Note: Earlier today I found a nickel that had been embedded in my washing machine tub for weeks. It had somehow lodged itself sideways in a seam that connected the tub bottom to the wall structure. The only visible part of it was the coin’s rim. My attempts to remove it were fruitless, so there it sat wedged in a seam for months.

Today, after removing some laundered bedsheets, I noticed that the disk had become dislodged and was now lying there at the bottom of the tub, shiny and smooth. It was barely recognizable. The nickel coin was worn smooth.

I bet that nickel’s intrinsic value is now worth more than its denomination, despite its engravature almost completely erased.