I ran across this the other day....something from a different time. Some of you here were apart of that time.....some of you were not! It matters not where you fall on this time line as everyone here is here for the same reasons. To share our passion for collecting coins,and the knowledge and wisdom that goes with the hobby. What I'm about to share is something that goes back for me to the early 60's...actually it goes back to 1916....but I didn't become a part until 1962/3 ish... This is or was my Mercury dime collection I started as a kid ! The coins in the folder were all captured in the wild or traded for....none purchased as at 8 years old and serving and collecting for the Baltimore News American didn't make a kid a tycoon! $2.00 @ week for delivering the paper an extra $2.50 @ month for collecting for the paper. Now that's where the bonus came in...because in that collection bag were all silver coins, war ,and buffalo nickels.....silver certificates,and red seal US notes! Who would ever guessed in 4 years time all that jingled would then loose its bell like tone. You'll notice there's are 5 holes...you will also notice that the coins conditions range from AG to Au. The 4 of the 5 holes i am thinking of filling as I just found a "old stlye" new album home for this collection. I probably won't fill the 16 D ,however the others are doable.... cost wise. I really like the fact that all specimens except the 5 were wild caught... I wish the other 4 would of been also.... So to you all on the same point as myself on that time line I'm sure this will rekindle some great memories. To those who are not... I wish to share with you a different time ... and hope you can appreciate a part of numastic history that you grandparents,and parents lived through. Please feel free to follow up with post,and images of your YN's collections ,and share a part of what made you the collector you are today. * Don't forget to give credits to those whom helped you along the way... so their memories are never forgotten. * An after thought maybe I can trade for the 4 holes needed to complete the set to my satisfaction less the 16 D. That way it will stay an honest set more or less from the wild.
This is awesome Paddy. It harkens back to a time when one could focus far more on one's pocket change, and much less on magazine ads, local shows and the internet for satisfaction.
Mike One can never truly appreciate the artifacts that they hold in the present unless they understand the evevolution of the past. Not to share this knowledge is a sin , as those whom come after us need such knowledge so they to can pass on to the next generation the wisdom they will need to succeed.
I wasn't even a glimmer in dads eye, when you put that set together. I didn't even know that my father collected coins until after I started collecting myself. I do appreciate these sets, And I leave them as they are, they remind me of the times when only a rich man could afford to buy mint state coins. Nice set @Paddy54 Here is one that I have on a shelf inside of my coin cabinet always in full view,as a reminder of the good ole days.
The very first two coins I ever collected were 2 dimes, one dated 1903, the other 1910. They were given to me on my 7th birthday (1960), by my grandmother. She had saved them from the time she got married, early 1930's, as they were her and my grandfather's birth years. The reason she gave them to me was she saw the interest I was taking in my grandfather's coin collection. That's what started the whole thing, a lifetime of, at first collecting and eventually just studying coins. As a kid I had all the various blue Whitman folders for all denominations and did my best to fill them. I worked all kinds of jobs, from raking leaves to shoveling snow, to mowing grass, to babysitting, and yeah I even worked as a paperboy too. I also worked with my parents, at their jobs, also starting when I was 7. By the time I was 11 I could paint and hang wallpaper with the best of them ! All of this work resulted in filling a lot of folders. Most found in change, but even back then it was not uncommon to be able to find at least some Unc coins in change. And I got a whole lot more of them at the banks. I used to go to the bank almost every week and buy rolls of coins, always asking for the new ones if they had any. This included buying rolls of silver dollars because back then every bank had them. I'd sort out the ones and return the rest, usually for more coins ! And I had an aunt that worked at one of the banks so she was always on the lookout for me and would often pay me for my babysitting for her with coins she knew I wanted. Of course when I discovered girls, or should say when I discovered how much they liked me at 15, things changed a lot and real fast ! For a while coin collecting kinda got put on hold, but I never stopped completely, more like slowed down a lot. In later years I got real serious about it again and never looked back. From all the stories I've ever heard and or read over all the years, things were little different for anybody else. Pretty much ever coin collector I ever heard of who started when they were young - their story was a lot like mine. The were different in some ways of course, but the similarities were always there. And I doubt that even today things are any different. Doubt they ever will be
I still have my 1887-O Morgan Dollar in G-4 my dad gave me in 1970. He worked with a guy that had over 500 silver dollars he wanted to sell because he was tired of paying for a safe deposit box to hold them. He told my dad he could have them for $1 each. My dad didn't want to tie up that much money, but he said he would like three of them for his kids. So me being the oldest got first pick. I picked the oldest, the 1887-O. My middle sister picked the 1890, and my youngest sister got the 1922 Peace Dollar. I used to faithfully clean it a couple of times a year with baking soda to keep it shiny (except for the black antiquing the design and letters). This coin got me into a hobby that has opened up everything else in my world. History, chemistry, geography (what is that big 'O' under the bow?), etc. It starts friendships, it started a business, it caused a crime (getting shot by a serial killer and serving), economics, monetary history and policy.... the list goes on and on. And now, a hobby of collecting American coins has moved to world coins, medals, tokens, and even starting my own little mint. I still have that dollar - I made a half-arsed attempt to find it, but it is close. I engraved a little plate and have it in a CoinWorld slab. It will be the last coin I ever sell - good thing it isn't worth much to anyone else. If push came to shove, and someone wanted it more than me, I don't know what my breaking point would be money-wise? It would be in the tens-of-thousands range.
