<< <i>I remember searching rolls of pennies in my parents' bedroom. I was probably 5 at the time. The most memorable part about it was that my new hobby very quickly forced me to stop sucking my thumb - something I had been unsuccessfully trying to do for quite some time, obviously - because it tasted really, really bad after handling thousands of pennies, even after washing my hands. In retrospect, choosing numismatics over my thumb has proved a good decision. >>
I couldda just about written this. I was about 5 when my parents started panicing that I might still be sucking my thumb in school. Of course they didn't tell me this they just started putting some really great tasing stuff on my thumb and told me to keep it out of my mouth. This was just torture especially after I acquired a taste for the stuff. Eventually I just quit to please them but I'd sure like to find some of that stuff.
...It tasted metallic. ...Like the flavor of victory.
I was an old hand at collecting by that time though. I was interested in coins from a very early age but it never occured to me to collect them. I found it fascinating that people would pass coins from hand to hand in exchange for goods and services. It was probably '57 that I started my buffalo nickel collection since my older brother had first crack at the one cent coins. These were free from our dad so I figured I got the better end of the deal even if it wasn't first choice. My parents both had little collections of hand me down coins from their parents. My mom's were her father's who obtained them abroad as a medic in WW I. My dad's were likely ones he had found himself dating back to 1832 but I was never entirely clear on this.
taking my uncle who was handicapped to a coin show in the next state from me in the mid 70s. he picked up some rolls of franklins and some key date canadian small cents.
I remember once, when I was a kid, going to a local coin show in Fulton, New York. I had a Knights of Columbus or similar "Grand Cross"-type fraternal medal (with hanger and chain), and I took it there to find out its value. The only dealer who expressed any interest really eyeballed it, but then he acted nonchalant. "Huh. Eh, it's interesting, I'll give you five dollars for it --- I like oddball stuff." His physical reaction (giving it the eagle eye) combined with his almost forcedly casual reply made me suspicious, and I declined his offer.
Probably at 7-8 years of age around 1963, while attending parochial grade school in Western N.Y., and winning a ceramic plate prize with a dozen or so foreign coins mounted on it at a "fish pond" booth during a spring "Mission Day" fundraiser.
Stealing some of my sisters Merc's from her Sucrets box and buying candy with them. Decades later, I replaced them with some BU's I bought at a local auction.
When I was six, I liked looking at my Dad’s and Gramp’s early commemoratives. On my seventh birthday dad told me that I could start my own collection and I was thinking about Lincoln cents but dad leaned me towards the Kennedy half dollars because they are easier for him to see (I don’t think the old man can even see the mint mark on a penny with out using a loupe).
I’ve been hooked on the half dollars ever since, once I completed the series, upgrades are far and few in-between so now I’m having fun with the variety side of the series. Errors are neat too!
In 1959 I read in "The Weekly Reader" at school that the Lincoln Memorial cents were being released. I hoarded every one I could find as something new. That Christmas my uncle gave me the 13th edition of the Red Book and the two Whitman Lincoln cent folders, and my hobby took off.
Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
It took a few years before I got my own Red Book (I "borrowed" my brother's for a while). I still have the very first one I bought myself --- a 1986 edition. Every year after that I would save up money, then give the cash to my Dad, and he would write a check to Virg Marshall III for the year's new Red Book. I can't remember how Mr. Marshall became my "go to" guy for Red Books. . . I must have seen his advertisement in Coin World or Numismatic News and ordered a book from him, and then it became an annual tradition.
This one might be a little extreme collecting but here it goes. My first encounter of collecting a coin and eating it up ( so to speak ) was when I was about 5 or 6. Just as a curious little boy is,I once took a nickle ( did not know what year the nickle was! ) and ,guess what? and put into my mouth and then,yes,you guessed it,swallowed it! Luckily my dad was around,he grabbed my ankles and shook,and yes the nickle came out . I remember to this day.The funny thing about it is my young daughter did the same thing.Then yep,I used the same method on my little girl as my father used on me. That's my first numismatic memory,if you can call it that?
"Jesus died for you and for me, Thank you,Jesus"!!!
--- If it should happen I die and leave this world and you want to remember me. Please only remember my opening Sig Line.
My earliest memory is my 1st when I was 8 years old! I traded a model car to my older brother for his whitman penny book about 1/3 full....Never looked back!
Comments
<< <i>I remember searching rolls of pennies in my parents' bedroom. I was probably 5 at the time. The most memorable part about it was that my new hobby very quickly forced me to stop sucking my thumb - something I had been unsuccessfully trying to do for quite some time, obviously - because it tasted really, really bad after handling thousands of pennies, even after washing my hands. In retrospect, choosing numismatics over my thumb has proved a good decision. >>
I couldda just about written this. I was about 5 when my parents started panicing that
I might still be sucking my thumb in school. Of course they didn't tell me this they just started
putting some really great tasing stuff on my thumb and told me to keep it out of my mouth.
This was just torture especially after I acquired a taste for the stuff. Eventually I just quit to
please them but I'd sure like to find some of that stuff.
...It tasted metallic. ...Like the flavor of victory.
I was an old hand at collecting by that time though. I was interested in coins from a very early
age but it never occured to me to collect them. I found it fascinating that people would pass
coins from hand to hand in exchange for goods and services. It was probably '57 that I started
my buffalo nickel collection since my older brother had first crack at the one cent coins. These
were free from our dad so I figured I got the better end of the deal even if it wasn't first choice.
My parents both had little collections of hand me down coins from their parents. My mom's were
her father's who obtained them abroad as a medic in WW I. My dad's were likely ones he had
found himself dating back to 1832 but I was never entirely clear on this.
Fulton, New York. I had a Knights of Columbus or similar
"Grand Cross"-type fraternal medal (with hanger and chain),
and I took it there to find out its value. The only dealer
who expressed any interest really eyeballed it, but
then he acted nonchalant. "Huh. Eh, it's interesting, I'll give
you five dollars for it --- I like oddball stuff." His
physical reaction (giving it the eagle eye) combined with
his almost forcedly casual reply made me suspicious, and
I declined his offer.
"Everything is on its way to somewhere. Everything." - George Malley, Phenomenon
http://www.american-legacy-coins.com
Decades later, I replaced them with some BU's I bought at a local auction.
I’ve been hooked on the half dollars ever since, once I completed the series, upgrades are far and few in-between so now I’m having fun with the variety side of the series. Errors are neat too!
my brother's for a while). I still have the very first one I bought
myself --- a 1986 edition. Every year after that I would
save up money, then give the cash to my Dad, and he
would write a check to Virg Marshall III for the year's
new Red Book. I can't remember how Mr. Marshall became
my "go to" guy for Red Books. . . I must have seen his
advertisement in Coin World or Numismatic News
and ordered a book from him, and then it became an
annual tradition.
"Jesus died for you and for me, Thank you,Jesus"!!!
--- If it should happen I die and leave this world and you want to remember me. Please only remember my opening Sig Line.Interesting thread.
Many memories.
The first was getting a Lincoln cent album, not Whitman, a brand X.
Then trying to fill it.
I opened a box of cents that my mother had and wondered what country that strange coin on top was from.
I still remember it, it was a 1909 Indian Head cent.
Pretty nice condition as I remember.
Then, the time I was given payment on my paper route on Long Island.
I couldn't figure out the strange coin.
It turned out to be a barber quarter.
Yup, back then you still got good stuff in change.
Like going to the bank and asking for silver dollars. 'How many ya want?'
BHNC #203