The Great State Quarter Search of 2008

Among the many great gifts Alison got for her 7th birthday was a gift certificate to Mass Avenue Toys, a great shop in downtown Indianapolis. As the hoarder of both coin and folding money, she was drawn to a coin sorter, which came with a book designed to hold and display each of the state commemorative quarters.

We've been collecting state quarters rather haphazardly in her biggest piggy bank for years. So when we got the gift home, we went right to the pig and filled in a good half of the book. Jeff took over a few days later, emptying his stashes and we filled in some more.

I had a lot of fun with this because the quarter collection has an extra kick. Back in my Statehouse days, Governor O'Bannon let me help collect proposals and settle on the final design of the Indiana quarter. I got to plan the announcement, too, which was way fun because it was at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. My friend Joyce called in her stamp buddies and we even got a special USPS stamp for the day. The event was even mentioned in a book written by my friend Andrew Stoner about Governor O'Bannon.

Alison is less concerned about Indiana's coin -- we've had that for years now and it's old hat. She's been searching high and low for others, though. A couple friends from work threw in a couple and I've been getting change in quarters so she can sort through them. We're currently missing only Illinois, Alabama and Kansas from among the coins that have been released. Arizona, Alaska and Hawaii have yet to be rolled out.

If you happen to have one of the missing coins jangling around in your pockets, and they're not earmarked for your own little ones, I know a small redhead who would gladly reimburse you if you'd like to send it along.

I say reimburse you, and I mean it, because along the way to finding her state quarters, Alison sorted and rolled all of the coins she's been hoarding since she first started snatching them up. Along with the folding money she's cabbaged from birthday cards and such, she'd amassed more than $130 in various purses, jars, and other things with lids or zippers. This despite my leniency in letting her buy the occasional Littlest Pet Shop or magazine at the news stand.

So we trotted her down to Chase Bank yesterday. Jeff had actually told her that he would take care of her deposit, but she asked if she could go, too. She put her rolled coins and twenties in the popsicle treasure chest she'd built and painted at camp and suffered through the 15 minutes or so it took to set up her account. She managed to talk the bankers out of some extra coin rolls for her future endeavors.

Jeff had her fill out her own savings book, so she's all set. The idea that the bank will actually pay her to keep her money there instead of in nooks and crannies around the house has thrilled her. She's planning on depositing her next dividend check from the Getty Realty Corp. (something her Grandfather passed along to her last year) and any other cash she can scrounge.

I'm afraid she's on the road to becoming a Republican.

I'm going to do my best to keep her a fiscally conservative Democrat. We've been making her give us plain old ordinary quarters every time we find her state quarters that she needs.

Jeff helped more yesterday when, before we went to the bank, we stopped off at Staples where he had to buy new ink because Ali had done wild printing out documents from Pixel Chicks and LPS.

She contributed $20 to the $80 bill in our effort to encourage her to understand the value behind the fun stuff she does. (Forget the price at the pump; it's the ink barons who are going to get us in the end.)

When Jeff asked her if she thought she should pay for a portion of the ink cost, she offered up a full half on the theory that she'd be printing more in the future. He thought $20 would be a more fair start. Silly dad. Peeling off a couple of twenties from her wad of cash didn't hurt one bit. "I still have a lot more," she said.

So if you have one of her missing quarters and you don't mind parting with it, make sure you get something back from her -- she's got the do-re-mi -- and she doesn't mind paying her fair share. I may have her in the D camp after all...