I apologize to those who wrote to me and did not receive an answer. We returned from Hawaii where I married my sweetheart and enjoyed a nice honeymoon. We are trying to readjust to east coast time and do our laundry.
One thing I tried to do in Hawaii was search through change and other purchasing opportunities for numismatic items. Although I missed the Hawaii All-Collectors’ Expo 2006 that included all types of collectibles, I tried to search for unique items.
First, I was disappointed in how things have changed. As little as 10 years ago, small shops and booths at the International Market Place had a variety of items that really shows the culture that makes up the people of Hawaii. Today, these booths and small sellers are awash with bland sameness. I walked through galleries in Lahina that was dominated with one artist. The independent booths all had the same mass produced souvenirs and less than fine jewelry from the same distributors. It made hunting for numismatics difficult.
But not impossible. Since I live on the east coast, I am used to seeing a lot of Philadelphia Mint coins in my change. When I paid for my first items on Maui, I was handed a handful of Denver minted coins. When I emptied my pockets at the hotel, I found a 2004-D and 2006-D Roosevelt Dimes. Both have been added to my circulated collection.
Rather than spending my change, I saved the coins in a small paper bag to bring back to the DC area. Once I search through the coins, I will put the rest back into circulation so that other area change pickers can have the pleasure of finding Denver-minted coins.
In the next few days, I will write about my finds. I will also write about the one nice collectible I found.