New Coin Collector: Hello from Canada! 1 1

[Bel_Izeard]

I've just begun getting into coin collecting. It wasn't something I really planned on doing, but my mom was downsizing from her house to an apartment and she had a whole bunch of older coins that she collected on her travels for work (Tupperware and then later as a travel agent) and for vacations with my dad or, later, my step-father. (Some of the coins were my step-father's.) My mom also had a few old Canadian silver coins (mainly 50% collector coins), but I decided to sell those for their silver value (along with some of her silver collector spoons). She also let me have some foreign bills, but I don't think those are as cool as the coins. (Two of the bills were $1 CAN and $1 US bills that were in the back of my old babybook. Heh.)

So, now, not only do I have many Canadian coins in my new collection, but also various foreign coins from Australia, Barbados, Costa Rica, Hong Kong, Hungary, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Singapore, Sweden, the UK, the USA, etc.. She also gave me several casino tokens, medals, and other Exonumia including two Chinese-Canada Friendship medals from 1984.

I really love the Australia, Barbados, and Hong Kong coins! There is also an amazing 1963 Finnish 50 Pennia, which is one of my favourites. Another great coin is a 1968 Swiss 2 Francs. 

However, I think the best coins I have in my growing collection are two UK 1 Shillings from 1950 and 1955.

Anyway, I just thought I'd share my new coin collecting joy,

Cheers!

Bel Izeard

p.s. I also got a bunch of cool postcards from the 1980s and 90s. I don't think any of them are older than the 80s.

[Bel_Izeard]

She also gave me this more recently.

[Greenstang]

Welcome to the NGC Chatboard.

There are several members here ( including myself) from Canada. Hope you enjoy your stay here.   
We have many knowledgeable members in all aspects of  Numasmitics. Feel free to ask any questions
you may have. Always supply a clear photo of both sides of the coin you are referring to.

[powermad5000]

Hello and welcome to the forum and the hobby!

I hope you find as much enjoyment in it as most of us here do! 

Cool collection to inherit! Kudos!

[Bel_Izeard]

On 4/27/2024 at 5:31 PM, Greenstang said:

Welcome to the NGC Chatboard.

There are several members here ( including myself) from Canada. Hope you enjoy your stay here.   
We have many knowledgeable members in all aspects of  Numasmitics. Feel free to ask any questions
you may have. Always supply a clear photo of both sides of the coin you are referring to.

Thanks for the welcome! Glad to meet another Canadian on these forums.

When it comes to forums, I tend to lurk more than post, but I might have some questions at some point. I've been doing research on my coin on Numista, so I have some idea of what I have in my collection. I also have to admit I've started watch coin roll hunts on YouTube. It's not something I can afford to do myself, but its fun to watch at least.

 

On 4/27/2024 at 10:20 PM, powermad5000 said:

Hello and welcome to the forum and the hobby!

I hope you find as much enjoyment in it as most of us here do! 

Cool collection to inherit! Kudos!

Thanks!

It's been a lot of fun. I've begun the process of putting the best coins of my collection into coin flips.

And, yes, I'm really happy with the coins my mom gave to me. While a lot of them were hers, there were others that belonged to my step-father. He passed away during COVID (but not from COVID). My mom stayed in their house for a while but late last year she was finally able to get into a great seniors building. Now she has a nice apartment, but it's not very big, so she had to downsize... a lot. Thus, she gave me most of the coins I now have. (My sister and I did have a bunch of Canadian 1 cent coins previously.)

I've been learning a lot about Canadian, UK, and US coins. I haven't really delved too much into the history of the other coins. I'll probably look for more information on the Australian and Hong Kong coins next.

Anyway, thanks again for the welcome.

Cheers!

Bel

[Just Bob]

Welcome to the forum. I am sorry for the loss of your stepfather. It is nice that he was able to pass along his coins to you.

One word of advice: be very careful when watching YouTube coin videos. Many are created just to get clicks and likes, and are full of misinformation and outright lies. This is particularly true of the ones that claim that you can easily find valuable coins in your pocket change. While it has happened in the past, the odds of finding something valuable are so small they are almost nil. Your time and effort will be much better spent learning about the coins you like.

Happy collecting!

[Bel_Izeard]

On 4/28/2024 at 7:35 AM, Just Bob said:

Welcome to the forum. I am sorry for the loss of your stepfather. It is nice that he was able to pass along his coins to you.

One word of advice: be very careful when watching YouTube coin videos. Many are created just to get clicks and likes, and are full of misinformation and outright lies. This is particularly true of the ones that claim that you can easily find valuable coins in your pocket change. While it has happened in the past, the odds of finding something valuable are so small they are almost nil. Your time and effort will be much better spent learning about the coins you like.

Happy collecting!

Thank you, it is appreciated. We lost him in 2020 just the pandemic began to take over the world. It was really hard on my mom. I liked him well enough, but he wasn't my dad. My dad was my dad even after my parents got divorced in the early 2000s. What was a lot harder for me was losing my dad to cancer a year later (almost to the day). He was diagnosed, went into hospice care, and was gone two weeks later. It was a crushing blow for my sister and I.

My step-father didn't pass his coins onto me so much as my mom just gave them to me along with her coins. I asked my step-sister if it was okay to take them, and she was fine with it. Well, she seemed fine with it. My step-siblings can best be described as minimalist intellectuals. Anyway, I was glad to take them. And I will take care of them. He and my mom kept their coins in little plastic bags or taped to white cardboard with scotch tape.

And, yes, I know that anything that I watch on YouTube must be taken with a entire shaker of salt... poured out everywhere and thrown into the air. (Heh.) It's more about entertainment value than anything else. The same as watching movie trailers on IMDB. But, I appreciate the advice.

While I haven't found anything valuable in my pocket change, I do look at my pocket change more now. I came across a very nice Canadian 2023 quarter as a result. It's the first year with King Charles III, so I decided to hang onto that one. In the past, I've often found American pennies (and a few other US coins) in my change but nothing spectacular. It happens. I have a few US quarters and a handful of US pennies. I'm not sure if they all came from my step-father's collection. Regardless, there isn't anything highly valuable among those coins.

Cheers!

Bel

Edited April 28 by Bel_Izeard

[Coinbuf]

Hello and welcome to the forum.  

[Bel_Izeard]

On 4/28/2024 at 8:34 PM, Coinbuf said:

Hello and welcome to the forum.  

Thanks! Cheers! 

[J P M]

Oh I forgot to say Welcome ,Bel

[JKK]

Nice to have another of the eh-Team on board here. I didn't know we had any; 'Stang never mentioned, or I never saw. Tough life impacts you had there, man, hang in.

I like pre-Confederation stuff especially, and I appreciate the straightforwardness of the RCNA grading system. The Charlton book is a wonder. I had to get one in order to help some good friends up in Trail get their folks' collection squared away and enjoyed the learning.

I don't know if you care at all about registry sets, but if you do, evidently one of our local collectors has like the champion Canadian cent set. I can ask for details if you'd be interested in seeing it.

[Bel_Izeard]

On 4/29/2024 at 5:02 AM, J P M said:

Oh I forgot to say Welcome ,Bel

Thanks!

 

On 4/29/2024 at 7:42 AM, JKK said:

Nice to have another of the eh-Team on board here. I didn't know we had any; 'Stang never mentioned, or I never saw. Tough life impacts you had there, man, hang in.

I like pre-Confederation stuff especially, and I appreciate the straightforwardness of the RCNA grading system. The Charlton book is a wonder. I had to get one in order to help some good friends up in Trail get their folks' collection squared away and enjoyed the learning.

I don't know if you care at all about registry sets, but if you do, evidently one of our local collectors has like the champion Canadian cent set. I can ask for details if you'd be interested in seeing it.

Thank you.

I'm still learning, so, no, I don't know what a registry set is. I'm going to go at my own pace and learn as a go along. I do like collecting books too, so I'll probably invest in coin books at some point.

I'm finding that I really like coins from Asia and Europe. The Hong Kong ones I now have are very cool. I'll have to share those on here some other day.

Cheers!

Bel

[Sandon]

On 4/29/2024 at 1:24 PM, Bel_Izeard said:

I'll probably invest in coin books at some point.

   We have an old but still valid expression, "buy the book before the coin." Knowledge is vital for more enjoyment of collecting and avoiding costly mistakes. For collecting Canadian coins, the Charlton catalogs and guides are, I understand, considered basic references. See https://www.charltonpress.com/collections/current-editions/products/canadian-coins-vol-1-numismatic-issues-2024-2025-77th-edition and related pages on that site.  For U.S. coins this would be the "Red Book" and other resources described in the following topic:

 

[Lem E]

Welcome to the forum.