My Earliest Numismatic Experience
GuzziSport
Posts: 400 ✭✭✭✭✭
It was about 1968 or so? At one of those generic “department stores” that were common at the time, called WG Grant’s, located in central Connecticut. They had a small coin display, the usual red books, Whitman’s, etc, anchored with one of those floor standing machines where you’d push a button and the trays full of coins would circulate past for review on a sort of Ferris wheel device, and you’d summon a store employee to unlock it and retrieve the coin(s) you’d want to view and/or buy. All in poorly stapled cardboard 2x2s. Making my money cutting lawns, so I could afford to hit golf balls and buy coins. The thought of buying a well-circulated Barber or Walking Liberty half seemed beyond comprehension.
I was in awe of coins with dates in the 1800s, like Liberty nickels, they just seemed fascinating.
Those were good times.
Comments
same here. good stuff
mine was woolworth's
In Metro NY, it was Gimbels.
Steve
My collecting “Pride & Joy” is my PCGS Registry Dansco 7070 Set:
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/type-sets/design-type-sets/complete-dansco-7070-modified-type-set-1796-date/publishedset/213996
All right . . .I'll bite.
Some of the absolute best experiences of my childhood . . . .bar none. Still in the top 3 or 4 experiences of my life . . . . at an advanced age.
Salt Lake. 1964-66-ish. Robert Vaughn and I were best buds. I was lucky enough to have a blue Whitman with Indians in it (WAS a complete set, picked from circulation by my bank-cashier grandmother -- then cannibalized by my unethical aunt so that all that was left was 1895-1908) . . . . he had a dad that was into basic coins, but I didn't know how dedicated.
We sat at his kitchen table with some magazine that had a list at the back of dates of Lincolns you could get for .10, .15. and .25. 'Average circulated' (slick) . . . but the thought of a 1910 cent in even AG was enough to make my heart race for hours . . . . the original 'mail order' coin shop!!!!!
I had a Schwinn Typhoon . . . he had a StingRay. We'd order 5 or 6 coins from the mail-order outfit with money we had accumulated from lowing lawns . . . and sit back and wait. After 2 weeks or so, we'd start top hang out at his mailbox on the street waiting for the carrier to drive up. EVERY day was agony while we waited. Then . . . . . magic!
A small envelope would arrive. I think we may have peed our pants as we rode our bikes up his driveway and ran inside the house to his kitchen table. We'd open that envelope, take a look at the coins (condition was irrelevant . . . . it was just so cool to punch that new date into the Whitman). We would each order a 'better' date (12D, 15, 16S -- something like that), and several cheap ones. They were always AG, but never cleaned or damaged, so we thought we had hit the mother lode !!!!
I still think of those days. Pure, unadulterated screamin' enjoyment . . .
Drunner
Atlanta In the early 1960s had a Sears department store in Buckhead with a rotary case of (nothing special) coins and a rack of whitman folders. There, at age 11, I made the momentous decision to fork over my life savings of $2.50 for a penny dated 1867. (today XF details, corrosion)
At the same time, in downtown Atlanta, Rich’s department store had a fairly complete coin and stamp department. .
The stamps were handled by Jacques Minkus’ firm, which also published and sold a vast array of stamp albums under the Minkus name.
The coin side was leased and operated by Arthur and Robert Friedberg’s Coin and Currency Institute. They were best known for Robert’s book Paper Money of the United States , which upon its 1953 publication instantly became the definitive, go-to text for those collecting federal US currency.
30+ years coin shop experience (ret.) Coins, bullion, currency, scrap & interesting folks. Loved every minute!
@DRUNNER THE Robert Vaughn?
Great story BTW!!
Summer 1963 , I was home from college, Bill Anton , jr invited me for dinner as a small dark boutique restaurant. He laid out SEVEN Higley 3d before me on the dinner table. “ Take your pick at $3750 “.
There was a delightful righteous “ oldtime graded “ light brown Ex Fine, fully struck 3 hammers rev which had a small series of obv punches which tempted me. But I finally chose a solid medium brown VF Axe Higley at $3750. That was the highest price I’d paid for a coin at that time.
When I purchased a house in 1971 I sold that Higley to Don Partrick. Not that I’m in numismatics as an investment, but real estate has done alot better than rare coins as that $40K home purchase is now worth $ 2.5M with pool added and my numismatic acquisitions sit in the bank, unseen and with many forgotten over the decades while I got to “ use “ my home to live in all these years.
This sounds like my waiting for my PCGS grades. Except I don’t pee my pants unless I get REALLY good grades!
Truly enjoyed this post along with all the replies. I remember the spin shelved machines very well. Our Grants and Woolworths had them and loved pressing the button to watch the shelves slowly, ever so slowly rotate to reveal the next viewable delights.
In the 70's and early 80's my best friend and I would travel most weekends northward along I-81from Bristol, Tn through to at least Roanoke, VA as most fair sized town would have a coin show, some indoors, some outdoors. Made so many friends and would seek out dealers who I totally trusted at that time. Dang what wonderful memories.
Jim
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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
Grants,
department store was my go to store for any present,
At 7-10 yrs old, walking or bike was my only means of getting there on my own.
One thing I remember the most, was the freshly made popcorn smell that no other could match.
Funny thing is that I pulled, a buffalo nickle,
not too long ago from that same location, but no smell.
How did I pull it ? The draw opened with the buff in full view, so I told the clerk, give me that foreign
coin on top.
Thinking back at 10 yrs old, delivering papers at 5:00 am, rain, sleet or snow, with temps from
0F to 90F and don't forget collecting door to door after school, until paid up, for the service and the paper itself.......................... "You can't ride in my, 3, little red wagons"
Have you ever seen a 10 yr old kid trying to pry out, a quarter, placed in your steps when built ?
Me neither.
Funny thing about the newspapers my brothers and I delivered. We came back to collect the old newspapers, until the garage was full, and pop pop was available to drive us to the scrap yard.
My only down fall was, Baseball and Football cards.
Very cool stories. I also recall my mom taking me to G Fox in Hartford, CT, to Christmas shop when I was about 10, so around 1970. It was a classic “big city” department store, all decorated for the holidays, very fancy, so much so that the elevators had attendants! Imagine that!
Up on the “mezzanine” was a coin and stamp department, the coins there were way beyond my paltry budget, but I recall being astounded by a multicolored proof Indian Cent. In retrospect, it was likely artificially toned and these days would not even grade, but I was awestruck by its beauty!
A mere 55 years later, here I am, looking for that next NEWP!
@numis1652 ”Bill Anton , jr invited me for dinner as a small dark boutique restaurant. He laid out SEVEN Higley 3d before me on the dinner table. “ Take your pick at $3750 “.
A few years ago I considered buying a rather gorgeous Higley (as much as any Higley can be considered gorgeous) but I just couldn’t bring myself to drop almost $100 large on a coin.
I wonder if it was one of the coins offered to you by Anton all of those many years ago?? Very cool story!
Ground floor in Sibley’s in Rochester,N.Y. I would take the bus downtown after school to go looking at coins that I had never seen before. Early proof sets in original boxes for more money than I could afford, so I would buy a nice good/fine large cent for $3.00. Fun days.
@GuzziSport - Man, you are singing my exact song brother!! We must be brothers from different mothers!
Just about the same year. On Long Island. Not sure if it was Levittown or Hempstead but it was on Hempstead Tpke. Not exactly sure exactly of the store either: Grant’s, Woolworths, Gimbels or JC Penny's. I guess the only thing I remember is the coins! 😂 😂 .. Like most of us!
That small glass display case with the Ferris wheel shelves (loaded with coin) was in the back of the store in a small hobby section, right near a small lunch counter.
Disclaimer: I'm not a dealer, trader, grader, investor or professional numismatist. I'm just a hobbyist. (To protect me but mostly you! 🤣 )
Yes, here's Robert with a young Drunner in 1964.
I would have to go with 3 redundant storys for me.
The first would be that Christmas morning in 1967 when at the age of 7 I got what I wanted most for Christmas; The J.C. Penny "Let's Collect Coins kit".
The second would have to be the entire experiece of purchasing my very first "Numismatic" coin from the mail order company Jake's Marketplace in Chicago IL.; an AU 1880-O New Orleans Morgan Dollar. To this day I swear I put more time into selecting that coin ( I
still have) then I did in choosing a college, a business to pursue or the home I would live in combined.
Finally, as Seated Lib3991 I have to mention my Oma. She came to America as basically a mail order bride. She stayed with a favorite aunt in New York and left there with a new name "Alice" (chosen out of a New York Phone book) and a wooden box full of coins; given to her by that Aunt as a dowry. I, at 14, was the first and only family member ever allowed to grade and catalog her collection of mauinly Seated coins. james
My earliest “numismatic” experience was being in charge of going through all of the coins that ever came through my grandmothers shop to separate the pre-1964 90% silver.
So thanks to her Ive been listening for the ping since i was around 6 years old
For me, South Hills Village mall outside of Pittsburgh had Gimbels, Woolworth and a small coin shop and all 3 had coins. My parents took me there about once a month and I would spend all day looking at all the coins starting in about 1968 or 1969 or so. I was particularly fascinated with the 2 gumball-like machines outside of the coin shop that if you put a quarter in and turned the knob you got a plastic capsule with coins or foreign paper money in them (1 machine had coins, the other had foreign paper money all folded up). I used to spend my allowance trying to get the most valuable looking coins in the machine to come out, I even remember gently shaking it to try and get certain coins in their capsules to drop down closer to the hole they fell through.
I remember the coins in Woolworth being in those same rolling displays, they were in cardboard flips that had a black square and I think 2 stars printed on the white cardboard. Gimbels had the best selection of Coin Albums, Folders and books along with a display case with coins in it. I also remember the same mall had a book store and I used to sit on the floor and read Coin World magazine too.
Mr_Spud
My earliest experience was buying coins from my mother's cleaning lady. There was a Woolworth's in a neighboring shopping town which had book with coins in it. The prices were all high. For example Indian cents dated from 1900 to 1909 were priced at 85 cents. The pieces from 1890 to 1899 were 99 cents all in Good. A Barber Dime in Good was $1.50 which seeded high to me. A 1939-D Jefferson Nickel was $4.50 until they sold it. The replacement was $13.00.
My first trip to a professional dealer was in New York City at the Gimbels coin counter. Gimbels was run by the Coin and Currency Institute, and they were way ahead of Macy's in that regard. I had about $100 to spend in 1963. My two big purchases were a 1908-S Indian Cent in VG to Fine, which would grade VF-20 today. The price was $35 with was high. The other was an 1875-P Twenty Cent Piece in Fine, which would be a VF-25 or 30 today. That was one $20, which turned out to be a good buy.
Same here... 1969-72... 73... the Hobby Shop in Jacksonville NC. They had the same "ferris wheel of coins"! It was the shop where I spent almost $10 on a 1798 LC... it was the first 18th century coin I ever owned...
Successful BST transactions with: SilverEagles92; Ahrensdad; Smitty; GregHansen; Lablade; Mercury10c; copperflopper; whatsup; KISHU1; scrapman1077, crispy, canadanz, smallchange, robkool, Mission16, ranshdow, ibzman350, Fallguy, Collectorcoins, SurfinxHI, jwitten, Walkerguy21D, dsessom.
Hahahahahahaha . . . or should I say "LOL" ???
Yup. Same name, but the Robert Vaughn from my era grew up to drive a poop truck (those large pumpers that unload the PortaPotties).
I loved the more dynamic one for his acting . . . . . . :-(
Great stuff . . . .
Drunner
It's funny how everyone remembers their first time.
My first major coin purchase was a BU 1927 Saint for $47 that I bought in the mid-1960's as a teenager from an ad in Coin World.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
I ran across an old Woolworth coin flip online, this is how I remember they all looked like with that black square with white stars
Mr_Spud
My earliest experience is the late 1960's (6 year old) helping my grandparents at their family owned gas station. Helping at the cash register and marveling at all the different pretty coins and different designs e.g. wheaties, occasional merc and Indians, a lot of silver, etc.
Also was put to work rolling all the change for bank deposits. No complaints from me and no wonder I excelled at math. Lol
Great times!
USAF (Ret.) 1985 - 2005. E-4B Aircraft Maintenance Crew Chief and Contracting Officer.
My current Registry sets:
✓ Everyman Mint State Carson City Morgan Dollars (1878 – 1893)
✓ Everyman Mint State Lincoln Cents (1909 – 1958)
✓ Morgan Dollar GSA Hoard (1878 – 1891)
And the sound of that silver was burned into our memories at a very young age!
Disclaimer: I'm not a dealer, trader, grader, investor or professional numismatist. I'm just a hobbyist. (To protect me but mostly you! 🤣 )
I remember riding my bicycle to the local B&M as a child. It had a ceiling fan and it reeked of coffee and cigarettes. There were always shady looking guys standing around BS’ing with the owner. I bought oddball stuff there like raw VG barber halves and liberty head nickels. That’s all a little kid could really afford. Later (about a decade) on I bought some XF/AU walkers there, which really started my journey, in a meaningful way, and a certified common date Morgan. I think it was an 1884-O in PCGS 63 or 64. I paid around $35 bucks for it.
Sometimes, it’s better to be LUCKY than good. 🍀 🍺👍
My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947):
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/