💬 My grandfather's tin of old coins started my collection

My grandfather kept a Marie biscuit tin full of coins in his cupboard for about 40 years. When he died, my mother handed me the tin and said, you were the only one who asked. I had asked once, at age 9, why he kept money that nobody could spend. He said, this one's from the nizam's time. I think he was joking. I'm still not sure. Inside there were about 200 coins. 1 paisa, 2 paise, some with holes, and a few with green dust on them. One is so thin it bends if you press it. One has a tiny dent on the edge. I spent a whole evening sorting them on the bed with my son. We made 4 piles. He wanted the biggest coin. I said no. He said, why. I said, because. That's the tin's rule now. After that I couldn't stop. A relative from Bangalore gave me a handful of old change last winter. A man in Begum Bazar sold me 6 coins for 100 rupees and swore they were rare. They aren't. I looked them up at home. Every one is common. I still kept them, obviously. Nothing I have is worth much. I've never had any of it checked and I don't want to. My wife thinks it's a waste of shelf space. She's right. It's a small shelf. Last month she found a 1 rupee coin on the road and handed it to me without a word. That's the closest she's come to approving. I put it in the tin the same night. What do you all collect? Matchboxes, stamps, keycards, anything. I'd like to hear the strange ones.

A Marie biscuit tin is the perfect place for it, and the one coin that bends when you press it sounds like the best of the lot. My grandfather kept old postage stamps in a Parle G tin and I found them only after he passed.

I collect bottle caps, started because my neighbor ran a small restaurant and let me keep the ones from imported drinks. Nothing rare, just interesting shapes and colors nobody else seemed to want. Your grandfather's coin tin sounds like it aged better than my shoebox though, mine just smells like old metal caps and dust.