Those piles look like a lot of money but really it is only about $30 or $40 that I hoarded. It was a stockpile I used for trading. We traded based upon the minted quantities primarily. But, we did use condition as a factor. Sometimes you would give 3 or 4 dimes to get the one you needed.
Your daughter grew interested. That's great. I have 6 kids, 13 grand kids and 17 great grand kids. Only the oldest son is interested in coins. I am using my hoard to build type sets for the youngest ones. With my hoard I am able to give them a birth year set and a set from one hundred years before they were born. It is fun for me, but in today's environment I have a lot of competition for their interest.
I have 2 1909-S VDB Lincolns from my 50's childhood. Both are XF to AU. Plus a $20 gold piece which I bought at a stamp club auction in 1958 for $44. That was before the US allowed possession of gold. All are locked up tight in a safe deposit box so I cant post pics. All go to my grandson when I pass. Hopefully not soon.
I started collecting in the mid 60s with my Dad when I was around 6 years old. He had a collection that he had been working on for years but it was quite modest--probably only what he found in change. He kept everything in Whitman blue folders and I got the same for me to use. We kept all the wheaties we found as well as all of the silver coins we found. I remember putting all the wheaties before 1940 in 2x2 flips. I still have them in there. All the other wheaties we put in a wooden chest that he made that I need to go through. One day!!!!???? He also would go to his credit union and purchase rolls of S cents that I still have--late 60s and early 70s. Sometime in the 70s I started collecting stamps and backed away from coins. I'd keep any coins (wheaties, silver) I found in change but not much else. The 70s, 80s and 90s were for stamps if I had any extra money. But then the USPS ruined stamp collecting for me with the sheer volumn of stamps they put out. In the late 90s I got interested in coins again and started updating my books. Sometime in the 2000s I decided Danscos were better than Whitman folders so I started getting them and upgrading my collection. Dad did the same and he actually purchased coins for his Danscos. He has since passed away but I still have his collection. Unbeknownst to me he also had several 1800s coins that he kept in a small safe. Still enjoy coin collecting and still upgrading!! Unfortunately I don't have any pictures. If I get a chance I'll take some and post them. Interesting thread!
My grandfather got myself and my cousin interested in collecting when he offered us 2¢ for every "lead" penny we gave him. He was convinced that because they were only made for one year, that they would become valuable. So, I examined every coin that passed through my hands from that point on. I used the old blue Whitman folders to store them and until a year ago, all of the coins and currency were from circulation. I only paid for three or four coins back then and still have every single one. I've never sold or needed to spend any of them and doubt if I ever will.
Nice story. I collected stamps for many years and gave up for the same reason that you did. The USPS started making high end wallpaper. Where at one time it cost a few dollars a year went to several hundred a year. The US mint is doing the same thing with all the ballast they make. I quit on them as far as the novelty coins go. I still do mint and proof but gave up on everything else. The USPS making wallpaper and the US Mint making ballast. No fun anymore for me.
Cool thread I got interested in coins because family and friends of family kept bringing me coins from other countries whenever they traveled. That was back as a little kid when I still lived in Ukraine (Soviet Union at that time). I ended up with a bag of various coins and really knew nothing about them other than where they were from. Sold it to a local coin shop when I was like 15 to buy some beer for me and the homies I got interested in coins again after I started college. That was about 17 years ago. Looking back at it all I am really amazed by the numismatic community. Such great people, even the troublesome ones.
I know what you're sayin', but everyone has a story in the 'naked city'. Everyone has received the bloody hard knocks in one way or another..........I just don't want to hear about them. Otherwise I'd watch 'Lifetime' TV........
Yes, that's just it. There's a lot of competition for their attention. Even my daughter is only episodically interested. She's certainly not ogling the red book for an hour or two at a time as I did at her age. But that's perfectly fine; there are plenty of other valuable pursuits too.
The American dream never gets old to me. Hard work and perseverance stories epitomize what can happen in the greatest country in the world. Very few places afford the opportunities that we in the US enjoy and some take for granted.
Not necessarily ...to riches but to a comfortable life maybe. It is one of the reasons most people want to emigrate here because of the opportunities, imo.
When I grew up in the 50's it was typical for the oldest child to go to college (if anyone did). There were a lot of big families then and the younger ones had to make it on their own. I don't see anyone here bragging about making it. But, it is interesting to see the actual start some of us with generous collections had. We have 30 (total) grand children great grand children. I am right now making type sets for all of them going back to 100 years before they were born. I hope you collectors keep the stories coming.
