Your First Coin

[braden j.-migration]

What was your very first coin you got to begin your collection?

and how much did it cost?

[DaveG]

I started collecting when I was a kid in the mid-1960s.

 

I started with Mercury dimes, because they were still in circulation where I lived. I also accumulated silver Roosevelt dimes because they were being replaced by clad coins. I collected dimes (from circulation) because they fit into my budget.

 

I also collected Wheat cents from circulation - also because they fit into my budget.

 

I didn't collect Indian Head nickels because the coins I found in circulation usually didn't have dates.

[dragon]

My first coin was a heavily circulated and corroded 1848 large cent purchased for me by a friend of my dad who took me to my first coin and stamp show at a hotel in downtown Chicago. I think he paid something like two or three dollars for it at the time, and I was thrilled to have it.

[cpm9ball]

To be honest, I don't remember the date/mm of my first coin. It was a Morgan silver dollar, and I won it gambling at my hometown poolroom in 1957. I was 10 years old and was playing 9-Ball with a local teen named Joe. When we quit playing, he owed me $5, so he gave me four $1 and the silver dollar. I had never seen one before, so I took it to the bank where I had my savings account and asked the teller if she had any more like it. She spread a bunch across the counter, and I picked out four more with my winnings. After that, it became my habit to go to the bank after winning at pool (I rarely lost!) to get more silver dollars at face value. By the early 60's, I had accumulated about 800 Morgans.

 

Chris

[AcesKings]

I started out sorting wheat penny rolls, but this is the first single coin I bought. My records show I paid $8 for it the time.

 

[jpcienkus]

What got me interested in collecting was a 2009 ASE sent to me for free by a MN company soliciting me to invest in Silver.

 

 

[seventee]

1899 IHC that I found in the family garden dirt.I traded the piece for a couple of BB card packs with the bubble gum at the local grocery store.I can still smell the bubble gum.Never did find a Mantle.

[wdrob]

 

I can still smell the bubble gum.Never did find a Mantle.

 

Hahaha!

 

That brought back memories. Ahhh - such simpler times.

 

 

 

 

 

[Matt_dac]

I can't remember for sure....either a Lincoln Wheat penny or a Buffalo nickel given to me by an Uncle in the late 70's.

[cpm9ball]

1899 IHC that I found in the family garden dirt.I traded the piece for a couple of BB card packs with the bubble gum at the local grocery store.I can still smell the bubble gum.Never did find a Mantle.

 

When I was a pre-teen, I found a (Civil War?) cannonball in the hillside across from our house, and I traded it to the Good Humor driver for a box of Toasted Almond bars.

 

Chris

[TJ'S Coins]

My uncle gave me a Franklin Half and a Peace Dollar when I was a wee lad.

[orifdoc]

I bought this back in the day when issued. If I remember correctly I was a Freshman in High School. The whole ASE thing was brand new and it seemed pretty enough. The purchase kept me on the mint's mailing list for a few years. It sat forgotten in a box for a couple decades until I finally sent it in to fill out an 8-coin "free grading" submission. I don't know how much it cost, but silver was around $5/oz at the time.

 

Oddly, today it remains the only proof coin in my collection, my only slabbed ASE, and the only modern "collectible" mint product I own:

 

[James_OldeTowne]

My first coins cost 5-cents each, because they were Jefferson nickels pulled out of circulation. I put together a surprisingly nice set from 1938 - 1964, except for the silver coins, of which I have never found even one in change (since the 1970s).

[clydedenver]

Rolls of Wheat Cents for $2 each at a local community rummage sale. First real prize coin was a raw straight VG 1895-O Morgan for just over $200 almost one year later.

[david3142]

My first coins cost 5-cents each, because they were Jefferson nickels pulled out of circulation. I put together a surprisingly nice set from 1938 - 1964, except for the silver coins, of which I have never found even one in change (since the 1970s).

 

I started going through rolls of Jefferson nickels in the early 90s. I was able to find a lot of them, including maybe 10 silver coins over the years. I never found a 50, 50-D, 46-S or a few of the 38 and 39 mint-marked coins.

[rrantique]

circa 1957 hurricane Audrey central Louisiana found in tree roots on school grounds.