Every now and then, I find myself watching things on YouTube wondering how I got there and why I was spending any time there at all. Today, I watched someone open $100.00 worth of penny rolls.

I get it. This person was trying to find some rare ones, and since this also came up with a lot of other interesting side hustles, I guess there are people who can make a living with this kind of thing.

While I was not seduced by this lifestyle, I did start to wonder about the coins that I put away. I don’t mean those special collections or any of that stuff.  I don’t collect coins.  I don’t stop at the coin booths when I am at the stamp shows (because they are often together) or rush to the bank when the “new” coins come out.  It isn’t my thing.  However, I do look through my change and keep some of the coins I find.  It’s a small number, but just one of those things that people do.  Also, since Canada stopped using pennies, I know I’ve got a handful around here somewhere.

So, I went looking for them. I found the small handful, and found a few pennies that might be worth five cents if they were in perfect condition and if I could find a buyer who would pay retail, and if…..you get the idea.

What I did find that was interesting was a bunch of stuff that I kept but really didn’t know what to do with. These include, but are not limited to:

• the sign I had on my bedroom that all the kids in the family got one year for Christmas
• a train ticket from Hashimoto to Namba on the Nankai line
• a pocket knife with the Ford logo on it–my father worked at Ford
• a small aspirin holder made entirely out of metal, unlike the plastic ones of today
• some Sesame Street figures
• a Buddhist rosary and a Catholic rosary sitting side by side–who says religious differences cannot be reconciled
• a make your own button from the CNE
• a corkscrew from the bar set that my parents had when I was growing up
• assorted coins from foreign countries
• matchbooks from both my older sisters’ weddings
• a trick playing card deck
• two packages of sumo trading cards from Japan
• my old passports
• an adaptor for a stereo cable (big to small)
• a bunch of stickers from Japanese marble chocolate
• a letter from a deceased friend

The list could continue, but you get the idea. I had a few moments to both wallow in nostalgia and also wonder why I kept some of this stuff.   Oddly enough, it was a Perfect Moment.