Jago’s Gift

I was relaxing with a good book while Eve was out shopping for the day, when I was surprised by Jago making himself at home, walking into my living room, sipping from a beer he pulled from my kitchen refrigerator.

“Joseph!” he exclaimed in his usual greeting, “Why are you in the house with a book on such a great day like today?”

I looked up, “Why are you in my house drinking my beer, making yourself at home without knocking first?”

“Since when do I have to knock?  We never worried about locked doors years ago and we never knocked when we came in.”

I smiled, “It’s a good way to get your head lopped off or your gut punctured by a steel blade.”

He shrugged, “Well, now-a-days we are dodging bullets more than a swift blade”.

Jago moved over to the over-stuffed easy chair situated across from me.  He hopped in as he slammed down the rest of the beer in one sweeping movement.  “What are you reading anyway?”  He shook a stern yet joking finger at me, “Are you researching coin lots again?”

“So what if I am?” I asked with a quick glance upward.

“Just wondering.  Say, I always see you flipping that silver denarius between your fingers.  When was it from?”

I pulled the coin from my pocket.  “It’s an Antoninus Pius silver denarius struck about 142 years after the death of Christ.” 

I briefly imaged the sites and the sounds of that that time.  There were many different aromas and colors in that period.  I always drifted to the market place and heard the haggling and the clanging of coin because that is where all of these coins had the greatest value during that the time.

“Do you miss it?” Jago asked knowing I had drifted off to another time and place.  “Your precious House of Ancient Coins and Curios has many coins and objects to bring you to many places in your mind.  Maybe we should all go to www.ancientscoin.com and search for a place to imagine.  In the meantime, here is a present.”

Jago reached into his pocket and threw me a shiny new Lincoln penny.  “Here is a new coin for you so you will remember who you are with right now.  Put that on your web site.” he said laughing as he usually does. ”Let’s go get a beer!”

The Daydream

It’s good to be with friends, but so difficult to remember the friends that are gone.  Where did the time pass that nothing can stand still long enough for me to enjoy and savor the time I have been given with the people I love and the lands that I lived in?

Although buildings crumble and landmarks change along with the population and traditions, the things I have collected stay the same.  The coins and statues are a tribute frozen in time for all to hold and wonder at.

When I pick up a coin from Constantine the First’s Rome, I see the great care and skill it took to strike millions of these into existence.  I dream a waking dream when I rub it between my finger tips and feel its surface – it reminds me of the smell of horses and camp fires during the time of a great peace in Rome.

I have created House of Ancient Coins and Curios at www.ancientscoin.com not only for myself, but for anyone who wants to daydream back in time to a forgotten place, to hold a piece of history in their hand.  Right now I can feel the sun of a forgotten age on my face and the breeze of that world combing through my hair.  I miss it. At least I can go to www.ancientscoin.com and share all of this with you.

Come daydream with me of a wonderful history.  Go to House of Ancient Coins and Curios for a visit.

**Joseph Ancient **

One Cool Spring Night

Once in “Blue Moon” my friends and I get together for dinner and drinks to remember the wonderful times we had in our youth.  It was on a cool spring evening that several of us and our spouses settled in at a local outdoor grill for food and laughter encouraged by our bottomless beer mugs.

“Jago” brought his wife Mona and Chester brought Dani. I of course brought Eve and we all dominated the area of the patio where we were sitting.  Jago (we still don’t remember why he is called “Jago”, but we knew it wasn’t his real name), was laughing loudly enough to annoy the table next to us into taking their drinks to the inside of the bar rather than remain by us.  He smiled widely as he threw back the rest of his glass of beer with a loud gulp.

“Ah, these are the times, eh friends?”

Chester (who also adopted that name instead of his birth name) agreed by raising his glass.  Mona shook her head as Dani and Eve looked at each other with an expression that said “Oh no, not again”.

Jago looked at me with an impish grin and asked, “So I see you have gone public to the world with that website - “House of Ancient Coins and Junk”.

I corrected him. “That’s house of Ancient Coins and Curios, and I haven’t really gone public, I am just arousing their curiosity”.

“Looks like that could be dangerous to the rest of us.” Chester said with concern.

The ladies decided to adjourn to the bar area as we began to discuss a very old subject.  They didn’t want to know too much about the others spouse.  Jago poured us each another round and sat down.

“Don’t worry”, I assured them, “they would never believe any of us, even if we were honest to their faces.  It’s too hard to accept the truth, so we give al little to mislead”.

“You sound more like you teasing them”, Chester said as he took a drink.

“Why do you share these things, and why do you continue to buy and sell?” Jago asked.

I replied, “The older I get the harder it is to remember everything.  I suppose it’s nature’s way of keeping our minds fresh and sharp.  No one has done what we have done.”

“Why coins?” asked Jago.

“They are easy to store and I can pull them out to reminisce whenever I like.  Aren’t either of you having the same problem?”

Hey both agreed with a nod.

I continued, “I have many of these trinkets to offer everyone.  When you hold one in your hand it makes me feel like I am there, in the desert or walking the streets of Rome. That’s why I am offering these coins and artifacts to everyone.  They can experience this too.  Why don’t you guys try it?”

“Do you have any with you? “ Jago asked.

“No.  Go to www.ancientscoin.com and buy some!”

“You would charge us?” laughed Chester.

“Do you want to remember?” I asked them. “Them like everyone else go to House of Ancient Coins and Curios and pick up something. Hold history in your hands boys!”

“Ah, you’re an idiot”, Jago said waving his hand, “but here’s to the good old days!” He stood and gestured his glass to toast.

The girls came back out at that moment and looked at each other with a look that said “It’s going to be a long night”.

I am Joseph Ancient

People ask me, “Where are from?  How old you?”  I usually just reply with a story about my past.  I am much too old to remember my childhood, but I began to realize that if I collected things like coins, pottery, jewelry and objects of the time, that it would stimulate my memory to recapture events.  So I saved coins or bought lots of them to jog my memory of the past.  I looked for jewelry or statues that would remind of my time that passed long ago.

What you see here and at www.ancientscoin.com is the culmination of many years of gathering and collecting.  The website contains only a small portion of my collections, but as these dwindle, I shall replace them with other items from the past.

Please browse and acquaint yourself with my tokens from the past.  You can make them yours.

I miss my friends.  They always reminded me of good times and peaceful days.  Although one always would tell me and laugh “There can be only one”.  I still wonder what he meant by that.