What is your coin collecting history?

deefree49

Since there has been some concern about a lack of activity here on the forum, I thought this might be a topic to at least get a discussion going.

As a new member, I realize this has probably been done before. Hopefully members won't mind repeating themselves and we can share some stories.



My story is pretty basic. When I was 9 in 1958, I began collecting. I would go to the banks at a nearby shopping center and with a $20 bill, get 40 rolls of pennies to go through. Soon I expanded all the way to half dollars but it became too expensive to save them! In those days, you could find a lot of goodies. I remember that the Mercury dimes in rolls were especially rich with tougher dates and early d and s issues. Unfortunately, I let another kid become a "partner" and his older brother raided the collection and spent everything, even the pennies. We had all but 7 of the Lincolns. It was very sad for me.



I was no longer active but always liked the hobby, though from a distance. About 20 years ago, I started again and put together a set of nice mint state Lincolns. From about 1928 they were all higher mint state and the earlier dates were mostly lower mint state coins but I was proud of them. Then I got depressed and sold the whole thing to a store near the Ohio Indiana border. I can't remember the store because the whole thing has probably been dropped from my brain because it was sad.



Just a few months ago I started again. Now what I have is very limited but every coin is valuable. I have all the Lincoln Matte proofs except for the big kahuna and a few very nice Indian Cent proofs. I LOVE coins but can only afford a modest collection.



Next person please!

BryceM

This could be a nice thread.



When I was very young my dad showed me some merc dimes and a few Morgans he had put away. When he was young he had a paper route in the Rocky Mountains and those things actually circulated quite a bit. He hated them because on collection day he'd have to pack 30 or 40 of them and a bunch of Walkers home. Seeing those aroused some curiosity in me. We had plenty of Ikes and Kennedy's in circulation in that area and I enjoyed finding and spending them. It was also about the time the Susie B. came out and I remember trying to find 1980 and 1981 Susies in change. Once I figured out that wasn't going to happen, I joined the mailing list at the mint and bought some uncirculated Susie sets to get the coins I was missing. Still have them. Ugly as sin, but they're still fun. I bought a single 1987 ASE proof and a couple of proof sets, and then found girls, college, lived in Europe a while, and basically forgot about coins.



While I was in Europe I met a guy who gave me some zinc wartime French Francs and a few silver BU franc and 1/2 franc pieces. I also carried an Ike around with me. Those French people couldn't believe how big American money was.



I got back to the states, finished college, got married, suffered through a decade of medical school and residency. Life eventually spit me back out on the other side and after a year or two I was actually making a few bucks. I bought some junk silver and a few Morgans and Peace dollars on eBay. I fell in love with the Peace dollar design and assembled a really horrible set of over-priced problem coins from dealers I won't even bother to mention. After I tried to sell a few I got wise to the whole thing, started reading, and eventually started collecting low-end slabbed dollars. I quickly discovered MS66 coins were lots prettier than MS63 coins and it sort of snowballed from there.



Now I'm in up to my eyeballs, spend way too much time looking at coin porn, read through a numismatic book every couple months, attend a couple major shows a year, and keep flirting with coin photography. This is currently hobby #1, but hobby #2 is a VERY close second, and takes over for a few months every year.

mirabela

Good idea.

I was eight years old when my dad inherited the remnant of my great-grandfather's once-great collection. The story goes that he had a safe full of various gold pieces in kraft envelopes, and he sold it all in the early 60's for around $50K. If that's true, it must really have been something. Anyway, what came to us was the safe and a cigar box with 90 or so Morgans and Peace dollars along with various WLH's and Franklins, and a few stray Barber halves and IHC's. And his old Whitman blue book.

So, I started reading ... got sort of halfway serious as a kid, as my father, who had a little more dough to spare, was doing the same. We put together a raw accumulation of stuff, not all of it worthwhile, but when I got interested again after the dust of college, profession, marriage, homeownership, and kids had settled enough for me to sort out what my adult interests might actually turn out to be, there was enough there to form the backbone of what eventually grew into a decent type collection. I've been through a few rounds of pruning and tuning since then, but eight or ten of those pieces my dad and I bought together are still among the proud essential pieces of that set.

Lately the project is in slow motion as I expand beyond the 'basic'/beginner gold types, but that's OK. I bought a nice coin last month, and aside from stuff to resell that's likely to be the only one this year. My kids have collecting projects of their own, and I try to keep learning. Numismatics fills a hole for us in the coldest part of the year, when we can't spend as much time as we otherwise would hiking, fishing, etc.

OldIndianNutKase

We started in 1958. I actually started a few years earlier, but I remember 1958 as the time that I was given my first proof set. I spent hours upon hours screening coins from my father's business looking for Lincoln cents. I did find most of them except for the 09VDB, the 14D,the 22 no D, and the 31S. My father passed in 1958 and I inherited his IHC collection, which included the 08S and the 09S ( in VF-XF) which he had collected out of circulation many years before.

Today, I collect IHC proofs, MPL proofs and Peace Dollars. And some high quality type coins. I have over 80% of the IHC proofs in fairly high grade. Only about 10 coins to go....at least I no longer to have to look at a list. But in a way I do this for my father and will dedicate this set to him.

TopographicOceans

I started with a blue Whitman Lincoln cent album and searched pocket to put in my album. I had to start buying coins to get the early dates at the local B&M coin shop in town.

When I did upgrades, I learned about the buy/sell spread, but also about the grade spread; when I bought a XF cent, it became a VF cent when I sold it back to the dealer I bought it from.

I got Jefferson, Roosevelt and Washington Whitman albums, but never filled. I started buying coins via mail order. I remember one dealer was South Park coins out of Texas where I joined their monthly mail order program.

I always wanted a $2.50 gold Indian coin, but it was way beyond my budget.

I left coins for decades while living a life. Around 1999 I was looking for an 8mm projector to look at old home movies. I found one on this new place called eBay.

Looking around, I saw they had coins for sale as well, so I bought some.
One of the early coins I bought was a PCGS MS64 $2.50 gold coin since I could afford one by then.

When the PCGS Registry started, I built and 8 piece gold set and since there were only a handful of sets back then, I had a top 5 set. I remember LordM was saying here that he was going to the same set in 63 so I told him I would wait to enter mine so he could get a pedigree. But he changed his mind

I did a top set of Modern Gold & Silver Commemorative proofs and got a bunch of "Excellence in Set Building" pieces of paper from PCGS since I had then #1 sets - only because I had one PR70DCAM.

I lost interest in the Registry quickly and had about $15k in the modern set, so I sold it and started working on a type set. That was almost 14 years ago and I guess I'm still working on it.

coinnut

My parents gave me my first blue Whitman folder for Lincoln pennies about 1957 when I was 7. I had no money of my own to go to the bank for penny rolls but there was a nice old man that ran the corner store that must have taken a liking to me because he saved every Indian Head penny that came into the store and gave them to me when ever I came in. Yes, you could find Indian head cents in change in those days.

Except for some periods of inactivity I've been hooked on coin collecting ever since. Most seriously since 1999 after a layoff of 18 years!

BillJones

I started as a collector on Christmas Day, 1959, when my uncle gave me the 13th edition of The Red Book and the two Whitman Lincoln cent albums. I spent a lot of Christmas week searching though pocket change and any other source of old coins that I could find.

My mother's cleaning lady had a number of old coins in her family hoard. The first coins I ever bought from more than face value came from her. They were an 1838 half dime and an 1846 large cent. I still have them. The cleaning lady's "holy grail" were three gold dollars that were in her family. I eventually was able to buy one of them, an 1854 Type II Gold dollar. It graded Fine to VF but had a weak date.

Her best piece was an 1853-C gold dollar. I still remember looking it when I was in the 5th grade. I saw the "C" on the reverse and looked up what it was in The Red Book. She won't sell that one because a man in town had offered her $50 for it at some point. That number might sound very low, but back then the prices in the Red Book were $40 in Fine and $100 in Uncirculated. In those days $50 was more than a week's wages for many people.

Over time I gravitated toward Indian Cents and gold. My first trip to a professional coin dealer was when my parents took me to the Gimbels Department Store coin counter in New York Cent. It was really something to see so many "rare coins" in one place, and all of them were for sale! My big purchases were a 1908-S Indian Cent in VG to Fine and an 1875 Twenty Cent Piece in Fine. Both coins were properly graded by today's standards.

I got my grandmother interested in coins. She had a big hoard of coins in her safe at home although she was more of an accumulator than a collector. She started going though rolls of cents and found a few good dates, like a 1931-S in AU.

I finished the eight piece gold type set and then added the two gold dollars I needed before I finished high school. The coins in the eight piece type set were nice coins, even by today's standards. Back then common date gold was not a hot item, and the coins in higher grade were actually pretty cheap. It didn't take too much ($2 to $5) to upgrade them. For few dollars more you could jump from MS-60 to 62, by today's standards, to MS-64 to 65. A couple of coins in my current finished type set are the same pieces I collected back then, and one of them is in an MS-65 holder. I paid less than $50 for it. The Three Dollar Gold Piece was always the coin I could never afford. Finishing the 12 piece gold type set had to wait until I was in college.

My interest in coins never flagged although I did stop collecting when I left my job to go back to graduate school. My career was going nowhere at the place I was, and an MBA was all the rage. I didn't have any money for coins during those lean times.

unclebob

My first coins were the 1995 DDO. I ignored the advice of the local coin dealer who tried to sell me Morgan. He said wait, but I subsequently found them thru a Coin World Advert. They tanked... sold them a few months ago at a loss of 90% ($800)

Started again circa 2007 and the GFD blew me out of coins and a lot of things. Modest in financial terms, but lot of common dreck I took a bath with...

I had a few big enough scores to ease the pain.

Just started again in October with an entirely different mindset.

The hard lessons learned from 1995 and 2007 have proved invaluable.

To borrow a poker term, I no longer feel like the fish at the table.

I am mostly a VAM hunter these days, but have a circulated IHC album I revisit from time to time.

zas107

I don't remember how old I was when I became particularly interested in coins. I think it was 7 or 8. My father was a coin collector, which helped. He used to have a desk (credenza?) that the top rolled open and shut, and in one of the drawers there were 2 Columbia exposition half dollars. I would stare and stare at them. I got a redbook and I was hooked. My father started taking me to coin shows, and we focused on coinage from 1793. Ended up with more than a handful of 1793 liberty caps. Lost interest in my teen years but picked it back up in my early 20's and ultimately turned it into a career.

TwoSides2aCoin

I was too young and too wild to stay put. If I told my life story you guys would say "Write a book".

NewEnglandRarities

This is a great topic!

I guess I have a bit of a unique start to my collecting/dealing days. I was made a member of the Civil War Token Society at the age of 3 months old by my father. I started with an interest in Civil War Tokens when I was 7-8, but then moved on to colonial coinage when my father changed his collecting interests.

I would get a nice NJ for each semester I made it on the honor role at school, so I worked pretty hard to get a few nice pieces. Around the age of 14 I started really becoming interested in NJ coppers, so with some help from my father (money!) I started collecting NJs by die variety. About this time I also was interested in all areas of colonial coinage and set up as a dealer at my first show (an EAC Convention) at age 14 as well.

It was when I was in college that I really decided that being around coins full time was what I really wanted to do, and I started working my way slowly, with the help of some great dealers, into becoming a full-time colonial coin dealer.

Since then, I have been very lucky, handling some fantastic coins, meeting a ton of great people along the way as well as branching out into other wonderful areas of numismatics including Exonumia, foreign coinage and maps and documents. I wouldn't change my decision for anything the world!

ricko

My coin collection history is almost the story of my life... since I started at eight years

old... and have maintained it at various levels of activity through five different countries and ten

states....not to mention a few marriages and children.... Oh the stories they could tell ( the coins that is ) Cheers, RickO

OnWithTheHunt

Born in 1952. Not sure whether I started in 1959 or 60, but I do remember my uncle, who was not a collector, telling my dad, also not a collector, that coins might be a hobby that interested me. A few days later dad came home with a couple of Whitman cent albums and 10 rolls of pennies. I collected strictly from circulation, and every week, my dad or mom would bring home $5 worth of pennies from the grocery store. Never found anything particularly valuable, but I did fill all of the holes in Vol. 2 and most of Vol 1. Eventually started collecting Buffalos and Mercury dimes, which were still pretty common, as well as any other "old" coins I found. Condition was never a big priority, just filling the holes in the blue books. Then came 1965, and older coins began disappearing from circulation. Started high school the next year, and the coins were put away, although I would still save anything older that popped up.
Fast forward to early 1990s, when my wife and I were frequenting antique stores and flea markets to furnish our house. I noticed that several dealers also sold coins, so now, with a bit of disposable income, I dug my old collection out of my folks' attic and started collecting again. Initially, I bought really low grade, cheap stuff to match what I already had and complete some sets I'd started as a kid. That got boring fast, so I took a good inventory of my collection and decided to specialize in Buffalo nickels. Two decades later, I'm still at it, and the centerpiece of my collection is a 70-piece buffalo set, including the so-called monster varieties. Everything except the 18/7-D and 1916/16 are XF-BU. I also have numerous Buffalo variety subsets, including doubled dies, RPMs, 2 feathers, No Fs, 3-1/2 leggers, etc., a few of which would be tied for top pops, and some nice Buffalo errors..
Although I continue to upgrade my Buffalos, I've put together sets of proof silver Washies 1936-64, and silver proof Roosies, and I'm working on a circulated 7070 album.
Joined my local coin club about 14 years ago and the forum 9 years ago. Although I'm only an occasional poster, I've found its a great source of information with lots of people who are willing to share their knowledge about the hobby and particularly coin photography.
Retired as a newspaper reporter in June 2014, still have my health and eyesight and plan on enjoying this hobby as long as I can.

Rollerman

This is part of a reply I made to the "Oldest Coin" topic, but I will flesh it out a bit.
Among several coins in a leather pouch my Dad gave me in 1958, was an 1837 "Fine" Large cent which spawned my collecting. I just collected out of pocket change through the 60's and horded silver as you might imagine. Got married and collecting was on the back burner until the Bi-Centenial year of 1976. I stayed pretty active, though low budget raising two boys etc. My new oldest coin was was a F-VF 1799 Silver dollar that completed my Whitman type set in 1981. I was more or less dormant from 1986 until I retired in 2001 and have been at it pretty heavy since then.
While basically a type collector, I've put together several sets and I'm always on the lookout for nice pieces of just about any denomination. As far as my oldest coins goes, I purchased a VF30 1795 Large cent, I picked up an XF 1869 Pillar dollar. The Pillar Dollar was part of the collection that belonged to a deceased older member of the coin club who I always liked and respected. I wanted something of his in my collection. I have a couple seated halves and a couple of Capped Bust Halves from his collection for the same reason.
Best wishes,
Pete

USMarine6

Eight years ago my Grandmother passed away. She lived in CA. and the rest of her family lives here in NH. We all decided that we would all make the trip out to settle her estate and take care of everything out there just because there was so much to do with her house and belongings. While cleaning out one of her closets I found a box containing 50 or so coins. Not knowing anything about them I asked around if anybody wanted them. No one did so I pawed through them and decided I would keep them. The services and legal stuff was all taken care of and the family returned home after 10 days or so. I put the box of coins in my closet.
Fast forward a few years and while doing some house cleaning I came a cross this box of coins. I took a break and decided to see what they were all about. There was 10 silver generic rounds, dozen buffalo nickels, some shield and liberty heads but the one coin that stood out was a seated dime. (forget the date) So I did some research and come to find out it was worth 20 bucks!! I thought wow a dime can be worth $20. I was hooked at that very moment.
Now I have what's called an addictive personality. So when I get involved with something I go all out. So for the two years following I was buying up anything I could. Mostly Morgans and low grade kind of stuff. I felt at the time the more I had the better of a collector I was. Then I came across this place called Collectors Universe! If you don't know it you can find on this thing called the World Wide Web. I started reading and was in absolute amazement at the coins that were posted.
I now only have 8 coins in my collection but I have just as many numismatic books as I do coins. It may not seem like a lot but IMO they are quality pieces for my budget. My style and tastes to numismatics are constantly changing and it all started with a box of coins in the back of a closet.

cladking

I started in 1957 when my dad offerred to let we boys go through his poocket change to start coin collections. I probably would have taken cents but my older brothers wouldn't have left much so I took buffalo nickels. I liked the design and figured five cents for free was better than one cent for free. I was soon sending away for AG and G key dates and didn't know mostly what I was getting were Fr and AG. The collection was actually sold at a slight profit in 1968 for "dating" money. I didn't collect much until 1972 when I saw an article in the Chicago Tribune that said the mint and FED were going to start rotating their coinage stocks. I figured all the coins in circulation would start wearing evenly and by 1980 there'd be a mad rush to get pristine examples of the clads and they'd allbe scarce. ...Go figure. I didn't discover mint sets until '73 and found the best examples in them. By the mid-'70's I was done with college and working so I was collecting lots of coins. I dabbled in most 19th and 20th century series but needed to branch out more so by '80 I was collecting world coins which still was too restrictive so got into 20th century US tokens and medals.



Now I specialize in a few dozen different areas.



I have safety deposit boxes full Gems and some scarce tokens and medals.



It's always been a great hobby and always feels like "home" for me. In some ways all my knowledge and life seem to be centered around coins and always has been.

hchcoin

I started collecting in the mid 1970's. I had a neighbor down the street who was a year older who collected everything. We collected and traded baseball/football/hockey cards, stamps, and coins. My uncle also collected coins and he was the first one to get me mint and proof sets and he also signed me up for Numismatic News. I used to love reading the articles but really liked all the ads in the paper. My grandmother was also a great influence. She had collected from circulation her whole life and she gave me lots of Whitman folders and other coins. The best coins she ever gave me was a jar of wheat cents that yielded a 1922 plain wheat cent and also a 1786 New Jersey copper that has a rarity rating of R5+. Although my father did not collect, he was the one who drove me around to various coin shops and shows until I got my license.

I slowed down as I got older and actually sold a large percentage of my collection when I was in college. I packed the rest away only to return after getting married and having kids. I have tried to get my kids hooked on the hobby and I think all 3 have potential. We will see if they come back to it after they get a little older and more settled.

Great idea for a thread. I have enjoyed reading others experiences. Keep them coming.

DollarAfterDollar

My history is not as well based as most since as a kid we lived on "the poor side of town" so to speak. I do remember as a kid going to my grandmothers house and was always excited to see her jar full of Mercury Dimes. I was cognizant of dates but not mint marks. My biggest hope then was that she'd give each of us kids one.

Anyway, as a young adult I worked with a fellow who was quite serious about his coins. At break he'd show a recent purchase and explain details and history. We came from the same neighborhood so I was impressed that he had the means to pursue this hobby at a serious (mid type) level, even with that economic handicap. This was in the early 1980's where shows were the best way to add material. We attended a few together and he taught me a great deal. I concentrated on cameo proof coins of the 1950's and 60's. They were hard as hell to find then. When they were available, they were cheap enough, so I wasn't really taking anything away from my family responsibilities.

I gathered 30 or 40 nicer singles and a dozen sets with cameo coins included. I also bought up some high grade Mercury Dimes, Franklin's and a few Washington quarters to round out my (not so massive) holdings. I eventually decided I wanted to gamble my disposable income away so between sports betting and family obligations I gave coins a rest. For about 25 years.

In 2008 I, like millions of others found myself without a job. Since I couldn't afford to go to China to get one, I sat at home. Eventually I dusted off my coin folders to see what I'd assembled. I remembered these old friends and realized I had a pretty good eye. I wondered if I could ever do this again given my financial situation. It was about this time I discovered E-Bay and saw they sold coins there. This was damn cool. I knew then I wanted back in.

Eventually I got a job but by that time I'd bought and sold a few things on E-Bay. Now I had the interest, the means and the desire to pursue this more seriously. I took my good eye and got to work. I now have a 100% positive E-Bay score as a seller with over 750 transactions in the past 6 years or so.

My good friend died in 1997 (cancer) so my rekindled interest was never something we could share. I have a few coins in flips with his handwriting on them that I'll keep forever. The lessons he taught me still provide the foundation for what I know. My mentor will forever be part of my collecting experience.

renman95

The student with the most gold stars at the end of the week could pick one item from a bin of toys. One week I was that lucky student. I picked a small paperback book on US coins and values. I was in the 4th Grade, 1968.

Baley

I was 9 the Bicentennial year, so those coins in my change sparked an interest in "different" coins that was fueled by a coffee cup of junk silver my great-grandmother gave me around that time. The average circulated 1921 Morgan, 1922, 23, and 25 peace dollars, 1951S Franklin, 33 Roosevelt dimes, as well as the slick no-date SLQ and WLH, and a few other misc. foreign and curiosities, and my folks telling me they were worth more than face value, sent me to the newsstand where I found CoinAge magazine, and then the library, where I started to learn about the history of numismatics and the values of the various coins.



I ordered a few things through the mail, then found the local coin shop, where I could buy my first buffalo and liberty nickels, indian cent, barber dime, and later the rest of the 20th century type set, funded by lawnmowing money and the gift of some more rolls of junk silver my grandparents had put away in the mid 60's, it was really fun to sell those ordinary common coins and then get my first circulated seated and bust coins and uncirculated Morgan and Peace dollars, and I think they were happy to have someone to give them to who took an interest.



I collected a near complete set of Jeffersons by searching change and rolls, searched a bag of pennies, and searched half dollar rolls, probably accumulating a roll of 90% and another couple rolls of 40% halves. My dad would take me to the local coin shops on Saturdays and I'd look and look at all the coins, before making my selections, I'm grateful they were really patient and let me look through their trays of classics and BU 90% rolls to pick out the coins I liked.



By the early 80's I was in high school, finishing college in 1990, most of that time the collection was just put away at my parents house, but once I started working and having some cash flow, I picked collecting it up again and from 1995 to 2003 bought a lot of coins on ebay to advance the the US type set. the internet helped tremendously, never would have had the time or patience to find these coins in person, and finding this particular forum really made collecting a lot more interesting.



I finished a a high grade 7070 album and acquired types I could only dream of as a kid like the flowing hair and draped bust coins, and the gold coins. Also put together a few sets (BU Peace dollars, Franklins, and Washingtons, picked up a survey of ancients, colonials, exumonia, bullion, as well as a bunch of duplicates along the way. I was a fairly active seller on ebay for a few years, until I got married, got a new job, bought a house, we had kids, etc.



Developed an interest early die varieties, still working on those in early quarters and, rarely, making a type set purchase or upgrade, all that's left in terms of spaces are the really hard types like chain and wreath cent, small eagle silver and gold, fat head gold, Gobrecht dollar, high relief saint, etc so it's now a year two between purchases, but there are a few weak links among other types that I always have an eye out for an upgrade, in case "the right coin" comes my way..

dpoole

My grandmother gave me a 1954 proof set for Christmas that year. My step-grandfather drove a D.C. Transit bus, and I started pawing through his change after Sunday dinners from his change bag, filling up some Whitmans I got (I'm confident my grandparents made up what I'd confiscated). My dad ordered proof and mint sets for me thereafter until I was earning enough to get them myself, and I'd go down to the local Woodward and Lothrup coin department to buy MS Lincolns when I was rich enough, filling up a Whitman from 1940 through 1958 with shiny Lincolns (they turned out to be MS63-64 years later when I considered them for grading).



All through the teen years and early adulthood, I kept up with the mint sets and proof sets (finally sold them all this year to Mitch), and occasionally picked up the new commems as they came out (I still have them), when they started up again with the George Washington. I picked up a few GSA Morgans in purchases and bids (they had you bid for the better ones) as I could afford in 1972 (with indifferent success), and I got my first AU 1909-S VDB from a local coin shop in the early 90s. WOO-HOO. Started in again big time in 1999, "after the old dog died and the last kid moved out."

deefree49

Wow! I'm so glad this thread actually has caught on. Thanks to everyone who has shared so far. Very interesting reading these personal stories. What really surprised me is how many folks are similar in age and began in very similar circumstances. Of course not everyone is from the same era but those first few responses were so much like mine that I was rendered somewhat gape mouthed!



Anyway, reading these made me realize I left out some details. These include Whitman folders in the beginning (of course!) and older collectors that helped me along the way. Our next door neighbor was an elderly man and he had some very valuable Lincolns that really inspired me. I remember being surprised that someone "grown" could also love collecting pennies the same as I did.



One time very soon after I started collecting, there were some rolls from the bank I was going through. 3 of them were completely filled with old and rare dates. Somebody either raided a collection and took the pennies to the bank or someone decided to quit collecting. There was everything you could want as a young kid collector. Early mint mark Lincolns like 1910-S, 1911-D, 1912-D and 1912-S and so on. I didn't know what to do and actually felt guilty but my mom told me there was no way to "return" the coins and no one to return them to. So I kept them and it was like winning the lottery.



I remember finding an IHC in circulation and actually falling down on the floor in a mock faint. That doesn't happen anymore but in 1958, it still did.



One thing I'm going to share that is a little different; I have this recurring dream where I find all these old rare coins. At some point in the dream I realize that it is just a dream. I try to think of how I can wake up and somehow keep these rare coins I've found and am "holding" in my hands. No matter how hard I try, there are always gone when I wake up.

SmEagle1795

I had a lengthy post written but the forum is still destroying messages for me by inserting unnecessary formatting throughout it. Oh well.

SDSportsFan

My dad collected coins when he was younger. He kept them in an old, large metal ammunition box that he kept hidden in the closet; and I was prohibited from getting anywhere near them. I began gaining an interest in collecting stamps and baseball cards in the early 1970s. I never really liked coins; I thought they were boring, in that except for the date, they all looked the same. So, since my dad was an active stamp collector, I took to them (as well as baseball cards). My interest in stamp collecting didn't survive into the 1980s, but my interest in baseball cards is still going strong.



After my dad died in 2001, and I was finally able to see his long-dormant coin collection, it struck a nerve with me, and I began collecting Morgan dollars. It's funny though, my dad's collection wasn't much to sneeze at; it consisted of mostly fair/good, with maybe an occasional vg common-date Buffalo Nickels, Mercury Dimes, Standing Liberty Quarters and Walking Liberty Halves. Then about 4 years ago, I became interested in my family's ancestry, and discovered that we are descended from English/Scottish Royalty; causing me to gain an interest in British coinage.



Now, I mostly collect 19th century US coins, as well as ancient Greek and Roman coins. I'm also building a set of English/Scottish monarchs. Lately, my interest in baseball cards has waned a bit, but my interest in coins (particularly the ancients and British) has grown.





Steve

bamorgan

As a young child I collected any coin with a history. I guess I inherited the bug from my Dad-watching him go through his pocket change to save the silver coins.

In high school my collecting became more focused and I concentrated on collecting Peace Dollars. While I continued on my path, a coin dealer suggested I collect Morgan Dollars, but I loved the look of the Peace Dollar and I had no intention of changing.

While in college I was introduced to a coin dealer who always had nice Morgan's for sale. Black and white Morgan's. Difficult to find in the Peace Dollar series. You see where this is going. This coin dealer taught me how to grade, he also tried to convince me I would be much happier collecting Morgan's. And as it turns out, both coin dealers were right.

Thirty plus years working on a Morgan Dollar set and loving every minute of it!

BAmorgan

Swampboy

"What is your coin collecting history?"



Back when I was a Newsday delivery boy I’d ride my bike into town on Saturday A.M. to pay for my papers. A good friend from school and scouts started looking through my change before I squared up for my route and he got me hooked on plugging Whitmans. That’s the year I got a Redbook and Blue book for Christmas.

I never did lose my love of coins but my enthusiasm (and means) for collecting waned through the years.

Anyway, got the kids raised and out of the house and got back into coins in much the same way TopographicOceans did when I got active on ebay with my license plate collecting and then wandered into the world of coins. Like TO I never lost my lust for a $2.50 Indian like the one I’d drool over in an old bookstore/coin and stamp shop in town. I picked up a raw from HJB when I joined the forums and sent it in with an early submission. I love it.

When I do sell my AU gold Registry Set it'll be the last to leave the nest. To this day it puts me in mind of taking short cuts through the swamps on Saturday mornings and just having fun with coins.

Mission16

Started when I was maybe 5. Dad would get bags of cents from the credit union and local bank. He'd park 3or 4 of us kids around the kitchen table on a cold winter night and we'd sort out wheaties by date and mint. Once in a great while he'd get a bag of silver dollars!! But $1000 was an astronomical amount to tie up.
I had completed my Lincoln set by the time I was 12 and finished the Indians by 17.
Once they were done, I was kinda bored with them so they were sold to buy a car.
Several years ago I bought a 7070 album and have been putting together an conversation piece to show interested parties.
And I collect the1 oz proof PAE's

Tyrock

I started collecting in 1978. My mother had a friend whose husband was a coin dealer. I went to his shop one day and he did a favor for me. In return I purchased a common date BU Morgan dollar for $10.00. That started things. And my mother's husband was a retired Navy Chief who took up coin collecting while in the service. So I had him as a mentor.

nwcoast

In the early 1960's, as a kid of 7 or 8, I would collect from change and was working on Whitman albums of low denomination material. I couldn't afford to save anything above the dimes as I preferred to spend those higher denominations on Matchbox cars.

I had a fascination with old and foreign coins though and put together a hodgepodge collection of world coins that traveling relatives were kind enough to share. My grandpa had a modest assortment of old US circulated pieces which he offered from time to time as well. Up at the local shopping center, was a little coin shop, and I used to drop in there on occasion to look at their goodies. The owner was always nice even though I very seldom was in a position to buy anything. I did purchase a Unc 1909 VDB which I still have. I must have sneezed on it as it's covered in spots at this point making for a pretty sorry reminder of my early collecting days. I still have my grandfathers pieces and my blue albums as well.

I lost interest in coins for several years as other interests caught my attention.

About ten years ago, a close friend of the family passed away and left my elderly father the bulk of his personal possessions and the task of sorting out his estate as he had no surviving relatives. Among his possessions were coins that had been buried underground for several years. My father, needing help with this, asked for my assistance and before long, I was doing research on coin conservation and attempting to determine the value of the collection. My research on cleaning coins is what led me to this coin forum and all the helpful threads on the topics. The information I discovered here was very helpful as many of these coins that had been buried underground for over fifty years and had accumulations of visible dirt and encrustations. The inheritance of this collection, and the circulated material from my grandfather did much to rekindle the interest in coins that I had enjoyed as a child.

mannie gray

The odd thing about me (well, one odd thing anyway) is that I dearly love coins, the feel of them, the look of them, the history behind them, but I have no idea how or when I became interested in them. No one in my family knew anything or was interested in them other than accumulating and spending them.

I can recall that I was very excited toward the end of 1969 when I realized that the new coins coming out would be 1970 and how cool that was going to look.

So it had to begin with me in 1969 (when I was 7) or earlier.

I also remember walking to school one morning and finding that one of the two "pennies" my mother had given me for milk money (yeah, milk was 2c) was a 1939-S, so, quite naturally, I ate my lunch and washed it down with water from the fountain.

My first coin purchase I can remember quite vividly. There was an ad in the back of "Boy's Life" for a Barber Dime, Qtr. and Half, "Average circulated", for $2.75.

I saved up my paper route money and like a stupid kid, sent the outfit cash in the mail.

I couldn't wait to get home from school to check the mailbox.

When they came, I was so excited to be the proud owner of these old coins that I took them to school to show my friends.

Lo and behold, several of the kids were interested in them as well, and by the end of the week I had sold them all for a nice profit. I had no idea what I was doing but I was hooked immediately.....wow, they're cool, I like them, AND I can make money at it...what a gig!



My great uncle was a great big loveable bear of a man with a booming voice and arms like Popeye happened to be a junk collector. He was a really kind man but his voice was so deep and vibrato that he used to scare the hell out of people unintentionally. He was a WWII paratrooper and he NEVER talked about what he did during the war, but I remember thinking as a kid that with those arms and that voice, the Germans that didn't run from the voice he could have crushed in his arms one at a time like a python......oh yeah, back to coins.

This wonderful man who I deeply admired took me to a flea market in 1973. He was looking for cast iron muffin pans, and I had never seen so many old coins in my life. Wow, I never knew they all existed...I would need books, lots of books to learn about all this great crazy world that was waiting for me.

Some ancient junk guy had a coffee can full of "V" nickels, and they were AG/G common stuff, and he said I could have as many as I wanted at 15c each.

I dug for my paper route money and bought the better condition ones (a born cherrypicker). I couldn't believe that so many old coins could be in one place.

Later my uncle came back and handed me an envelope. He had bought me a 1962 (my birth year) proof set.

I was so happy that I think I almost cried with joy. He was such a hero to me.

After I had read a lot about coins, I decided I wanted to buy a really nice one. I saved up my lawn/paper money and in 1975 bought a very nice "BU" 1909-D $5 Indian. Cost me $135. Was I ever proud of myself. (NGC graded it MS63 in the early 90s). More gold coins followed, and soon I had a decent inventory.

In 1977 I set up at my first show. Loved it. Scorned by the old curmedgeons, ("Who is that punk that needs a haircut?") I learned the hard way that this isn't an easy business to break into. But I went in anyway.

Been doing it ever since, full-time for a while, part-time now, loving it even when it's not great, because there is always so much more to learn and so many great people to meet. I never tire of going to shows. I appreciate the access and great information that the internet provides, but nothing can beat a good show.

Wow. End of story. This is the condensed version.

More installments to follow.

(Just joking)

WaterSport

I got started collecting when I was about 14 back in 1967. I was with a group of friends walking back from our local shopping plaza in Arlington, Virginia now called the Ballston Commons. We saw a “coin shop/antique shop ” had opened up and walked inside and met the proprietor named Zita Lindsey.

She got us all collecting Lincoln and Indian head cents very quickly but I cannot remember how. Later I was able to work for her cleaning brass lamps and moving furniture as part of her antique side of business. She offered to either pay me in cash with an hourly wage or earn the equivalent value in a coin. Being a stupid kid I could not comprehend the number of hours it would take before I would own a 1909 S VDB, which I remember at that time, would have cost me $100. I mean I needed cash to go to the movies and buy other useless long forgotten junk.

But once we were hooked we had plenty of rolls to search and at that time, we occasionally would pull an Indian Head cent. Even the local deli owner would hold his silver coins and whoever came in the store that day was able to buy them from him at face value.

Once I got older, college, married, etc, etc., I would find myself bored one day and pull out the blue Whitman folders still missing ALL the key dates. I would go get some rolls to search. Eventually I was employed and had a coin shop in front of my bus stop in downtown, DC. The owner would allow coins to be set-aside on layaway. So I was able to pick up the 1909 S, 1931 S, etc. But still could not afford the biggies.

So one day a colleague who knew I was a collector informs me his soon to be bride told him to sell off his collection as she wanted to live in a house and not some small apartment. He had no car so I drove him to the 5-6 coin dealers in the Northern Virginia area. I had no idea nor had I seen such coins as he owned. He was a type collector and flew all over the country to shows to make his purchases. His previous wife had died and collecting was a way to keep him occupied. He had all the good stuff and the dealers he visited wrote out large checks for the coins he had. When he was done selling he gave me a box of collecting supplies he had left over including Capitol Plastic boards. So I moved my cents to the Capitol Plastic boards which made them look better even if they were circulated examples.

About 1999 my father-in-law informed me he had inherited some coins and since he was a stamp collector, I could have first crack at what I wanted. My son who was about 7 was impressed with all these coins and he got the bug and I was re-bitten now that I had some disposal income and a thing called the Internet and Ebay.

I was blown away with Ebay and that many coins I could only dream about were available for auction. The first coin I bought was an uncirculated 1922 D cent. Now I wanted to upgrade those Capitol Plastic boards and fill the missing holes. My 1914 D came from my sister who lived in Kansas. She had a penny jar that I found the coin in. After her husband died she asked if I wanted to buy it, which I did for $80. The last 2 coins, the 1909 S VDB and the 1922 Plain I bought from Cybercoins. Eventually all the coins were upgraded to uncirculated specimens but then I learned the hard way about cleaned coins. About 2001 I learned about the PCGS registry and slabbed coins. Eventually I was buying slabbed coins to avoid junk and soon got in the registry. As they say, the rest is history.

WS

Shamika

Such a great thread.

I really have nothing unique to add. Started collecting when I was 7 (this was 1973) after my maternal grandparents gave me a jar full of "Wheaties" with a few other oddball coins included. They also gave me a set of blue Whitman folders for Lincoln Cents. Filling those holes became an obsession for me as I went through everyone's loose change trying to find dates/mm to add. Over the years my father would occasionally bring home a few rolls of pennies and nickels from the bank for me to search (I was filling a Jefferson folder by this time) and I would occasionally locate an new date or upgrade an existing date. By the time I was 11 one of my best friends and I were allowed to go through the nickels that the school cafeteria had collected for milk (5 cents per carton) after lunch. I remember finding a number of pre-WW2 nickels but never a Buffalo nickel. By this time I owned a Red Book and loved to imagine owning an S-VDB someday.

By the time I started college my interest in coins were shelved as often happens. But in 1998 I got a new copy of the Red Book, discovered eBay, and was off and running again.

topstuf

Grammaw gave me and my cousin 3 Indian Head cents each.



A Readers Digest article was about coins to look for (1949) and ONE of mine was a 1908-S.

Which, as the article instructed, I faithfully cleaned probably every month of so with baking soda. Yep, that's what the article said to use.



Then grampaw died and left 600+ silver dollars ...BUT...they were all wrapped in 25's and the bank refused em til they were in 20 rolls.



So..... again....cousin and I went through em and took out 5 each of the EARLIEST dates.

I often wonder what we missed in the 90's there.



But... then I started an IHC "board"

Then a Lincoln board



and took about a 10 year break.



Then met husband of a wife's friend who collected TYPE!

in 1971



And....HALLELUJAH!

INTERESTING stuff. Not all the same stuff in holes.



And the rest is history.



From some finest knowns to present ..mix... of type, early gold, commems, and ...some... foreign.



Oh....the 1908-S. What happened to it?

Still got it. ANACS 53

Wonder what it would have graded had I not DRY baking soda'ed it numerous times!