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Show us your first coin.
topstuf
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In Miss Norton’s third grade class in Stockton, CA there were a pair of twin girls, Saundra and Sharon Harrison. One of them sat next to me. She brought this coin to class and either gave it to me or we traded something.
One of the twins died when we were in high school. Neither of the Harrison twins deserved that. I will always remember both of them every time I look at this coin.
It is a Japanese copper coin that is far too worn to attribute. It was my first coin.
I believe it was Saundra. 
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My first collector's coin was a common date Franklin half dollar, acquired at a local coin show 52 winters ago. I still have it tucked away in the original 2x2.
Happily, none of my coins really involve any (known) tales of woe. I have 23 Mexican Caps & Rays Eight Reales (all the same date and mintmark) that were part of a hoard of 100 coins buried when the French were marching on Mexico City. Somebody did not return to dig those up, they were found by two American brothers who were metal detecting over 100 years later.
When I was a kid, dad who was not a collector took me to a coin shop. I bought an old Roman coin cheap and thought I had done well. Later dad showed me where the coin was stamped copy. I asked why he let me buy it. He said to teach you a lesson. I still have it somewhere so I won't forget that lesson.
Great topic! I still have it but I don't have a pic of it. I will have to dig it out and maybe even have it encapsulated by our host. It will details grade, but I'd like to have it in a protective slab.
Great transactions with oih82w8, JasonGaming, Moose1913.
I have a heavily circulated Peace dollar that my Uncle Jim gave me many years ago. My 1st collector coin. He said he received it in change in Montana...I’m thinking mid-to-late ‘60s. I’ll dig it out when I get time and post a pic.
No, I won’t sell it!
Dave
Great story....the first part anyway.
When you are engaging in a little light numismatic banter at cocktail parties feel free to end the story after "or we traded something".
First major find roll searching in the mid 1960's. Despite having a complete MS set in Capitol Plastic Boards, I refuse to upgrade it as it reminds me when it all started.
WS
Probably one of these two... I plucked a few IHC's from a coffee can at my grandfather's camp in Upstate NY around 1969 or so... I'd have been around 8 years old. Over the years I upgraded from the Whitman folder I started with the coffee can coins, to everything in AU... except a glaring hole for the 1877! As I'd get better coins, the old ones would go into the sell/trade pile... these were the only two I kept when I sold that collection in 2012...
Successful BST transactions with: SilverEagles92; Ahrensdad; Smitty; GregHansen; Lablade; Mercury10c; copperflopper; whatsup; KISHU1; scrapman1077, crispy, canadanz, smallchange, robkool, Mission16, ranshdow, ibzman350, Fallguy, Collectorcoins, SurfinxHI, jwitten, Walkerguy21D, dsessom.
My first Barber Half: Purchased 2001 for $55.00. Holdering cost was about $25.00. Coin dealer has died, shop closed and pic was from an old flat bed scanner. Almost twenty years and coin is still worth about $55-$70. In inflation adjusted terms, this coin cost $100+ with the TPG fees. Whoever said coins were not an investment was speaking truth.
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Here is my first coin - a 1949 M penny:
I don't have it any more.
It's just part of the story.
The twins and I were friends all through school. I was sad when Saundra died.
This is what my collection started out as. The first coins are the Indian heads, got them when I was 8
This was my collection when I was 13 years old, over 4 1/2 years ago. OLD PHOTO
I’m no sure what my first coin was, but my first purchase at coin shop was actually a Littleton version of a 7070 Type set. I didn’t know anything about coins or what I wanted to collect, but I had a bag of coins my dad gave me that belonged to my great grandfather. I got the album, went home and filled all the holes I could, and started buying more after that.
Collector of randomness. Photographer at PCGS. Lover of Harry Potter.
I’m no sure what my first coin was, but my first purchase at coin shop was actually a Littleton version of a 7070 Type set. I didn’t know anything about coins or what I wanted to collect, but I had a bag of coins my dad gave me that belonged to my great grandfather. I got the album, went home and filled all the holes I could, and started buying more after that.
Collector of randomness. Photographer at PCGS. Lover of Harry Potter.
OP edited to lighten up the story.
The first coin I 'collected' was a very worn IHC I got on my paper route.... somehow, I still have that IHC... cannot read the date. The first coins that got me interested in collecting were some Morgan dollars and large German silver coins my Dad had (he was not a coin collector, but for some reason kept those coins). I still have the German coins...Cheers, RickO
Not the first but still remember it. My old man came home from work with a slick quarter. I mean the only "design" was at best some molecules that didn't get worn off.
The date showed. 1877
At the time I had never seen a seated lib anything.
We tried guessing what was on it. Closest we came was that it was a....BELL!
Take a look at only the outline on a seated coin. It does resemble sort of a lumpy bell.
Had it quite a while. No idea what became of it.
Oh hey, @ricko I still have the Indian Cent my grammaw gave me. She had a few and gave three each to me and my cousin.
I just kept them in a glass chicken candy dish with other treasures.
One day I saw an article on coins to keep in Readers Digest.
Soooooooooooo..... I looked at my three.
1908-S !!
Yowzee!
The article recommended ....cleaning... them with BAKING SODA. Didn't say how so I just faithfully rubbed the hell out of it with ..dry...baking soda!
Every few months the green would reappear sooooooooooooo..... more rubbing.
Years and years later I sent it to ANACS.
AU-53!!
So coins.... will ..... age and retone to some semblance of okay-ness.
I still wonder what the grade might have been without the diligent scrubbing every few months.
@topstuf....Without the scrubbing, it seems like it might even have made low MS....nice IHC....Cheers, RickO
Wish I could. Probably a worn early Merc improved by an eraser or possibly a scrubbed early Lincoln.