This is my first journal entry.

After being a Collector's Society member for about two months it is time for my first journal entry. Let me introduce myself. I am a nuclear engineer and live in Michigan where I was born and raised. I have been collecting coins for oh about two months now and am finding it both exciting and relaxing. What got me into coin collecting was the birth of my first son. I wanted to do something special for his birth year and I thought getting coins from the year of his birth would be something that I can both hand over to him when the time comes and be something for us to start doing together as a hobby.

I must admit, my curiosity about collecting coins has always been something I have been wondering about over the past 34 years since my father passed away when I was 6. Apparently my father did some minor coin collecting and my mother gave me what he had. They are these blue hard cardboard books where you put in the coins from each year. I guess what I always found curious were the blanks and what it would take to fill them. I just never took it to the next level and tried finding them. That philosophy changed with the birth of my son.

I really enjoyed building a 2011 proof set of coins which has now carried over to a new found hobby! I am hoping it will be something that my son and I can do together as he grows older. If anything the value of learning about who or what is featured on each coin will be educational for the both of us!

I just received my first coin purchase of 2012 - A PF 70 Red UC 2006 S 1C worth 304 points. It is a beautiful coin and pushed my Lincoln Cents Proof 1959 - Date set to 25% complete! I got it for a nice price especially for PF 70.

Going forward in 2012 my goal is to continue to enjoy collecting and looking for deals out there. The challenge is half the fun! I also want to do my first submissions to NGC for grading. I plan on submitting some of my Philippine coins just to have them professionally graded. I am not looking for anything big but want them professionally graded so to minimize any questions. My son is half Filipino so those coins will also add to the father / son bonding potential when he gets of age.

Well this entry is long enough so I will end it by saying good luck on your collecting! Look for those deals and most importantly have fun in what you are doing!