2 Contest WINNERS have been picked.....for their 1st gold coin each...... CONGRATULATION!!!!!!
Paradisefound
Posts: 8,588 ✭✭✭✭✭
Tell me what inspired you to begin collecting and what have you done to better understand the aspects of collecting.
Share with us what you've acquired so far and if any....your long term plan.
I will reveal that gold coin as a token for A lucky winner.......my gift to enhance your passion on this wonderful hobby.
13
Comments
That blows.
Hoard the keys.
Shouldn't @Type2 get some kinda prize?
edit to say For the ORIGINAL pic he posted
"Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working" Pablo Picasso
She takes care of me, I Don't need much more.
Hoard the keys.
What the heck is that anyway? A whale blow hole?
Here is my blow
@Type2
@GRANDAM
Ha Ha Yes a whale blowing a donut ring.
Hoard the keys.
BUT where is my BABY ?
.> @Type2 said:
That is what I thought but over here in "The Heartland of America" there ain't too many whales swimming around in our local ponds.
Nearest ocean is probably 1,000 miles away.
...let alone blowing
Topstuf has the midas touch...everything he touches turns into a muffler.
What was the question?
eBay ID-bruceshort978
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You are very hell-irious
There is NO ?'s...this is a contest for newly members who are still looking for their 1st gold coin 
Did you say 1st love when we met at the pool.
Hoard the keys.
My eyes have glazed over from CAC threads.
Ooooh!! I have yet to get to that point yet. Do I count?
Yes @CRH4LIFE but you need to summarize your world in coin collecting
PS: see the above perimeter
I'll share my story, despite the fact that I already own bullion gold coins, since no one else seems eager to share. I started collecting "actual" coins when my friend revealed his meager collection to me. I was in awe of his cull peace dollar and AG Morgan and I thought they were so cool jingling around in his bag with a bunch of other world coins. Being a youngin trying to break into the coin game I don't have too much money to throw around nor do I have the experience to confidently buy an expensive piece so I've been dipping my toes with raw morgans. They go for around 20 bucks a pop and they are one of my favorite coin designs so I'm happy. My first gold constitutional coin purchase (That I keep) would probably be an Indian head but I've already learned my lesson about counterfeits so I'm going to be patient and learn a bit more to make sure I don't get burned. My long term plan is to acquire enough raw Morgans to fill up multiple large storage boxes so I can finally complain about having problems storing all my coins.
You said "Summarize" I just left half my story to the backspace button LOL I will try here to make this short. I started like most that post every denomination they "find" and called it a error,Missing color, Double die. Of course none of them were. So I started to learn the actual terms. The procces of minting a coin. What were actual Doubled Die or Hub Doubling.
- Wich brings me to a post I need to clarify for some that do not see what was posted for the fact that the pictures or lack of pictures did not show well! A lot of long hours of research. Pictures that would make you go blind (much better now) and help from very willing and Awseome folks. Trial and error. I have learned to much to list. As of then I liked or I could even say LOVED small very minor die variety's or mint errors. Now I have passed most of that and moved on to "sets" or as of now I am building a type set for my IHC and reg Circulated set for my Large cents. I often help friends or others when I can. I am a sucker for Snow varietys and newcomb's as well. I do not mess with silver much at all. I am really focused on the copper for now. Long term? I need to keep that a secret in case someone gets wind and beats me to it 
Honestly wherever the wonderful world of numistics and a hobby of collecting coins take me! - It is very hard to keep this short haha
My grandmother giving me old Lincolns inspired me to collect. To better understand the aspect of collecting I read books and joined here to read about DD, DDO, and DDR among other things.
I've acquired a set of Lincoln wheats and some various silver. Long term, I plan on upgrading Lincolns when I can and staying here to win coins from you. 
"A dog breaks your heart only one time and that is when they pass on". Unknown
I do not have any gold coins in my collection. I do hope to someday acquire some. I've been wanting an example of a $20.00 St. Gaudens for a very long time.
To give a backstory on how I got into collecting is easy. My Grandmother on my Fathers side got me interested in coins when I was just a kid. I remember her showing me her collection that she amassed when she was younger. She still has a small bucket of steel cents that she would pull out of circulation as she came across them. She has hundreds of other coins as well. But what really got me hooked were the coins from the 1800's. I remember thinking how old they seemed and what they might have been through.
Then on Christmas Eve of 1986 (I was 11 years old) she gave me my first copy of the Red Book. Along with it she gave me an assortment of coins. Among them was an 1838 Large Stars Dime, an 1864 Two Cent, a couple of Silver Roosevelt Dimes and a Red Seal $2.00 bill. That 1838 Dime is what really sucked me in. It was pretty well circulated, I would have to guess maybe a G-VG. But I remember looking at it and imagining who's hands it might have passed through, what stories it could tell. This inspired me to save a little bit of money and I bought some of my own coins from a pawn shop.
Some of my fondest memories are going to a local coin shop with her that has long since gone. To this day, I still have that old Red Book, but the coins have somehow disappeared over the years. As I got older, coin collecting turned into collecting Baseball cards, then comic books.
Eventually the coin bug came back around and bit me again. It was right around the time that my son was born. My daughter was 4 and now I had two kids to raise. Up to that point, I didn't really have anything of value to hand down to them and I wanted to change that. So I started coin roll hunting for silver, that eventually turned to numismatics. Then in 2015 I found a 1919 DDO Mercury Dime at a local show. That is what gave me the FEVER. I started hunting for varieties to sell and flip for a profit. Those profits then were invested into coins that I could put away.
I dove in hard and learned everything I could. I did a lot of reading, mostly on this and other forums. I learned to grade by going to shows and looking at lots of coins. It's become an obsession. I then tied my passion for photography into my newest obsession. I've had fun ever since.
My long term goal is to put together a modest collection that I can pass down to my kids. If they decide to show an interest in my hobby, I will enjoy teaching them everything I know. If when I pass, they simply want to sell their inheritance for cash, I am fine with that. I will have given them the tools to get the most out of it. I simply want to give my children something to help them out after I have passed on. It might not be much, but it will be something.
Many of the new members are too busy scrutinizing their pocket change to worry about potentially free gold.
Good morning all,
My grandfather was a coal miner, sweet man, hard working guy. He carried a small leather coin purse and gave me coins one at a time saying, this is going to be worth something some day. I remember that when he placed a coin in my hand, I actually examined it and saw the date and features. He died of black lung when I was a young teen. I started going to a Manhattan bank in Bklyn, buying rolls of coins, pulling the interesting ones. Got thrown out of the bank as a pest. Life happens, college, 2 tours of Vietnam, more life, 40+ years of PTSD, wife saves my life, got clean and sober, "found" my coin collection in the basement, I forgot the cache now included 30 years of metal detecting finds. I am grateful for the life I have now. And I am having a great time re-examining all the coins for grade, errors, etc. I just bought a 5th edition Cherrypickers guide from J Wiles in Tx, so I am still learning. CU is my daily classroom for all things numismatic and the personalities are worth the price of admission. Peace Roy
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What inspired me to collect was my friends grandfather. He was always asking me what I got in my pocket change and I would let him keep whatever he liked. Eventually I said to myself why don't I start keeping the odd and old change. Although I did not get into the hobby alone, my twin and I started at about the set time.CRH4life.
I have found some semi valuable coins through cherry picking and crh. I started with wheat cents and am starting to move on to be other denominations. My long term goal? Im not to sure I have one except bulk up silver. I don't own any gold yet nor have the slightest clue about it !
My return to collecting was from a number of Barber dimes & quarters that I found while metal detecting.
I 'went Barber nuts' and amassed a nice hoard of them.
The study of Barber varieties led me, almost naturally, to start collecting Bust half dollars.
BHNC #203
I have gold... so no story from me.... Just enjoying this thread and the stories from other members..... Thanks @Paradisefound for starting an interesting thread. Cheers, RickO
I do not collect gold but I do own 2 pieces so I am disqualifying myself.......great idea tho and very generous
I am disqualified but will enjoy others stories. Generous contest.
Gold is an acquired taste. I don't collect them but do have a gram or two that came with bulk silver lot from our BST.
I like the gold outfit in this video. But I doubt I will ever wear it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJshp3WAyqc
Have a cup of Kona coffee and wake up. I believe you meant parameter.
Wisdom has been chasing you but, you've always been faster
thanks
If we were all the same, the world would be an incredibly boring place.
Tommy
I am beginning to think I am about the only goldless collector here. I have looked, I have drooled, I have bid, I have been underbidder, but I have yet to strike GOLD!! About a dozen years ago now as the price of Gold was climbing I had my sights on a very nice looking and very clean 1875-S double eagle in PCGS AU58 on the Bay. A true clean slider if I had ever seen one and none as nice since. I was underbidder at the time but still kick myself for not stepping up and getting that one. I remember thinking that gold was at @$600/ounce and that the price will come back down... Still kicking myself!
Back to the question at hand. I think my OCD and drive to "collect them all" was the precursor but my grandfather was who truly inspired my beginning to coin collecting. He had a stack of the old blue whitman folders with coins pulled from circulation, rolls and rolls of circulated silver, steel wheat cents, silver war nickels and silver dollars. He also had that little wooden box of miscellaneous coins with the medal, the two cent piece and other cool things. I started filling in blue whitman folders just like he had. I would guess I was about 6 at the time.
I have upgraded my Lincoln books a couple times from blue whitman folders in F/VF to brown Dansco folders in XF to the Dansco 8100 book which other than the 22-no-D hole it is complete with AU+/MS coins. The other books have been disbanded as I don't collect to fill all the holes anymore. Seems like a never ending torture run to do so and a poor investment idea given other options. My last set accomplishments is my AU58(ish) set (silver) of 1875 coins that predate Batman by 100 years. I really enjoy that set and look at possible upgrades all the time... My buying has slowed to a near stop the last few years however since I need to save and build a new house after giving the ex-Bat my last one. I am just trying not to sell what I currently hold in the process.
I am hoping that in a few years, I will be back up and running and pick up a few of the gold ones but given the rarity/price of 1875 gold required to make a set... I will never battle that task. Now a 179x Eagle or Half eagle, that will be doable and is on my bucket list. I still pick up a book or two here and there and read the forums to keep my knowledge up and interest alive. I get to see amazing coins and enjoy the high end and elite collecting through the stories shared here!
Thanks for the offer. 62 years old and collected my first coin a couple moths ago. Lurked this board for about a year. Finally decided on IHC. I have a modest 20 or so coins raw. I did pick up 3 MS69 ASE. I do plan eventually to pick up a few gold coins a year just because. Hope all is well.
"I spent 50% of my money on alcohol, women, and gambling. The other half I wasted.
This very generous thread is incredibly educational, specifically in regard to who is not posting here. The handful of newbies bombarding the forum with threads about non-existent DDs, etc., are clearly not reading other threads. They are just using the forum to ask questions about their own coins, and not reading and learning from other threads.
NO...UNLESS we see the ORIGINAL pic he posted
Ok just for you Paradisefound here it is, "I said that blow's"
Hoard the keys.
No gold here.
Just kidding of course.
My YouTube Channel
I don't qualify for a prize, but as I recall - my older brother and one of his friends were collectors because they worked and had access to actual kid income. This was right about the time when the 1960-P Small Dates and Proof Sets were on fire and everyone was buying rolls of unc coins "for posterity". My finances were pretty meager at the time.
When I learned that some coins were worth more than their face value, my first thought was, "that's really dumb - why would anyone pay more than a penny for a penny?" My next thought was, "I wonder if I can find a coin that somebody will pay me more for...……I could get rich, because nobody else knows about all this stuff and I could find all the good coins before anyone else does...…...!"
One of my first finds was a 1933-D. Then I found a pretty nice 1915 Plain. By then, I was hooked. I didn't sell either of them, so I never capitalized on my first impulse to take advantage of some poor fool that would pay me more than face value for a coin.
I knew it would happen.
My YouTube Channel
Growing up, my dad had a safe in his closet where he kept valuables and guns. When he would open it to clean the guns, he would take out his little cigar box that contained the coins given to him by my mom's grandpa, my great grandfather. Technically I met him as there are photos of him holding me, but he passed away when I was only a few months old so I never knew him.
I always loved looking at the shiny coins, especially the big silver dollars. I didn't know much about them, but I knew they were worth a whole dollar which was pretty awesome! Once I became older, my dad gave me the cigar box to put in my own safe. I started going to the local coin shop asking about what I had. There was nothing very valuable, just some pennies, half dollars and the silver dollars. The coolest were the Morgans. Common dates in normal circulated condition, but they were my great grandpas which was awesome.
Slowly I started getting more interested in collecting coins myself, not just inherited. The guy at the coin shop was instrumental in helping me get started and steering me to make smart purchases. I spent so much time there, the owner got mad because I was there too often taking up the employee's time when he was supposed to be doing other stuff! Ooops!
A few weeks ago I started learning about slabbed coins and found these message boards. I've only made two discussions so far but everyone has been extremely kind and helpful in answering my questions and giving me advice. I've purchased a couple different redbooks and have been reading those as well, trying to increase my knowledge.
I've purchased some silver coins so I could have some precious metal kinds of coins as well, but no gold because they are out of my price reach!
I still have all of my inherited coins. I included them in my penny collection and my type set. I have a list of which coins I've purchased and which I inherited so that regardless of what I do in the future, the inherited coins will stay with me to be passed on someday to someone else.
What a great offer you are making, thank you for giving all of us newbies a chance to tell our stories!
Collector of randomness. Photographer at PCGS. Lover of Harry Potter.
Just a golden heart in asheland
How did the word blows becoming sucks
Funny American slangs 
That blows
You tell me...
how did we get suck it from this?
Hoard the keys.
I believe my first gold coin was a modern 1/10 oz AGE from the mint. I figured I could skip a dinner out and buy some coinage instead. I have missed many dinners and even a vacation or two by now. In fact most of my collection is US mint FDI unopened mint boxes. I always buy more then one in case I want to peak. After a couple of years, I started to actual buy what I call real coins. Items with value above metal content and rarely seen above MS65. Morgans, State Quarters, you name it. I even have purchased older foreign coins. I have a few complete sets. I think my first real loves was Buffalo Nickels & Morgan Dollars.
Yeah, just another one of those all over the placers.
Best place to buy !
Bronze Associate member
I started collecting in 1963, when I got a "really old" quarter in change at a movie theater and something told me to keep it. It was a 1932 S quarter in either VG 10 or F 12. Still have it. Started with finding stuff in change.
Graduated to bidboards, and went to George Bennett auctions at the Masonic Hall for the "good stuff." Some worked out well, some didn't.
Got 12 GSA CC Morgans when the mint sold them in 1979-1980. 8 were the ugliest Unc. Morgans I've ever seen. Sold 3 of them and kept the nicest one.
Went on to build a 19th Century Type set. Missing 5 coins which I may never get my hands on, due to scarcity and price in the grades I want, and spent a long time accumulating business strike Liberty Nickels in MS 66, which after acquiring 20 of them, abandoned the search due to gradeflation and cutting my losses on the series.
Never purchased a gold numismatic coin. Don't like the designs. I do own several of them, though. My father got them from his mother, who hid them when President Roosevelt ordered people to turn in their gold coins, and my immigrant grandmother didn't trust the government, so she hid some of them. Dad passed away, so the gold coins went to my brother, sister and I. They're more heirlooms than gold coins (no rarities among them).
"Seu cabra da peste,
"Sou Mangueira......."