The Erika Kirkland Museum of Found Objects, 2017

Found Money

My wife Erika is planning to start a Museum of Found Objects. Polaroids, hubcaps, and whole galleries devoted to those lone shoes you see on the side of the highway. We’re starting with coins.

Shortly after we first got married, we started collecting ‘found’ money. If we see a coin on the ground, we pick it up, and add it to a jar for that year. We’ve been doing it continually for 14 years now. It’s not an urge to be frugal or careful - it’s just a dumb game that’s mostly led by Erika’s constant scanning of the ground while I look up at trees or tall buildings.

There are very strict rules for ‘found’ money - it must be:

This year we sat down and totalled all 14 jars of found money. I made a spreadsheet, of course.

A few notable pieces this year:

Found Money

Found Money

Found Money

Found Money

Now that we’ve got Felix and Trudy looking, each year’s take has gotten better.

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