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Tonight I searched some coin in my effort to close out 2008 in style. I did pretty well.
3,400 quarters turned up one silver Washington (1963), four Canadians, four Cayman Islands 25¢ and one US nickel.
4,000 nickels were pretty good too. In them I found one Buffalo (1927), four War Times (2 x 1943P, 1944P, 1944D) and four Canadians (1 Ni). That's the first Buffalo I've found with a readable date in some time. I also found a key date Jefferson in the bunch, the 1955.
Because it is the end of the year I've decided to write a short series of 2008 summaries. The first one up is the books I've read during 2008. In March I decided to write short book reviews. Today I looked at past posts and some old e-mails to tally up all the books of 2008.
In 2008 I read twenty-four books and I almost finished one more. There's a couple of books I started to read, but quit reading after a chapter or two. I haven't counted those. That's pretty good I think. It gives me hope that I'll find the time to read all the books I've found recently sometime during 2009. By genre the books are:
Adventure/Exploration
Crusader: by Horse To Jerusalem by Tim Severin
Tracking Marco Polo by Tim Severin.
In Search of Moby Dick by Tim Severin
A Pirate of Exquisite Mind: The Life of William Dampier by Diana and Micheal Preston
Joseph Thomson and the Exploration of Africa by Robert I. Rotberg
The Man Who Would Be King: The First American in Afghanistan by Ben Macintyre
Livingstone by Tim Jeal
Skeletons on the Zahara: A True Story of Survival by Dean King
The Dutch Come to Korea by Gari Ledyard
Engelbert Kaempfer (1651–1716) by Detlef Haberland
Stanley: The Impossible Life of Africa's Greatest Explorer by Tim Jeal
The Spice Islands Voyage: The Quest for Alfred Wallace, the Man Who Shared Darwin's Discovery of Evolution by Tim Severin
Ancient History
The Complete Pompeii by Joanne Berry
Roman Towns in Britain by Guy de la Bedoyere.
Pottery in Roman Britain by Guy de la Bedoyere
Hadrian's Wall: History and Guide by Guy de la Bedoyere
Other History
The Napoleon of Crime: The Life and Times of Adam Worth, Master Thief by Ben Macintyre
Taj Mahal: Passion and Genius at the Heart of the Moghul Empire by Diana and Michael Preston
Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal by Ben Macintyre
The Englishman's Daughter: A True Story of Love and Betrayal in World War I by Ben Macintyre
Other
Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer
Lawns: Your Guide to a Beautiful Yard by Nick Christians and Ashton Ritchie
One For The Road by Tony Horwitz
When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris
A Voyage Long and Strange by Tony Horwitz (unfinished)
Redeemed: $.10
Yesterday afternoon we got our tub/shower back! I was quite surprised at how quickly we were able to get a plumber over.
Last night I got back on track and did some coin roll hunting.
106 small dollars and six half dollars turned up one 40% silver half dollar (1967).
880 quarters produced just five Canadians.
I had better luck with the dimes. 1,100 of them yieled two Canadians. One of the Canadians was an 80% silver dime (1965) and the other was a 50% silver dime (1968). Each came from a different bank, quite a coincidence.
400 nickels only had one Canadian in them.
I did OK with the pennies, however. In 2,400 of them I found five Wheats, twenty-seven Canadians, one US dime and one Panama 1¢. The Wheats were:
1935, 1940, 1944, 1947D, 1953
In the morning I found a nice stash of coins by the coin counting machine at a bank. In it was a bunch of foreign coins.
Found: 1 penny (in Belmont Center), 1 nickel (at Sovereign Bank), 6 foreign coins (1 UK 5 pence, 2 Canadian quarters, 1 Canadian dime, 1 Bermuda 25¢ and 1 United Arab Emirates 1 Dirham)
It is a bit sad, but our first Christmas is now officially over as I am back at work and Meg's at home with very sleepy baby. :(
The holiday went great for us. On Christmas Eve we saw my oldest newphew perform a song in his church's Christmas pagaent and then had a tasty meal at my sister's house. We were home early, around 9pm and were able to relax before the big day. On Christmas we opened our presents at our house. Meg got an IPod Nano, Henry got some toys and I got a really cool map of our town from 1898. The map is framed and I put it up in our hallway. We then went to my parents' for dinner and my aunt's for visiting. Henry started to max out just as we were arriving at my aunt's. It was a bit of a struggle, but overall he did very well. (Unfortunately, I can't say the same for last night ... he was horrible ... maybe it is his 5th tooth?)
I only searched a very small amount of coin last week. Thirty-four small dollars and five halves produced nothing. I haven't searched that little since Henry was born ... go figure, I guess! We were busy.
Right now we are hoping a plumber can come and rescue us. My father and I cut a hole into our hallway ceiling on Saturday to investigate a leak coming from our bathroom. We discovered that the drain pipes from our tub/showere were completely corroded. So now we have no shower. :( Henry doesn't mind.
During the weekend I finished reading Stanley: The Impossible Life of Africa's Greatest Explorer by Tim Jeal. It's the longest book I've read in some time, about 500 pages. I read it in two parts. I had read Jeal's biography of Livingstone and liked his style and scholarship so well that I decided to read this one even though I wasn't too interested in reading another book on Henry Morton Stanley (the first book I read about him portrayed him in such a brutish light I found his story difficult to enjoy). I'm glad I went forward and read this book. Jeal was able to get at much personal correspondence of Stanley's and with that he was able to create a more complete picture of the man. Jeal shows that Henry was much less of a brute than his reputation suggests. His own attempts to talk up his encounters actually worked against him and in comparison to other African explorers of his day he was far more progressive. Jeal's writing is a joy to read. I wish he had time to write more biographies. He has one other on Baden-Powell. I'll have to read that one.
Found: 1 penny (at Wal-Mart), 1 dime (at Home Depot)
This weekend we celebrated half of Henry's first Christmas. To make things a bit easier for everyone we went out to my in-laws for dinner and exchange gifts. We got many nice things and it sure was nice not being rushed from one side of our state to another. Henry did pretty well. He was a bit tired of unwrapping once he realized he could crush and shake all the wrapping paper he wanted to. He had a good time playing with several new toys. We also got a bunch of cute outfits for him. My favorite gift so far is actually a gift Meg got. Her mother found her a really cool birdhouse that looks like a little cottage. I'll have to put up a picture of it when we set it up in the backyard.
Unfortunately, in addtion to Meg and Henry having colds nothing seemed to be going right for us this weekend. Our new to us (used) snowblower isn't working and so I had to shovel for about five hours total this weekend. When we were about ready to leave for Christmas Part I Meg's car wouldn't start. I then had to push it out of the garage, buy jumper cables at Home Depot and jump it with my car. It started on Sunday, but on Monday morning it was totally dead and so we bought a new battery. In addition the antenna on my rough broke off somehow. :(
On Saturday night I finished a small book I had been reading, Engelbert Kaempfer (1651–1716) by Detlef Haberland. Kaempfer was a German physician who in the late 17th century traveled from Sweden through Russia to Persia and then onwards to Ceylon, Java, Siam and Japan by boat. All throughout his travels he kept detailed notes and made many drawings. His goal was to write books on the cultures he encountered upon his return home. After his death several of his manuscripts were published and one, his book on Japan, is still an essential source on Japanese culture in the 17th century. Unfortunately the biography I obtained is the only one on him that is available in English. It is not very detailed. This might be because suitable sources for a more detailed biography no longer exist, but I am not sure of this as the book hints at the existance of diary entries and personal letters. I'm hoping to learn more about Kaempfer by reading the two works of his that have been translated into English.
Found: 3 pennies (at Costco), 1 dime (at Costco), 1 quarter (at Costco), 3 half dollars (at Sovereign Bank)
Thursday, the 18th, was my birthday. Although I already got a family dinner on Sunday (everyone was at the house because of the ice storm), I got another great dinner on the actual day. We had steak, sweet potato chips, salad and cupcakes. My parents came over to join us three. It never feels too much like a birthday when one has to work, but that meal definitely turned things around.
I searched a big bunch of coin over the past few days.
16 small dollars didn't produce anything.
8,002 half dollars turned up twelve 90% silver halves (1952, 1953, 1957D, 8 x 1964, 1964D), forty-six 40% silver halves (2 x 1965, 13 x 1966, 22 x 19 x 1967, 23 x 1968D, 6 x 1969D), eight proof halves (2 x 1979S, 1980S, 2 x 1982S, 1985S, 1987S, 1988S) and two mint set halves (2 x 2008D). Although I already have one the 1953 was a good one to find. Only 2.6 million were made and it is the 2nd rarest of the Franklin halves. 1987 is one of those odd years when more proof halves were minted than circulation halves. I now have only one more 2008 coin to find, the 2008D Hawaii quarter.
I didn't search quarters. I was a bit sick of them.
2,350 dimes produced two silver Rosies (1962D, 1964D), one Canadian and one UK 5 pence.
1,120 nickels only turned up one US dime and two Canadians.
I searched a massive about a pennies and did really well. 16,150 of them yielded 124 Wheats (two Steels), 124 Canadians, five US dimes, one UK 1 penny, one Netherlands 5¢ and one Barbados 1¢. A lot of these Wheats came from two rolls from the same lady whose coins help produced my best Wheat hoard a month ago. Yesterday I was excited to find my rarest penny to-date, the 1933D! Only 6.2 million were minted (my previous most rare penny was the 1932 of which 9 million were minted). The Wheats were:
1909, 1912, 1913, 1914, 1916, 1916D, 1917, 1918(3), 1920, 1923(2), 1925(4), 1925D, 1926(2), 1927(4), 1927D, 1928(2), 1930, 1933D, 1934(3), 1935S, 1936(2), 1937, 1938(3), 1939(3), 1940(4), 1940D, 1940S, 1941(2), 1942(3), 1942D, 1943(2), 1944(9), 1944D(2), 1944S(3), 1945(6), 1946(4), 1946D, 1946S, 1948(2), 1949D, 1949S, 1950(2), 1950S(4), 1951(3), 1951D, 1952(2), 1953(2), 1953D(2), 1954, 1955(5), 1955D(2), 1956, 1956D(8), 1957(2), 1957D(10), 1958, 1958D(2)
Yesterday I also found a new foreign coin on top of a coin counting machine, a 5 Peso coin from Chile. That's a new country for me!
And on my birthday I got a small package from Immy for Christmas. In it were the two nickels I need, 1938D and the 1943D. I just can't put them in my album because that'd be cheating. This kills me a bit, but they are giving me some great inspiration. Who knows? One of these days I might give in. I don't know Immy well, only from online contact. It's things like that that make the web great in my opinion. Little acts of random kindness!
Found: 13 pennies (4 at Hannaford's, 4 at McDonald's, 1 at Home Depot, 1 at Burger King, 1 at CVS, 2 at Sovereign Bank), 1 dime (at Home Depot), 1 quarter (at Sovereign Bank)
Redeemed: $14.40
Today we had a our first snow storm of the season. We only got an inch or two, but the ride in was terrible. It took more than double the usual time. Oh well, at least it was on the way into work.
Last night I searched a fair amount of coin. I didn't do that well.
Eleven small dollars didn't produce anything.
3,760 quarters turned up just two Canadians and one Bahamas 25¢.
3,150 dimes yieled one silver Rosie (1957), four Canadians and a US penny.
520 nickels produced nothing.
The pennies were OK. I searched 1,800 of them and found nine Wheats, eight Canadians and one Euro 2¢. The Wheats were:
1921, 1942, 1946, 1948, 1951, 955, 1956D, 1957D