In 1976 the U.S. Quarter received a temporary makeover, with the traditional year under the image of George Washington’s profile becoming “1776 – 1976” and the eagle on the reverse side replaced by a colonial drummer.
This version of the quarter lasted only a single year in celebration of the nation’s bicentennial, with the traditional layout returning in 1977. Something about the design, however, struck a chord w
ith my father, who set about collecting ’76 Quarters. He stored the coins in (what became) dozens and dozens of old film containers, which were just the right size for this purpose. My father didn’t have a lot of collections, certainly not at that time, and being a dutiful 11 year old son, I set aside these coins anytime I came across them, which was quite often, of course, in the early years.
As the years passed, I continued to put aside ’76 Quarters when I saw them, and when returning home from college or later on, when visiting my parents, I would hand my father five, ten, or however many I had recently removed from circulation. The frequency of finding these coins became less and less with each passing year, but each time I encountered one I would think, “I can’t wait to surprise Dad.” Every time I would add to his collection, he would thank me, beaming at the joy of a shared hunt with cherished prizes.
My father passed away in 2004, some 28 years after starting his collection. Without him there as the keeper of the collection, I have continued to set aside ’76 Quarters when I find them. However, my collection is different than my father’s. Whereas he put his coins carefully away in film containers, I position my ’76 Quarters around the corners of my life: in my car, on my desk at work, in a few locations at home, in my pocket. All places where I will see and touch the coins on a daily basis, and by so doing, remain in touch with my Dad.
My experience tells me that relatively few ’76 Quarters remain in circulation currently. Even coins wear out, although more slowly than bills. I also know that other people collect these coins and so I am not alone in removing them from circulation. So it is with less and less frequency that I encounter a ’76 Quarter, but I did today. It was in the holder in which I put change in my car, sitting right on top and staring up at me. As I always do when a coin of my heart’s realm finds its way to me, I smiled and thought of my Dad, because he was with me again in that instant, the memories of so many happy moments coming back to me.
This version of the quarter lasted only a single year in celebration of the nation’s bicentennial, with the traditional layout returning in 1977. Something about the design, however, struck a chord w
ith my father, who set about collecting ’76 Quarters. He stored the coins in (what became) dozens and dozens of old film containers, which were just the right size for this purpose. My father didn’t have a lot of collections, certainly not at that time, and being a dutiful 11 year old son, I set aside these coins anytime I came across them, which was quite often, of course, in the early years.As the years passed, I continued to put aside ’76 Quarters when I saw them, and when returning home from college or later on, when visiting my parents, I would hand my father five, ten, or however many I had recently removed from circulation. The frequency of finding these coins became less and less with each passing year, but each time I encountered one I would think, “I can’t wait to surprise Dad.” Every time I would add to his collection, he would thank me, beaming at the joy of a shared hunt with cherished prizes.
My father passed away in 2004, some 28 years after starting his collection. Without him there as the keeper of the collection, I have continued to set aside ’76 Quarters when I find them. However, my collection is different than my father’s. Whereas he put his coins carefully away in film containers, I position my ’76 Quarters around the corners of my life: in my car, on my desk at work, in a few locations at home, in my pocket. All places where I will see and touch the coins on a daily basis, and by so doing, remain in touch with my Dad.
My experience tells me that relatively few ’76 Quarters remain in circulation currently. Even coins wear out, although more slowly than bills. I also know that other people collect these coins and so I am not alone in removing them from circulation. So it is with less and less frequency that I encounter a ’76 Quarter, but I did today. It was in the holder in which I put change in my car, sitting right on top and staring up at me. As I always do when a coin of my heart’s realm finds its way to me, I smiled and thought of my Dad, because he was with me again in that instant, the memories of so many happy moments coming back to me.
that's an awesome story and great way to remember and honor your dad!
ReplyDeleteReading it gave me goosebumps, well done!