Probably the 3 nicest steel cents I have ever come across

Most of these kids wouldn't know HOW to spend cash.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Forget it then.. Choking hazard! You don't want any problems! Trust me!

 

I understand Paddy's caution; it's not an expensive gift to perhaps recruit a new, future collector. However, hopefully your son knows not to return to your collection and start passing out other, more valuable, coinage. I showed my collection to my youngsters (when they were youngsters) and explained the value of things so that 'mistakes' wouldn't be made on the purchase of candy and other things kids find important with valuable collectibles.

 

Oh, they know. Dad's coins are not for spending.

 

I'd give them to my son to add to his collection but not to give to his friends. I would be more likely to mark them reprocessed and add them to my collection as examples.

 

Sure, a step process perhaps. I can agree with that. My children haven't caught the 'bug' so while I build/stow away coins for them to have once I'm gone, I do what I can to cultivate a new generation of collectors through coworkers and their children where/when possible. Especially for the 'hoarders', it's always possible to give away 'spenders' and the like to folks to create interest and discussions. While I haven't given my son coins to pass out to his friends, it wouldn't be anything I wouldn't consider. In fact, I have given my hoard to youngsters to pick through to build their own albums/folders of Jefferson/Lincoln series. I already have folders of these coins and tubes of the very best, so there isn't anything in these buckets that I'm worried about losing or giving away. Even if the interest is fleeting, it is something that they can hold onto for another time where perhaps their interest is rekindled. There are a great many collectors here who walked away from the hobby for decades and later returned. It'll happen for others.

 

Kids do get in to collections for candy. Several years ago I went to the Mom & Pop store down the street from us. My change included several older coins. So, I made another purchase and got more in change.

 

Nice move! I would have done the same thing. And kids do get into dads coin collection for candy money.

 

I had known about my father's coin collection since I was a kid of 11. That was 61 years ago. He gave me a wheat penny, a Buffalo nickel, a Mercury dime, a Washington quarter, and a Franklin Half dollar. The only problem was I was able to look at them each Friday when he took them out of his vault. My brother got the same collection. Neither my brother nor I added to our collection until we were 21. I bought a vault and locked them in it. A sad story about a 14 year old boy, I went through my mother's purse and found a Walking Liberty Half Dollar which I stole so I could go to the store to buy some candy. I hid the candy so nobody would know, however, we lived in a small town in 1959, and the store manager called my mother and asked her if she gave me the coin. She looked through her purse and found it missing. She thanked the manager and she went to the store to "buy back" her coin. I didn't know about it until she got back home so she could show me her half dollar. That was the reason we didn't get "our" coin collection until we were 21. I never took/stole another thing in my life. I have been a CPA for 34 years, part of it was as a State Auditor and the other part, I served as a Comptroller for an international conglomerate. I wonder if they knew that I once stole a valuable coin from my mother, would I have gotten those jobs, or if they called my parents for a reference. Anyway, I am 72 and have been collecting ever since I finally got my coin collection from my father. My pride and joy is the Walking Liberty Half Dollar that I stole from my mother. She gave it to me the evening that I graduated from college with an accounting degree.

 

I have a couple ungraded steel cents that look like this. I don't think I have an S this nice, though.

 

That's how it is in small towns. My dad told me about a fellow worker that cashed his paycheck at a local tavern and spent the whole thing on beer and those little papers you pull from a jar and win what is on them. The owner would call the man's wife and she would come to the back door of the tavern and he would give the check back to her. That's how it was back then. The same small town that let me sit in the vault every Saturday and roll change for them.

 

Here’s another S mint for comparison. Notice how the surface is shiny, but not glossy like the reprocessed / replated ones. I always thought the plating material was chrome, rather than zinc, but that may just be a faulty recollection since the reprocessed ones were a popular item once the ones still circulating started to rust and bubble - say, in the mid 1960’s.

 

A truly heart-warming story. There's nothing like a mother's love nor a mother's forgiveness.
Thanks for sharing.

 

Hello , I am new to the forum and happy to be here . I take advise and constructive criticism well so don't be shy. I have been collecting and studying us currency and some Canadian for a year now maybe most a year and a half , so I am basically a professional if anyone has any questions ill be available for a small fee..lol just kidding everyone...lol..actually I have a strong love and desire for my life changing hobby which I love so with much more to expirence ,share, and learn it's great to be here with you all . Thanks a ton
Christopher Allan
PS. Can I take a few pics of my 43 steel for opinions on originality or re processed.Ty

 

Sure. Start a new thread. This one is moldy.

 

Gorgeous.

 

Welcome to CT. This is an old thread, we'd love to see your coins. Go to the top of the page, select forums, select coin chat, select make new post...and follow your nose. PS cropped photos, correctly oriented and posted full size get best results.