The New Numismatist

Yesterday one of the four pennies I found was from 1957. On closer inspection I noticed a different design on the reverse of this coin. After further research I found out the coin is what is known as a "Wheat Back" in numismatic circles, for the two wheat sheaves as seen in the image shown here.

Up until yesterday I was of the opinion that all pennies were created equal. Today I stand corrected! Wheat back pennies were made from 1909 to 1958 and because of their rarity the price of them can range from three cents right up to $550 a piece according to this article from about.com .

On returning back to Castle Sidewalker I did not put my '57 Wheat Back with the general population of change in the jar on my bed side table. It is now residing in solitary confinement, wrapped in tissue paper, in a high security compound at the Castle (it is like the Pablo Escobar of my coin collection)! The reason for the heightened security being that this little Wheatie of mine may have a resale value of up to three cents, and as they would say on the Antiques Roadshow, for insurance purposes I should probably have it covered for a nickel!

In other news, yesterday a bird mistook me for a washroom and relieved itself on my head. It is not my intention to take this blog down the toilet humor route, but it is not every day you get dumped on by sea gull, so I thought it was worth a mention. This could be taken as a good sign in some quarters, especially if you are in the shampoo business...

OK, moving on, the road trip later this week is now confirmed, so I will roll out clue number two. I have only had one guess so far, which was Boston and it was wrong. Perhaps I should add an incentive to encourage more guesses? Any one care to guess correctly for a 52 year old Wheatie...?

Clue #1: The target is a port city on the Eastern seaboard of the United States.
Clue #2: The target is South of the Mason-Dixon Line.


-Luke Sidewalker
-Current balance $13.38 (plus pending Starbucks resolution)

What the ...?

Well the Saturday night trip into Manhattan did not produce anything to add to my total. I was going to the house warming party for my good friend the vulcanologist, you remember that guy from the Density of Rock post? I had substantial hopes for New York City to give me a high yielding return, but the weather gods produced a fantastic lightning show with accompanying rain. So my aim went from finding coins to staying dry, both of which I failed at. I did bounce back with a couple of finds on Sunday to keep my total ticking over.

If you look at the picture associated with this post (it is a Sidewalker original), you will see that I have captured everything that we abhor here at Castle Sidewalker. Firstly there is the parking meter, the ultimate cash vampire! Then some genius thought they would display their disrespect of the penny by attaching it with chewing gum to said parking meter. At least they showed some remorse by not gumming up Abe Lincoln and instead defiling the tails side. The bigger question to be asked is; has the penny become so irrelevant that it's ok to be treated in this way? As much as it disturbed me, I thought it made for an interesting snap shot.

In other news, we are very much considering the Europe Expedition I mentioned last week. And in preparation for that we are going on a mini trip this week to test the logistics of taking this "circus" on the road! Let's see if you can guess our destination. I will give a clue every day, for the next three days.

Clue #1: The target is a port city on the Eastern seaboard of the United States.


-Luke Sidewalker
-Current balance $13.24 (plus pending Starbucks resolution)

Sidewalker Mailbag #4

We made it through another week. On reflection it was a week of high drama, we had the as yet unconfirmed celebrity coin find. We had a family bug and quarantine, and we have the latest dilemma of the gift card find. One thing is for sure, hanging around Castle Sidewalker is not a dull past time at all. So without further ado let's dip into the Sidewalker mailbag and see what it has to offer us this week.

"I found $0.41 at Wal-Mart in a shopping basket. Jefferson, Lincoln, FDR, and Washington, all in a row!"
-jake_Iam from Wisconsin, U.S.A. via Twitter
[LS: I can't tell you how green I turned on getting this tweet. For the coin finding purists out there, this is the ultimate Grand Slam. Congratulations Jake.]

"When commuting by bike(6 miles each way), I did the same thing (bored, I guess)! Easiest to see 'em in the dark, by street lamp."
-dreamon51 somewhere in the Universe via Twitter
[LS: An interesting twist, by cycling I could cover more ground and pick up more coins, alas Lance Armstrong I'm not.]

"@LukeSidewalker haha you're a good guy....I had a dream the other night I found 10 pounds in coins...your influence I'm certain of it!!"
-DON4LD from London, England via Twitter
[LS: Never underestimate the power of the force Donald!]

And of course I would not deprive you of one from the naysayers.

"you will never reach a million... never..."
-dubbledutch from the United Kingdom via Twitter
[LS: Thank you for your opinion. One thing is for sure, if I never try I never will, however I have started, so the jury is out for now.]

I'm planning a road trip next week, so let's see if the fresh location pays dividends.
Have a great weekend.


-Luke Sidewalker
-Current balance $13.11 (plus pending Starbucks resolution)

Lost and Found

Today's post is late because I have been embroiled in what can only be described as a bizarre sequence of events. It all started with me looking down, no surprise there! I was at a bus stop in Hoboken N.J., and down in the gutter glinting at me in the late afternoon sun was what appeared to be a credit card. I bent down with the intention to secure the card, and if possible repatriate it with the rightful owner, before it could be put to a more nefarious use by an individual less scrupulous than myself.

However on further inspection I saw that it was not a credit card at all, but in fact a gift card to be used in a Starbucks Coffee outlet. I would have given it no further thought, had it not been in pristine condition. Curiosity got the better of me and there are several Starbucks in town close by (isn't that the case in every town in America?), so I resolved to find out if there was any balance on the card.

Well you can imagine my shock when the cashier checked it and told me there was an active balance. My shock soon turned to panic when she asked me what I would like; I do not drink coffee, I don't even speak coffee and I'm totally out of my comfort zone in the company of Barista's (I guess I can rule out Starbucks as a future sponsor of my endeavor!). This leaves me with one and potentially two problems...

1)If you have lost a Starbucks coffee gift card at a bus stop in Hoboken, leave me a note in the comments section below or send me a tweet, stating at which bus stop you lost it at, and also the balance on the card before high noon E.D.T. on 16th June 2009. If your information rings true, I will return it to you.

2)In the event a legitimate claim is not made by the cut off time, how will I monetize this "plastic" find to add to the Sidewalker Fund?

When I started this adventure I never thought finding street cash would get this complicated. I think I need a coffee...


-Luke Sidewalker
-Current balance $13.11 (plus pending Starbucks resolution)

European Expedition?

I'm happy to announce that the quarantine has been lifted at Castle Sidewalker and we are all feeling much better. During our down time it gave me a chance to surf the internet, where I came across this treasure hunting article from a UK publication called the Daily Mail.

It is a remarkable story about the finding of a massive hoard of ancient gold coins from Roman times. Actually to be more precise, the story is about the dispute of how the "spoils" will be distributed. This is the piece of these stories that I really love. There is always one guy that has been looking for the mother lode all his life, and there is always at least one other party that wants in on the action post find. Now are you are beginning to see the merits of my Cash Trail Map? Funny how my twelve bucks and change has not drawn any claimants!

Anyway, as I was picking up my third cent today (which incidentally I did not have to bend down for, as someone had kindly placed it on top of a parking meter for me), I could not stop thinking about this story. The earliest coins I am going to find on these fine shores will probably be from circa 1600's. I started to formulate a plan to go on a European expedition. Does anyone have any opinions on the viability of such a trip? Would you be interested if I chronicled the trip here on the blog?

As an aside, seeing the Royal Standard as my image for this post got me thinking that Castle Sidewalker looks naked without one! Are there any budding graphic designers out there that would like a shot at making the Sidewalker Standard? If so, they can have their work fluttering regally above the ramparts of Castle Sidewalker to signify my presence at the residence!


-Luke Sidewalker
-Current balance $12.84