Holiday coin gifts for my coworkers (2025 edition)

Every December at work (I work in a smallish boutique hotel), I give an inexpensive coin gift to all of my coworkers. One year it was Churchill crowns, another year it was Mercury dimes, last year I think it was G-VG Standing Liberty quarters with full dates (couldn't afford to do that now, with silver prices!). This year I opted for ancient Chinese cash coins, because I could buy a bulk lot of them without breaking the bank. I try for something that the average non-collector might find interesting, and I think these fit the bill.

In addition to the coin, everybody got a Hershey bar and a scratch-off lottery ticket, just to make it more fun. For a total budget of around $110 (coins + chocolate + lotto), I got a gift for everyone in the hotel- not just my closest coworkers.

There were 27 people on my list. Only 18 people got coins this year. The housekeepers- most of whom I do not know and have never met, since we work opposite shifts- just got the chocolate bar and the lotto ticket. (They got a more basic letter, in English and Spanish, which did not mention coins.) All of the managers, front desk, bartenders, engineer, and breakfast ladies got coins plus chocolate plus lotto.

I printed up a nice informational insert for the flips. Inside the flips there is also an old handwritten dealer envelope (not shown in the pics) which includes the catalog number and emperor name for each coin. The lot I bought was fully attributed by emperor and Schjoth number, which was cool.

Think they'll like 'em? I hope so.

 

Detectorists find them regularly in California. Those Chinese cash coins got around! I know of at least a few people finding them on the East coast, but not as much as they do out West.