Free money

I'm a collector - I always have been. Baseball cards, marbles, trolls, pogs (remember those?), rocks and minerals (in rough and set forms, preferably set)...I've hoarded various things through the years, and most now reside in Rubbermaid containers under my bed, out of sight but still taking up space.

One collection I've had for years is foreign currency, pocket change I add to the jar after visiting countries. I've got a nice assortment going - I'm even doing the whole state quarters thing - but as I was packing today, I thought about the British coins I socked away after a trip six years ago, and decided to see just what I could salvage for this trip tomorrow.

18 pounds in one- and two-pound coins. That's about $35.

Heck, I like free money. Why I didn't exchange most of it is beyond me, but I pulled half and put the rest back in the jar. (I do collect, after all.)

After combing through the change, however, I've come to one conclusion: the Queen's likeness is on too many coins. Between the British pounds, Australian dollars, New Zealand dollars, Fijian dollars, and Eastern Caribbean dollars I've saved, and Canadian change I've received in lieu of quarters, probably half the money in the pile featured the same profile, just aged occasionally. Hey, American paper money may be boring, but at least we vary the people on our coins. (Props do go to the Canadian who decided a beaver would be a good reverse...)