We are coin collectors, but how many love history and genealogy?

Ogden

Seems like the sentiment I get from this forum indicates that we are not only sentimental toward coins, but we have a serious interest of history. I am a genealogist as well as a historian (no college degree in either). Anyone else out there feel the same way? Do all three go hand in hand? Is it what we are all about???? Is the history and the memories of our young lifes the controlling factor of what we now do? It is for me. I remember as a young boy in the mid 50's hearing about the 55 double die. I never forgot it. It's what kept me interested in this hobby! I finally bought three with the highest grade of MS62 RB.


Ogden

barney

I know that my involvement in coins hearkens back to a 1928 Silver dollar that my grandmother gave me-among other coins.
There is also the story about the Gold coins that I was to have inherited when my grandfather died-I never saw them. My father
gambled my coins away before he died-I also inherited the gambling gene.

I was involved in coins in the mid-70's during a short but pleasant period in my childhood (the rest of it wasn't so hot).
I am also a musician who has a fondness for "dramatic" late Romantic-Expressionist music of the late 19th and 20th century, so
the aesthetic and historical aspects of coins is endearing. Finally, as a bit of a recluse who lives off disability money from the VA an
Social Security, numismatics offers me a relatively healthy outlet during my periods of inactivity-and I don't buy ACG MS-70 Wooden
nickels.

I just have to watch the irrational reactions to posts that strike me the wrong way.

Geneology? Doubtful-this ol' leaf fell off the fractured family tree years ago.

Take care,
Barn

Ogden

Darn, Barn, I'm sorry I brought up bad memories. That wasn't my intentions. The road to hell is laden with people with good intentions. I'm half-way there.

Ogden

FC57Coins

Well - as far as I'm concerned I am a history buff and love 19th and 20th century American and World history. So much has happened in these two centuries and the coins we collect are small tokens of these times. How often can you pick up an item dated back to the founding of the country, the civil war, the panic of 1894, etc. These coins were touched by people who lived through these times and that makes them all the more interesting.

Frank

Conder101

I think it is very possible to be a coin collector and not have an interest in history. I do not think it is possible to be a numismatist and not have a great interest in history. History and Geneology are similarly linked. It is possible to be seriously interested in geneology and not that interested in history. But a great interest in history will probably also result in an interest in geneology as well.

NBSQLGeek

ME!

nwcs

I am definitely a historian at heart. I've spent a lot of time learning about ancient messopotamian cultures (Egypt, Israel, Babylon, Assyria) and the Greco-Roman period. The history is key for me. But I also look forward. I spent years with astronomy and my telescope. I'm a mild genealogy person. Interested, but not willing to do the work.

davefperry

For me coin collecting is a link to the past, present and future. Some collect coins now from the past for future generations to appreciate.
Also an interest in history and geneaology here but it might be just for some and not others.

MrKelso

Yep it's the History. As a boy grandpa hands me a Morgan Silver Dollar and say carry this with you and you will never be arrested for vegrancy. Dam if i knew what he ment back then. But the glow
of that worn piece of silver that i still have caused a desire to learn about the past and to own as many as i could get my hands on. Then when i got hit with the gold bug all hell broke loose and more History
kicked in right back to Biblical times. I love it. I just wish i had better command of the english lanquage so i could write about what i have learned over the years and render my opinion about Coins and History.

pmh1nic

The older I get the more I realize that a big part of understanding where you and one means of gaining the wisdom to making the right decisions about which direct to go is knowing where you've come from. Yes, I really enjoy studying history. Coin collecting affords you the opportunity to own a tangible piece of history. It's provides another way of making a connection with an important period from our past.

Ogden

Are any of the on-line genealogy services any good?

greghansen

Well I'm not into geneology and I do not consider myself a history buff. I do enjoy coins (especially big old raw vf/xf) that I can hold in my hands. I do fell a 'connection' with history, for example, when I hold a seated liberty half made during the civil war....but afterwards I don't get the urge to go out and read about the Battle of the Bulge.....(thats a joke...o.k....before I get flamed unmercifully). Seriously, though, even though I don't consider my self a history buff, one of the moments I 'connected' with this hobby, was when I'm digging around in old crusted up Roman coins dug up after centuries of being buried. I mean you know for sure that the chances are good they were buried by soldiers before battle, and its just a cool thing to have something that real transcend the centuries and make our history a little more 'real' to those of us living in contemporary times.

Hell, as I read this, maybe I am a history buff and just don't know it!!!! An uneducated buff. Maybe a wanna be buff? I'm....buffaloed by all this...

Greg Hansen
Melbourne, FL

GaCoinGuy

I love em both.......my dad and I have gotten our surname to Scotland in the late 1600s, researching our line. I love history as well, and I think thats why I just like all coins, cleaned or otherwise........for the history behind em.

Ogden

PMH, the best online genealogy site is familytreemaker.com. It's free and searchable. I have found many cousins posting on that site. Ancestry.com also is a great site with a searchable message board.

Ogden

IndianHeadMan

I do genealogy, in fact I am releasing the first volume of my family history book this Thanksgiving. I also help out at the local historical society. All of this gives me plenty of leads for MD'ing.


PS- rootsweb.com is the best genealogy site, hands down. It creams genealogy.com very badly.

BillJones

If you really want to get involved in history and genealogy, tokens and medals are an even better way to go. Years ago I did a genealogical study and wrote an article about George Comer who founded Comer’s Commercial College in Boston in 1840. During the Civil War Comer issued a token (Fuld # MA 115 A-1e) that advertised his learning institution and was probably used at his “college bank.”

It takes a lot work to dig out this information. I was lucky because Comer published an accounting textbook every year, and I was about to find a near complete set of them in the rare book department of the Boston Public Library. The New England Genealogical Society was also a great help. I was even able to find his obituary, which according to the folks at the Genealogical Society was reserved only for prominent people in 19th century America.

I also have a Civil War dog tag that was made for Vermont volunteer. The reverse reads, “Sergt. Horace Gardiner, Hardwick, VT. / Co H / 13th Regt, / VT Vols / For Mary.” I’ve not been about to get too far with that one. Since the dog tag is near Mint State, Horace may have given it to Mary before he left for the field as a keepsake, or he may have fallen soon after he joined the service. Whatever, it is an interesting slice of life.

I've attached photos of the Civil War dog tag.

mrpaseo

(Sorry 'm in a rush and did not read the other posts) But I wanted to say, my Mother enjoys history and the Genealogy research, currently there is over 2500 in our family tree...To say the least, it is facinating.

We have found that people in our tree were there for the California Gold Rush and the Land giveaway back then....I believe they do go together.

Ray

Coinut

I know most on the board are only interested in what a coin is worth.Thats OK.Personally,I love the history.I give coins to the family and friends of birthdates or other events. I recently gave a coin of birthdate,1960,and when I saw the interest,I sent an 1860 coin.When it got down to the 18th century,I found out the persons ancestry(Russian) and bought the beautiful 1760 coin.I wanted to buy a colonial coin from FF,but I asked him to list the people that had handled the coin from the 1700's 'till now.Suprisingly,he could not come up with info,so I passed on the coin!