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PillarDollarCollector
Posts: 4,748 ✭✭✭✭✭
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Collecting interests: Coins from Latin American (2020-present)
Sports: NFL & NHL
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PillarDollarCollector
Posts: 4,748 ✭✭✭✭✭
PillarDollarCollector
Posts: 4,748 ✭✭✭✭✭
PillarDollarCollector
Posts: 4,748 ✭✭✭✭✭
Comments
i started collecting world coins about 35 years ago.
Still is a learning curve
I give away money. I collect money.
I don’t love money . I do love the Lord God.
I started collecting world coins in 1980, when I was eight years old. That's be 41 years ago, then.
I think I've already shared my origin story here on this forum, but here it is again anyway.
I collected stamps as a kid - just copying what my big brother did, really, who was interested in stamps in a big way (still is, though doesn't actively collect since he got married).
Our parents took us both to a big "coin and stamp show" in town, ostensibly to buy stamps. But I found the coins more fascinating. Of particular interest were the gold-coloured ones, sitting in the world coin scratch-trays. My parents told me they were probably brass, rather than actual gold (even back in 1980, you didn't find gold coins just sitting in scratchtrays for kids), but I was nevertheless fascinated by the idea that other countries used golden-coloured coins as money (Australia had never used brass or Al-bronze up to that time). I bought a handful of them anyway.
My parents saw my interest and encouraged it, by giving me "the family stash", of older Australian coins plus coins acquired from when the family lived in my long-lost homeland of Canada, where I was born.
And so it continued. Growing up in Australia, coin collecting was considered odd and unusual - it's not as common here as it is in America. Until I joined a coin club in 1996, I never actually met and knew another coin collector.
Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, "Meditations"
Apparently I have been awarded one DPOTD.
A devotee of Lincoln pennies until about 1967. Then, I discovered that Roman coins were cheaper than the pennies and whole lot more appealing to my love of history. Still have a special fondness for Gordian III, but have gone all over the place, since then, even some US areas.
DPOTD
I do not think, I can consider myself a coin collector, because I always have bought coins, kept them for a little while, and then just go and trade or sell them to use the money to buy some more or other coins, or sometimes to use that money to buy a gold bullion, that I guess I kept longer, because it is much harder for me to get rid (sell it) of the few gold bullions that I have.
The first time, I was at least interested, was when my mom, inherited some old Mexican coins, back in 1972, many of those coins, were given to one of my older sisters when my mom passed away, the last time I saw my sister, asked if she was willing to sell those coins to me, but she said no.
I can say that I have got the chance, to be able to buy some nice coins over the last years, many in great condition, maybe some rare, but do not have them anymore.
I simple now enjoy the time, to find a coin that I like, and if I can spend the money, to be able to buy it.
Since, I found this place, not too long ago, it has help me to know more, about coins, by looking at the superb sets by many of the members here, or by watching the posts of excellent coins, that many of you share here, when you buy them, kudos for that.
Since 1984. Not the book, the year.
I started about 8 or 9 years ago, in 2012. I got into it in my 20s, as an adult. I always love antiques and old things. Coins turned out to be a great way to pursue those interests while still not taking up a ton of space. I initially explored US coins, but found that they were way way too expensive. That led to me quickly migrating into world coins. After a month or two, I decided I liked German coins and other European coins the best. I very much love learning about all coins, but German ones are the ones I collect. I hope to branch out more eventually.
I had a penny folder and a purse of world coins I liked when I was a kid, but I wouldn't call that serious collecting.
One thing that's surprised me a little is that my knowledge and taste have continually grown and evolved over the 8 or 9 years. I am a significantly more knowledgable collector now than I was after 2 years, or even after 6 years. I recently started the ANA diploma program and am exposing myself to even more new subjects for me to learn about, mainly in US coins.
IG: DeCourcyCoinsEbay: neilrobertson
"Numismatic categorizations, if left unconstrained, will increase spontaneously over time." -me
Thanks for sharing your stories!!
Collecting interests: Coins from Latin American (2020-present)
Sports: NFL & NHL
The US is part of the world so all my life. #pedantic
My dad came back from 'Nam in 1973 and brought a bag of coins from all the places he had been - Australia, Singapore, Viet-Nam, Thailand and Japan. Also a small pile of MPC. I was hooked.
Bought my first coin from outside my home country on 23 November 2007, a (1939) 10 Sen from Japan. Before that, I collected Canadian coins.
My World Type Set (see link in my signature line) has over 2000 non-Canadian types, meaning that I have bought a coin every ~60 hours since starting 4808 days ago.
My Type Set
My father collected coins and I started helping with coins since around as early as I remember. We used to go to a little coin shop in Rhode Island not too far from our house. I would help him with side jobs he did on the weekend to make some extra money. Usually, we would go in there and split $5 between us. My dad would buy a wheat cent or two for his blue Whitman albums and at first, I did the same. When I was 7 or so, I realized I could get a whole bunch of world coins instead one single wheat cent that looked just like all of the others. Got very into Canadian coinage, and when I got my first full time summer job (summer after 6th grade!) I started buying some better pieces. Lucked into some really cool pieces that I sold when I sold my entire collection up to that point my second semester in college, including a really nice 1934 Melbourne Florin I got in a pile of coins given to me by an old teacher, and an 1875 Canada quarter I bought for $3 and change in a Yahoo Auction (remember those?)- I still remember riding my bike to a drug store to go mail off a money order on that one! Many times I wish I could go back in time with my knowledge now, one time at the coin shop a guy came in with a bankers box full of Chinese stuff. The dealer pulled out all of the silver (first time I ever saw a dragon dollar or junk dollar) and sold me the rest of the box for $40. My guess is most of those went to scrap if someone didn't buy them from the foreign silver bin. Being in middle school, I lost patience in trying to learn to ID Chinese coins and traded the entire box to a guy at the Town Historical Society for a bunch of stamp albums- Talk about a bad deal in the long run!
Justin Meunier
Boardwalk Numismatics
Long enough to appreciate what matters
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
I’ve collected silver and gold bullion for the past 15 years or so. I used to get coin magazines as a kid but for whatever reason, I never got into collecting. I’m guessing now that was because I didn’t care about collecting U.S. coins. 5-6 years ago, I started buying foreign silver mostly on Ebay and in researching silver content of various coins, I slowly started finding coins that interested me. But what really got me into collecting was bidding on a 1655 AU 58 DAV-3198 Hungary Thaler because I thought it looked cool. To my surprise I won it, and when I got it in the mail, I was blown away by it. I started researching Thalers and that let me to start collecting Thalers and Spanish Netherland coinage. This forum has been a great help and source of enjoyment in that pursuit.
Always fun to think about. I can use my join date here as my 'start' time. So 2003.
IIRC I joined specifically to ask someone a question about a coin they had posted about and I was interested in. All due to having the desire to get bullion, but not just US eagles. It was a Japanese commemorative and I was living in Japan and fascinated with the idea of getting one (eventually did).
The idea of collecting Japanese coins in general evolved and more world coins followed. I did what many others had done, and started with a 'One From Every Country' plan.
That project was officially abandoned due to my inability to decide what governmental entities to include, how far back to go, and my inability to contain myself to just ONE from every country. Hence my Albanian collection, I had a hard time getting past Albania with only one coin
Japanese coins are my prime collection, Albanians a close second, and other than that, wherever my attention wanders.
Moved from US into dabbling in world maybe 5 years ago, all in now!
Latin American Collection
About 50 years
I started collecting coins in the 6th grade. Initially just Lincoln cents, but slowly branched out into other denominations, then other countries. Ancients were my first serious non-US collecting area. History classes were my favorite in high school, so being able to hold coins from those ancient times (at a much lower price than similar US coins!) really took hold of me. As I learned more and more about coins from different places and times, I gained an appreciation for the entire history of coinage. In an attempt to bring some kind of order to my wide ranging interest, I'm making the core of my collection one significant coin from every century from the 7th century BC to present.
Although I started collecting with US issues, world coins are significant part of the origin of my collection. My grandmother was the collector in her generation of the family. She started collecting coins when my grandfather, who got a gig as a waiter aboard a cruise ship touring the South Pacific late in the Great Depression, brought back coins from the countries he visited during that time. Grandma was always supportive of my hobbies. Now that her collection has been passed down to me, Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji feature prominently among my non-ancient world coins. They include my grandmother's initial coins, and more recent issues they saved from the many trips they took back to those countries.
(UPDATED 4/3/21)
Most of my entire life!
I started collecting U.S. cents & nickels starting when I was 6 or 7, but I also was given a large Aussie "Roo" penny around the same time, and I was HOOKED!!
Over the years, I branched out to Aussie, New Zealand, & Great Britain decimal coins, all things Canadian & Maritimes, and a few varieties of Mexican. And I'm OLD SCHOOL.... almost everything is in blue Whitman folders, save some of the Aussie/NZ sets. I never got into albums, slabs, stacking silver/gold, errors, ancients, or most anything before the early-to-mid 1800's.
Basically, my collecting habits were defined by what I was initially exposed to & could afford as a youngster, and never changed. But, over time, I've managed to pretty much complete all my collections except for some of the key & semi-key U.S., Canadian, & Darkside, along with a smattering of more recent Canadians. I'm always trying to keep up with new Canadian releases & on the hunt for potential Canadian & Australian trading partners......
Always a "side hobby", the intensity of my collecting has ebbed & flowed over the decades.......
As a kid, I went thru everyone's change, searched money I collected for my brother on his paper route, searched rolls from the bank, bought a few pennies & nickels from those ads in the back of the coin magazines, went to the local brick-and-mortar coin stores (including Woolworths & Gimbel's in their heyday), searched flea markets (for nostalgia as much as coins), etc. And we were handed down a small handful of silver coins our parents had set aside over the years. Those were great times, as I remember spending cherished time on the living room floor at my Grandparents' feet going through their hard-earned change looking to fill holes in my penny & nickel folders, and later walking several miles with them downtown to search thru one coffee can after another of junk silver down on Philly's "Smelter's Row". I never fully appreciated how much patience my Grandparents must have had waiting with me as I searched thru all that silver for a select few I could afford to buy (almost all Mercs/Roosies & Washies - - I couldn't afford or had no concept at the time of Barbers, SLQ's, Walkers/Franklins, Peace/Morgans - - something I regret to this day.....).
Later, in high school & college, I branched out slightly, but money was tight, so collecting took a back seat. Once out in the retail management world, I was able to search thru bank rolls as I set up the tills for each register each day, and find silver, wheaties, silver certificates, etc as I cashed those tills out each night. By then, silver was long gone from normal circulation, but still popped up with enough regularity to make the job more fun.
Then, as I moved into the corporate world (just a grunt) and raised a family, collecting once again took a back seat to household, childcare, college, etc expenses, as I really couldn't justify devoting much in the way of funds to buying coins.
Although I DID have a field day bulking-up our Canadian collections when we took a family trip up to Niagara Falls & Toronto!
Then, during one of my stints as "management" during strike duty (Verizon & workers had several contentious contract years in the 80's & '90's), many of us who weren't assigned to climbing poles, etc - - see, there WERE benefits to being out of shape!! - - found ourselves sitting in the office with nothing to do for excruciatingly long hours. It was during this time that I managed to find this Forum. It was like a Renaissance!! Suddenly, through here and eBay, my whole world opened up again, and I developed lots of connections, friends, & trading partners on the Forum, and my collecting volume & breadth exploded into so many new areas! "One-per-Country" sets, Euros, added countries, you name it! These were glorious times!
Since then, there have been some life changes.... forced retirement, detached retina, vision issues.... that, along with there just being so few items/holes left to find/fill within my still-restrained price range, led to a serious slowdown in my collecting. These days, most of my time with my collecting has been limited to just trying to fill in a few recent holes in our Canadian collections (know any good trading partners?) & staying current with each year's new circulating issues for Canadian & U.S. (our Great Britain, New Zealand, & Australian collections stopped once each went decimal).
Nowadays, coin collecting is back to just a nice "side hobby". From time to time, I get a small kick-start again, such as when I went thru coins my parents brought back from their various pre- and post-retirement world sightseeing trips thru Asia, Europe, the Soviet Bloc, etc (which, unfortunately, I really didn't have the chance to go thru with them before my Dad passed away - - another regret I have).
I still check out the Forum for interesting stories & to look for people who might be able to help us fill some of our holes or those I can help with extras from our collections, but things have really slowed down otherwise. Someday, my kids and their kids will hopefully have some really neat (and really not very valuable) collections to keep adding to & passing along to future generations, which is all I've ever really hoped for................
Feels nice to share my story................
My grandparents went on a two-month trip to Europe in 1955 and my grandmother gave me some coins when she returned.
The Mysterious Egyptian Magic Coin
Coins in Movies
Coins on Television
I started US coins and stamps but gave up stamps very early. I started with world coins in 1976 when I found a Krause in the library and started trying to memorize it.
This is a really nice thread! Love the stories!
Before I tell my story, I should point out that one can be a collector yet not be actively buying.
I am a lifelong collector, from when I was a youngster. Being Taiwanese-American, I collected stamps, currency and coins from both countries. My uncle was somebody in the Taiwanese government then, so he’d bring me coins and other stuff from his travels as well as a specially chosen bundle of goodies for my collections. I still have all those nice stamps, paper money and coins from decades ago.
I started buying US coins when I was a teen, selling my sports cards to raise money. That continued until I went to college when I stopped buying any collectibles. One day after work I went with some work buddies to shoot pool and met another colleague who collects coins. He took me to my first coin show in 1997. But it took me a while before I bought my first non-US coins; this was at the NYINC in 2008 or 2009, and I bought two Talers (Salzburg and Hohenlohe-something-something). Eventually sold my US material, save one (a Gobrecht Dollar), and am now a fully immersed world coin collector.
How does one get a hater to stop hating?
I can be reached at evillageprowler@gmail.com
As a teenager growing up in Maine in the 1960s, like many I started filling Whitman folders with U.S. coins. I also developed a strong interest in Canadian coins, as they circulated freely, albeit at a discount, in Maine back then. Collected both into my late 20s, then stopped completely as kids, mortgages, etc. limited my available resources.
About 2003, I decided to sell my U.S. and concentrate solely on Canadian. I only kept one complete set of Buffalo nickels that I had assembled. My decision to concentrate on Canadian was based on my researching their large cents, plus I realized that even the rarest Canadian coins were within my financial reach, which definitely was not true for the rarest U. S. coins.
http://www.victoriancent.com
Since about 1980, when I started high school. This was mostly Canadian. A lot of people moved here (WA state) from BC and the prairies to work in the lumber mills during the depression and WWII, and brought their change with them. I still have a lots in AU to UNC that I bought for almost nothing at the time.
My grandfather started collecting coins in the 1920-1930s and when I was a young kid, maybe 6 or 7 I used to spend time with the coins and marvel myself about the fact that I had in my hands coins that were 2 or 3 hundred years old. I spent great times with my grandpa and his coins. So I started with my own collection unger his guidance by age 8 (my first coin was a Mexico 50 centavos 1969 that I am positive is not worth its weight in CuNi but still with me!). When the time came, my grandfather inherited to me his coins so there are a couple of coins in my collection that have been in the family for nearly a century! I still have his catalogues and his Whitman albums
and while he was not the most concentrated in quality (I do not think that back then that was an obsession as it is now) I enjoy traveling back in time when I see his coins and albums (many of those still raw). I am sure if he were to see my coins now he would think I am crazy 
and I think he would be right.
Less than 1 month... Hope to start adding some this year
If I remember correctly (and that's a trick at my age!) I started with a Canadian Type Set about 21 years ago, graduated to a wide variety of British coinage, went from there to a British Victorian Type Set (still working on that one), and acquired a large variety of world coins from my late father-in-law's estate. I may pare down the general world accumulation this year or next, just keeping ones I particularly enjoy (Vatican Sede Vacante coins, French gold, Mexican toners, etc. I have also started to gather a group of Byzantine ancients and a couple of Medieval coins (those things fascinate me since I'm a Medieval history buff). Carry on. I know I will.
My OmniCoin Collection
My BankNoteBank Collection
Tom, formerly in Albuquerque, NM.
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Coinsof1984@martinb6830 on twitter
I started collecting Morgan and Peace dollar first more than 10 years ago but then I found out those coins are not move much in price. So I sold them all. I switched to collect China and later Japan. It proved it works. China coin price move up year after years. Japan coin start to move as well this year. It is much more fun to collect something that you can sell then buy more. Now it is very hard to get some nice China and Japan coins in reasonable price. I made many offers in HA but really no one wants to sell. Auction houses also try very hard to get those coins too.
Just to give an example to show how hard to get coins. I offered 3K to buy a Philippines chop mark details that sold 300 to 400 on HA couple years ago. The counter offer is 7K. Some of chop mark Philippines coins that I offered 2 to 3K that sold 200 to 400 never get reply.
About 50 years on and off.
DPOTD-3
'Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery'
CU #3245 B.N.A. #428
Don
I began collecting US coins in 1955. I lived in Ohio, and there were always lots of Canadian coins intermingled with US coins, so around 1960 I began filling a Whitman Canadian cent board. I bought my first Canadian prooflike set from the Ottawa mint in 1966, and continued to pick up an occasional Canadian coin after a coin shop opened near my home (and I had my driver's license!). In 1972-73, three more coins shops opened nearby, and two of them carried foreign coins. One of them had dozens of binders filled with 2 x 2's, and many double row boxes of 2 x 2's. I would spend a couple of hours every week or two perusing their stock, and purchased whatever caught my fancy. I derived more pleasure from $100 worth of foreign coins than I did from US coins, which I thought were rising too rapidly. I had purchased (and still have) the first edition of the Standard Catalog of World Coins (Krause) in 1972, and tried to remember the designs I liked. At the same time, I began attending coin shows, and met some dealers that specialized in foreign coins. By 1979, I had moved to Colorado, and when I sold part of my collection (mostly US) to scrape together funds to buy my first home, the manager of the store was impressed with my knowledge, and offered me a job on the spot. It was just temporary at first, but they wanted me to work full-time. They finally made me an offer I couldn't refuse, so I quit my "real" job and began working full time in the coin shop. That gave me the opportunity to handle some unbelievable US coins, and we purchased many foreign coins as well. In that environment, it was difficult to restrain myself from spending most of my discretionary income on coins. That lasted for 3 more years. Since then, my foreign acquisitions have been mostly slabbed coins. Over the past 15 years, I have had some of the better raw coins graded by PCGS, and have been pleased with the results.
Well. I am new and I do not like foreign coins and I hate how long it takes to look one up so is there a book or some kind of easy method. I probably will eventually sell and hopefully I will remember how to navigate back to this page
Gdogprop@gmail.com.
I am in college station. Texas
when I sell i would like to sell to somewhere close Anyways I doubt I will be a big contributor like you guys but I will be reading
Oh crap ht688. I actually just scrolled up and read your post. I may have a bunch of those coins I wish you would not have sold your morgans. That is what I collect and I do agree with the prices but my kids get to deal with all i have unless silver get to 60dollars then they want have as many
How do you even know how to read a china coin and if it is valuable
Welcome @Maddiedou ! There are standard catalogs that list at least a directional scarcity for world coins. Once you know what the coin is and condition, you can search for prices realized to get a sense of what a particular coin is worth. A lot of people start with whatever appeals to them: country, design, historic significance, particular monarch, time period, etc... Quite a lot of directions you can go in with world coins.
8 Reales Madness Collection
They're easy to look up.
Just get an old Krause printed before 1980 when they started making everything impossible to find and even changing the names of countries like "El Salvador" to "salvador". Don't worry about the out of date pricing because now they price things by throwing darts at a dartboard. At least the old prices usually could provide a ballpark estimate.
If you are interested in later coins (after 1950) then you'll need a more current catalog for pricing. Look it up in the old one first and it will be a little easier to find where they hid it in the new one. Forget the index.
Thanks for sharing your stories gentlemen I truly enjoy reading them as I am sure others do as well.
Collecting interests: Coins from Latin American (2020-present)
Sports: NFL & NHL
Thanks for the old krause reference. I was going about it all wrong and looking for a 2021/2020/2019. To get closer prices of what they are worth today
Once I get thru all these coins I will try to post if I can and see if anybody wants to buy
I may be a lot of things, but a gentleman is definitely not one of them
That said, it sure is fun reading the stories. Some are re-treads (like mine because I've been here for so long), but it's good to revisit just what got the collection started.
Moved on to worldcoin in 1975. So much easier and more interesting. Could know more than dealers if you did your research.
It varies. US if it means something historic to me. World when I fall for the designs.
I became a numismatist in 2008, but I had been collecting Canadian issues out of circulation since the late 1980s. 2008 is when I began tracking what I had and began spending money on buying things for the collection rather than just what I came across.
I also briefly dabbled in 1995 but it didn't "stick" until 2008.
I've been collecting things my entire life, numismatics is the last big hobby I took on. Started with comics in 1984 (had my first read to me at 5 days old and never left the hobby), added car stuff in 1986, probably Christmas 85. Trading cards in 1988, plastic models in 1999. Then nothing new until coins in 2008. While not a new collection I pivoted to hockey cards in 2017. It seems like I take up something new every decade. Don't know what the 2020s thing will be yet, or maybe it won't be anything. Already collecting everything I'm interested in to some degree, even if it's now been almost 10 years since I've bought something towards some of my hobbies.
I collected US coins as a kid in 3rd grade and had the usual Whitman sets (never did find an 09s VDB) and a few old Library of Coins albums. Lost interest in coins while I away to College. In 1975 I was at a local coin show in Santa Barbara, CA and a member of the Santa Barbara Coin Club had on display his complete set of Mexico Mint Pillar dollars. I never looked back, been a Spanish Colonial collector ever since and every year learn more about the coins, about Mexico and Latin American History, about the Spanish conquest. It has led me to diving for Spanish Treasure off Florida and trips through South America to view the national mint museums in Peru, Colombia and Ecuador. And I have made some great friends along the way.
Pretty much around the same time I started collecting US.........as a kid in the 60's.........I found back then I could get more bang for my buck with world coins and I liked them
Steve
Awesome story!!!
Collecting interests: Coins from Latin American (2020-present)
Sports: NFL & NHL
My first contact with world coins came in 1971 as I was working on the Boy Scout Coin Collecting Merit Badge. One requirement was to collect 50 coins from at least 10 different countries. Starting 1984 I took an active interest in world coins. I now have over 1,700 coins from 477 places around the world. As of late my main interest has been pre-decimal coins of the British Empire. A favorite coin is my 1935 British Crown.
I just got back into this thread to read some of the more recent posts since I initially added mine a few months ago. I actually just updated & expanded that response.
It's interesting to see how many people got the Canadian bug by living close enough to or having similar contact with those just to our north. I actually first was drawn to Canadian coinage by getting a few pieces in change or bank rolls as a kid - -
and that was while living just outside of Philly! Still close enough to Canada, I guess............
In any event, if anyone posting here still keeps up with or has access to recent (meaning 2018 thru 2021) Canadian circulating (regular & commemorative) coins (nickels thru Twonies) and wouldn't mind trading/selling some we might need, I'd love to hear from you! Just looking for clean change (fresh from rolls vs heavily-circulated) - - nothing to slab or anything like that. Just trying to keep current. Similarly, if anyone's looking for some relatively recent Canadian, or older, more circulated cents, nickels, & a smattering of others from the 1920's/30's & up, let me know, in case I can help out. I even have some U.S. extras available from roughly the same timeframe. (No silver, unfortunately, as everything we've collected there has been sold/traded & plowed back into filling holes). I'd like nothing more than to develop new Canadian trading partners.
-- Dave
I started collecting British coins about seven years ago, and I have collecting imperial Roman for about three years.
Many years ago I collected Canadian silver dollars, but the interest didn't last.
Try The Canadian Numismatic Company they are the best here in Canada they handle all price range coins. Marc and Eric are easy to work with and have been in the business a long long time. They hold many auctions per year.
Collecting interests: Coins from Latin American (2020-present)
Sports: NFL & NHL
Thanks! I'll check them out. Still holding out hope there's a fellow Forum member or 2 also interested in trading as well.
Unless I'm missing something, they seem to only handle auctions of higher-end coins. I'm just looking to trade for recent generally-circulating coins to fill recent holes to stay current..........
Like I said call them they have so much in stock that are not in their auctions. They of all people can help you. Long weekend so call them mid week.
Collecting interests: Coins from Latin American (2020-present)
Sports: NFL & NHL