In the Palm of My Hand

 

Today, I went through my mom's hope chest (a sacred place I was never allowed to snoop as a child) as we continued cleaning out my childhood home. I noticed a small, unassuming white box. As I removed the lid, I discovered half a dozen old coins. While they were all 75+ years old, one caught my eye. It's an 1821 Capped Bust Half Dollar. 

It has significant toning, or we can just call it what it is - tarnish (which I understand is best left alone so the coin isn't damaged. Apparently, natural toning is desirable to collectors.) But this coin will not be sold - it will be treasured for at least the next generation, and hopefully beyond. My maternal grandfather collected coins, and I suspect it was one of his, but I will never really be sure where it came from or how it ended up in the hope chest.

As I was thinking on it, the find became even more special to me. This coin is over 200 years old! I literally held a piece of history, centuries old, in the palm of my hand today. Not only that, but it was minted just 45 years after the American Revolution! For some reason, the realization really put it in perspective for me. It's possible someone who fought in the war could have held this coin and used it to make a purchase. I also thought about how all but one of the coins were saved through the years of the Great Depression. On the surface their value was about $5. Would that $5 have made a difference to them? Might my ancestors have gone hungry some nights when they could have spent the money? I'll never know, but it certainly gives me pause and I'm so very glad they saved them.

I pondered how genealogy and family history are far more than just names and dates in our trees. Records can't tell the true story of our ancestors. They're just facts as of a particular date. Photos give us a glimpse into their lives, but they're just a window into a frozen moment in time captured by the camera. Family history also includes the stories, the trinkets and treasures and most importantly the memories. We've found some wonderful items as we've worked our way through the nooks and crannies of the house. None are particularly valuable monetarily, but sentimentally, they're positively priceless. I am honored to be the family historian - the finder, keeper and sharer of so many wonderful family treasures.