So, I have two sons. Owen will be 6 soon and Oliver is 4. Both really love looking at my coins and constantly (especially Oliver) wants to look at “his coins” which are a silver proof set and an ASE from the year he was born. Oliver is REALLY into numbers and letters right now (threw a pretty big fit yesterday when he couldn’t see the number on the gas pump when we filled up the car...he was tired from a day of hiking) and Owen is learning to read. So both like letters and numbers. So, with all that in mind, I decided now was the time to begin to bring them into the coin collecting fold. I know they are bad for coins, but I did the exact same thing my dad did for me. I ordered them each a Whitman folder. Of course, he didn’t have Amazon Prime...I think he got mine at Barnes and Noble. But I ordered a pair of 1974-2013 Whitman Lincoln folders...one for each. I figure they will have fun identifying the dates and trying to fill the folder. It will be good for them for their reading and I think it will be fun. we will see how it goes when they get here.
Hope it takes hold. I decided every person, even a kid is their own person with their own interests. I did the same with my sons. They would accompany me to coin shows, always got freebies from dealers. My younger son really got into the youth auctions they held. My older son did collect national park quarters from circulation for a while and still sometimes gets a coin that relates to one of his other interests. Sometimes a WW2 era coin, or last coin show he picked up a Columbian half. Both are Eagle scouts, but I could never get them to go for the coin collecting badge. They are now 19 and 23, one History education college grad, the other a Neuroscience sophomore in college, but neither really a coin collector. Who knows, maybe when they get married and settle into life it may come back. Either way, they are well rounded individuals with their own interests.
That's cool. My dad did the same for me. That was about 55 years ago. I still have the Whitman cent folders and the collection I built at the time. I brought my son into the hobby when he was about 8. Cell phones and girls pulled him away from collecting. What I didn't know was that he never stopped learning. At 27 he has a really good knowledge of the hobby. When he sees a new coin on my desk, he will grab it and start looking for good lighting to check it out. I never realized how much he learned from listening to me for all these years.
That's about the age I started my oldest son. He is 9 now and loves all things coins. My daughter is 4 and is just now starting to get really interested. She loves all the things her dad and brother love so I think it is a good time to really get her started. My youngest son is 8 months old. All he cares about is pooping, crying, napping, and eating. I will get him hooked eventually
@CamaroDMD Good idea! You might also think about a state quarter collection book or an ATB quarter collection book. My dad got my sisters son a State Quarter folder, and he learned a lot about US geography by filling it. Only problem was if they were traveling he always insisted on going to see whatever was on the quarter for that state! LOL The deal was ,if he did all his chores for a month, Grandpa would give him a roll of quarters to look through. ( I think Grandpa salted them liberally,)
Eventually we will do quarters. Right now he really likes numbers and rolls of dents are cheap. If he likes this, we can do quarters next.
I got my first coin and addiction to collecting at the age of 5. My aunt gave me an 1883 without cents and an 1885. These two nickels, and a trip to the book store with my mom, hooked me forever. That was 1948. What can a kid say? The 1885 was worth $5 at the time. It is all up to the child and competing interests. A couple of years later my dad got me interested in pool. Both are great pastimes.
