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V14 2011 INDEX       E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 14, Number 42, October 9, 2011, Article 19

MILESTONE COINS AND KIDS

In an email exchange about Ken Bressett's Milestone Coins book this week, Dennis Tucker of Whitman Publishing related this story:

Milestone Coins I gave a presentation for groups of children at one of the Whitman Expos in Atlanta a few years ago, centered on the designs of ancient coins and the question "What would YOU put on a coin if you wanted people in 2,000 years to know about you?" I used Milestone Coins as a launch pad for the discussion, and to show the kids examples of the messages and themes on ancient coins. They were fascinated.

I half-jokingly told one group, "I might show a beagle on my coin, because I have two beagles and I think they're the greatest dogs in the world." One little girl's eyes lit up and she could barely contain her enthusiasm --- she looked like I just told her Santa Claus was on his way with a sleigh full of candy and toys. "I love beagles!" she said in an excited whisper. "I would put my beagle on a coin, too!"

What a great reaction! It was such a heart-on-your-sleeves exclamation. . . . I really felt like I'd gotten her thinking about how cool coins are, and how they communicate to us --- they're more than just pieces of metal.

I use some of my E-Sylum material in a "coins in the news" segment for the kids program I do at the coin shows here in Virginia. Last time I showed a picture of the "Ides of March" coin and asked who this guy on the coin was, and what he did. It was a little like a game of "Clue" - "The butler did it in the pantry with a melon baller."

Roman gold Eid Mar coin

After we determined that Brutus killed Caesar I asked "What did he kill him with?", figuring the pictures of the daggers were a dead giveaway. My son Tyler blurted out, "um, a chainsaw??" -Editor



Wayne Homren, Editor

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