speaking of racist stuff

[rmd]

I ordered a couple of pounds of foreign coins as a gift for my nephew A's kids for Christmas. I also gave them money, but the two kids are getting to the age where I feel like I can provide a quirky influence on them, so, yeah, big batch of coins. I told them that I needed them to find out where they were all from. :)

Before I gave them to the kids, I went thru a bunch of them. It was a really impressive collection -- an old 1905 English penny that was clearly someone's "lucky penny" because it had been worn down almost flat, a coin from Vichy France, coins from Jamaica, pre-revolution Cuba, assorted other European coins, etc. And a coin from Nazi Germany.

I kind of expected it to burn my hand, like something out of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Comments

[milktree.livejournal.com]

That's cool, there's some pretty neat coins in that collection.

Where'd you order them from?

[rmd.livejournal.com]

I bought these on ebay (there are a bunch of folks selling bulk foreign coins) and I also hear good things about these folks (http://www.blackmountaincoins.com/c/BMC/BULK-WORLD-COINS.html)

[i-leonardo.livejournal.com]

i can relate ! i had the same reaction when i found one of those in a mixed bag, too !

[marith.livejournal.com]

That's a really cool present idea!

[candle-light.livejournal.com]

Neat (and slightly disturbing). Did you keep the German coin or let it go on to the kids? Also, where did you get these from? I think Hannah might enjoy something like that.

[rmd.livejournal.com]

there were two nazi coins. i kept one and passed one along to the kids.

I bought these on ebay (there are a bunch of folks selling bulk foreign coins) and I also hear good things about these folks (http://www.blackmountaincoins.com/c/BMC/BULK-WORLD-COINS.html)

[hammercock.livejournal.com]

That's nifty.

My dad has his father's passport from Nazi-era Austria. It's creepy to see.

Re:

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

That's a really cool gift, and a shiversome artifact.

[muffyjo]

Good gift. Lots of interesting conversation fodder there and plenty to learn!

No kidding!

[clauclauclaudia]

We delivered them on Xmas Eve, and the boy was tracking Santa's progress through the NORAD website that does that. Santa was in Uganda, and I was able to point out some of the coins from nearby countries (probably Kenya, there were lots from Kenya).

Also, a large Jamaican coin (50 cent? maybe) of the Right Excellent Marcus Garvey. And sea life on the reverse side of all the Singapore coins. There was lots of neat stuff.

[muffyjo]

I love stuff like this. I love things that make you explore your world and ask the dumb questions which aren't so dumb after all. :)

[solarbird]

I was just the other day stumbling across this page, which is about high fashion in the 20s through 40s, which has a section on WINDOWS SHOPPING IN NAZI GERMANY. With lots of storefront display photos. I'm not even making that up. (Pick Museum, then Everyday Life in the Third Reich.) It was totally a River Song Explores Berlin moment.

[rmd.livejournal.com]

Wow. Not to mention those stylin Hugo Boss uniforms.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

An excellent gift! It was something like that which got me started when I was young. :)

[rmd.livejournal.com]

yeah, i didn't want to be "HERE, CHILD, PERHAPS YOU WOULD LIKE TO EXPLORE COIN COLLECTION", but it seemed instead a very open ended kind of thing - coins, geography, history, hell even metallurgy (one of the kids is in a "rocks" phase right now), and the older one even has a microscope to look at them extra close up.