Do you all find that as we pass through life we coin collectors become a kind of coin magnet? I have had so many people...friends and family give me some really GREAT stuff along the way! I am so thankful to them! Unfortunately they are all gone now.
My coworkers know that I collect coins, so when they come back from business trips abroad they drop off change/paper money at my desk wondering if I want it. Of course I say yes! Many times coins get dropped off at my desk when I am not there, so I don't even know who to thank. None of the coins are rare, but they are still cool to look at. Yesterday someone left an Israeli 10 Sheqalim coin.
I find the same thing. I have former co-workers who keep odd/strange coins for me. LOL Here's an even stranger story: I used to manage a retail music store, and once had a customer looking to buy a nice classical guitar, as I asked more questions to find out what kind of guitar he wanted, it turns out he was buying it as a gift for a friend in Mauritius and was going to visit and take it to him. Somewhere in our conversation I must have mentioned that I collect coins, because 6 months later he comes back with a set of circulating coins from there! By this time, I had forgotten about him, but was highly impressed that he remembered. Needless to say, he got a sale price on whatever he bought that day.
Yeah, lol. I have friends and family search for me for coins, and I also have my bank keep an eye out for me. Have gotten a few wheat cents here and there, might not be much, but they are because those people noticed it and thought of me when they found it. Phoenix
Yes, I would say I am a coin magnet, especially world coins, I get a fair number of coins through acquaintances who would rather be rid of the weight. Family members in the US faithfully turn over any wheaties they find in change. But more so I find I become a coin information magnet, people I don't know see me reading about coins (example - long flight) and want to tell me about an old silver dollar (or box full of) they have from Grandpa that they don't know what to do with.
If I ever become a coin magnet, I'll consider that a failure of sorts. The danger of having people know you collect coins outweighs the possibility that someone will bring you a valuable addition to the collection.