Was it really In Lincoln's pocket?

The snow was falling, there was a fire in the fire place and I sat in a recliner with my laptop. School had let out early for Christmas break due to the weather and believe me as a teacher, we look forward to the break every bit as much as the students. It was a quiet and peaceful evening of working, actually playing with my coin collections. (I say playing because to say working might imply that it is a joyless task.) And yet, there was not a coin in sight.

I am a newbie to this whole concept of registry sets. I did not acquire my first graded coin until October of this year. While I am a competitive person by nature, I do not feel the need to pursue that illusive #1 ranking. Collecting, the act of collecting, I guess is my therapy. The world seems to melt away as I meander through my coins. Registry sets have opened an entire new horizon in my collecting world. Adding pictures and commentary on my registry sets fascinates me. My coin photographing skills are slowly improving. The commentary though has caught my attention the most.

I never realized just how much a part of life coins really are. In my mind a coin is not just a monetary unit but an individual piece of history. Certain coins, while relatively unimpressive on their own, hold some very deep seated personal meaning. I have some older ungraded Indian Head Pennies. On of my favorites is from 1863. When I first got it, my wife was amazed at how old it was. I reminded her that the penny could have been in Lincoln?s pocket at some time. This sparked an entire light hearted discussion of what the penny had actually seen in its life time.

My recent acquisition of a PF70 Silver Alaska Quarter is another coin that will forever hold a special place in my heart. In fact, while I find quarters generally unimpressive, I hope to complete a proof set of State Quarters, Territory Quarters and upcoming National Park Quarters. These quarters will forever be a link between me and the care free summers of youth as seen through the eyes of my youngest son.

As I build my sets, I will be including not only the factual data about the coins but what I like to call the story behind the coin. Funny, but after all of this time, I realized that collecting is about the journey and the stories not about the destination. So while it would be an impressive feat to get a #1 ranked set, I think I might be disappointed a bit to get there because that would mean the end of the journey or that particular journey. There will always be other journey just around the corner.