Coin Collecting

This used to be a serious hobby and one open to everybody. Now with the increase in the number of coins and the systematic way in which coins are distributed, this 20th century hobby is a lost art. I still have the penny and nickel books my grandmother gave me. Though I can't say I have updated them lately. I also still search for old pennies (wheaties) in my change and set them aside. Nothing much of interest in my change these days but old habits die hard. The valuable cons were taken out of general circulation years ago by collectors. And there is no chance the mint is going to make a mistake and create something knew to collect. Heaven knows the original coins they produce now are worth no more than face value, even when they are packaged up nice for potential collectors. I think the loss of coin collecting as a legitimate hobby has contributed to our country's lack of a sense of history. When you go through your old coins and see that they changed to steel during World War 2 it gives you a sense of the collective drama we were enduring during those years. Nothing will give you a clearer idea of what's happening in your country than to look at your money and see that its changing because our nation is at war. This sort of change hasn't occurred since and it is no surprise we haven't been on "All In" on a war since World War 2. Can you imagine people being asked to ration and recycle to support our efforts in Afghanistan? It might have been a good idea instead of paying for our latest wars with off the budget expenditures. Who knows when the bill will come due? Though you can be certain it will come due and sacrifices more extensive than changing the composition of our pennies will be required.