Category - Currency

Last weekend, when I was at my grandmother's house, she gave me a coin that she'd found. It's from Hanover, and it's dated 1841, before the German unification. It says "ERNST AUGUST V.G. G. KOENIG VON HANNOVER" on the front (along with a portrait of someone who is probably Ernst), and on the back is the coat of arms of the House of Hanover, which will be familiar to anyone who is familiar with the British royal family's coat of arms (they're closely related, you know). The back says "EIN THALER" and "XIV EINE F.M.," and it's dated 1841. Around the edge of the coin is inscribed "NEC ASPERA TERRENT," which is apparently Latin for "We're not afraid of bad stuff" (roughly speaking).

I'd post pictures, but I can't get very good ones. I have basically described it for you anyway, so a picture would be overkill. So, other than that, the only question that remains is how much the coin might be worth. The condition has a lot to do with it. My experience with collecting coins tells me that this one would be graded as "Good," which, of course, is the worst possible grade. As such, it's probably not collectible except for the precious metal content. (I think it's silver.) I happened to find on the Intertubes that the coin auction house Bowers and Merena is auctioning an identical coin in uncirculated (MS-64) condition. They're valuing it between US$400 and $600. The only difference besides the condition is that that coin has an "A" mint mark, whereas mine doesn't (unless it has worn away).

On Tuesday, I went back to Pompano to say hi to teachers and friends. I was there with my sister and my friend Justin. It was my third trip back since graduating last year. Since the Class of '08 had already graduated, they weren't there, but I had some '09 friends to catch up with. My friend Andrew happened to be visiting at the same time; he had just gotten back from his first year at Cornell. Plus, I got to greet some teachers I didn't get to check up on the first two times I went back.

While we were talking to Mr. Chandler, the freshman English teacher, my sister brought up The World of Stuff, and Mr. Chandler tried to go to it. The school's filtering software had blocked it. Reason: porn? Well, whatever. My guess is that after many of the teachers and administrators found out about it last year, they realized that maybe people were spending a little too much time reading it? Or something? Oh well. It's flattering that they'd care enough to block it. I'm just glad they didn't do it while I was still a student there; otherwise, I'd never be able to blog from school like I did several times.

On Wednesday, I went to the Rapids Water Park in West Palm Beach with Mark, TJ (not that TJ), Joe, Matt, and Mark's girlfriend whose name I am going to spell Wai. I think Mark wanted to go because (a) it's the summer and (b) he was going to have his tonsils taken out the next day. So off to the Rapids we went. Basically, it was a day filled with water slides. I don't see how that can't be awesome. Actually, it's not awesome if you fail to put sunscreen on your arms because you barely have time to put it on your face. I also kept a shirt on so I wouldn't have to slop down my whole torso. It worked, but I'd rather not contribute to my farmer's tan next time.

But yeah, it was a blast. We went on all of the rides. I can close my eyes and imagine going down Big Thunder (or Black Thunder, which is the same but in the dark). They're new since the last time I went. And this time, I still failed at the feats of balance, though it was fun to try. And at least I didn't plunk down any extra money on food.

Rolling Stone reports on China's increasingly prevalent citizen-spying technologies that are coming from American business: "China's All-Seeing Eye." (Related: PC Magazine's "Behind China's Great Firewall.")

Here's a pretty big table of Copyright Term and Public Domain in the United States. It shows exactly how complicated today's copyright laws are.

Some have tried to prove the English royal family's descent from Muhammad, but it's not generally accepted. However, Queen Elizabeth can more likely trace her lineage back to the Romans, or at least to St. Arnulf of Metz (582-640). Arnulf is said to be a descendant of Flavius Afranius Syagrius (born c. 345), which makes Syagrius "the earliest known ancestor of any of the royal houses of Europe. His descendants almost certainly number in the millions and include most of the past and future kings and nobles of Europe." Imagine being that guy.

From CollegeHumor, it's humor about college: Honest College Ad (NSFW dialogue).

I can't imagine spending two whole years running for president. In November 2006, I started hearing about people gearing up to run. Finally (well, not finally), on Tuesday, Florida has its primary, where the people will get to choose their party's candidate... or not.

Okay, so here's the deal. Certain states arbitrarily have super-early primaries, meaning that they're often the most influential. Florida wants a piece of the action, so they move their primary from March to January. The Republicans punish Florida by stripping the state of half its delegates to the nominating convention, and the Democrats decide to remove Florida's delegates entirely. So, as a Florida Democrat, my vote actually doesn't count... maybe.

To make things worse, the dude I was going to vote for dropped out of the race on Thursday. That's right: Dennis Kucinich has called it quits. I could go on like certain people about how he was ignored by the mainstream media, but it's really a chicken-and-egg issue, isn't it? A lack of support leads to a lack of media coverage, which leads to a lack of support and so on. But he probably was the most liberal candidate in the race, and it seems that you have to be close to the center to get the votes.

Way back in August, I took a political quiz to see which candidates would be closest to my viewpoints. Kucinich topped my list at 88%, which is how I actually heard about him in the first place. But the playing field has narrowed down quite a bit -- case in point -- so I thought I'd take the test again to see how things have changed.

1. Barack Obama (85%)
2. Hillary Clinton (76%)
3. John Edwards (72%)
4. Mike Gravel (63%)
5. Ron Paul (45%)
6. Wayne Allyn Root (30%)
7. Mike Huckabee (29%)
8. Rudolph Giuliani (27%)
9. John McCain (27%)
10. Mitt Romney (22%)

There were actually 31 results in all; the 21 I haven't included were people who had dropped out of the race or were rumored to run but didn't. I actually got a 0% match: Stephen Colbert.

So, Tuesday is the first time I vote ever. I've decided who I'm going to vote for instead. I mean, I wouldn't feel bad about voting for Kucinich just to show my belated support, but it doesn't really matter anyway.

I knew my Greasemonkey user script MySpace Ignore Bulletins was popular, but I didn't know until recently that it was given a 5-star rating in a review on About.com. The reviewer calls it "handy," "easily configurable," and "a nice ability to have for any MySpacer." (Not "fun for the whole family"?) I'm surprised at how good the review was, especially since it doesn't make reference to even more convenient features I've added (probably after it was written). The only bone I have to pick is that he says "The instructions in the show/hide box are slightly misaligned in My Bulletin Space." It's aligned that way for a reason: so you can still right-click and copy your friend's profile link when the box is open. But oh well. It's a pretty nice honor. The article has even been Dugg. My next two most popular scripts also have reviews: MySpace Birthdays on Homepage earned a 4/5 and MySpace Go Right Home got a 3.5/5.

This guy made up a detailed list of every Bush scandal. The result: a 60-foot-long scroll. (The list is here. Some of them aren't very scandalous, and some aren't his responsibility, like #81: "Selling creationist materials at the Grand Canyon gift shop claiming it was 6000 years old." But many of them are egregious.)

I bet you've always wanted to read a list of animals named after celebrities. Well, here you go. Thanks, Wikipedia!

Here are some fun examples of folded currency.

When you call someone, isn't it considered polite for them to, say... call you back?

I count this as number four. Time to move on. What does the world have against Jordon Kalilich?

Just before I left home on Monday, I decided on a whim to take up the shovelglove again. I briefly took up this form of sledgehammer exercise two years ago but stopped after I overexerted myself. Since then I've been lazy/trying to forget it/afraid of exercising. But for some reason, I remembered it and decided to give it another try.

I brought my 4-kg sledgehammer and have started doing some movements with it in the morning. A 14-minute session is recommended, but I think I'll work up to it this time. Last time, I tried to do the whole 14 minutes too soon, and I couldn't move my arms for a few days. I'm doing the same movements I did last time: shoveling, churning butter, chopping wood, and flipping the lever. I think I'll try the Ab Killer as well.

Do check out my online HabitCal (habit calendar) on which I'll mark my successes and failures. (The color code is: green = success, red = failure, yellow = exempt day.) Right now I'll count doing the movements as a success, but when I can do the full 14 minutes, I'll be tougher with the definition.

I am Jordon. People ask me things. I answer them.

Michael : I would like to know the truth about the Beatles 1964 coin that is resurficeing,. Who made it, Why and Who were they given to. I Thank you, Mike

Hm. I know about the Beatles, and I know about coins, but I don't know about Beatle coins. A quick Google search suggests that some bronze coins were made to commemorate a visit they made to the United States in 1964. Since I didn't bother to go past page one of the Google search results, I don't know who would have issued them, and it's possible that some or all of them were made years after the fact.

Tim: How much does it need to go to Ameryca one time?

Tim, thankses, to ask to me over a travel towards the Ameryca. It is a beautiful station of job, that the sure one is that estimated. The Ameryca, For Your Information must once be a lot. I hope that you he find it valid.

Here's a fine example of stop-motion animation with real people: Tony vs. Paul.

20 Things You Didn't Know About... Nothing.

Here's a list of most common nicknames for first names based on 1990 US Census data.

That's what she said!

Let's see. This weekend, my sister and I went to our grandparents' house, and we met our parents and our cousins there. Grocery shopping was done today. It's easy to get carried away when you need food and you haven't been in a proper grocery store in weeks.

Backtracking to last week, I had an astounding three tests. On Tuesday, I had a Social Geography test, on which I scored 32 out of 33 (which is pretty good because that's a third of my grade). On Thursday, I had a calculus test, and though the results have yet to come in, I'm feeling good about it. On Friday night (yes, Friday night), I had a chemistry test. I don't have chemistry (or any class) on Friday night, but there are so many people in the class (it's a basic chemistry course) that I guess that's the only time they could have it. Nevertheless, the test delayed my aforementioned weekend plans. But right after the test, I found out that the answer key was posted online. Since I hadn't yet thrown away my scratch work, I was able to determine that I aced the test. That's a quarter of my grade in the bag.

Apparently all these tests aren't so bad. You just have to take them one at a time.

It's time for another exciting edition of Ask Jordon!

Olivia: What're you on about?

Er... dunno. I'm a right raving nutter, I s'pose.

Ivan Karamazov: Why do some believe Ron Paul will follow up on his promises of the One True reading of the Constitution? Do they realize it will mean cuts? Who IS he?

Well, brother, they say that if you Google Ron Paul, you'll find out about him. Me, I don't believe a word of it. As for his kind, I think they're a dying breed. Nobody wants cuts. Well, people do, but the dudes and the ladies that run the two-party system haven't really invited them to participate in our democracy. Oops! (Okay, I'm a hypocrite. I've joined the Democratic Party, much to the chagrin of the growing number of people who think that if you're not an independent, you're a narrow-minded hypocrite. Wait...)

Ever wonder how valuable coins change hands? Here's the story about a $1.9 million dime.

How to Predict the Weather Without a Forecast.

Today at school, Mark asked if I had put our Beowulf movie online yet, and I told him that I had, so I assume he went to check it out and show it to some more people during lunch. Later, our English teacher said that she had showed the video to all of her other classes. For the rest of the day, several people -- including one I didn't know -- came up to me and told me how much they liked it. If you still haven't seen it, watch it now on Google Video!

Last weekend, Nick mentioned that the youth group was starting to put on their Christmas play: a production of the Rankin/Bass classic The Year Without a Santa Claus. The first rehearsal is tonight, so I have to go to that. Yes, it's August 31, and Christmas bells are ringing. I don't really have a problem with doing it, though. There's nothing really religious about it at all, anyway, but there are some rollicking good numbers. I think they've wanted me to participate in youth group things, so here I am.

Tomorrow morning we're leaving for my aunt's house. I was just there over the summer, but this time we're going to take a tour of the University of Florida. Yes, that's right: we're not going to drive around and look at the pretty buildings; we're actually going to take a real tour of the place. I think this may actually be where I want to go to college, and to anyone who says it's not good (enough), I respectfully reply, "I'm rubber and you're glue; whatever you say bounces off of me and sticks to you." Besides, I have to apply to some colleges soon, and, well, I've already gone over the reasons why I should go to a fine school within my own state.

Other than that, I guess we'll just be doing fun stuff in the small-town/rural setting of my aunt's house. And maybe, since we'll be in Gainesville for the college, we'll check out some of the wonders that that urban setting has to offer. I'll be back on Sunday. See you then, everybody.

This guy held a Paparazzi Contest in which he asked people to find him in a mall and take pictures of him as if he were a celebrity.

The popular "buffalo" nickels, issued by the US Mint from 1913 to 1937, were fairly thick and soft, which caused them to wear down easily. However, these properties also allowed their surfaces to be carved in creative ways, allowing them to be transformed into unique works of art as "hobo nickels." Apparently, the practice of making hobo nickels continues today.

Two years ago: "I'm sort of surprised to find myself in another picture in the yearbook; you know, one of those snapshots around school that they provide silly captions for."
Three years ago: "So, what am I going to do with this bill with an address stamped on it? Easy... send it back!"

Last night, Kevin took my sister and me to Pain du Jour, a French bakery/restaurant. We were the only people there (besides the one lady behind the counter) for a while while we ate. Kevin and my sister had paninis, and I had a ham and Swiss cheese crepe and a croissant.

After that we went to downtown Ft. Lauderdale to check things out. Kevin hearts tall buildings, transportation, airports, and anything else related to cities. It was kind of a bad night to take a stroll because it was really cold, but that was okay. We went around to check out the Main Library (which, to our chagrin, was closed for the night) and Las Olas Boulevard. Las Olas isn't as glamorous or long as it's made out to be. Well, the glamorous part isn't very long. We also went to Huizenga Plaza, which has a bandstand, some grass, and a fountain that you can control. I don't go down to Ft. Lauderdale much, so it was interesting to step into Scotto's old haunts. I kept saying "Scotto saw a movie here" or "Scotto took a picture over there" or "Scotto likes to abbreviate the name of this museum" to the point that Kevin and my sister got annoyed.

After that, we went to a Dunkin' Donuts so Kevin could have a fruit smoothie and my sister could have hot chocolate.

I think everybody has an idea for a movie inside of them. I have an idea of how mine will be. Well, I have the ending, anyway. It's all stage directions, no dialogue.

That gives me an interesting idea. Have three people write a beginning, middle, and end of a story. Then get someone to link the beginning to the middle, and someone else to link the middle in the end. Finally, have another person look at the whole thing and edit it for continuity. That, I think, would be pretty cool.

Lost something? Found something? Get it listed on the Internet Lost and Found.

It's not often that an article relating to currency collecting makes the news, but there's a story right now about a $20 bill that somehow got a fruit sticker stuck on it between the second and third prints. (The back of a bill is printed first, followed by the front, and then the serial numbers and Treasury seal on the front.) It's expected to sell for thousands of dollars.

One year ago: "Wait, this is Health class. Piece of celery. Eww."
Two years ago: "In desperate need of a pointless yet entertaining game?"

Many countries use paper money as a medium to honor their favorite citizens. Although the US is now in the habit of redesigning its currency reasonably often, the same old faces grace the same notes that they've been gracing since the 1920s or '30s. Let's pretend that the US Treasury has given you the task of choosing new portraits for US paper money. Here are your guidelines:

• You must choose new Americans to be honored on the $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100 bills.
• The people you choose must not have been Presidents and cannot be anyone else currently featured on US paper money (i.e., Alexander Hamilton and Benjamin Franklin).
• They should be significant to the history or culture of the United States, but this is not required. After all, it's up to you.
• The people must have been born in the US (or in what is now the US, if they were born before American independence). Do your research; you might be surprised.
• In accordance with the law, they must be dead. Do not kill people to make them eligible.
• You may select more than one person for each bill, as has been done in the past.

I've put a lot of thought into this, and here's what I've come up with:

$1: Mark Twain
$2: Thomas Edison
$5: Clara Barton
$10: Martin Luther King, Jr.
$20: Wilbur Wright and Orville Wright
$50: Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II
$100: Meriwether Lewis and William Clark

Whom would you choose? Post a comment and let your voice be heard.

Here's a gallery of albino animals (lots of images). Actually, that's just page one of the gallery.

And here are Seven Warning Signs of Bogus Science. Heed #1: "The discoverer pitches the claim directly to the media."

Over the past few weeks I read "The Scarlet Letter," a "masterpiece" of American literature, for English class.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

In uber-religious 1600s Boston, a lady commits adultery with priest. No one finds out about him, but she is punished by having to wear the letter "A" (for "adulterer," we assume) for the rest of her life. Her long lost husband comes back for revenge on the guy. The love child speaks as eloquently as the rest of them.

That's pretty much the whole book, except it takes the author 200 pages (plus an extensive introduction, which always appears with the novel but is so boring that we didn't have to read it) to say it.

For English class, the teacher had us make our own scarlet letters. They didn't have to be scarlet, of course. We were supposed to make the letter standing for some undesirable quality about yourself, and preferably to have the design of the letter to manifest that quality (if possible). We had to wear them around school all day (and have our teachers acknowledge that we wore them) for extra credit (I don't think there was anyone who didn't try for the extra credit, but a friend of mine made and wore a letter even though he's not in the class.)

Because most of the letters were self-referential, some people got off easy; for example, Gilbert made an "I" for incomplete -- and it wasn't cut out all the way. Chad made a "Q" for "quitter" and didn't finish coloring it. Megan made an extremely tiny "M," which I think was for "minimalist." Justin did "..." for "No words can describe me." But my favorite was Andrew's; he did an "L" for "lazy" and cut it out of looseleaf paper without coloring it or anything.

So I should have been more careful in picking my letter. I picked "C" for "cynical." (But I had to explain to the honors English class what "cynical" meant.) It was cut from a shoe box and was colored in yellow, pink, orange, and green -- highlighter colors. I did it the day before it was due, but I think it did show some effort. I cut the "C" with some exactness, and it ended up looking like those letters that teachers cut with templates from construction paper and staple onto boards.

Today I did some hanging out with my sister, Kevin, and Lisa at the mall. It was the same mall we went to almost two years ago where I tried one of those scale things that tells you what your ideal weight should be. I think I still have that printout, but time has probably rendered it illegible. I think it said I was significantly overweight. According to the scale, I'm now 50 lbs. overweight. But it's in front of a health food store, I think, and so it's probably just a gimmick for you to go in and buy whatever you can to fix the problem.

In the middle of the mall, we ate at this little crepe place called CrepeMaker (Flash, sound warning). I had a pesto chicken crepe, which was very good. The chef was very friendly and I put some of my change in the tip jar. Also, I got a 1964D silver quarter in change. They're very hard to come by since their silver content is now worth far more than $0.25. I have several in my collection (all 1964, which must be the most common date or something), but I've never gotten one in change before.

Want to know something? Head to justcurio.us, where you can ask an anonymous question after answering an existing one. Just so you know, many of the questions are strange or pointless, but there are some that you might actually want to answer.

Holy upgrades, Batman!

A week ago, I asked a girl out for the first time in my life. We were supposed to go to a school football game last Friday (how romantic, right?), but it got cancelled due to a hurricane.

Then, she offered her backup plan was to invite me to her house this Friday to watch movies with her and her friend. Not bad, I thought. Not bad at all.

So today I called her to get her address so I would know where I would be going (that is, where my parents would be me, if they were to let me go, as I hadn't asked them yet). She said they were doing something to her house or something, so presumably I presume she'd be staying at a hotel, where I would hang out with her by the pool (as she specifically mentioned).

Now, I don't really know if this is technically a date, but I intended it to be, and I hope she knows that. But it's really cool. The only problem is, the last time I lay on a beach, people tried to push me back into the water before I dried out. Oh well, I guess I'm okay. We're all beautiful, right?

The only other problem is, her dad is still considering it. I hope he approves. I'd give him 56 cool points.

Answering Ask Jordon.

Gary : I have a $20 bill 2004 series that has an elk and some kinda of indian symbol on the back. looks to be in the print .

They must be stamps. People tend to stamp the backs of higher bills for some reason (perhaps as some sort of counterfeit testing method).

Samantha: What are three advantages and the disadvantages about using the qwerty keyboard?

Compared to the Dvorak layout, there are several disadvantages:

1. Not designed for keyboarding
2. Hurts your fingers after moderate use
3. Difficult to learn

Advantages:

1. Universally used and supported

I can't think of any more advantages, actually.

Well, if the years seem to be going by faster than ever, it is just you. In fact, this year will be longer than the past few. That's because a leap second is being added to 2005! (Hey, I thought it was interesting.)

Today is the last day of summer vacation. Tomorrow is another first day of school at Pompano High. I should be cool with it by now, shouldn't I? After all, it will be my third year. (Yeah, they grow up so fast.) Apparently some people aren't as nervous as I am. But come on, it's the first day of school!

You find out what teachers you have -- they can't be evil, you know -- they tell you what to expect of the class, remind you of the rules, which seem no longer to be in force by November, and tell you what supplies you need, so you know exactly what size binder to buy that evening at Office Depot and how many dividers should be in it.

Maybe I'm just chronically nervous. Maybe I just worry too much. I feel uneasy, like I did for weeks at the beginning of the last semester. That was because of my World History class; eventually I only felt sick during that class and before.

Now I have the same teacher for European History, and it's two semesters of fun. Let's see here: 110 minutes a day x 4 days a week x 18 weeks per semester x 2 semesters equals 15,840 minutes, or 264 hours, or exactly 11 days. Maybe I could just take a long vacation and prop my eyes open for 11 days while I listen to her lecturing. She sometimes has funny lectures.

I'm nervous for another reason also. Over summer vacation you quickly forget how to be a student. But when you come back, it quickly returns as well. And then you do homework. And, depending on your classes, you do lots more homework. And it's sickening, really.

It's also depressing having to go to bed and wake up early. Sometimes during the school year I don't have much free time by the time I get tired. Then when I wake up, it's way too early. I guess it's good that we have Fridays off, though. But still.

So what should you, as a reader of this blog, expect? I advise you to expect nothing, so that you'll never be disappointed. Well, I'll probably be posting far less often than I've been doing during the summer or even during the last school year. But I won't let this school thing get to me. I'll try, anyway.

Anyway, I had a band practice today -- we have a gig next week -- and everybody was supposed to come. But not everybody did. Still, we should end up being okay if we run through everything before the show. And if everybody shows up.

When in doubt, Ask Jordon!

Daniel: Where do you keep all the slogans that randomly appear at the top of your site? I would like to look at a list of them.

Sorry, I'd rather keep you guessing about how many there are. (Actually, one of the slogans tells you the answer.) Besides, I don't have a really handy or organized list.

Todd: I have a 1994 twenty dollar bill with part of the front of the bill printed on the back...is this worth anything beyond 20 dollars?

If you have a reversed "ghost image" of the front side showing through the back, that is called an offset or wet ink transfer error. If the front of the bill was printed while the back was partially folded over it, that is called something else. Both have value to collectors. By the way, check Series year on the bill again; none are dated 1994 (unless you're talking about Canadian money, which I know nothing about. No matter what country your bill is from, it will carry a premium, especially if it's in good shape).

And now, a trio of Google-related links:

The purpose of Google Will Eat Itself is to buy Google using its own money. The site hosts Google AdSense ads, and when GWEI gets a check from Google, they automatically buy shares of the company. Sounds like a fun idea, but I doubt AdSense will ever earn them that much money.

How to get a good PageRank. Seems pretty tough.

Can't find something on Google? Post it to Can't Find on Google. Or maybe you can help people with things they can't find.