What's Something You Were Surprised To Learn Years After You Started Collecting?

Manifest_Destiny

Collecting 20+ years before I knew this:

Morgan's initial "M" is on the reverse of the coin also.

dcarr

I always knew about Roosevelt's 1933 confiscation of gold.

But I did not realize, until recently, that there was also a 1934-1938 confiscation of all non-coin and non-utility silver bullion.

OAKSTAR

I didn't know about the Henning nickel story until years later. I'm wondering if some slipped through my fingers as a kid.

johnny9434

@dcarr said:
I always knew about Roosevelt's 1933 confiscation of gold.

But I did not realize, until recently, that there was also a 1934-1938 confiscation of all non-coin and non-utility silver bullion.

Is that like what ever they seem fit as for silver?

ctf_error_coins

The more I know, I realize, there is even more that I do not know

This place helps to fill that gap

The_Dinosaur_Man

There have been a lot and will be a lot more. One that I remember right now is that certain gold coins are never graded MS-60 or MS-61.

Walkerfan

That SLQs below the MS grade can receive the Full Head designation.

lilolme

That the funky looking coins I picked up off the parking lot were not errors.

MWallace

I learned that this hobby can be an addiction.

johnnyb

I have never heard about the silver bullion confiscation but want to research it.
I would say that coin grading and preferences change over time. Dipped and blast white was in 30 years ago. Now originality and toning is more popular for many. 10 years from now, who knows. But have fun!

Mizzou

Gold seems to be expensive right now, in ten years you'll wonder why you didn't buy more.

Namvet69

That numismatic scholars had amassed such wonderful works for me to study.

bsshog40

I am surprised almost daily at how many people I meet or encounter that know basically nothing about our coin and currency. I refer to present times compared to years ago. Cash was it, now it's all cards, digital or phone sweeps.

JWP

I didn't know if I continued to collect coins that I would go broke trying. Not the sharpest tool in the shed I recon.

MidLifeCrisis

Most "key date" coins are not rare.

A lot of early copper has been brushed, oiled, lacquered, waxed or otherwise "conserved".

Many coins in the colonial section of the Redbook are actually Conder Tokens, were not minted in the American colonies, and/or saw little to no circulation in early America.

privatecoin

That I could afford a modern proof coin.

johnny010

I had to Google “bourse” And then immediately felt cool at my first coin show last year thinking, “I’m on the bourse!”

Onastone

@johnny010 said:
I had to Google “bourse” And then immediately felt cool at my first coin show last year thinking, “I’m on the bourse!”

Please keep your hands inside the bourse at all times. Be prepared for sudden stops along the way. And remember the bourse is ever changing.

tcollects

I learned how much easier it is to sell high grade, rare, expensive and pretty coins. At first, it was a little scary, but I stopped buying common coins, even if they were all I could afford at the time, I saved my money for special coins that everyone would want.

mosjcoin

I learned that not all dealers are honest. Who knew!!!

calgolddiver

I bought a 14D lincoln when I was a teenager and filed it away in a whitman folder. 40 years later ... PCGS tells me it was a counterfeit and had an added mintmark !

WaterSport

You can put a pretty good collection together if your good at grading while not spending a bunch of cash.

WS

ricko

I started collecting as a kid, had a paper route, mowed lawns, shoveled snow, picked potatoes, etc., etc., etc. Was surprised to learn, years later (like in my twenties) that there were coin shows and coin shops, where coins could be viewed, bought and sold. Still none in this area where I live.... Sure enjoyed them when I lived in other areas of the country. Cheers, RickO

ajaan

When selling a coin to a dealer, the holder does matter.

NeophyteNumismatist

I think I was most surprised to learn that there are problem coins in straight graded holders.

air4mdc

I was surprised to learn that the value of some coins that were affordable in the 60's would become 5,6 and 7 figure coins. Like Ricko, my love for collecting began as a paperboy. I still have the coins I put aside in my uncles used cigar boxes and can almost close my eyes and picture the customers that gave me those coins when going to their house to collect for the paper.
A big surprise also was when I found out Jed Clampett (Buddy Ebsen) was a huge coin collector( I have always wanted one of his coins). I loved that show as a kid.
Maybe being a roll hunter takes me back to that young boy walking up to that door and ringing that doorbell, "Collect!"

WDH

Someone having a high post count here doesn't necessarily mean they know a lot about coins.

Estil

@dcarr said:
I always knew about Roosevelt's 1933 confiscation of gold.

But I did not realize, until recently, that there was also a 1934-1938 confiscation of all non-coin and non-utility silver bullion.

Thankfully, contrary to popular belief, FDR did not take away ALL the gold. That is, you could keep up to $100 in gold coins as well as ones that had significant nusmatic value. Thank God FDR as a fellow coin collector made that provision or else many gold coins could've very well been forever lost or really close to it.

No Headlights

Type 1 silver three cent pieces are not 90% silver.

jacrispies

How inconsistent TPGs can be when grading weak strikes.

Early CC coinage can be seen with a percentage of silver higher than 90%.

Saying you do not have enough money to buy coins is a poor excuse. Work and patience can go a long way into building a solid collection.

Bustquarterhound

I found that along the way I gained many good friends who were so willing to share their knowledge that I wouldn't have met if not for our hobby.

streeter

I started pulling S lincolns out of change and mom would put FOR TRADE ads in Coin World in 1962. Fortunate in San Jose to find Marks Coin Shop who used to pay me $1.07 for a silver dollar.

Never took advantage of a second grade kid. Taught me a lot and I ran into people over the next 50 yrs who spoke highly of him. There are good coin dealers.

He taught me what to look for. Very appreciative.

cameonut2011

The shocker for me was how few collectors and dealers can actually grade.

1northcoin

The backstory behind various coins such as how we have a $20 gold piece because of the California Gold Rush and the image of a generic Hawaiian Chief on the Hawaiian Commemorative was patterned after the King Kamehameha Stature that still stands in front of what is now the Hawaii Supreme Court Building and fictional Hawaii Five-0 Headquarters:

FWIW, this is a statue of the other image on the Hawaiian Commerative:

And here is the other King Kamehameha Statue that is located on the Big Island of Hawaii and was intended to be placed in Honolulu before it was lost at sea and recovered after a new one replaced it.

1northcoin

OK, added the King Kamehameha Statue that is on the lawn in front of the present Hawaii Supreme Court Building which historically was the Territorial Court House circa the 1928 Hawaii Commemorative. The coin's designer was Julie May Fraser, a local artist, who also painted a mural that was originally displayed at an exhibition in California and now can be seen in the main library of the University of Hawaii's Manoa campus. She used this statue of King Kamehameha as her inspiration for the generic Hawaiian Chief seen on the coin. When you compare the design on the coin to the statue the similarity is striking.

The mural painted by the same artist, Julie May Fraser - now on display at the University of Hawaii:

Cougar1978

It’s harder to sell and get all the money than buying.

WCC

@bsshog40 said:
I am surprised almost daily at how many people I meet or encounter that know basically nothing about our coin and currency. I refer to present times compared to years ago. Cash was it, now it's all cards, digital or phone sweeps.

If you are referring to currently circulating coinage, there are too many. I'll admit I avoid using change but even if I did, I wouldn't make the effort to become familiar with all the design changes since 1999. I'm a collector, so I don't consider it surprising non-collectors have no idea either.

If you are referring to obsolete coinage, some of it is due to the much-reduced physical footprint. Fewer coin shops and bookstores with magazine racks. I don't know for libraries now or recently. Online, I noticed when I took a break from my on-line searches, I no longer received banner ads for coin sites, which leads me to believe the non-collector doesn't see anything either.

Mostly, it's due to a lack of interest. It's of no relevance to them.

WCC

What did I learn?

That most "old" coins are actually really common and with the internet, aren't hard to buy even in better quality. This isn't limited to just US.

ARCO

I learned that when selling after years of collecting with great discernment, what I thought were the most gorgeous, eye appealing coins to me, were just widgets to someone else.

ernie11

That people would start collecting by: 1) oxidation on a coin's surface; 2) various types of third-party grade holders; 3) signatures on said holders.

Tramp

The amount of counterfeiting! Along with the inability of our well funded federal government to shut it down.