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Your first Coin Album

Tom147Tom147 Posts: 1,433 ✭✭✭✭✭

After posting on another thread regarding years collecting and how we all got started in this wonderful hobby, I became curious. What was your first coin album and if you care to elaborate, when and how did you acquire it. I'm guessing the majority started off with the same one as I did.
I'll start it off. My late father brought me home a new Lincoln cent folder. The year was 1964. ( I still have it and it's Priceless. Took me over a year to find that elusive 55 S )

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    BillJonesBillJones Posts: 33,486 ✭✭✭✭✭

    My story was similar. I received the two Whitman Lincoln cent folders plus the 13th edition of the Red Book from an uncle as a Christmas present in 1959.

    Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
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    Tom147Tom147 Posts: 1,433 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @BillJones said:
    My story was similar. I received the two Whitman Lincoln cent folders plus the 13th edition of the Red Book from an uncle as a Christmas present in 1959.

    I saw that. Kind of helped initiate the post. What two of the three do you still have ?

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    Mr_SpudMr_Spud Posts: 4,462 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I had the same Whitman folder for Lincoln’s. Only mine wore out on the spine and I had it taped with masking tape. I transferred the coins to a better album with the clear slides in it about 15 years ago and continue to upgrade it occasionally when I come across nicer lincolns

    Mr_Spud

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    P0CKETCHANGEP0CKETCHANGE Posts: 2,259 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I’ve been collecting for over two decades, but picked up my very first album just last year for (believe it or not) American Innovation dollars. I’m subscribed to the $100 mint bags and I pick out the best coin from the bunch and spend the other 99. I am working on a basic type set and a silver Washington quarter set, but both are PCGS Registry sets and not a physical album.

    Nothing is as expensive as free money.

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    Tom147Tom147 Posts: 1,433 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Mr_Spud, can't bring myself to transfer mine to another album. All of them are circulated, taken from pocket change. I now have 5 completed Danscos with BU & Proofs. Still love that old Whitman the most.

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    291fifth291fifth Posts: 23,945 ✭✭✭✭✭

    In late 1961 I bought a Whitman Buffalo Nickel folder and started filling it from circulation. In the late summer of 1962 I received a Lincoln Cent Whitman Bookshelf album from the recreation center I worked for as a volunteer that summer (they knew I was a coin collector).

    All glory is fleeting.
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    BillJonesBillJones Posts: 33,486 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I have the 13th Edition of the Red Book, now well used because my grandmother had it for a while. I got her interested in coins. I have the second Whitman fold for the 1940 to 1959 cents, now very fragile. I upgraded the 1909-1939 folder to a Liberty of Coins Album, and it fell by the wayside.

    I have posted pictures of the first two items here in the past hour. Here is the Library of Coins album.


    The 1909-S-VDB is now in a slab, and I never have really owned a 1922 Plain. I almost kept one I bought raw when I was a dealer, but another dealer "made an offer to me that I could not refuse."

    Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
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    WaterSportWaterSport Posts: 6,709 ✭✭✭✭✭

    A woman by the by the name of Zita Lindsey opened a coin and antique store in Arlington, Virginia a block from the shopping Mall once called Pakington, but now named Ballston Common. We kids would walk by it and were hood winked to come inside and once inside – all walked out with Whitman Cent Folders. The rest is history.

    Proud recipient of the coveted PCGS Forum "You Suck" Award Thursday July 19, 2007 11:33 PM and December 30th, 2011 at 8:50 PM.
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    VeepVeep Posts: 1,403 ✭✭✭✭

    I’ll pile on with the same two Whitman albums with the plastic slides. They’re on the bookshelf with the same coins I put in them as a kid (with the four obvious missing ones).

    "Let me tell ya Bud, you can buy junk anytime!"
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    LanLordLanLord Posts: 11,681 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Mine was a Dansco 7070 given to me as a Christmas present in 1968 or so.
    Prior to that, I had some coins just hanging around or in 2x2s.
    It came with a few coins already in it, but it was still a challenge that took me a long time to complete.

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    Tom147Tom147 Posts: 1,433 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Veep said:

    (with the four obvious missing ones).

    1909 S, 1909 S VDB, 1914 D &1922 plain ?

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    VeepVeep Posts: 1,403 ✭✭✭✭

    No hole for ‘22 plain. The fourth is the ‘31-s

    "Let me tell ya Bud, you can buy junk anytime!"
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    Tom147Tom147 Posts: 1,433 ✭✭✭✭✭

    O.K. That one I do have, I'm missing the other four.

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    BarberianBarberian Posts: 3,061 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited February 28, 2021 8:59AM

    @Tom147 said:
    After posting on another thread regarding years collecting and how we all got started in this wonderful hobby, I became curious. What was your first coin album and if you care to elaborate, when and how did you acquire it. I'm guessing the majority started off with the same one as I did.
    I'll start it off. My late father brought me home a new Lincoln cent folder. The year was 1964. ( I still have it and it's Priceless. Took me over a year to find that elusive 55 S )

    Same here (Whitman folders for Lincoln Cents) except the year was 1963 when I was 7 and my brother was 12. He did the lion's share of hole filling in the first few years but I did find a G4 1921 dime in circulation. I took over the collection by default at 11-yo when he left home and developed other interests.

    Edited to add: I did a lot of coin roll searching but never found a 55-S until my father brought back two rolls of pennies from the San Francisco area and BINGO!

    3 rim nicks away from Good
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    An old Whitman Canadian type album. It was great! Kind of wanna find one and start again.

    Radiant Collection: Numismatics and Exonumia of the Atomic Age.
    https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/showcase/3232

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    DoubleDimeDoubleDime Posts: 619 ✭✭✭

    I started with the Whitman blue folders. I still have them and have added others to them. My first album was the Dansco 7070 in 2017. I wanted to see both sides of the type coins. I also have the Whitman type album for 20th and 21st Century type.

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    BillJonesBillJones Posts: 33,486 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited February 28, 2021 9:08AM

    Edited to add: I did a lot of coin roll searching but never found a 55-S until my father brought back two rolls of pennies from the San Francisco area and BINGO!

    I was never able to find a 1955-S cent in circulation. The S-mint coins always were harder to find because people traveled less then to bring them to the East Coast. I finally bought one from Woolworths for the princely sum of 80 cents, which was still too much. The coin got up to $1.50 retail in BU circa 1966.

    Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
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    AuldFartteAuldFartte Posts: 4,597 ✭✭✭✭

    A brand new blue Whitman Folder for Lincoln cents in 1957 when I was 8 years old. I grabbed the vast majority of the wheats out of circulation over the next couple of years. Just pocket change, nothing exceptional. But I sure had a lot of fun!

    image

    My OmniCoin Collection
    My BankNoteBank Collection
    Tom, formerly in Albuquerque, NM.
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    CocoinutCocoinut Posts: 2,505 ✭✭✭✭✭

    My first album was a Dansco Lincoln folder that started in 1930 or 1931. It was soon replaced with another Dansco that began in 1909 and had enough blank spaces to take it into the early 1960s.

    Countdown to completion of my Mercury Set: 2 coins. My growing Lincoln Set: Finally completed!
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    DDRDDR Posts: 1,562 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Whitman blue folder for Buffalo Nickels. Eventually filled it, after many years!

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    erwindocerwindoc Posts: 4,927 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I have an older dansco album that has clear pages designed to hold 2x2s. Still has a few of my original coins I bought at a local coin show many years ago!

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    HydrantHydrant Posts: 7,773 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Whitman Lincoln Memorial Cents. What else?

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    SanctionIISanctionII Posts: 11,732 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Whitman Roosevelt dime folder given to me by my dad in 1963. Filled it from circulation finds. Still have it.

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    FredFFredF Posts: 526 ✭✭✭

    Still have my Whitman wheatie book. Still have coins in it. Some time many many years ago, I took some of the coins out to fill holes in my son's album. But there are still a few in there.

    Successful BST (me as buyer) with: Collectorcoins, PipestonePete, JasonRiffeRareCoins

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    lkeneficlkenefic Posts: 7,834 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I remember having ti buy both the 54S and 55S. I lived in eastern NC at the time and finding S mint anything from circulation was a challenge.

    Collecting: Dansco 7070; Middle Date Large Cents (VF-AU); Box of 20;

    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.
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    koynekwestkoynekwest Posts: 10,048 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Lincoln Cent Vol 2 1941 and up. The bar owner where my dad bartended sold them. I saw one. asked what it was and my dad bought one for me. He emptied the cent compartment out and let me go thru them. That was in June, 1961 and I'm still going strong.

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    rmorganrmorgan Posts: 249 ✭✭✭✭

    Back around '64 my dad showed me how to collect coins, and the bug bit me. I still have those albums. How can one get rid of what started a life-long interest!?

    My strategy is about collecting what I intend to keep, not investing in what I plan to sell.

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    Tom147Tom147 Posts: 1,433 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Yea, guess I was right. Seems the Whitman cent album started a lot of us. Nice to hear the stories too.

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    Pnies20Pnies20 Posts: 2,069 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Mine was the blue Whitman 19th century type set album. I wish I could find another one. Can’t seem to locate one. Man I loved that album.

    BHNC #248 … 108 and counting.

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    nwcoastnwcoast Posts: 2,845 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Started with the blueWhitman folders in the 60’s just as many others did.
    I still have those old folders too though some have holes punched through them as they were so tight.

    Happy, humble, honored and proud recipient of the “You Suck” award 10/22/2014

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    TurtleCatTurtleCat Posts: 4,594 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I think the first was a Whitman Lincoln cent board. I got it at some point in the early 2000s when I got back into coins for the first time since being a young teen.

    I had a number of wheats already and my mom let me fill in some gaps with her cents. Later I transferred them to a 1909-1995 Whitman album that shows both sides. I recently started trying to fill it out again. I’m down to 37 left but won’t get the 09svdb, 22 no D, or the doubled dies.

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    jesbrokenjesbroken Posts: 9,324 ✭✭✭✭✭

    My first album was sheets of notebook paper and a roll of scotch tape. Kept them between two pieces of cardboard, as it was a pain rewriting all the dates if you tore the sheets of paper due to the weight, which occurred several times. My second, I guess you could call it that, was a dime folder from the bank, which I filled several of. Probably early 60's before my first whitman folder, which I still have but falling apart.
    Jim


    When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest....Abraham Lincoln

    Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.....Mark Twain
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    Tom147Tom147 Posts: 1,433 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Wish I could LOL and Like both. My 57 year old Whitman is still pretty decent shape surprisingly. I only look at it when I'm nostalgic.

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    kiyotekiyote Posts: 5,568 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited March 1, 2021 12:54AM

    My Dansco state quarter album PDSS. It’s going on 21 years now.

    "I'll split the atom! I am the fifth dimension! I am the eighth wonder of the world!" -Gef the talking mongoose.
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    kiyotekiyote Posts: 5,568 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I just hope Dansco starts making albums again!

    "I'll split the atom! I am the fifth dimension! I am the eighth wonder of the world!" -Gef the talking mongoose.
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    rec78rec78 Posts: 5,691 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Me and my sister got the Lincoln cent Whiteman folders for Christmas in 1958. My sister lost interest after about a year. My dad would get coins to search frequently.

    image
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    Tom147Tom147 Posts: 1,433 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @kiyote said:
    I just hope Dansco starts making albums again!

    kiyote, Supposed to start up production this month. I imagine in will be April before their available.

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    rickoricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I did not have any albums as a kid....did not even know there were albums for coins. Then came the Navy... then travel/relocations, which meant 'not a log of stuff' to move. Coins were kept in a box/envelopes. Finally got an album in the nineties...then quickly two more. Still have them. But now I just collect 'special' coins, no series. Cheers, RickO

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    WAYNEASWAYNEAS Posts: 6,355 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Whitman Lincoln Albums #1 (starting 1909) and #2 ( starting 1944).
    I purchased ( well my mom did) these when at a book store ironically in the Walt Whitman Mall in Long Island NY.
    Still have them both. :)

    Kennedys are my quest...

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    johnny9434johnny9434 Posts: 27,523 ✭✭✭✭✭

    a whitman folder for cents, 1941 - like 1974 :)

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