When we were restoring the Delaware State House, the owner of the masonry
company put a coin in the mortar of the first brick. My first impression
was that he was inserting a current-year dated coin for the benefit of
future archaeologists. So I asked, "Current year coin?" He replied that it
was a SILVER coin. This was after sandwich coins were introduced.

So there must be a magical value to putting silver in the first mortar you lay.

The gentleman in question was elderly at that time (1975), so he had done
his apprenticeship between the wars.

  Ned Heite            _(____)_
  Heite Consulting    /Baby '69|
  Camden       _===__/88" Land ||  Archaeologists
  Delaware    | ____ Rover__   ||  do it in
  19934      [||/ .\_____/ .\__|   square holes.
 _____________  \__/_____\__/____________
 http://home.dmv.com/~eheite