Mutt and Jeff met as usual early Thursday morning at the Swap Shop, to beat the heat. It's the middle of May in South Florida and before the day's out it is supposed to be in the mid 80's.

The garage sale section was very sparse. Each picked up a small non-numismatic item, but no coins. About two hours later, near the end of the search, they saw a storage locker sale. People down sizing their life style or planning to move, put their life long belongings in the public storage garage size spaces. Then they ether move away or depending on their age, pass on. The storage space people, sell the contents for back rent. The entrepreneurs who buy theses contents are always gambling, for they never know what they will find. After picking out a few better items, the rest goes to the flea market. Boxes upon boxes containing all kinds of household items, books and memorabilia of a lifetime.

At the Swap Shop when you first see one to the large trucks unload, the scavengers like vultures descend on the area. Mutt and Jeff were no different when we came upon a truck load. Some of the items had been sorted out and placed on tables. Mutt quickly saw a round tin candy container with a hundred or so, foreign coins. At first glance they looked like common world and a few Lincoln pennies. Jeff picked up the can to take a better look. Pawing through, there might be a few slightly better items, tokens and three pieces of folded paper money. Mutt said "let's buy them, together". Jeff said to the vendor" what do you wont for these?" "Ten dollars" as Mutt gave him a sawbuck. Jeff handed Mutt a fin and they walked a way.

An hour later over coffee, they looked at the find. Not much there. One older English penny with a rim bang. Two nothing tokens. But there were a dozen, all alike, interesting military tokens. They each divided the token lot.

Lawry Air Force Base, Denver’s only Air Force Base was where thousands of Army and Air Force airmen trained in bombing, aerial photography, intelligence and ordinance during WWII. President Eisenhower's Summer White House was there and Lowry was also the original home of the US Air Force Academy.

A little history - In 1934, the Army Air Corps was actively searching for a site for its Air Service Technical training schools. After looking at many sites Denver was selected.

In 1937 the WPA began work to convert the grounds of a former Sanatorium into a modern airfield. The new field was to be named in honor of Francis Brown Lowry. He was born in Denver in 1894. Second Lieutenant Lowry died 1918 when his plane was shot down by German antiaircraft fire.

Once construction started, the Denver branch of the Army Air Corps became an Army post of 880 acres. A bombing range of 64,000 acres was acquired in 1938.

The Army Air Corps became the Army Air Force in June 1941. In 1943, Flight Engineers School was moved to Lowry. In 1944, Lowry introduced courses in radar photography, autopilot maintenance, and B-29 crew training.

President Eisenhower signed a bill in 1954, authorizing a new Air Force Academy. Lowry was selected as the Academy's interim home until construction was completed in Colorado Springs. The Air Force Academy occupied facilities at Lowry until 1958.

The 1960's marked the end of an era at Lowry. Flight activity began to be phased out. The base was closed that year.

Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum in a former Lowry hanger, preserves the memory of Air Force Base today.