How did you get involved in collecting coins?

[bajablu]

Im sure you've all been asked this before at one time, but if you dont mind going down that road again...

[cpm9ball]

I don't mind at all.

 

In 1957, when I was 10, I won $5 from an older boy playing 9-Ball at the local poolroom. When it came time to pay, he gave me four dollar bills and one silver dollar. I had never seen one before, so I took it to the bank where I had a savings account and asked the teller if she had any more of these. She laid out a bunch on the counter and I picked four more. After that, every time I won some money playing pool (I rarely lost) I would go to the bank and get more silver dollars.

 

Chris

[bsshog40]

I used to collect circulated coins, mostly wheaties, nickels, dimes, & washies, about 25 yrs ago. Had quite a few and then all were stolen. I started accumulating more a few yrs ago and then it just got more and more serious the past 3 yrs. I actually enjoy it more now because I have more access to coins and information with today's technology than I could back then. Heck, 25 yrs ago I didn't even know anything about the US Mint.

[World Colonial]

I first picked it up when I was 10 when my family moved to Bolivia. My aunt had a bunch of foreign coins and a few US coins like a 1921 Morgan Dollar and a 1943 dime which got me interested. The coins I obtained at that time were those from the foreigners we knew, mainly the US and Canada but they had a bunch of stuff from their travels

 

When we returned to the US, I visited my first coin shops and traded most of them for an 1826 XF Capped Bust Half and oever several years, the rest with my cash presents for a few others like a Fine 1860-O Liberty Seated Dollar.

 

When I was 12, I mostly quit collecting until 1998 (except for a short spell in 1987 and 1991) due to a lack of funds and lack of interest. Since 1998, I have accumulated everything I have now. When I started again, I bought a copy of the Krause manuals and looked through them for coins in the countries where I used to live. I picked South Africa and Bolivia and along the way added a few others such as Spanish colonial pillars, the Spanish colonial "Lion and Castle" quarter real, 1790 Austrian Netherlands Insurrection issues, Spainish "Cross" silver and Mexico "Cap & Ray".

 

The quarter real I saw in Bolivia for the first time in a "Plateria" (silver shop). It was a 1796 in about VF. I saw the 1790 Austrian Netherlands 3 Florin in the Bowers & Merena Bebee catalog and thought it was the same design as the quarter real. It wasn't of course (though both are associated with the Hapsburg coat of arms) and that is why I liked those. (Ironically, today I own all of the issues except that coin and the gold 14 florin.)

 

Another reason I decided to collect South Africa and Bolivia is because I (incorrectly) looked in Krause at the prices in uncirculated and thought "Wow, most of these coins are cheap, If I set aside $X dollars a month (which has fortunately increased since that time), I'll complete this set in X months and this one by X.". (I also looked at the "Redbook" and quickly realized that I would get nowhere collecting any US series that I had an interest in and that is why I did not choose them. I could have collected a partial type set in average circulated grade but that did not interest me.)

 

Haha!, yeah right. I'm sure I'm not the first who one who fell into that trap. I quickly found out that maybe the catalog prices were low, but there was this little little incovenience that the coins were never available (at all) or hardly ever (in high grade). So now, even after ten years, I still have not completed some of the supposedly "common" issues.

[WoodenJefferson]

Sit down children and I'll tell you a great story...It all started way back in the late '50's when my Uncle with whom I was spending a few summer days with asked me to help him move this china cabinet out in the garage. This particular cabinet had belonged to his father and was no longer in use due to it's extreme height.

 

My uncle was storing it out in the garage until he could figure out what to do with this 8' tall cabinet, for you see, in the late 1800's they were still making 10 foot, 11 foot and even 12 foot tall ceilings, plenty of room then for that style of china cabinet. Later on, people were building homes with only 8' ceilings and this would just not fit into modern day decor, but I digress.

 

With the help of another kid on the block, we gently slid the cabinet back and forth across the concrete floor to it's final resting place at the rear of the garage. With a final shove, the cabinet hit the back of the garage and dislodged a dusty shot glass from atop the giant beast.

 

With reflexes of a well toned summer kid, I caught the shot glass in mid air and my eye was immediately drawn to something sitting within the fancy jigger. It was a coin, a big coin, one that I'd never ever seen before. I wiped away a bit of the dust and there was this stately eagle sitting on some arrows with a shield stuck on his chest.

 

In awe I passed it over to my Uncle who briefly examined the coin and tried to shake it out of the shot glass. The coin stuck in there like it was welded in place. Even trying to tilt the coin in the maw of the shot glass was to no avail. My immediate thought was to just break the shot glass, but my Uncle would not hear of that, he thought, what if that was my Dad's? You will have to find another method to get that coin out of that glass, so we made a deal. I keep the coin, he gets the shot glass...sounded like one a heck of a deal to me.

 

We tried to read the date of the coin but there were smudges and gunk in the shot glass so that was out. We all knew the coin was old, but how old...we had to find out.

 

Kids brain storm, but this was tsunami time. We sat there, tossing the glass back and forth hoping the coin would just sort of finally fall out, but that wasn't happening. Finally something hit me...the ice trays! The ice trays in the freezer gave me a clue as to what just might be the trick. I had been noticing the ice would first bulge in the trays as it froze and then shrink in size the longer it stayed in the freezer. Would my coin do the same thing?

 

Mind you now, this is the mind of a juvenile brain and has no concept of physics, chemistry or other earth shattering theories, so this made complete sense. Into the Harvest Green refrigerator went the shot glass, sitting there next to the already frozen ice trays. Time, how much time do you allow a delicate, probably 18th centry shot glass to remain in the freezer before disaster happens? Lucky for me I was just a kid and had no concept of consequences and this was only just an after thought.

 

Irresistably, I peeked in about an hour later...frost! On the coin and on the shot glass! I was elated! Reaching in and gingerly picking it up as if it were going to be hot or something, but it was just cold, very cold. I tipped the glass upside down and put my hand underneath as if to catch the falling coin.

 

Nothing...still stuck.

 

As I held the glass, the frost began to rapidly warm with my touch and waalaa, the coin finally dislodged from the shot glasses mighty grip. The coin was still frosty and as I looked and wiped, a lady appeared along with a date, an old date...a date I could not at the time yet comprehend.

 

1812

 

I looked again, yep, still 1812. Then it sunk in, holey *bleep* I have a half dollar from 1812!!!

 

Knowing absolutely nothing about coins, I figured I had a pirates treasure piece for sure and ran to my uncle to show him my prize and of course a shot glass in just one piece!

 

From that moment on, I was hooked about old coins. It took several weeks to get to the library so I could look up and get information on this ancient looking coin. I found out it was worth $12.50 and was made in Philadelphia at the Government Mint.

 

Even though I had this first coin under my belt, I did not really start to collect coins until 1964. Sure, I had the half handful of buffalo nickels, wheat cents and a few dimes, but most kids during that era had that same sort of collection themselves.

 

My breakout was the realization of silver coins going to clad in 1965 and that all of a sudden those silver coins became valuable.

 

The rest is history so to speak...collect long and prosper. Nanu Nanu...shozbot

 

Note: there may have been hot dog tongs and hot water involved to remove the Bust from the shot glass...my memory fades in and out and yes, I still have the Bust half.

 

And the shot glass...where-abouts is unknown?

 

[ldhair]

An uncle started me on Lincoln cents over 40 years back.

I'm not sure but I may be hooked.

[stinkycheese1]

I remember when I was 6 I would go to my girl friends house (I had a girl, that was a friend) and she would have a box full of foreign coins. These coins fasinated me, and I was soon hooked. When she went to greece, she brought me back 2 coins from greece from her trip that she went to. I still have them to this day. Also, I met this couple who were from germany and they had some german marks coins which they gave me.

 

I didn't collect gold coins until I was 9, when I saw a cartoon about red robin who got a gold coin for his birthday. So I saved up all my birthday and christmas money and bought a 1/4 oz american gold eagle for $89.

 

That's how I got started.

[just-john]

Summer job collecting tolls 1967 not much to do in that 5x5 square started looking at the coins .Laying them in rows by dates then dates and mint marks noticed how some were harder to find than others started collecting.did that for 4 summers toll was 20 cents

 

[MikeInFL]

My grandfather gave me coins as a child (mosly Ikes) and was a semi-collector. He introduced me to collceting coins...

[EZ_E]

Woody, that was even more entertaining than Reader's Digest. What a great story! But, alas, the shot glass did not abide.

 

 

[rrantique]

Woody, that was even more entertaining than Reader's Digest. What a great story! But, alas, the shot glass did not abide.

 

 

 

(worship) (thumbs u

 

[McKinley-migration]

to whom it may concern... when i was a kid, grandpa let me go through his wheat stash and fill up folders.. i fell in love with collecting. i mosied onto other things til i was 29... saw one of those claw thing video game things with the prizes... had a franklin and a walker and an ike in there... a million memories hit me and within 3 months i was working at a coin shop.. been obsessed ever since. that was 3+ years ago. nobody will ever read this.. cuz nobody cares how i started.

[bajablu]

I care and its a great stiory.

 

 

 

Everyone of these stories has put a smile on my face and showed me what makes us collectors who we are.

 

 

 

My story goes like this...

 

 

4 years ago I was working as a bulkheader. Rough job but fun. I was injured and it resulted in me becoming disabled. Well at 22 this left me with alot of time to read and kick back. My dad, ( collecting hardcore for 40+ years) tried many times to get me into coins with no luck. My first birthday after my injury he bought me QDB's " Collecting & Investing in Rare Coins." I read the book in afew days, then read it again. I soon started buying every coin book I could get my hands on. I found out I like collecting these now too. I remember th first thing my dad said to me about coins, Buy what you like, and like what you buy.

 

 

 

Hopefully I am this excited about coins for the rest of my life. They have shown me alot about the world and history.

 

 

 

 

Thats the short version. Maybe one day Ill write a book and give the long version.

[SkyMan]

I was injured and it resulted in me becoming disbaled.

 

I sure hope that means disabled as opposed to disballed.

 

 

 

 

 

(I hope you are physically better now).

[RI AL]

Hey there bajablu.

 

I shared this story (not nearly as colorful as others here) here a while back but am happy to do so again.

 

When my family left New york and moved to Miami, (I was but a sweet young thing of 7 years) and school lunches were 25 cents and an extra milk was 5 cents more, my dad sent me to get change at the gas station for $1 bill. 4 quarters came home, one of which was a Barber worn to oblivion...but...that was the start...way back in 1957. My foreign collecting interest began a couple of years later when my Mom and I were shopping (YUCK) on the "Miracle Mile" in Coral Gables, FL. (I used to call it the "Terrible Mile".) I stopped to look at a handful of coins in a travel store window. I guess my nose got glued to the glass because I remember not budging. My mom went in to the store and bought them. I still have those darned pieces too!

 

RI AL

 

[BillJones]

On Christmas day, 1959 my uncle gave me a 13th edition of the Red Book and the two Whitman cent boards for Lincoln cents, 1909-1940 and 1941 - ?. I had already been interested in history as a ten year old kid and had been hoarding the new 1959 Lincoln Memorial cents that had been introduced that year. Filling those cent folders got me started in a more organized way.

 

A couple of years later I bought an 1838 half dime and an 1846 large cent from my mother's cleaning lady. That really got me interested in "old coins.' I did not complete the Lincoln cent set until 1983 when I purchased the 1909-S-VDB with ANACS papers, which was the last coin I needed to complete the OLD part of the at set.

[Coin]

Not quite as elegant or interesting , but I kinda started out because of cowboys and indians .

When I was very young my father died in a work accident , so we moved back to family land (which was a huge dairy farm in the middle of nowhere) . On the farm , there is always work to be done , but there is still a lot of empty time to fill , so whenever cousins and friends would visit , we would break into groups and play the old 'cowboys and indians' game of hide-an-seek .

We had the run of the place which was acres and acres and lots of out-buildings and old sheds , even some old houses that were crumbling down at the far reaches of the property . Because we could be out there for days without catching each other , we decided to limit the playing field to just the old tractor sheds , barns , and the main homestead tract ( what we called 'from the fish pond-to-the-creek-to-the-main-road-to-the -edge-of-the-fields-and-grandad's garden) . I was a climber , so trees and upper lofts and top stories of barns and sheds were my forts and hide-outs . In these places I would find old steamer trunks and boxes and jars and cans with old nails , bolts and pocket change . On a few of these 'hides' I ended up going through old trunks and boxes and would find what I called "Indian Money" old cents with liberty in headdress and buf nickels...at 5 and 6 years old , these were considered to be , I guess , treasures worth guarding .

These belonged to Aunts and Uncles , so I never took any except once I found some blue-black Indian cents and took them to my granpa to show him and he said I could have them they were just old pennies . They looked real neat to me , so I showed them to my mom and she said my dad had some like them in a box with coin folders.

I found the box with his coin boards and folders when I was probably 7-8 years old and that's when I actually thought about money as something to collect not just spend , like those old indian cent pennies which were long gone , probably spent on one of the rare trips into town .

As far as I can remember , that is about when the epiphany hit . I didn't get the hobby bug until later years as a Boy Scout while working on a merit badge though.

Over the years I spent most acquisitions as a hoarder and did not actually start building upon my childhood attempts at organization until after 2001.

It has been one of my top 5 interests up to the present .

[RWB]

One story goes….. I was a boy scout and helped this little old lady across the road. She didn’t want to go, but I knew she needed help. When we finally got to the median strip, she started hitting me with her big purse, so I stole her purse and left her there. The purse had a bunch of silver dollars in it, and that’s how I started collecting coins.

 

I was sorry and Father O’Malley said ‘cause I told him about the purse and was sorry, that it was ok as long as he could keep the lady’s silk hankie. The old lady was his sister’s mother-in-law, and he said she could take care of herself in a fight.

 

So, that’s how I started my coin collection.

 

[rbrown4]

As a youngster, I started the typical whitman albums of lincolns, jeffersons, roosevelts, etc. because my dad was a collector. I never really paid much attention to the hobby but remember my father diligently working on what I now know of as Capital Plastic Holders as well as other miscellaneous gold coins etc. I remember him getting mint and proof sets in the mail each year.

 

Only late in life did I really understand what coin collecting is all about. My father began his collection over 75 years ago and about 15 years ago, gave me all of his silver coins nicely concealed in boxes etc. I honestly never looked at them, just knew they were heavy moving from place to place. A few years ago prior to my dad passing in July of last year, he gave me all of his other coins, mostly of which were gold with the understanding and intentions of me trying to help him determine what he really had and how to go about auctioning off those that neither he nor I would want to keep.

 

That is when I joined NGC and began to purchase books etc. Immediately I was hooked and the more we realized what we had the more hooked I became. In short summary I owe it to my father, his collection interests, these Forums and the love of the hobby which I now have.

 

Rey

[bsshog40]

As a youngster, I started the typical whitman albums of lincolns, jeffersons, roosevelts, etc. because my dad was a collector. I never really paid much attention to the hobby but remember my father diligently working on what I now know of as Capital Plastic Holders as well as other miscellaneous gold coins etc. I remember him getting mint and proof sets in the mail each year.

 

Only late in life did I really understand what coin collecting is all about. My father began his collection over 75 years ago and about 15 years ago, gave me all of his silver coins nicely concealed in boxes etc. I honestly never looked at them, just knew they were heavy moving from place to place. A few years ago prior to my dad passing in July of last year, he gave me all of his other coins, mostly of which were gold with the understanding and intentions of me trying to help him determine what he really had and how to go about auctioning off those that neither he nor I would want to keep.

 

That is when I joined NGC and began to purchase books etc. Immediately I was hooked and the more we realized what we had the more hooked I became. In short summary I owe it to my father, his collection interests, these Forums and the love of the hobby which I now have.

 

Rey

 

What I think was nice also Rey, is that there are alot of us here that was able to enjoy the hobby with both you and your dad. And we still have the pleasure of enjoying it with you! (thumbs u

[bajablu]

<

 

I was sorry and Father O’Malley said ‘cause I told him about the purse and was sorry, that it was ok as long as he could keep the lady’s silk hankie. The old lady was his sister’s mother-in-law, and he said she could take care of herself in a fight.

 

So, that’s how I started my coin collection. >>

 

 

 

Thats a great story. I bet that lady was happy you gave her a hand.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[MorganMan]

My aunt from Atlanta came over to our house one night in 1964 in her new car called a “mustang”. I was just 9 years old. She had these thin blue books in her hand, with a few rolls of nickels and dimes. I, my dad, and she began filling those holes in those blue books right off. Been an off and on collector ever since.

 

Now you know that is not the whole story, so here goes. In my early teens, I added to my collection of lincolns, buffalos, nickels , dimes and quarters until I found about these things called “girls”. Well, the collecting kinda took a back seat to these new found toys! Then came marriage, and kids, well you know the routine. I added little by little to my collection, while my dad had also been adding to his. From time to time, we would get together and compare notes. Of course, my dad had more resources than I did, and had a few more and nicer coins than I did.

 

Time went on and one day not too many years ago, my dad showed up in his truck at my house. He asked me to come outside. I could not believe what I saw! In the back of his pickup, were piles and boxes of morgans, gold coins, silver bars, collections of most denominations. You see, my dad was getting a touch of Alzheimer’s, and had removed all of his coins from the bank safe deposit boxes, and was just riding around town with them in the back of his truck. He told me, “Son, I just want to try to get a list of everything I got here.” He had never really kept an inventory, he had just bought silver and gold when it was cheap and he had some extra cash. He also had become a director of a local bank, and had hoarded a lot of silver from pre ’65. He would get the tellers to pull out the silver for him. We sat down that day and listed every coin he had on paper. He was happy and content after that, so he went with me the next day, after we looked at the coins for a while, and put them back in the box. He never saw them again.

 

It was that day, I had realized the torch had been passed on to me, and I was now the keeper of our coins. Since my dad died, I have diligently computerized all of our coins, and photographed a lot of them. I have also been able to add to our collections and have now almost tripled the collections size. I add to it monthly.

 

I have not sold many coins in my life (I love them too much), and probably will one day come riding up to my home in a truck with a load of coins. Sadly, I do not have a son, and my 2 daughters could care less about the coin collection. I have no idea what I will do with them when I am gone, but I worry what will happen to them. My wife knows what they mean to me, and would have a hard time parting with them also.

 

But I will tell you this. Those little round discs of metal have given me and my dad many hours of pleasure sharing a common hobby. Start your kids early, teach them not about how much that silver dollar is worth, but make them dream about what western gunslinger may have had that old worn smooth coin in their hand at one time.

 

MM

 

[EZ_E]

I love reading the stories of father and son bonding over their collections. I collected coins very seriously as a kid from 8 to about 12 (I'm 42 now). I remember that I had purchased a 1914 D cent on the bid boards for $50 Christmas money. I had a nice circulated Lincoln cent collection going that I'm sure that all collectors here would appreciate. My dad encouraged me and once gave me a Seated Liberty half dime that was probably Good but he was proud to give it to me. My dad died when I was 16 so there are some nostalgic memories tied up in my collecting days of youth.

[McKinley-migration]

One story goes….. I was a boy scout and helped this little old lady across the road. She didn’t want to go, but I knew she needed help. When we finally got to the median strip, she started hitting me with her big purse, so I stole her purse and left here there. The purse had a bunch of silver dollars in it, and that’s how I started collecting coins.

 

I was sorry and Father O’Malley said ‘cause I told him about the purse and was sorry, that it was ok as long as he could keep the lady’s silk hankie. The old lady was his sister’s mother-in-law, and he said she could take care of herself in a fight.

 

So, that’s how I started my coin collection.

 

which according to a bunch of books is the only way to get involved.. good stuff

[ECHOES-migration]

This is a great topic.

My collection was started with the help of my Dad.

When I was young my Dad and I would take trips to my Grandmothers house on the north side of Chicago. We lived on the Southside, and never owned a car, so this was a three+ hour bus ride. I have many great memories of these trips with my Dad, never knowing where we would stop for lunch, or stores we might visit along the way...

On one of the return trips home, we were on 95th street, near Evergreen Plaza when it began to rain. Across the street from the bus stop was a small coin shop, we went in and my Dad purchased for me two Whitman folders for Lincoln cents, and a price guide ( I still have those folders to this day, and I'm guessing this was about 1974-75 ). That is how my love of coins and collecting started, with the help of my Dad whom I miss very much...

Steve

[Just Bob]

Welcome to the forum, Steve!

[bajablu]

Welcome Steve and thanks for sharing your story! Thanks to everyone for sharing a very important part of the collecting process. Where it all began.

 

 

 

 

I love all the stories so far and only hope more will join in.

[Big Daddy]

In 1982 my brother and I each had about $70.00 in Ike silver dollars, so My Dad took us to the local coin show to buy some silver. Because as everyone know silver wasn't going to drop in price it was just going to get higher. Well besides buying a bunch of silver at over $10.00 an ounce I picked up an 1872 five cent piece, an 1850's flying eagle penny and a few 1870's dimes. I also used to receive a proof set for X-mas every year. I still don't collect that much but I've managed over the years to get a nifty collection ( too bad a lot of my stuff was improperly cleaned by previous owners) I really need to get my dollars graded for sets. I mainly collect comics now.

 

Bob

[EZ_E]

That is how my love of coins and collecting started, with the help of my Dad whom I miss very much...

 

Ditto.