My World, My Coins; My World Coins

I have recently rediscovered a stash of coins that my Grandfather Horst brought to America in the early 1920's when he and my grandmother emigrated. This assortment was passed on to my dad when my grandparents passed away in the 1950's. And then on to me when my dad died.

I remember playing with and sorting out these coins when I was very young. I am sure that these were my early days of developing my OC disorder. I would sit on the floor and sort according to size, composition (I was really sorting by color), numbers, etc. As I grew older I would sort by value, location, etc.

The bulk of the coins were from the Deutsches Reich with some Notgeld and Kleingeld issues from the post WWI era thrown in. There were also a few coins from surrounding European countries, though I never really paid much attention to them.

As time passed and I grew older the coins took a backseat to other passions and interests. After getting married I would occasionally take them out and look at them and reminisce. As my own children grew older I would share my stories of the coins with them. But then the coins would soon be put away and forgotten about for another long period.

Then I started posting and talking about my Notgeld collection. While searching the Notgeld I remembered the coins. I took them out and started poring over them once again. I was amazed at what I found. There were several silver coins mixed in with the assorted copper, bronze, aluminum, and steel coins.The following is a list of the more significant finds:

• Russia 1900 50 Kopeks (Nicholas II)
  
• Russia 1913 15 Kopeks (Nicholas II)
  
• Sweden 1906 1 Krona
• Deutsches Reich 1908 1/2 Mark
• Deutsches Reich 1916 1/2 Mark
• Canada 1911 25 cents
• Australia 1943 6 Pence
• 1950 Mexico 25 Centavos

I am not sure how the to latter coins got in the mix. I suppose they were probably found in daily change and pitched in somewhere down the line. None of the coins are in super shape; after all, they were part of everyday commerce until the fateful day that they fell into storage. Only seeing the light of day when i came along and decided to sort.Now they have been moved from the "stash" to the "Collection" since they have a silver content that makes them worth setting aside.

The following 2 websites were indispensable in researching these coins. Please visit them if you ever have the need.

• Don's World Coin Gallery
• All Experts / Coin Collecting
  

© 2009 Barry T Horst


This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

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I've Got It Cornered, Now I Need A Market

What is it with dust? It is everywhere. Don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining about the house being messy. Chris does an excellent job with the house.

What I'm talking about are the out of the way places that you normally don't think about. Like my desk. Like behind all the computer stuff on my desk. I was cleaning off my desk the other day and I can tell you that if there was a global market for dust, I would have surely cornered it. There was dust covering the cables, the external hard drives, the USB ports, mouse docks, cable modem, back of the monitor, and so on. Admittedly, this was not 100% Texas dust. Some of it was probably blown in from the western US, or even Mexico. There was also a good amount of hair from the cats. It seems that they have found a way to take their excess hair and place it in just such a way that it forms a nice even layer over all of my electronics.

Further inspection found the same layer covering my cpu and ups. Cleaning those kicked up a minor dust storm. The National Weather Service later issued a Dense Fog Advisory for the area. I am convinced it was from me kicking up all that dust. The printer wasn't much better.

After thorough cleaning a liberal application of Old English Lemon Oil was applied to the desk. I was certain that I heard a barely audible, "Thank you!" I'm not sure if it was Chris or the desk.

Say! If any of you need any dust mixed with a liberal dose of cat fur, let me know. As of today I am starting a new batch and expect it to be ready in a month or two. Let me know soon. I am certain that there is going to be a limited supply available which makes it very valuable. I am thinking of seeing if I can get it listed on the Futures Market. I believe that this would be considered dust for March 28 delivery. I am even thinking of joining OCD, (Organization of Computer dust Distributors).

That's strange. OCD makes me think of something else. I'm not sure what. I'm sure it doesn't apply to me though.

It seems I was in my classroom at the beginning of school. I had to change classes and I was getting it ready. I looked on top of the projector screen and saw dust. That had to go. I cleaned it. The more I looked in the room I found dust, dust, and more dust. There were also old staples in the walls and cork tack strips. I had to take them all out. I don't like staples in the cork tack strips. If I have spare time I will go in the hall and take staples out that some teachers leave behind. AAARGH!! Maybe there is an opening for me at OCD. You know what that is I'm sure; The Organization of Cork-strip De-staplers.

Bye. I see more dust and staples to take care of.

© 2008 Barry T Horst


This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.