When was the last time you filled an album with a kid?
WildIdea
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Well I was just lucky enough to get to nerd out on coins with my son and the neighbor kid who’s spending the night. They have been asking and asking and now with the kids on break its finally happening.
The other day the neighbor boy he said he’s been looking to fill an album after he found a wheatie in a parking lot and that his Mom got him an album for Christmas. That’ll get a sleep over approved! I said my middle name is Wheatie! That he should bring his books over Friday and we can work on them.
Of coarse, my son isn’t that into coins so I’m making the play that if I can get his buddy into it he may start to take a shine to it. After dinner we sat down to some penny talk.
We sprawled out a bunch of my xf duplicates I have and got into how to hold a coin and how to use an eye loupe. This kid is instantly in the pocket and stoked when I ask if he needs an X cent and I say then pop it in your book! I suggest he use the tissue to cover the coin when he smashes it in the hole. It fills up fast.
My son doesn’t seem to care I’m sharing his friend and leans in a bunch. We get into a few other coins I have in a group and the boys are pretty surprised at the variety. I say this is just scratching the surface and wrap it up hoping the germ takes better hold on its own as the days go by.
When asked, I say he doesn’t need to pay anything it’s my pleasure and that he should go down to the local shop and have them match me. Asking about silver dollars, I said he’s gonna need a job to fill that book. Neighbor boy closes with a classic one liner “Thanks for the booster pack Mr WildIdea!”
Comments
Very cool!
Your neighbor should cut to the chase and start to collect bust half dollars by date. That’s a nice looking VF 30 you have!
That's awesome. My kids were pretty into it when they were younger; they're teens now and they're looking at it more like Dad's boring-old-man hobby. I suspect my son is going to come back to it someday, though. He got too good a start not to.
"When was the last time you filled an album with a kid?"
I think most kids are too large to squeeze into an album. It's difficult enough to get the family cat into one unless you have a heavy pickup truck....
Never done it but about to start. My son got some penny rolls and a blue book for Christmas. He’s 4 and has been asking to look at coins more and more.
Great to see Y/N's getting into collecting, and I still remember using a tissue to secure and polish my coins!
I actually finished filling a Dansco way back in my late 30's, twas a complete set of FE and Indians in AU-BU minus the 1856.
I'm now 25 years older and can't figure out who the heck has them...……..
That's a very cool story!
I started giving coins to one nephew who expressed an interest in coins a decade or so ago. Now he's 18 and in Europe on vacation; he told me he's going to be finding every coin shop possible while he's there
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Very cool. Last week I spent the day filling holes in my grandson's Lincoln Cents books. Great bonding time for all.
BTW: He bought me a 1899 IHC for Christmas from his own money. He was stoked.
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Thanks @WildIdea, this is very uplifting for me to see and hear about the interest the upcoming generation has with the hobby.
I have a 9yo and an 8yo. My 9yo started asking about Indian head cents and with the help of some wonderful and generous members here, he got his start on an IHC collection. There were some duplicates, so his 8yo brother got to start his collection as well. I am looking forward to mothers' day weekend when I will take them both to their first coin show.
When my son was about 10 we worked on a Jefferson book from roll hunting. We made a pretty big dent in it too but enough holes left to still be looking. Then nothing. I have not seen that book for several years.
Good luck! Have fun.
I have been filling holes in the blue Whitman folders with my 8 year old grandson for over a year now. He enjoys it for about 15 minutes and then wants to get back to his ipad.
@WildIdea ... Thanks for a very entertaining thread.....and it would seem you had as much fun as the youngster. Cheers, RickO
Maybe PCGS could have a electronic fantasy album where you put in TrueView cert numbers and it would fill out a digital album for you? Would this be more exciting for today’s kids?
Thanks! Wouldn’t that be neat! I don’t think he could even compute the bust half past just how different it was. I’m sure if I droned on about the time period technology it was made and Overtons he would have popped. Heck, even when I peak in the Bust half door and look around, I get overwhelmed, haha. Seriously, what’s the perfect knowing what to teach and knowing when to stop. When is that? When I want to spark someone on anything I try to not overdo it and let the mystery and natural inquisitiveness do the lifting.
I went with a the almum fill and a general coin potpourri for about a half hour with two 10 year olds.
It really surprised me too! I dont push it on my kids but won’t let an opportunity go to waste on anyone. This all started from a wheat cent he found. I think I’ll drop a roll of the into the next jar I take to the bank and spread it around.
Thanks! You know it’s true. You see, all it took was a kid to teleport me back to a stage of collecting I’ve gone past and put me back there with that real pure interest that comes with a new discovery.
That is a VERY cool activity.
When I was a kid, BUNCHES of kids searched pennies from change.
The excitement of finding what WE know to be common Lincolns from the teens actually was more than the effect of far rarer coins now. Times gone by. Ahhhh yesss.....
Thank you @WildIdea for the sharing the story along with the pictures. You inspired me
I like the velvet tray you have there. I like old stuff like that
The only problem I have with all this is:
I thought you told him your middle name was "Wheatie".
"Wheaties in the Wild"..HMMM.........what a "Wildidea".
Pete
Wish I could hit both like and lol buttons!
My seven year old grand son and me go thru a 5 gallon water jug of pennies looking for wheats and filling his two
albums every time he stays over night. His brother is next as I just picked up two more albums for him at Christmas.
He is just five so I may wait a little before we start. Love the excitement when he finds a wheat in the pile.
Rainbow Stars
It’s the lid to a can I was keeping all those 2X2s in. I just love that older stuff myself and try to furnish everything around the house with stuff like that. I’m pretty sure my Dad smoked the tobacco in a pipe in the 70s and then used the can around his reloading bench until I ended up with it sometime ago.
Long time ago, I was the kid.
A bit over two years now. Filled a bunch of two wheatie albums with my 16 year old cousin. He has since lost interest it seems but we did have fun for sure!
My two youngest grandchildren have not shown any interest as of yet, but they are still just 7 and 6.
bob
Great write up, @WildIdea .
I enjoyed reading it and your enthusiasm and passion jumped off the page...er...screen
To answer your question, it's been too long. My kids are now in their 20s, but we did fill Lincoln Memorial albums a long time ago. They moved on to other interests, like dinosaurs, crochet, novel writing, blowing things up, siege weapons (girls will be girls), and college degrees, but they can appreciate my interest in it.
As to Roger's concern, if you just imagine an album the size of a locker room, it's easy to conceive of filling the holes with kids.
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For those that have and said there was a loss of interest, there is nothing saying they won’t swing back around to the hobby someday.
I tried to fill an album with a kid just the other day. Problem was, the little tyke wouldn't hold still enough for me to close the darned thing. He didn't like being in there. I guess. It was like trying to shovel fleas in a barnyard. Three year olds can be tough little critters and they squirm around a lot. Never again....lesson learned.