By SEBASTIAN HERNANDEZ Sept. 18, 2018
After becoming fed up with the tried and true methods of collecting all the state quarters, amateur coin collector Moe Knee has quit his job at the US Mint and sold his home to live on the streets. Mr. Knee decided to hold up a cardboard sign saying “Homeless. Any change would help, but only state quarters are acceptable.”
“Coin collecting used to be a patient man’s game, but you have to take risks if you want to succeed,” said Mr. Knee. “Also, apparently coin collectors make very little money, like most of these quarters are worth at least 25 cents. So with the extra cash inflow from begging, it’s kind of a win-win.”
Mr. Knee so far has 12 Maryland quarters and a rare Buffalo nickel (which he uses exclusively to throw at pigeons).
When he sold his home, Mr. Knee tried to ask for the payment to be made out entirely in quarters. It may have expedited his search, but the couple that moved into his bungalow were “yuppie jerks who thought that was inconvenient,” in Mr. Knee’s own words. The couple declined to comment, due to obviosity.
Some homeless people, like Sam Halpert, seem to dislike Mr. Knee’s acquisition methods. “People say ‘beggars can’t be choosers’ for a reason. He’s giving the rest of us a bad reputation by association. So in his case, beggars can be losers.”
However, a disproportionate number of homeless men and women in Maine also have an interest in coin collecting. The amount of spare change available in Maine has become sparse, making these amateur collectors all the more desperate.
When he is not coin collecting, Mr. Knee imagines what is on the back of the Alaska state quarter. He hopes it is the Coca-Cola polar bears, but also realizes that it is not a great guess.
The Bowdoin Harpoon 