Kids and Collecting

johngerman

Hello all. I wanted to post this to see how many collectors out there have children in thier lives that have taken an interest in the hobby. My daughter who has just reached the mature age of 4 is showing great interest in daddy's collection and I have taken the liberty of putting together a nice "Starter Set" for her and her brother. Not much of intrinsic value, but definatly numismatic value. She comes and gos as most kids her age do, but seems really fixated on the coins and how shiney some are and she can tell me if a coin is old or new, stuff like that. I am hopefull she will continue this trend of course and want to begin a really spectacular collection to perhaps leave to her and my son to complete or add to and pass along to thier children and maybe one day, someone in my bloodline will own a very respectible collection. Maybe not Bass or Eliasberg great, but something not too many people would ever come to see. I would like some advice on how to maybe keep the fire burning but not snuff it out with pressure or being overwhelming. Any tips from the great members here? I think it would be a very usefull and rewarding venture for many people to come. Any thoughts or opinions are appreciated as well. Thanks. John

Boothill40

My 12 year old son has shown an interest so I bought a dansco 7070 for us to work on together, hopefuly I'll be able to take him to the Long Beach show.
As of right now he is into CC Morgans he likes the cowboy link to the coins---Tom

johngerman

Good tie-in with the Cowboys and Silver Dollars. Usefull info there. Thanks! John

cladking

Keep the coins available that she collects. Tell her she can have anything she needs for the collections.

Bochiman

My son has shown an interest since before he could walk. Not as strong as his interest to the Xbox though

He likes toned coins of all types (silver mainly, actually) as well as half dollars and silver dollars toned or not. I've got him a birthyear set and he and I do albums (7070 as well as Roosies right now).

I've found it best to let him handle the Ikes and normal circulating coins and also to show him the slabbed coins. That way, he can't hurt the ones in slabs. They are almost all his now (or later) anyway, so he may as well get used to them now as he grows.

Coxe

My kids do the state quarters, Jeffs, and Abes. Hours wee spent going through bank rolls to fill holes in the albums. They still go through my pocket change which, oddly, seems to turn up missing early Lincoln dates when I return from coin shows.

johngerman

All good tips. Thanks and keep 'em coming!

JapanJohn

My eight year old daughter is interested in it right up to the point I want her to take some stuff to show and tell. I think she's afraid that coins aren't as flashy at the latest version of a tamagotchi or something.

A few nights a week she'll come in my room before sleep and we'll lay on the bed and look at stuff. I just got some Westward Journey sets with the Peace medals in them and she really likes them. She's not content to look at them in the box. She wants to pop out the airtites and look at the reverses, or in that set's case, the obverse.

Mostly she's eight and could go either way but she never passes up a chance when I call her over to look at stuff and she likes to go through our change looking to fill holes in Whitman's.

John

Artist

My daughter, Iris Unum, at four months began sucking on an NGC slab - today at a 11 months she still likes to chew on it.

Zoins

<< <i>I think she's afraid that coins aren't as flashy at the latest version of a tamagotchi or something. >>

There are always the Canadian hologram coins and the Palau coin with a piece of a meteorite in it....

johngerman

Good ideas here. I have a bunch of Whitman and Dansco albums for the kids. Old and new stuff and have started a nice State Quarter album for them both. I have held back a roll of each Mint Iowa Quarters (Since that is the state in which we hail from) and they each have a Silver Proof Set from thier birthyear. They are the only reason I have dabbled in the modern market, but it will make it easier for them to get involved I think. I figure they can relate pocket change to collecting that way. I can't remember what got me started in the hobby, but I vividy remember the fact that the 1909-S vdb wheat penny was worth a whopping $350.00, and at that time, wheat cents were not uncommon in pocket change from the stores. Almost 25 years ago I would come across the occasional mercury dime, buffalo nickle and even silver quarters when we went to the bigger cities. To this day, everytime I go to Des Moines or Minneapolis, I come home with a silver coin and a few wheat cents. I hope to blend in them into the hobby seamlessly with what they will have in hopes they want more like I did. Thanks to all who posted here. John

bhartman35

My nephew really likes coins. He's 7. Almost every holiday, he looks forward to getting a coin from me. This Christmas, he said excitedly, "I know what Uncle Brian got me! A coin!!".

I've gotten him a couple of inexpensive ancient Romans, and he likes when I get him Sacs from the post office. The only problem I ever had with it is last time I gave him a coin in a 2x2, he tried to rip it open to get to the coin, so just be careful to explain that any holders the coins are in are to protect the coin, and it shouldn't be opened.

RichieURich

I started collecting on my birthday when I turned 4. It's good to see we have another generation of very young numismatists getting started!

Joflax

My son who is 10 yrs old goes thru my pocket change every day filling his quarter collection and looking for "old" coins ....anything older than 1990, My daughter (14) looks for $5 bills ... she spends them.