When I was a child, I had a brass baby bank. It was basically a cylindar, with a small base and a nut that held the whole thing together. I also had a plastic egg, but that wasn’t as fun or interesting to take apart. For years I held onto that brass baby bank. For a while I used it to keep coins and then I’d empty it out and go buy an ice cream or some other treat. I had another special box that I put my wheat pennies into – it was a “silver” treasure chest shaped trinket box which I used until the hinges broke, and then I transferred the coins over to the brass bank.

At some point I started using the brass baby bank to hold my old money – old coins and bills – and foreign money. I filled it with $2 bills, and I even had a silver certificate (for $1) and pennies and dimes dating back into the ’40’s. I kept it around and whenever I’d find a “new” coin I’d slide it in through the little opening, which was mostly obscured by the bills wrapped up inside the bank.

Well, when Melody was born, I started thinking about that bank again. I thought it might be fun to share it with her, or even give it to her at some point. So I started looking in the obvious places for the bank. And I looked. And looked. This year, after looking for two years, I figured it was gone. Maybe it had been accidentally donated to Goodwill (I did that once with a piece of jewelry), or even picked up by one of the numerous workers we have had to the house for repairs and improvements.

It wasn’t! John found it this past weekend in a box with a variety of other unrelated things. I can only assume that it was put in the wrong place during packing for a move, or rearranging after a move. I was delighted to open it up and show Melody the interesting coins I have in there – Greek, Canadian, Mexican, English – and the old wheat pennies, a buffalo nickle, a silver quarter. Something tells me I’m not completely ready to pass the torch, so to speak, but I’ll continue collecting these little treasures for her until the day that she is interested.

I thought I’d lost you, little brass baby bank, and I so thankful to have found you again!