Whats a good age to give a kid a coin collection?

I have been thinking 8-10 years old. I have been starting coin collections for my boys. I am doing 20th century type sets (nothing to fancy the whole set will likely have a value of $300 when its done, the better coins in the set obviously being the Morgan and Peace Dollars and the Type 1 Standing Liberty Quarter) in the Whitman albums for each boy along with proof sets from the year they were born. I was thinking of adding the commemorative dollars and the silver proof sets from there birth years as well. I figured its a great way to start as you can see the different designs of all the coins and it has a little value.

I am just not sure what the good age is to give it to them, I gotta little while but you always just hear about those kids who get into there parents collections and spend them at the store and I figured if they knew about coins and had there own collections they'd be less likely do so. My 4 year old is already learning about money, hes funny he will be like twenty dollars that's not that many dollars. And any coins he finds he puts in his piggy bank. I wanna pass on the hobby and also educate at the same time just can't figure what a good age is.

What age do you guys think is a good age to pass on the sets.

 

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I wouldn't push it. If they see that you're interested, they will probably eventually get some interest too. Ask them to look for coins for your collection out of circulation as a nice and cheap birthday gift. I have my older daughters on the west coast look for Denver mint coins each year around Christmas. I must say that they aren't into it but they seem to get better at it each year. I think that coin collecting does require someone to ease you into it. Honey is better than a hammer.

 

at the age that you believe they are responsible enough to care for them, started my kid roll searching for pre 60 nickels when he was 8, put them in a whitman folder, he took care of them right up to the day that he "needed" a new pack of yugioh cards...

 

The day the child is born is a good time.

I agree that about age eight, the child has enough general awareness of the world, that it has lands and peoples with histories, to begin collecting coins or stamps.

We had more books in the home than some of the libraries in the towns we live in, but our daughter was about 10 or 12 when she was surprised to learn that cowboys did not listen to rock 'n' roll and that hippies did not invent homosexuality.

Just to say, the receiving of the collection is part of the process of being able to appreciate it. I have grand nephews 5 and 6 and nieces and nephews 5 to 15 and in every case I never hesitated to send coins or banknotes or something like that for holidays and birthdays. Worst case, the kid who does not care loses them to the kid who does.

 

I gave my kids 1 cent books when they were 7 & 9. they took a little intrust, but neither really a lot.

 

Maybe 6, maybe 20, maybe never. It depends.....

 

They did a study of adults that loved reading. After a very detailed statistical analysis, they found that the adults that liked reading came from homes with lots of books in their home as childen. Although that analysis sounds reasonable, the study also found no correlation with parents reading to children and the child as an adult loving reading. It had more to do with the availability of books in the home. As the father of two bright girls who love reading, I think that it has to do with pushing things onto children. If they see the parent reading but not pushing, they think it is something special. If they see you pushing it on them, they find it work, not interesting, and do something else.

 

Ah! At what age is a child right for Yugioh, or Hulk comics, or baseball cards, or going to the science museum? I mean, my daughter never cared for coins, sorry to say. She collected rocks.

See above from Phil.

Calvin: I am going to be rich! But it won't change me.
Dad: Too bad; that was our last hope.
Calvin: You're going to be lonely in that nursing home.
Dad: Good. Then maybe I can finish reading this book.

 

this is a great topic. i have 2 coin collections. the first is my personal numismatic and bullion hoard. the second is my sentimental and unique collection. i have a 2 year old who already shows signs of enjoying coins. every night we take all of mommy and daddys change, look it over for anything special, and then individually put each one into her piggy bank. the simple jingling of coins will set her into a frenzy and running off to her room pointing at the piggy bank yelling "coins! coins!"

she has come with me to a few shows and is beyond her years, she will hold my hand and be silent as i negotiate or go through a collection. its as if she knows there is something special about all those coins in one place. as soon as she says she wants to start collecting, i am going to give her the second collection to start with. its value is probably $500-$800. nothing crazy, but a few truly unique coins in amazing condition. my bullion collection is mine. one day when i move on to the next phase i will leave it to my children in the hopes that the only way it ever leaves our family is if a tragedy struck.

i think they need to show true interest.

 

My five year old loves collecting right now, but it's not collecting like you or I do it. I almost killed his interest when he was four because I started in with 2x2s, labeling, whitman books, etc. He just wanted to play with the coins. To enjoy them he needed to be able to not just look but feel.

He LOVES collecting world coins. Just this past week we spent an hour at the coin shop sifting through the 5 for a dollar bin. It was a great experience for the both of us and when he matures I'm sure he'll get into collecting the more expensive stuff and not spend his collection on Pokemon cards.

I'm learning to not rush him. I've pushed with reading and now it's a chore. I've pushed with legos and he lost interest. It's not that I'm demanding, I just would like to share what I love with him. He loves to cook because he sees me do it and I never force him to help. So I recommend you don't push the collection... it'll come when it comes. But take your kids to coin shows. We have a big one that comes twice a year and people give stuff to kids for free. Again, the world coins are a hit with my kid, plus collecting pocket change is fun too.

A word on the shows. I've learned to leave when my son's ready. I could stay there all day. I'm lucky if I can look at the stuff I like for 5 minutes, but it's all good.

 

I wish we had a store with 5 for a buck bins. My kids would love that. Be thankful!

 

I only wish my father had given (willed?) his collection to me. It would have been properly curated and appreciated. Alas, twas not to be.....

 

38. AFTER college. AFTER wedding. AFTER kids. By minimising the times/circumstances of financial strain, you reduce the risk that they'll dump it for 1/10 it's value from some quick cash.

 

Birth

 

Give it to them at an early age but keep a sharp eye on it.

 

And hope for the best.......

I agree with giving something numismaticly inclined to the young folks. Just not something so over their heads that they lose appreciation for what they have. Keep the kids 'grounded' and make them worthy of what we've attained.......

 

Whatever age they are when they decide they actually want to collect coins.

 

Oh I totally get not trying to inject our own habits into the collection. I started with the Harris folder for it then remembered how much I hate folders and went with the albums instead. I had thought about doing pocket pieces that they could hold out of the albums maybe doing them as 100 year old coins. Like this half dollar was made 100 years before you were born kind of thing. Thought it would be cool to do 100 year old silver dollars but they didn't make em those years.

I am totally a type collector myself. I want to do British and Canadian type sets eventually and I started a world governmental bullion set. I like variety.

 

Depends on the maturity level of the kid. Maybe you should start out with a small collection of 100 or so wheat pennies. Something neat but not something that is worth thousands of dollars.

 

Instead of giving them completed sets how about encouraging them to start their own. As long as you keep it age appropriate they might get a lot more out of it.
When my son was around four or so I got him a state quarter map folder. He would go through mine and his grandpa's change looking for state quarters. He still couldn't read at the time but he knew his lettters and he could match up the states names on the coin and the folder.
He was gung-ho at first but as the folder got close to being filled the missing ones were getting harder to find and he started losing interest. I had to "salt" my change with coins bought at the local coin shop to keep him looking.
He's twelve now and he has a lot of competing interests, he only occasionally shows an interest in his collection. I don't know if he'll be a lifetime coin collector but at least he's been exposed to it and taught the basic fundamentals. That's about all you can do as a parent. As a couple others have mentioned, don't make it a requirement that they collect. Don't push them, just encourage, keep it fun.