Could you collect again as you did when you were a kid?

291fifth · October 7, 2008 11:57PM

Back in the early 60's collecting was fun. A few coins could still be found in circulation and I wasn't as picky on grades. (If you could somehow rationalize that the date on the buffalo nickel or Liberty Standing quarter was readable you could still put it in the folder.)

Those were the days when you could spot a Mercury dime in an Empire Coin Company ad for $2.95, wait and place an order for another Mercury that cost $2.45 (hoping it would be sold out) and list the $2.95 coin as an alternate, hoping they would send the alternate and not bill you for the difference. (It actually worked a few times, but eventually they caught on.)

I wonder if I could regain my original enthusiasm for coin collecting by going back to the way I originally collected? Could you?

19Lyds · October 8, 2008 12:54AM

Yes I can except that today I have more maturity, experience, and knowledge to realize what is collectible and what is not.

Each time I attend a coin show or buy a roll of coins, that same spark gets ignited as I search through dealers inventory or pop open those rolls!

Longacre · October 8, 2008 12:57AM

I'm not as old as you, 291fifth

, but it seems that back in the 1960's, coin collecting was less of an "industry". I think today the prices are high enough that it promotes the shenanigans that we see with coin doctors, and everyone and their grandmother can become a coin dealer, especially in a bull market. I don't think anyone can collect again as a kid has done in the past.

stevek · October 8, 2008 1:11AM

I think another question is can our children enjoy this hobby as much as we did as kids, and I believe the answer is "Yes" - Don't forget there are many coins, pennies from 1959, clad from 1965, and others that still circulate. That is 40 - 50 years worth of coins which is quite a nice assortment and variety to be found and collect.

RedTiger · October 8, 2008 1:14AM

No, not really. A casually collector can't complete sets from pocket change. These days only a variety specialists can find anything valuable in change. Ever try to teach a 10 year-old how to spot varieties? Most would be bored to death, and would rather paint a fence than do that.

A person could do a state quarter set from circulation, but it isn't close to the old time thrill of finding a cent that is worth 25 cents in the catalog. In the old days, those thrills might happen all the time.

A person buying coins from magazine ads would likely not be a happy person if they have any numismatic knowledge. A good many magazine advertised coins are overpriced or overgraded or both. Why bother when the Internet, and images and auctions are all around?

I enjoy the hobby, by limiting purchases to hobby-type money. By buying what I like, and not worrying if someone else might like them or tell me I am idiot for buying that. I'll never be a top grader, because of eyesight and personality, but I have gotten better at it. I have a good mind for learning the prices of things, and that includes the coins I am interested in.

OKbustchaser · October 8, 2008 1:16AM

I already do collect the same way I did as a kid in the 1960's--pretty much the same denominations/series at the same grade levels. I just pay a lot more.

TavernTreasures · October 8, 2008 1:16AM

For me, buying a Dansco 70/70 album has brought back the fun of collecting coins.

RyGuy · October 8, 2008 1:20AM

Well, coming from a kid who began collecting at 13, which was in 1999 for me, I can honestly say yes I can. Every week I had so much fun digging through the dealer's bargain/junk/whatever you wanna call it box just amazed at all the different types that could be had with my allowance. Occasionally, I still find myself sorting through it looking for something he/she may have overlooked and put in there for little money.

So, as long as that box is always present, so will be that little excited kid in me.

Ryan

cladking · October 8, 2008 1:24AM

<< <i>Back in the early 60's collecting was fun. A few coins could still be found in circulation and I wasn't as picky on grades. (If you could somehow rationalize that the date on the buffalo nickel or Liberty Standing quarter was readable you could still put it in the folder.)

Those were the days when you could spot a Mercury dime in an Empire Coin Company ad for $2.95, wait and place an order for another Mercury that cost $2.45 (hoping it would be sold out) and list the $2.95 coin as an alternate, hoping they would send the alternate and not bill you for the difference. (It actually worked a few times, but eventually they caught on.)

I wonder if I could regain my original enthusiasm for coin collecting by going back to the way I originally collected? Could you? >>

No you can't.

Your premises are wrong for this to work for you. If you believe a "few coins"
could be found in circulation in the old days but now it's all just modern crap
then you aren't going to enjoy the old type of collecting.

Frankly I think you're premises are wrong. I don't believe there was anything
worth collecting back in the late '50's because all the good coins had been re-
moved long before but today the coins aren't picked over much at all. That's a
huge difference.

All the coins I got back in those days are still common. Sure many have premiums
like the F buffalo nickels but they're still common.

lasvegasteddy · October 9, 2008 8:14AM

<<<No, not really. A casually collector can't complete sets from pocket change. These days only a variety specialists can find anything valuable in change. Ever try to teach a 10 year-old how to spot varieties? Most would be bored to death, and would rather paint a fence than do that.>>>

i hooked a 12 year old by teaching her to spot varieties as a matter of fact....lincolns
easy hook too as i told her find one of these...we go to disneyland
find one of these...we go to disneyworld
find one of these we go to eurodisney
find one of these it's all 3

PrivateCoinCollector · October 9, 2008 8:18AM

I needed about 15 Jefferson nickels to complete a book I was going to give as gift. I went to a coin store. he handed me a box and said I would have to go through them to find the ones I needed. As a kid i would have expected that, as an adult I resented it. I handed him the box back. So I guess the answer is no.

adamlaneus · October 9, 2008 8:32AM

I would not want to.

As a kid, in 1974, I had no income and no resources. The best I could do is push wheaties from pocket change into a Whitman. And I would read books. And I would wish that I had even one piece of gold. My grandfather had three quarter eagle indians which I saw occasionally. They were fantastic items to me.

Now, I have income. And I have the gold I always wanted.

The enthusiasm I had for pushing wheaties into a Whitman was born of necessity. I would not have that enthusiasm now.

That enthusiasm is now reserved for pushing golden dollars into a Dansco. Boy is that fun! Wowee!

In all seriousness, that enthusiasm was also partially out of ignorance of what US coins were; knowledge will take the 'edge' off of that enthusiasm. Today, I can generate that sort of enthusiasm for World Coins. It's a big world of wonderful stuff! Wide eyes and ahead we go!

TwoSides2aCoin · October 9, 2008 8:55AM

The difference between men and boys is the price of their toys.
The enthusiasm doesn't go away, but the competition sure gets stiff as I get older.

Swampboy · October 9, 2008 10:45AM

<< <i><<<No, not really. A casually collector can't complete sets from pocket change. These days only a variety specialists can find anything valuable in change. Ever try to teach a 10 year-old how to spot varieties? Most would be bored to death, and would rather paint a fence than do that.>>>

i hooked a 12 year old by teaching her to spot varieties as a matter of fact....lincolns
easy hook too as i told her find one of these...we go to disneyland
find one of these...we go to disneyworld
find one of these we go to eurodisney
find one of these it's all 3 >>

Excuse me, there are no collectible coins to be found in change anymore.

coinman420 · October 9, 2008 10:58AM

how i started was looking at pocket change, this is what i got this past week.

mrearlygold · October 9, 2008 12:21PM

No, not the same as how you word it.

But with the same feeling? Definitely.

Zoins · October 9, 2008 12:27PM

I really can't collect the same way. The BM I shopped at isn't around any more. More importantly, I don't put many coins in 2x2 cardboard holders any more. I wrote my initials and the date of the holder for each coin I placed in a 2x2. Slabs offer more protection and value but don't have the same personal touch when looking back on coins that were acquired many years ago.

anablep · October 9, 2008 12:29PM

Sure. I still look through rolls I get from the bank and its a thrill to find something. Last week I found a 1911 Liberty nickel in a roll of nickels.

Not bad...

Coxe · October 9, 2008 12:41PM

Can't pull Buffalo nickels from pocket change anymore. That was a really fun part of childhood numismatics. It didn't matter how worn or if you had to use some weak acid to bring the date or mint mark up. It was fun to just fill up the album. Can't even get wheaties anymore.

Probably a big part of the draw VAMs (and varieties in general) has for me is this detective work ambition fostered in my collecting youth. I did enjoy collecting prooflikes. But it was stale in a way. Just buying my way toward completion. Not the same as analyzing, learning, and finding new things. It's nice too because you can even enjoy problem coins when you look for interesting varieties.

So I suppose I am collecting somewhat as I did as a kid today.

Weg · October 9, 2008 12:47PM

I think alot of us have forgot what we felt as a kid while searching for coins to fill those holes.
When you were 8, 10,12 years old, did you really know the value of money? A kid has not yet had the life experence to learn it.
As a ten year old were you thinking about how much your collection was going to be worth, or think when I sell this, it will help put me through college, or make a down payment on the first home, or were you really just thinking about how you wanted to find another coin to fill another hole.
For me the fun was in the hunt, a treasure hunt, to fill that hole. It didn't matter if I had to use acid to bring the date out of a Buffolo Nickel; I found one, and that date goes into that hole.
Anytime a kid takes the initiative to find something for themselves, instead of yelling MOM or DAD their learning independence. Even if the collection is junk, it's my collection, my work, my time. I put this together. As a kid we did it for one reason, it gave us pleasure. If it didn't, would we have done it?

I with Adamlaneus, world coins bring back that treasure hunt. It gives me pleasure looking through them, attempting to find the country of origin, and with some, the challenge of learning the date.

My grownup collection is made without the simple, basic emotions of a kid. That collection requires serious funds with all its implications, of which a kid is not even aware of.

The makeing a of collection, regardless of its content requires just one thing, pleasure.

Could you collect again as you did when you were a kid?

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