How many years for you?

39 years, since age 8.

 

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Since 1968. I got a paper route and had the "joy" of collecting. Lots of change to sort. I had that darn route for 10 years! I started buying from the mint somewhere around the mid 70's.

 

after 25 years i stopped counting

 

so then, what do you call what you do?

 

Playing cat and mouse with spock? Oh wait, different hobby.

Phoenix

 

lol

 

1972 for me... 36 years and counting!

 

Since 1990s... oh how the time flies.

 

wow, IO had no idea you dont collect anymore, I was actually getting curious why you never post pictures anymore.
Interesting. Isnt it hard not to start again after handling nice coins all day? and studying different varietys and such..

 

45 years offf and on most serious in the last five years

 

Since the mid-late 60's sorting wheats at my uncle's coin shop in Detroit.

Took a few years off now and then for rock-n-roll, poker, and my other biz. Have been back seriously for a cpl years now.

 

The hobby encompasses so much more than just collecting pieces of metal. There is so much rich history and intrigue around coins. I personally view numismatics as a branch of history and anthropology. The advancement of civilizations and cultural influences throughout the world can be seen and studied through numismatics.

The collecting is only one venue of studying and appreciating this history first hand.

I was introduced to this hobby when I turned ten years old in 1981. My birth-father handed down his coin collection to me as a birthday present. There were hundreds of coins, each different from one another, from a plethora of countries. The coins were intriguing because they were mostly not from the U.S., and thus not coins I had seen before. There were also indian head nickels and cents, and I was shown how to search rolls for more.

My uncle added by passing on coins he had collected throughout Asia on his many tours in the service throughout the late 60's and 70's, and had a story for each one.

It was not until after I graduated from high school that I realized that there was so much to numismatics that one could not even begin to glean the wealth of information available on the subject within one's lifetime.

There are so many books, and so much accumulated knowledge that others have already made available about our hobby, that it would be impossible to take it all in.

Yet, I still cannot imagine not having at least a small stash of coins to handle and admire in person...something to call a "collection" of your favorites. With all the wealth of information available, there's still nothing like the cold hard feel of metal in one's hand, and the wonder of who, what, when, where, how, and why about that little hunk of metal we call coins.

 

I started accumulating foreign coins when I was in the Navy back in 1960. Started collecting in earnest in 1963. Quit about two years ago and gave my collection to a son who is into coins. Still have my library though. He gets that when I check out.

 

Since 1957, but with gaps. I started with Whitman folders--Lincolns, Jeffersons, Buffaloes (yes, in 1957, they were still in circulation!!) Mercury dimes and Roosevelts. I also put aside the occasional Standing Liberty Quarter and Liberty Walking Half.

 

Same here but a little earlier...1964. Man did I get a lot of Franklins and Walkers back then.

 

I'm just guessing here...I don't keep track.....8 almost 9 years. In the first few years I bought coins like I was nuts. Now I buy just a few each year....but those few are GEM, and dates I need for my sets I'm working on.

Speedy

 

same here, now it is time for those damn pricey ones!

 

Not really sure, I know I was saving coins when I was very young, but not quite sure how old I was then. The only problem is, that for me numismatics trumps all my other hobbies, aviation, model railroads, fine art.