This topic may have already been covered but I was kind of curious as to whether or not any of your kids are interested in coin collecting with you? What excites them? Are their interests the same as yours? Joe is 6 and already hooked. He has his own little coin wallet that holds 60 flips and may need to expand to a 2nd book soon. He enjoys going to shows with me and getting the freebies to add to his book, as well as picking out a few purchases to add to his own collection. He knows that when he's older, my whole collection will one day be his. For now his biggest thrills are errors, hunting through rolls and filling his folders and random world coins (A novice darksider for ya GDJMSP ). Anything odd or out of the ordinary catches his eye like square coins and anything with holes in it...hence the interest in world coins. At least 3 or 4 times a week he asks me to sit down with him and go through all of our coin books. Other times he just takes them out himself and enjoys the quiet time studying them. I'm so happy that he shares this interest with me and can only hope that it continues, it seems that nowadays there are so few things that parents and children can share an interest in. It has really created a wonderful connection with us and opened up many discussions. For example, he knows that the base of our collection came from my father who passed away in December. He was moved to learn that grandpa wanted me to have the coins to take care of and add to until the time came for it to be Joe's. I believe the lessons to be learned in numismatics are plentiful. Joe has learned to be grateful of someone's generosity and thoughtful in return. He has often said that he wishes he could give grandpa one of his prized square coins in return for all of the goodies he left him. As another example, a girl at our local bank came back from vacation in Mexico & brought Joe some pesos. Now, we already had plenty of those, but Joe said "That was so thoughtful of her, I can't believe she was on vacation and thought of ME". How many 6 year olds grasp that kind of concept? He came home that very day, painstakingly wrote out a thank you note for her and asked me to take him back to the bank so he could give it to her along with a pretty Jamaican coin in a flip that he signed his name on for her. It has also taught him just how big this world is. We took out all of his world coins the other day and sat down with a globe...finding all of the countries that they came from. The look of wonder and amazement in his eyes was priceless. Joe tends to think much deeper than a normal 6 year old. He was sad when grandpa went to heaven but managed to find a bright side in it...I was sorting though my Dad's coins and was spending a particular afternoon digging through a huge jar of wheaties. He came up to me and said that he was sad grandpa was gone but is happy to think that he'll finally meet the man on all of the pennies he collected. Needless to say I was floored and ran for the kleenex. Next I imagine we'll move on to the history aspect, but for now I try to let him enjoy it all at his own pace. I believe he has already gotten more out of this great hobby than most adults I know will ever learn in a lifetime.
Sounds like you have a very special young man there. I have all girls. “Collecting” money is a foreign idea to them.
Had to laugh at that statement, I have a 10 year old girl. I think my kids, ages 8,10 & 11, have gotten more into coins since the statehood quarter program started. Now they are always looking through change for them. We travel a fair amount and they are always asking when we can go to this state or another. I have begun to buy them proof sets starting with my birth year. When I gave my oldest son his he said, "Wow, this is as old as dad, it's an antique"
I believe that kids are the best collectors. They do not buy for profit or speculation. They know what appeals to them, and they buy what excites them. So many kids have learned about money, history, art, and precious metals because of these little metal discs. A lesson we could all learn.
You keep this up, Robin, and we are going to have you posting a lot more around here..... Joe sounds like a special little kid! Cris
LOL Cris...Why is it everyone keeps trying to get me to post more? I'm more the shy quiet type I generally learn more by keeping my mouth shut and ears (or in this case, eyes) open. It's amazing the things you can learn by just being observant...both on here and in life in general.
My 3 oldest kids (12, 10, and 8) collect the state quarters, but they seem to prefer collecting baseball cards and video games. I thought one of them would "inherit" my passion for coins (been collecting since I was 8) but have yet to see it. They do have other hobbies (sports, music, fishing, etc.) so I will support what they want to do within reason. I do have a 4 year old, so there is still hope he may have the coin collecting "gene" (or sickness, or addiction)
Robin - Well you tell Joe that the crazy guy in the hat started this pursuit at the same age as he - and that it was my grandfather & grandmother that got me started But it strikes kids at different ages - my son, 12, has always known I collect - but he didn't really get bitten by the coin bug until I took him to his first coin show at 10. That was a memory I'll never forget And Joe has darkside tendencies does he - hmmm. Then be sure to have him look through the postings in the World Forum. We want to encourage that kind of behavior
Well, I can't say that my 5 year old is interested in collecting anything yet, but I am encouraged that he likes to sit on my lap when I'm sorting my coins and help me put them in the proper tubes. He's about the age I was when my dad got me interested, so maybe Santa will have to get him started with a proof set or something this XMas.
Well well GD i smell another potential sixpence collector here... Although i'd love to imagine what he'd make of a medieval hammered coin...
Sounds like Joe is a nice kid-- Is he home schooled?? I have collected coins for a few years now and I love it, so if Joe likes it now just wait 'till he's bigger!!! Speedy
Speedy, No he's not home-schooled...I just like to keep him challenged during the summer and found that various lessons in numismatics were just the answer. He can't seem to get enough some days. I'm almost dreading it as he gets older though...the older the boys the more expensive the toys! Something tells me he wont be satisfied with the inexpensive fun stuff for much longer. He's already got quite an eye.
My youngest is the numismatic out of the bunch. He is 9 and got started with the state quarters. Because his eyes are sharp, I have him look for Lincolns like the 1972 and 1995 DDO. He found the "real deal" as I posted his find earlier this month...a 1972 DDO that I sent to PCGS and it came back AU55. He sold it on Ebay for $265 and now looks at all of the coins. He also likes looking up values in the books. You hear him say all of the time, "Dad, you know if that coin was in MS63 condition it would be worth ____ dollars." I think it just fascinates him that a penny could be worth dollars. The quality time we have just searching through lots is priceless. I hope he takes over my collection some day.
Ed, I remember reading that thread thinking how cool the discovery must have been for him...good for him! He's hooked for good now. Sylvester, OMG...if Joe starts taking to gold then all bets are off! I'll send him off to live with GDJMSP. LOL
Get him some RED lincoln cents--I got one today...1955 RED and only $1!! They will get his book looking great! Speedy
