Tuesday, February 8, 2011

treasure finding

My friend Gary collects coins from different places around the world, so I told him I would get some for him from each country I go to. When I was bored one day in Tanzania, I asked my new friend, the security guard at my hostel, if he could get me some TZ coins. He laughed, walked 5 feet and picked up an old paint can that was holding the door open, and brought it to me. When I got it open I found it was full of old coins. Apparently the staff and whoever had been putting the coins there for years, whenever they found them. I kept coins from Japan, China, U.K, France, Netherlands, U.A.E, Israel, Germany, Denmark, and many African countries that I never went to. Probably the most rare were coins from Zimbabwe, from before they converted to U.S dallers. They discontinued the currency, and the bills are still sold as souvenirs on the black market, but the coins are just thrown out. Some people told me that finding them is pretty rare, but I got a handful. There was only one American penny in there, so i had to add a few to restore the balance.

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