Just another young coin collector... true story
NumbersUsacom
Posts: 1,457 ✭
I was kind of bummed as a young coin collector in 1979, 13 yr old I was. I would visit our local coin shop and spend quite a bit of time
looking over the coins asking questions and just enjoying the whole coin collecting atmosphere. I would read my Red Book and buy
coin magazines, and spend hours studying both. Came to realy like Q. David Bowers articles in the magazines as I still do. Sorted
through pennies and Nickels etc by the hour.
Then one day I made the plunge, after studying and reading about Peace dollars,
(within my limited degree ie. redbook and magazines) and the great collectable virtues of owning such, I picked out a prized XF-45
1927-s at the favored coin store above. At the time I just thought it grand. I was proud of that purchase and thought I was on my way to being the next "Q".
Some months passed and I purchased an copy of the photo grade book. I began to compare my stately xf-45 with the desciptions
and pictures and to my disbelief I realized my prized 1927-s Peace dollar did not match up to the XF-45 description. I was rather disapointed
and bummed out at that point and set aside coin collecting.
Again some months latter I picked up another magazine and read a Q. David Bowers
article and got reinspired. I decided to take my, what I thought now third rate prize XF45 Peace dollar back to the coin shop I bought it at
and ask them to look at it and give their opinion of it. It had been a good year since purchased and I do not believe they put me and the coin to
gether. I dealt with the same Lady who had helped me when I bought it, she looked it over quickly and let me know it was Fine at best, and her attitude
was also dismissively different. I did not either have the heart or the courage at the time to say, thats funny when you sold it to me a year ago you
had written on the 2x2 holder XF-45 and expounded on its virtues. Bummed out again, I decided not to buy any more from them and never did.
Years latter though I took out some of my now old coin magazines and reread some of the "Q" articles and started to build a small library
of books, He "Q" always encourages knowledge. And through the years I have really enjoyed the hobby and have some coins that I really BELIEVE in
and it came through the knowledge as Q. David Bowers always encourages us to build. My first serious entry into the hobby was disappointing but it
did teach me to know a subject well before jumping into it, And use discretionary funds, not those that denied me of my candy run to circleK and my WW11 models at Kmart.
looking over the coins asking questions and just enjoying the whole coin collecting atmosphere. I would read my Red Book and buy
coin magazines, and spend hours studying both. Came to realy like Q. David Bowers articles in the magazines as I still do. Sorted
through pennies and Nickels etc by the hour.
Then one day I made the plunge, after studying and reading about Peace dollars,
(within my limited degree ie. redbook and magazines) and the great collectable virtues of owning such, I picked out a prized XF-45
1927-s at the favored coin store above. At the time I just thought it grand. I was proud of that purchase and thought I was on my way to being the next "Q".
Some months passed and I purchased an copy of the photo grade book. I began to compare my stately xf-45 with the desciptions
and pictures and to my disbelief I realized my prized 1927-s Peace dollar did not match up to the XF-45 description. I was rather disapointed
and bummed out at that point and set aside coin collecting.
Again some months latter I picked up another magazine and read a Q. David Bowers
article and got reinspired. I decided to take my, what I thought now third rate prize XF45 Peace dollar back to the coin shop I bought it at
and ask them to look at it and give their opinion of it. It had been a good year since purchased and I do not believe they put me and the coin to
gether. I dealt with the same Lady who had helped me when I bought it, she looked it over quickly and let me know it was Fine at best, and her attitude
was also dismissively different. I did not either have the heart or the courage at the time to say, thats funny when you sold it to me a year ago you
had written on the 2x2 holder XF-45 and expounded on its virtues. Bummed out again, I decided not to buy any more from them and never did.
Years latter though I took out some of my now old coin magazines and reread some of the "Q" articles and started to build a small library
of books, He "Q" always encourages knowledge. And through the years I have really enjoyed the hobby and have some coins that I really BELIEVE in
and it came through the knowledge as Q. David Bowers always encourages us to build. My first serious entry into the hobby was disappointing but it
did teach me to know a subject well before jumping into it, And use discretionary funds, not those that denied me of my candy run to circleK and my WW11 models at Kmart.
NumbersUsa, FairUs, Alipac, CapsWeb, and TeamAmericaPac
0
Comments
the "rare" cents I collected 45 years ago and they still are not worth the 25 cents I paid for them at the time!
Been there done that.
bob
<< <i>Funny read, but I think that most of us have had the same experience as young collectors. Heck, I still have
the "rare" cents I collected 45 years ago and they still are not worth the 25 cents I paid for them at the time!
Been there done that.
bob
What he said ^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Recipient of the coveted "You Suck" award, April 2009 for cherrypicking a 1833 CBHD LM-5, and April 2022 for a 1835 LM-12, and again in Aug 2012 for picking off a 1952 FS-902.
I'd just received my income taz refund and made the mistake of telling one of the local coin dealers in Santa Clara that I wanted a coin with good investment potential.
I purchased a 1925 he graded at MS65 for $125!
I never noticed the huge gash on her jaw line which was pointed out to me by another dealer some months later.
I did confront the dealer at a coin show and the whining began about how he had to feed his family which I guess he felt was justification enough for taking advantage of me. There was absolutely no way I could go any further than that confrontation as far too much time had passed but its one I'll never forget.
For coin dealers, its always best to look for one thats straight up with you and never ever, ever tell them how much you have to spend until you feel comfortable with your knowledge and are prepared to counter the seemingly endless supply of high grade, high dollar coins that they want to sell you.
The name is LEE!
<< <i>I did confront the dealer at a coin show and the whining began about how he had to feed his family which I guess he felt was justification enough for taking advantage of me. >>
Only deal with "confirmed bachelors."
60 years into this hobby and I'm still working on my Lincoln set!
<< <i>Funny read, but I think that most of us have had the same experience as young collectors. Heck, I still have
the "rare" cents I collected 45 years ago and they still are not worth the 25 cents I paid for them at the time!
Been there done that.
bob
Let's see; 2008 - 45; that would be about 1963, just before the big price crash of all the coins speculators
who bought beaucoup rolls of shiny pennies for their retirement. I predicted that one and sold some
of my extras before the crash. Like a roll of circulated 1950-D nickels for $13 each.
Got all of them looking through bags of nickels at face.
Sorry, I just couldn't help myself.
JET
I collect all 20th century series except gold including those series that ended there.
I guess that is why I don't really look at the grade anymore and go with a "do I like the coin for the money I would have to lay out" attitude.
V/R
Sumdunce
Chris
<< <i>When I was 10 in 1957, I won $5 from an older boy playing 9-ball in the local poolroom. He paid me with 4 - one dollar bills and a silver dollar. I had never seen one before. So, I went to my bank which was less than a block away, and asked one of the tellers if she had any more like it. She spread a bunch of them across the counter, and I exchanged the $4 I had won for four more. One of them was an 1893-CC. I chose that because it was the year my grandmother was born, but I had no idea that the "CC" was the mintmark until I bought a Whitman album at the local "five and dime". Every time I would win money playing pool (I rarely lost), I would make it a point to go to the bank and "buy" more silver dollars, and I tried to fill all of the slots with those I got at face value from the bank. To my knowledge, we didn't even have a coin dealer in my hometown despite the fact that we lived in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C., and I never knew anything about grading. I don't have any of those Morgans any more, but I can recall very vivdly that the 93-CC would have been AU.
Chris >>
Great story of how it was in the earlier years of the "modern" era of collecting.
Just a short story of one of my biggest missed opportunities.
I was in high school in 1952 when the townie students held a charity drive for something.
Their gimmick was to turn all their proceeds into pennies.
They picked a queen and we had an assembly in the gym.
The queen sat in the middle of the floor and the other girls started carrying buckets
of pennies out and dumping them on her spread out dress. They buried it and dumped more on her legs.
I had heard that they had to raid a small bank in a one horse town about 5 miles down the road.
The banker started bringing out rolls of coins he said he had had "forever".
They were wrapped in newspapers. Some had dates on them. They were all 1920s papers.
I think about what those coins might have been like every now and then and the fact that
I could've probably gotten them if I had only asked. There were nearly $500 worth.
I had $150 and my dad would've loaned me the other $350 til I had searched them and
taken the rest back to the banks.
I'll bet half of them (the 1920s wrapped ones) were Indians! And many of the rest would have
been early Lincolns with full mint luster!!! Lesson learned but at what price?
JET
I collect all 20th century series except gold including those series that ended there.
there is not enough FACTS to this story.
i need the other side of the story before commenting. how dare you
flame this dealer!
how do we know the coin is not XF45 and you have not learned
how to properly grade yet.
"tounge in cheek"
hehehe.
it happened to all of us.. either in coins or some other hobby before
coins.
Enjoyed your stories. Those were both cool real life experiences, very vivid pictures, I'm glad you shared.
And FC, so true.......so true.
<< <i>
<< <i>When I was 10 in 1957, I won $5 from an older boy playing 9-ball in the local poolroom. He paid me with 4 - one dollar bills and a silver dollar. I had never seen one before. So, I went to my bank which was less than a block away, and asked one of the tellers if she had any more like it. She spread a bunch of them across the counter, and I exchanged the $4 I had won for four more. One of them was an 1893-CC. I chose that because it was the year my grandmother was born, but I had no idea that the "CC" was the mintmark until I bought a Whitman album at the local "five and dime". Every time I would win money playing pool (I rarely lost), I would make it a point to go to the bank and "buy" more silver dollars, and I tried to fill all of the slots with those I got at face value from the bank. To my knowledge, we didn't even have a coin dealer in my hometown despite the fact that we lived in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C., and I never knew anything about grading. I don't have any of those Morgans any more, but I can recall very vivdly that the 93-CC would have been AU.
Chris >>
Great story of how it was in the earlier years of the "modern" era of collecting.
Just a short story of one of my biggest missed opportunities.
I was in high school in 1952 when the townie students held a charity drive for something.
Their gimmick was to turn all their proceeds into pennies.
They picked a queen and we had an assembly in the gym.
The queen sat in the middle of the floor and the other girls started carrying buckets
of pennies out and dumping them on her spread out dress. They buried it and dumped more on her legs.
I had heard that they had to raid a small bank in a one horse town about 5 miles down the road.
The banker started bringing out rolls of coins he said he had had "forever".
They were wrapped in newspapers. Some had dates on them. They were all 1920s papers.
I think about what those coins might have been like every now and then and the fact that
I could've probably gotten them if I had only asked. There were nearly $500 worth.
I had $150 and my dad would've loaned me the other $350 til I had searched them and
taken the rest back to the banks.
I'll bet half of them (the 1920s wrapped ones) were Indians! And many of the rest would have
been early Lincolns with full mint luster!!! Lesson learned but at what price?
JET
Cool! There is no telling what may have been in those older rolls of cents. If it had been me, though, I'd still be searching them today. LOL!
Chris