Verified answer

I do not believe that the quote about which you ask is found in the novel "Dear John" by Nicholas Sparks; rather, the quote comes from the screenplay adapted from the novel by Jamie Linden for the film "Dear John" (2010).

In the script based upon the screenplay the following text is not in a single paragraph of dialogue; however, the substance of John Tyrees' spoken words, as said by actor Channing Tatum, reads as follows:

__(John Tyree) "There's something I wanna tell you. After I got shot, you wanna know the very first thing that entered my mind, right before I blacked out? Coins. I'm eight years old again on a tour of the U.S. Mint, listening to the guide explain how coins are made. How they are punched out of sheet metal. How they are rimmed and beveled. How they are stamped and cleaned. And then how each and every coin is personally examined just in case one has slipped though with the slightest imperfection. That's what popped into my head. I'm a Coin in the United States Army. I was minted in the year 1980. I have been punched from sheet metal, I have been stamped and cleaned, My edges have been rimmed and beveled. But now I have two small holes in me, and I am no longer in perfect condition."

Please see:

http://docs6.chomikuj.pl/276217816,0,0,Dear-John-S... [This is the script, in dialogue form, including action and character movements.]

Another copy of the script may be read at the following URL:

http://www.screenplaydb.com/film/scripts/dear_john... [See pp. 2-4.]

I should hasten to add that the quote about which you ask appears, just as you have quoted it, in the Internet Movie Database (IMDb). It appears as a "Memorable quote" from the film "Dear John". Please see:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0989757/quotes [See final quote.]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0989757/

Good luck!