My father was picking up any silver he could find back in the early 1960's my uncle told him it was stupid for him to do that, a silver dime only had 11 cents worth of silver and it was illegal to melt them. I wanted to impress my dad, so I picked up some double eagles for 80 dollars each, I took them out of the cardboard 2x2 s and carried them loose in my pocket, when I showed them to him, he gave me an education on how just carrying coins around in your pocket can make them show signs of wear. I wish I would have gotten more interested before he passed on.
1st Gen. Although I remember my dad say my grandfather used to pull silver out of circulation in the 70's. Not because he collected coins, but just because of the silver. And from what my dad says, it was a "big ole pile". My dad sold it in the 80's silver run up to a guy at his work.
My great great grandfather started collecting somewhere in the 1870s then my great grandfather worked at the New Orleans mint in the 1890s (we believe doing assay work but we're really not sure. My grandfather and uncle continued the collection until I got it in the early 1980s. My father never had much interest. I hope that they would approve of some of trades I've made over the years.
1st Gen. but I do remember my father accumulating junk silver in the 1980's and then making a killing on all his junk silver when he sold it. he also kept some Bolivian silver coins. I remember being a cub scout and filling whitman blue folders but I really never got interested in coins until about 18 years ago with world coins. now I am so hooked on coins. I can escape in my coins. I can literally call myself a "coin junky" lol
My uncle got me interested in my early teens back in the 70s. Bought my first Morgan from Kappy's in Norwood, MA, a raw unc. 1903 for $10.and I still have it. Now I'm trying to get my nephews involved.
No idea. I never knew my grandparents. All I know is they were common thrifty (painfully so) working people. My dad collected, I do, my 20-year-old son does. My dad says my uncle, his brother, still has the first dollar he ever earned. Does that count? He turns 98 this year and my dad will be 93.
3rd. My mothers father, as well as my father were, to the best of my knowledge, minor collectors. More so my grandfather, but my dad has shown interest again in the hobby after gifting him a few birth year (his) graded beauties and letting him in on the details of a couple nice deals I have done over the years. GREAT topic for a thread BTW
1st here. My grandfathers (both still around) did not collect. My father never collected, but did kind of get me into it by telling me to keep an eye out for wheats and silver coins. Every once in a while I get a text from him because he got silver in his change and he gives it to me. I really don't know anyone in my family besides myself that collects.
Well, I was adopted and would have clicked first generation until I recently found out my deceased biological mother was also a coin collector. I guess I know where I got the itch from!
2nd Gen. My Dad & two Uncles got me started with a Lincoln cent folder at age 6, that was 61 years ago. It has been a great hobby.
Grandma and Mom were where I got the bug as a kid. I'm guessing Grandma was the one behind the silver dollars and halfs that I have and Mom was interested in all US coins - specifically a type set. Too bad her ability to grade was...um...deficient! Several harshly cleaned coins in her (now mine) type set.
Seems to be a common theme here. My Grandma collected, not seriously though. She used to hoard the '43 steelies from circulation during the war and after. She has quite a few coins that her father had collected. But, he wasn't a serious collector either. He had immigrated from England to Canada and then moved to Oregon. So most of what he collected was some of the Canadian's and British coins. She got me into collecting when I was 7. She get's a kick out of the fact that I am now really interested in coins again. She want's me to come over and go through her collection again. I'm really looking forward to doing that. So I think that makes me a 4th generation by blood and 3rd as a collector. My father never collected.