Since sports are gone for the foreseeable future, what are your other hobbies?
Mine is collecting foreign paper currency with my older kids. It’s incredibly fascinating to me to hold a banknote from another country, especially an old one, and think about whose hands it has passed through, particularly during turbulent times in world history.
Our foreign currency “project” started during the Sochi Olympics in 2014. My oldest daughter asked if we could get out the foreign currency my great uncle gave me when I was little (he was a retired Merchant Marine), so we could try and match the currency with the countries competing. We had 19 countries then, and we decided to see how many we could get.
I work with agents operating around the world, and started asking my colleagues if they could bring us back one piece when they returned to the States. Various currencies started rolling in, so we got a color-in map to keep track. At some point, I mentioned our project to a bar tender at the Delta Club in ATL, and she was so excited to participate that numerous other bartenders started setting aside envelopes of foreign currency they got as tips for me when I passed through ATL.
Lately, we’ve started to check out pawn/antique shops. They frequently have old foreign bills that were purchased as part of an estate sale. I get the same response each time I ask: “No one has ever asked about these.” They’re usually thrown in a bin and are very worn, but we get them for fifty cents to a dollar a piece!
At this point, we have a piece of paper currency from every continental nation (including many that no longer exist), but are still missing some remote islands. If you’ve been to, or are planning to go to, places like the Faroe Islands, Comoros, Mauritius, or the Cook Islands, please keep us in mind.
Mine is collecting foreign paper currency with my older kids. It’s incredibly fascinating to me to hold a banknote from another country, especially an old one, and think about whose hands it has passed through, particularly during turbulent times in world history.
Our foreign currency “project” started during the Sochi Olympics in 2014. My oldest daughter asked if we could get out the foreign currency my great uncle gave me when I was little (he was a retired Merchant Marine), so we could try and match the currency with the countries competing. We had 19 countries then, and we decided to see how many we could get.
I work with agents operating around the world, and started asking my colleagues if they could bring us back one piece when they returned to the States. Various currencies started rolling in, so we got a color-in map to keep track. At some point, I mentioned our project to a bar tender at the Delta Club in ATL, and she was so excited to participate that numerous other bartenders started setting aside envelopes of foreign currency they got as tips for me when I passed through ATL.
Lately, we’ve started to check out pawn/antique shops. They frequently have old foreign bills that were purchased as part of an estate sale. I get the same response each time I ask: “No one has ever asked about these.” They’re usually thrown in a bin and are very worn, but we get them for fifty cents to a dollar a piece!
At this point, we have a piece of paper currency from every continental nation (including many that no longer exist), but are still missing some remote islands. If you’ve been to, or are planning to go to, places like the Faroe Islands, Comoros, Mauritius, or the Cook Islands, please keep us in mind.
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