A silver lining

Today something happened to me that has not happened for nearly 50 years: I received a silver coin in change at the grocery store. 1964 was the last year US coins were made of 90% silver. Since then, coins have been made of an alloy of metals with basically no intrinsic value. Since the last silver coins were minted, the price of silver has risen, making the value of pre-1965 coins higher than their face value. People routinely sell these silver coins for many times their face value. The buyers usually melt the coins to retrieve the silver. Today’s spot price is about $1.50 for the dime in question. The coin was a well worn 1943-S Mercury dime. The S mint mark indicates it was minted 3,000 miles away in San Francisco. Mercury dimes were last minted in 1945 when they were replaced by the current Roosevelt dime. They have virtually disappeared from circulation since 1965. The supermarket clerk who gave me the coin was an older woman. She either didn’t know the value of the coin or didn’t notice it as she counted out my change. I spotted it immediately because I used to collect coins as a hobby. I guess the moral of this story is: Keep your eyes open when dealing with money.

Recycling?

Scene: Waiting at a bus stop on a late spring afternoon. Action: A young woman comes to wait for the bus. She begins to eat pistachio nuts, tossing the empty shells onto the grass. One final unopened nut falls into to the roadbed and, unbelievably, she stoops to retrieve it, dodging traffic in the process. She then removes the pistachio nut and makes a final toss of the empty shell halves onto the grass. My first reaction was that this was littering, but as I looked down, I saw several cigarette butts and that tempered my reaction somewhat. After all, the nut shells were at least biodegradable, weren’t they? Still, the wonton act of tossing what amounted to garbage onto the beautiful green grass upset my sensibilities. Is there ever an excuse for tossing things you no longer want or need? Who raises people to do this? Certainly not my parents. I hold onto trash until I find a proper receptacle. I suppose that makes me a rebel by today’s standards.