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Musings on turning the big FIVE-OH, and a question to all Whitman Folder collectors out there.......
DBSTrader2
Posts: 3,460 ✭✭✭✭
The calendar shows I'm about 2 weeks away from this "momentous" event, and got me to musing about various things.
One item is how I always feel like such a small fish whenever I even go to just the local monthly coin show. Every table is flashing gold and silver pieces at huge prices and slabs and the rest, and here I am looking for a stray "junk-box" item or another, or a blue Whitman folder I don't already have that I might be able to start working on filling. Pickings are geting slimmer and slimmer for someone like me, as the remaining "holes" get more and more expensive to fill, and retirement & cars/college for my kids loom on the horizon.
I was never one to spend a lot of money on any one coin in the first place (and I usually defined "a lot" as over a few bucks!!), building up my collection from what was in circulation at the time or trades, etc.
Given that fact, when I stopped and gave it some thought, I realized that, as I spend most of my "collecting" time reviewing my "needs" list for my U.S., British, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand, and Mexican Whitman folder collection (and those of my kids), I really have lost sight of just how many coins and folders I have managed to put together anyway over my half-century of being on this earth!
It might not be the biggest or the best or anywhere near the most valuable in absolute monetary terms, but I was pleasantly surprised when I took the time to look at everything again, saw just how many full folders or type runs I had actually managed to complete and folders I had amassed in general since I started collecting with my grandparents looking over my shoulders.............
For someone fascinated by the coins and designs themselves, it's a treasure trove! I may feel bad every now and then about not having certain types of coins in my collections (like large cents, 3-cent nickels, Barber anythings, etc), or that I missed out on collecting much more readily available silver from circulation by a few years, but stepping back like I did the other day helped me put back into perspective what I have accomplished.................
I have built up my own set of 116 Whitman folders (and approximately 50 more for my kids) to pass down to my kids and theirs when the time comes, full of never-to-be-minted-again coins & designs - - each with a history all its own. I truly have been blessed to have found such a hobby that I can pick up and drop & re-convene over the years.................and hopefully develop the same sense of appreciation for in generations to come of my family.
So how many other "primarily-Whitman-folder" collectors are out there besides myself? How many folders have YOU accumulated, from what countries, and are there any other lines you'd like to start collecting? And do you share the same feelings as I have? Just curious.
- - Dave
One item is how I always feel like such a small fish whenever I even go to just the local monthly coin show. Every table is flashing gold and silver pieces at huge prices and slabs and the rest, and here I am looking for a stray "junk-box" item or another, or a blue Whitman folder I don't already have that I might be able to start working on filling. Pickings are geting slimmer and slimmer for someone like me, as the remaining "holes" get more and more expensive to fill, and retirement & cars/college for my kids loom on the horizon.
I was never one to spend a lot of money on any one coin in the first place (and I usually defined "a lot" as over a few bucks!!), building up my collection from what was in circulation at the time or trades, etc.
Given that fact, when I stopped and gave it some thought, I realized that, as I spend most of my "collecting" time reviewing my "needs" list for my U.S., British, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand, and Mexican Whitman folder collection (and those of my kids), I really have lost sight of just how many coins and folders I have managed to put together anyway over my half-century of being on this earth!
It might not be the biggest or the best or anywhere near the most valuable in absolute monetary terms, but I was pleasantly surprised when I took the time to look at everything again, saw just how many full folders or type runs I had actually managed to complete and folders I had amassed in general since I started collecting with my grandparents looking over my shoulders.............
For someone fascinated by the coins and designs themselves, it's a treasure trove! I may feel bad every now and then about not having certain types of coins in my collections (like large cents, 3-cent nickels, Barber anythings, etc), or that I missed out on collecting much more readily available silver from circulation by a few years, but stepping back like I did the other day helped me put back into perspective what I have accomplished.................
I have built up my own set of 116 Whitman folders (and approximately 50 more for my kids) to pass down to my kids and theirs when the time comes, full of never-to-be-minted-again coins & designs - - each with a history all its own. I truly have been blessed to have found such a hobby that I can pick up and drop & re-convene over the years.................and hopefully develop the same sense of appreciation for in generations to come of my family.
So how many other "primarily-Whitman-folder" collectors are out there besides myself? How many folders have YOU accumulated, from what countries, and are there any other lines you'd like to start collecting? And do you share the same feelings as I have? Just curious.
- - Dave
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Comments
Congratulations on your soon-to-be momentous occasion!
After taking about 5 years to complete the U.S. Philippines series by date and mint mark, I've now jumped over to U.S. coins. But instead of trying to pull an Eliasburg, I've decided to do a type set. I chose a Littleton album as my storage device. I'm more inclined to albums these days as they are a nice way to share your coins with others and I love filling those holes!
Congratulations on your semicentennial! Here's to an enjoyable second half!
I've got a little over seven years left before I cross that milestone. The band is warming up for my halftime show, which is moving onto the field as we speak. I hope the second half of the game ain't shorter than the first!
was scarce or rare had been removed before the end of WW II and the
coins that remained were expensive to set aside because their face val-
ue represented a lot of money in those days. Even when the price of
silver took off in 1968 the coins disappeared pretty quickly and the time
during which you could get silver for significantly less than melt was quite
brief. With handling and refining fees no small time guy made any money
on the prospect. Sure, if you held on and sold when the price was much
higher then you could have done well. During almost all of the period up
to 1979 your greenbacks would have been better spent buying 999 for
melt than stashing away coins.
Everyone has a much better opportunity with copper today since it alrea-
dy has a large premium but few are getting excited about it because it's
just a lot of work for very little reward. The biggest difference is that cop-
per doesn't have the aura that silver does.