Wednesday 1 February 2012

Half dollar dreaming

This is going to sound strange, but there is a type of coin I have always been fascinated with: it is the United States half dollar coin. These coins can be identified from their having John F. Kennedy on the obverse side and the Seal of the President of the United States on the reverse; and from being larger than quarters. I was introduced to them when Dad once showed me a half dollar coin that belongs to him. The reason this becomes strange is because I have actually dreamt about owning or finding half dollar coins on several occasions.

A recurring type of dream of mine are the ones where I find a half dollar coin or two (or sometimes even a huge stash of them), and I experience a significant amount of happiness within that dream: in the context of the dream, I have achieved a major goal and am happy for it. Sometimes finding the coins is the purpose of the dream, other times it is merely a side story, but there are occasions where it has nothing to do with the rest of the dream whatsoever. The only downside to these dreams is that no matter how elated I feel at finally owning a half dollar coin, I soon wake up and think "that was just a dream!".

In reality, the coins are difficult to attain, hence why I do not own any for the time being: while they are still in production, they are more for collectors and are rarely used in circulation itself. I am not actually even sure how Dad was able to collect his half dollar coin: I do not know if he found it or managed to come across the occasional one found in circulation. Either way, it is an achievement in itself!

I do own a substantial number of American coins, and I have had most of them in my collection long before we left the United States. This collection includes pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters (it also includes an old American penny, plus a few quarters from the 50 State Quarters program); I still hope to have a United States half dollar coin in there someday, but for now I will keep on dreaming!

Here is an image of a few designs of the half dollars. I am most familiar with the second type shown in the picture, and it is the design I have written about:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/50cent_designs.jpg

2 comments:

  1. I used to have these types of dreams. I used to collect coins. The old pennies that had "one cent" surrounded by wheat used to fascinate me. I loved old coins. 2 dollar bills also fascinate me.

    Interesting post as always. :)

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  2. The "one cent" coins are cool; I think my brother has one of them. :) I remember a friend having a two dollar bill.

    Thanks Jessica, that means a lot. :)

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