On the way to work today I found an unusual coin - a Polish 20 Groszy piece. It looks rather like a US dime, or a British 5 pence piece. I am quite fond of the British 5 pence, they are currently my most frequently found coin. More than 1 pence coins, strangely enough. Last year my most often found coin was the 1 pence piece.
On average I find almost one coin each day. British coins usually, of course. A few weeks ago I found a Penguin Penny, a 1 pence coin from the Falkland Islands. And a few months ago I found several Yuan and Danish Kronas, companionably jumbled up in the curb of a road. I find plenty of Euro coins, too. Mainly in France and Germany, but quite a few in Britain as well. Especially the tiny 1 cent coins! I really love those little coins, they easily roll out of people's pockets while waiting for buses.
It never ceases to amaze me that most people either don't see these coins or can't be bothered to pick them up. I have seen a dozen people walk past a one pound coin without picking it up! Whenever I spot a coin close to someone there is that worry that s/he may see it before I do, so I have developed various strategies to get close to a coin without drawing attention to it.
Last weekend in the Eurostar Terminal, for example, I spotted a 1 cent coin half way under the foot of a rather elegant lady who was waiting for her boyfriend to return with some coffee. I circled her a few times, looking disinterested, and then found a seat just opposite her. I spent twenty minutes reading my magazine, while surrepticiously keeping an eye on the coin. Which train was she going to catch? Would it leave after mine, thus forcing me to abandon the coin and run for the train at the last minute? I pondered this possibility for a while and had just decided I would instead ask her politely whether it was her coin - chances are she would say No, that's what usually happens - so I could board the train at my leisure, when she got up and joined her boyfriend. Before she had even picked up her bags I made a dash for the coin and pocketed it! She looked at me extremely suspiciously, and began to whisper to her boyfriend, who turned to regard me with a worried look on his face. But I just folded my magazine in a nonchalant way, checked my ticket, and slowly made my way to the Paris train. Scrooge McDuck would have been proud of me!
