Campfyre Stories

Which is not the same statement as "I like money".

I have ALWAYS appreciated currency, both foreign and domestic, in part, because my father did and passed that interest on to me.  I don’t particularly collect currency, but I enjoy seeing the differences in the currency of various countries and to be familiar with the anti-counterfeit measures taken on our own currency.

I was really excited about the redesign of the $5 bill, just as I was about the $10 and the $20 and the dollar coins.  When my brother, Chaos, got a $5, he showed it to me very excited because he knew I would appreciate it, though most others reacted with a blasé "So?"

Money, as a concept, often flummoxes me.  I think I’m not in the minority in that.  I don’t understand the intricacies of the economic systems of the world, though I do try, but currency as an art form draws me in.  I love to be the person who talks about how "In God We Trust", "e pluribus unum" and the year of minting are written around the edges of the Presidential dollar coin and how, unless Jimmy Carter dies before they get that far, they’ll release the Reagan coin and Jimmy (and George, Bill and George) may never actually get one of their own.

I notice when my change has something other than an American coin in it and I get a kick out of showing it around.  I can feel the difference between a pre-1965 silver quarter and a more current copper-nickel quarter.  I *never* mistake a Susan B. Anthony dollar for a quarter and I check the dates on all my coins.

I agree with the concept of getting rid of the penny, since pennies cost more than $.01 to produce, get lost or hoarded and smell bad.  I don’t understand why Americans are so reluctant to embrace dollar coins (I think they’re really cool and better to flip than a quarter).  I wish that the $2 bill was more prevalent.  I have opinions on most denominations of US currency and want to see (examine) all the new money as soon as possible, and then pass it on, because that’s what money is FOR.

Yeah, I really appreciate currency, for all that I don’t really care all that much about money.