My experience with foreign coins

　　    Someone often asks me, “What’s your hobby? Do you like collecting stamps?”

　　    In fact, I’m fond of fishing, collecting stamps, and playing basketball. But I spend most of my spare time collecting foreign coins. Maybe collecting foreign coins is my real hobby.

　　    I still remember my first foreign coin is a Dutch guilder(荷兰盾). I was fascinated（入迷的） by the strange coin that I had never seen. From then on, I lost myself in collecting foreign coins. I have some nice coins, most of which have the head of a famous person on one side. On the other side there may be a famous emblematic（象征性的） building of the country or the date and the value of the coin.

　　    Most foreign coins are circular(圆形的), but some have different shapes. For example, the coins of Hong Kong are different from those of other countries. They are just like beautiful Chinese redbud(紫荆花). When I first saw them, I even thought maybe they’re souvenir coins(纪念币), but when I watched them carefully, I found that they are coins.

　　    Coins can be made of different kinds of metal. Some are made of nickel（镍）, and some are made of different metal mixture.

　　    Now I have a lot of coins from different countries: U.S. dollar, German mark, Singapore dollar, Thai baht(泰铢) and so on. I think I will go on collecting foreign coins, because it makes me happy every day.

　　教师评语：

　　    It is great that you are interested in the coins of other countries. It is so important to understand the cultures and lifestyles of other countries that all countries can learn from one another and make the world better. Well done!