Grandma's coins?!

Nap

When non-collecting people think of coin collectors, they think of older men. Grandpa's if you will. It's not a totally erroneous depiction- most collectors are indeed male and many serious ones are older guys.

And if you think about how one might get started in coins, the scene of Grandpa with his rare coins showing some to little you is one that is likely familiar to a great many of us.

Not too many of us talk about Mom and her coin collection or Grandma. But speaking with other collectors, you hear a lot of anecdotal stories about female mentors in coin collection. Typically grandmothers.

I developed an interest in coin collecting from my grandmother. She saved up old coins, especially silver dollars, that passed through circulation and at the bank teller job she had. She was no serious collector, but she knew about mint marks and different designs. She never went to a coin show. She scoffed when I told her about spending a lot on old rare coins. But she always asked me about my collection when I started to build it, and was interested in what I had. More so than pretty much anyone else in my family. She encouraged my mom and her sister to collect, and my mom eventually passed her collection to me.

My grandmother has been gone for some time, and there are many bigger things I remember fondly about her aside from my interest in coins, but I do need to give her credit for sparking the interest.

Who else has their collecting interest kindled by grandma, or mom, or auntie, or some other important female mentor? It's a topic worth considering in light of how coin collecting is now considered such a male dominated field.