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Jefferson Nickel Dansco Album: Coin Collecting in the Purest Sense
SilverEagles92
Posts: 6,787 ✭
I cracked open an old friend today, one that hasn't seen the light of day in a few years. It's a Jefferson Nickel collection in a Dansco album, which is very special to me.
The collection was started by my grandfather in the 70's or 80's, and kept in his sock drawer until five or six years ago. He kept them in a rather unusual Whitman album - not one of the TriFolds, and not a deluxe album either. Its two pages spanning from 1938 until 1964. The album pages covered with acetate sheets, stapled in place. On the front: a name tag, scrawled in cursive, "Allen Williford." My dad.
The reason? Show and tell. My grandfather securely affixed the acetate to the album so that my dad could take the album to school and show the class what special treasure his father had, stapling the sheets in place to be sure that no coin was lost.
I received the album several years ago like I said, nearly complete, just as it had been for 25 years. I was not awestruck by the coins themselves, mere pocket change, but rather by the care that had been taken to ensure no harm would come to the coins, and the family history that surrounded the little blue book. I got a momentary glimpse into a time when my dad was my age; my grandfather with a few less wrinkles.
When he gave it to me, it was no special occasion, no pomp nor circumstance. Just sort of 'here you go' on one visit to our house. I didn't really know what to think - why was he giving it to me? The only conclusion that I've been able to come up with is that my grandma suggested that he give them to me, she's always thinking of the grandkids. She was probably putting the socks away one night, and noticed the album in the drawer, and said to him 'Chad might like to have that.' and he followed through.
They sat untouched in my possession for quite some time, not really sure what to do with them. Do I continue the collection? There are a lot of coins here, but none past the 70's. Should I make the set more current?
That is what I decided to do, in the end. Continue what my grandfather started nearly three decades ago. I did as he had at first, sorting through pocket change to find the dates required. I was able to finish the set, up-to-date, in a short period of time. A new Dansco album proudly displayed my accomplishment.
And there they sat again, for a few more years. Things came and went, but the one constant in my ever-changing hoard has always been, and will likely always be this set of Jefferson nickels.
Recently, as I mentioned, I cracked open the album, determined to upgrade. These circulated coins just don't do this set justice. And, after all, it's not the coins that make the set special, but rather the sentimental nature of the set in the first place. It's not something tangible.
And here is where the purest coin collecting comes in to play. For a mere $15, today I upgraded 24 circulated Jefferson nickels ranging in date from 1974 to 2003 in XF/AU to Gem BU. And that's coin collecting. It does not have to be expensive, you don't have to play the Registry game, it's not about competition. These are some of the most common coins around, and yet I enjoy them much more than some other coins that cost many multiples of the value of this entire set. The most I spent on a single coin in the album was $17 for the 1950-D, most others costing less than 50 cents each.
I still have a ways to go upgrading-wise, but my hope is to complete the set with uncirculated coins from 1938 - date, and continue the legacy that started 25 years ago.
The collection was started by my grandfather in the 70's or 80's, and kept in his sock drawer until five or six years ago. He kept them in a rather unusual Whitman album - not one of the TriFolds, and not a deluxe album either. Its two pages spanning from 1938 until 1964. The album pages covered with acetate sheets, stapled in place. On the front: a name tag, scrawled in cursive, "Allen Williford." My dad.
The reason? Show and tell. My grandfather securely affixed the acetate to the album so that my dad could take the album to school and show the class what special treasure his father had, stapling the sheets in place to be sure that no coin was lost.
I received the album several years ago like I said, nearly complete, just as it had been for 25 years. I was not awestruck by the coins themselves, mere pocket change, but rather by the care that had been taken to ensure no harm would come to the coins, and the family history that surrounded the little blue book. I got a momentary glimpse into a time when my dad was my age; my grandfather with a few less wrinkles.
When he gave it to me, it was no special occasion, no pomp nor circumstance. Just sort of 'here you go' on one visit to our house. I didn't really know what to think - why was he giving it to me? The only conclusion that I've been able to come up with is that my grandma suggested that he give them to me, she's always thinking of the grandkids. She was probably putting the socks away one night, and noticed the album in the drawer, and said to him 'Chad might like to have that.' and he followed through.
They sat untouched in my possession for quite some time, not really sure what to do with them. Do I continue the collection? There are a lot of coins here, but none past the 70's. Should I make the set more current?
That is what I decided to do, in the end. Continue what my grandfather started nearly three decades ago. I did as he had at first, sorting through pocket change to find the dates required. I was able to finish the set, up-to-date, in a short period of time. A new Dansco album proudly displayed my accomplishment.
And there they sat again, for a few more years. Things came and went, but the one constant in my ever-changing hoard has always been, and will likely always be this set of Jefferson nickels.
Recently, as I mentioned, I cracked open the album, determined to upgrade. These circulated coins just don't do this set justice. And, after all, it's not the coins that make the set special, but rather the sentimental nature of the set in the first place. It's not something tangible.
And here is where the purest coin collecting comes in to play. For a mere $15, today I upgraded 24 circulated Jefferson nickels ranging in date from 1974 to 2003 in XF/AU to Gem BU. And that's coin collecting. It does not have to be expensive, you don't have to play the Registry game, it's not about competition. These are some of the most common coins around, and yet I enjoy them much more than some other coins that cost many multiples of the value of this entire set. The most I spent on a single coin in the album was $17 for the 1950-D, most others costing less than 50 cents each.
I still have a ways to go upgrading-wise, but my hope is to complete the set with uncirculated coins from 1938 - date, and continue the legacy that started 25 years ago.
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Comments
Many simple joys come from collecting from pocket change and then upgrading to MS for peanuts.
What did you do with the Whitman album with acetate sheets?
What did you do with the coins that your grandpa had that you upgraded?
I'm just curious. I gather you are a young man at this point. You seem to have a well developed sense of legacy (completing something started three decades ago by your grandpa). This is a bit unusual for a person your age. You are to be commended.
I am curious how far in the future you might be looking? Will this set (or the old Whitman with the original coins) be something that you pass along to your grandson in 2040? It might seem a long way off now, but I guarantee you that the time will have passed in the blink of an eye when you are on the other end looking back.
Very nice story you have shared and a very cool project you have decided to pick up and continue. I'm sure your grandfather and father are both very proud of you!
The feeling that the coins were somehow special because I had owned them as a boy was a sentimental illusion. I'm a grown man now, and I only collect rare coins.
<< <i>The feeling that the coins were somehow special because I had owned them as a boy was a sentimental illusion. I'm a grown man now, and I only collect rare coins. >>
Is that what you told yourself to be convinced that you could let them go?
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<< <i><snip>...The feeling that the coins were somehow special because I had owned them as a boy was a sentimental illusion. I'm a grown man now, and I only collect rare coins. >>
I'm sure my grandfather held no sentimental illusions for his old black handled pocket knife. I remember him abusing the hell out of. Used it as screw driver. Used it to open letters. Used it scrap his fingernails. Used it to score oranges that he and I (as an eight year old kid) shared sitting in the sandy lot behind his trailer as the afternoon sun turned the shadows long. He carried the thing for years. Just a stupid Jack-knife.
Grandpa died in 1986.
I recently cleaned out my mom's old house, she died last January. I found that old knife in a "junk drawer" in the basement kitchen of that old house - just where he left it twenty-five years ago.
I'm a grown man. A big boy as it were. But I'll tell you what, that old pocket knife, that I couldn't give-a-way on Ebay if I tried, holds more illusional sentiment for me than all the old photographs, coins, tools, letters or whatever other stuff people usually leave to youngsters upon their passing combined.
Sentiment is by nature fleeting. It only exists in the minds of the living. It is no more or less an illusion than any other emotion. Is a man's love for his wife or children an illusion imparted by mere association? I assert, not for most.
I'm a grown man and I say, mere possession can impart sentiment. And the world is a better place for it.
<< <i>
<< <i>The feeling that the coins were somehow special because I had owned them as a boy was a sentimental illusion. I'm a grown man now, and I only collect rare coins. >>
Is that what you told yourself to be convinced that you could let them go? >>
It took about a year of contemplation before I was ready to get rid of them. I posted about it on here at the time. Several posters mistakenly told me that I'd regret letting them go. The coins were common crap, and I'm glad they're gone. I couldn't consider myself I serious collector and still keep stuff like that.
The only circulation find I intend to save is a 1915D cent that I found at about age 7 when I first started collecting circa 1972. I checked my dad's change when he came home from work and found it. It's the oldest coin I've ever found in circulation.
My mom saved piles of common wheat cents and buffalo nickels. It was a genuine nuisance to sell all that crap off. The last of it will go on eBay whenever I have free time.
Any photos of this special album MonkeyMan?
"Keep your malarkey filter in good operating order" -Walter Breen
I have sold some of my Grandpa's circulated junk silver that I've had over the last few years (walkers and Mercs mostly), but I'll keep the several circulated Morgans and Peace dollars probably forever, and hopefully will have a son to pass them to someday.
The reason I'll keep them is because I had never seen one of those before until I was 9 or so and got them after my grandpa died in 1994. I can remember thinking how cool they were and how heavy and different than modern coins. It's really the only tangible link I still have, so it means a lot to me.
commoncents123, JrGMan2004, Coll3ctor (2), Dabigkahuna, BAJJERFAN, Boom, GRANDAM, newsman, cohodk, kklambo, seateddime, ajia, mirabela, Weather11am, keepdachange, gsa1fan, cone10
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Leo
The more qualities observed in a coin, the more desirable that coin becomes!
My Jefferson Nickel Collection
The idea that serious collectors do not collect common coins is infantile, I remember when I was too old to kiss my grandmother too... A mature person would not need to worry about appearing anything less than a serious collector. I keep my grandfathers collection of buffalo nickles, wheat cents, and Washington quarters, missing every key date, in the safety deposit box next to coins with mintages barely in the double digits and I'm perfectly secure about my collector status.
<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>The feeling that the coins were somehow special because I had owned them as a boy was a sentimental illusion. I'm a grown man now, and I only collect rare coins. >>
Is that what you told yourself to be convinced that you could let them go? >>
It took about a year of contemplation before I was ready to get rid of them. I posted about it on here at the time. Several posters mistakenly told me that I'd regret letting them go. The coins were common crap, and I'm glad they're gone. I couldn't consider myself I serious collector and still keep stuff like that.
The only circulation find I intend to save is a 1915D cent that I found at about age 7 when I first started collecting circa 1972. I checked my dad's change when he came home from work and found it. It's the oldest coin I've ever found in circulation.
My mom saved piles of common wheat cents and buffalo nickels. It was a genuine nuisance to sell all that crap off. The last of it will go on eBay whenever I have free time. >>
I just think that's completely asinine, saying "I couldn't consider myself a serious collector and still keep stuff like that." It makes you sound holier than thou and as if you think you're better than the rest of us because we hang on to momentos that remind us of times gone by. A coin doesn't have to be extra rare or expensive to be special, sentimental.
To support LordM's European Trip, click here!
<< <i>It took about a year of contemplation before I was ready to get rid of them. I posted about it on here at the time. Several posters mistakenly told me that I'd regret letting them go. The coins were common crap, and I'm glad they're gone. I couldn't consider myself I serious collector and still keep stuff like that. >>
Ah. Serious collectors only collect expensive coins. Got it, thanks.
SilverEagles92's memories and joy of his Jefferson collection can't be bought.
<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>The feeling that the coins were somehow special because I had owned them as a boy was a sentimental illusion. I'm a grown man now, and I only collect rare coins. >>
Is that what you told yourself to be convinced that you could let them go? >>
It took about a year of contemplation before I was ready to get rid of them. I posted about it on here at the time. Several posters mistakenly told me that I'd regret letting them go. The coins were common crap, and I'm glad they're gone. I couldn't consider myself I serious collector and still keep stuff like that.
The only circulation find I intend to save is a 1915D cent that I found at about age 7 when I first started collecting circa 1972. I checked my dad's change when he came home from work and found it. It's the oldest coin I've ever found in circulation.
My mom saved piles of common wheat cents and buffalo nickels. It was a genuine nuisance to sell all that crap off. The last of it will go on eBay whenever I have free time. >>
That's why I'm glad I've always considered it a "hobby". I don't think I could handle being a "serious collector".
I wouldn't mind having such a nuisance