What got you started in collecting and how old were you?

TheLiberator

This might have been posted before, but I was curious. For me, it was the old cliché: my grandfather had passed away and he had some old coins in a safe. I was hooked! (And I was 14.) What did I want to collect when I went to my first coin shop? Well, shiny modern proof coins of course! I thought they were magical as I had never seen a penny look like a mirror! Plus, I could afford them! I have since moved onto more "serious" coins but that is what got me in the first place. Anyone else?

coachleonard

A combination of looking at old dates on coins i got in change from the school cafeteria and needing a
hobby to fulfill a cub scout requirement-- 'Hey, I'll collect coins!' In fact, the first coins I ever sent off
for (2 Indian Head pennies) was from a Boys Life magazine ad.

Dennis88

8 years ago..... When I was 7 or 8....

Dennis

Purple73

When I was 8 I collected stamps and my brother(12 at the time) collected coins. 22 years later I have my complete stamp collection still and my brother sold off all of his coins(pretty much dad bought them all). I've been upset ever since he did that. So, my dad and I are rebuilding what he had , kinda like a father son thing. While rebuilding what my brother had, Dad collects Walking Libs and I collect Franks. We both started this year.

PURPLE!

dimples

I started collecting pennies at the age of 7 or 8 back in the mid 60s. My father had a friend at work who would give him some of the tougher dates for me once in a while. I used to call him the penny man. My father was a big collector & small time mail order dealer then. He dropped the dealer part after a couple of years when he realized he was too much of a collector to charge 15-20% over what he paid. He felt bad about it. I remember him telling me of a co-worker bringing in a brief case full of walkers & franklins to sell him. His asking price 10% over face. Image thats .55 @. He bought about ten rolls off him and others bought the rest. This would have been around 1965 or 1966. My grandmother started collecting silver dollars in the 60s and I remember her and these lists of what dates she needed going to Gimbles coin dept. and buying 1 or 2 morgans every month. Probably paying $2 or $3 dollars for each.Wow the memories. Now at the age of 45 I've inherited my grandmas
collection, cigar boxes of indian head pennies, which she'd dip into for bus fare when times were tough in the thirties . Her old whitman folders filled except for the keys of course. Thanks for letting me share some my fond memories.

Dan

PutTogether

i was about eight years old.

I'd go shopping with grandmother at the local mall that happened to have a coin shop. I used to beg to go in to look at all the shiny stuff all around. (ironically, the thing i remember most about the place were the 1oz gold bullions bars - i thought those were so cool). The gentleman that ran the shop was super nice, and use to throw buffalo nickels in with your change.

After that - everyone in my family started giving me "old coins" they found.

291fifth

In 1956 my grandfather gave me an 1843-O quarter that he had received in change in 1933. I didn't start actively collecting until 1961 but the interest was there. I still have the 1843-O quarter.

Geod

I started collecting back in the mid-fifties when I had a newpaper route. Newpapers cost a nickel back then (no Sunday delivery). When I went on my weekly collection to get the 30 cents owed for the paper, most people would give me 35 cents (a nickel tip for a 10(?) year old at that time was big). Other people would give me 40 cents and the rich people would give me 50 cents (loved them!)

SO anyway, I had all these coins, so I bought a coin book, some witman holders and the rest is history. Unfortunately, after my wife and I started having kids in the early 70's, I stopped looking at coins and have only started again this year. Glad I did. A lot has changed in the way coins are rated and I have a lot to learn, so I am happy I found this site and this forum!

Thanks guys (and gals)

Geod

nOoBiEeE

Started like 5 months ago, age 28..

LanLord

Back in about 1968 or 69 ( really can't remember), I wasn't very old then, 10 or 11.

My family had just moved into a new neighborhood in a new city, I new no one.

A kid across the street asked me if I wanted to ride over to a new coin store that had opened up in a shopping center.

I thought it was kinda strange to collect coins (now I'm sure it's strange as are all the collectors )

But after a while looking at all the things there, I thought I'd get a couple things. Probably an indian cent and

buffalo nickel. Well that really got things started. My mom and pop got me a Dansco type album for Christmas

that year, loaded it with a 1964 PROOF set and a couple goodies like a 1937 MS buff, Stone Mtn commem and a

few others, I was hooked like a trout.

vega1

About 6 years ago, I'm 36. Got a mercury dime in change from a gas station.

razorface1027

My grandmother pretty much got me started. She had a gold sequin purse with 30 or more Morgan & Peace dollars in them that she'd won at the casinos in Vegas. This started my quest to collect. I think I was 5 or 6 years old. Then, my pop took over and started buying me the Ike dollars from the Mint, and so, my collection was put together piece by piece. When I was about 13 or 14, I started selling off my collection for drugs. It wasn't until my pop died 4 years ago; wherein, I inherited 1/3 of his collection, that made me delve back into some serious collecting. Within the last 6 monthes or so, I've since deviated from serious collecting (slabbed material & semi-rarities and the alike) and have taken the more simpler approach to collecting (filling holes in Whitman books containing many denominations of U.S. coinage). Moreover, I have a better relationship all awhile collecting with my 3 sons. In sum, we can identify more than we did when I was trying to attain a much more expensive collection on my own. They just couldn't relate to the more serious aspect of the hobby.

ddbird

I started when I was 10, my grandfather, gave me a SLQ, with no date...but i couldnt stop looking at it. I think it was a test to see if i was interested, becuase once he knew i was, he opened up his collection to me. I now collect morgans, and have a few nice exampes from him!

coinguy89

When it was my twelve birthday my grandmother sent me some old coins: buffalos, mercs, wheaties, etc.
I didnt think too much about it, until I found out they were worth money, so I made sure I saved them. Then next year she got me even more, and added some comemratives in there, by then I was hooked.

dimples

Geod


Thanks Liberator for a great thread

Elcontador

Memories! I was 12 (it was 1963) and went with my brother to a Saturday kids' matinee at the local theater. I received what I thought was a "really old" quarter in change that I wanted to keep because it was THAT old. So I didn't get any popcorn or candy at the show.

My parents took me to a coin shop, so I could ask someone what my "really old quarter" was worth. An older gentleman there said that my quarter, which was minted in 1932, might be worth some money, but first, I'd have to flip it over and look at the back of it. Did I see a letter under the eagle? I looked, and sure enough, I saw an 'S.' He explained that this coin was from San Francisco, and yes, it was scarce & might be worth $20 (which was a lot of money to me back then). He suggested that I get a Redbook, so I could learn more about coins I might find. I bought a Redbook, and yes, I still have that quarter (it wants to be an F 12).

aem4162

grandma gave me a 1943p wlh for my 10th bday and i went wild over it. she gave me an 1888p morgan and my sister a 1922p peace that christmas. i went bugpoop over my new coin. lisa didn't care about the peace dollar so have it

LAWMAN

Around 1955 I started paying attention to the silver dollars that my Grandmother gave me all the time. Then, in Boston where I grew up, there was a big flap about the DDO Lincolns and that got all my friends looking through pocket change. There were a bunch of old time dealers in downtown Boston, around Bromfield Street, and when I got just a little older, my friends and I would go into those coins shops and try to complete our Lincoln sets. We also hit all the local banks for rolls of Lincolns and spent hours and hours sorting through them. Back then you could find anything, including VBD's in circulation. Later, I worked in a retail business in the North End (early through late 60's) and when they quit using silver in the coins, a lot of people starting picking the silver coins out of circulation (and our cash register) and saving them in giant glass jars and bottles. We used to get really nice SLQ's and Walkers in circulation all the time and Buffalos and IHC's too.

Of course, my friends and I couldn't afford to pony up what we thought were the "big bucks" for the really rare stuff. If we had invested all the money we earned shoveling snow, mowing lawns and at our jobs and just bought coins, we could have retired years ago.

poorguy

I started collecting "stuff" back when I was about 10 or 12. I collected Baseball cards, rocks, gems, old books, and coins. My grandfather had lots of old coins and every now and then it was a treat for me to come and sit with him while he went through it and showed it to me. I inherited his collection when he passed away and have since scrutinized every piece, categorized it and stored it in two large bank vaults. It's mainly silver mercs, roosies, morgans, and peace dollars, with the exception of large amounts of wheaties. He owned the only general store in our small town and had lots of opportunity to pick out coins from change.

koinkrazy

What got me started was a couple things that happened. I was baout 7-8 and I was helping my Mom plant her garden, as I was digging holes to plant potatoes, I found an 1892 dime. Later that year I found a buffalo nickel in some change and thought it was such a cool coin. By the way i still have both coins. A little later that same year, I was with my family at a Gibsons store, anyone remember them??, and there was a guy there selling old coins, I looked and looked at all of them and ended up buying some steel pennies and buffalo nickels. From then on i have collected coins, early on mostly pennies and nickels and dimes, like most kids I assume. But it wasn't till anout 5 years ago when I got the internet that I became a serious about them. The internet opened the whole world to me, now I have access to dealers auctions ect. that was never available before. I am 37 now.

JeffinMich

I started when I was about 11 years old in the late 70's. Not sure why, but maybe it was the run up in the price of silver, or maybe the introduction of the SBA dollar. Any hoo, there were no real coin stores for hundreds of miles, so I bought from mail order outfits and got hosed pretty good on many occasions. The local five and dime also had a display case with mostly whizzed and corroded junk that we would look through....got a nice cherry pick on an early higher grade circ lincoln (24-S?) from that case that I still have today. I then forgot about coins in the early 80's, until picking it up again about 4 years ago....and now that I have a little more cash flow, I can actually afford nice coins.

mgoodm3

Got started in mid 70's, was 8 or 9 years old. Got coins from my grandmother and filled cent and nickel books.

Brianruns10

I remember the precise day. I was five years old, and it was Easter Day. I got a Whitman folder for the lincoln Memorial cents. I think I spent a year or two filling that album as I culled dates from change. The last one was a 1970-s Small Date that I had to buy from a dealer-coincidentally, my first coin show, and my first major purchase.

dimples

partagas

My grandma used to give me old coins whenever we got sick. I have three other brothers. So she would dispurse them amongst us. She gave me a 1928 Peace Dollar in AU, still have it. Beautiful golden toning. Along with some beautiful unc war nickels and mercs. That started me off. Good thing I had 3 broken arms when I was a kid. Cause the last arm yeilded me the 1928 peace.

Started collecting again about a year ago. I moved and noticed my old coins when packing. So I said what the heck, started checking prices and bamm I was hooked again. I started a new collection of Saints and trying to finish my Seated Quarters again.

harbon

It was a few years ago that I started collecting. When I was helping my parents put away clothes that came out of the dryer, I noticed two jars in the bottom drawer of a bureau. They were full of old coins, and my mother explained to me how she had been tossing old coins in there anytime she found them. I drug them out, poured out the contents, and scoured through all that was in there. The oldest date by the way was an 1847 Seated Liberty Silver Dollar. It is in G/VG conditiobn, but what ruins it is the damn hole someone decided to punch in the top to string a necklace out of it! There was an 1865 Indian Cent that someone had punched a hole in too. ARRRGGGH!

The moment I found those jars I was hooked! My grandfather then learned of my interest and directed me to a foot locker in the basement of my grandparents house. In it were tons of albums and a wheat pennies sack. On reflection, I think I should talk to him about moving it out of that dank basement. I know it ruined a great deal of the pennies in the sack he gave me (verdigris), and who knows what its doing to those other coins! Later, he gave me some three-cent pieces, a war medal of his, and a piece of 10 troy ounces of silver, along with some of the old albums he had. He suggested that I buy american eagles and proof sets from the mint every year as well.

I knew that there were some coins in our fireproof safe upstairs, so I went and checked to see what was there. In it I found some commemoratives and Morgans which my grandfather and grandmother had given me the year I was born (guess he wanted to get me started early! ).

And the story goes on. I found a local coin dealer and began buying some coins off of him. He was an older fellow so he has retired now, and for the past few years I havent been collecting. However, I recently got back into it and am now inventorying my entire coin set (quite a few coins!). I learned my older brother likes coins too and we've been learning from each other (I showed him how some of his coins had writing around the edges ).

But at any rate, I think that I'm hooked for good this time. Was thinking of talking to my grandfather about his set again so we could see what he has down in that dank basement.

Good thread! I had forgotton what got me started in coin collecting. Had to struggle to remember, but thanks to this thread I have! Great one!

OKbustchaser

I started the summer of 1965. I found what I later learned was a type 1 standing liberty quarter while playing in a park. Man, to an eleven year-old boy that naked boob was neatoooo! Still carry it as a pocket piece. It's worn almost flat now, but that naked boob is STILL neatooo!

JimP

ldhair

An uncle when I was 6. Never stopped and 47 in a few days.

ursabear

I was nine. My brother took me to one of those little coin 'n' hobby shops on A-1A near Eau Gallie, FL to see some large cents. I remember trying to figure out how I could get $100 so I could buy a nice Fine '16-D Winged Liberty dime... It was too much for a 9-year-old to get together, and it was gone.

The '16-D is probably still my one coin that if I ever get affordably with a nice patina, I would never re-sell it.

The old guy running the coin shop was pretty cool. He wan't anything like the small brick-and-mortar shops that used to be around here in Raleigh. He just liked coins, models, trains, and hobbies (MY kind of shop!)

kamehameha00

My grandpa showed me some coins a year ago, so I was 11 when I started.

rgraham

I was about 8 or 9 years old (this was in the late 70s), and my Aunt Carolyn gave me some Whitman albums as a Christmas present. I remember thinking the 8-years-old version of "what the hell is this??" and tossing them in the living room closet. At some point later -- probably a few months -- I came across them when looking for something else; I had completely forgotten about them. For whatever reason, I started plugging coins into them that I found in pocket change. My interest took off from there, and until I was in college I continued to collect. I remember eagerly looking forward to each issue of "Coins" magazine every month, and bought coins or sets from various advertisers as well as a few things at the local flea market and the Woolworth's. Nothing too terribly expensive, of course, but I did buy a lot of proof sets, mint sets, and current-year (at the time) commemoratives. I fell out of the hobby while in college, and only recently started back up a few months ago. Now I have the money to buy nicer coins. But I still have those old Whitman albums.

Rob.

Lakesammman

I think it was the removal of silver coins from circulation in 1964. I was visiting my grandfather in Iowa. We went to the local bank and I peeked over the counter to see that the teller had a whole roll of silver halves. I asked her if I could by them - I had a total of $5 for the trip and that was what I spent it on. Still have that roll. Nothing major - just nice circ. Frankies and Walkers.

ConstellatioCollector

16

Cladiator

Found a junky old walker half while walking to school my freshman year in highschool. It was laying on the ground having been spilled out of a tossed over garbage can! I was 14.

Nic

I worked for a guy roofing homes he owned and flipped. Age 13, 1971. Found a cigar box full of coins when stripping the roof off a garage and he offered me the box rather than my regular pay. I took the deal and initially lost $20 or so. Later coin deals made up for it . K

RYK

Got started in mid 70's, was 8 or 9 years old. Got coins from my grandmother and filled cent and nickel books.

Dittto, but I was 5 or 6 when I started in the early 70's, with cents, nickels, and dimes. My grandmother had a couple of safes filled with coins pulled from circulation from the 20's through the 60's. She also had Whitman and Wayte Raymond folders filled with (mostly) complete sets. Ironically, the guys who came to install our home alarm system stole a bunch of the Morgan books, when I was 8 or 9. I learned later that the coins she had were not particularly valuable or interesting, but she appreciated them and taught me about collecting. I would look forward to a rainy day when after my nagging, she would grab a coffee mug and dip it into the box filled with coins, and we would look through whatever she pulled out and try to fill holes in my sets.

ConstellatioCollector

All right. You're going to drag it out of me.... First of all, I'm a little embarassed to tell this story but it has to be told. I was about 5 or 6 years old and my father had Indian Head Cents in a whitman album in his dresser drawer. I was crazy about bubble gum and the rest was history.

When I was 16 I had my first job and I remembered for years that I had stolen those coins. Every birthday and holiday I purchased quality IHC as gifts for my father. Later in life I found that my father didn't really enjoy collecting coins and that he did not have the passion that I have for coin collecting.

Oh well. It did teach me a lesson!

mrearlygold

Found an 1833 dime ( last 3 high) in pocket change of all places when I was 14. ( 1969) Was hooked ever since!

Rgrds
Tom

P.S. Even more amazing was the coin was very choice AU

TheLiberator

Thanks to all who shared their stories on this thread! It was really an interesting read. It is amazing the different kinds of things that get people into this hobby. From finding an old coin in change to picking through coins with Grandma, I think we heard it all. Really neat stuff guys and gals and thanks again for sharing!

Shamika

Typical story really...

I was 7 years old and my maternal grandparents gave me a jar full of mostly wheat cents and two Whitman folders (Vol.1 and 2 Lincoln cents). I was hooked almost immediately.

KlectorKid

11