I put other just because I can’t say it’s just one. Me as a collector I do it all especially when I’m at the smelter I can’t save it all but I try. We all collect in different ways that’s what makes it fun for all.
Coin collecting for me has never been about amassing a fortune. It's been a way to connect with the past & family, and take on the challenge of filling holes in folders......
One day as a kid, I must have found an interesting coin in my parents' or grandparents' change, and took an interest in it, as evidence of a rich history of lives and times long since disappeared. Imagining who held the coins before & what their life was like was fascinating, as was using them as a springboard to learning more about the times in which they lived.
So, like other kids my age back then, I got a few Whitman blue folder and just started filling holes with Lincolns
& Jeffersons, trying to fill in as many holes as I could from family change or my allowance.
Neither my parents nor my grandparents were collectors, but my grandparents especially supported my interest by letting me look thru their change, etc. I remember lots of time spent on overnight or longer visits with my grandparents, sprawled on their living room floor looking thru change and filling holes. That sense of connection with them is a gift I hold onto to this day, and something I hope to foster in my grandkids when they arrive. Later, when I expanded into silver (which, unfortunately by that time had been pulled from circulation), they took long walks with me through downtown Philly to "Smelter's Row", where I could go thru huge metal coffee cans full of all types of silver coins. Back then, with silver at a "costly" 4 times face, I could only afford dimes & quarters from my allowance, so I limited myself to just Roosies & Washies, later expanding to Mercs. I wish I had enough foresight back then to have expanded into SLQ's, Barbers, halves, and Morgan/Peace dollars. Eventually I did branch out into most of those other areas,, but at a much higher cost......
My guiding rule was to never veer from blue Whitman folders. When I went to a particular local B&M (ling since closed), I'd browse thru their bookshelf full of old/used folders other customers had turned in with their collections for cash, and picked up a few to expand into other areas. That's how I got into IHC's, 2-cent pieces, Liberty-Head & Buffalos, Merc's, SLQ's, Walkers, Franklins, JFK's, Morgans, & Peace $1's. I even picked up a few folders into which I could only place 1 or 2 coins (like Barbers) or with interesting titles ("Morgan" vs "Barber") on the front.
At some point, my Dad gave me a "Roo" Australian large copper cent, and I was hooked into the Darkside as well. Using my same blue Whitman folder strategy, I found folders for pre-decimal UK, Australian, & New Zealand coins, as well as Mexican 2-/5-/20-centavo coins, as well as the whole run of Canadian coins (which popped up relatively frequently around here). Over time, I've almost completely filled all of those folders as well.
The internet & eBay and this Forum came along at just the right time to help me re-kickstart my collecting & branch out into Euro and a "1-per-Country" Darkside collection that took on a much wider span than anticipated. Those were fun days, especially since local B&M's and shows were starting to dry up, and my eyesight started having issues that made searching thru collections at shows more of an irritant than a pleasure, unfortunately.
These days, most all of my holes left open are for key & semi-key dates I never expect to find, nor can justify paying for after a lifetime of covering my & then my family's needs. Most of my time now is spent just trying to keep up our U.S. & Canadian collections with each year's new releases.
Back when our boys were young, I encouraged them to start folders of their own. One day, I plan on passing all mine down to them and their children. As they are not extremely valuable in the purest financial sense of the word, I hope they never have to sell any of them to meet any financial emergency. Rather, I hope they treat them as I have, as a connection to history & family, and as things "they just don't make anymore", and keep up collecting each year for each denomination as they come out. And to think of me and their future children when they do so.......
Comments
More specifically?
D's: 50P,49S,45D+S,43D,41S,40D,39D+S,38D+S,37D+S,36S,35D+S,all 16-34's
Q's: 52S,47S,46S,40S,39S,38S,37D+S,36D+S,35D,34D,32D+S
74T: 241,435,610,654 97 Finest silver: 115,135,139,145,310
73T:31,55,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,80,152,165,189,213,235,237,257,341,344,377,379,390,422,433,453,480,497,545,554,563,580,606,613,630
95 Ultra GM Sets: Golden Prospects,HR Kings,On-Base Leaders,Power Plus,RBI Kings,Rising Stars
1886-O low grade that I cleaned to make it lower grade.
I put other just because I can’t say it’s just one. Me as a collector I do it all especially when I’m at the smelter I can’t save it all but I try. We all collect in different ways that’s what makes it fun for all.
Hoard the keys.
I think old stuff is neat, and coins don't take up a lot of space like a lot of other types of antique collecting.
IG: DeCourcyCoinsEbay: neilrobertson
"Numismatic categorizations, if left unconstrained, will increase spontaneously over time." -me
Coin collecting for me has never been about amassing a fortune. It's been a way to connect with the past & family, and take on the challenge of filling holes in folders......
One day as a kid, I must have found an interesting coin in my parents' or grandparents' change, and took an interest in it, as evidence of a rich history of lives and times long since disappeared. Imagining who held the coins before & what their life was like was fascinating, as was using them as a springboard to learning more about the times in which they lived.
So, like other kids my age back then, I got a few Whitman blue folder and just started filling holes with Lincolns
& Jeffersons, trying to fill in as many holes as I could from family change or my allowance.
Neither my parents nor my grandparents were collectors, but my grandparents especially supported my interest by letting me look thru their change, etc. I remember lots of time spent on overnight or longer visits with my grandparents, sprawled on their living room floor looking thru change and filling holes. That sense of connection with them is a gift I hold onto to this day, and something I hope to foster in my grandkids when they arrive. Later, when I expanded into silver (which, unfortunately by that time had been pulled from circulation), they took long walks with me through downtown Philly to "Smelter's Row", where I could go thru huge metal coffee cans full of all types of silver coins. Back then, with silver at a "costly" 4 times face, I could only afford dimes & quarters from my allowance, so I limited myself to just Roosies & Washies, later expanding to Mercs. I wish I had enough foresight back then to have expanded into SLQ's, Barbers, halves, and Morgan/Peace dollars. Eventually I did branch out into most of those other areas,, but at a much higher cost......
My guiding rule was to never veer from blue Whitman folders. When I went to a particular local B&M (ling since closed), I'd browse thru their bookshelf full of old/used folders other customers had turned in with their collections for cash, and picked up a few to expand into other areas. That's how I got into IHC's, 2-cent pieces, Liberty-Head & Buffalos, Merc's, SLQ's, Walkers, Franklins, JFK's, Morgans, & Peace $1's. I even picked up a few folders into which I could only place 1 or 2 coins (like Barbers) or with interesting titles ("Morgan" vs "Barber") on the front.
At some point, my Dad gave me a "Roo" Australian large copper cent, and I was hooked into the Darkside as well. Using my same blue Whitman folder strategy, I found folders for pre-decimal UK, Australian, & New Zealand coins, as well as Mexican 2-/5-/20-centavo coins, as well as the whole run of Canadian coins (which popped up relatively frequently around here). Over time, I've almost completely filled all of those folders as well.
The internet & eBay and this Forum came along at just the right time to help me re-kickstart my collecting & branch out into Euro and a "1-per-Country" Darkside collection that took on a much wider span than anticipated. Those were fun days, especially since local B&M's and shows were starting to dry up, and my eyesight started having issues that made searching thru collections at shows more of an irritant than a pleasure, unfortunately.
These days, most all of my holes left open are for key & semi-key dates I never expect to find, nor can justify paying for after a lifetime of covering my & then my family's needs. Most of my time now is spent just trying to keep up our U.S. & Canadian collections with each year's new releases.
Back when our boys were young, I encouraged them to start folders of their own. One day, I plan on passing all mine down to them and their children. As they are not extremely valuable in the purest financial sense of the word, I hope they never have to sell any of them to meet any financial emergency. Rather, I hope they treat them as I have, as a connection to history & family, and as things "they just don't make anymore", and keep up collecting each year for each denomination as they come out. And to think of me and their future children when they do so.......
All of the above + obsessive-compulsive tendencies.