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Question: What was the First Coin-Related Item You EVER Bought?

RichRRichR Posts: 3,870 ✭✭✭✭✭
edited May 2, 2023 1:38PM in U.S. Coin Forum

Here's mine...a paperweight purchased at Gimbel's coin counter (in Yonkers, NY...don't know how I still remember that?) in the mid 1970s...or at least an image of it...the real one is in a storage bin!

Comments

  • maymay Posts: 1,590 ✭✭✭✭✭

    My first coin I bought with my money, is probably a 1883 no cents.

    Type collector, mainly into Seated. -formerly Ownerofawheatiehorde. Good BST transactions with: mirabela, OKCC, MICHAELDIXON, Gerard

  • johnny9434johnny9434 Posts: 28,598 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I got crs as well. I believe it was a whitman folder 📂 1941 on if I remember right

  • cameonut2011cameonut2011 Posts: 10,169 ✭✭✭✭✭

    The first coin I remember buying was a 1900 Morgan Dollar with subtle rainbow toning that probably grades about MS63. I still have it somewhere.

  • BryceMBryceM Posts: 11,818 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I got tired of looking for 1980 and 1981 Susie Bs in change, LOL. Finally, I ordered a set from the mint.

  • lermishlermish Posts: 3,243 ✭✭✭✭✭

    A few VGish early 40s walkers in 1990ish

  • Mr_SpudMr_Spud Posts: 5,834 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited May 2, 2023 2:36PM

    I vaguely remember buying older US coins and foreign paper money in plastic capsules out of gumball type machine in front of a small coin store in South Hills Village mall outside of Pittsburgh when I was about 8 years old so it would have been about 1969.

    I remember it was a quarter per capsule and I got some worn down wheat cents and very folded foreign bills out of that machine. I was already collecting and filling a Whitman folder for the cents that my older brother had given me.

    Mr_Spud

  • oih82w8oih82w8 Posts: 12,352 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Lincoln Cent and Jefferson Nickel Whitman coin folders.

    oih82w8 = Oh I Hate To Wait _defectus patientia_aka...Dr. Defecto - Curator of RMO's

    BST transactions: dbldie55, jayPem, 78saen, UltraHighRelief, nibanny, liefgold, FallGuy, lkeigwin, mbogoman, Sandman70gt, keets, joeykoins, ianrussell (@GC), EagleEye, ThePennyLady, GRANDAM, Ilikecolor, Gluggo, okiedude, Voyageur, LJenkins11, fastfreddie, ms70, pursuitofliberty, ZoidMeister,Coin Finder, GotTheBug, edwardjulio, Coinnmore, Nickpatton, Namvet69,...
  • Zach98Zach98 Posts: 61 ✭✭✭
    edited May 2, 2023 4:20PM

    If I remember correctly I’m pretty sure this $2.50 Indian Head was my first coin purchase. That was roughly 2008-09.

  • goodmoney4badmoneygoodmoney4badmoney Posts: 1,264 ✭✭✭✭✭

    A 10% off center Connecticut state quarter.

  • Project NumismaticsProject Numismatics Posts: 1,591 ✭✭✭✭✭

    1994 or so as a YN, 1878 Morgan in XF. Nice original coin - still have it.

  • OAKSTAROAKSTAR Posts: 7,724 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @johnny9434 said:
    I got crs as well. I believe it was a whitman folder 📂 1941 on if I remember right

    Same here. Probably the old Whitman Lincoln 1941 folder. I remember very distinctly (back in the late 60's) the first coin I bought. Came home and showed my dad and told him how much I paid. He said: YOU PAID HOW MUCH FOR A PENNY?!?!?!? 😂 🤣 I couldn't find a 55-S to save my life, to complete that folder. So I finally bought one. I think I paid 40¢. The shiniest one with mint luster in the album. Amazing how prices for this coin haven't changed much in 55 years!

    Disclaimer: I'm not a dealer, trader, grader, investor or professional numismatist. I'm just a hobbyist. (To protect me but mostly you! 🤣 )

  • hfjacintohfjacinto Posts: 878 ✭✭✭✭✭

    This was one easy, although I no longer own it, my dad got me a Whitman folder for my Lincoln cents, while the folder broke apart over the decades, the coins are still mostly the original set.

  • steve_richardsonsteve_richardson Posts: 170 ✭✭✭

    @Ownerofawheatiehorde said:
    My first coin I bought with my money, is probably a 1883 no cents.

    That was one of the first that I bought, too.

    Probably got some Whitman folders and a Red Book before that, though.

  • IkesTIkesT Posts: 3,346 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @RichR said:
    Here's mine...a paperweight purchased at Gimbel's coin counter (in Yonkers, NY...don't know how I still remember that?) in the mid 1970s...or at least an image of it...the real one is in a storage bin!

    This is not my first coin-related item, but I happen to have a sibling of your paperweight sitting right next to me at my computer desk.

  • RichRRichR Posts: 3,870 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited May 2, 2023 4:58PM

    IkesT,,,does your cube have a worn edge from rubbing on it? Cool!

    Your embedded coins are also a bit older.

  • Tom147Tom147 Posts: 1,485 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Just like a few others, I started with the 41 to present ( at that time ) Lincoln cents. I still have mine. A gift from my late father. It's priceless to me. I to looked for that elusive 55 S. Of course it was the last one needed to complete the set. I did find it in circulation after close to a year. This was in 1964 so I can't remember the 1st coin or coin related item that I bought.

  • IkesTIkesT Posts: 3,346 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @RichR said:
    IkesT,,,does your cube have a worn edge from rubbing on it? Cool!

    Your embedded coins are also a bit older.

    It looks that way, but is actually an artifact of the photo - there is glare on the top edge from the light I was using.

    Mine also has little feet at the bottom, which I don't see on yours. The overall shape looks the same, though (including the beveled corners).

  • coinbufcoinbuf Posts: 11,535 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I cannot remember that far back, maybe some 2X2's or my first Dansco album were the first non coin numismatic items. The first coin had to be something inexpensive, a worn 3CN perhaps.

    My Lincoln Registry
    My Collection of Old Holders

    Never a slave to one plastic brand will I ever be.
  • RichRRichR Posts: 3,870 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited May 2, 2023 5:21PM

    Ikest...

    I wish mine had the little nubby feet...it might have reduced the scratches over the decades!

  • RichRRichR Posts: 3,870 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Speaking of back in the day....did anyone else spend way too much time as a kid looking at the rotating coin cabinets...with the 3 buttons...to change direction or to stop the moving trays?!?

    The coin counters in Woolworth's, McCrory's, and Grant's usually had them...usually right next to the goldfish and parakeet department!

  • CoinlearnerCoinlearner Posts: 2,496 ✭✭✭✭

    Remember buying a red book,to find those rare treasures in my pocket change :o

  • OAKSTAROAKSTAR Posts: 7,724 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @RichR said:
    Speaking of back in the day....did anyone else spend way too much time as a kid looking at the rotating coin cabinets...with the 3 buttons...to change direction or to stop the moving trays?!?

    The coin counters in Woolworth's, McCrory's, and Grant's usually had them...usually right next to the goldfish and parakeet department!

    Levittown or Hempstead?

    Disclaimer: I'm not a dealer, trader, grader, investor or professional numismatist. I'm just a hobbyist. (To protect me but mostly you! 🤣 )

  • RichRRichR Posts: 3,870 ✭✭✭✭✭

    [Levittown or Hempstead?]

    HA!!! Levittown Shop-a-Rama and Hempstead A&S!

  • DoubleDimeDoubleDime Posts: 634 ✭✭✭

    A 1956 Franklin Half Dollar in 1971 to complete the birth year set requirement for the Boy Scout Coin Collecting Merit Badge. Still have this coin.

  • OAKSTAROAKSTAR Posts: 7,724 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Are these Islander colors or Mets colors?

    Disclaimer: I'm not a dealer, trader, grader, investor or professional numismatist. I'm just a hobbyist. (To protect me but mostly you! 🤣 )

  • rickoricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I have no idea.... Way too many years ago... Collected from change well into the late sixties. I did buy a Redbook somewhere in that period. Cheers, RickO

  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 46,371 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I can't remember back that far but it was probable a blue cent folder type album. The first significant coin that I bought was when I was in high school in the mid-1960's. I bought a BU Saint Gaudens gold double eagle from a small ad in the back of Coin World for $47. It was a nice 1927 that would grade today as a MS63. I wish I still had it but a few years later I sold it to help pay for a new car. I have many other Saints now in much higher grades but you always remember buying your first gold coin.

    Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
    "Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
    "Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire

  • WalkerfanWalkerfan Posts: 9,457 ✭✭✭✭✭

    A large British penny and a worn out liberty head nickel.

    Sometimes, it’s better to be LUCKY than good. 🍀 🍺👍

    My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947):

    https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/

  • RichRRichR Posts: 3,870 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited May 3, 2023 5:39AM

    Oakstar...I was born literally walking distance from the site of both the 1939 and 1964 World's Fair...and that is the flag for '64

    But personally, Mets & Islanders (and the green and white Jets...at least until they moved to New Jersey)!

  • jfriedm56jfriedm56 Posts: 1,367 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I used to passed a coin shop on my way to school when I was a young boy. I would stop in and look in the one case that contained large cents in fine to better condition. I’d save my monthly allowance and purchase 1 every month for $3 or $4. I ended up selling them years later for about $10. each. I remember having 20-30 of them. That was fun then.

  • jesbrokenjesbroken Posts: 10,113 ✭✭✭✭✭

    My first ever true coin shop purchase was at Mel's Coin and Stamp in Johnson City, TN 55 years ago. It was a 1932 D and 1932 S Washington Quarter in Fine and Very Fine condition(Mel's grade) and completed my collection, spending $75 for the pair took 2 trips to make the plunge. The entire remainder of the collection was from change, bank rolls and my Grandfathers cash register. He let me go thru the quarters and cents every chance I had for helping clean up the store. Those were the days.
    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
  • lkeneficlkenefic Posts: 8,169 ✭✭✭✭✭

    First "coin related item" that wasn't a coin... probably 2x2 holders for Lincoln Cents, or a Whitman folder to put them in...

    I'd have been about 10 or 11 years old and spending allowance money.

    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.
  • RichRRichR Posts: 3,870 ✭✭✭✭✭

    jesbroken...how did "Mel's grade" stack up to current grades?

  • telephoto1telephoto1 Posts: 4,937 ✭✭✭✭✭

    For me, it was a roll of mixed date wheat cents at a little flea market when I was 8 or so. As I recall it cost me 2 of my hard earned dollars! B)


    RIP Mom- 1932-2012
  • 291fifth291fifth Posts: 24,437 ✭✭✭✭✭

    A Whitman Buffalo Nickels folder ... late 1961. I had a 1959 Blue Book but that was bought by my parents as a gift.

    All glory is fleeting.
  • divecchiadivecchia Posts: 6,681 ✭✭✭✭✭

    My first item was a coin I bought in 1987. It was a well worn 1884-CC Morgan that I bought in Filene's Basement in Boston. I wish I still had it, but I gave it away about 10 years before I got back into collecting coins.

    Donato

    Hobbyist & Collector (not an investor).
    Donato's Complete US Type Set ---- Donato's Dansco 7070 Modified Type Set ---- Donato's Basic U.S. Coin Design Set

    Successful transactions: Shrub68 (Jim), MWallace (Mike)
  • Shane6596Shane6596 Posts: 759 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Wow! There are some old dudes on this forum! :D

    I feel young being born in 73

    Successful BST transactions with....Coinslave87, ChrisH821, Walkerguy21D, SanctionII.......................Received "You Suck" award 02/18/23

  • RichRRichR Posts: 3,870 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited May 3, 2023 1:09PM

    [I feel young being born in 73]

    I have underwear older than 1973...you punk! :)

    But seriously...the car in which I learned to drive was a maroon 1973 Buick Century...boy was that a boat!!!

    It also literally got 8 miles to the gallon (either leaded or unleaded!) when new!

  • Shane6596Shane6596 Posts: 759 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @RichR said:
    [I feel young being born in 73]

    I have underwear older than 1973...you punk! :)

    But seriously...the car in which I learned to drive was a maroon 1973 Buick Century...boy was that a boat!!!

    It also literally got 8 miles to the gallon (either leaded or unleaded!) when new!

    :D

    My buddy in highschool had a 75 cadillac. I know what ya mean by boat. Seemed as we watched speedometer go up you could see the gas gauge dropping.

    The backseat was basically a couch.

    Successful BST transactions with....Coinslave87, ChrisH821, Walkerguy21D, SanctionII.......................Received "You Suck" award 02/18/23

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