I've been searching for a way to get my wife into coin collecting since before we got married. I've shown her the best of my collection and even dragged her to a coin store and offered to buy her anything inside. Unfortunately, none of my tactics worked, though she was and is still supportive of my hobby. What finally worked was her offering that she wanted to collect coins from countries she visits. Naturally, I took full advantage of this on our honeymoon to Florence, Italy.
On the plane ride there, we agreed we would work on getting her an Italy Euro Cent Type Set. I, on the other hand, was after an old Italian Lire Type Set. The plan was to seek out a store that sold a Lire Type Set and go through all of the change for her Type Set. We tried to pull money out of an ATM for each purchase so we would have multiple opportunities to find the coins. My wife showed an interest in non-Italian Euro Cents, so we made an effort to keep each type of any country coin we came across. Since she knows to hand me her change from purchases in the US before spending it, I cannot express the joy I had watching her giddily looking through our change after each purchase.
We started off doing pretty well with her Type Set since just about every purchase meant a coin we did not have. The only problem was most of what we purchased ended in double digits, so we didn't have any of the coins under 10 Euro Cents. We also hadn't made any progress on my Lire Type Set.
Our first break came when we stopped in a store that was small yet extravagant. We entered the store because of another collection effort we had: my wife collects horse statues/figurines from places she travels to. They had the most beautiful miniature brown horse that was hand painted with silver trim. After we purchased the horse, I asked where I would be able to find Lire for sale. He pulled out a map and circled a location north of the Duomo and said we could find Lire there. After thanking him profusely “grazie mille!” we were on our way.
We wandered around the shops north of the Duomo and came across a couple of stores that sold coins. The first one we came across had some coins hanging in the window. It was mostly a trinket store and so my wife looked at those while I looked at the coins. The owner showed me an old, uncirculated Lire set that I considered to be a reasonable price. We walked out of there with some trinkets and some coins.
The next location we came across was the store we were originally directed to. It was a coin and stamp store but seemed to focus on stamps. What brought us in that store was a beautiful coin in a red case my wife noticed in the window. I asked the man if he could show me the coin in the window “Signori, per piacieri, me mostri una moneta?” He asked which one “che cosa?” and I replied “la moneta rosa” He handed me a beautifully toned 500 Lire coin dated MCMLVII. Of course, I purchased the coin, and remarked to my wife just how great of an eye she has for coins. I was also happy to see that I purchased the old Lire set for 3 Euros less than this store was selling.
The next day, on our way back to the hotel from L'Academica, which is home to the David and other works of art, we came across an elongated cent vending machine. I went inside the shop sponsoring the machine and proffered up a Euro asking for change “voree monetas per favore” “Change?” he asks in English and I nod happily. He hands me some 2 Euro Cent coins, which finally gives us a coin for her Type Set and one for me to use in the machine.
As we ambled back, we stopped in a store that had some very beautiful statues and some old coins. It was the best of both worlds since it gave us both something to look at. We greeted the gentleman inside “buon giorno!” and he began rattling off about the statues in Italian and telling us they were all original “molto originale”. I responded with “e le moneta?” asking if the coins were original and he honestly answered no they were copies. He did, however, bring me to the back of the store and handed me a tray of ancient coins and said they were all originals and only 20 Euros. I looked at every single one and selected one that interested me the most, asked permission from my wife to buy it, and walked out one coin richer.
Since we had been eating at a lot of outside restaurants, we decided to eat what locals ate and stopped in a place that was Florence's version of Pizza Hut. We bought a slice of pizza, a calzone, fries, and some drinks and sat down to eat. We still hadn't gotten a 1 Euro Cent coin for her Type Set and I figured a place like this was our best opportunity. When the store lines calmed down, I walked up to the counter, bought some more water, and strung together my best attempt in Italian to ask for change. “Io ho una collezione de moneta, e voree le un Euro Cent d' Italia”. Both the male and female worker hold up a one Euro coin and I attempt to explain I wanted the smaller one “le petit, centimo”. The male excitedly comes back with a box and hands it to me and says “all Euro Cents, you can have for the price on top”. There were 3.10 Euros worth of coins and I happily handed over the same amount. Grinning ear to ear, I showed the box to my wife and stowed it away in my backpack. We had a great time later going through it both in our hotel room and back in the US.
The last coin we found for her Type Set came when we made our last purchase for the night. We were looking at a gelato store and for some reason, my wife takes us across the street to a small store. We both get smalls, she gets something coffee flavored and I get my standard mint chocolate chip. In the change, I find a 2 Euro Cent from Italy, dated 2005 that celebrates the European Constitution. We didn't even know the coin existed but happily whisked it away as we ate our gelato on our way to the hotel.
Florence is absolutely beautiful that has so much to offer with its art and architecture. Not only did it bring me and my wife closer in our marriage, but helped us connect over a hobby I am quite passionate about. I couldn't recommend visiting the city more and look forward to the next opportunity I have to go there.
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