Stamps or Coins?

I have been thinking about reviving one of my childhood hobbies. However, the big question is whether to resume collecting coins or collecting stamps.

collections, coin collecting, stamp collecting, coin iowaPerhaps I could revive both collections. Would this work for both collections? I do have several stamps with Coin postmarks.

collections, coin collecting, stamp collecting, coin iowaI do not have a lot of old stamps.  But I do have a few. My childhood collection is mostly common stamps from 1900 up through the 70’s. However I do have a pretty good collection of mint/never hinged US commemorative stamps that I worked on during Junior High School.  See: Stamp Collecting

I have always saved stamps from envelopes through the years so have a lot to look through if I resume a collection.

collections, coin collecting, stamp collecting, coin iowaI collected pennies when I was a kid, and had a pretty good collection from 1941 to about 1980. Of course I have saved wheat pennies and other interesting coins in a box since that time.

collections, coin collecting, stamp collecting, coin iowaI do have a bunch of coin books that I have picked up through the years. The State quarters map book is full, but not from a specific mint. The National Park map is only missing a few from the last years of the program, but again it didn’t matter which mint.

I bought coin books for both programs recently that have spots for both mints and I am trying to fill them. However, I don’t get too many coins in change anymore. I do have many jars of coins to go through though :-).

collections, coin collecting, stamp collecting, coin iowaI looked at my dime book and have it mostly filled up with the exception of more recent years. I need to get an updated book.

My thought is to try and collect all the coins since the conversion from silver content in dimes and quarters. For nickels I want to collect the complete Monticello series and for pennies I would like to get all the ones from the Lincoln Memorial series.

Of course if any silver or wheaties show up they will be collected as well.

I also have loads of foreign coins from my travels and really should sort them by country to see what I have. I usually try to make sure I have one of each type when I come back from visiting a new place.

Perhaps some good hobbies for retirement some day.

Steven

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Chief Wapello Memories

This weekend I was looking through a box of memories and ran across an interesting patch.

Chief Wapello, Trail, Ottumwa, Iowa, Wapello countyThe patch was for the Chief Wapello Trail near Ottumwa, Iowa. I don’t remember when I acquired the patch, but it was with some Boy Scout badges.

The patch brought back a lot of memories of growing up in Wapello County, Iowa.

About ten years ago in one of my Grandma’s Scrapbooks I found a page full of illustrations of Native American chiefs. Many of them participated in the Black Hawk War and also have a place in Iowa history. I used some of the pictures in a post titled Iowa Chief Counties as some of counties near Ottumwa are named for them.

Chief Wapella, Chief of the Mesquakees, Ottumwa, Iowa, Wapello County, Iowa History, native americans, American IndiansWapella or Chief Wapello was a chief of the Mesquakees. He was born in 1787 in what is today Wisconsin and died on March 15, 1842 after getting sick on a hunting trip near Ottumwa, Iowa.

I remember visiting his grave near Agency, Iowa when I was a kid.

Wapello County Court House, Ottumwa, Iowa - Chief Wapello - Statue - Native American StatueHowever, the big memory I have of Chief Wapello is the statue on top of the Wapello County Court House in Ottumwa, Iowa.

For some of my memories of the courthouse see: Election Memories II

The statue of Chief Wapello is quite large and weighs about 450 pounds.

Chief Wapello - Wapello County Court House - Ottumwa, Iowa - Statue of Chief WapelloThe pictures of the courthouse and statue in this post come from the City of Ottumwa, Iowa Facebook Page  from about ten years ago when it was repaired and placed back in position. The statue had been damaged during a violent storm in 2012 and removed for safety. The statue was repaired and returned back to the top of the courthouse.

Statue of Chief Wapello - Ottumwa, Iowa - Wapello County Court House - Native American StatueChief Wapello stands atop the court house looking out across Central Park and the Des Moines River.

A lot of memories tonight.

Steven

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