Well, not quite. I'm an early riser, so I go to the neighborhood 7-11 every morning about 3 AM to get coffee and sit in my car to smoke & work logic puzzles because I don't smoke in the house. This morning, one of the graveyard shift clerks, Robert, who knows that I collect coins, showed me what one of the customers used to pay for a pack of cigarettes. He handed me a 1922 Peace dollar, a 1954D & 1960 Franklin and a 2004 SAE. Both the Franklins and the Peace had either been polished or were possibly used as "pocket" pieces, and the SAE had seen some circulation. Making a quick calculation in my head, I told him that his $3 "investment" was worth about $40 in melt value. Despite the fact that I'm a smoker, I would never pay $43 for a pack of cigarettes. Oh, by the way, the guy who bought the pack of butts used three silver certificates to complete the purchase. Chris
Maybe this is just a harbinger of having to use silver to pay for goods in the future. Glad to see your friend made out well. TC
i guess i can't really say anything my girl spent either $20 or $30(either one, i cant remember) on cigarettes with franklin halves!:headbang: i don't ever want to do the math and realize how much she really spent.
I suggest that the coins were stolen, and were spent by some crackhead. I think the clerk should have used better judgement in accepting this form of payment. Are they going to make a bank deposit using that same currency and coins? Nobody in their right mind that is old enough to legally have cigarettes sold to them would knowingly spend this material and not know what they got unless they are trying to dump them. At the very least, perhaps some pensioner whos really hurting for funds right now, has a nicotine addiction that clouded their rationality in spending this stuff at face value. but i tend to think its the 1st scenerio. A 7-11 high profile clerk knows you collect coins? Good god, loose lips sink ships.
While there is a possibility that the coins were stolen, I doubt that the franchise owner would want his employee to get involved in any type of confrontation over the questionable ownership of such coins in the wee hours of the morning. On the other hand, I personally know of many pool players at my local poolroom who carry a Morgan, Peace, Walker, Franklin, Kennedy or SAE as a pocket piece and also own a variety of older coins, but they are not coin collectors. By the way, Robert, the clerk in question, is in his late 50's and we have had many, many discussions not only about coins, but also about society in general, and I would not have mentioned the fact that I collect coins unless I felt that he could be trusted. Besides, he doesn't know where I live, anyway. His graveyard shift ends and he leaves well before I do, and I always make it a point to note if someone looks like they might be following me when I do leave. Chris
I must say, my friend who worked in a late night liquor store said that people used to come in and spend anything and everything in order to get their particular fix, alcohol or cigs. I'm sure most crackheads pawn stolen goods like that to get "real" cash to score from their dealers.
You'd be surprised at what even a smoker would do to get a (nicotine) "fix". I've been smoking since the late 50's. I've tried everything including hypnosis and acupuncture, and I wish that I had never started. Chris
I quit almost a year ago, or maybe a year ago! It's too early to figure it out! I used the patches, I had quit another time with the patches but I only quit for 3yrs that time. My guess would be that I would pay alot of money for my cigs when I smoked but everything the buyer gave up was way too much!!
Try Chantix Chris...........It worked for me but I ran out of pills and didnt get back to the Doc in time On a sidenote I cannot Imagine anybody using a ASE a $1
Very Cool "Find" Story Chris. Thanks for sharing I really like finding collectible coins in the wild. Just makes a good day better Terry
My guess? Someone who stole them for nothing. I hope the clerk makes sure the security tapes don't get erased.
Nice haul! My son works at a drive thur and just a few months ago brought me home an ASE that was used as a "dollar" by a customer to buy a pack of smokes. He also grabbed me a good bit of silver like Merc dimes and quarters. I've trained him well to watch for silver and collectible coins. It is amazing what people will spend to get alcohol and cigs.
