“You do what?”
These three simple words, “you do what” are typically the first words I hear when I tell someone that I collect coins, and when I add, “specifically error coins,” the disbelief turns to confusion which ultimately turns to awe.
I’m a creative — a home cook, a home mixologist, an artist, a stage actor, a stage director, a blogger, and an occasional freelance journalist. Right-brained? Most definitely. Left-brained? Absolutely!
By day, I’m a Government Analyst and a queen of all things database and spreadsheet-related. I work with numbers and data. I research, I cross-check, I code analytics. I’m also a console and computer gamer, a tabletop and collectible card gamer, and at last, a coin collector.
You could say it’s deeply embedded into my DNA. My paternal grandfather (Blair) was creative, yet analytical. My father (Jon) is an artist, yet a master of analysis. Both were/are coin collectors.
I don’t know much about Grandpa Blair’s method or reason behind collecting, but I do know that he once ran an antique store — which may be how/where/when he started collecting coins. The why is unknown.
My father, on the other hand, is a lot like I am. In fact, he often calls me his mini me. Quite literally, actually, as our DNA traits boast an 82% likeness that surprised neither of us.
My dad collects error coins. I remember watching him examine the change handed to him by cashiers at the store. When I was younger, I simply thought he was counting the change to be sure the cashier doled it out correctly — we didn’t have automated cash registers back then. It wasn’t until I grew up that I realized he was looking for errors on those tiny metal discs. I didn’t understand the significance, however, until I was much older.
Errors! Error coins can snatch a pretty penny for a collector. Why? Rarity. If the US Mint produces 30 million perfect Lincoln cents in a given year, but they accidentally release 15,000 Lincoln cents with minting errors, those errors are considered rare– and highly collectible! THAT was why my dad carefully sifted though the change in his hand. He was searching for his personal holy grail. Of course, I was fascinated.
If a coin could speak, imagine the tales it could tell– history in one tiny metal disc.
Throughout my adult years, and as my interest in coin collecting blossomed, my dad began to send some of his labeled and wrapped error coins to me to help me start my collection. I examined each coin with enthusiasm and eventually learned to recognize some of the errors on coins I’d collected. Oh, the piggy bank my dad opened– coins everywhere!
A couple of months ago, my sweet Dad gifted most of his and Grandpa Blair’s coin collection(s) to me. A metaphorical pirate’s chest of treasure to unwrap, to examine, to discover. I’ve only begun to scratch the surface as I integrate my own modest collection into theirs.
So here I sit. Digital microscope connected to my computer. A stack of coins to my left. A purring kitty to my right. I could do this all day.
Simply put: I love history, anomalies, and analysis. I love acting, cooking, creating. Left-brained and right-brained — I can be both!