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My First Coin Purchase - A Cool Story or Two
Oak
Posts: 205
I recently had a numismatic experience with my 14 year old nephew that brought back a flood of memories. Let me take you back to the mid to late 70’s when I was not yet a teenager. Gold, Silver, and the American West were the coolest things imaginable and coins were my link to all of it. “CC” dollars were only dreams for a boy my age. They were the very coins the cowboys held. The silver must have been pulled from the mines of strong men like Ben Cartwright. I’m sure Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn had lots of rarities in that hoard of coins they discovered. Oh how I wish I could have searched thru those coins! The gold could have come from the very mine that Samuel Clemens himself worked. And proof-like coins, I could barely fathom what they must be like to behold. Their reflectivity and beauty must be awesome. ‘One day’, is all I could hope. For now, I’d have to collect what I could afford (I had no idea what a lasting TRUTH that was).
I started collecting when my Aunt gave me a couple of silver dollars. They were common date, worn out pieces, but they were treasures to me. They were a connection to something special. They were a part of history and not just any history but American History. American coins told the story of the greatest adventure and of the greatest country ever formed. My interest quickly spread from Morgan Dollars to all 19th Century Types and beyond.
I still remember my first coin purchase. I saved $15-$20 and mailed the cash along with a little letter detailing what I wanted to a coin dealer I found a coin magazine. For that money I bought two half-dimes, two bust dimes and a 3 cent piece. I ordered them all in fine and very fine condition. Some were better, at least one was worse. I can still remember grading them. I was reluctant to differ from the dealer's grade. Nor did understand why one of the half dimes was so shiny, even then I knew it was not “right”. Funny how those thoughts are so fresh.
Anyway, the frustration of not being able fund my passion and the recent discovery of girls ended my childhood coin collecting days. It was 25 years later before I would return to the hobby.
Recently my nephew was given a ASE by his grandmother. He loved it. I could hear the passion in his voice when he told me about it. I enjoyed hearing him so much that I got into my old coin box and pulled out a couple of old bust dimes that I hadn’t examined with any interest in over 25 years. They were both marked “Fine” from the dealer I had bought it from all those years ago. On one of the flips I had written “V-X” next to the dealers grade. Even now it was obviously much nicer than a fine. I picked that one for my nephew. It had a very nice blue tone around the upper half of the obverse and lots of detail. It may take him years to appreciate how nice it is and he may never appreciate it. That’s okay too I thought. I took him my redbook as a loaner too. All the hours I spent with that book as a child flooded my memory now. I hoped it would help hook his imagination too.
When he saw the coin I had given him, his excitement was probably more than was cool to show in front of friends (he had company). But there was no mistaking his enthusiasm. He quickly checked out the redbook and I showed him how to interpret the grades. He confidently declared it an “XF”, a grade I reluctantly had to agree with. If I had graded that coin before I gave it too him, I might not have given him the NICE one, then again……..who knows.
I started collecting when my Aunt gave me a couple of silver dollars. They were common date, worn out pieces, but they were treasures to me. They were a connection to something special. They were a part of history and not just any history but American History. American coins told the story of the greatest adventure and of the greatest country ever formed. My interest quickly spread from Morgan Dollars to all 19th Century Types and beyond.
I still remember my first coin purchase. I saved $15-$20 and mailed the cash along with a little letter detailing what I wanted to a coin dealer I found a coin magazine. For that money I bought two half-dimes, two bust dimes and a 3 cent piece. I ordered them all in fine and very fine condition. Some were better, at least one was worse. I can still remember grading them. I was reluctant to differ from the dealer's grade. Nor did understand why one of the half dimes was so shiny, even then I knew it was not “right”. Funny how those thoughts are so fresh.
Anyway, the frustration of not being able fund my passion and the recent discovery of girls ended my childhood coin collecting days. It was 25 years later before I would return to the hobby.
Recently my nephew was given a ASE by his grandmother. He loved it. I could hear the passion in his voice when he told me about it. I enjoyed hearing him so much that I got into my old coin box and pulled out a couple of old bust dimes that I hadn’t examined with any interest in over 25 years. They were both marked “Fine” from the dealer I had bought it from all those years ago. On one of the flips I had written “V-X” next to the dealers grade. Even now it was obviously much nicer than a fine. I picked that one for my nephew. It had a very nice blue tone around the upper half of the obverse and lots of detail. It may take him years to appreciate how nice it is and he may never appreciate it. That’s okay too I thought. I took him my redbook as a loaner too. All the hours I spent with that book as a child flooded my memory now. I hoped it would help hook his imagination too.
When he saw the coin I had given him, his excitement was probably more than was cool to show in front of friends (he had company). But there was no mistaking his enthusiasm. He quickly checked out the redbook and I showed him how to interpret the grades. He confidently declared it an “XF”, a grade I reluctantly had to agree with. If I had graded that coin before I gave it too him, I might not have given him the NICE one, then again……..who knows.
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I can quit collecting anytime I want to.....I just don't want to!
I can quit collecting anytime I want to.....I just don't want to!
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Dennis
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Excellent story! A new generation of collectors are up & coming!
Great transactions with oih82w8, JasonGaming, Moose1913.
42/92
If I had it my way, stupidity would be painful!