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Going Through My Late Dad's Collection 50 years later
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<p>[QUOTE="Jim Leff, post: 4311613, member: 111786"]I'm finally getting around to working through my late dad's coin collection (I posted about his hoard of wheat cents <a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/the-zillionth-unsorted-wheat-pennies-honestly-offer.357845" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/the-zillionth-unsorted-wheat-pennies-honestly-offer.357845">here</a>).</p><p><br /></p><p>The adventure has sparked some thoughts, and I figured some of you might enjoy them...and relate!</p><p><br /></p><p>I was into coins as a very young kid. That's why I was given his coins when he died. That was a long time ago, and I've been too busy to even crack it open. But with the virus quarantine, I have some downtime, so I dragged the big heavy box up from the basement (man, coins weigh a ton!).</p><p><br /></p><p>The main reason I've put this off is that I know there are a handful of valuable coins, plus a ton of "enthusiast" stuff. I didn't want to just ferret out the valuable stuff, sell it, and apply the few hundred bucks to my next mortgage payment like it was nothing. That's not why he left me this stuff. It would feel like grave-robbing.</p><p><br /></p><p>However, not being 7 years old anymore, the notion that a penny might be worth $1.14 no longer gives me much thrill. So I'm caught in a no-mans land of mild interest and low stakes.</p><p><br /></p><p>Still, I wanted to do right by my Dad - to take a genuine interest - without bogging down and poring over every piece. And after two afternoons of sorting and exploring, I can report that it was more fun than I'd expected.</p><p><br /></p><p>Above all, there were mysteries to solve.</p><p><br /></p><p>Why on earth were there 15 rolls of uncirculated 1967 pennies? What was Dad thinking? Suddenly I got it: he hoped they'd provide a windfall 50 years later. Sorry, Dad. Nice try, but into the Coinstar machine they went! I enjoyed solving the mystery. It wasn't a bad gambit at the time.</p><p><br /></p><p>Why are there tubes of Roosevelt and Mercury dimes, with dates all mixed up? I realized: silver hedge. Between these and the silvery quarters (in yet another box), he had $500-600 in silver squirreled away. You can have some fun for that kind of money! I'll sell them for the silver content and buy Amazon gift certificates for each of his grandchildren. Again, I enjoyed figuring out his intentions, and trying to do right by him.</p><p><br /></p><p>His 1965 Churchill uncirculated crown must have seemed like a good investment at the time, but he didn't realize millions of other people thought the same thing! But his 1968 uncirculated Mexican 25 Peso Olympics coin worked out a lot better. It's worth a steak dinner. Thanks, Dad!</p><p><br /></p><p>Born in the 1920s, I understand why he avidly collected old Buffalo nickels from the 10s and 20s. That, for him, was like my collecting coins from the 40s and 50s as a child. But man, oh, man....the condition. For the most part, dates are barely visible. We do not wear out nickels like that anymore, or anything else, for that matter. That's a deep observation you'd only get from coin collecting! I haven't seen a coin in 30 years that was half as worn out as these miserable, exhausted Buffalo nickels. They're downright ERODED! Untold thousands kept these coins rubbing around their pockets; the coins of the realm; the workhorses. Another time, a poorer nation.</p><p><br /></p><p>And then the pennies. They were always my favorite. I spent countless hours with my own penny collection as a child; a fine outlet for my obsessive energy. I LIKE pennies, even still. Yet I can't work through his vast pool of unsorted wheaties, grading and checking price. I no longer have the single-minded enthusiasm and dedication. But I did get my hands very dirty, even with my light survey. My fingers smelled like copper. It was a good day.</p><p><br /></p><p>Decisions to be deferred: what to do with his wartime steel pennies and surprising couple rolls of 1960 small dates, a mystery I don't think I'll solve. What an odd thing to specialize in!</p><p><br /></p><p>I still haven't opened the valuable boxes. I'll post more as I work through. The scale of total value couldn't really hold my interest (I should have done this when I was younger and $200 still meant the world to me), but I'm enjoying, more than I expected, getting into my Dad's head and gauging why he did what he did, and trying to figure out my next steps. And I like how my fingers smell.</p><p><br /></p><p>To be continued....[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Jim Leff, post: 4311613, member: 111786"]I'm finally getting around to working through my late dad's coin collection (I posted about his hoard of wheat cents [URL='https://www.cointalk.com/threads/the-zillionth-unsorted-wheat-pennies-honestly-offer.357845']here[/URL]). The adventure has sparked some thoughts, and I figured some of you might enjoy them...and relate! I was into coins as a very young kid. That's why I was given his coins when he died. That was a long time ago, and I've been too busy to even crack it open. But with the virus quarantine, I have some downtime, so I dragged the big heavy box up from the basement (man, coins weigh a ton!). The main reason I've put this off is that I know there are a handful of valuable coins, plus a ton of "enthusiast" stuff. I didn't want to just ferret out the valuable stuff, sell it, and apply the few hundred bucks to my next mortgage payment like it was nothing. That's not why he left me this stuff. It would feel like grave-robbing. However, not being 7 years old anymore, the notion that a penny might be worth $1.14 no longer gives me much thrill. So I'm caught in a no-mans land of mild interest and low stakes. Still, I wanted to do right by my Dad - to take a genuine interest - without bogging down and poring over every piece. And after two afternoons of sorting and exploring, I can report that it was more fun than I'd expected. Above all, there were mysteries to solve. Why on earth were there 15 rolls of uncirculated 1967 pennies? What was Dad thinking? Suddenly I got it: he hoped they'd provide a windfall 50 years later. Sorry, Dad. Nice try, but into the Coinstar machine they went! I enjoyed solving the mystery. It wasn't a bad gambit at the time. Why are there tubes of Roosevelt and Mercury dimes, with dates all mixed up? I realized: silver hedge. Between these and the silvery quarters (in yet another box), he had $500-600 in silver squirreled away. You can have some fun for that kind of money! I'll sell them for the silver content and buy Amazon gift certificates for each of his grandchildren. Again, I enjoyed figuring out his intentions, and trying to do right by him. His 1965 Churchill uncirculated crown must have seemed like a good investment at the time, but he didn't realize millions of other people thought the same thing! But his 1968 uncirculated Mexican 25 Peso Olympics coin worked out a lot better. It's worth a steak dinner. Thanks, Dad! Born in the 1920s, I understand why he avidly collected old Buffalo nickels from the 10s and 20s. That, for him, was like my collecting coins from the 40s and 50s as a child. But man, oh, man....the condition. For the most part, dates are barely visible. We do not wear out nickels like that anymore, or anything else, for that matter. That's a deep observation you'd only get from coin collecting! I haven't seen a coin in 30 years that was half as worn out as these miserable, exhausted Buffalo nickels. They're downright ERODED! Untold thousands kept these coins rubbing around their pockets; the coins of the realm; the workhorses. Another time, a poorer nation. And then the pennies. They were always my favorite. I spent countless hours with my own penny collection as a child; a fine outlet for my obsessive energy. I LIKE pennies, even still. Yet I can't work through his vast pool of unsorted wheaties, grading and checking price. I no longer have the single-minded enthusiasm and dedication. But I did get my hands very dirty, even with my light survey. My fingers smelled like copper. It was a good day. Decisions to be deferred: what to do with his wartime steel pennies and surprising couple rolls of 1960 small dates, a mystery I don't think I'll solve. What an odd thing to specialize in! I still haven't opened the valuable boxes. I'll post more as I work through. The scale of total value couldn't really hold my interest (I should have done this when I was younger and $200 still meant the world to me), but I'm enjoying, more than I expected, getting into my Dad's head and gauging why he did what he did, and trying to figure out my next steps. And I like how my fingers smell. To be continued....[/QUOTE]
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