two silver Rosies (1957, 1962), eight Canadians, one Bermuda 10¢, one Australian 5¢ (1977) and one UK 5 pence.

3,000 nickels rounded up one proof nickel (1999S), two War Times (1944S, 1945P), eight Canadians (1 Ni) and one Indian 50 Paise. It's pretty cool to have turned up all of these proof coins lately.

Found: 1 nickel

Last night Henry went to sleep without any problems, three books and very little complaining, definitely no fighting. It felt like a miracle.

8,000 half dollars had just one 40% silver half (1969D).

1,080 quarters rounded up one Canadian, three US dimes, one US nickel, one Cayman Islands 25¢, one East Caribbean States 25¢ and one Bermuda 25¢.

1,750 dimes yielded three Canadians, one UK 5 pence and one Guatemala 5¢ (2008).

880 nickels had squat.

10,850 pennies produced forty-three Wheats, eighty-two Canadians, one Panama 1¢, four US dimes and one Bahamas 1¢.

1914, 1929, 1935, 1940(3), 1941(2), 1942, 1944(3), 1945(2), 1946(3), 1947, 1948(3), 1949, 1952(2), 1952D, 1953D(2), 1955, 1955D, 1956(3), 1957(2), 1957D(5), 1958(2), 1958D(2)

Found: 2 pennies, 3 dimes, one foreign Coin (a Canadian quarter)

4,680 nickels yielded one proof nickel (1993S), three War Time (3 x 1943P, 1944P), five Canadians, one Somalia 10¢ (1999), two Bermuda 5¢ and one Bahamas 5¢. I was pretty pleased to find my second proof of the week. I also got a 1949S in this bunch.

10,950 pennies rounded up one proof penny (1999S), forty-nine Wheats, sixty-three Canadians, one Euro 2¢ and one Panama 1¢.

1926, 1939, 1940(3), 1941, 1942, 1944(3), 1945(8), 1945D, 1945S, 1946(3), 1947, 1948(3), 1950, 1951, 1951D, 1952(2), 1952D(3), 1954D(2), 1955, 1956D(3), 1957D(6), 1958D(2)

This weekend I took Friday and Monday off to give me a four day weekend. On Friday Henry, Hazel and I along with my sister and nephew Liam visited my grandparents. It was a good visit. Henry was very excited about the fluffy snow they had there. (Little did he know!) My grandmother did some appreciated spoiling with a round of late morning ice cream cones. We continued the visiting with trip to my folks on Saturday. Once again Henry was very taken with the snow. Hazel had fun out there too.



And then on Sunday we had more snow then we could have imagined for October. Meg and I were worried all night about the destruction that this snow might bring, but we survived pretty well. All of our small trees looked horrible, but after I shook the snow off them and trimmed the broken branches they seemed to be relatively OK. We lost power for only an hour which was much better than lots of friends and family.

The worst was our neighbor's tree which almost completely collapsed on our driveway and the road. (as seen above)

Fortunately I had lots of help shoveling the driveway!









The snow did cancel a Halloween party we were all looking forward to, but trick-or-treating went as planned. In contrast to previous years Henry was excited to put his costume on. We were also successful in getting on Hazel's chicken costume (Meg made her costume from two onesies, some stuffing and a couple of boas).



Here's Hazel, Evan, Liam and Henry all dressed up and ready to go.



Hazel spent most of her trick-or-treating time in Nicole's wagon enjoying a feather covered lollipop. Henry did really well following (and at times leading) the gang going up to about a dozen houses in Nicole's neighborhood.

It was great time.

The next morning I attended a parent-teacher conference at Henry's school. During my talk with Henry's teacher she showed me two drawings he had made that blew my mind. Two months of school have helped him so much. Meg and I couldn't be happier with the experience.





Henry told us this last one was a picture of himself.

97 small dollars and 8,000 half dollars had nothing. A lot of work for nought. :(

11,440 quarters turned up eighteen Canadians, eighteen US nickels, six US dimes, one heart medal, one car wash token, one Italian 50 Lire (1967), one UK 10 pence and one Bermuda 25¢.

8,600 dimes yielded four silver Rosies (1946, 1959D, 1961, 1963D), eleven Canadians, one Bermuda 10¢, one US penny, one UK 5 pence and one plastic dime (says March of Dimes on it).

11,750 pennies rounded up seventy-nine Wheats, seventy-three Canadians, two US dimes, one South African 1¢ and one off center penny. The pennies contained my third Canadian George V cent for the month of October; the 1933.

1916D, 1919, 1920, 1935, 1939, 1940(2), 1941(3), 1942(2), 1944(4), 1944S, 1945(5), 1945D, 1946(4), 1947(2), 1948(2), 1949(2), 1950(2), 1951(2), 1951D(2), 1952, 1952D, 1953(2), 1954, 1954S, 1955(4), 1955D(2), 1956(4), 1956D(8), 1957(2), 1957D(5), 1958(5), 1958D(3)

Found: 9 pennies, 1 quarter, 3 tokens (2 arcade tokens and 1 NH highway token)

Yesterday Henry brought home an art project from school. It was a paper pennant for which he was instructed to paste magazine pictures he had cut out that represented things he liked. On it are two pictures of babies, one of a roast chicken and another of broccoli and rice. I'm not sure about the food pics, but he does definitely like babies.

139 small dollars and 5 half dollars had nothing.

2,400 quarters produced one silver Washington (1953D), eighteen Canadians (one 50% silver, 1968), two UK 10 pence (2 x 2009, same roll), one Bermuda 25¢ and one US dime. About half of these Canadians were in one roll.

5,800 dimes yielded four silver dimes (1944, 1953D, 1954, 1956), three Canadians, one Bermuda 10¢ and one UK 5 pence. These silver dimes put me past the 1,000 mark (2007-2011)! I'm now at 1,003.

2,160 nickels turned up eleven Canadians (1 Ni).

Found: 2 pennies

Unfortunately Meg and my plans to celebrate our anniversary with a nice dinner out last Friday had to be scuttled because of sickness. It's the season I suppose. We're looking forward to doing it sometime soon.

On Saturday we had a really nice time at Purgatory Chasm. They've have a really cool playground there that's fairly new, large and set in the woods. It's got three different slides coming down from the main structure and lots of bridges. Hazel does a really good job getting up on the play set and coming down the slides. Both of the kids really enjoy exploring the woods too. Even at this young age they seem to be good hikers.

Sunday was also a good day for us. Everyone went to church and I was told by Henry's teacher that he was excellent in class. "He's really come a long way," is what she said to me. I was so glad to hear that. Later in the day we celebrate Nana's and Uncle Greg's birthday's and Cioci's house.

2,800 quarters had five Canadians, five US nickels, one US dime and one New Zealand 50¢ (2006).



2,350 dimes produced one silver Rosie (1952) and one Canadian.

760 nickels turned up one Canadian and one US dime.

1,650 pennies rounded up just three Wheats (1944, 1945, 1955) and sixteen Canadians.

Found: 2 pennies, 1 nickel

8,000 half dollars had just six 40% silver halves (1967, 4 x 1968D, 1969D) and one mint set half (2000S).

Found: 5 pennies, 2 quarters, three other coins (1 plastic penny, 1 UK 10 pence and 1 Bermuda 25¢)

Besides funny statements about poop Henry of course has been full of other good ones. A few nights ago he asked us, "Can Hazel fight dragons?" We read a book from the library that had several small children fighting pretend dragons and monsters. I suppose she is pretty tough.

4 small dollars had nothing.

2,720 quarters produced one silver Washington (1952D), three Canadians and one US nickel.

850 dimes had just one Bermuda 10¢.

240 nickels had nothing.

7,550 pennies yielded ten Wheats, forty-four Canadians (including one 1932, George V penny) and one US dime.

1940(3), 1942, 1944(4), 1946, 1957D

Found: 2 pennies

4 small dollars had nothing.

2,200 quarters produced two Canadians, one NH highway token and three US dimes (all in the middle of a roll, in place of two quarters ... smooth!).

4,000 dimes had four silver dimes (1942, 1946, 1947, 1958D) and eight Canadian (including one 1962, 80% silver one). Three of the silver US dimes were in one roll.

800 nickels turned up one War Time (1945P) and two Canadians.

3,000 pennies got me twenty-three Wheats, thirteen Canadians, five US dimes and one Bermuda 1¢. Among the Wheats were three outstanding Steelies. They were all in one roll and represent all three varieties, 1943, 1943D and 1943S. They look brand new.

1924, 1928, 1940, 1941, 1943, 1943D, 1943S, 1944(3), 1945, 1946(2), 1948(2), 1952(2), 1953, 1953D, 1956D(2), 1957, 1957D

25 small dollars had nothing.

2,240 quarters produced three Canadians and two US nickels.

1,550 dimes yielded one Canadian, one Aruba 10¢, one Bermuda 10¢ and one French ½ franc.

1,600 nickels rounded up just one Canadian.

1,000 pennies got me four Wheats, seven Canadians and one US dime.

1935, 1945, 1947D, 1957D

This past weekend we almost didn't go to my in-laws because of our colds, but we sure glad we did (Nonnie and Pops said, 'come anyway ... we want to see those kids!'). We met up with Nonnie and Pops at the Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum to go for a short ride on their historic passenger train. Beforehand we checked out their small museum. Henry was particularly impressed that there was a museum on a train and that the caboose had an "old time potty." Hazel was happy with some horse pictures she saw. The ride wasn't quite as scenic as we thought it might be, but that was no bother as the kids were very excited about the whole ride. Hazel went crazy for some real horses she saw on the way. Henry got sick in the evening, but some pancakes and juice seemed to cure that and we got to visit with grandparents and hear all about Nonnie and Pops' big trip.

73 small dollars had nothing.

8,000 half dollars produced one 90% silver half (1964), four 40% silver halves (1967, 2 x 1968D, 1969D) and two proof halves.

1,960 quarters rounded up one silver Washington (1964D), five Canadians and one US nickel.

1,650 dimes had just one US penny and one UK 5 pence.

840 nickels got me three Canadians (2 Ni).

1,800 pennies added twelve Wheats, fifteen Canadians and two US dimes to the stash.

1927, 1935, 1940, 1942(2), 1944, 1953D, 1956, 1956D(2), 1958(2)

Found: 1 penny, 1 dime, 1 quarter

I'm a Winner

I forgot to mention yesterday that on Saturday while shopping with Hazel I was "selected" at the grocery to store to be a winner. My picture was taken and I was given a $10 gift card. I saved with Stop & Shop!

329 small dollars had two mint set dollars (2003P, 2008P).

1,920 quarters produced four Canadians and one UK 10 pence. These quarters put me over the 1.5 million mark! I'm close to 200 silver quarters found, too.

1,100 dimes yielded one silver Rosie (1948), five Canadians, one UK 5 pence and one US penny. Seems I forgot to note that I've also passed the 1.5 million mark for dimes. I am also closing in on 1,000 silver dimes found.

3,320 nickels rounded up one Buffalo (1923), three War Times (3 x 1943P), nine Canadians (1 Ni), one US dime and one Brazil 10¢. One of the Canadians was pretty nice, 1954 Steel issue. I am most excited about one of the War Times though. It is in decent shape and has a clipped edge. I'll take a picture of it and put it up here once we get a new camera.

6,950 pennies got me thirty-three Wheats, forty-six Canadians, five US dimes, three Euro 2¢, one Philippines 25¢ (2004) and one UK ½ penny (1971).

1929, 1936, 1937, 1939, 1940, 1940D, 1944(2), 1945(3), 1946, 1947, 1951(2), 1952, 1952D(2), 1953, 1953D, 1953S, 1954D, 1955, 1956(3), 1956D(3), 1957, 1957D, 1958D(2)



The UK ½ penny is the first one of these I've found. I have wanted to find one (or more) for my UK album for some time. There are twelve varieties. It was minted 1971-1983. The 1971 is by far the most common; about 1.4 billion were minted. Now the only decimal varieties I haven't found in US circulation are the £1 and £2 coins. I've found pennies (found 35/41, mostly in US pennies, pretty common); two pence (found 8/37, all in dollars, not very common); five pence (found 22/34, usually in dimes, very common, except for the larger size); ten pence (found 16/27, all in quarters, very common, except for the larger size); twenty pence (found 10/30, all in nickels, not very common) and fifty pence (found a few varieties, all in half dollars).

Found: 2 pennies