Grand Finale

Another year of finding coins EVERY DAY!  Pretty amazing.   There were plenty of interesting tales – funny ones, mind-boggling ones, and even some nail-biting ones.

Today (New Year’s Eve) there were impressive fireworks and an impressive 73 coins found (60P, 5N, 7D, 1Q).  What a Grand Finale for 2016!

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Finding daily coins this year was not always an easy thing to do.  When Doc and I travelled to Panama on a tour bus with 40 other people, it was a real challenge to find coins.  My broken foot in August and subsequent surgery made penny finding (and everything else) a bit more difficult.  For three months I was not allowed to drive.  Thankfully each day Doc would gallantly make sure I got out of the house to find the requisite coins. North Dakota in September was quite sparsely populated – with both people and coins!  And the snow in Tehachapi made driving into town impossible with our car. 

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Many of you are “left brained” (logical engineering types) and would prefer to see the numbers versus reading the cutsie stories.  So here is the data for you:

Currently we are at 611 Consecutive Days of Coin Finding

U.S. Coins in 2016: 2185 pennies + 167 nickels + 448 dimes + 155 quarters = 2955 Total                           plus some paper money for a total value of  $130.73

Foreign Coins:  29

Norman Pennies  (2015D): 195

Hits for the Cycle (P+N+D+Q in one day): 38

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For you “right brained” persons – it was a good year and many coins were found!  LOL

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The Angels were there EACH DAY for us in 2016 in all sorts of challenging situations.  They are there for YOU as well.

Magic Money

Once again it’s been three months since my last Penny Tale posting.  Time flies when you are retired and so Busy!  Last month Doc and I travelled to North Dakota to obtain the 50^th and Final coffee mug for our United States cup collection. 

We had to cancel half of our prepaid trip due to my unplanned broken foot and surgery.  That was the bad news.  The good news was that we rented a car (versus being on a bus tour with 40 other people) and were able to continue our daily coin finding.  It has now been 527 consecutive days of finding a coin of some sort.

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Today Doc went to son Brian’s house to help with a bathroom renovation; I had our whole house to myself.  Since I could not drive anywhere (due to the broken foot), it was an opportunity to do some chores which had been neglected over these past few weeks.  Dusting seemed like a fairly ‘safe’ chore (as long as I stayed off ladders).  I tidied some piles of things, then began dusting.

As I was dusting, I was thinking that when Doc came home we would need to go out Penny Finding for the day.   I had used the washcloth-sized rag on a few shelves thinking nothing of it.  I got to this small shelf (see photo) which was empty.  I made one quick swipe across the shelf and a Penny fell out of the dust cloth!  It was like something from a Magician’s parlor trick!  I was stunned!  I could not figure out where that Penny came from!

I took a closer look at the Penny.  It was dated 2015 D.  When my dog Norman died, the only Penny I found that day was a 2015 D.  (See Norman's Way Blog).  Doc had said, “Whenever you find a 2015 D Penny it will be a sign from Norman that he is with you”.  Thanks Norman for continuing to help out around the house.

Reminder:  Our loved ones are nearby.  Somewhat like having them still in the house, just in a nearby room where we can not see them.  Listen carefully and you might still hear them – they certainly can hear You.

Foreign Coins

It’s been three months since my last Penny Tale posting.  WOW!  Although the Penny Angels have continued to provide coins EVERY day during that time, I’ve just been busy with some other Passion Projects and not been writing about the coin finds.

Recently Doc made a quick run to the grocery store.  He came home with 13 foreign coins from SEVEN different countries.  Can you identify which countries these came from?

These foreign coins were in addition to the 28 U.S. ones we found that day:

18 Pennies, 1 Nickel, 6 Dimes, and 3 Quarters.

Penny Angels probably don’t care much about human-determined political boundaries.  They have fun providing coins of any nationality!

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So, were YOU able to identify these coins and their countries of origin?

Answer from left to right:

1)  Canada – 25¢

2)  England – 10 Pence

3)  Russia – 2 Rubbles

4)  France – ½ Franc,  1¢ Euro

5)  Netherlands – 5¢ Euro, 2¢ Euro

6)  Spain – 2¢ Euro, 1¢ Euro (3)

7)  Cuba – 5 Centavos (2)

Doc thinks the foreign coins are a sign that we should embark on another out-of-country trip soon.

Pennies in Panama: Days 7, 8, 9

Thursday, April 14th

2P

Richard arrived a few minutes early.  I asked him, “To what would you attribute these Penny Finds”?  His answer, “Belief”.  And with that, we were off to have fun!  Richard grew up in Panama so it was fun to hear about his childhood and his experiences.

Dozens of Postcards Here

FINALLY A PENNY!

Richard took Doc and I down narrow roads and to out-of-the-way places where our huge tour bus could not travel.  We found numerous places which sold postcards.  YAY!  We visited the huge central post office downtown Panama City.  I could not believe my ears when they said they did not have postcard stamps.  I could use SIX of their 5¢ stamps but those are very large and would cover the entire right side of the cards.  Guess I will need to mail these from home.  Never take for granted our U.S. Postal Service.  They do an awesome job!

After three hours of sightseeing and diligently searching for coins, we had seen some beautiful things, but had not found a single coin!  So I hired Richard for an additional hour.  We darted to various scenic and tourist areas hoping to find a coin.  Nothing.  Finally, with about 2 minutes to spare, we found a penny in a naturestrip at the old US Yacht Club.  Then a second penny near by.  God’s 2¢ worth for today.  Whew!

Back at the hotel it was time for postcard writing and a nap.  We didn’t even bother with redeeming our free drink voucher at the bar.  Around 7:30 p.m. on the way to the All-You-Can-Eat Huge Dinner Buffet, Doc insisted upon stopping at the Ice Cream Shop to get a dessert.  Does that make cents?

The ice creams were delicious.  Unfortunately I was paying more attention to my dessert than to where I was walking.  That resulted in a pretty painful fall down some stairs, a very twisted and eventually purple left ankle, a scraped right knee, and damaged trousers.  Thankfully the cup of ice cream remained in tact so I could enjoy it while enduring the ice pack the EMT brought out.

Friday, April 15th

3P

Today the Caravan Tour did not begin until 10 a.m. so there was time after breakfast for Doc and I to go out for HIS 10,000 steps for the day and MY penny for the day.  LOL  One penny was found.  The tour took us to a small Kuna marketplace for native crafts.  (Good to have this at the end of the trip vs. beginning).  We collected one U.S. Penny, one Panamanian Penny, two carved Tagua nuts, a wallet for Doc and a necklace with a Panamanian Coin on it.

The evening was filled with delicious food at the Farewell Dinner and a very impressive private performance by native dancers.  The women’s attire can run from $5,000 to $15,000!  I kept wondering how those outfits would be laundered?  Tidbit: one of the haircombs in the ladies’ headpieces has a small dagger to be used for protection if needed!

Saturday, April 16th

13P, N, 2D

Our plane flight home was scheduled for late afternoon so we had all morning to do something.  I called Richard last night and asked him if he had a few hours available this morning?  Could I hire him to do some more Penny Finding and take us to the airport?  He must think we are crazy to spend $100 to find a Penny! That is NOT a good ROI (Return on Investment).

Richard arrived at 10 a.m. and for the next few hours we had a blast!  We walked along the boardwalk and through the stalls at the fish market, enjoyed octopus ceviche (only Richard), drove around the City, passed through a former US Army Base, saw where the new subway line was being excavated, and enjoyed numerous other “non tourist” sights.  We were sad to end our play session, but we had a plane to catch.

During the time with Richard, we collected 12 pennies, a nickel and a dime. 

At the Panama Airport there was a penny and then a dime in the Houston Airport.

So, on our 9-day Panama trip in Total we collected:  34 Pennies (US and Panamanian), 3 Nickels, 3 Dimes, 1 Quarter and two other foreign coins.  The Penny Angels certainly aren’t bound by earthly borders.  They can travel without passports or luggage and are sure a lot of fun to take along!