the last remnants of my grandfather's collection
ɹoʇɔǝlloɔ
Posts: 1,436 ✭✭✭✭✭
have shared in other threads that my older brother - when we were teenagers - stole most of the expansive coin and stamp collection our grandfather gave to me when I was 12 - these are the only remaining pieces that were tucked away back then in the 90s to escape that event
there are a few world coins and some other random circ, as I used this as sort of a stash tin in my teenage years
having been reinvigorated recently - with many thanks to this forum for their role in that - into louping as many of my coins as possible [at first to find errors, but over the past week or two have gotten a lot out of just appreciating the coins and their histories], I remembered this tin and dug it out to give some of these coins some much deserved [for nostalgia reasons] attention they've never received
will use this thread to share any interesting finds [maybe not so likely as I assume many if not all are p standard, common & low grade examples]
thankful that I've got a handful of coins to help remember my grandfather with
Comments
Love the low-grade common treasures. I'm glad there was at least a remnant able to escape the theft. Those are special coins.
I see 100$ worth of coins and 1,000,000 dollars of memories
11.5$ Southern Dollars, The little “Big Easy” set
man, me too @ShaunBC5 - nothing like a well worn coin passed down amongst family - the most special and personally valuable coins in my collection
that's right, @Crypto - priceless memories
Wonderful keepsake. To me, that’s a priceless collection. Love it!
Dave
no doubt, @Dave99B - going to be fun to loupe em later today - have never looked at em closer than naked eye
That's a beautiful little collection....Keep it forever!
Lots of nice detail on that buffalo!
Here's a warning parable for coin collectors...
Same here! My older brother stole most of our family coins after my Mother died and my Father moved in to an assisted living home. He pawned them to pay for drugs.
After my Father died in 2012, my sister found some coins my brother didn't find and she gave them to me which I still have. They are all junk silver but it's a collection that is sentimental to me.
Unfortunately, my kids couldn't care less about my collection so at some point I will liquidate everything so they don't end up being taken to the bank and deposited for face value!😂🤣
I want to rest in peace and not have to come back and haunt them on Christmas Eve!😎
thanks! will keep it as long as I breathe - after that, hope I can pass it onto my niece
yes! saw that one too 😄
yikes, @WQuarterFreddie - our brothers mustve known each other - sorry to hear about that; not an easy thing to go through
this 1928 buff's got a lot of character - at first thought that was some weird D counterstamp on reverse between the buffalo's legs, but now assuming it's just some weird pmd - what's that effect of the line traveling between the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA text on reverse called?
maybe I can start a lowball collection with this one 😄
The circular line through UNITED STATES OF AMERICA could be from when it was used in a parking meter.
The brown area between the buffalo's legs could be foreign matter (food, coffee, etc.).
Could be possibly removed with acetone.
Don't scrub it, though - almost always this would scratch or polish it and reduce the value considerably.
righton - thanks, @yosclimber - have never acetoned a coin, but have been thinking it'd be fun to try that out on some low grade random specimens so I could see the effects myself - will search the acetone threads on here if/when I get to that point so I don't do any undue damage to the test coins
Thanks. Many families have similar stories I am sure. Maybe we should start a thread!🤣😂
Way Cool...my gramps got me started on coins as well...keep that box of Treasure in the Family like you said already
@3keepSECRETif2rDEAD thank god for generous grandparents sharing their passion with their kin - absolutely
had 5 remaining franklin halves I looked through and 3 of em were 1952, like, grandpa - why so many 1952s?
realized it was the year my mom - his daughter - was born
And that is what makes this sentimental! I love to collect US Silver quarters and dollars with years of my birth year .....
That is great... To have coins your Grandfather collected....They look nice in the picture and will be fun to individually examine. Good luck... Cheers, RickO
I like the nostalgia, charm, and sentimentality of a box of worn coins. So glad you do too.
None of my adult children care about my collection and I wonder if my grandchildren will have any interest. My collection is all slabbed and yet there is nothing like holding old coins in hand. Maybe when the grandkids get older, i’ll see if I can interest them.
"Got a flaming heart, can't get my fill"
Are you still talking to your brother?
I've had a few sentimental coins slabbed and written notes on them about who owned them, etc. My hope is that they will be passed down, they certainly won't be taken to the bank. Can use self-slabs or even envelopes for the same purpose.
thanks RickO - it's been such a trip to look at these closer than I ever had - after getting all of them laid out and organized for review, I realized that - of these ones thatve survived the past few decades - there are wayyyy more darkside coins - have no memory of him having so many, but have found some interesting early 20th cent German, Italian, British and various European coins
my brother ransacked most of the older American coins and I miss those, but having these is a huge blessing - been thinking alot about grandpa the past couple days
I have faith you'll be able to interest your grandchildren - I remember my slide into coin & currency fascination - the $2 bills, a cool coin shared w me every once in a while; some more than 100 yrs old [a mind blower at a young age]
wrapped a gift for my niece last Christmas in an uncut sheet of $2 bills to try and get her interested in collecting - we'll see what happens
am
weirdly, were the closest amongst the siblings - we've both had ups and downs through our life so far, and - even though the theft was and continues to be p hurtful - he's my brother, and I love him
have been thinking of doing the same thing - getting some special ones slabbed and attaching notes to em
would be so cool if grading agencies allowed you to have dedication labels so you could put things like 'from [relative] collection', etc
found what appears to be a proof or pl coin from 40s germany - depending on which, the mintage is between 40k-60k - even if it's not financially practical to grade and slab, I think it'd be nice to preserve it for future generations
Sorry about all the stolen coins, especially since they came from your Grandfather, but glad to hear you still have some of them left to enjoy. It would be cool to see pics of all the coins spread out & their obverses/reverses!
Your story also brought back memories from my own youth as well............
My parents kept some silver coins in a similar container in their dresser drawer. Nothing substantial, just an assortment of Mercury & Roosie silver dimes, Washington Q's, and maybe a few halves & dollars. And a few stories about where they were from.
When we were in elementary & middle school, my parents divvied them up between the 3 of us kids.
I was the collector of the 3, and put them in their appropriate folders (that I either already had or would eventually get). My younger brother had no use for them, so I bought them from him early on. And my older brother didn't plan on expanding beyond them into collecting, but kept his stored in an old metal hinge-top Band-Aid box (remember them?) tucked away in his night-table drawer.
At some point several years later, my older brother opened his box to find most of his coins gone or replaced. Apparently, not understanding the fact that silver was no longer being used, our younger brother had been sneaking into the can & using the coins to buy snacks at school to go with lunch..........
The good news is that I still have every single one of my & my brothers' former coins in my collection, although I no longer know which ones they are...........
@DBSTrader2 I'll do that; share photos of the obv/rev of all the coins
will take me a couple/few days so I can get them organized and not just shoot a wide undetailed shot of 120 coins 😄 there are seriously a lot of darkside coins
man - def do remember those bandaid tins - seems like this is an unfortunately common experience, but happy when these coins survive through all of it
bet the people receiving money for the treats at your brother's school still have those coins [if they had any sense about them]
My guess is they were either other kids he traded $ for snacks with, or, more likely, the "lunch-ladies" in hairnets........... don't know whether they saved them or just put in the register & paid out to others (or had them snapped-up by head cashiers, etc....). All I know is that by the time I became a retail manager in my early 20's, finding a silver dime or quarter in the register at cash-out time or when opening bank rolls was extremely rare!
am organizing the coins for some obv/rev shots, but really liked comparing the largest and smallest coins in the set
1971 d ike and 1980 netherlands 10 cent piece
Nice coins to keep as mementos as intended. My grandfather left some silver dimes, etc., that I got in the 80s, had no idea what they were worth, just liquidated as silver on the first offer at a bank. Dumb.
Bottom line; there is no magic in value in collections, if there are nice and valuable coins in the mix, the saver was a serious collector who spent serious money on them. When and how coins were collected are key.
I think you meant to add "...if your intention is solely financial"
happy to report again that I'm under no illusions my grandfather gave me million dollar coins, and we should all remember [if we can?] that coin collecting isn't always about becoming obscenely rich
and I disagree w your "there is no magic in value in collections" line of thought - there is absolutely magic in value in collections, no matter - as you put it - how "serious" or "unserious" the collector was/is - earthly treasure is more than a pile of fiat you can acquire from objects, and the dirtiest, most dinged up, unrecognizable specimen that my grandfather gave me will always be more valuable and magical than all the gold in the world
but all this depends on what any given person ascribes value to
know this is a us forum, but shot these first - will do the us coins next
a few german, an italian and a swiss - and then a couple more modern german and s african
circulated french coins
circulated british coins
circulated coins from various countries in asia, the middle east, the mediterranean and north africa
Those are some lovely coins and Im glad you were able to hold on to some of them to remember your grandfather. Some things you just cant put a price on.
You know that is a really nice mix of coins! I have always been partial to Franklin halves.......😎
hundreds more stolen, so yes - v happy to have this small pile
Franklin's are so 😍😍
I'm going to take a wild guess & say your Grandfather lived somewhere serviced by the Denver Mint?
Nice Franklins!!
And if my memory serves me right, aren't there several varieties of the Ike $1's, depending on how detailed the continents are on the small Earth on the reverse? You might want to check that out, if you ever put them in 2x2's or a folder. (EDITED: My bad. It seems I may have been thinking of the 1972 Ikes...)
As far as the Darkside coins go, I'd hazard a guess that I probably have about 99% of those same ones - - looks like I now have a kindred spirit on the Forum! ;-)
yessir, @DBSTrader2 — southern minnesota farmer
I had the same thought and checked the islands + florida/the gulf, so we both made that mistake 😄
most def - don't remember so many darkside coins in this tin, so nice to see em there
have some from Canada and Australia I'll be posting here soon; next couple / few days
I'll definitely be interested in seeing what Canadian & Aussie coins you have!
Nice! It's wonderful that you appreciate the fine art of collecting.
I
I’ve always like the German depiction of the eagle.
"Got a flaming heart, can't get my fill"
thanks, Percy - theyre not ultra-rare, but they're v special to me - gonna see how I can augment grandpa Theo's collection so there bits of both of us to pass on
circulated canadian coins
circulated australian coins