The Money Bowl

How much attention do you give to the coins in your pockets? For years, my wife and I have emptied our pockets at the end of the day and tossed coins into a wooden gourd that rests near the front door.

We do this because somewhere along the line, we heard that keeping such a bowl was good luck and would bring money into the house. However, we didn't bother to research the details. Year after year, we tossed loose change into the wooden gourd, and at least once a year, we'd roll the coins and bring home some bills that we earmarked for vacation spending treats.

Now, decades later, I did some research about this particular superstition, and from what I could find online, except for the wood gourd, we've been doing it wrong. According to superstition, the container – a money bowl – should hold objects that indicate wealth, like jewelry, crystals, gold or shiny objects, and glass beads. Proper feng shui suggests placing the money bowl in the furthest left corner of the house. Adding a mixture of rice and spices that can be purchased online as a 'money bowl starter kit' is also recommended. Instructions for casting a money bowl spell are also available online. Our habit of tossing pocket change into a wooden gourd is questionable as to its significance in bringing money into the house. But is it?

Since retirement, we've been using credit cards for practically all purchases – to earn points applicable to entertainment, dinner out, or travel. And because of that, the gourd has been on the not-too-full side, and we haven't rolled coins in some time.

But now, here comes the story: Not too long ago, I needed to purchase three lower-priced items (each at a different store), so I headed out with a twenty-dollar bill in my pocket.

The first purchase was eight dollars and change, the second was seven dollars and change, and the third was a dollar and change. When I returned home, I emptied what I expected to be four quarters, a couple of dimes and nickles, and a few pennies from my pocket.

Except three quarters weren't twenty-five cent pieces – they were Susan B. Anthony dollar coins!

I do not know which merchant made the error since I didn't take receipts for these minimal cash purchases. If the merchant started the day with these coins counted as quarters, the error most likely wouldn't have made the register unbalanced at the end of the day. I didn't feel obligated to retrace my steps. Still to myself, I smiled and thought SCORE!

When sharing this story with a friend, she told me she recently broke open a roll of quarters to find that more than half were Susan B. Anthonies. Now, that's a SCORE!

I went back to my computer and googled the Susan B. Anthony dollar. To my surprise, some Anthonies are worth a LOT MORE than a dollar. In 1979, some Anthonies arrived in circulation with flaws, like the date extending too far to the rim, making them worth much more than their face value. I learned that off-center errors occur when a coin is struck off-center. The punched die is not in the coin's center but closer to the edge. The greater the off-center strike, the scarcer and more valuable the coin becomes. I pulled out my magnifying glass and studied the Anthonies in my possession. It is sad to report that none of the 1979 coins were flawed, and none with the P for Philadelphia mint—all are Ds---Denver mint and are worth no more than one dollar.

The next time you receive a handful of coins, look closely! And it might be a good idea to keep your coin dealer's phone number handy.

Cheers!

Judy