BU 1925 Cent Contest

Thanks for a great contest, going back in history was fun.

The first coin I purchased was this 1875 S 20 Cent Piece. I had started a type collection and study showed me that the odd types would have to be purchased. I went to one of the local shops in Flint MI, (on Fenton Road I believe) paid his price, seems like it was $15 or so. In 1961 all I could affort was this badly scratched example. But it served it's purpose. It was upgraded a number of years later, but I kept it all these years. To me it's one of those "special" coins.

 

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Wow! Great contest!

The first coin I purchased as a kid was probably a buffalo nickel. Back either in the late 80s, early 90s. I was putting a set together and that's all I was working on and I can't remember buying any other coins back then.

I was into collecting only briefly during that time so I don't remember a whole lot about it. I remember I needed about 13 more Buffalo nickels to finish the set. I eventually sold it during my teen years to help buy something else, non-coin related. I really wish I would have kept the set. I've started a new set but have not focused on it as much as I'd like to.

When I got back into collecting last year, after a 14 year break and as an adult, the first coin I bought was a 'VG' 1820/19 curl base 2 CBH at an antique mall for $70.00. Somebody scratched some X's on it but I had to have that one. It felt good to buy it and get back into the hobby.

I'm really glad I bought it. There were a total of 751,122 1820 CBH's made and there's 6 different varieties of them. I knew that at the time of purchase and it's probably one of the rarer coins of my collection to this point. If not the rarest.

Here it is:

 

Nice contest,

I got a 1864 2 cent piece as my first coin b/c... 2 cent piece wtf?! Mostly b/c we don't make them anymore, then that trailed into 3 cent pieces and half dimes, almost feel as if I'm looking at historical artifacts in a way. Also I feel it's a good investment which in worst case, can always be passed on through generations to build value. Or in a way a tangible investment.

 

The first coin i bought was a 1964 kennedy. i technically didnt buy but i won it in a raffel at my metal detecting club. i bought the tickets because i wanted to start collecting coins, and old coins are very interesting to me.

 

My first buy was a 2006 W St. Gaudins Proof 4 coin set. The coins were all so beautiful that I said I would buy a set a year and try to work my way back and buy the earlier years too. As it worked out I bought the 2006 W Gold Indian Head/Buffalo proof coin. That is one amazingly beautiful coin.

Bruce

 

Lifetime Beginner first time thread

:goofer:

I would say that my first major purchase was when I was about 8 or 9 years old in San Juan Capistrano with my parents. Was a lil antique town and for some reason this caught my eye and I believe I have been hooked ever since. It was a German Reich note circa 1915 W Berlin. Now to this day this question had always pondered me...What NORMAL 9 yr old girl buys ANYTHING for that matter in that realm??? The only sad ending to this story is we have a papillion dog who where I made the mistake of having it in my closet and not even thinking that he could get too it...well you can only picture the rest...anyways thats it in a nutshell.

Erin

 

The first coin I actually bought was just last year. I had always pulled unusual stuff out of pocket change, but I decided to check out a local club's booth at the flea market. Having been a true collector for literally about 5 minutes at that point, I decided on a bright shiny 1907 IHC.... Only cost me about $3 bucks, but provided a WORLD of valuable information. I took it to my now regular coin store just to see if I had gotten totally ripped off and was told it had been cleaned... Lesson #1 learned... I got a few books and started learning what I needed to look out for...

Here's she is in all her unatural orange beauty....

 

My first purchase.....

Was when I was around 13 years old, and working on my coin collecting merit badge in Boy Scouts. I was able to find all the 1958's in circulation except for thr Franklin. So, saved my money for a few months, walked over to Malden to the only coin store I ever saw, and bought a pretty well worn Frankie. I went home and assembled my first official collection. I proceeded to tape each coin to a piece of construction paper, and mounted them in an inexpensive frame. I proudly brought my creation to my merit badge meeting, and was awarded my badge. And, I still have the collection, all taped to the original construction paper. It is one of my most prized possessions. Thanks for the contest!

 

My first coin was an 1859 Canadian Large Cent. Got it at a great price because it has a little spot of sodering on it where someone had made it into a necklace. Got it when I was 7 years old. Unfortunatly around 9 years old, a friend told me I could clean it with an eraser It now has a shiny area on the front.

 

Well, I was a young'in, about 9 or 10 years of age and I was with my grandparents at a coin shop.
We bought 3 coins at the same time, a 1943-S Steel Cent, a 1945-S War Nickel, and, my favorite of all, an 1864 Indian Head Cent.

 

My first coin(s) were a pair of Liberty quarters. I bought them for face value when I was 10. My Mom and I took my Great Grandmother to bingo at granny's local VFW in her very small town, and I think the old man who sold them to me was just flirting with granny. They let kids play for money too back then, when with adults. They are still in my Whitman album and now have beautiful rainbow toning. When I look at them, I think of Mom, Granny, and how my dog ate the six one dollar bills I won that day.

 

My first coin(s) purchase was the 1999 9 coin silver proof set. The coin bug bit me while trying to help father-in-law finish his canadian small cent book. Been collecting seriously ever since!!!!

 

I collect currency, but I have an answer...the first coins I purchased were an 1883 Morgan and 1923 Peace dollar. They were in a frame with a silver certificate that I wanted for my collection. I still have the coins too!

 

First coin? Trying to remember. I started buying Indians/ Lincolns at a local coin shop. For the life of me you got me stumped. I think the first real coin I bought was a 1909 VDB AU. My grandmother game me a 1909 S IHC EF 40 which I got graded by PCGS and this stands out to me. My favorite coin. I would love to win that 1925. Amazing coin! Extremely generous of you LostDutchman

 

first coin i actually BOUGHT (aka not finding in pocket change) was a 1852 large cent. i remember thinking that's one BIG cent .... then i asked my mom if i could have the money to get it (i was only like 6) ... and she agreed, if i paid her back with allowance. coin was $7.50 back then, i don't even remember if it was graded, probably not though, but i just wanted the big coin for myself. sadly, our house got broken into about 10 years ago, and that coin was stolen; along with other electronics and various items

 

Interesting reading these stories.

I remember decades ago going into a coin shop in a little town not far from where I lived. I had collected Lincolns and Jeffersons from circulation and had most of them so I was looking for something different, Rosies and Washingtons just didnt look all that interesting to me for whatever reason. I walked in the coin shop with 5 bucks! Alot of money back then especially for a young lad. I was intrigued by the type coins, I settled on something within my budget, a nice shiney 1841 Large Cent. I say shiney because it was not luster. I thought that I had hit the jackpot, looking at the redbook, looking at the coin, I knew that I had found a treasure. Turns out that years later when I rediscoved my beloved 1841 it was in fact a F-15 with eraser burns all over it. : ) Probably still worth the 5 bucks I paid for it decades ago. I wonder where its hiding now..... Strange how when you think back on a thread like this how a delaer will basically steal a kid blind. I'll never forget that man telling me that I couldnt go wrong with this coin, it was a keeper in anyones collection. Sad to think that I am sure this man is no longer with us, as I would pay this gentleman a visit and remind him of an very impressionable statement he had made to me 45 years ago. Then call my wife and ask for bail money. : ) jk....

Thanks for the short walk down memory lane..

 

I started out collecting Kennedy halves from circulation, but the first coin I purchased at a premium was probably a 1970 mint set for the Kennedy half. Thanks for the contest!

 

The first coin I ever purchased was an 1880 Indian Head Cent from a dealer at a local flea market in Cape Cod back in the late 1970's. I paid $1 for it which was a lot of money for such a coin at the time.

 

These are great stories! I wonder if anyone bought a MS rarer coin a long time ago, kept and it's worth a lot now? Those are cool stories. It seems everyone ends up selling their nice coins vs buy and hold?

 

A long time ago (back in the 1960's) I developed a love for Buffalo nickels, and that was when you could find them by the ton in everyday change.
I purchased an album and was able to fill quite a few slots with them, from change.
Sad to say, I learned about Nic-A-Date, and restored a ton of Buualo dates quickly filling most of the album.

As a result, I became quickly bored with the entire project. However, my parents were shopping in Gimbels, in Valley Stream, Long Island, NY and they willingly dumped me off at the coin counter, since I was a pain anyway. Well, after spending quite some time (probably bothering the heck out of the poor clerk) I managed to part with (about) $2.50 for a beautiful uncirculated 1938 D Buffalo nickel.
The reason for that choice? Well, it is two fold: 1) I still really like the design, and that unc was simply beautiful to my young eyes; and 2) there was something 'going on' with the mintmark. I convinced my parents that I wasn't nuts, and they allowed me to waste my money by paying a ton for a nickel.

You see, I had spent a lot of time reading the only coin book that I had ever been able to find, the 'Guide Book of US Coins' and they had listed a 1938 D/S as a variety, with simple dashes for the value. As a relatively new variety, there was no established value for the coin at that time.

My mother showed it to the clerk, who stated: 'that is a nice one!' [I'm glad that he agreed, but I am sure that he had no idea what he was looking at.]

That was the start of my never ending quest for varieties, which I continue to this day.
As always, (see below) Buy the Book Before the Coin has been my motto to this day.