Reminisce...

fcloud

I remember as a young boy, my mom would hand me 12¢ for bus fare. This may have been when I started getting interested in coins. Of course way back then all dimes, quarters, and halves were 90% silver. I was always impressed when I received a great bright white Mercury dime. I wish I had a pocketful today.

My wife said her dad would flip her Franklin Halves for the juke box. She said the coins would buy somewere between seven and twenty songs.

Stories anyone?

Tony

KlectorKid

When i was young i would bring money for chicken nuggets at school and i would look through my change and i would see small round peices of metal that had to value because they were clad. I remember when my mom would give me $2.50 so i could by 1 hotdog.

airplanenut

I remember my mom's old boss (she's had her own business for 7 years or so now...) Every time I and/or my older brother would go to her office (which is now conveniently located just past the living room), her boss would reach into his pocket and dump spare change into our then tiny hands... I don't think there was ever more than a buck at a time, but hey, this was when I was 5ish... I loved her office (plus they had hot chocolate, golf on her computer, AND lots of white out in the stock room )

I also remember when I had a surprise birthday party there when I was 3 or 5 (that's not important)... she made me a cake with Oscar the Grouch on it and all of her co-workers were there to sing

Jeremy

Outhaul

I grew up in a town called Chelmsford in Mass. There was a general store in the center of town owned by a crusty old guy named Henry Erickson. I think I was the only kid that got along with him. I used to bring all my paper route change in and we'd go through it all looking for good dates and we'd swap coins and build sets.

I remember my father just about killed me for paying Henry $70.00 for a St. G and a circulated 1955 DDO (EF). That was just about all the money I had. He made me bring them back. Gave him back the St. G and he let me keep the 55. He felt kinda bad for me.

Cheers,

Bob

fcloud

Bob,

I'll bet you still have treasure that 55DDO. I think if that were me I would keep it and hand it down to the kids! (After I was gone of course)

Tony

Outhaul

Gave it to my son...he still has it.

NoviceKris

In the late sixties - early seventies, I recall seeing my Aunt on the weekends. She was a bartender at the local bowling alley and always had a purse full of coins, singles. She would pull out a leather pouch she always carried and it would be full of half dollars, Kennedys and Frankies, and many of them would be painted green or red with nail polish on the reverse. She told me the painted ones were ones she was given to her by the guy that owned the jukebox at the bar. If the jukebox ever stopped playing, she would put in a painted half to encourage others to keep putting their money in as well. When the guy came in once a week to empty the jukebox, he would give her back the painted coins to keep using and then match them with unpainted ones as a reward. She would give out those halves and others from her piles of 'tip coins' to us which we giddily squandered.

It probably why I still love those Kennedys, even if they aren't painted up.

Kris

Loki

During my young years, our family spent every Thankgiving at my grandmother's house. After everyone ate and the football games were over and the dishes were done, and everyone was sitting around with fat stomachs and warm tummies, my grandmother would bring out her black velvet cloth bag that was always full of wheat pennies. All the kids (... my younger sister, my younger brother, and me) would reach in the bag and grab as many pennies as we could with one hand to take home with us. This was my favorite part of Thankgiving!

I always got the most pennies because I was the oldest and had the biggest hands lol.

onthespot

I remember when I was a kid, I lived next to the yacht club in the US Virgin Islands, but we were dirt poor. We were not allowed in the yacht club but used to swim around the dock and the boats and sometimes the boat owners used to toss coins off the dock for us to dive for. It pissed me off, but I dove for the coins anyway. What the heck!

jtryka

I remember when I was a lid growing up in Chicago in the 1970s, they had a TV show called Bozo's Circus that was on channel 9 everyday at noon, and they had this game for the kids called the "Grand Prize Game" which I'm sure you've all seen, where there are 6 buckets and you have to stand behind the line and throw a ping pong ball into each bucket consecutively. After getting the ball into each bucket you win a prize, and the prizes get bigger as you approach bucket number 6. Well before they start, each player, one boy and one girl would put a silver dollar (probably an Ike) into bucket number 6, and they would keep accumulating until someone hit that bucket, then they won all the silver dollars and a new bike (no video games back then). I remember one boy that hit it and won 70 silver dollars and a bike, plus all the other prizes for the first 5 buckets and I thought man I wish I was him!

abmluce

I had a paper route when I was 10. The richest lady in town was on it and she was getting kind of senile. For a Christmas tip she meant to give me $10.00, but when I got home there were 5 $10 bills in the envelope! In 1968 that was a lot! Of course my parents made me take back 40 of it.
BUT, I have to thank her for getting me started in collecting. She often paid for the paper using coins from her deceased husbands collection. Mostly circulated buffs and mercurys, but once a B.U. Liberty head nickel. Thanks Mrs. Packer

fcloud

Wow,

A positive thread.

Thanks for the comments so far.

And keep 'em comin'.

Tony

ttt

DHeath

In 1963, a friend of mine's father had a cigar box full of mercury dimes. Every day after school, we'd go to the drugstore for a Pepsi and a Goodbar. "Gary", used to always take a few dimes out of his dad's hoard. Kids are a perfect justification for a home safe.

toyonakataro

Back in early 70's, I found a buffalo nickel in my mother's pocket change.
But I was such a stupid kid that I thought the indian was well worn Jefferson and spent it immediately.
I can't remember how I explained myself the difference of design on reverse...all I can say is my brain must have been a bit smaller than other's....