getting kids into coins

skier07

I have an 8 year old son. I began collecting coins when I was 5. I have tried everything, but
I can't seem to get him into coins. He likes opening packs of sports cards and enjoys collecting
game used jersey cards, etc., but he really doesn't seem to have much interest in coins. I have
gotten him empty quarter albums for the new state coins, I let him go through my change, and have
given him some old silver coins and indian head cents, to start him off. Any ideas or am I just wasting
my time?

Bruce

maddogale

Sounds like he just has his own "collector's niche". Don't press him on it, in fact, if he enjoys sports cards get him some books on the subject, maybe he would appreciate them and find the knowledge useful in his "horsetrading". Then again, find an old silver dollar, better yet, a CC one that is well worn, tell him the story behind the Carson City mint, where it is, and the possible fact that some old cowboy or miner used that Carson dollar to buy himself dinner or a beer.....being that the coin is "Old West" related may give him a different perspective on coins. If not, buy it back from him and keep it as a pocket piece!!!!

wam98

My son collected sports cards in his early teens. Then came the drivers liscense, the car, the girls, the world. He is a young man in his twentys now. Still has them old cards but now he started collecting coins.

No, I do not think your wasting your time. Your laying down a foundation for a collector of the future which is very important for the coin collecting hobby. Good luck.

cladking

A lot of kids will switch collecting specialties at some point and trying to
lay a foundation in coins probably won't hurt. However it's probably more
important to encourage him to have fun so helping with his interests will
promote that.

Neptune

Isn't there a commemmorative or two with sports figures on them? Get him one of those for Christmas, and see how he reacts. Just one tho - if there are more, then you can use this as 'bait' to get more sports coins/tokens/etc.

Also, don't press it - because if I remember correctly - the more you press - the farther away they get from your suggestions/ideas.

My grandson is 9, and when he comes over he can't WAIT to start sorting coins, etc. But then he goes home, and Dad doesn't follow up - so I have an interested YN, but only get to deal with him a few times per yr. I did send him home with a Redbook, and instructions to read at least once per wk. - even paper clipped some pages for him - and then sent Dad an email instructing him to help - but haven't heard one word. It's disheartening.

Good luck!

Conder101

Your wasting your time. When it comes to collecting coins (and probably anything else) all you can do is expose them to it. it will either "click" or it won't. If it doesn't it can't be forced and attempting to do so will usually be counterproductive. If it does it will usualy fade during the teenage to early twenties as they concentrate on school, cars, the opposite sex, college, career and starting and raising a family. Once their children are reaching around the age of 8 - 10 they may start collecting again but they usually won't become serious, if they are going to beome serious, until their children are out on their own. This is why I never worry too much about the people moaning about the "aging of the collector base". Most collectors don't BECOME seriously active until their late forties or early fifties. Thirty years ago when I started the average age of the collectors in the clubs I as a member of was late 50's to early 60's. Thirty years later it is still late 50's to early 60's but most all of the ones that were there when I joined are now dead.

So expose your child, but if he isn't interested or wants to collect something else, support them in it. Later when they return to collecting they may switch to coins because of that early exposure.

cladking

<< <i> If it does it will usualy fade during the teenage to early twenties as they concentrate on school, cars, the opposite sex, college, career and starting and raising a family. Once their children are reaching around the age of 8 - 10 they may start collecting again but they usually won't become serious, if they are going to beome serious, until their children are out on their own. This is why I never worry too much about the people moaning about the "aging of the collector base". Most collectors don't BECOME seriously active until their late forties or early fifties. Thirty years ago when I started the average age of the collectors in the clubs I as a member of was late 50's to early 60's. Thirty years later it is still late 50's to early 60's but most all of the ones that were there when I joined are now dead. >>



I believe you are describing a different phenomenon than what people are concerned
about when they refer to the aging collector base. It seems likely that joining this type
of organization is something which is done by older collectors. No doubt there are some
younger coin clubs around or have been in the past.

When I was a child there were millions of collectors though most were children and con-
centrated on finding coins in pocket change. When in my twenties I started going to shows
and I was usually one of the youngest in attendence. The same was true in my thirties
and forties. ie the average age of collectors at coin shows between the mid 70's and mid-'90's
increased by nearly twenty years indicating almost no growth in the population of collectors
who attend shows. Recently there has been an explosion in the numbers of baby boomers
who collected as children returning to the hobby. There has also been a large influx of new
collectors, many of whom are young or children. These young people are the first significant
population that the hobby has attracted in generations though admittedly many are hardly
serious numismatists yet.

Now days there are lots of new faces at shows and many of them are young. You'll probably
find a similar thing with the average age of Coin World subscribers and mint customers and
the like.

TheNumish

Have to agree with Conder-- either it clicks or it doesn't. When I worked at a shop and waited on kids you could really tell right away.

I have a little trunk for my 20 month old daughter with all kinds of cheap foreign sets, cheap slabs and tubes. Put diiferent coins in each tube so when she shakes them they make different sounds. She can now open the tubes so when she's done playing with her coin box there are coins everywhere. So far she likes the big shiny ones best like the two ounce "Year of the Ram" Australian Lunar coin. I'm hoping if she has fun playing with these she will like coins as she gets older. It would really be a lot of fun to share the hobby with her.

Sn3nut

One of my four sons developed a stong interest in model railroading (one of my other hobbies) when he was a teen-ager. I gave him a set of the Durango Trade Dollars that were sold by the Durango, CO Chamber of Commerce and accepted in trade by local merchants. Each one had a different obverse depicting some aspect of the D&S narrow gauge railroad that runs there. From that collection he progressed into collecting coins of different dates that were of significance to corresponding events on the railroad he models (1893 - 1953).

I gave all of my six kids Proof and Mint sets for their respective birth years -- though this hasn't seemed to encourage other forms of coin collecting. Now I buy my Grand-daughters (eight so far) each a slabbed $50 PR or MS eagle when they are born. Hopefully, this might encourage them to like coins when they are old enough to appreciate them.

mgoodm3

Oh you meant "kids into coins", not "coins into kids".