Beauty Is Sometimes Hard to See

by Ann Nolen.
(Santa Rosa, California USA)

When I first started hand painting coins to make jewelry, I attended an out of town Coin Show with my husband.

Hand painted New Zealand Coin

Both of us have been coin collectors and members of our local Coin Club for 20 years, so going to coin shows together was something we had done often.

My husband enthusiastically searched for coins for me to paint and stacked then up to proudly show me what he had found. I didn’t want to hurt his feelings, but I didn’t like any of them.

Hand painted New Zealand coin

I went through this coin dealers coins and found others that I loved and actually purchased.

My husband was very puzzled about the outcome, and even more so when I got excited about this National Parks Coin from New Zealand. It was issued in 1987, and the beautiful design just didn’t stand out very well in all silver.

unpainted coin

I decided to paint it in a deep purple and was so happy with the results, I kept the first one I finished.

I wear it often, especially since I love this color so often that it matches a lot of my clothes.

My husband and I still laugh about that day, and he still marvels that I could see the potential in the coin. So, every time I wear it, the story attached to it brings me a little smile.

Ann Nolen
AnimalCoin