British Penny

This weekend Meg, Henry and I went to my in-laws. We went for a visit and so that we could attend Meg's grandmother's 80th birthday party. We had a good time. We didn't feel very rushed at all and so had plenty of time to talk to everyone. Henry did very well to. He's getting much better at sleeping well at his grandparents. We also got to go out on a date on Saturday night. We had dinner without Henry and then went to a movie, Gran Torino.



I've decided to read primary source material when it is readily available and interests me. While away I wrapped up reading the first such book, A Description of the Kingdom of Siam by Engelbert Kaempfer. The book is a reprint of the first three chapters of a 1727 translation of his manuscript on Japan, The history of Japan : giving an account of the ancient and present state and government of that empire ... of the chronology and succession of the emperors ... together with a description of the kingdom of Siam. (They had a way with titles back then!) On his way to Japan with the Dutch East India Company in 1690 Kaempfer, their physician, visited Siam (Thailand) for two months. While there he kept copious notes and drawings in hopes of publishing the material. He was not able to publish the material before he died, but a later translator of his work sourced his notes to supplement his manuscript on Japan. I found it enlightening to read the original work. The book is small, just 100 pages, and came its own box.





After shoveling snow I searched some coin.

Forty-one small dollars didn't produce anything.

8,004 half dollars turned up thirteen 40% silver halves (1965, 1966, 4 x 1967, 2 x 1968D, 5 x 1969D), two proof halves (1983S, 2008S), thirteen mint set halves (2 x 2003P, 3 x 2005P, 5 x 2005D, 2006P, 2 x 2007D) and a British penny (1929). The 2008S is now the newest proof I've found. It's in good shape and cleaned up nicely with some Windex. The British penny is a first for me. I've read about others finding them. I was excited to find it, but my example has chipped rims and lots of green crud on the bottom half. It's sandwiched inbetween two halfs of a potato right now in hopes of cleaning off the crud. Here's a picture of the type.

I'll Take It!

Yesterday Henry and Meg had a big day. It left them both pretty tired. In the morning Meg went to a meeting that had babysitting available. What a great idea! Henry spent 1½ hours playing under the supervision of someone at the facility. He liked their toys a lot and Meg appreciated the relief. In the afternoon they went to a play center with his aunt and cousins. It sounded like fun. I'm sorry I missed it.

I did a bit of coin roll hunting in the evening. I didn't find too much, but it was well worth the effort.

240 quarters and 500 dimes turned up just five Canadian dimes.

860 nickels yielded one War Time (1944P).

800 pennies yielded just two Wheats (1918S, 1941), four Canadians and one Taiwan 1 Yuan. The Wheats have been slight, but who cares when you find a new one so soon into the new year, right? That 1918S is a keeper for me and looks good in my album. Now there are only four pennies with mintages over and near 30 million that I haven't found, 1928D, 1930D, 1934D, 1936D.

Found: 6 pennies (2 outside Costco, 4 at Stop & Shop)

Neat Bills

Yesterday while picking up some coins I found two old $10 bills. They are both from 1950 and are Federal Reserve Notes (Silver Certificates would have been cooler). I saw the teller give another to the lady in front of me, but I was happy to snag two.

After I put Henry to bed I searched some coin.

One small dollar and 1,000 quarters didn't have anything special.

The dimes were far better, however. 2,600 dimes produced three silver Rosies (1950, 1952, 1962D), ten Canadians, one Bermuda 10¢, one Polish 20 Groszy and, strangely, seven Netherlands 25¢. The silver dimes are the first 90% silver coins I've found in rolls this year.







1,440 nickels turned up one War Time (1945P), six Canadians (3 Ni), one US dime and an Ecuador 5 centavos. I also found a key date Jefferson, the 1938S. Urgh! It was not a 1938D. :(

2,000 pennies yielded sixteen Wheats, eighteen Canadians, one US dime, one Russian 10 Kopek and a plastic toy penny. The Wheats were:

1925, 1927, 1941(2), 1946, 1948(2), 1952D, 1953D(2), 1955, 1957, 1957D(3), 1958D

Found: 1 dime (at Stop & Shop)

A Fortuitous Night

Last night I had some good luck. After cashing in some tybottles and cans at a liquor store I walked over (50 feet) to a nearby grocery store's recycling machines to see if I could find any Coke caps. Boy did I! I found $4.80 in cans and bottles and forty-three Coke caps (equal to five free 20 ounce Cokes). Someone had left a whole cart load there because the grocery store's machines were broken, but didn't realize that the liquor store had the same machines just next door. Oh well.

I also searched some quarters. 4,000 quarters produced nine Canadians, one US nickel, one UK 10 pence and one Hungary 10 Forint. That's a new foreign type for me and a new country.



My final redemption numbers for 2008 are now in. The total was slightly down from last year.

Found: 2 pennies (at Shaw's), 1 dime (at Supercuts), 1 quarter (at Sovereign Bank), 1 foreign coin (a Canadian penny at Sovereign Bank)

Redeemed (2008): $6.45

Redeemed (2009): $4.75

Wheels of the Bus

On Sunday Meg taught Henry his latest trick. He can now do the "Wheels of the Bus" move. The move is very cute and also could be used as a dance move. His way of doing it is a bit haphazard, but he's definitely trying and he has fun doing it. Like the clapping action he learned a few weeks ago, he does his wheels bit at random points throughout the day. We are both very proud of this feat.

I continued my 2009 coin roll hunting last night. I'm still working on my 2008 CRH total review, and so I won't be updating my lifetime CRH chart until all of the totals are corrected.

Last night I searched 500 dimes, but they didn't produce anything.

I also looked through 4,120 nickels and in them I found two War Times (1943P, 1945S) and six Canadians. In the batch was one key date Jefferson, the 1950.

1,050 pennies yieled two Wheats (1953D, 1954D) and eight Canadians.

My best find of the day came from the rejects of the coin counting machine. A woman was cashing in a big load of Starbucks tips and let me buy her two rejected coins for 35¢. One of the coins was a silver Rosie (1963D) and the other was a proof quarter (1985S). The proof quarter is my first clad one and only my second proof quarter ever (I found a silver 2002S Indiana quarter in rejects last year)!



This morning I finished reading a book I started last week, Caliban's Shore: The Wreck of the Grosvenor and the Strange Fate of Her Survivors by Stephen Taylor. I read it quickly as I enjoyed it quite a bit. The book covers the shipwreck of the Grosvenor, a British trading vessel of the late 1700's, on the eastern coast of South Africa. Of the 125 people who made it to shore only thirteen were eventually rescued. Most of the people died on the long walk south to the Dutch settlements. The story received much fame in Britain because the passengers included several wealthy women who were rumored to be captured and enslaved by the local tribesmen. Taylor based his telling of the story of the story on several interrogation transcripts of the survivors and on a lost and later found survivor memoir. To supplement these sketchy sources Taylor devotes about 50 pages to the introduction of the crew and passengers and another 100 pages at the end reflecting on the lives of the survivors and the mythology of the tale itself.

Found: 4 pennies (at Papa Gino's), 1 nickel (at Sovereign Bank), 1 dime (at Papa Gino's)

2nd Haircut

Today I brought Henry to Snip-its for his second haircut. This was his first haircut in a salon. He definitely needed it as his hair was getting out of control. At the salon he was very amused with the antics of the other kids running about. When his time came he sat down very well and let me buckle him in without a problem. For most of the cut he behaved well. He didn't like the clippers or the water spray very much. I was reminded of some of my experiences in the tub with him. He now looks a little older and lot more like his older cousin.

I did some coin roll hunting, the first of 2009, during the past two days.

I searched sixty-three small dollars, but didn't find anything.

I also looked through 8,025 half dollars. They produced ten 40% silver halves (1965, 2 x 1966, 6 x 1968D, 1969D), seven proofs (1973S, 1985S, 1998S, 2 x 2000S, 2001S, 2006S) , one hundred fifty-six mint set halves (2 x 2002P, 2 x 2003P, 5 x 2003D, 41 x 2004P, 33 x 2004D, 3 x 2005P, 20 x 2005D, 5 x 2006P, 10 x 2006D, 23 x 2007P, 12 x 2007D, 2008P, 2 x 2008D) and a 1986S Statue of Liberty Commemorative. I was a bit bummed to start off the year with so little silver, but at least I wasn't totally skunked and finding one of the remaining proofs I need was pretty sweet. The Statue of Liberty Commemorative was the second one I've found. It was a thrill to find another. I'm not sure what I'll do with all of those mint set halves.

3,160 quarters turned up just six Canadians and one Philippines 1 Piso.

1,300 dimes produced fifty-one Canadians. I actually found a whole roll of Canadian dimes. That's a first for me. There wasn't anything special in them, but it was unique.

In 1,120 nickels I found three Canadians (3 Ni).

I searched just 350 pennies. In them was one Wheat (1953) and two Canadians.

Found: 1 penny (outside Snip-its), 1 quarter (outside Babies 'R Us)

2009 is here! I think it will be a big year for our family. This should be the year that Henry learns to walk and talk. I can't wait to hear him say "Mommy" and "Daddy." His first birthday party should be a lot of fun.

We didn't do too much for New Year's Eve, but we did enjoy some Chinese take-out. On New Year's Eve day Meg took Henry out sledding for the first time (He also brushed his teeth for the first time a bit back). I wanted to take him out again yesterday, but it was just too cold.

I've been compiling some more year-end reports. Unfortunately while doing so I noticed my big coin roll hunting chart on the right is messed up. :( I've had to go over all of my past postings and and count up everything again. Hopefully it is fixed by Monday.

Happy New Year everyone!

Found (2008): 3 pennies (at Stop & Shop)

Found (2009): 4 pennies (1 at the GAP, 3 at Sovereign Bank), 1 foreign coin (a Canadian quarter at Sovereign Bank)