Many years ago there was a boy at home on a night well before Christmas.  His parents were away and curiosity had gotten the better of him.  There was a small box under the tree and he had no idea of what it could be.  It did not rattle and it seemed much too small for anything he thought he had wanted.  The box sparkled under the tree that night just begging to be opened as one flap, with not quite enough tape, lifted enough that if gently pulled back would reveal what was inside.  So I pulled oh so carefully allowing me to remove the box within without taking a breath.  It was far easier than I could have imagined, so still hearing no car on the drive I did it, taking a peek inside.  There to my surprise was an 1867 shield nickel that glistened under the lights of our Christmas tree.  I had actually never seen such a coin before well at least not in my hand.  I studied it for only a moment or two before carefully repacking my little treasure in its box then sliding it back in the wrapping making sure to press the flap firm this time.  My parents arrive not to long later, none the wiser I think for my first and last time I stole a Christmas peek.

I recently noticed that Amazon Prime had added Space 1999 to their lineup and as a child who both watched the program, had the toys, and later collected the trading cards I decided to watch the series again.  Of course the many years between those fond memories and now I found the premise of our moon being pulled violently away from earth’s orbit to travel madly across space encountering other planets along the way, well it almost sets my teeth on edge.  I know it is supposed to be entertainment so I try to push aside what I know, or at least think I know as I am by no means an astrophysicist, to once again try to enjoy this fictional world imagined in the early seventies.  So what does this have to do with numismatics, well nothing and at this time of the year maybe everything?