How you got started collecting

Discussion in 'Coin Chat' started by Poot, Apr 16, 2018.

  1. Poot

    Poot Member

    Recently I was able to pass down to my grandson some $2 bills that had been gifts that been given to me by his great-great grandfathers,his great grandfather,and of course myself his granddad. I was also able to give him various books of coins such as a Kennedy half collection from 64 to present date,an SBA complete collection including type 1 and type 2 dollars. Most of these had been passed down to me from my grandfathers and my Dad. It was so rewarding to watch as he receives these coins from past generations. I’m preparing many more with the hopes that he will also one day pass these to his next generations. I hope that you all get a chance such as this as it is why I collect . Coin collecting to me is not just a hobby but also the chance to pass history down to the next generations. Thanks for reading.
     
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  3. Clawcoins

    Clawcoins Damaging Coins Daily

    When I was small I bought something and they gave me change.
    I've been saving change ever since.
    and collecting much more interesting US Coinage. :)

    I also dug up a Mercury cent (see avatar) which got me more into it when I was a young one.

    I now have a good historical collection. Just now wondering if any of my kids are interested. At this point none are interested. Give it more time, if anything I'll enjoy it more myself.
     
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  4. Lawtoad

    Lawtoad Well-Known Member

    When I was about 7 yrs old, the Tooth Fairy left me a Franklin Half for a lost molar. The Tooth Fairy did not realize that a BFH was left and that it was silver. The coin fascinated me and that started it all.
     
  5. Poot

    Poot Member

     
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  6. Poot

    Poot Member

    I think they will eventually as they recall the memories that you will leave behind. I can remember as a young child going to pool halls,beer joints ,etc with my granddad trying to talk the proprietors out of their change so we could go home and spread the haul for the day on the kitchen table to go thru. Then we would roll up the rejects. He also gave me a small collection of brand new Lincoln’s and told me to look closely at them. When I looked closer one had Lincoln smoking a cigar and another had the Batman emblem on it. Needless to say those coins made it to many show and tell days in grade school. But I could never explain their origin as he wouldn’t tell me where he got them,ha.
     
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  7. Poot

    Poot Member

    Please excuse the many mistakes I am probably making . As I am new to the website especially the posting part. I have enjoyed the many posts that I’ve had the pleasure of reading on here by such experienced collectors.
     
  8. lovecoinswalkingliberty

    lovecoinswalkingliberty Well-Known Member

    I got started when I got a Merc for Christmas a few years ago.
     
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  9. V. Kurt Bellman

    V. Kurt Bellman Yes, I'm blunt! Get over your "feeeeelings".

    My dad took one 1963 proof set bought that year, put it in a Capital Plastics holder, gave it to me for my birthday, and I was all in. I still have it.
     
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  10. Sunflower_Coins

    Sunflower_Coins Importer and Exporter

    I found an 1875 quarter in my backyard when I was seven. I took it to a local flea market to see how much it was worth. Fortunately, the owner was a small time dealer who convinced me to keep it, and helped get me hooked on the hobby. He gave me some Whitman folders and often sold me coins at or a little over face value. Whenever I had some spare cash from odd jobs, I would rush over to the market and stare through the glass counter at his assortment of coins, then ask for a bin of Indian cents or V-nickels. I'd eye the coins I couldn't afford, especially those pesky key dates, as I spent my whole $10 on some choice mercs.

    A move, a job, and now college, I ended up buying coins of the internet and hadn't been back for four or five years. I made plans to go back to his old flea market just to stop by and say hello, and found out it burned to the ground last week.
     
  11. Gilbert

    Gilbert Part time collector Supporter

    My dad was a WWII veteran and brought home many coins from countries he had passed through. As far back as I can remember these coins interested me, and my dad did not object to my pawing them over and asking where they had come from. After turning ten years old I took over a paper route for an older friend and weekly looked through the collection for coins to fill the empty holes in coin albums. I guess it was a good time to start collecting because we had several coin stores in town, even though it was a small town. I spent many hours looking at coins and asking the store owners questions, which were answered thoughtfully. Anyway, this is how I started collecting coins.
     
  12. medoraman

    medoraman Supporter! Supporter

    Mine was a 1942 WL half. My mom kept it in one of those plastic safes banks gave out in the 1960's. I learned how to break into it around the age of 4 and did so often. That was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I have been hooked ever since, (with typical lag from 13-22 when I discovered girls and cars).

    My mom passed away 6 years ago, and I still have the coin and the plastic safe bank.
     
  13. Wheatmaster101

    Wheatmaster101 U.S. Cent Collector

    Sad that his place burned down. I wish we had more people like him to encourage new collectors.
     
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  14. sakata

    sakata Devil's Advocate

    I never did start collecting. It just evolved. One day I was buying coins because of their bullion content and then I found I was buying them for their numismatic content.
     
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  15. SchwaVB57

    SchwaVB57 Well-Known Member

    Every birthday and special occasion, I had an Great-uncle that gave each kid an old Liberty Type I Double Eagle. His rule was to save them, since they were all differ dates/mint marks. My father and grand-father also collected cents and Morgan Dollars. I just started pulling coins from rolls and putting them in books. I was also fortunate to start when Buffalo Nickels, Indian cents, Mercury Dimes, a few Barber coins were still were circulating, Walkers, and Old Ben was still being minted. I have bought very few coins in my life, almost everything is inherited, or from circulation.
     
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  16. Sunflower_Coins

    Sunflower_Coins Importer and Exporter

    Yes, not just because it was my childhood, but because it was his life. It was an old brick building just off the highway in the town I grew up near. He lost pretty much everything.
     
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  17. tommyc03

    tommyc03 Senior Member

    It started for me when I was 12. (1966) I worked a full day in the summer weeding and clipping and mowing for my grand mother. She gave me a 1923 Peace dollar and the rest is history. I still have it. I worked every week after that until she emptied an oval bank giver her by her bank that was full to the top with silver coins including war nickels and wheat cents. She told me that it had always been intended for me as the first grandchild.
     
    Last edited: Apr 16, 2018
  18. Randy Abercrombie

    Randy Abercrombie Supporter! Supporter

    My story is similar. Mom gave me a Franklin half in the third grade to buy my lunch with. Still have it fifty years later.
     
  19. Wheels

    Wheels Active Member

    My mom used to keep pocket change in several containers around the house just for the fun of it, she never cashed it. She went to be with the lord and I always kept those containers as she left them. Some years past and one day my dad needed money to buy cigarettes and he did not think twice about cashing out the coins. Long story short, I am carefully guarding the few coins my mom saved that were left in those containers and thats how my interest for coins came about. No person I know has ever been interested in this hobby.
     
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  20. Cherd

    Cherd Junior Member Supporter

    I was at a local estate auction about 15 years ago. One of the lots was for a couple of 1850s cents. I looked at them and said, "Cents used to be that big! What?!". Then the next lot was for a 2 cent piece. I said, "They made 2 cent pieces! WHAT!!?". Peaked my interest, started researching the history of US coinage, went from there.
     
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  21. Maxfli

    Maxfli Well-Known Member

    I've told my story before, and it's much like this one. As a small child I discovered a plastic box on my parents' dresser. Approximately 5" square by a couple of inches tall. It contained coins and currency that my father and my uncle had brought home from the Pacific theater and the European theater of WW2 respectively.

    It probably explains my fascination with world coins for all of my adult life as a collector.
     
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