Surprise at the Denver currency exchange
WildIdea
Posts: 1,877 ✭✭✭✭✭
Last February my wife and I were taking our young daughter and son to Orlando. Our connection was in Minneapolis and my daughter asked what the currency exchange across from the diner was all about. I explained, didn’t think much about it.
Recently, I was lining up a business trip to Atlanta and it was doable to have my daughter tag along and make a one on one trip out of it. We just love to do things one on one always have a great time exploring. So she brings up wondering if there was a currency exchange at the Denver airport and lo and behold, there was one right by our gate.
There was no line and the teller was great and she settled on this beautiful Japanese note for 15 bucks with fees. Ok, I know nothing about these ant things went pretty bang bang, but hey, I’m going with it because I can see instantly where this can take her....
So we have a great time on our trip and she keeps mentioning that she’s like to hit that currency exchange again if we can on the way home. I’m thinking, Cool heck yeah! This time around she’s really ready and drops another 17 bucks on these five. All abuzz about the plastics notes and watermarks and who is Sir Edmond Hillary etc.
Yeah I know these aren’t coins, but as a coin collector Im seeing a connection here and a spark. She made me promise to get out my older notes and foreign currency and get into it! Just a proud papa and just sharing my excitement that my oldest could share in my love of old (and new) money and it’s art and history and messages. I’ve never pushed it on them and I guess that was best.
Comments
Awesome. Now you have to buy a cricut so she can build a display book.
"A dog breaks your heart only one time and that is when they pass on". Unknown
Very cool, You never know what you may find.
Hoard the keys.
the time spent with your daughter will outlast anything you encounter in the pursuit of coins...thanks for sharing
Here's a tip for her:
Look for "Z" or star prefixes in the serial number. These are often replacement notes, worth a numismatic premium.
If she can pick, pick those.
Could be posted on the currency section.
I visited a Currency exchange in Manhattan when I was younger and purchased the same note!
Could be posted on the currency section.
True, but then coin guys wouldn't learn how to spot foreign star (replacement) notes.
I know, I went there today and peaked. I just don't ever go there and don't know anybody there so I posted it here to share with my coin people, please forgive me. Maybe I will eventually.
The point I was trying to make was that this could be her gateway drug, or not, but hopefully it started a longtime discussion that morphs into coin talk and interest.
To me, lines that separate the forums can blur sometimes as these topics have many crossover similarities.
I have mostly bought and sold coins for about 30 years and I just recently started to get into currency not too long ago myself. It doesn't matter what she starts collecting, it's just nice that she is getting interested in the hobby and someday will hopefully get interested in coins as well and maybe will get some friends interested in it sometime too. It's always nice to see young one's getting into the hobby though.
Great story,thanks for posting it here.
The 500 yen coin has some interesting tech
If you ever get one, tilt it top to bottom while looking inside the 00's
On the Japan 1000 yen note, have her look at the right reverse field (greenish horizontal lines) while tilting the note away from herself. She will see the word "Nippon" appear. That effect is created by varying the heights of the green ink lines.
Just like our notes, the Japanese notes are intaglio printed, by squeegee-ing ink into etched plates, and then pressing the paper between the plates. That gives raised ink lines.
To get the interference effect that creates the "Nippon," the lines in the plates are etched to different depths - so the ink lines vary in height. That is a level of control that is not achieved in any other major currency that I know of. (Feel free to correct me if you know of another - I'd love to get examples of other notes with this feature.)
The Japan 1000 yen note is actually my favorite currently in circulation. It is a work of technology and art!
Very cool shared experience for you and your daughter.
So cool! We will definitely inspect it. It's neat you mentioned all this stuff. We got lucky I guess as we just asked the teller what he thought was cool and pulled that out. It reminded me of an old American Bank Note Company design and thought to myself that it's great someone is still making designs like that and I aught to sniff around an investigate what's out there currently a little more.
Pretty neat! So she was able to pick and choose whatever individual currency she wanted in whatever denomination from whatever country they had available, just for the exchange rate and their fees? I stopped by an American Express currency exchange location in Philly DECADES ago when we were heading up to Canada for some Travelers checks and/or currency, and I believe all they offered were pre-packaged amounts of the more commonly-used currencies (wouldn't touch coins at all). I couldn't pick & choose at all. Maybe ones at/near airports operate differently?
You should try going with her to a local coin show. Sometimes they have old notes/currency as well for cheap prices that might also strike her fancy - - especially some of the older, larger Russian notes!
Keep us posted.......
Yes, the first teller gave us a few choices and we bought the Japanese note for 15.00 and 5 of that was a fee. We didn't want to overreach on his time and were overjoyed with the note. The second teller on the way home was way more into it and just kept breaking out stacks of bills and quoting prices of each. The receipt showed a 1 dollar fee per note. They must have discretion of the fee.
I suggested to her we can go online and see what countries have the neatest ones and make a want list and have our homework done so we can ask for specifics by name and not waste anyone's time. It never occurred to me to ask if they may have foreign coins on hand, I bet they do. Having her build a type set of foreign coins would be cheaper than buying the higher denom notes as she's only 11 years old. She said, collecting money can be expensive! It can be but doesn't have to.
That is great.... paper currency is interesting. For a while, I was collecting bills with tigers on them (a strange experience led to this... long story). Still have one or two of them stored away - I think - have to check. Might have lost them in one of my major life events.
Definitely a fun pursuit that you can indulge in with your daughter.....Cheers, RickO
I'd hazard a bet if you posted in the BST area in paper money that you would find several collectors/travellers like me have lots of extras. Not difficult to come home with "souvenirs" that didn't get spent.
That is a great story about quality time making discoveries with your daughter.
That New Zealand note bring back memories - when it was first issued it was made of paper and Sir Edmund Hillary was still alive at the time. I got a couple mint examples off eBay and sent them to Edmund Hillary and he autographed them. It was a very rare opportunity to get a banknote signed by the person pictured on it.
Long, long ago, I used to collect stamps as well, although I never affixed them properly, and ended up destroying many of them (although none really had value). I also had a few foreign currencies hanging around from coin shows, flea markets, my Dad's years in the Service, and my parents' trips abroad during retirement. But my focus has always been coins. When I expanded to a "1-per-country" coin collection, I found a fun way to combine all my interests. Along with the coin 2x2's in plastic binder sheets, I also included some stamps of from each of the countries and any currency as well. That made for a nice "trifecta" showcase of all 3 interests. Perhaps that might be an option for your daughter as well?
And you don't have to spend a lot of money at these currency exchange windows either. Some foreign currency is worth pennies relative to the US dollar and for a few bucks you can load up on notes from many countries. If you can find an empty window and strike up a conversation with the teller, he/she can really help out.