Do like a Necromancer (Part 1)

In this post, I will begin to share some of the secrets to becoming a coin necromancer.
   Please do not be afraid, as there is no black magic involved. And, there are no mythical beasts that we will be dealing with. Instead, I will show you how to conjure up the spirits that are in every coin and how to spot coins that are animated. These lessons will take some time, so bear with me. Be prepared for some homework.
   First, I must remind you of the seminal quote that was posted at the start of this blog. This quote changed my collecting forever. But it takes some contemplation for it to sink in. This wisdom -- this way of seeing -- has a deep philosophy associated with it. Go find it and read it; then sit on a large rock, palm firmly placed on your forehead -- in the "heavy thinking pose" -- and ponder the past. Fondle an old coin and think about the history in your hand, but also think of the history in your head. Most of the history is in your head. Think about how powerful it is for collectors to create images of history.
   Just let this radical notion simmer. We make history come alive in the moment.
   Of course, we know about history. We study the Red Book. We examine die-variety studies meant for the specialist. We even get a few history books that review the era that captures our imagination. But none of this can take us back. We can never go back. Put bluntly, we really do not know what it was like back then.
   Sure, we have some data available to us. And, we have the objects -- our coins. But other than that, we have nothing. Most history is biased by those who took the time to record their thoughts. Like us, they had faulty, sometimes fanciful, memories. Consequently, we get only a sliver of the truth.
   But, is there a truth? Two folks witnessing the same event are likely to have very different impressions. You see how difficult it is. We don't even have the evidence to show that there was a history at all.
   So what are we to do?
   We can start by experiencing our coins -- touching them, letting them dance in our hands. If you really want to know what it was like to spend a large cent, or what is was like to carry a few of them in a purse or pocket, then the answer is in the doing. Get a large cent and explore it with your fingertips. Get a purse and carry a few around in it.

Here are two marvelous cents doing the two-penny shuffle.

   Here is an exercise to try. It is the first step to becoming a necromancer coin collector.
   First, obtain a pair of large cents that are heavily circulated. Take your time to pick coppers that speak to you -- that is, coppers that have intriguing patterns of wear or corrosion.
   Second, take the coins and carry them around with you for a week. You will find it hard to resist not taking the big coppers out and fiddling with them. Do it. Play with the cents.
   Third, make them do the dance. What dance? The dance that we all submit our pocket change to when we are waiting in line at the coffee shop. The one that involves swirling our coins around in our half-closed palm. I call it the two-penny shuffle. Try it with some Lincoln cents first: see how the coins take turns sliding atop one another as you jiggle your hand (as if shaking dice). Many of us already do this while we work off the tension that builds when waiting in line.
   Fourth, now do it with your large cents. Watch one of them rotate in your palm as you jiggle it. Feel the weight. Feel the coolness of the copper. Now add the other one. Feel the weight of the pair as you shake your closed hand. It takes more gusto to make them slide over each other, but it can be done with a bit of practice.
   You want to go back in time? You want to know how it felt to spend a large cent? You want to feel the two-penny shuffle 1850s style? Well, you just did! And no history book will get you closer to the past than this!
   Now go out and find some more worn coins -- we have work to do!