When I was a principal we collected PTST (Parents Teachers Students Together) funds through bake sales, dress down Fridays, and other fundraisers. These funds would be used for field trips, bringing guests into the school and other student related events.

A few years ago a lot of Susan B. Anthony dollar coins came in. Particularly 1979 Susan B. Anthony coins. Being a 1979 baby myself, I thought they were pretty special and was really neat to see come in.

I eventually started replacing them with dollar bills from my wallet and taking them home. I ended up with about ten of them. I’ve given some away to friends who were also born in 1979 and kept the rest.

When I wear jeans I keep one of them in my fifth pocket. Originally the pocket was made (according to Levi’s) is for a pocket watch. And I do put a pocket watch in there when I wear one, but I perpetually keep a 1979 Susan B. Anthony coin in there.

Call it a lucky coin, or a comfort coin. I play with them all the time, tossing it in the air, just rubbing it and moving it in between hands as I’m walking or thinking.

I never was able to figure out which student was bringing them in. I mean who has dollar coins sitting around. Particularly a bunch of 1979 dollar coins? There is lots of cool trivia around the Susan B. Anthony coins. I didn’t realize how they were only minted for a few years, or how there was so little demand that the Baltimore Subway used them as tokens for a while in the 1980’s.

On an aside…. one my favorite Home Movies episodes is the one with a bit about Susan B. Anthony. They finally tell us what the ‘B’ stands for.