I first got into coin collecting in the mid 1960's because a friend turned me on to it. Pretty much everything I collected was out of circulation because I had no money to buy coins. In about 1968 when it occurred to us that silver coins would soon disappear from circulation, I used to go to the school cafeteria cashier everyday and trade clad quarters and dimes for silver ones and I socked them away. I lost interest after that for many years. In early 2006, my son was assigned a book for school, entitled "The Figure in the Shadows" that talked about a silver 3 cent piece that was on a keychain and was someone's good luck charm. I remembered that I had a 3 cent silver piece (it was in poor condition without a readable date). We went on ebay to look for one to buy him and found one immediately. I noticed people buying and selling proof sets and collections of state quarters and suddenly realized what I had been missing all these years. Fortunately, I can afford to buy coins now and have started to make up for lost time. My original coin collection, which sat in a metal toolbox for 40 years is still there. Not much of value, but I still have 3 rolls of silver quarters, 3 rolls of silver dimes and about 10 rolls of wheat cents (genuinely unsearched).
I am probably one of the few who actually got my dad into coins and not the other way around. He just loves mint products and doesn't get into the old stuff too much. He told me a story about how him and his friends found 5 1955 ddo lincolns back in 1955. They thought they were fake or junk he said so they flattened them on the railroad tracks. I could have cried right there.
wow. this thread is pretty cool. i woulld love to have found a 55 ddo. man thats cool. heart breaking but cool.
My uncle Skip has a 42/1 Merc he got in change, and a good story: My Grandma bought a box of buttons at a yard sale many many moons ago, in the 50's, she found an old button without a hole in it...showed it to my uncle who recognised it as a coin......it was an Athens Tetradrachm, the AOE Owl coin, genuine, still has it
well i was a avid NEW card collector and finally my dad said why are you buying these packs of cars for 20 dollars and then they have no value when you can buy coins that (usually) dont lose value and have art on them. No offense to card collectors that was 1 and a half years ago and i still love collecting
i was big into cards and all sports mem. but as i grew older more of my stuff disappered. i lost all interest in it but still have a ton of stuff. my jordan rookie and frank thomas error cards are my fav though.. nice story
capped bust: I presume that you are kidding (about the gold saci's). FYI: before the newbies get the wrong idea: The cheerios saci's were a different variety, and are worth more than the regular issue (see many threads about Cheerios $'s). There were some gold Saci's minted, and some went on a space shuttle ride. In fact the mint displayed them at last summer's ANA show. However----all gold saci's are owned by the government, (yes, I know, that is kind of a stupid statement-- their words, not mine).
i first got started when my dad gave me a complete set of 1940-1958 lincoln wheat cents. from then on i bought and bought. :goofer:
I started quite by accident. In early 1966 in the seventh grade a little boy brought to school a 1864 shield two cent piece. I was awe struck. I never had even heard of a two cent piece. Two days later he brought it school again and I bought from him for twenty-five cents and four pieces of sugar cane my cousin had brought me. When I researched the history of United States coinage I was facinated by all the coins I had never seen. What caught my eye were Morgan dollars and I have collected them ever since. By the way, I still have the two cent piece. I had it graded last year for the fun of it. It came by from PCGS MS 63. I was awe struck again.
Guess I'm different than most people but I guess a lot of you have figured that out on your own. No one in my family collected or collects to this day. I just like old stuff and always have. I think my interest in old stuff may have actually started when we would go to visit my grandmother in Knox, IN. 1960s, small town and nothing to do for a kid. My sister and I would go for a walk to break the boredom and found an old cemetary. A family plot apparently as the vast majority of the stones were people named Humphries. Most died in the 1850s and even at a young age I wondered why. This go me into the old stuff I figure so when I was 6 I asked for a coin collector kit that I saw in the Sears catalogue for Christmas. Santa came through and I've been going since then. Took my breaks in my late teens till about 30. Other interests and having bills to pay etc. but back in full force for about 15 years now. I did find out about the Humphries as well. A friend of my grandmother looked into it. Seems that scarlet fever really took it's toll on the family. A bunch of people that died over 150 years ago piqued my curiosity I guess. Go figure. clembo
