Things I miss hearing (memories from the 1990s, really):
"Does anyone really pay extra for Bust halves by Overton variety? We don't even look them up."
"Nobody really pays up for VAMs, so you can have that XF 1888-O Hot Lips for the same price as a regular 1888-o: $11."
"That cent doesn't quite have half the mint luster left, so we didn't want to call it AU50."
"An older guy brought those in. His father brought them back from California in the 1890s. Some of those might need to be submitted to PCGS before we sell them."
"That half dollar is really nice for the grade, but nobody will buy it because it's priced 10% over Red Book."
"I hate it when coins come back AU58 from PCGS. We thought they were MS63s, and nobody wants to pay more than AU50 price for them."
When I was in elementary school in the 1960's and collecting as a YN (1963 through spring 1968) some of my classmates (guys, not girls) also collected. We collected from various sources including:
a. our pocket change,
b. from our parents pocket change,
c. from money paid out by the school lunch lady as change when we purchased a school lunch,
d. from money made from mowing lawns, shoveling snow and delivering papers on a paper route,
e. from change received when buying stuff at Dairy Queen and A&W,
f. from change received from buying stuff at the local roller rink,
g. from coins purchased on those rare times when our parents took us to Dan Brown's coins shop in downtown Denver, and
h. from coins given to us as gifts for our birthday's and for Christmas.
However, we also collected coins by trading with each other. We at times got together and showed each other our Whitman albums and talked about what coins we had and what coins we needed. We traded with each other and had some fun doing it.
Good times................................., long gone. Very innocent, with low value coins obtained from circulation being viewed by me and my collecting buddies as priceless treasures [everyone would get very excited at finding S mint Lincolns in change dated prior to 1940 (for some reason the 1950's and 1940's did not seem old to us, but going back to 1939 or earlier seemed absolutely ancient).
Would like to be able to do the same with adult collectors today, however it just would not be the same.
It is all the same, except different. I think I miss the days of raw coins (no problem when you collect only circ. coins). Instead of competing with the grading services to determine grade, you were dealing with humans. Much more arbitrage ability back then. Also, many sellers had really bad pics or scans of coins in the early days. With some practice, you could take a chance on a coin with a really bad scan, which scared away other bidders and end up with a great coin. BIN on Ebay used to be another way to make really good score. Not anymore, not any of it.
My 1904-S Barber Half with a BIN of $450. These don't come around anymore, ever.
Receiving nothing but 90% silver and wheat cents and several buffalo nickels when collecting Saturday mornings on my paper route in 1958.
Buying US Proof Sets 1964 and earlier from the mint for $2.10 each.
Submitting mail bids on raw coins based on written descriptions only in Stack's, Bowers and Ruddy, Kagin's, Harmer Rooke, RARCOA, Joe Lepczyk etc. auctions.
Buying coins at the coin department at Gimble's in NYC.
Buying AU/BU $5.00 libs for $30.00 each from Nunemakers (sp) Coin World Ads.
Cherry picking 1882-CC and 1883-CC Morgans from mint bags at $7.00 each (still have 2 or 3 of them).
Do I feel old or what!
it's crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide
Going to the local laundromat with my buddy and draining the nickel machine. 10 nickels for 50 cent piece. Once found a 1913 type 1 with gobs of mint luster.
Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.-Albert Einstein
My favorite time with coins was 1999-2005. Having cashed out a lot of stock market profits, was looking to diversify into my pre-teen (1975-1982) hobby of coins.
Bought a Lot of stuff in eBay auctions, this was befere we had kids and when there was still plenty of good stuff on there, and prices were low.
Built my reasonable childhood dream collection before my own kids came along..
Still need some tough 18th century types, hoping for one more wave after retirement to finish my set before the grim reaper shows up
Worn out Capped Bust half dollars that were so cheap I could buy them with my teenage wages of 87¢ an hour from the local Richfield gas station. We washed your windshield and checked the tire pressure and oil level too. That was a long time ago. Anybody here remember those days?
Hydrant Posts:
Worn out Capped Bust half dollars that were so cheap I could buy them with my teenage wages of 87¢ an hour at the local Richfield gas station. We washed your windshield and checked the tire pressure and oil level too. That was a long time ago. Anybody here remember those days?
Remember very well. Worked at Father's gas station doing all that and more for a "full service" station during 50's and 60's. Must have washed 2000 cars by hand during those years. Made for a good college fund.
The innocence of my coin collecting youth! I am a much more knowledgeable and experienced collector now but with that comes a dose of, well I guess reality. I still do get a thrill out of acquiring a nice coin for my collection but not as much as when I had to save my paper route money for something or found it in circulation.
There is a massive bid board at a store in McHenry, Illinois. Guess the thing I kind of miss is the awe I felt looking at coins in a Red Book as a young person as opposed to now when I have a lot of those coins and that thrill of youthful excitement is diminished. It is replaced with thankful satisfaction which isn't a bad feeling the more I think about it.
Pete
"Ain't None of Them play like him (Bix Beiderbecke) Yet." Louis Armstrong
Now when I look at a dime... I see a dime. Then I have to get some sort of magnifying device.
I blame my parents, both of who's eyesight became crap as they got older. I blame them for a lot of deficient genes they passed on, among them my hayfever and crap back.
Found a 1966 ad for the place. I was probably last there in 1973 or so to add to an anemic US stamp set I bought from a friend.
Have I ever posted this before? The other necessity of life, food. From the June 13, 1936 edition of The Charlotte Observer... (This will probably only be really meanigful if you're the one that does the grocery shopping. )
Too funny Backroad😂 Why do people save that stuff😗?
Thanks for the memories guys and allowing me to swap fish stories🐟 I found a small box of stuff when a realitive passed and couldn't throw it away. Prue junk, but my pure junk. Wish I could hear the stories behind it all. I love stories.
@Coinstartled said:
Northland shopping center just off the Detroit border had a decent lower level coin and stamp shop. Went in with my grandmother nearly 50 years ago. A crisp $2 was offered by the dealer for fourteen bucks. Granny asked the fellow if he would give her fourteen dollars for her old crumpled bill. He tried to explain that her note was worn out dreck and as well, he had to make a profit on the sale.
The two tangled for a couple minutes and we left.
That may have been the first edition of "why coin dealers drink!"
I remember that guy!!! I never liked or trusted him. However, the coin and stamp store was heaven to me as a little kid. It was one of the most fascinating sights in the world to me (til I discovered girls). What memories.
My dad was a bartender and let me look thru all the coins in the cash register back in the early sixties. Found some goodies doing that. I sure miss it but, of course I miss my dad more. I also miss the old small ANACS slabs, which are the ones I started out with years ago.
Looking at this old thread again reminded me of getting Buffalo nickels out of the change machine at Sherman's Amusement Park on Caroga Lake in upstate New York in the late 1950s. I didn't think they ever got any new change, just recycled the coins out of the rides or games and put them back in the change machines year after year. As a kid with a bunch of Whitman folders it was like hitting the jackpot on a Las Vegas slot machine.
it's crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide
Prior to slabs, being able to hold and see coins in their true beauty without looking through scratches and reflections. It is much easier to grade and appreciate a coin that is not encased in plastic. Also the excitement and surprise of sliding a gem coin out of a 2x2 paper envelope that had toned the coin to perfection!
You guys were a strange lot! I never knew any collectors back then when I was collecting that wouldn't have searching rolls from the bank at the top of the list!
@SanctionII said:
When I was in elementary school in the 1960's and collecting as a YN (1963 through spring 1968) some of my classmates (guys, not girls) also collected. We collected from various sources including:
a. our pocket change,
b. from our parents pocket change,
c. from money paid out by the school lunch lady as change when we purchased a school lunch,
d. from money made from mowing lawns, shoveling snow and delivering papers on a paper route,
e. from change received when buying stuff at Dairy Queen and A&W,
f. from change received from buying stuff at the local roller rink,
g. from coins purchased on those rare times when our parents took us to Dan Brown's coins shop in downtown Denver, and
h. from coins given to us as gifts for our birthday's and for Christmas.
However, we also collected coins by trading with each other. We at times got together and showed each other our Whitman albums and talked about what coins we had and what coins we needed. We traded with each other and had some fun doing it.
Good times................................., long gone. Very innocent, with low value coins obtained from circulation being viewed by me and my collecting buddies as priceless treasures [everyone would get very excited at finding S mint Lincolns in change dated prior to 1940 (for some reason the 1950's and 1940's did not seem old to us, but going back to 1939 or earlier seemed absolutely ancient).
Would like to be able to do the same with adult collectors today, however it just would not be the same.
I had a tall plastic orange tiger bank as a child. My Dad worked in a pharmacy and with the owner’s permission exchanged his clad pocket change for 90% found in the register. He filled my bank to the top!
Taking this one step further, raw coins that are real.
Wayne
In the bad old days before third party grading, there was an incredible number of fake raw coins in the marketplace---especially key dates (09SVDB cents, 16D dimes, etc) and gold coins.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
Taking this one step further, raw coins that are real.
Wayne
In the bad old days before third party grading, there was an incredible number of fake raw coins in the marketplace---especially key dates (09SVDB cents, 16D dimes, etc) and gold coins.
Maybe he means going back to before there were counterfeits?
Taking this one step further, raw coins that are real.
Wayne
In the bad old days before third party grading, there was an incredible number of fake raw coins in the marketplace---especially key dates (09SVDB cents, 16D dimes, etc) and gold coins.
Maybe he means going back to before there were counterfeits?
Counterfeits made for circulation have been produced since ancient times. The counterfeiting of coins has been called the second oldest profession.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
Taking this one step further, raw coins that are real.
Wayne
In the bad old days before third party grading, there was an incredible number of fake raw coins in the marketplace---especially key dates (09SVDB cents, 16D dimes, etc) and gold coins.
Maybe he means going back to before there were counterfeits?
Counterfeits made for circulation have been produced since ancient times. The counterfeiting of coins has been called the second oldest profession.
How long did it take for fake 1909-S VDBs to show up?
Taking this one step further, raw coins that are real.
Wayne
In the bad old days before third party grading, there was an incredible number of fake raw coins in the marketplace---especially key dates (09SVDB cents, 16D dimes, etc) and gold coins.
Maybe he means going back to before there were counterfeits?
Counterfeits made for circulation have been produced since ancient times. The counterfeiting of coins has been called the second oldest profession.
How long did it take for fake 1909-S VDBs to show up?
I remember seeing fake S mintmarks being added to 1909 cents back when I first started collecting seriously in the early 1960's about 60 years ago.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
Taking this one step further, raw coins that are real.
Wayne
In the bad old days before third party grading, there was an incredible number of fake raw coins in the marketplace---especially key dates (09SVDB cents, 16D dimes, etc) and gold coins.
Maybe he means going back to before there were counterfeits?
Counterfeits made for circulation have been produced since ancient times. The counterfeiting of coins has been called the second oldest profession.
How long did it take for fake 1909-S VDBs to show up?
I remember seeing fake S mintmarks being added to 1909 cents back when I first started collecting seriously in the early 1960's about 60 years ago.
Do you think people are still mkaing fake mintmarks and the like today?
It would make sense given the fake heads being sent to TPGs.
Taking this one step further, raw coins that are real.
Wayne
In the bad old days before third party grading, there was an incredible number of fake raw coins in the marketplace---especially key dates (09SVDB cents, 16D dimes, etc) and gold coins.
Maybe he means going back to before there were counterfeits?
Counterfeits made for circulation have been produced since ancient times. The counterfeiting of coins has been called the second oldest profession.
How long did it take for fake 1909-S VDBs to show up?
I remember seeing fake S mintmarks being added to 1909 cents back when I first started collecting seriously in the early 1960's about 60 years ago.
Do you think people are still mkaing fake mintmarks and the like today?
It would make sense given the fake heads being sent to TPGs.
I'm sure they are still doing the added mintmark. There's many old coin albums with 1909 SVDB cents with the added mintmark. The owners are unaware that they were deceived.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
@mr1874 said:
Going to the local laundromat with my buddy and draining the nickel machine. 10 nickels for 50 cent piece. Once found a 1913 type 1 with gobs of mint luster.
I am remember going to the laundromat and putting the unwanted coins back into the change machine. The owner one day saw me and said “Now I know the change machine gets drained”. Little did I didn’t know that that change I put back into the change machine didn’t replace the coins I took out.
@amwldcoin said:
You guys were a strange lot! I never knew any collectors back then when I was collecting that wouldn't have searching rolls from the bank at the top of the list!
Agreed. That's how we could tell the serious collectors from the pretenders back in grade school.
Comments
Things I miss hearing (memories from the 1990s, really):
"Does anyone really pay extra for Bust halves by Overton variety? We don't even look them up."
"Nobody really pays up for VAMs, so you can have that XF 1888-O Hot Lips for the same price as a regular 1888-o: $11."
"That cent doesn't quite have half the mint luster left, so we didn't want to call it AU50."
"An older guy brought those in. His father brought them back from California in the 1890s. Some of those might need to be submitted to PCGS before we sell them."
"That half dollar is really nice for the grade, but nobody will buy it because it's priced 10% over Red Book."
"I hate it when coins come back AU58 from PCGS. We thought they were MS63s, and nobody wants to pay more than AU50 price for them."
Remember when information/knowledge had value and had to actually be earned?
Finding unmolested raw coins in the wild.
Sometimes, it’s better to be LUCKY than good. 🍀 🍺👍
My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947):
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/
When I was in elementary school in the 1960's and collecting as a YN (1963 through spring 1968) some of my classmates (guys, not girls) also collected. We collected from various sources including:
a. our pocket change,
b. from our parents pocket change,
c. from money paid out by the school lunch lady as change when we purchased a school lunch,
d. from money made from mowing lawns, shoveling snow and delivering papers on a paper route,
e. from change received when buying stuff at Dairy Queen and A&W,
f. from change received from buying stuff at the local roller rink,
g. from coins purchased on those rare times when our parents took us to Dan Brown's coins shop in downtown Denver, and
h. from coins given to us as gifts for our birthday's and for Christmas.
However, we also collected coins by trading with each other. We at times got together and showed each other our Whitman albums and talked about what coins we had and what coins we needed. We traded with each other and had some fun doing it.
Good times................................., long gone. Very innocent, with low value coins obtained from circulation being viewed by me and my collecting buddies as priceless treasures [everyone would get very excited at finding S mint Lincolns in change dated prior to 1940 (for some reason the 1950's and 1940's did not seem old to us, but going back to 1939 or earlier seemed absolutely ancient).
Would like to be able to do the same with adult collectors today, however it just would not be the same.
The staples on this 2X2 cardboard holder are rusted. I am going to have to break it out and re-staple it.
I miss not having to worry that every coin you buy that is not spanned could be a fake.
I thought people still paid tuition today
For better or worse, I don’t think that will change!
My mentors.
A: The year they spend more on their library than their coin collection.
A numismatist is judged more on the content of their library than the content of their cabinet.
It is all the same, except different. I think I miss the days of raw coins (no problem when you collect only circ. coins). Instead of competing with the grading services to determine grade, you were dealing with humans. Much more arbitrage ability back then. Also, many sellers had really bad pics or scans of coins in the early days. With some practice, you could take a chance on a coin with a really bad scan, which scared away other bidders and end up with a great coin. BIN on Ebay used to be another way to make really good score. Not anymore, not any of it.
My 1904-S Barber Half with a BIN of $450. These don't come around anymore, ever.
Receiving nothing but 90% silver and wheat cents and several buffalo nickels when collecting Saturday mornings on my paper route in 1958.
Buying US Proof Sets 1964 and earlier from the mint for $2.10 each.
Submitting mail bids on raw coins based on written descriptions only in Stack's, Bowers and Ruddy, Kagin's, Harmer Rooke, RARCOA, Joe Lepczyk etc. auctions.
Buying coins at the coin department at Gimble's in NYC.
Buying AU/BU $5.00 libs for $30.00 each from Nunemakers (sp) Coin World Ads.
Cherry picking 1882-CC and 1883-CC Morgans from mint bags at $7.00 each (still have 2 or 3 of them).
Do I feel old or what!
it's crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide
Going to the local laundromat with my buddy and draining the nickel machine. 10 nickels for 50 cent piece. Once found a 1913 type 1 with gobs of mint luster.
Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.-Albert Einstein
Having all True View images available on CoinFacts...
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
My favorite time with coins was 1999-2005. Having cashed out a lot of stock market profits, was looking to diversify into my pre-teen (1975-1982) hobby of coins.
Bought a Lot of stuff in eBay auctions, this was befere we had kids and when there was still plenty of good stuff on there, and prices were low.
Built my reasonable childhood dream collection before my own kids came along..
Still need some tough 18th century types, hoping for one more wave after retirement to finish my set before the grim reaper shows up
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry
Worn out Capped Bust half dollars that were so cheap I could buy them with my teenage wages of 87¢ an hour from the local Richfield gas station. We washed your windshield and checked the tire pressure and oil level too. That was a long time ago. Anybody here remember those days?
Hydrant Posts:
Worn out Capped Bust half dollars that were so cheap I could buy them with my teenage wages of 87¢ an hour at the local Richfield gas station. We washed your windshield and checked the tire pressure and oil level too. That was a long time ago. Anybody here remember those days?
Remember very well. Worked at Father's gas station doing all that and more for a "full service" station during 50's and 60's. Must have washed 2000 cars by hand during those years. Made for a good college fund.
The innocence of my coin collecting youth! I am a much more knowledgeable and experienced collector now but with that comes a dose of, well I guess reality. I still do get a thrill out of acquiring a nice coin for my collection but not as much as when I had to save my paper route money for something or found it in circulation.
K
There is a massive bid board at a store in McHenry, Illinois. Guess the thing I kind of miss is the awe I felt looking at coins in a Red Book as a young person as opposed to now when I have a lot of those coins and that thrill of youthful excitement is diminished. It is replaced with thankful satisfaction which isn't a bad feeling the more I think about it.
Pete
Louis Armstrong
My eyesight.
Now when I look at a dime... I see a dime. Then I have to get some sort of magnifying device.
I blame my parents, both of who's eyesight became crap as they got older. I blame them for a lot of deficient genes they passed on, among them my hayfever and crap back.
And > @Coinstartled said:
Have I ever posted this before? The other necessity of life, food. From the June 13, 1936 edition of The Charlotte Observer... (This will probably only be really meanigful if you're the one that does the grocery shopping.
)
Too funny Backroad😂 Why do people save that stuff😗?
Thanks for the memories guys and allowing me to swap fish stories🐟 I found a small box of stuff when a realitive passed and couldn't throw it away. Prue junk, but my pure junk. Wish I could hear the stories behind it all. I love stories.
Dan says it best in this song to me (RIP):
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kmZ2VHSkVYY
Thinking a prominent dealer always fought for the collector.
The old useful Coinfacts is never coming back. RIP in 2019.
My Coin Blog
My Toned Lincoln Registry Set
I miss some of the old timers I used to sit around with listening about coins and the sorts. it was a different world
Has to be the groupies.
All the old friends - collectors and especially the dealers who are no longer with us.
$5 silver bullion
My YouTube Channel
I remember that guy!!! I never liked or trusted him. However, the coin and stamp store was heaven to me as a little kid. It was one of the most fascinating sights in the world to me (til I discovered girls). What memories.
Getting Indian Head pennies in change. Although I did get one, a 1900, about a year ago at the gas station. I immediately lost it.
My dad was a bartender and let me look thru all the coins in the cash register back in the early sixties. Found some goodies doing that. I sure miss it but, of course I miss my dad more. I also miss the old small ANACS slabs, which are the ones I started out with years ago.
Looking at this old thread again reminded me of getting Buffalo nickels out of the change machine at Sherman's Amusement Park on Caroga Lake in upstate New York in the late 1950s. I didn't think they ever got any new change, just recycled the coins out of the rides or games and put them back in the change machines year after year. As a kid with a bunch of Whitman folders it was like hitting the jackpot on a Las Vegas slot machine.
it's crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide
I miss going to coin auctions before they had internet bidders
Prior to slabs, being able to hold and see coins in their true beauty without looking through scratches and reflections. It is much easier to grade and appreciate a coin that is not encased in plastic. Also the excitement and surprise of sliding a gem coin out of a 2x2 paper envelope that had toned the coin to perfection!
Finding Mercury dimes, SLQs and WLHs in change. Along with some Indian Head cents and the occasional (and well-worn) Barber.
The occasional raw deal. Like 800 flying eagle cents, or 1100 two cent pieces. Little private hoards like that are , most likely, long gone......
You guys were a strange lot! I never knew any collectors back then when I was collecting that wouldn't have searching rolls from the bank at the top of the list!
I had a tall plastic orange tiger bank as a child. My Dad worked in a pharmacy and with the owner’s permission exchanged his clad pocket change for 90% found in the register. He filled my bank to the top!
Taking this one step further, raw coins that are real.
Wayne
Kennedys are my quest...
Finding Mercury dimes in change as late as 1967 at the PX on overseas military bases.
In the bad old days before third party grading, there was an incredible number of fake raw coins in the marketplace---especially key dates (09SVDB cents, 16D dimes, etc) and gold coins.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
Maybe he means going back to before there were counterfeits?
Counterfeits made for circulation have been produced since ancient times. The counterfeiting of coins has been called the second oldest profession.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
How long did it take for fake 1909-S VDBs to show up?
I remember seeing fake S mintmarks being added to 1909 cents back when I first started collecting seriously in the early 1960's about 60 years ago.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
Do you think people are still mkaing fake mintmarks and the like today?
It would make sense given the fake heads being sent to TPGs.
I'm sure they are still doing the added mintmark. There's many old coin albums with 1909 SVDB cents with the added mintmark. The owners are unaware that they were deceived.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
I am remember going to the laundromat and putting the unwanted coins back into the change machine. The owner one day saw me and said “Now I know the change machine gets drained”. Little did I didn’t know that that change I put back into the change machine didn’t replace the coins I took out.
Agreed. That's how we could tell the serious collectors from the pretenders back in grade school.
Honesty and integrity.
My Collection of Old Holders
Never a slave to one plastic brand will I ever be.
Buying Aluminum and Copper proof sets via personal connections at the Mint!