Evening star., 1937-06-13
Hobby
FaSCinates
Collectors
Wise Boys and Girls
May Learn Value
of Rare Pieces.
By X. Z. Scheer.
Have you a penny?

If some one should ask you this
question, don't be surprised. Hes
probably a coin collector on the trail
Of the missing penny, the penny which
collectors all over the country are 50
anxious to find in order to round out
their penny collections.
But why such a fuss over lust a
copper cent? Pennies. as rule, aren't
very valuable. and We all know vou
can't get much in return for cent.
But you see, this particular penny
which has caused the cry of Penny!
Penny! Who's got the penny?" to ring
from coast to coast. is rare coin. To
all appearances, It is Just Ike millions
Of other pennies, but because only
1856 of this particular type were mInted,
there are only that many persons who
can be lucky enough TO own one.
Maybe you're one Of the fortunate
few Wouldn't i be exciting If YOU
were? Maybe there's one in your
pocket right now.
now can you tell? Well, here's the
clue. It's a 1881 penny with a small
"s' under the date It's that Is"
which is so very important, because
1t is the distinguishing mark which
sets it apart from all other 1881 pen
nies.
That small letter under the date Of
penny is known as the mint mark.
If you look closely a your nlckels and
dimes. You are almost certain to find
some with either a small "a or an
IS tucked away somewhere on the re-
verse SIDE, These letters stand for
Denver and San Francisco. and signify
the place at which the coin vas minted.
But YOU thought the mint was IN
Philadelphia? You're quite right. Il
Is. But-here's a piece Of inside in
formation which ought to send your
stock way up in the ewes Of your
friends, and your knowledge Will prob
ably even impress your teacher Be-
sides the chief mint of the United
States at Philadelphia. there are two
other smaller mInts il. the country,
one in Denver and one IN San Fran
cisco. These mInts turn out only small
quantities of money, distributed chiefly
IN the West, but, since coins live
rowing life, they frequently turn up n
all parts of the country.
If you are thinking Of starting a
coin collection. rounding up pennies
Will give You an excellent start. These
humble little coins are frequently the
little beginnings from which many an
unusual collection has grown King
Victor Emanuel Of Italy. one Of the
leading collectors IN the world. started
his famous collection when a small
boy with penny given TO HIM by the
Pope
But one needn't be a king to start
coin collection One Of the leading
collectors Of this country started his
collection about 50 years ago when,
as little newsboy in Tyrone, Pa. lie
received coin which looked to him
like a dime, but which was marked
so Cent Thinking he had been given
half dollar he hurried with It to the
bank. but here 1t was refused. He
was told 1t wasn't an American com
at all, but French 50-centlme piece.
To Farran Zerbe. the little neWsy,
this was quite a blow because AT that
TIME every cent he received from the
sale of his papers was very important.
However, he decided that there was
no use in being too doWnheartet
about It; some one had fooled him.
yes, but he resolved that it wasn't
going to happen to him again, because
he was going to learn to recognize all
the foreign coins. And then let any
one try to fool him.
And so he took his worthless 5O-cen-
time piece and saved it And little
by little through various ways, he
acquired other coins, until today he
has $4,000 pieces in his collection. In
cluding al sorts Of strange and fasc!-
mating objects which have been used
as money in all the four corners OF
the earth.