Half Dime / Early Half Dimes

What is a half dime, you may be asking yourself? We all know what a dime is but a half dime… that would be a nickel, right? Not back then. According to Wikipedia, the half dime (or half disme ) was a silver coin worth 5 cents and was smaller than the dime we know today.

The half dime was minted in 1792 and there’s much debate on whether or not it’s a “real” coin that can be traded as such. Some will argue it was originally a coin simply printed as a test coin. You will actually hear them called the “test coin” or “test dime” before you hear it called the half dime when referring to this coin.

A bit of a numismatic urban legend is that this coin is rumored to have been that belonging to the one and only Mrs. First President, Martha Washington, herself. It is said that the famous painting by John Dunsmore is a painting of Martha inspecting her personal collection, reminiscent of her always admiring what used to be her own personal silverware. The other rumor that we have heard here at Larry Jackson Coins is that a batch of the half dimes were delivered to President Washington and many from his collection were given out as tokens of gratification to friends and his associates.

If you find one in your dad’s basement in Atlanta, Georgia or somewhere up North or in your grandma’s coin purse (with her permission, of course) be sure to snap a photo and post on our Facebook. We would love to see what you found! There are plenty of them on eBay ranging from $9.99 to a little over $300.00 right now. Facebook Link www.facebook.com/larryjacksondoins. To learn more about the half dime and other rare coins and rare bullion, call us at (404) 256-3667. We would love to answer your coin questions!

 

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half_dime, Aug. 10, 2016 Auction #1238 Catalog

Figuring It All Out

So I consider myself a very spiritual person, not religious, but spiritual. Having grown up in a Christian household where Sunday mornings it was standard for everyone to wake-up when mom knocked on the bedroom door and begin promptly getting ready for church. I grew to dread going to church every week. The Southern Baptist mentality was not very forgiving (despite the preacher proclaiming “Jesus forgives all” with his red faced announcements that he would scream from behind the podium.) It was tough and I always felt alone and that I was full of sin every week during what we called “Big Church” (when the congregation met in the sanctuary to hear the pastor’s sermon immediately following Sunday School.)

Once I became a teenager mom didn’t really force me to go to church anymore. By that time I had enough close friends at church that the teenagers organized in the youth group became a pretty big deal. We made a presence in the sanctuary by sitting all together near the front and we were proud to set the example for the younger kids in our presence. It was nice to sleep in every now and again when I didn’t feel like going to church that morning.

I went to church for many years while living in my parents house. When I moved out into my first place without any parents, I didn’t continue to go to church. The main reason was because I was managing Hickory Farms, a retail store in the mall, where I had to work in different locations picking up slack from my team or training new people for the Holiday season. The mall was open on Sunday from 12p – 6p and often extending the hours for the Holidays, therefore making it hard to make church on Sunday morning before opening up one of my 6 locations later that day. These are only excuses and they come easily to me. I have heard them most of my life and being that I love to think I live the easy life, I enjoy duplicating what is in front of me that works best for me. That may sound selfish but after raising a son in a single parent household, I do believe I am entitled to think of myself first (and often.) It was not until my son was about 14 before I started taking a little more time for myself, conveniently after my son decided to move out of his childhood home and into the home where his father lives with his wife and their daughter and another child about Nathan’s same age from her previous marriage.

I put my everything into raising my only child to be the best part of me that I could put into him. Now, after planting years and years of seeds in him, it is time to watch the seeds begin to bloom within him. There is a lot going on with that situation (and a topic for another day) but I have faith that everything will work itself out. A growing boy should be living with his father as he develops into a young man.

Now here’s the part where I tell people I have it all figured out, lol. I wish someone told me when I was coming of age, that I didn’t have to do everything my parents did (or the generations before me that worked so hard for every little thing they had.) I am not saying that people nowadays do not have to work as hard as our predecessors but I am saying that there is a different way that one may go about things to obtain a very similar goal. The American Dream is still relatively the same; Grow up, graduate from school, get a job, buy a house, get a spouse, make a family, join the 40/40/40 club, then (if you are lucky enough to have prepared or been under employment with a company who helped you prepare for) retirement. Stop there.

If my son is reading this and does not pick up on anything else being written here it is this, TIMES HAVE CHANGED for the better. People that I know quickly learned that all of those years of being educated by expensive institutions does not guarantee that educated student a job in the real world after graduation. Nor does anyone REALLY tell you that you will have the debt that your education costed you follow you around until it is paid in full.

Today’s society doesn’t put that pressure on children to attend college straight after High School graduation. There is now an entire pamphlet called “Gap Year” put together by the masses and proudly displayed next to all of the College and University brochures trying to sell you on their campus.  Gap Year is the year in between your 12 years of mandatory education and college. Many students opt to travel to Europe or get a job to save for their school course.

I am in an industry that includes people who have no business being in business AND they are turning out successful in this venture. My peers are normal people and they include really smart people, really pretty yet not-so-smart people, people with superior educations, those without any formal education at all and there are also those who don’t even try but seem to find success all the same. Here in this business model, everyone who puts in the effort will succeed.

In my new business venture there are steps that I need to follow and if I follow the steps in the way they are anticipated then I will succeed. If nothing else, I will succeed because at the end of the day, it’s just a numbers game and the numbers are unbiased without feelings present. When I turn my feelings off and have no fear of being told something undesirable then I have nothing to lose.

In Network Marketing, the territory comes with personal development techniques that will only assist in your success if you learn them. The improvements that will happen to your mind set are astonishing. When you allow these changes to take place, it’s like a whole other world out there. In my personal experience the more I learn in my personal development and the more I grow as a person, the more people are attracted to me and the more they ask advice of me.

When I previously discussed the 40/40/40 club, I was referencing men and women who work their entire adulthood (40 years) within the same company, having worked at least 40 hours every week as required, only to retire on only 40% of the income they made all of those years. We are now able to dream beyond what our parents did and it’s a marvelous thing! I have learned that with the right tools and leadership and dedicating my valued time into my business I will be as successful as I strive to be. Then I just have to keep it up (consistency) and repeat it (duplicate the system repeatedly), teaching the trade to those that are hungry for success and ONLY those that are hungry to learn and to become leaders themselves.

So with that being said, if you take away anything I have said it is this… find something that provides you with a residual income. It is not healthy to become dependent on a linear income because if you do not show up to work, then you do not get paid. I implore you to find something that you can have a little fun with and make money at the same time. Good luck in this life, remember you only get one shot at it!

Kyani & Changing Lives

I have to say that I am super stoked about the opportunity that my friend shared with me. Initially when she introduced me to Kyani, I was super reluctant and skeptical, I watched her grow her network, steadily increasing her income one week at a time and getting her (and her husband) their dream cars from the Kyani Dream Car Program. I learned about the company not requiring a quota for me to meet every month and at the local meetings I am hearing these miraculous stories from people in which Kyani DIRECTLY effected their lives and the lives of people they introduced the product to. There is still a lot of work to be done but I am learning that my passion for how this product makes me feel personally, is a big tool all in itself because people that know me are literally asking me, “What are you on?”, “Are you in love?” “What is different about you, there’s something?” I didn’t realize that there really was a difference except that I didn’t wake up craving coffee like I used to and the Sunrise was giving me all of the nutrients, minerals, and vitamins my diet was lacking. I will be the first to admit that I have never been one to eat right and I usually only cook dinner when my teenager is home to eat with me. I remember my sponsor telling me that she has heard in many cases that people that she’d given free Kyani samples to expressed they didn’t feel any different or any better and then when they were no longer taking the product they then noticed they began to feel a little less happy or noticed a difference in a negative way of some sort.

Some of the testimonies are kind of surreal and almost unbelievable had I not heard them from the people who’s lives Kyani has changed. I have heard from two men that they hadn’t slept in months to years like they did after starting on Sunset. I have heard multiple blood pressure stories and even one that his arthritis is now a vague issue in his life when it used to be a daily debilitation.

I am working towards sharing this product with everyone I know and NO PRESSURE! I know the value of the product and the gift that it gives people so all I have to do is get the product in people’s hands and let them try it for themselves, then get them to a Tuesday night hour long meeting, then follow up. If they are leaders and go-getters, they will quickly see the value of this product and want to contact me! Good luck to anyone starting on this venture with me and I am excited where this will lead me!

Creating a “Fun Committee” in the Workplace

I can already hear people saying to themselves, fun at work? Yeah right! Well this blog is for YOU. I understand that the work place should be a productive environment but does it need to feel that way 8-9 hours a day and 5 days a week? It doesn’t have to. Believe it or not there is very little effort into convincing your office to put one together. To start the Fun Committee (after your superior’s approval, of course) simply copy the entire office on a single email and ask people to nominate 3-5 people (adjust according to your office size) to head up the committee to work out all of the logistics and then put up a dry erase board in a common area and start taking fun ideas the next day.

Ideas can range from pot luck lunches (which can take place in the kitchen and conference room – simply make a plate in the kitchen and carry it to the conference room for that meeting that can’t be missed) to out of the office shenanigans.

One idea is a simple 15/30 minute BINGO game or other board game. One office I was a part of dedicated one hour, after lunch, every Friday to playing some time of a semi-active game that you had to act out (Charades) or stand up to write/draw on a board (Win, Lose or Draw) so that you were motivated to finish out the day with your thinking cap strapped all the way on. e were much more productive after getting worked up with a little friendly competition. An informative article I just read today about standing versus sitting explains the benefit of simply standing whenever possible versus sitting at every chance one gets (this article specifically talks about gaming but the info in itself is interesting in itself) is available to read here: http://www.pcgamer.com/is-sitting-down-while-playing-bad-for-you/

Be sure to include birthday celebrations and anniversary get togethers in the company kitchen for everyone in the office (simply have someone in HR do a little research on DOB’s and start dates/work anniversaries of all of the staff and celebrate each year.)

Before a meeting that includes most of the office (or make a 15 minute meeting every other Monday morning for something fun to look forward to on Mondays) try some ice breakers. These are fun even for the office veterans. Here’s one cool ice breaker game: http://www.shescraftycrafty.com/2013/07/get-to-know-you-games.html

How about a scavenger hunt? Here’s an easy photo scavenger hunt how-to that is easy to follow and put together quickly: http://www.ehow.com/how_2262194_plan-photo-scavenger-hunt-groups.html

As a team builder, what is better than putting together all of the ladies from the office and forming a team and participate in a non-competitive 5K like this one WHILE HELPING THE FIGHT AGAINST BREAST CANCER: www.TheGladiatorGirlRun.com (Discount code: Jen10 for 10% off). Here is their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/gladiatorgirlrun     (Photo courtesy of Gladiator Girl Run.)

These are just a handful of ideas to get you started. Now go put together a Fun Committee in your office!

Odysseo by Cavalia (Cirque De Soleil); VIP Experience (or lack thereof)

A review of the VIP Experience of the Odysseo by Cavalia show in Frisco, Texas (in the field next to Ikea.)

BUYER BEWARE! Do NOT waste your money on the VIP aka “Rendez-Vous VIP Experience” for several reasons. The website states “exquisite buffet-dining before the show” but the food is not fresh (they use what’s left over from the night before or the night before that). The bathrooms are out in the cold and the outside patio does not have a single heater. The website claims “the Rendez-Vous package offers the best seats in the house” YET if you do not get there early, there is literally standing room only (they do not have NEARLY enough seating for everyone in the smaller tent), the French Canadian / Cavalia management needs a serious lesson on respect for their employees, pronto. There was a lady with a Mohawk and scarf walking around barking orders at her staff who OBVIOUSLY have zero respect for her after the way she treats them, I feel sorry for each and every one of them.

When you pay almost $500 for a pair of circus tickets you would expect real silverware to eat the food and instead you get the little tiny plastic spoons to eat your ice cream with. The website states open bar and the food and drinks were complimentary but they were SELLING super over priced champagne (a $40 bottle of Moet & Chandon) for $125 a bottle! They didn’t have cold water (only room temp) at ANY of the bars. Only 3 of the 4 bars were open and the one little girl behind the one bar was running around like mad and was so busy so you had to wait almost 10 minutes to get ice cream. That poor girl was having to pour all the beer and wine AND serve the ice cream AND pour hot coffee AND do it all alone, so they were under staffed to top everything else off. They do not allow you to take your glasses of wine in to the show. The website states “The Rendez-Vous package prices range from $129.50 to $229.50 + applicable taxes and fees.” It does NOT tell you whether or not tips are not included and they are not, just FYI. Feel free to not only tip the bar tenders but the catering staff as well, remember they are working for a horrible manager. The quicker bar is the one with 2 bar tenders, just opposite of the front doors. The guy bartender was really funny. Tip him a $20 he will totally take care of you the rest of the night.

If it is raining you will get really wet walking from the big tent to where the food is in the smaller tent across the parking lot, out away from the show. I read somewhere that Odysseo is a $30 Million production. If that is true you would think that they would think about their guests and invest in a few of the outdoor heaters to help keep people warm while waiting outside for the doors to open. Then again, there is an extensively long list of things the production could do to make their guests more comfortable.

The show itself was good. Too bad the other parts of the evening don’t compliment that.

#cavalia

‪#‎odysseotx‬

‪#‎cavaliaodysseo‬

‪#‎wantarefund‬

‪#‎badvalentine‬

‪#‎firethemokawk‬

Spirit Air if you Dare!

I have to say with as often as I fly, there is not much in the way of expectation when I am choosing an airline. With that being said, Spirit Air always lets me down, even with my non-existent expectations. It’s bad enough they charge you for sodas and peanuts during the flight and charge $35-$100 per single carry on , but this time I guess it was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I booked a flight online and after seeing that they guaranteed their airfares to be the cheapest I kept my eye on the competition’s pricing to and from my destination of Denver, CO. Being that my travel plans are over the week of Christmas, I thought there would be a lot of travel options and there is so I did a little research. I found a savings of around $40 with http://www.cheapofares.com so I called Spirit. I was appalled when they told me there was a charge for my phone call requesting to speak to an actual operator. I went ahead and proceeded with the call (wondering how they could possibly charge me unless they have some sort of secret conspiracy with Sprint with the ability to put the extra phone call fee on my bill or something) and spoke to someone in India. The call was the average super frustrating phone conversation where every third word was a mumble and I could only comprehend about 65% of what she was saying. She was really pissing me off by saying my name before EVERY SINGLE sentence that came out of her mouth. She was very anxious to get me to “modify or cancel” my flight. I asked her if it was a fact that Spirit Air guarantees their airfare pricing to be the most competitive and the least expensive and she said yes. I stated clearly that I wished to be refunded the difference of $40 where I found my flight cheaper on another site. She argued that their fees are not stated clearly so there was no way of her knowing if the fare was in fact cheaper than the current rate I paid. I informed her that the fees are very clear and stated in writing on the website and I would be happy to inform her of every single fee there was and asked if she had a pen and was ready to take notes. Of course, after stating my name “Yenny-fur”, she asked if I was calling to modify or cancel my reservation. Clearly she had not heard a word of my ENTIRE conversation. I attempted (with every fiber of my being) to keep my composure. I then asked how she intended to refund the difference in the flight price that was advertised cheaper on the other site. She stated that I could simply cancel my flight with Spirit, receive my refund in 7-10 business days and book the flight through the site I was referring to. Needless to say I got absolutely nowhere and I called them out on being liars in reference to the false advertising they do on their website. I ended my call with her, got online and canceled my flight through SpiritAir.com and booked the exact same flight through http://www.cheapofare.com and saved over $160. We will just take our small personal item (back pack) since the house I am renting has laundry available to us.

I sure hope other airlines become more competitive and blow Spirit out of the water in the near future!

#spiritairsucks

iPhone versus Android

OK Summer 2013

As most of my friends (whether true friends or those who follow me on Facebook) know, I spent a majority of my summer in Moore, Oklahoma assisting in disaster relief helping families in need. I worked with a few different organizations in several different areas. So many people (here at home and there in Oklahoma) asked me what made me drop my life at home and go help complete strangers. I didn’t really have an answer. I honestly poked around on the internet one day when looking for inexpensive travel ideas to occupy my time while entertaining my 13 year old over the summer. I somehow came across something that explained that there was still so much assistance needed in the majorly devastated areas following the May 19^th and May 20^th tornadoes.

In the days following I spent several hours making phone calls and sending email inquiries to various volunteer organizations looking for somewhere to house the two of us and searched for an organization that allowed 13 year olds to assist in the relief aid. Many organizations required all volunteers to be 18 years of age and older and the largest affiliation, @ServeMoore.org only allowed 16 and up with a parent present. I finally spoke to a non-profit group, ARC (Allied Response to Catastrophes) led by its founder and Executive Director, Scott Maples, that said I could volunteer with my teenage son, no problem.

After agreeing that this would suffice for a good use of our time, Nate and I headed to Moore, Oklahoma to stay at the ARC “base camp” where one trip eventually led to a series of 5 trips and the majority of my summer. Nate spent time between Oklahoma with me as well as time at his father’s house.

After a tremendous amount of labor hours later I found out that ARC was not a 501 (c) 3 organization but that he is a “for profit” organization, an LLC. He was only acting as a non-profit while misleading hundreds of people every day he was in business. I split the moment I found out and the whole operation fell to pieces within 72 hours (Scott literally closed base camp and stopped operating in Moore.)

While I hold some regret, I do not regret my time and energy towards putting my heart in a good place in hopes of bringing Moore, Oklahoma up to the standards it once was held at without question.

In the words of Arianna Huffington (Huffington Post), “You can complete a project by dropping it.” And that’s what Scott Maples did after an open fraud investigation.

I moved on to the location of where the first tornadoes hit on May 19^th, 2013 in Shawnee, OK, where 90% of a mobile home community known as Steelman Estates was wiped completely out. It was unbelievable. People were living in tents and had been for 6-7 weeks up until this point. Their children were mentally preparing themselves for the upcoming school year when they didn’t have the means necessary. The families were all doing the best they could but some to no avail.

There was one organization that was assisting the families with school supplies for the children and feeding the families 3 meals a day in SE also known as “tent city”. We were able to help with daily essential activities including offloading a semi-truck of sheds to be built, organizing donations in the warehouse and walking dogs in the kennel of homeless animals.

Another area hit on May 19th was Little Axe, OK. I was able to get in touch with a lady that helped put me in touch with a couple who had lost their grandfather in the storm (their trailer landed on his mobile home, killing him.) We were able to supply them with the PVC piping to re-run their new water lines and gave them other supplies, including toiletries they didn’t have. Nate and I also helped them clean up their front yard and even out the terrain (in 104 degree heat) where we planted seeds with the homeowner. She was so proud that we were able to “rebuild” a make shift garden to replace the one destroyed first by storm and them completely wiped out by the large machines that arrived several weeks later to repair their road.

All in all, it was a wonderful experience and I was put in touch with some wonderful people that I will be friends with for a very long time. I now have the volunteer bug and can’t get enough. A new item on my bucket list is to join the Peace Corps and give 24-27 months to them in another country in 2018 when I send Nate off to college. Bring it on world!