just thought i would post something very random about a coin of mine. a coin that i really never gave 2 thoughts to until recently. a coin that is now my favorite coin in my collection. it's my 1851 large cent. nothing fancy, just an everyday, worn large cent. well, this coin used to be in my dad's collection. but my dad never bought a coin, EVER, he only roll searched. he used to tell me that to pay more than face for a coin was a waste of money. so i began to wonder how my dad came into possession of this coin. i called him a few days ago and asked him about it. he said, "your great-grandfather owned it, gave it to your grandpa, who gave it to me. now it's yours." COOL!! a family heirloom, of sorts. then i began to think about it more. how did great-grandpa get the coin? he was born in 1883, well after large cents weren't in circulation. was it my great-great-grandpa's before that? well, he was born in 1856, so it's possible. then i came up with my "romantic hopeful theory." my 3rd-great-grandparents were married in 1853. maybe it was theirs to commemorate the year they met?? i like to think so. thanks for reading. hope you enjoyed my theory, and a little history about an everyday coin.
A neat theory and history. Now you need to collect coins for each generation of grandpa's http://www.cointalk.com/t194866/#post1300366
ok, you convinced me. i've had my eye on a coin for quite some time (well over 6 months). i am buying it! be sure to look for a new post in the world a coin section in a week or so. or should i add it to this thread??? (not rhetorical, i actually want opinoins)
Cool story. It's possible that your great-grandpa, if he wasn't old enough to get the coin in circulation, might have been a collector also. If he was, I'm sure that wherever he is right now he's got a big smile on his face, knowing that his collection has been passed down this many generations and a decendant is appreciating it. I cringe whenever i hear someone selling off an older relatives collection. The money they get from it can in no way be worth more than the history.
Nice story and family history. One of my favorite coins in my collection is a 1830 bust half that belonged to my grandfather, whom I never met. My mother handed it down to me, and one day I will hand it down to my children.
I hear what you're saying. But when my parents pass, my brother and I will have to figure out what to do with several sets of china; they're probably collectible, but only one was ever used in our memory, so we have zero sentimental attachment to them. That's just one example; I'm sure most of us have many others. If you don't know the history of an item, it might as well have none. And if you keep everything, you eventually suffocate under it.
i disagree. i only have 1 coin that i know any kind of history to it. does that mean i have only 1 coin worth keeping? what about my roman coins? (i know they have history, only i can't say what that history is.) or what about my medieval coins? (same issue as the roman coins...) or my indian head cent collection? (same issue as the roman coins...) sometimes history starts with one person. sometimes, that history is as big as the imagination as the person who holds it.
Of course known history isn't the only thing that makes a coin worth keeping. I interpreted d.t.menace's comment as referring to family history. And that's what I was talking about, too. The coin might have been given to a nearly-forgotten great-grandfather by an even-more-nearly-forgotten great-great-great-grandfather -- but if nobody alive knows the story, that story is lost, and keeping the coin in the family can't bring it back. Its known history starts with whoever currently holds it.
Interesting history. I also have an 1850 large cent that is in VERY similar condition. It was passed down from my Great Uncle
