The Trade-Up Game: how far will I get in one year?

In 2005, Canadian blogger Kyle McDonald started out with one red paperclip and traded it for a pen. He kept trading upwards until after a year and fourteen trades, he had traded up to a house!

Several years ago, I did this with coins, on Collectors Universe. Did I end up with something worth thousands? No, but it was a lot of fun.

I’m going to attempt this again. I’ll start with a very inexpensive “seed coin” which cost me nothing, attempt to trade up from that, then keep trading up and see how far I get by the end of a year.

At the end of one year, I will sell the final coin I ended up with and split the year’s proceeds 50/50 with one of the partners I traded with during the year (who will be selected by random drawing after November 19, 2026).

How far do you think I’ll get? The goal is more about the fun of the journey than it is about making money.

 

The Starter Coin: a 1920-B Switzerland silver half-franc
My cost: $0.00 (it was a gift)
Estimated value: $3.43 (the silver melt price as of 11/19/25)



What’ll I get for it? Let’s wait and see!

 

Where are you now in your journey?

 

Yes, shipping will be a considerable dampener, particularly in the earlier portion of the game when it’s just cheap coins on the table.