Large gap in coin collecting

JoeLewis

I began my interest in coins at age 10, and collected what I could. By age 12, I lost interest. Then, in my 30s I got really interested again and started collecting. I’m 48 and still going strong.

I’m just curious how common this is. Anyone else collect as a kid and then rejoin the hobby later in life?

ctf_error_coins

Very Common

1630Boston

@JoeLewis said:

I’m just curious how common this is. Anyone else collect as a kid and then rejoin the hobby later in life?

.
.
Yes for me,
things get in the way like education, work, family, other hobbies etc.

johnny010

Same
Started loving coins due to my grandpa in Sweden who lived all over the world and handed down some cool stuff. Now I’m in it all the way and loving it. Breen’s book just arrived to boot.

BillJones

@JoeLewis said:
I began my interest in coins at age 10, and collected what I could. By age 12, I lost interest. Then, in my 30s I got really interested again and started collecting. I’m 48 and still going strong.

I’m just curious how common this is. Anyone else collect as a kid and then rejoin the hobby later in life?

I have been full steam ahead with collecting since I was 10 except for the year + I went to graduate school. That took all of my extra money and most of my time with 24 credit semesters and job hunting.

WCC

It happened to me. I first started at age 10 and stopped at age 13 due to lack of money. Picked up again at age 22 and 26 for time and stopped again for the same reason, lack of money. I resumed for good at age 33.

In between these iterations, I did still read coin books and kept up with new developments.

I think this is common. In my case, I didn't have the funds to buy the types of coins I wanted to collect. I could have collected at a lower price level but wasn't interested in the coins I could buy which were simultaneously available locally to me.

It might have been different if I could buy through the internet.

1630Boston

@JoeLewis said:

I’m 48 and still going strong.

PS
I wish I was 48 again and knew what I now know.

gumby1234

I was not collecting for about 25 years or more. Coins sat in SDB. Just got back in less than 2 years ago.

johnny010

@1630Boston said:

@JoeLewis said:

I’m 48 and still going strong.

PS
I wish I was 48 again and knew what I now know.

Interesting thought

Can you expand or is this just general hindsight wisdom?

OAKSTAR

Like others have stated. Yes, very common. Pretty much same age range as you. Got away from it in High School (forget the coins. Girls were the priority), then military, then career, then family.................then finally disposable cash came back into my life, HELLO COINS!!

1630Boston

Just general hindsight @johnny010

The_Dinosaur_Man

I started as a youngster and tried getting out of it when I went to college. Five or six years later and I took on an internship at my LCS. And then everything spiraled from there.

golden

I have been going strong since I started at age 10.

coinbuf

I would agree that your example is rather common, it was true for myself.

lkenefic

Same... although I started when I was about 8 or 9...

mark_dak

@1630Boston said:

@JoeLewis said:

I’m just curious how common this is. Anyone else collect as a kid and then rejoin the hobby later in life?

.
.
Yes for me,
things get in the way like education, work, family, other hobbies etc.

Wife, kids, mortgage, educations and weddings sucked up most of my disposable income for almost 3 decades.

Mark

mark_dak

@BillJones said:

@JoeLewis said:
I began my interest in coins at age 10, and collected what I could. By age 12, I lost interest. Then, in my 30s I got really interested again and started collecting. I’m 48 and still going strong.

I’m just curious how common this is. Anyone else collect as a kid and then rejoin the hobby later in life?

I have been full steam ahead with collecting since I was 10 except for the year + I went to graduate school. That took all of my extra money and most of my time with 24 credit semesters and job hunting.

It shows in the high quality items I have seen you post.

Mark

bretsan

I collected as a kid back in the 80’s and started collecting again just a couple years ago

PeakRarities

Very common, I’m only 27 now but my collecting has been on and off since I was around 12. Some are several year periods where I take a break from the hobby but I always come back eventually

fluffy155

Exactly the same here. Unfortunately my time off coincided with the 1992 - 2004 market lull so I missed out on some great deals

mirabela

Pretty common. With changes in the exact particulars that's my story too. There's a special sparkle in coming back to it as an adult with a little more knowledge and a little more money and being able to access some of the stuff I could only fantasize about as a kid.

vulcanize

Glad to know that I am not the only one.
My folks had kept my stamp and coin collection very safe after teenage years saw interests shifting to other misplaced priorities.
Am going to be 51 soon and got back into the hobby again a couple of years ago and the lockdown really fueled it in many ways.

bsshog40

I collected for a couple years in the early 80's. Had what small collection I had stolen. Didn't start back until about 2004. Haven't bought anything in the last 1 1/2 yrs now. Low funds may just have me quiting again for good.

[Deleted User]

@JoeLewis said:
I began my interest in coins at age 10, and collected what I could. By age 12, I lost interest. Then, in my 30s I got really interested again and started collecting. I’m 48 and still going strong.

I’m just curious how common this is. Anyone else collect as a kid and then rejoin the hobby later in life?

I collected from the time I was 9 until I got divorced at 29. During and shortly after the divorce I sold the entirety of my collection, as i had an attorney to pay and a young boy to raise as a newly single father. No collecting activity until I was about 38. Now 44 and going strong again.

MilesWaits

I had a dry period From say 0 to 8 but after that made up for lost years.

Rob9874

@JoeLewis said:
I began my interest in coins at age 10, and collected what I could. By age 12, I lost interest. Then, in my 30s I got really interested again and started collecting. I’m 48 and still going strong.

I’m just curious how common this is. Anyone else collect as a kid and then rejoin the hobby later in life?

Had to make sure I didn't start this thread because it sounds exactly like my story. Same ages, exactly!

santinidollar

In my case, 45 years passed between the end of my kid collecting and the start of my adult collecting,

Pnies20

I stopped collecting from about ages 12-19 and picked it up again when I was in college. I rediscovered my old Whitman type set album in one my drawers.

Zach98

I actually just joined this forum a few days ago. My old man got me into coins when I was about 8. I consistently collected US coins until I was about 14. I bought a few pieces when I was 16/18. I picked up a 1794 Large Cent as a gift a few months ago and it inspired me to start getting back into coins. I am 22 now

cladking

Like most people I sold my collection at 16. I didn't lose interest but didn't have much income until I was 23.

Mr_Spud

I collected when I was a young kid, my older brother got me hooked, stopped at about 13 years old, sold off all my silver coins at 10x face when I was in collage when the Hunt brothers ran silver up but kept the non silver coins and still have them. I didn’t really collect again, except for occasionally buying a few junk Franklins at flea markets here and there, until Mrs_Spud asked me to teach her about them when I was 43 years old. Within a year we were heavy into collecting and Mrs_Spud became the Secretary of the Charlotte Coin Club.

OldIndianNutKase

I was very active up until I entered college in 1964. I have always followed the coin market but did not get back into it until I bought a 1877 IHC from Rick Snow in 2012. So. I was not active for almost 50 years.

messydesk

@JoeLewis said:

>

I’m just curious how common this is. Anyone else collect as a kid and then rejoin the hobby later in life?

Yup. I think not taking a break like that is the exception to the rule.

rec78

@cladking said:
Like most people I sold my collection at 16. I didn't lose interest but didn't have much income until I was 23.

I don't think that most people sell their collection at 16.

I never lost interest, but there were many years when I thought the prices were simply too high or I did not have enough money to obtain what I wanted.

hfjacinto

Like most on here, I’ve collected since I was 7, but also like a few of you life takes over. When the ASE came out in 86 I collected again, then college came and I spent money on girls and going out. I always picked up a few things (mostly wheat cents) but I restarted back in my 40’s. I’m in my 50’s and I’ve been into coins pretty heavy. In my 60’s I might slow down, it comes and goes.

Luckily I never sold some of my sets, I even have my Whitman folders.

ricko

I started as a kid with a paper route.... this continued all through my life with some very light periods when I lived in other countries (though even then, I would put aside a few coins from that country). Just have always had a fascination for coins. The level of activity would ebb and flow due to external situations, but never disappeared. Cheers, RickO

dsessom

@JoeLewis said:
I began my interest in coins at age 10, and collected what I could. By age 12, I lost interest. Then, in my 30s I got really interested again and started collecting. I’m 48 and still going strong.

I’m just curious how common this is. Anyone else collect as a kid and then rejoin the hobby later in life?

I think this is pretty common. I started at about age 11 or 12, and quit when I was 15, when I started working full time to pay for a car and insurance. I didn't start back in the hobby until I was about 35 years old. I do take breaks, but always come back to it. I also collect currency, firearms, and sink a lot of money into my Corvette (money pit), so I am spread a bit thin at times. LOL

MASSU2

The broke college kid and new parent stages were my 2 gaps. And of course the stuff I would have collected those years are the years that increased in value the most. I'm looking at you 1998 RFK with Matte Proof JFK set.

telephoto1

My uncle got me interested at age 7 and I've been infected ever since. Once I discovered girls and cars, my disposable income took a hit... but I never got out of the hobby, mainly because when I was in HS I was helping out part time at a local coin shop that I ended up running for a few years during and post college...then got seriously involved in the business full time when we started up our business in 1988.

metalmeister

Sounds like we are all pretty much in the same boat. A nice one at that

cladking

@rec78 said:

@cladking said:
Like most people I sold my collection at 16. I didn't lose interest but didn't have much income until I was 23.

I don't think that most people sell their collection at 16.

I never lost interest, but there were many years when I thought the prices were simply too high or I did not have enough money to obtain what I wanted.

I had been making 3 to $10 purchases by mail since the 1950's and had amassed a low grade buffalo nickel set. Most of the coins came from circulation but the key dates were purchased. I'd have done much better on the set financially but the G's and VG's I was paying for turned out to be AG's and G's. There were a few coins in the set that were much better so I got $120 and a slight profit on the set. This was over well $1000 in today's money and paid for a lot of evenings out. There were lots of things in those days for young people that cost very little or nothing at all. Today's youth need a rich uncle for each date. I was driving for 3.5c a mile (total costs including depreciation) so $120 was almost like real money. Even though I had several good jobs earlier I didn't work steady until I was 23 and had the wherewithal to start assembling a collection again.

I thought is was very common for kids to stop collecting at 16 or 17 and most sell their collections for handy cash. I knew most of my cohorts lost a lot of money on their collections. Indeed, most of my friends lost most of their money unless they had found something desirable in circulation. Kids were fair game in those days but even worse was that almost everyone bought the wrong coins; one cent coins. We all thought the '49-S Lincoln was the be all end all of the modern penny set and the '09-S VDB of the older one cent coins. I had a cent collection but never purchased any. If I had been collecting varieties and Gems I'd have done very well but buffalos and a lot of luck saved me.

JoeLewis

For me, the comeback was due to finally having disposable income as well as feeling a bit nostalgic.

The things I weren’t prepared for were how TPGs had changed the hobby so much, and having so much great, free information available online!

divecchia

I did not really collect as a child. I would go through change with my dad looking for odd or different coins, but never really found anything interesting. I started collecting in my early 20's when my wife (a bank teller at the time) brought home a few rolls of silver quarters. I collected coins for about 5-6 years then stopped and switched to Nolan Ryan baseball cards. I did not get back into coins for about 25 years. What got me started again was my brother in law showing me some of his Morgans and Peace dollars that he got from his mom. A couple of years ago I sold off most of my Nolan Ryan collection and have been going strong collecting coins for the last 5-6 years. This will likely be my last hobby and I don't see myself giving it up anytime soon.

Donato

124Spider

I collected avidly as a kid, coins from circulation (I was not rich, so I had some difficulty keeping half dollars, which represented more than one week's allowance). I collected Lincoln cents, buffalo and Jefferson nickels, Mercury and Roosevelt dimes, Washington quarters and walking liberty half dollars (the Whitman coin folder said "standing Liberty half dollars").

Toward the end of high school, life started getting in the way, and my active collecting fell by the wayside. I still looked at the coins in change (yeah, my eyes could see the dates without aid in those days), and I even snagged a 1909 VDB cent in change in 1970.

I took almost 50 years off from active collecting, but took it up again (seriously this time) as retirement set in (and I had spare bandwidth again).

It's still fun!

erscolo

I first collected in the 1970s and early 1980s, then came back to it in 2019.

Walkerfan

Started in 1974, when I was a little kid. Did it for a few years, then lost interest. Started buying raw Walkers in 1993ish. Bought my first certified coin a couple years later. Started my registry set in 2005. Finished that in 2021.
Here we are in 2023 and I'm still going strong but branching out into different directions.

DisneyFan

While I collected coins as a youngster, stamps were my main thing, I had difficulty grading coins, especially trying to distinguish the MS grades. I was satisfied with having coins that were circulated in the lower grades and couldn't justify spending money for the higher grades that could be questionable. Consequently I filled up many of the Whitman albums.

Never hinged stamps were slow to be valued by collectors and I got ahead of the market by specializing in them. I found stamps easier to grade based on their centering and I became an expert in recognizing regummed stamps. As a result I sold all of my coin collections to fund my stamp collections. After seriously collecting stamps for 30 years I realized the stamp market was dying and finally sold all of my stamps.

Third party grading changed my attitude towards coins and here I am.

TimNH

I'm one of these guys who collected like crazy as a kid on a low budget, grabbing up wheats and pre-65 silver and the occasional buffalo or Indian or Morgan or something. Forgot all about it starting about age 12 until Covid hit, then rediscovered the whole thing for need of something new to do. It is now my #1 hobby and I dare say I have a little more money to spend now so it is quite a hoot

erwindoc

Similar story here. I still have some of those early coins I bought when I was a kid. Seems like I got back into collecting when I completed college.

bagofnickels

I think this is a very common story. I have most of my childhood albums and collections. I lost my grandmother in 2016 and was lucky enough to get to look through her collection. That sparked new interest for me and I started collecting again. When COVID started my interest really ramped up and now I check ebay, GC, HA and half a dozen dealer websites almost daily. This is a wonderful hobby and I'm glad I found it a second time.

pursuitofliberty

Other than my first fascination as a 5th grader(?) I have come back and forth several times ... where life, career, family and other activities and hobbies have all intervened over the years.

Mostly, I can say I was active 1987 to 1993, 1999 to 2001, 2004 to 2013, and now 2020 to present. Interestingly, looking back and through different parts of it all, I can see how my tastes, purchases and collection has evolved over that time frame, which actually makes some sense of where I find myself today.