In the midst of a hellaciously busy day today, I made a nice find. There in the penny tray at the convenience store was a 1944-D nickel, which, as readers may know, is made in part of silver. (Nickel was more important than silver during World War II, when the former metal was needed for weapons or ammunition or some such.) "I'll put a quarter in there if you let me take that nickel," I told the clerk. She smiled and replied, "Go ahead and take it -- it's the 'take a penny' dish."

So I did, leaving a shiny, boring quarter behind.

Sure, my new nickel is a bit dinged up and dirty. But it's a nice piece of history at a very good price.