1979 5 Pence

Ignore the super modern 5 pence, it's just there to show something. So the summer before last I went on Study Abroad to the UK, which is where the smaller 5 pence came from. I've got a friend who lives there, who hooks me up with UK coins. And he gave me the larger 5 pence you see there, because they don't make them in that size now. In comparison the modern 5 pence is about the size of an American dime. Also check out the progression on Elizabeth II's image. It's going to be really weird when I have all of her coins up.

1976 25 Cents

This is Canadian money. It's pretty common where I'm from, especially the one cent. I'm not sure where I turned this up, but it was probably mistaken for an American quarter or something. Pretty nice elk or caribou on it. I really like money with animals on it.

1959 1 Franc

This is an aluminum Franc. Which I will never not find weird. There's just something very strange about coins being that light. And I can't stop thinking the designs on the back are ice cream on cones.

1944 Wheat Penny

This is my 1944 Wheat Penny. I actually probably have more than one of them, but eh, they're pretty common. There's no mint mark on this one, which means it was made in Philadelphia. This one is pretty beat up and not worth much of anything, not that any of my coins are. World War II still had a year or so left in it when this was made.

1993 50 Ruble

Somewhat more exotic is this Russian 50 Ruble. Apparently it's still in use, so good job Russia still having your own money. It's hard to see in the scan but the knotwork on there is pretty flattened and so are the first and last few letters of the upper words- I guess it was run over something at some point. One of my mother's friends, Robin, went to Russia years and years ago and brought this back for me. Since it's still in use I can tell you it's worth as of right now; 50 rubles is about $1.63 at the moment.

1969 5 Schilling

This is another coin from Austria, no real idea how I got it. This is a 5 Schilling- gone with the advent of the Euro- and it's worth 500 Groschen. There's a horse and rider and sadly Wikipedia doesn't say who they are. As of 2002 it's out of use. I'm not going to say I hate the Euro or anything, I don't, I'm just sad all these original, interesting types of money are gone now.

Edit: Mom reminded me she went to Prague one time, and that's where the Austrian coins are coming from.

1972 50 Groschen

This is another coin that I have no idea where it came from as I've never been to Austria. It's a 50 Groschen and if you look carefully there's an alpine flower hidden on the front of it. The coin is pretty toasty looking so it's sort of hard to see. This is one of those moments I wish the euro didn't exist (even though I have a collection of those)- now everything is a euro and they all look kindof the same. And they're all called euros. It's not pence or rubles or lira anymore.

1945 Wheat Penny

This is a 1945 s Wheat Penny that I found today at work. It's not worth all that much but I think it's a year I don't already have a wheat penny for, so that's nice. It was minted in San Francisco, California during World War II. It's the only one out of the many Wheat Pennies I have that is from that mint, too.

2005 50 Pence

This one actually has a pretty good story behind it. I've got this friend in England who I've been to visit several times, when I was on Study Abroad. We've known each other for years online, though. Anyway, he found this in his coin jar the last time I was there and gave it to me. It's a special edition 50 pence from several years ago when they did a definition set. Pretty awesome. I've actually got quite a few coins thanks to him.

1963 Half Pence

This is one of those coins I have no idea where it came from. Just in the box. It's a 1963 British Half Penny, not in the greatest condition. I love the ship on the back of it. I have so many British coins and it's amazing to see Elizabeth II on all of them. There's a real progression to seeing her change, considering American money goes with historical Presidents. I don't think England still has a half penny, so that's pretty neat about this one too.

1949 10 Pfenning

 I'm not really sure where this came from. My mother used to travel a lot but this is waaaaay before she would have ever been traveling and she never did wind up going to Germany. Mostly I picked it out of the box to scan next because google said someone from Germany had looked at my blog. Apparently it was minted in Karlsruhe, in the Federal Republic of Germany. Check out that plant.

Oman Rial

 I don't really collect paper money as much as I adore coins but you can't turn down a present of course, especially when it's as pretty as these two. Most of the time I find money or pick it up on a trip but this was a gift. I had this customer and I couldn't quite place his accent so I asked and he said he was living in Oman at the time. I was impressed and asked him something about the currency there and he said he had some pocket change- which was these two- and I was welcome to have them. He said the 100 baisa was supposed to be about 30-40 cents American and the 1 Rial was a dollar and something. I think they're gorgeous, especially the colors on the Rial and the design around the ship.

1930 Buffalo Nickle

 This is the Buffalo Nickle I found today in a roll of coins at work. It's in pretty amazing condition considering it's been in circulation. It's the second one I have, and the first is in a lot worse condition. I'd been thinking of starting a blog about my coins for a while now and this set it off. I mean, I don't really collect American money over anything else. Most of my collection is foreign. It's just crazy looking through money people use and finding something like this- it makes me think of what hadn't happened when this was made. No World War II for instance. The Dust Bowl hasn't even started yet, though it's well on it's way. Pluto was confirmed as a planet that year. And it's right there in a roll of nickles. Crazy.

Post 1

I've been thinking for a while a blog would be a good way to see my coin collection and to organize it. It's not really a valuable collection, other than from the history angle. I don't buy my coins, I find them. I've picked them up on trips, or found them in spare change. I doubt any of them are particularly valuable and I'm not really going for that. I also doubt anyone actually wanting to read this. But if you do, and you enjoy it, maybe one day I'll start taking donations, because there's only so much I can find around here.