I keep a small amount of silver on hand in my bug out bag for emergencies, but I have given my collection of coins, which was handed down to me from my dad, to my children and grandchildren. I remember when they first started phasing out silver content in U.S. coins and my Dad, who had always collected some coins, began to gather silver coins by the bag fulls. He had a cousin who ran a local store and gas station who would save out all of the silver and then sell it to Dad at face value, Dad knew that it would one day be worth a lot more. But alas the black sheep of the family began to sneak into Mom and Dads bedroom while they were not home and steal it by the handfuls so that he could go out partying with his friends. By the time that my Dad discovered the treachery much of his collection had been dissolved.
I wonder what the big box full of bags of coins would be worth today, many of them certainly would be some of the rare collectibles. Oh well, it wasn't meant to be, but that black sheep paid and is still paying a terrible price for the deceitfulness. The family relationship was never completely restored to a normal level of trust even after forgiveness was rendered. And you never profit from crime in the long run, that money ran right through him and into booze and wild living, and it has never came back. All that it produced was a lifetime of suffering, grief and regrets. 😞
I'm not sure why I decided to tell that story here but I hope that you don't mind. Maybe some young reader needed to hear it and learn a lesson from the ruined life of another and not make the same kind of mistake themselves. 🤔
Thank you for sharing your story.