An Unexpected Leisure

Being the GM of a restaurant is demanding work. Challenging work. With a slew of responsibilities consuming the day, aging me faster than i'd like, I was surprised I found any enjoyment at all.

But guess what? …I miss none of it at the moment.

***

Relocating my life and belongings eight times in twenty years is something I don't recommend. From Ohio to Michigan to Colorado, back to Michigan and finally back to Ohio. Suffering through multiple moves within each state. That in itself is a much longer story than I care to divulge. Needless to say, I changed jobs often...

My longest stretch for any place of employment began in 2003 at a casino in the beautiful Rocky Mountains of Colorado. I started my career there in the surveillance dept, watching gamblers and employees do their thing. Our main objective was monitoring table games for cheaters as well casing multiple entrances for underage, curious risk-takers trying to gain entry. It was boring for the most part. Yeah, there were small bursts of excitement when we caught people vandalizing property or employees stealing or people smoking in restricted areas. But I grew tired of it all. Luckily, the casino was part of a large corporation and had their act together, presenting opportunities to browse open positions in other departments.

After a year of staring at multiple screens and writing lengthy reports, I transferred to the Food & Beverage department as a restaurant supervisor. This led to my first management job, overseeing up to three dining outlets in a given shift. I was happy about the decision. Plus, they send you to all-expense paid, hospitality training courses. Free education.

In 2016, two years after a sad departure from my favorite state ever to move to back to Michigan, I had been working for a Celebrity chef from the Food Network channel. Michael Symon. By chance, I knew him from his first restaurant in Cleveland OH before he followed his dream of competing on reality cooking shows. He did it! In 2008, he won The Next Iron Chef competition. Soon after, he joined the bandwagon and did what most celebrity chefs do with their notoriety. He opened a restaurant chain.

The B-SPOT was a gourmet burger joint that served, well, um, Burgers. We also sold other popular items including Brats, Beer and Bourbon, hence the letter B. The rosemary fries and pickle bar were my absolute favorite.

Most locations were in OH. Only two were in MI. Of those two, one was just a ten-minute drive from home. I applied for a great job and landed it.

***

Scheduling myself for a closing shift one evening to catch up on paperwork, I was at the bar covering a break. I poured a variety of beer from a long row of bronze taps, made trendy drinks and served mouth-watering food. I'm not super social but enjoyed great conversation with the regulars. As I'm cashing out one of those said regulars who paid with a 20-dollar bill, I noticed something odd when I touched the quarters. The sound of them clanking together was not familiar. Off-key. Almost like hearing a bad note from someone's first time behind a piano. I looked down at them, they were definitely quarters. I brought a few in for a closer look. Most looked pale. Some were dirty. Some had a dull shine, and they all had old dates.

Old dates!

I immediately knew this wasn't normal. I looked through the rest while pretending to pay attention to the lively patrons and confirmed they were all silver quarters, worth more than face value. I knew nothing about coins at the time, but I did know that some were produced from silver in the past. My mind began sifting through reasons trying to understand why there was a fistful of it in the till.

As soon as the bartender's break was over, I went directly to the safe and grabbed a roll of quarters with the intention of replacing them with the silver ones. I wanted to keep those. To my confusing surprise, out of the 8 rolls in the safe, 5 of them were silver front to back.

Already knowing I was going to buy the others, I went to the ATM outside and withdrew sixty dollars. I wasn't going to let them become change and most certainly wasn't going to take them back to the bank. It would be nearly impossible to find out who left them. I justified the transaction with a simple 'finders keepers'.

The final tally was 233 silver quarters and 162 silver dimes. All with dates that stretched from 1930-1964; the last year silver was used in the mass minting of a U.S. coin denomination.

After work, I spent a good chunk of time with my eyes glued to Wikipedia, learning about the lengthy history of silver coins in America...

The next day, I decided to go to the branch to replace the change I bought, secretly hoping to find more of the precious metal. I already knew my chances of being struck by lightning were greater. People have been collecting silver coins for decades, nearly wiping them out of circulation. Well, luck struck twice. Out of the $100.00 in quarters and $50.00 in dimes I bought, I found two more full rolls of silver dimes, bringing their total to 262.

There could be many reasons why these coins went unnoticed. More than likely, they were a part of an estate. Whoever inherited the estate didn't bother opening the rolls and just cashed them in to the bank at face value.

The price of silver at the time was around $14.00 an ounce. I could have easily turned the 70-dollar investment into $900.00. But something unexpected happened. I enjoyed looking at them, learning about them, feeling the history behind their travels from hand to hand. The picture I took above was the day I fell in love with an unlikely recipient. Coins. As enticing as it was to sell them, I was already attached. I couldn't part ways.

Instead, I cleaned most before I knew that cleaning depreciates the collectible value. Big mistake. Seasoned collectors can easily tell if a coin has been clean. You are allowed to wash the gunk and dirt from them but NEVER use chemicals to try and bring back the shine. It ruins the value. Oh well, each quarter was still worth 11 times it’s face value.

This rare brush with fortune sparked sudden interests, building a tower of knowledge I never saw coming. As an amateur collector, I have bought several interesting coins along the way at conventions and stores but would rather take my chances finding them in the few likely places there are to look.

At a rate of about 2-4 coins a year, I have found more silver, slowing growing my collection into a numismatics' dream. Rarely do I find them in change from cash purchases. The best chances you have lie in bank rolls. Quarters, dimes and even half-dollars. Once you've checked them, simply sell them back to the bank, keeping only what fascinates you.

Even more interesting, there are many things to look for when examining coins, not just the silver ones, any coin...

I’m referring to mint errors (errors occurring during the minting process) and how they can fetch a hefty premium. Rare mint errors can yield a life-changing amount of money. For instance, if you somehow find a 1982-D, small-date, copper Lincoln penny, I swear you will attract a buyer willing to dig deep into their wallets to purchase it. Try 40 thousand dollars or more for that coin in good condition. In 1982 the government stopped using copper and began using an alloy primarily made of zinc. Incidentally, a handful at the Denver mint (less than a hundred) were made with copper, giving them instant value. They were released into circulation with 16 billion regular pennies, initiating a cruel game of hide-n-seek. Only two have ever been found.

In 1943, steel was used instead of copper to make pennies due to a shortage from the war. Again, a handful were mistakenly made from copper. If you are lucky enough to find a 1943-D, copper penny in great condition... my friend, you would sing all the way to the bank. One sold for 1.7 million with the average payout being 85 thousand dollars for that coin in fair condition.

The number of examples I could give could go on for hours...

Searching for these many elusive errors is the highlight of collecting. With the help of a USB microscope, I can see tiniest details. So far, I have found a few mint errors, but nothing that brings the value to an amount worth certifying.

The price of silver continues to fluctuate. In 2016 it was 14.00 an ounce. At the end of 2024, it was 31.00. I don't think I'll ever sell the silver unless it reaches 100.00 an ounce. Only then will I have decisions to make.

Before the next time you gather your change to cash it in, I highly recommend taking a closer look. You never know when you are about to give up that nickle worth $1000.00 dollars.