Finally back to work today and starting to get things organized for year-end inventory. Not my favorite thing to do! The good thing about inventory is getting everything organized and finding things that I had forgotten about that I can sell.
This item was a pretty recent purchase for the store. This is a "Bryan Dollar" issued during the 1896 Presidential election. The candidates were William Jennings Bryan and William McKinley. These oversize "coins" were issued to ridicule the so-called Free Silver doctrine of Bryan who advocated the free coinage of silver and a bi-metallic monetary standard where silver would be valued at a ratio of 16 to 1 gold. McKinley and his supporters favored the gold standard and said that if the 16 to 1 ratio were literally applied then a dollars worth of silver would make a coin as large as a stove lid. Thus the oversize Morgan Dollar like coin!
As always, this older stuff just amazes me due to the quality and details of the item. Imagine political items like this being made in this day and age- it would never happen. Now it's just plastic and paper, all so
disposable. Information I found on this says it was made of zinc or lead- this one seems like lead to me. It's amazing the history I learn just being at work!
35, 18.
Tonight we finally made it over to the "Christmas House" as we call it. We always try to go by at least once each year, I made Carl drive by three times tonight! It's great because they live right off the alley and they have the whole front of the house and all down the side into the backyard filled with lights and decorations. You drive really slow down the alley and you can see it all. It reminds me of when I was a kid and we would go to Cinderella City where they had the whole mall decorated with moving Christmas displays. These people have everything lit up and there are skiers, sledders, skaters, moving snowmen, Santa's Workshop with the elves building toys and tons of other things- we love it!
