Coins - A Key To The Mind

The metal detecting hobby has expanded my interest in coins and enhanced my understanding of many cultures as coins are truly keys to the mind. Robert Carson of the British Museum said, “It is beyond doubt that in coins lies a treasure which offers almost the only chance of penetrating the darkness that still envelops so much of history.”

Having found many Chinese, Hebrew, Roman, Greek, British, Canadian and Spanish coins with metal detectors in 39 years, I am intrigued and fascinated by the stories that coins tell. For example, the Hebrew coins did not have portriats on them. Why? The Ten Commandments forbid making graven images and the coins of the Hebrew people were minted under priestly leadership. Wars, bloodshed, infamous persons, triumphs and great accomplisments are all told about in coins. From Alexander The Great’s Triumphs; the wiles of the beautiful and powerful Cleopatra; the widow’s mites made famous by Jesus; the expansive Roman and Greek Empire’s many rulers; the fascinating coins of England, France, Spain in building colonial empires during many centuries; and yes the vast coins of many countries in the 20th century, all serve to make coins keys to the mind.

What a history book coins are. Every time I check my coin finds and see a new 50 States Quarter, I get excited over what the people of that state deems important enough to say this is us. History and geography teachers could spend many days with a set of these coins and teach many lessons about the culture, economy and history of each state.

In the Fall of 1978, I found a Hebrew coin of the third year of the Jewish War against Rome (69 AD), on a vacant lot that housed a school from 1917 to 1964.

I now have several hundred Biblical coins in my collection, and a wonderful book by David Hendin, “Guide to Biblical Coins”, to teach me about these ancient coins. A Spanish 8 Reales coin dated 1796, a shipwreck find, got me into the subject of counterfieting.

Living in Florida is living in a coin collector’s paradise. Vacationer’s from all over the world have lost their coins and I am blessed in finding my share. I have more than 100 different date coins (predating 1950) found with metal detectors, and for the most part, they were lost by tourists who started coming here in the early 1900’s. I now know what a Florin, a Ore, a Mark, a Centavo, a Ducat, a Shilling, a Ruble, a Lepta and many other coins are. A wealth of new information is mine because of these finds.

I have a passion for coin collecting that metal detecting has contributed so much. The beauty of a coin is not just in its design, but in what it teaches. Let coins become a key to your mind. Here’s to “diggin it!” Larry