Lost Treasure

This is a cautionary tale. The thought of getting old and dying is tough, yet most of us will have a parent or grandparent pass on, and it may fall on us to deal with the stuff they left behind. My family went through this a decade ago when my father in law passed away. Box after box of books, old bills, memorabilia, etc. On one hand, books represent a history of one’s intellectual pursuits. Works of fiction we enjoyed reading or non-fiction topics that held our interest, even if for a brief period in our lives. All these things may have sentimental value, but to those we leave behind, it’s mostly clutter and destined for a dumpster. 

As I wrote early this year, my mom died during the last Christmas break, and I had offered to help my sister clear out some junk, at the same time hoping to take a few items that held some sentimental value. Among the things in the back of my mind was a file box that my father left long ago, containing half dollars. It was a box designed to hold 4″ x 6″ index cards, filled to the brim with these 1964 Kennedy Half Dollars. (I recreated the image to the left to offer an idea of the number of coins this box held.)

When I visited, mom’s apartment had already been cleared out. Every last trinket on the shelves, every item from the kitchen. One thing I was actually sentimental about was an old copper fry pan. The set was older than me, and I learned to cook on those pans. All gone to the dump or given away. Before I could ask about the coins, I saw a dozen on the kitchen table. Or should I say, “Much to my horror, I saw only a dozen on the kitchen table.” I asked my sister where the file box of coins was, and she told me it was long gone. Gone? As in ‘you took them to the coin shop?’ No, a few years back, knowing mom’s days were numbered, and wanting to start the de-cluttering process, she rolled them up and brought them to the bank.

I was never good at guessing how many jelly beans filled a jar, so I looked up the size of these coins, and did the math. If they were melted down, just over 1100 would fit the file box. Since there’s a bit of space between coins, let’s say 800. These are 90% silver and sell for $7.50 on eBay. These coins were worth $6000 or so, but were rolled and dropped off at the bank for $400.

It’s a tough process. Few books ever have real collector value. Does anyone have the time and patience to sell off hundreds of books on eBay to find the shipping far exceeds the book’s value? That framed image on the wall? Is it a poster that sells for $25, a print worth a few hundred dollars, or an original Picasso, worth millions? In hindsight, coins should be easy. All US coins (a dime or higher) were 90% silver until 1964. And the half dollars were still 40% silver from 1966-1970. This makes the 90% ones worth about 15 times face value and the 40% silver halfs about 6 times face value. I hope you never find yourself in a similar situation.