This is fun. Woo hoo I'm blogging. I can't believe I'm blogging and furthermore on a coin website. I never would of thought, as an adult, I would be into something that I once classified as a "nerdy" hobby. I guess I wrong. Wrong about this hobby being nerdy and wrong about blogging. My preconcieved perceptions about blogs were, well, not so nice. I felt that it was one's way of 'grabbing' attention from anyone willing to give it.

That is not why I'm blogging. I'm 'blogging' because I can blab on and on about what it is I'm enjoying. It also is giving me the avenue to talk out loud and not be embarassed about it.

I am a woman, one who does go through emotions and sometimes wears her emotions on her sleeve. So whoever reads this, welcome to the Land of La-La Land, as my employees call it. I am a well faceted person with many moods and ecentric personalities to go with them. And here, I will bare all.

Today's blog will be my introductory blog on how I intially got involved with coins........

When I was 15 I got my first part time job at a convenience store. I loved it. It was a passionate job of mine. The business was different everyday, the people I served were quite a variety of, um, personalities and walks of life and it was right around from home. I had a bar in the same plaza that I could have a drink before going home at night and I knew virtually everyone I served. It was my first "real" job.

My boss, John, used to tell me, Lara, set aside ANY American coins you come across. Huh? I thought? I didn't even know there was a difference in our coins. So I did. I never found out why he wanted the coins until 2 years later when he took a vacation. It was then I discovered, he would buy these coins, put them into an US savings account and used that money saved for fishing trips in the States. "Oh! Now I see. OK, I understand now.", were my exact thoughts. Then I knew I had a mission to search through all the coins.

About a year later I was fired for selling a roll quarters to the bar by a different manager, John had retired. But that's ok, because in 1999 John came and so did I. I left again, lived a different life, had a child and became Treasurer of her school's council.

Aha! Those darn American coins were popping out at me again. So now I decided to set aside any US coins I spotted at a glance. 4 years later, I looked at them and thought, "ah, I'm being stupid for this. What was I thinking?" So I spent the coins as ususal money.

Life moves on, and now I am the manager at the same convenience store. I love what I am doing. It is the best job in the world, well to me it is. I get to be the boss, welcome the customers, conduct business and....be responsible for all the money! Yipee! Now I get to save all my US change for MY vacations...and that is how my passion for conis started.

3 years ago, I sternly instructed to all my staff...you better save those Americans! Those are my life savings you know! lol Teasing them all the time that if they search every roll as they opened, their hours would be cut. They did...sometimes. It drove me nuts. My personality is detail detail detail. If one was missed, I was screaming inside! But they never knew that.

So do you think I'm a little fanatic? Meh, just a little ;)

Year 1 goes by...$274 saved. Not too bad. The unfortunate thing is Canadian Banks changed their rules sometime between 1994 and 2008, any US coin is always taken at par, and thus, if deposited into my US account, it would be considered Canadian bought for American $. I would be losing on the percentage difference. So I brought home with me everyday and I rolled it. Saved it, then used it to do my Cross-Border Christmas shopping.

The only ones I wouldn't roll were ones that 'looked' old, noteworthy in appearance and foreign coins.

Year 2. I saved $374 (better staff I guess? lol) Only this year, I didn't pay any particular attention to style of coin, I didn't care if it was new or old. Into the roll it went. Across the border it went. I can only imagine what type of coins I recklessly let go??

Year 3. 2011. Now, I decide to set aside any 'old and odd' looking coins (again). Month 1 and I've saved over $85.00 (Now I have amazing staff!)

One February morning, my husband and step-daughter were playing Xbox. I was about to roll some pennies, when a thought came across my mind....I wonder if I have every year?

Now here I am, Sunday morning after eating pancakes, unrolling all the rolls of pennies I had and started to sort out by the year.

Wow! My step-son and I noticed how many 1980's 1990's and 2000's we had, in comparision to all the other decades. Some were bright and shiny, some were brown, some were railroaded while others were rainbow coloured in lustre. We thought they were damaged ones.

Next, we moved onto dimes, nickels, quarters, half dollars, and dollar coins. It wasn't until he noticed that dollar had a president on it.

My husband has just finished playing Xbox and said he would research the 'value' of this 'unique' coin. When read to us the normality of the Presidential Dollars, he further quesitoned my pennies. Asked if I had a 1969? What about Buffalo nickels?

At this point I was like..huh? What the heck is talking about. So I went riffling through my 1969's and my 1 buffalo........

And that is where my newest, truest passion all began....