The Coin and the Ankh
Todd Brakke e-mailed me after the post on Richard Garriott/Ultima/Kickstarter/etc. last week, and he corrected me:You didn't get that coin in the box for Ultima IV. Ultima IV came with a small pewter ankh (that I used to wear on a chain around my neck way back when... the chain rubbed away at the loop in the ankh to the point that I had to remove it before the pewter snapped). Anyway, the coin actually came with Ultima V . For years I carried it around in my wallet, only to lose my wallet shortly after moving to Indy back in '99. I was more upset about losing the coin than anything else in there, though my ex actually tracked down a full boxed copy of Ultima V on eBay that included the coin, which I now keep in a small tin in my bedroom. Won't make the mistake of keeping it in my wallet again.
That's a great story, and he's absolutely right. I actually have that ankh in my study--somewhere, and it's the only reason I know what the ankh symbol even means (life).
I think there were so many of us (from that decrepit era) who were incredibly attached to the Ultima series and carried those trinkets around as totems.
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