Post your "first coin" the one that sparked your fire...for collecting!
HalfDimeDude
Posts: 1,206 ✭✭✭✭✭
This coin was the corner stone of my collection as a 7 year old YN ! My father left high school to take a job at the Federal Reserve bank. In 1927 my father dropped out of high school to take a job... it was what you did in those days to help your family make ends meet.
He was a runner ,a bill collector for the bank , in his 47 years of employment his last job was that of an Federal Reserve agent. He issued and destroyed money for the fed.
However as a teen in Baltimore he received the coin posted as part of payment, even in the 1920/30's his salary wasnt much...50 cents was a large chunk of money in ones pocket.
This is that coin, yes cleaned by me in the early 60's it still is a piece that as long as I am Vertical will remain the corner stone of my collection.
Post your first specimen and tell us how it came to you and your collection. As we know every picture tells a story.
"That's why I wander and follow La Vie Dansante"
Comments
Mine was the Whitman Vol 2 folder and a handful of cents from the cash register that the guy that sold me the folder let me go thru. That did the trick 60 years ago.
I remember opening an old folder of Indian head pennies along with 5 or 6 rolls of later date Large Cents when I was like 6 and was hooked
11.5$ Southern Dollars, The little “Big Easy” set
The St. Gaudens $20 is what did it for me. For a 8 or 9 year old to see something like that for the first time when he is used to simple pocket change is quite....jarring.
That is a tough question to answer for me.
My dad had several old circulated Morgan Dollars that he gave me, that he got when he was in the Army Air Force. I was amazed at the size and looks of these coins, as well as the face value. A dollar was a lot of money back then. I still have these dollars. I think the silver dollars were a major "spark" to my collecting interests. I do not have these coins available to photograph at the moment.
Another "spark" was a very worn 1937 quarter that I received in change back around 1966. The coin was in extremely worn condition. I was amazed at how old it was at the time! Although a quarter was a lot of money to me back then, I kept it, and have it to this day. However, I now have 22 1937 quarters, and I no longer know which coin was the one that I got back in 1966.
I started with IHC's... which could still be found in change when I was a kid. I do not have any of those coins... A lot of life between then and now. Cheers, RickO
Raw - Then I decided to collect the whole series. There are rabbit holes, and then there are rabbit holes like trying to complete the Liberty Quarter Eagle series.
A bucket of Lincoln wheat cents and a pair of blue Whitman folders as a kid.
State Quarters! Even though the more mature collector in my doesn't like them.
I would post an example but there's no point. Common 1959 pennies are not that interesting........except to kids like me in 1959. 👲
A couple of Two cent pieces my dad gave me some fifty plus years ago. I can't recall how he ended up with them as he did not collect, best guess is someone gave them to him years prior. One is severely worn, an 1865, and the other that was in decent shape is somewhere in my office that I can't locate. I know it's here as I saw it maybe ten years ago, probably behind something here.
The weight of old coins talk to me, just love the feel. Slabbed coins are nice to look at and keep me from damaging them, but I'd rather hold a raw coin in my hands any day.
My dad bought a roll of junk silver quarters in 1980 or 1981, when silver was taking off. I was about 7 years old, I remember looking through that roll, and there were 2 dateless SLQs in there. The first time I had been exposed to any coin that looked different than what I had known in current change. That started my interest into the hobby, and I learned more about SLQs, type 1 & 2. One of them in that roll had no stars below the eagle on the reverse. I remember looking so closely with my magnifying glass to see if I could identify the date, hoping for that 1916 (this is before I learned of other ways to identify a dateless 1916). I'm sure it was a 1917. But that has stayed with me, and I still love SLQs to this day, and seek out dateless type 1's.
A bit of a long story, but here goes: My first coin ever was an 1880 O BU Morgan Dollar given me on my 10th birthday in 1958 by my Great Uncle Schley. I kept losing it and finding it, so he placed it in a small manilla envelope in his black leather coin purse. As time passed he would show it to me anytime I asked. Unfortunately Schley died and the little purse disappeared. 40 years later Schley's daughter died and sure enough in her things was the little black leather coin purse. It was given to me and when I opened it there was the little manilla envelope mostly deteriorated and the coin was blackened severely. I tried soak it in acetone and then googone and this is how it ended up. It was so beautiful when Schley gave it to me.
Jim
When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest....Abraham Lincoln
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.....Mark Twain
Great tales... to read and tell.... thanks to all for sharing your beginnings in the hobby. It not always about the destination ,but enjoying the ride!
Make sure you do.... as yes its fun filling those holes....but the journey ,and those we meet on that road! It truly the treasure we sometimes over look..... keep posting , keep your journey going...and remember all the stories that you have to tell.
"That's why I wander and follow La Vie Dansante"