Low Country Coin Show

With the coin show out at the Ladson fair grounds, it's been tough trying to work the past couple of days. Fortunately, I can at least claim the "cool Dad" title even if the flipside is near dereliction of duty regarding my business route. One of the merit badges I earned as a young scouter was the Coin Collection Merit Badge, and it was one of those things that expanded my appreciation for our currency and the feel of history that just lingers on old coins. It can be a very expensive hobby. Literally thousands of dollars are on display at these shows, but for me the intrinsic value has never been the draw. I like to hold the coin in my hand, study its artful design and worn lines and spaces, and just imagine what the world was like when it was made. One of my favorites is this old worn large cent minted in 1822. You can barely read the date, and the face of Liberty is worn smooth and almost flat. The value is degraded because of the wear, but when I hold it, I like to think that Thomas Jefferson was still alive when it was minted. The nation was young, and the sun was still rising on our Republic. Abraham Lincoln was just 13 years old at the time, and could've labored long in the sun for that very penny. Every human alive on earth at the minting of that penny has long since passed away, and still it lives on held in yet another American's hand.

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This weekend, Nathan started his own collection. He put some of his Christmas money in his wallet, and went to the show with me. While we were there, we had the special treat of meeting the show's guest of honor, a remarkable Abe Lincoln look-alike. It was perfect since this President's Day we celebrate Lincoln's 200th birthday. We posed for photos and Nathan bought 102 foreign coins at .10 cents a piece. We spent the evening logging and labeling the nations and dates in a catalog. He bought a complete set of WWII nickels, two Buffalo Nickels and an Ike silver dollar. We got two of the states quarters catalogs, and went through a roll of quarters filling in as many as we could find. He learned a little about grading the coins, and a little about the minting locations, and maybe even caught a little of that wonder that I felt when I was his age. All in all I think I've almost earned Coin Collecting Merit Badge all over again, and Nathan has come a long way towards it himself! Best of all, we can chalk up another weekend of discovering more about each other while we discover the world around us.