Did You Collect as a Kid?

[jackson64]

I thought for a moment to make this a "poll" question and find out if you were a collector and what you collected ( coins, cards, beer cans, rocks?)

 

A quick story if I may............

 

I collected lots of things...baseball cards through the 70's when my Orioles were annual contenders...beer cans in the late 70's and early 80's (SPAM alert ** I have boxes of both still cluttering my garage if anyone is interested PM me)..

 

Throughout my youth however I always collected coins in the thumbbusters. Sometimes I collected with more vigor..and other times it was just perusing change. I always loved snowstorms in winter--these were opportunities for a kid to make serious cash !! $40-50 for a day of shoveling ( mixed with intermittent sledding and snowball battles)..was a huge chunk of cash back then...

 

Mom would have me put most in the bank..but she would also give me a ride to the coin store !! ( Scott may remember the place...called "Coins of The Realm" on Rockville Pike..conveniently located next to an Entemanns Bakery )..

 

Anyhow, this coin store had these huge 3-ring notebooks for each series, filled with plastic pages and 2X2's. I'd bring my album with me and the guy behind the counter would pull out the appropriate notebook and let me peruse...to this day I still have my 1943, 43-D and 43-S steel cents from my youth that were bought from this coin shop. They may not have grown in value to be worth much..but they are quite valuable to me and bring back sweet youthful memories..

 

What did you collect?..or did you collect coins as a child?

[Just Bob]

I started in the 60's with Whitman cent and nickel albums. Unfortunately, there was a store right across the street from our house, and lots of things still cost 5 or 10 cents (anyone remember "Stage Planks" - the big rectangle gingerbread cookies with pink icing? They were 2 for a nickel), so I was constantly robbing nickels from my album. I don't remember what I did with the albums, but I kept most of the coins. They are now in Harris albums - still not complete.

 

I also had a nice rock collection. I even still have my rock tumbler somewhere. Now where did I put that thing...........

[EZ_E]

Great thread!

 

Yep, I started collecting coins at 8 yrs old in 1974 and collected until a teenager when I sold most to buy my first car. I also collected Superman comic books.

 

I was typical of most collectors and quit but eventually returned to the hobby when my income picked up. I also have a nice arrow head collection, some boxes of beer cans, lots of cool license plates, thousands of books but no more comic books.

 

I've been collecting lighthouse and Indian tribal license plates specifically. Some are quite expensive but I'll pass if they're way out there! I've paid $150 for a few but wouldn't go beyond that! I've seen some of the rare plates sell for anywhere from $300 to $400.

 

[RWB]

Rocks, bugs, skeletons, license plates; later coins, girls, etc.

 

(My Mom says as a little kid I mostly collected dirt....)

[DWLange]

I went straight to collecting coins around the age of seven, and I had about 3-4 years remaining of circulating silver coins before they disappeared. I also collected Matchbox and, later, Hot Wheels cars. I had nearly all of the red line Hot Wheels, though it didn't occur to me to save the original packaging. They were for racing, not for investment! I also had a fairly large assortment of the original G. I. Joe series, but they all went to a neighbor kid when I got older. Same thing with my Mad Magazines, but at least with those I got cash for them to buy coins.

[dooly]

You know it .. i have collected anything and everything ever since i can remember..

[pendragon1998]

I was typical of most collectors and quit but eventually returned to the hobby when my

income picked up. I also have a nice arrow head collection, some boxes of beer cans,

lots of cool license plates, thousands of books but no more comic books.

 

 

I can't recall if I ever posted these here - do you know anything about these? They were a birthday gift a while back.

 

 

 

 

On topic: I collected coins starting at (I believe) around 6-7 years old. I added a few

common things here and there during my teens and during undergrad, then got back

into it seriously when I started posting here during my grad work.

 

Here's one of my first coins (and still a favorite):

 

 

I collected baseball cards for a couple years (they're still around here somewhere). I actually finished a year set of Star Trek cards back in 1994 which I worked very hard on as a 12 year old. I did contemporary stamps for a couple years in the early 1990s (and sold them for under face last year - some investment). I've got more books than I know what to do with. I'm a birder too, so I 'collect' new species for the life list (which is shorter than it ought to be at only 216 - I didn't get out enough during my M.S. program, but that's set to change, I hope)

[EZ_E]

I'm impressed with your arrowhead collection, Michael. I just have a feel for the niche and am by no means an advance collector, however, almost all of your pieces are very desirable and collectable. I'd estimate your group to be worth around $500. However, it is possible that some of the choicest pieces could be worth much more. I'm not sure. A majority aren't from the cowboy and Indian days, either. They are much older and may date to the paleolithic times. They all look authentic with patinas and I can't see any evidence of reworking. Some are somewhat less than intact, though, which will affect value. Overall, there are some very choice pieces there! E-bay is a good venue for selling them individually but, if I were you, I'd keep them.

 

I personally like the Tenn. Thullen on the left, the Miss. Thullen and the Miss. Blusser on the left the best. Those are probably the most valuable ones as well.

[jtryka]

I used to be a rabid Star Wars collector, just about anything Star Wars, but particularly the action figures. I still have all the ones I played with as a kid along with the vehicles and such, and unlike Mr. Lange, when I was in High School and they stopped selling them I bought about 200 on clearance and left them in the packages. About 10 years later I was living in New York and was walking through Greenwich Village and saw a vintage toy store on Bleeker Street and they had a bunch and the prices were astronomical! I sold all the duplicates to buy some very nice coins and still have about 70 left, not sure what I'll ever do with them, can't seem to let them go and I can't get motivated to complete the collection!

[bsshog40]

I never collected anything as a kid. I started collecting circulated coins in my early 20's until they were all stolen. Besides coins, I now have a pretty good collection of Harley-Davidson stuff and Dallas Cowboy stuff. I used to have two full-sized Dallas Cowboy helmets autographed by Troy Aikman & Emmitt Smith. When I met my wife, she wasn't doing too good finacially and Christmas was coming so I sold them to buy Christmas for her 3 kids. It was a great Christmas.

 

[thehumantorch]

I'm a comic guy. Have been for 30 years.

 

 

I also have a large collection of casino change cups. We were casino hopping in Vegas and I got bored so I started saving casino change cups. By the end of the trip I have more than 100 to drag home. Every time we go to a new casino I gotta add a cup to the collection. My wife thought I was crazy, crazy like a fox I say, so I decided to expand into Keno crayons.

[EZ_E]

I still have New Gods #1 from a kid. I also have the last stapled Playboy from 1985 with Madonna. I used to have lots of casino ashtrays from the '70's from Vegas but they disappeared.

[Bugmann1974]

I have always been a collector.

 

When I was young I was introduced to coin and stamp collecting by my Great grandfather, Around the same time I was introduced to baseball card collecting by my dad. I still have all of the stuff from those collections. I don't collect baseball cards anymore but I still have them tucked away for whenever I have youngans to pass them onto.

 

I collected Garfield the cat memorabilia from the time I was about 10 to about 16. Most of that stuff went to a local goodwill type store.

 

I was into comics for quite a while from about the time that I was 14 untill I was about 20. The crown jewels of that collection were a ratty but complete with no tears white paged Incredible Hulk #2 and a very nice early Superman issue #32(?) that was probably an 8.0 with a double cover. I eventually sold the comics off for peanuts. I kept a small handfull of my earliest comics though.

 

I currently collect:

Volkswagen Memorabilia of all kinds. Especialy interested in WW2 era and Occupied Germany era VW toys.

Coins (of course! )

Old U.S. Historical items.

Music memorabilia with a slant towards live music. Rock, Blues, Punk, etc...I have one of the largest collections of live vintage rock concert recordings in the U.S.

Old NonFiction books.

 

I have too much .

 

 

 

 

[thehumantorch]

I still have New Gods #1 from a kid. I also have the last stapled Playboy from 1985 with Madonna. I used to have lots of casino ashtrays from the '70's from Vegas but they disappeared.

 

Casino ashtrays? Sounds like a new focus for me. I know there is a large number of people collecting chips from defunct casinos.

[Bugmann1974]

I have a bunch of Matchbooks from Defunct Casinos.

[James_OldeTowne]

I started pulling older pre-1964 Jefferson nickels at about 12 years old. Imagine my total disbelief and shock when I learned that the jar I'd filled with nickels dated 1938 - 1964 contained NO SILVER ! And I thought it was easy to get rich that way .

 

Luckily, my interest was piqued in older coins, so I bought my first box of 2x2 flips and started having a ball.

[rbrown4]

Excellent Idea for a Thread. As a youngster, I was of course influenced by my father and started the then common blue whitman albums for pennies, nickels and dimes, ( I guess quarters were to much for me). I remember him giving me the steel pennies to complete my collection. Also with my father having a minor in Geology and my eventual major and BS in Geology I began rock, mineral and fossil collecting at a young age. I have amassed a quite large collection of those but in the past several years have not contributed to them. I also was fortunate to inherit my father's incandescent light (light bulb) collection including some edison originals. And I dabble a bit with historic sports cards. So I guess I am varied but my passion is coins, rocks, minerals and fossils.

 

Rey

 

Anyone interested in incandescent lighting let me know, we are trying to sell off that collection.

[Bugmann1974]

I would love to have an Edison bulb. I doubt I could afford one however.

[Desert Gold]

I have had a similar past. My father used to have an old Lincoln head bank that was made of copper and filled with some strange looking coins. I used to love to go through his old coins. He had old US coins as well as coins from his days in the Air Force while stationed in Europe. I caught the coin collecting bug and collected various circulated coins throughout my teen years. My grandfather also had a $2.5 Gold Indian coin that he received when he was married. I loved looking at that coin whenever we went to visit him each year. This is what hooked me on gold coins.

 

I lost interest in coins when I went away to college and I just left my box of coins in the basement at my parent's house. About 1.5 years ago I started getting worried about the stock market so I looked into buying some gold. However, instead of buying gold bullion, I decided that I would rather purchase old gold coins. This was the rebirth of my coin collecting hobby. Now I finally had the money from the stocks I sold to buy the gold coins that I had always wanted. I guess that I'm addicted now. I hope to keep collecting for many years to come.

[thehumantorch]

Excellent Idea for a Thread. As a youngster, I was of course influenced by my father and started the then common blue whitman albums for pennies, nickels and dimes, ( I guess quarters were to much for me). I remember him giving me the steel pennies to complete my collection. Also with my father having a minor in Geology and my eventual major and BS in Geology I began rock, mineral and fossil collecting at a young age. I have amassed a quite large collection of those but in the past several years have not contributed to them. I also was fortunate to inherit my father's incandescent light (light bulb) collection including some edison originals. And I dabble a bit with historic sports cards. So I guess I am varied but my passion is coins, rocks, minerals and fossils.

 

Rey

 

Anyone interested in incandescent lighting let me know, we are trying to sell off that collection.

 

I didn't realize that people collected light bulbs. At first it sounds kinda crazy but it does make sense to collect something that changed the way we live. Very cool.

[physics-fan3.14]

I've collected coins pretty much as far back as I can remember. I got started on my 1st birthday when my Grandpa gave me a proof Statue of Liberty commemorative dollar. I still have that one. As I grew up, he also gave me a few thumb-busters, which I filled. When I started getting money and a car, I would go to the local pawn shop and picked up a few pretty good deals there.

[DC Dawg]

I started collecting Mets memorabilia since I was 8 in 1968 (yes, I am less than a year away from being an AARP member). Everything from scorecards to ticket stubs to yearbooks. I have scorecards from almost every game I ever attended, many of them filled out and some with autographs (I have Joe Torre autograph in a Braves scorecard when he was the Mets manager and I was living in Atlanta). I also tried to save most of the ticket stubs, many have been lost, but I still have my 1986 NLCS Game 3 and World Series Games 2 and 6 (the game Mookie Wilson hit the ball between Bill Buckner's legs). Up until I made more money, I had every single Mets yearbook since 1969 including Revised Editions and the one Spanish language version that was published in 1986. I have since purchased the yearbooks back to 1964. Sometime in the near future, I will purchase the 1962 and 1963 Mets yearbooks (and 2009) to complete the collection.

 

In the early 1990s, (the late) Tug McGraw was signed to a one-day minor league contract so he can pitch in Gastonia, NC. It was a publicity stunt that drew quite a crowd. I was in the area to visit my parents in Charlotte. My brother and I went to the game. After McGraw finished 5 innings, he signed autographs for a $5 donation to a local children's hospital. I bought a Sally (South Atlantic) League ball and had him sign that. The person selling the balls was the GM of the Gastonia Rangers--Roman Gabriel, the former Eagles quarterback. Gabriel and McGraw were friends.

 

I also had collected baseball cards during a period when you had to buy packs with that awful gum, trade, or play various games to get more (e.g., flip or colors). But like everyone from my era, my mother threw them out when I went off to college only to find out that I could have made a fortune on them years later.

 

I have a lot of memorabilia from places I've been. Some of it is unremarkable (like the 1970 pennant from Howe Caverns). But I recently found an old ticket to the observatory on top of the World Trade Center. I think I'll keep that one!

 

In college, I started collecting computer parts and documentation, especially if it was from systems I worked on. When I get to that box, I will inventory its contents and contact the Computer Museum and ask if there is anything they want. They might want the boards from the Cyber 18/30 I used in college or the burned boards from a PDP/1 I found. I wonder if the usage and repair manual for the IBM 029 keypunch machine is worth anything?!

 

I started collecting coins in 1970 when I started to go through my father's change. I started pulling silver dimes and wheat cents from his change. When I found a Buffalo nickel with no date I was hooked. After my father bought Whitman blue folders for me to put the coins into, I started delivering Newsday when Newsday was an afternoon paper. I remember that a week's worth of papers (before Newsday printed a Sunday edition) was 60-cents where I kept 42-cents of that. When the Sunday paper was added, it was an additional 35-cents and I kept 25-cents. From those collections, I found Indian head cents, Mercury dimes, a lot of wheaties, and silver Roosevelt dimes. I also started to collect nickels when I discovered the war time silver alloy amongst my change.

 

My collecting future was cemented when my grandfather left a partial set of Indian Head cents in a Library of Coins album when he died. Each of the oldest grandson of his children received an album. I am the only one of the three to still have the album. I have added to it as well.

 

Nowadays, I have been concentrating on US bicentennial numismatics. I am going to try my first exhibit with the bicentennial collectibles at the Baltimore Show in June. I have also collecting New York numismatics (coins, paper money, tokens, medals, etc.), postcards from places I've been or lived, and lapel pins based on my travels and other personal topics. And the only baseball cards I collect are from the Jewish Major Leaguers, which includes a set from the inaugural year of the Israeli Baseball League.

 

( Scott may remember the place...called "Coins of The Realm" on Rockville Pike..conveniently located next to an Entemanns Bakery )..

Coins of the Realm still exists. The owner is in his 80s and his son is in his 60s. They are in the same location that happens to be in the same shopping center as the Entemanns--who moved to the end of that strip mall--and next to a Halal butcher. There is a rumor that the owners may consider selling the business so they can retire. I'm thinking about it!!

 

Scott

[BillJones]

I've been a collector since I was ten years old. At Christmas 1959 my uncle got me started when he gave me the 13th edition of the Red Book along with the two Lincoln cent folders that went from 1909 to 1959. I lost interest in the Lincolns and did not finish that set until 1983, but I did get hooked in Indian cents, type coins and the eight piece and then 12 piece gold type set. I finished the Indian cent set, but then lost my shirt on them when the market collapsed in the late 1960s.

 

Back in the 1960s gold coins were either some circulated grade or "BU." If you were picky, you could put together a set of "BU" gold type coins that fell into the MS-64 or 65 range for less than $100 each. I paid what was considered high retail back then because I dealt only with large dealers in order to avoid counterfeits. For example some dealers were selling "BU" $5 Liberty gold coins for $27, but I paid $35 because I was picky and would pay the premiums to legitimate dealers. I paid $47.50 for a $10 Liberty that ultimately landed in an MS-65 holder.

 

Twenty Dollar gold pieces were advertised in the trade publications for $49.95, but those coins were usually pretty hacked up. I paid $75 at the time for pieces that ended up in MS-64 holders. It was a great time to collect gold coins, best most of the 1960s coin investors and speculators thought that gold coins were “safe” but not good investments.

 

Sadly a minor lack of funds cost me on some good deals later. For example I could only scrap together $300 for a Three Dollar gold piece, which bought an AU at that time. A “BU” piece sold for $400. Later on my AU ended up in an MS-62 holder and was worth $1,400 or so when I sold it. BUT if I had had the extra $100, the coin would have been worth $3,500 or so.

 

[Jakeblue]

I never really collected as youngster, but the "kid" bug for collecting hit me a few years ago.

 

I started collecting coins in 1999 when the US Mint started the State quarter program. I would dutifully buy a roll from each Mint as each state was released. I would also buy the silver and proof sets. In fact, I purchased several of the giant plastic Coke bank bottles and would put every state quarter in loose change I would get in them. Then, when the Presidential dollar program started, I bought the rolls and proof sets. I would go to the bank and buy all their loose dollars. They loved me for taking them off their hands.

 

Very content until...

 

In the spring of 2008, I was surfing eBay and by happenstance, I came across a 1901 Legal Tender $10 "Bison" note. I was amazed. My knowledge of paper money went as far back as the 1960's and 70's of my youth.

 

Well, I bought the paper money collecting book authored by Ira and Arthur Friedberg and was hooked. I preceded to cash in all my bottles of "coke" (over $5000 in change) and eventually sold all my quarter rolls. I bought at least one type note of Federal Reserve, Legal, Silver, and gold. Several KCMO banknotes and some very nice brownbacks also were bought.

 

Very content until...

 

I started looking at the coin listings on auction websites. What the heck was a Morgan? Why was a "Carson City" morgan so expensive? So, I bought the books "Mint on Carson Street" and "Gold Coins of Carson City Mint" and was hooked again!

 

Sold all my notes and started buying Carson silver and gold. The gold will absolutely destroy your budget. The Carson collection has turned over a couple of times as my knowledge increased... and then I expanded it to seeking New Orleans morgans and some select CC and NO VAMS.

 

Phew, this hobby is part obsession and all fun, but can be very $$. I have now turned the NO set over a couple of times and have not updated the list or photos for some time now. I think I am just about done (for now) with just a couple select year/grade with the right 'look' that is still proving to be elusive.

 

Still, would not change it and have thoroughly enjoyed every minute. Probably a good thing that I started much later as opposed to when I was a kid; never could of afforded much of anything back then.

 

 

[supertooth]

jackson64 and all the folks

 

Did I collect as a kid? Baseball and baseball cards---is that a separate story.

 

But, I was an only child and we lived with my grandparents. My grandmother gave me 5 bucks a week allowance---my grandfather gave me a buck a week. So, in 1954--55 era, I had 6 bucks a week to spend. By the late 1950's, my blue Whitman books were doing quite well. I started to save virtually everything---if it dated 1940 or before.

 

I had the added benefit of taking care of virtually ALL of the stuff sold at school. Was in charge of milk and orange juice monies---as well as ALL of the candy money. We sold gosh knows how much stuff for the nuns. And, old Bob here got to go through ALL the change----every day. I kept one pocket of money that was to go back home. And the other pocket was money that I kept to trade coins for the coins that I wanted in change. Quite an operation that I had going on.

 

Well, I had an old chest of drawers upstairs. Very sturdy it was---except for the actual shelving material. It sat in the hallway right outside my bedroom. I used it for years to put all my loose money. It got pretty heavy over time.

 

One day, when all of us were sitting in the kitchen downstairs----well, you may have guessed it, a very loud crashing started to occur. At first, all of us wondered what it was?? But, I soon figured out EXACTLY what it was---and tried to reassure my dad that all was well. Didn't work----as we were both heading up the stairs in unison. And, naturally, all the coins were still rolling around EVERYWHERE on the hard wood flooring---with my dad all wide--eyed at what he was witnessing. Conservatively---there was hundreds of bucks worth of pre 1940 coins of ALL denominations. The bottom of that old chest of drawers had finally given way---and, as the weight from one drawer went to the next, well---it collapsed too. It must have looked like a fortune to my dad.

 

Actually, as I look back on it now, it was quite "funny". My hoarding had been discovered---and my dad had a serious discussion with his parents. My grandmother calmly informed my dad that the boy was "SAVING" his money. She would have no part in my dad thinking that I SHOULD NOT have more money than he had in his bank account.

 

It all worked out great until I went to college----whereupon my dad got his revenge. He put his hand out to me--shook it and wished me good luck at school. Then proceeded to inform me that it was about time that I used some of my gains for school. "It is about time that you cash in those coins and all your bonds". At the time, it seemed a bit harsh to me. As I look back on it, he was a VERY WISE man in his own way. There is more to the story--but that is enough for now. Have FUN in your collecting. Bob [supertooth]

[jackson64]

great story Bob..thanks for sharing it and please write again as time allows. I'm curious as to how you liquidated $100's of pre 1940 coinage into college tuition...I'm sure that investing in college may have been an even better investment than the return on the circulated silver hoard?

[stinkycheese1]

I have OCD and collected many things as a kid. One that has always come back was coins and numismatic, especially gold coins. Let's see, some other things I have been VERY interested in, obessed with, rocks and minerals, gold in general, gold coins, beanie babies, pokemon cards, magic (sleight of hand, illusions and stuff), pogs, marbles..etc

 

That's all I can remember off the top of my head.

 

I remember used to obess that my beanie babies were fake, so I bought a beanie baby fake guide detector when they were hot. I had to go to mcdonalds everyday to get all of them when they had their promotion. When I learned about fake coins, th at opened a whole new world. I remember telling my dad about fake coins, and he said "How could anyone fake a coin?".

 

I remember getting an olympic silver coin from korea for my birthday in 4th grade. I was elated. When my friend catherine went to greece she brought me back 2 coins from there..I was 6 at the time. I was 4 when my uncle gave me a mexican coin.

 

I bought my first gold coin in 1997, when I was 9. It was an american eagle, 1/4 oz gold uncirculated. I remember saving up all my birthday, and christmas money for it. It cost 89$ at the time.

 

In 2008 I attended a class in Phoenix from the ANA On counterfeit and altered coin detection with Brian Silliman of NGC as the teacher.

 

Since then I've been determined to be a good authenticator of gold coins..I've bought many books on the subject and have read them all, still I found out that if you're not familiar with a paticular series, i.e know what a geniune coin looks like it makes determining if a coin is counterfeit much more difficult.

[supertooth]

jackson64---- Well, seeing as how you asked, I'll try to sort of finish it out a bit.

 

First---It came as quite a shock, at 18, that my dad was all in favor of my continued schooling. You see, I knew that I wanted to be a dentist since I had been 13 years old. But, a simple handshake from my dad ??

 

The real kicker here was Barb. I had fallen in love at first sight at 16. My dad just couldn't see me making it through school. I guess he had not enough FAITH in both our resolves.

 

I ended up marrying Barb at 20-----by that time she had given up college after 2 years and gone to work for the B and O railroad. She transfered to Philly and we started our married life. I still had my coins----as Barb's job was a good one for the times. After graduation from college, she transfered back with me to Maryland for dental school. I still had my coins-----and, because I worked in the Summers, it was working out. My parents let me stay at home. By this time, my dad had long since fallen in love with Barb----but I still got NO financial help.

 

At any rate, the railroad had been great to Barb [ they loved the two kids trying to get Bob thru schooling]. It was a sort of like "EVERYBODY" did their part to help----but never any actual monies from EITHER set of parents. Just adjunct kind of help. But----I still had my coins.

 

After graduation in 1973, I actually started to make money----12,000 bucks the first year working nights. That was a FORTUNE to me---as in that first 6 months I had earned more money than my dad had EVER grossed in a whole year. Naturally, as all working kids found out, I was amazed at what the tax man got. My wife had been an accounting major. My mother--in--law did taxes. I was simply an observer----signing my name. Actually, when I think about it, it has been that way my entire life.

 

During this time----I was still collecting and I still had my coins---but I had made the decision [ a few years prior] to start collecting CC twenties----I had a few "extra" bucks now. For that 10 years of my life---I was hooked on Carson City Gold. One day, in Coin World was an 1871CC twenty in XF for 2750

 

In short order---in ONE day actually----ALMOST EVERY extra coin that I owned at that time was exchanged to buy that one coin. I did keep my main sets---including my two Walker sets. But, if you could have seen me moving, you would have thought that there was a fire right next to me.. At that time, it was an awful lot of money to trade my accumulation for a single coin. In ALL this time, my dear wife had NEVER said a word. She simply TRUSTED ME. I think that she thought that my coins were a separate issue----most of which had occured before we were married.

 

To this day, I often wonder what would have happened had I not bought that coin?? Did I actually really gain money---or loose money?? I will "NEVER" really know. I can tell you that a lot of right out of the mint bags Morgan dollars---mostly 1921 coins---all BU----went through that dealer's counting machine that one day. I even took wheat pennies too. Heck, I simply DO NOT remember what I didn't get rid of that day. But, I did get that coin. In effect, I traded dollar for dollar until I had enough to buy the coin..

 

It is still a VERY long story from then on out. Things happened after that. I will just say that I "NEVER" saw a dimes profit out of all my efforts. Funny how some things turn out to be "MORE IMPORTANT" than money. Sometimes, in life, you got to make choices that you DO NOT want to make. In my case, I made the "RIGHT" choice. And I'm glad that I did what I did. However, I do, at times, think about what I gave up---and what they would have been worth today. But that is ANOTHER story.

 

Again, when I started back into serious collecting----because my son just "HAD" to collect, my dear Barb still went right along with me----except this time I picked Walkers cause I couldn't even begin to think about the CC twenties again [ far more money than I had to spend]. Through now 42 years of marriage, she's really NEVER messed with my collecting. My story really did turn out well.

 

Someday, maybe I'll tell the story of my 80 bucks worth of Buff nickels. Bob [supertooth]

[jackson64]

thanks again Bob...I love collecting stories and yours was great. It seems we have quite a bit in common.....we both love Walker's, we both live in Maryland, we both picked a medical field, and we are both lucky enough to have wives who trust us when it comes to coin purchases ( although Marianne and I keep seperate accounts--which I recommend highly !!)

 

 

[Mark T]

I believe I started to collect in 1968 when I was 11 years old. I would go to my Dads pharmacy a couple of times a week to look thru all the coin rolls. I remember when I found my first 1909-VDB and ran around the store yelling I found a 1909-VDB over and over. I am pretty sure I started because I picked up a coin holder from the JJ Newberry’s next to Dads store. Another great day was when most of the rolls Dad picked up at the bank were loaded with Silver Quarters and dimes. People had already started to hoard silver coins so this was a great find. I remember buying the coinage magazines and buying some of the grab bag junk that was advertised. Yes the same damm scams were alive and well 40 years ago pre EBAY !!

Other then coins I also collected rocks , had chemistry sets, microscopes , telescopes and anything else that was scientific. I went to college in 1975 and stopped collecting until my interested was renewed again in 1986. I collected again for maybe a year and then stopped until I started up again in 2008. I had decided to sell off all the bulk silver I had accumulated when I was a kid on EBAY. I was debating whether I should sell off the rest of my collection but realized how much I loved coins and decided to collect again. I remember one of my first posts on this board was debating Tom B and Mark Feld about dipped coins in top tier holders. I did not have a clue what I was talking about, and that I picked a couple of the smartest guys on the board to argue my point. I realized after, that I should shut up listen, and learn !!