U.S. Savings Bonds vs. Morgan Dollars.

I didn't collect coins as a kid. In fact, I didn't start collecting until my mid-20's. However, I can recall, in my grade school years, having an old brass still bank with arabic scenes engraved on the sides- camels, pyramids, date trees, etc. And, it was filled with, what I now know, were Morgan Dollars.

To this day, I have no idea as to where they came from. But, I can remember, from time to time, Dad would bring out the bank; and I would dump out the coins on the living room floor to play with them. No one in the family has ever collected coins, so we didn't think much about them being ""rare or valuable".

In the 1950's there were promotions in schools and the Post Office to buy Savings Bond Stamps at 10 cents each to paste in a book. When the book was filled, it was traded in for a $25.00 Savings Bond.

Dad encouraged me to save my pennies and buy the stamps. Eventually, he suggested that I convert the Morgans into Savings Bonds; and, I did. Over the years, I never gave the dollars a thought, and when I graduated college, I cashed the bonds for $300, if I accurately recall.

Many years later, as my interest in numismatics grew, I thought back to those "coins on the carpet", and wondered what I had in my little "paws". Was there an '89-CC, or '93-S, or '03-S, or ??. Did Dad send me down the wrong path? Maybe I would have become a collector decades sooner.

No - Dad, and Mom taught me a far more important lesson in life.

They set the foundation of saving, investing, and being financially responsible in life. A lesson that allows me to enjoy building a collection, today.

But, I would love to have a Time Machine, and go back to look through that collection on the living room floor- just to satisfy my curiosity. Oh Yea, and I also wonder- whatever happened to that bank?

HAPPY FATHERS' DAY, Herman!!!

I love you, Dad!!!!