30+ year collectors, now I am depressed....

kevinstang

Was just reading the post about percentage of 30+ year collectors who prefer to keep their coins raw and now I am depressed. I was thinking yeah right there aren't that many old timers on the forum or still around for that matter, when it dawned on me- I started collecting coins around 1975/1976- over 30 years ago..... Happy New Year everyone!

blu62vette

Cheer up!! I was born in 1975 so it was a good year! Am I helping?

options26

I was 5 when you started collecting.

SpaceMonkey

'73er here!

-sm

Paultjuno

Don't feel depressed, I was born in '65 and anyone who wants to give me a hard time about it is going to get a smack upside the head with my cane! Damn kids, get off my yard!

Griv

You have to be kidding, I was already being ripped off by my local B&M while you were still in diapers. All I collect now is modern coins now having been burned one two many times by the "old guard".

ahooka454

1982 here. wow have i got aways to go yet...

cladking

<< <i>Was just reading the post about percentage of 30+ year collectors who prefer to keep their coins raw and now I am depressed. I was thinking yeah right there aren't that many old timers on the forum or still around for that matter, when it dawned on me- I started collecting coins around 1975/1976- over 30 years ago..... Happy New Year everyone! >>




Imagine how I feel. I've got half a century of collecting behind me.

I used to correspond with a collector who started in 1923. He had 75 years at the time.

There aren't many pre-WWII collectors left but there are millions from the '50's nd '60's.

VintageJeff

born in 1979 a good year

LincolnCentMan

I was born in 1974 and almost all of my collection is raw. I prefer the elegance of a dansco to a stack of slabs.

-David

remumc

I'm with Cladking, over 50 years of collecting. I still have lots of Mercs, SLQ's, Walkers, Franklins, Buffs, V nickles, and even indian cents that I pulled from circulation. I started collecting in 63 when all the dimes, quarters, and halves were silver, and you could still get rolls of silver dollars at the bank. Sure wish I had had some money back then!

Regards,

Wayne

Griv

I prefer a perfect 70 coin that I can admire without a single blemish, just like the Mint and God intended. I prefer that perfection to be protected in a slab. My daughter one day will agree.

crispy

I started collecting in 1969. I bought my first "bluebook" with babysitting and lawnmowing funds. I still have that book but man did I ever wear it out!

I currently collect raw and slabbed coins.

BECOKA

<< <i>'73er here!

-sm >>



When you started collecting or when you were born?

I was born in 73 and started collecting around 1980.

pf70collector

I bought the 1976 Bicentenial Silver Proof Set in 1976 from the U.S. Mint. I was collecting on and off since than.

oreville

kevinstang:

Hey, I started collecting in 1959/1960. I still have a lot of raw as well as certified coins.

There are a few of us left here.

DoubleEagle59

Born in 1959, started collecting around 1966.

Generally speaking, for my own private collection, I like them Raw. But for selling purposes, they gotta be slabbed.

mozin

I started collecting in the late 1940s. Lots of fun grabbing Barber Series coins, and Morgan Dollars, out of circulation. Sold almost my entire collection back near the high melt years for silver.

MORGANHUNTER2

<< <i>Was just reading the post about percentage of 30+ year collectors who prefer to keep their coins raw and now I am depressed. I was thinking yeah right there aren't that many old timers on the forum or still around for that matter, when it dawned on me- I started collecting coins around 1975/1976- over 30 years ago..... Happy New Year everyone! >>



I was stationed overseas when you started collecting- and I've been doing it since 56......

Texast

I started collecting in 1966, din't know about any redbook then, around 1970 the Stack's pocket book was what I went by, if it was Silver, or a Wheat cent worth more than face value I collected it.

Now I'm depressed...

Bear

Your nothing but a bunch of coin puppies.

I'm a real 1938 bear.

greymars

Born in 1958

Started at age 14 when I bought my first first coin, a 1858o 3 cent piece (sold many, many years ago)

Got back into collecting about 2003

Dropped out in 2005

Restarted in late October 2007

Have about 10 slabbed Morgans in my extremely modest collection

Gary

2bits

I started collecting in 1969,, and I still have a stack of stacks U.S. coins of value books !!

Just to let you guy's that were not yet into the hobby then know what it was like !!

1986 stacks U.S coins of value


the 1922 no D in VF was listed at $35.00

1916-D F-12 listed at $200.00

1893-S Morgan listed at $650.00 in EF

rec78

If you bought a lot of coins over the last 30 years and still have them just think of the appreciation. You should have at least some good coins. Just look at your collection and you will get some satisfaction i am sure, as a collector of 30+ years. I just started my 50th year collecting coins on Christmas day so i am more depressed than you--NAH!

Griv

Twin Peaks flashback.

pb2y

<< <i>'73er here! -sm >>



So I am tied for the old timer spot. You (OP) ain't got nothing
to worry about until a 60 year old calls you the old man.
And none of my classic coins are slabbed.
Why is youth wasted on the young ?

MFH

Started in 1960 - stopped in 1973 - restarted in 1990 - stopped in 1992
- restarted in 1994 - have not stopped since.

mommam17

Started collecting in 1968, pulling pre 1965 silver coins out of change on a trip to Florida. Stopped in 1985, started again in 1998, when my spouse said words they really regret when watching a show on TV selling coins. " You know, you should buy a coin once in a while." It has turned into much more than once in a while!!!!

53BKid

Born: 1962
First Red Book: 1972
Collected until 1982 (I had it with the games being played)
Returned to collecting in 2000.
Full blown addiction now.

7over8

started collecting in 1972
brief hiatus from 1981-1985
back in force from 1986 - present

Was working for a coin dealer in the BOOM bullion days of 1979-1980 - we all are just waiting for just "one more time"

US Mint mailing list customer since 1973, I think us old guys need to purchase US Mint products on a VIP basis....a couple of hours before the general public....

How about that!!!

IrishMike

Kevin fortunately or unfortunately we are still around. Here is original blue whitman album that still remains on my shelf.

UtahCoin

<< <i>Was just reading the post about percentage of 30+ year collectors who prefer to keep their coins raw and now I am depressed. I was thinking yeah right there aren't that many old timers on the forum or still around for that matter, when it dawned on me- I started collecting coins around 1975/1976- over 30 years ago..... Happy New Year everyone! >>



I had been collecting 15 years when you started....

ricko

Ok.... we have YN's, MN's and ON's... we should just recognize we are all N's... and enjoy the experience, knowledge and camaraderie of the community.... hmmmm, sounds like something Bear would say.... Cheers, RickO

Walkerguy21D

<< <i>born in 1979 a good year >>


Not a bad year to graduate from HS, either! Born in 1960, started collecting in the late 60's, AFTER all the silver had been pulled from circulation First book was one of those Dell's pocket coin value guides my grandmother had picked up at the drugstore.
My registry walker set is of course slabbed, along with most of my high grade middle date large cents, and a few odds and ends. Buffs, indians, peace dollar sets are raw and will stay that way, along with lots of other items. And as many have noticed, it is getting tough to find nice raw coins anymore.
Greg

jmski52

My first coin purchase was $0.25 for a 1909 vdb in VG in 1962. Bought my first Proof Set in 1963. Saved my first BU roll of Lincolns in 1963 (Remember those funky plastic tubes that had caps on both ends?). Bought my first Kennedy from the bank the day they were released, and paid a friend of mine $0.05 to go with me and get a second one.

It all went downhill from there.

SanctionII

In the other post when I said 30+ years collecting, that is exactly what I meant. Age has nothing to do with it (unless you are under 30). If you started collecting at 3 and are now 33 years old, you have collected for 30 years (and are still a young pup).

For me, I started collecting in 1963 at 7 years old and continued through high school graduation in 1974, then dropped off while in college from 74-78 and then essentially stopped until 1998. Have been collecting non stop since 1998. Thus for me I have about 25 years in as a collector, even though I am 51.

Silverstate

Born 1962.
Got my First Lincoln Whitman folder in 1970.

Join Early American Coppers EAC in 1975 at age 13
Attended many EAC meetings with Walter Breen as the key speaker

Have been on and off for years.

Now..I 'm ON !

Danegeld

I started collecting 40 years ago (47 now and have never sold a coin) and from someone who's never sent in a coin for any third party action have always preferred RAW coins over slabbed coins anyday. Besides inheriting two RAW collections and building up mine, my total coinage encapsulated is 17 coins.

However, I do see the need for an authenticating service, but feel it could be done in a more subtle way. Something other than putting two pieces of plastic together. As far as grading goes, they (the grades) will always change to suit the market... Buy a good old RedBook and become familiar with what you collect before you buy the coin.

Enjoy the Hobby
Ben

shirohniichan

I started collecting 155 years ago when I was 10 years old. Every once in a while you could still find classic coins in pocket change before that blasted steam press started churning out modern crud!

Like the time I caught the ferry over to Shelbyville. I needed a new heel for my shoe. So I decided to go to Morganville, which was what they called Shelbyville in those days. So I tied an onion to my belt, which was the style at the time. Now, to take the ferry costs a half dime. And in those days half dimes had pictures of Bumble Bees on them. `Gimme five bees for a quarter' you'd say. Now where were we....oh yeah, the important thing was that I had an onion on my belt, which was the style at the time....they didn't have white onions, because of the war, the only thing you could get was the big yellow ones.

ProofArtworkonCircs

'73, which has been mentioned here a few times was a very good year. It was the year of my father's birth but it was 1873.
I was collecting by 1940 and most of my coins are raw.

TwoSides2aCoin

In 1955, the U.S. Mint commemorated my birth with a Doubled Die Lincoln cent. (sic)
Collecting starts and stops at several junctures in my life. Some coins that I thought would be $worth the cost of encapsulation for collector's sakes are. The vast majority of the coins I've collected (this includes hoards of rolls and mint sealed bags .... may or not be encapsulated by collectors of the future, but as long as they're raw, they're widgets that collectors will continue to collect, I hope.
In the meantime, how does a neophyte go about getting his own title around here ? Something that describes the common collector in man ...

Widgeteer ?

coinnut

Born 1950
Started collecting in 1957 when I got my first Whitman folder.
Stopped collecting in 1982 - resumed 1999 and haven't stopped since.
Probably have about 2000 coins. 80% raw, 20% slabbed.