What got you started?
coindaughter
Posts: 662 ✭
I'm sure that this question has been asked before, but let's hear the answers again.
What got you started in coin collecting?
What got you started in coin collecting?
0
Comments
Member
GRANDMA AND GRANDPA.
KINGCOIN KING OF COINS
-Geoman
NOTE: No trees were killed in the sending of this message. However, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
Type collector since 1981
Current focus 1855 date type set
Top 10 Cal Fractional Type Set
successful BST with Ankurj, BigAl, Bullsitter, CommemKing, DCW(7), Downtown1974, Elmerfusterpuck, Joelewis, Mach1ne, Minuteman810430, Modcrewman, Nankraut, Nederveit2, Philographer(5), Realgator, Silverpop, SurfinxHI, TomB and Yorkshireman(3)
<< <i>I still have the dime in the flap with my 8 year old writing "do not trade or sell" on it. >>
I love that story. I bet that dime is near and dear to your heart.
Ahh, the good old days.
These are the good old days, enjoy them while they are here.
karlgoetzmedals.com
secessionistmedals.com
cents from circulation, so I started a buffalo set. Ended up hav-
ing to buy about "20" of them.
Upstairs, in the guest room where I had been banished, there was a huge shelf loaded with books, and what must have been every copy of Reader's Digest ever printed. (Evidently Grandmomma had a thing for Reader's Digest). Amongst the books was a 1971 "Blackbook" of US coins that had an uncle's name written in the front. This is what I took to bed with me. I never took a nap, but instead I leafed through the book, amazed at all the coin designs I'd never known about (I had never thought about it, and had always assumed Lincoln was always on the cent, and Jefferson on the nickel, and so on... hey, I was ten years old, after all).
Emerging from my exile, I was asked to set the table for the upcoming feast. I mentioned what I had read and asked Grandmomma if she remembered any of the old coin designs. She said she probably still had a lot of old coins lying around, and some might even be in the very same sideboard that I was to get the table silver from: I was welcome to look! So my chore of setting the table became a treasure hunt. In the sideboard was all kind of stuff like old power bill receipts, keys, paper clips, doodads, a live rifle cartridge (!), and...a 1936 Mercury dime!! Wow! That thing was forty years old! (Hey, forty sounds really old when you're ten.)
Anyway, I found that dime (a VG example which I have kept to this day), a nice 1943 steel cent (another big "wow"), and a 1948 Franklin half shot with a rifle bullet (apparently one of the uncles had done this as a young man). Grandmomma kept the shot-up Franklin half as a souvenir of that uncle's youth, but I was allowed to keep the Mercury dime and steel cent, and a 1951-D Washington quarter she said she'd found in the flower bed.
The rest, as we say, is history.
Russ, NCNE
Maybe I was 8
see? My Auctions "Got any 1800's gold?"
Rich
I think I had been predisposed to be a collector before then. That spring I had read in the “Weekly Reader” that the new Lincoln Memorial cents were coming out, and I had hoarded every one of them that I could find.
The first two coins for which I paid more than face were an 1838 half dime and an 1846 large cent. I bought them from my mother’s cleaning lady, and I still have them.
I also purchased the small version of a Delaware medal that had been issued in 1938 as part of the 300th anniversary of the first European settlement in the state. The pieces were still available at the state museum at the original issue price of 50 cents 20 years later!
I didn’t know it at the time, but that piece and two larger examples in bronze and silver had been issued at the same time as the Delaware commemorative half dollar. I still have that little medalet and have since bought the large version in bronze. I’ve never seen the large silver piece. I think it must be pretty scarce because it was issued at the end of the Great Depression when money was still tight. The issue price was $7.50 which was more than week's wages for many people back then. The price of the commemorative half dollar was $1.75.
My mom sold all of the hoard when my grandmother died in '73. I did manage to keep a small change purse with a shield nickel and a few common indians, these are the most valuable coins I won.
I was 19 and working in the pizza biz, and one day i got a 2-dollar bill and a couple of Kennedy halves. At the time, i was a big Kennedy freak (mostly about the assanation) but i really enjoyed reading about 'The Family', so i got a whitman's and started filling it up. then i got another one, and another one, and you ge tt he picture.
When my wife and i went on our honeymoon in Helen, Ga., in 2001, i saw a coin shop and siad, het let's look in there! I ended up buying three NCM medels honoring the bi-centennial and the rest is history!
B.
A Tax is a fine for doing good.
I know this is an old thread, but i did a search before starting a new one and up popped this.
Mine started when i was about 7. My grandpa gave me an old cigar box of coins he had saved over the years. Nothing special in it, some other countries coins, lots of pennies, some shiny, some silver coins. I would look them over from time to time. I tried doing some research over the years but had no guidance. Being out in the boonies and the late 70's, there wasn't alot of resources. But i did enjoy the coins and thinking about who mat have handled them over the years and what story they could tell about their journey.
Then life happened, coins were put away for decades.
Recently i found them again and it has reignited something. Now i have the resources at my fingertips to study coins. I have my 2 kids involved in it as well, they are not as excited, but show interest.
So now im slowly building a collection of my own to pass down and hopefully pass on the enjoyment to one or both of them.
Successful BST transactions with....Coinslave87, ChrisH821, Walkerguy21D, SanctionII.......................Received "You Suck" award 02/18/23
Father Kavanaugh, parish priest, was a collector and allowed a couple of us boy to go through the collection plate for him.....He took what he wanted and we bought the rest for face value....circa 1955
bob
I was trying to copy my brother by collecting Lincoln Cents from circulation... circa 1968... it was the Summer of 1970 when we went to visit my Grandfather's place on a lake in upstate New York. All the adults were playing cards and I went to the basement... under the stairs where the card tables and chairs were stored, I came upon a coffee can full of cents... many early ones and I choked when I happened upon an Indian Head Cent, so I asked about it. Apparently, my grandfather worked a soda fountain during the Depression and would flip any IHCs he'd get in change into the coffee can. That's what solidified my interest in coin collecting and numismatics...
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.
Older brother got me hooked on coins and stamps at a very young age. The coins quickly won out over the stamps.
Mr_Spud
Started in the early '70s helping my grandparents at the family owned gas station. Seeing all the old wheat pennies, silver dimes, silver quarters and halves in the cash register. I was fascinated by all the different ones. I gravitated to the wheat penny because they were easier to find. If help my grandparents sort and roll all the change. By the late '70 as a freshman in high school I connected with an older man that had been collect for years and years and he had a very large collection of circulated and AU coins, especially wheaties. By the time I was a junior I managed to find in circulation and purchase the harder ones to find, a complete set including the 09 S VDB. I had to drive to Sioux Falls, SD (90 miles) where an 09 S VDB in AU- Unc condition was being auctioned off. I won the auction to complete the set. As a senior with a girl friend I begrudgingly ended up selling that collection so I could afford my '67 Chevelle SS and the girl friend.
Sold the Chevelle and got rid of the girl friend and joined the USAF.
Years later, while stationed at Elmendorf AFB, AK in 2005, I took my family to a local coin shop (Carl's) in Anchorage to buy some gold and silver as an investment after receiving the Permanent Dividend Fund (PFD) that the state of Alaska dives to each state resident. That year happened to hit the PFD record at about $2000 per person x family of 4. From that point on I was back into collecting coins but serious collecting started around 2015. I now own a complete MS-64 and up RD/RB Lincoln set but much better graded coins than I had back in the '70s.
Yes, in 2020 I purchase another '67 Chevelle SS. Not getting rid of the coins or the car again. Period! Lol
USAF (Ret.) 1985 - 2005. E-4B Aircraft Maintenance Crew Chief and Contracting Officer.
My current Registry sets:
✓ Everyman Mint State Carson City Morgan Dollars (1878 – 1893)
✓ Everyman Mint State Lincoln Cents (1909 – 1958)
✓ Morgan Dollar GSA Hoard (1878 – 1891)
A box of foreign coins I received on my 8th birthday, which was 1979 (ugh, that feels like so long ago). I was immediately hooked and have been since.
Numismatic Asset Management
"helping rare coin buyers avoid critical mistakes"
I thought bigger numbers meant older.
My Dad taped cents to a piece of cardboard to help me understand.
I was 5
Dad told me this years later after I started.
He had no idea what kind of monster he created.
My Saint Set
While helping (supposedly ) my father clear trees on our farm after a tornado I found a small purse containing some old silver quarters and a few wheat cents. Two years later my parents gave me the Let's Collect Coins Starter set from J.C. Penny for Christmas. The rest is history. James
My great grandfather passed down a tin can full of Morgan and peace dollars in old paper flips to my mother. I snuck into my parents’ room to look at them starting at age 4 or so- it opened my brain to the fact that a whole world of history existed.
Years passed and eventually I inherited the tin. I certified my favorites which all happened to be the same VAM as noted on the labels by @messydesk .
Been at it ever since.
Uncle Art. He was a coin collector since the 1940s. While being stationed states side during the War he took a 09S VBD out of circulation. The coin later graded F15. The only Lincoln he didn't find was the 14-D.
In 1964 he gave me one of the new Kennedy Halves. Have been collecting on and off since then.
DPOTD-3
'Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery'
CU #3245 B.N.A. #428
Don
My dad introduced me
But the first time I held a 1 oz gold kugarrand in hand as I was purchasing a 100 oz bar of silver. That’s when the bug bit me big time.
Early to mid 70’s. Wow was that bar cheap.
🎶 shout shout, let it all out 🎶
On my 10th birthday in 1958, my favorite uncle gave me an 1884 O Morgan Dollar and kept it for me in a small paper envelope. I was hooked(out of change of course). Next year I got my first paper route and then it took off.
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
That's not me but you get the point.
Thinking back on collection day, when I had so much change (mostly silver) in my pants pockets, they would be falling down!! On the hot summer days, my hands would be black from the ink. Then wiping away the sweat off my face, and transferring the ink!! What a mess!! 😂 🤣
Disclaimer: I'm not a dealer, trader, grader, investor or professional numismatist. I'm just a hobbyist. (To protect me but mostly you! 🤣 )
My Grandmother gave me a Lincoln cent folder and a 1968 price guide. She also gave me a 1914-D penny and told me it was very special. I was so excited when I looked up the coin and seen what it was worth! And then I saw the little foot note* BEWARE OF ALTERED DATE... and sure enough it was fake. None the less I was hooked for life. I remember seeing a 1955 Doubled Die in a Woolworths Dept. store. They had a coin case and the price was about $75.00. I wish I would have bought it but that was a lot of money back then.
Coin magazines at the Supermarket stand and the first ugly-looking 1884-p Morgan silver dollar. The coin was sold as UNC in a 2x2 holder with a lot of scuffs as expected
Wow, this was an old thread!
I think I've told it before, but can't find where I've saved it.
Uncle Tony, from Chicago!
He had a gold coin as a ring (2.5 Indian if my mind's eye is right) and a Morgan Dollar on the belt buckle ... or maybe it was a money clip? Damn I'm getting old!
That didn't do it though. He visited in the summer. I was in between 4th and 5th grade I think.
I had asked him about the ring, and the dollar, and I guess he remembered. That next Christmas I received a checkbook box with coins inside. A Morgan, and a Peace, a Walker and a couple Franklins ... a Standing Lib' and a couple-three Washington's ... a Liberty Nickel and a few Buffalo's, and a few Indian Cents with some early Lincolns.
For six months maybe, in between baseball in the spring, our gang of friends and that cute girl across the street ... I read, thought about, and looked at coins, found coins in change, read coin magazines at the five and dime (and even a Blue Book someone found for me). Fascinating stuff.
We moved. The box was put away somewhere, wrapped in a Coinage magazine and a few piece of scribbled on paper.
Fast forward to NAS Lemoore, CA, 1987 ... spring-time ... me as an AT2 working with F/A-18 Hornets. My Mom sent me a box of things from the garage as she was getting ready to move.
OMG. The box from Uncle Tony.
The collector in me was reborn, and it never again left. The inner voice is quiet sometimes, has taken breaks too ... and sometimes is very active ... but it has been a thread that has interwoven in the story of my life.
Thanks Uncle Tony!!
“We are only their care-takers,” he posed, “if we take good care of them, then centuries from now they may still be here … ”
Todd - BHNC #242
Glad to hear you reunited with another 67 Chevelle SS - Nice car!
Have you ever looked online to see how the girlfriend turned out??
BST references available on request
As many kids in the early 80s, I was obsessed with arcade games. Back then, arcade games showed up in all sorts of places besides arcades. I made it a habit of walking into various stores in my neighborhood to see if they had an arcade machine.
One day I walked into a local coin shop, and saw a Franklin half in the case. I didn’t know there were ever any different designs on coins (except the bicentennial coins). I was only ten. It just caught my interest. I ended up helping out there after school and on Saturday I think I got paid $5 per week 😂.
US and British coin collector, and creator of The Ultimate Chuck E. Cheese's and Showbiz Pizza Place Token & Ticket Guide
The movie The Goonies did it for me and a few years later I became a collector for life.
NFL: Buffalo Bills & Green Bay Packers
Georgie Best was a famous soccer player from Great Britain. He worked out at the gym I went to in the 80s in London. I didn't know it at the time, but his quote best describes how I got into coin collecting in the late 90s as a single professional who was making good money and not saving anything.
I walked into a shop of a now life-long friend and said, I'd like to get into coin collecting. I feel like the guy who said:
"I spent 90 percent of my money on women and drink. The rest I wasted!" "I figure I better start putting some money away and I can't seem to do it on my own. And maybe I'll learn a little history along the way."
George Best died in 2005 at 59!
Tom
Much like several others here, my father RIP gave me a Whitman folder way back in 1964. Been collecting ever since. 59 years in May. Yes I still have it. Took me a long time to find that elusive 55 S.
A long story but to shorten it up. My loving Father, dad got me interest in coins when I was a cub scout. I needed a hobby to earn a badge. My father was a big coin collector so he naturally suggested coin collecting. I was 8-9 years old at the time. I am not 71 years old and it's still in my bones. The greatest hobby in the world too
Not too long a story, but I’ve told it here before. Bullet points:
-I found some old silver and buffalo nickels in my dad’s drawer, which he promptly told me not to touch.
-Some weeks or months later, I was in a toy store and got a bunch of wheaties in change. I bought up the drawer.
-Because I’m OCD, I went into town and bought some Whitman albums, which I have full of my toy store finds to this day.
Empty Nest Collection
Matt’s Mattes
Have mentioned it a couple of times on this forum - an ad in a comic book for the unicorn (1943 Copper Penny) reeled me in to this hobby.
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/u-s-coins/quarters/PCGS-2020-quarter-quest/album/247091