There are times in life when we possess a favorite memento from many years before. We value the item, sometimes for the monetary value and other times simply for the sentimental value. This piece from your past is held in regard because it reminds you about a time that you wish to be remembered. For some people this might be something that would appear simple and obscure to the public, but there is sometimes more value in what we hold within our hearts.
My great grandfather told a story to his son, and his son to me, that captured my young curiosity. My father told me about a time when an ancient coin was found in Concord, quickly becoming the talk of our little community. Just imagine a small silver coin surviving for over two thousand years and ending up in the Concord, N.H., of 1877.
As the story was told, it was a Concord gentleman that came into possession of this ancient silver coin, the actual size being that of a modern dime. The coin was identified by a local historian as a tetradrachm and it originated far away in Greece. This coin was said to have been minted around 323 BC and featured on the obverse the head of Alexander the Great in fine profile.
Alexander wore a limskin head dress which was said to represent him as Hercules. The reverse side of the small coin featured the figure of a sitting Jupiter with an eagle in his right hand and a scepter in his left hand. The scepter was pictured in line with the inscription Alexandrum. The local Concord historian that identified this coin 145 years ago speculated at the time the age of the coin would be close to 2200 years since Alexander the Great died in 323 BC. This coin was said to be in good condition and the gentleman in possession did plan to donate the coin to a local museum so that it could be viewed and enjoyed by all of the citizens of Concord.
As a young child growing up in Concord, I developed a keen appreciation and love of local history because of the stories that are passed from a father to a son. With the story about the ancient coin from Greece I was motivated to learn more. I asked questions and was never able to discover if this coin was discovered here in Concord or purchased abroad and brought here in the pocket of a tourist or collector. As the years have continued to pass, I have acquired more information about the ancient history of Concord, N.H., certainly steeped with lore but remarkably with threads of fact interlaced with grand fiction. It was during the same era when the tetradrachm story was circulating amongst my great grandfather and his friends that another amazing discovery in Concord arrived. The excavation for the Railroad Depot on the present-day Storrs Street brought a fascinating discovery too. A “Short Sword” of Viking origin was found buried deep beneath the earth during the excavation for the granite foundations. It will remain yet another unsolved historical adventure from my youth, but the sword was indeed found.
The ancient coin discovery as well as the Viking sword discovery fueled my desire for adventure in my youth. I purchased a metal detector with the money I made as a Concord Monitor paperboy and set about in search of my very own miraculous discovery. Surely, I would discover a vast treasure and enjoy a wonderful feature story about my discovery in the next edition of the Concord Monitor. I did find many things that summer so many decades ago, some discoveries were quite fascinating while others were simply old bottlecaps. I found a Revolutionary War Brown Bess Socket Bayonet not far from my childhood home. I still have this coveted bayonet in my collection. I also still possess the dreams of my youth, the quest to discover and share the stories that tell about the Concord of long ago.