6 • The Beacon October 21 , 2021
The case of the long missing trillion-dollar coin
Yo u ’ v e c e r t a i n l y heard about this , right ? It bubbled up in early October and was originally floated in 2011 , to bypass any necessity for Congress to raise the country ’ s borrowing limit – that is from Wikipedia – through the minting of very high value platinum coins . Here ’ s the rub . I ’ m pretty sure , almost sure , that I had one of these as a kid . So , it ’ s really nothing new .
This all has to do with the debt ceiling and laws that limit the Treasury on how much paper money and gold , silver and copper coins it can circulate at once . Enter the platinum coin – there is no limit on the value of platinum coins . I suppose we could also look at palladium but I ’ m not a metals specialist . Back to this coin .
It was a blustery day in autumn – the type of day with perfectly blue skies and puffy white clouds that all featured the shape of a cartoon character . Leaves skidded across the road
Mark Fortune
Mark ’ s Musings
as I furiously pedaled my bicycle through the streets of Roscoe delivering the newspaper . You remember those days , right ? When a kid delivered the paper ?
It was collection day on my route and this week was no different from the hundreds of other times that I had collected for the paper . Some customers left the money under the mat , in between the storm door and entry door , or etc . You get the idea . The cool part was that some customers gave me a tip in addition to a tip at Christmas time . And I ’ m not talking about advice either – I ’ m talking about cold , hard cash . That ’ s gold to a teenager saving up for his first car !
Speaking of gold , let ’ s return to the coin . One of my customers was , shall we say , a bit of an eccentric . I thought the world of them and enjoyed talking about “ the good ol days .” As I picked up the envelope with their payment and dropped the coins into my hand , one of the coins looked unfamiliar to me . It was not your typical quarter or half dollar – some customers paid with half dollars . I loved those ! Nope , this was a special coin , and I knew almost immediately that it was going into my “ special stash .” The hidden stash .
And there lies the problem . A teenage boy has any number of hidden stashes , but I knew this coin needed something even better . Once I got home , I searched until I found an old metal lock box – perfect ! Securely locking the coin inside – wrapped in newspaper of course – so someone couldn ’ t figure it out by shaking the box – I scurried outside to find the appropriate hiding spot .
And that ’ s the next problem . Trees and the landscape change over the years – and things
don ’ t look the same when you ’ re 14 as they do when you are older . The bigger problem – the length of your paces changes too . Was it 15 paces from the big oak tree , or was it 20 paces from the large stone at the corner ? And what was my pace at 14 versus now ? Oh geez . This is not looking good .
It seems that the case of the missing trillion-dollar coin will have to be continued . . .
Letter to the Editor
On Nov . 2 , we , the voters of Coshocton County , have the opportunity to vote for the renewal of the Coshocton Library levy . I urge you to do so .
This levy requires no additional tax burden to residents but provides a lifeline for our library . The revenue realized from this renewal is for general operations of the library and will support day-to-day operations of the Coshocton location , the West Lafayette location and the bookmobile .
As a former educator and longtime patron of our library , I have seen firsthand the impact of the programming and outreach the library has on our community . In 2019 , for example , over 700 programs offered by the library realized almost 18,000 attendees , the bookmobile made 556 visits and more than 177,000 visitors enjoyed the benefits of our public library . That ’ s impressive .
Even more impressive to me is the way the library staff responded during the challenging year of 2020 . After a required closure , the staff found ways to continue serving the public , the children and youth departments created outstanding online programming opportunities , curb-side services kept books in the hands of
readers , and electronic services continued uninterrupted .
This renewal is imperative to the continuation of the outstanding services , opportunities , and the newest publications and books available . The staff works diligently and passionately to instill a love of reading to young and old , to assist in research , and to provide outreach to more than 250 homebound individuals . For most of us , the cost of this renewal remains less than $ 15 a year and will generate $ 380,429 per year to the library .
Coshocton County has a gem in our public library system . Please vote in favor of the Coshocton levy on Nov . 2 . Beth Nelson Coshocton
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