The coin that brought me back to the hobby.

BryceM

It's funny how little random events can have a big impact. I collected a few coins and mint products as a kid, but nothing serious. My dad had a few old mercury dimes and big Morgan dollars that he let me look at once in a while. I then got busy with school, life, a family and everything else. I started picking out a few state quarters with my kids and we dutifully pounded them into the cheap folder from Wally World.

For some reason that I'm still trying to understand, I ended up finishing 13 years of training after high school. Even that eventually came to an end and I found myself with a real job and enough time and income to pursue a couple of hobbies. Being slightly nervous about investing 100% of my assets in paper, I decided to pick up a little bullion. I got on eBay and started accumulating a bit of 90% pre-64 silver. At this point I had absolutely no intention of doing anything but holding a little silver.

I won a bid that the seller described as silver coins that his parents picked out of their New York laundromat over the years. If I remember correctly, it was four rolls of quarters. Like usual, the package contained a random assortment of 1940s, 50s, and 60s Washies. One roll also contained a half-dozen Barbers, a half-dozen SLQs, and this seated quarter. I can't explain why, but this coin spoke to me! I imagined it passing around in commerce during the Civil War and for decades to follow. Its final transaction must have happened in that laundromat years ago.

Well, the bug takes hold and within a few months I was putting together my first ugly set of Peace Dollars. A few minor mistakes and lots of reading later I discovered the world of certified coins and haven't looked back since. Interestingly, the seated series has never really grabbed my attention. I moved forward with a 20th century type set and then started expanding that into early Federal issues. The mid-to-late 1800s silver and early copper will be the last part of my type set to be completed.

I was looking through the box today and saw this coin again. Somewhere along the way it picked up a bit of a gouge over Liberty's head and in Quar. Dol. and I doubt it would grade today. Maybe someday I'll send it in with my "free" submissions for sentimental reasons.

Baley

great story and good coin; for the life of me, I don't understand why you'd want it in a "genuine" holder, though.

RYK

I agree with Baley on all accounts. There is something about Civil War era coinage that makes history buffs into coin collectors (or vice versa or something like that ).

lkeigwin

Bryce, it's great having you on the forum.

So what happened to dad's coins?

You should keep the quarter for sentimental reasons, raw. We all have coins like that. There is simply no good reason for keeping them, other than the memories. And after all, we're all nothing but memories, ultimately.
Lance.

BryceM

Lance, thanks. As for dad's coins, fortunately he still has them. This year we added grandma's small collection to his.

It's fun raw, but the way my collection is stored, I just don't ever look through the ones in flips. In all likelihood it will stay the way it is. Usually there are plenty of other coins to submit when the grading voucher shows up.

RYK

I had a similar seated quarter, the ubiquitous 1853 AR, from my father's boyhood collection.It became one of my favorites of my own boyhood collection. When I was getting back into coins 10 years ago or so, I had the coin slabbed. Soon thereafter, I cracked it out again, and it has been sitting in my Dansco 7070 album ever since.




(It's the fourth one from the left )

Meltdown

That's a good story. Welcome back to the hobby!

roob47

Great story , I have a half dime that has sentimental value to my wife and it also has some damage similar to yours. I sent it in anyway with one of my freebies it looks great in the genuine holder and I'm glad I did it. My wife was also very happy to see it in a holder.

lkeigwin

<< <i>Lance, thanks. As for dad's coins, fortunately he still has them. This year we added grandma's small collection to his.

It's fun raw, but the way my collection is stored, I just don't ever look through the ones in flips. In all likelihood it will stay the way it is. Usually there are plenty of other coins to submit when the grading voucher shows up. >>


Maybe change the storage? Spend more time with the flips?

RYK, that's a sweet set. I would have cracked it too. I love flipping through an album.
Lance.

nwcoast

Thanks for sharing this story.
It's always cool to learn a bit more about what makes a fellow collector tick and the journey that they travel.
Cool coin to pick up in a 'junk' silver auction too!

Unknown

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2ltdjorn

It's amazing what brings us back! Of all the things I have held in my possession, it is the time spent with the fiancé (wife now), roll searching state quarters, and watching my 16th month old son bounce a franklin 1/2 off the tile floor in the kitchen.... those are the memories that make us rich!