Recently I was walking through a clock shop which advertised the sale of silver. I was not expecting much, but there was still that little hope inside of me that someone would have stupid cheap examples of fine coins. As I thought, the store was not anything to write home about, but when I came across a dazzling example of an 1873 seated liberty dollar, I was ecstatic. Until I saw the hole drilled through the top in order for the designer to place a diamond in it. This destroyed the wonderful piece of history she had been able to acquire, and eradicated the value.  In the condition it was in it probably would have graded AU-50, and would have been worth over a thousand dollars. Not only did she ruin this fine example, she was only selling it for a hundred dollars. I've been seeing this a lot more lately. Coins being drilled through, destroying their numismatic value, and then selling the example for less than it would've sold for just the coin. Buffalo nickels and Morgan dollars are the worst,I think, when it comes to this. These seem to be the most popular and most readily available holed coins. Probably because of their curious features and being some of the most American coins ever made. Although the Morgans and Buffalo nickels have been holed, I have seen three cent pieces, two cent pieces, and lots of large cents being destroyed, and being sold with prices accordingly. These countless examples of this type of destruction needs to stop. Just type in on Ebay for coin necklaces and see how many results pop up.. How many people do you think would punch a hole through a document written by the founding fathers? Although it is not quite on that level, coins are still wonderful pieces of history. Maybe the public should be informed more from our school system or government. With the internet the information for her was readily available, yet she did not even try to look. There are special holders for people like this, which hold the coin safely without destroying it, but also holds it in a neat necklace. Although sometimes expensive, it saves that little coin from being a cull. These companies need to market better so this stops happening. I definitely would have bought that dollar for a hundred dollars, had it not been for that hole. Maybe with the help of collectors, teachers, legislators, and history buffs, we can make people change the way they see coins. Not as pretty pieces of money, but as beautiful pieces of history, so maybe one day we can stop destroying history. This is a huge problem, I think.

As a writer, I have attended a few book signings the past few years. Besides the usual author giveaways...bookmarks, postcards, sticky notes etc...It's good to have a raffle sometimes. I've seen authors have drawings for different prizes, ranging from copies of new books to gift baskets to something really unusual.

An interesting story came out of Central States. A man came to the show with a proof set of 1876 that belonged to his father. The son dug it up on the father's property. Before the father died, he told his son to check under the house, and the son came up with a hoard of Morgan dollars.

I'm approaching the age where I begin thinking of my legacy. What have I accomplished, and what body of work will I leave for future collectors?

Good bookstore day. Found "100 Greatest Ancient Coins" at Half Price Bks. Someone didn't want it? And look what I got in change...the first 2018 cent...bright and blazing.