Held at Washington Middle School, Honolulu HI

How exciting it is to start a new hobby!

Being totally ignorant of everything involved, other then the limitted internet research I have done, I found myself in awe of all the different beautiful coins presented. The first purchase I made was the "Red Book" and as I scanned through it, it was overwhelming. I finally admitted to myself that what started as a few nice coins being given to my little boy as presents have sparked an interest that I have had for a long time, but never took the initiative to find out more about it. It would be wrong to say that I would collect coins "for him" - it is really an old passion of mine. If Vuk does not enjoy the coin collecting when he gets older, there would be no point in him having a "collection", or even nudging him along those lines.

I find that of all the coins I have seen, I am attracted the most to the commemorative ones - perhaps the history behind them and the fact that they are all exceptionally beautiful to see holds the appeal.

From my savings I purchased 2004 S and P 11 coin mint sets (Vuk's birth year). Found a regular BU 2004 silver dollar for $10 and got that one too from a coin dealer that answered all the many questions I had about basic things and showed me all the Hawaii coins he had - I wish I had the money to start collecting Hawaii coins while we are here in Hawaii! They had quite a few on display (well except the 1881 5 cents, but I really didn't expect to see that one).

My idea of collecting 2004 coins is really not that great, since they don't really fall into any particular "collection", but it is meaningful to me. So is collecting old Yugoslav/Serbian coins, since that is where I am from. I am looking for key dates 1868, 1875 (first silver minted), 1879 (first gold minted), 1882 (new gold minted in 10 and 20 dinars).

South African coins are also appealing since my dad and brother with his family live there and Vuk has visited there. I am thinking about one day having a small collection (perhaps silver or gold) from all the countries we have lived in or visited.

Most of my reasons are sentimental and I am not really sure that one collects coins for other reasons, other then enjoyment that is. Some people say it is an investment, and I suppose it can be, if you are really lucky.

The hardest part is trying to control myself and not spend all my savings in a month! So many beautiful coins, and so appealing. I have to remind myself people collect coins for decates and decades, and here I am, just starting, wanting it ALL now!