I have spent the last several weeks writing about some of the camping trips my wife and I took this past summer. It is going to feel weird not writing about something travel related.
If you have followed me for a while, you know that my stuff tends to jump all over, so this dramatic shift shouldn't be too unexpected.
Although I only subscribed to the #silvergoldstackers community this morning, I have been following the posts of some members for quite some time. I keep saying to myself that I am going to take a look through my old coins and get some photos, but I have never gotten around to it.
Last weekend I was going through my wallet and realized that at some point in the past I had misplaced my driver's license. The normal spot in my wallet where it resides was empty. I searched everywhere I could imagine it had gone but came up empty handed.
Resigned to the fact that I would have to get the license replaced, I went online to do so. Unfortunately, I have an enhanced license (let's you travel back and forth to Canada without a passport), so I could only replace my license by going into the Secretary of State office.
Who knew getting an enhanced license replaced would be such a chore. I needed my birth certificate, social security card, marriage license, W2 form, past utilities bill, past credit card bill, and about three other pieces of identifying information for them to verify I was who I said I was.
Since several of those documents are in my safe, I took the opportunity to pull out some of my old coins.
For me, it all started with dimes. When I worked at Radio Shack, there was this young guy who knew pretty much everything about everything. He is the one who taught me how to see the difference between the newer dimes and the old silver ones by looking at the edge.
After he and I swapped several out from the till one day, my mom mentioned that she had a book from my grandpa of old dimes.
She also said that there were some other coins that had been his that she held onto. I actually have a bunch of old coins, but I separated out the silver ones for this post because the other ones seemed irrelevant for this community.
I feel really bad about the condition that a lot of these coins have found themselves in. I should really try to get some kind of protection for them, but I have a feeling none of them are worth as much as I think they are.
What will probably get more of you excited than the dirty old coins is what my wife owns.
Once upon a time she used to work at a bank and I believe that is where she took advantage of this acquisition. I know it isn't as cool as some of the pieces that folks share in this community, but for us it is a start.
I do own some stock in a company called Fortuna Silver Mines that is doing well right now given the favorable price of silver. I hope in the future her and I can stack some more ounces of silver or even gold to round out our collection more.
