What got you started...

epruyne

I realize this topic has been been brought up before but I am new and I did search for a related thread and found nothing...so I decided to ask just wondering what got everyone started collecting coins...I just started and my story is brief.

I collected Nickels and pennies in folders when I was in grade school for about a month than stopped...I have always had an interest in history especially the civil war. A few months ago my girlfriends grandmother died and had a small collection of heavily worn mercs and morgans <didn't really know anything about them at the time> the family knew nothing about them so I looked to decided to look up the values for the same best I could. Anyways seeing those old coins sparked my interest and I began to look into coins as a hobby more. I haven't been able to get into the civil war area or any of the 'nicer' coins yet since I just graduated college, paying loans, and in grad school now but I look forward to making my way through dollars and into a civil war area type set maybe...

thanks for the read

clw54

Not really sure when it started. As a kid, I had a few silver dollars and an Indian cent or two, and then I found out about mintmarks and started saving pennies. Kids collected pennies back then because higher denominations were too valuable to save. They got spent instead.

ARCO

I have loved coins as long as I can remember. Three years ago after a 20 year hiatus I was surfing the net and come across a site dedicated to circulated barber halves. The cool toning and look of the half hooked me instantly like some wicked Heroin /cocaine/nicotine combo

Now I serve The almighty Barber half and do its bidding as it wills until I can find a way to free myself from its iron grip!

Tyler

ANACONDA

The Salomon Brothers report that said that coins were the best long term investment. My interest started around 1984, shortly before the PCGS revolution.

Now, I like 'em 'cause they're cool. It's the art and history. Makin' a few bucks here and there doesn't hurt.

adrian

Crashtestfixer

Mommy, taggin long with her down ta Frisco as a kid "60s", in & out a cuple three times since. Hope ta hang this time..............
Mile Hich City..............
Is that my 3c in the drive way??????????????

Woodwind

It was my parents who really got me started even though they weren't collectors. I was nine when they bought me a Lincoln Cent folder, and my mom had some Walking Liberty Halves which I thought were "really neat." I had friends who collected coins, and a coin dealer at nearby flea market was very nice to us kids.

About three years later, after new friends who did not collect coins, bad experiences with a couple of other dealers, and no more friendly dealer at the flea market, I gave it up.

Ten years after that, out of college and working full time, I purchased a copy of Coinage Magazine. After looking through the ads, I was amazed at how much coin prices had dropped. Slabbed MS-63 Morgan Dollars for $25.00 each? Wow! I realized how much my money could buy. I haven't looked back since.

Mrpawn

I would have to say that travelling to other countries (Canada & Mexico) as a youngster got me started collecting coins. So many different designs on coins. Then the discovery that US coins used to be cool looking too. Hey I could find nickels with an Indian on one side and a buffalo on the other!! Then it was pointed out that some quarters, dimes and halves were actually silver and therefore worth more than the others. Hey what more incentive does a young entrepreneur need? Icecream for helping Grandma sort her coins and every silver dime I give her is worth fifteen cents?. Buffalo nickels were only worth 5 cents but they were cool so I kept them.

I spent a long time studying my first Barber half dollar before I decided that it was probably real. An oldtimer told me that I had a real find there and that I should keep it. Then Ike dollars came around and Grandma explained that dollars used to be that big and made of silver. After some study I realized that I could afford Ikes, they cost a dollar each, Peace dollars were not that attractive and Morgan dollars were where it's at. I have lusted for Morgans ever since.

Barry

I collected a bit as a kid in the 60s. About 4-5 years ago while browsing Ebay, I saw a listing for UNSEARCHED WHEATIES, and thought it would be neat to drag out the old Whitman folder and fill a few holes. My kids helped, though they never really got into it. I did that, and the bug hit me. I still have most of that bag of Wheaties in a desk drawer, and don't know what to do with them. Ideas? Put them back in circulation, or re-auction them as a bag of unsearched wheaties? (just kidding)

DoubleDime

The Coin Collecting Merit Badge in Boy Scouts, 1969.

MtMan

Epruyne-

This is just a little advice from someone who was recently in the same financial/academic situation as you. Put aside a little money every month when you get your paychech, pel grant stafford loan etc. It doesn't have to be alot just whatever you can reasonably afford. After a few months you'll have drank a little less beer but will be able to afford a much better coin than you normally could. I did that once or twice but I wish I had made a habit of it.

MtMan

nwcs

I started back in early 1982 when my brother forced me. I was only 8 so I did what my brother did. But I didn't actually collect till 1988 for real when I started understanding history and loved the idea of having lots of silver. But after 1989, I was working a lot and doing school and was always nearly penniless for a very long time so it wasn't until 2000 that I thought about coming back (I did pick up one or two things in that mean time as my family dictated ). But it wasn't until last April that I really came back as an active collector and not just as a once-every-18-months-get-something-neat collector. But now that the excess cash is spent largely, I'll be spending more time being smarter in purchasing. Don't have the budget to get the $$$$ coins. So now I'm figuring out how I want to proceed for this year and beyond.

Neil

airplanenut

I saw an add for two coins... a walker and merc from Littleton for $4.95... they got me hooked... I dont' buy from them because of their prices, but they were the spark. I then read, and loved the history, so hey, here I am!

MadMonk

My father was a collector, he had a real good eye, and bought almost everything raw. He taught me a great deal about the hobby, and I started collecting Morgans, then Barber halves. I've bought a couple of nice coins a year and participated with dad all these years. Dad passed not too long ago, and I inherited his collection. So, I'm learning about what he collected, and my interest has intensified.

relayer

It started with Lincoln cents. At first I was just a casual user, but then I tried the harder stuff, like nickels and then quarters.

I went on to half dollars, then dollars thinking I could stop at any time. I tried to quit, but it was too late. I was hooked.

I wanted the pure stuff so I went with slabs. Always looking for a better high, I tried modern proofs - then the hard stuff - GOLD.

Sure, it's starts off innocently enough, but before you know it your coin jones requires a daily fix. It's true what they say - Cents lead to Gold.

My name's Doug and I'm a coin-oholic.

epruyne

Thanks for the interesting replies everyone has their own road they have traveled...I find this hobby very interesting and the people so far seem to be just as interesting. Well I hope to continue learning and am able to accumulate a nice collection as I go on my way.

Thanks again for the replies.

leothelyon

It was competition with my older brother when we were youngsters. One day back then my brother had shown me a 1916 Lincoln. It wasn't long after that I had found a 1910 Lincoln. When us kids had vegetables stands out by the road, every once in awhile someone would pay with a silver dollar. I remember how we would run back to the house to show our mom. A silver dollar to a 6 to 10 year kid was awesome, it was a big coin. I also remember how my dad kept a few silver dollars in an old pipe
tobacco can, it was an oblong 3/4 inch wide but 3 inches long around the top with a hinged fliptop.
Well, one day they had disappeared, my next to older brother, over a period of time, took them into town to buy candy. Ya, we haven't let him forget that one. lol Yep, there's nothing like reminiscencing about the good ole days..............................................sigh.............................well, enough of that crap.

Leo