How you got started collecting

When I was about 10-12 years old, I would go to the neighborhood laundromat almost every day...There was a cigarette, newspaper, ect store right next to the laundromat and I would stop there first and buy some gum...I would start chewing gum as I went to retrieve my wooden stick that I always hid in between the laundromat and the cig/gum store. Once I had my stick I would go into the laundromat, take the chewed gum out of my mouth and stick it on the end of my stick...I was all set!...Now I would look in between and under the machines for coins that people would drop...When I saw one I would reach down with my stick and get the coin stuck to the gum on my stick and pull it out..I don't remember ever walking out of there with no change...I did pretty good that day and walked home counting my change.. my neighbor saw me with change in my hands and called me over to his house.. He took me into his basement and my mouth dropped wide open as I was looking at huge glass bottles all over his basement floor, shelves, counters...All of them filled with coins...Most of them cents. He asked me what coin do I like best and I told him pennies....He then went over to one huge bottle and took out a handful of wheat cents and told me to come over to where he was and put both my hands out...I stuffed my coins into my pants pockets and did just what he said....He then filled both my hands with wheat cents and told me," Take that home and when you find a wheat penny, save it!!" That's it....I was hooked...Been saving wheat cents every since.

 

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Both my mom's parents saved "old" change from commerce. They lost a substantial nest-egg in the Depression, and always hoarded cash after that. They got my brother and me interested, along with some of my cousins.

Someone in another thread commented about the bug "skipping generations", where kids have the time and focus to pay attention to coins, and grandparents have the time and means to encourage them. Certainly my parents were never especially interested, and my kids haven't really bought into it either. I can hold out some hope for grandkids, but:

1) We waited pretty late to start our family, and if our kids do the same, my time and the grandkids' may not overlap a lot.

2) "Moving away" is the norm now; I lived 15 minutes from Mom's parents, and half an hour from Dad's. It's a six-hour drive now to see my father, and 8+ hours to my father-in-law. On the other hand, now we have Skype...

3) What are the chances that kids twenty years from now will even see "pocket change"? Coins will still be around, but without the "check your change" enticement, I wonder if they'll seem more interesting than any other old collectible.

 

A friend of my grandfather / Mr. Helborn an optometrist during the day, an amateur magician when he visited. Would always find quarters, halves, and Morgan’s behind my ears. I think at the time I was more impressed with the magic, but I kept all those coins he gave me in the 1950’s.
All well circulated but silver none the less. And my grandfather banked at Folgers and hoarded Morgan’s in coffee cans. I was probably 60 yrs. old when I bought my first coin book and seriously tried to gain knowledge via the internet etc. It’s never too late.....right?

 

Better late than never,ha. In my Dad’s old pennies I found a nice 1865 civil war token. So be patient and look close as there may be a great surprise lurking in those hiding places.

 

What a great story. The memory of that moment is heartwarming. I would have never thought of that trick in a million years. Did spend many moments in pool halls of that generation as stated previously. I would be looking thru the change while my granddad was sitting on one of the stools. If I had only had a stick with some chewing gum attached I probably would have found many nice coins under the bench that everyone sat on. I think a pool game was a nickel back then and it had to be collected by the owner.

 

So many great stories and memories relived on this thread. I want to thank everyone who has responded. In some of the memories I could picture myself right along beside you as you retold some of the events of your childhoods. Thanks to all for letting me relive mine.

 

I hope you are wrong about pocket change being phased out in the not-to-distant future. I would like to think that reasonable people will prevail and small coins of high denomination would be issued. Otherwise, coin collecting would strictly belong to the ancient guys. (not that there is anything wrong with them)

 

I'm pretty sure the BSA merit badge doesn't require you to collect a full 20th century set, might have been an older requirement but if so its not like that anymore unfortunately.

 

I started when I was about 5 years old (1950) when my grandpa would give us kids two pennies for every "lead" penny we found. He was convinced that because they were only made that one year, that they would be worth a lot of money in the future. Well, when he died, he left all of them to me and I still have all 439 steel cents. He got me started looking closely at coins and I collected what I could, filling several folders of different types of coins. Now that I'm retired, I've become more serious about it and favor Walking Liberty halves, Standing Liberty quarters, and Mercury Head dimes. I'm in the process of trying to educate myself and learn more, which is why I've just joined this group.

 

As I got into the hobby, I started seeing coins I didn't know we ever minted, 3C Silver, Half dimes, etc...it was part of the spark for me.

 

In 1952, my aunt was trying to get all the Morgan cc's in very good condition. My eyes were good then and I could spot them a mile away. She ended up getting all, practically unc.

 

I'm totally stealing this.

 

When I was 8 I was much closer to the ground and didn’t mind practically crawling under shelves, so I would find change in stores my family shopped in. One day I found a 1954 wheat cent. Been at it ever since.

 

Your knees must be in better shape than mine.

 

OK...here we go; when I was a young boy my Dad's brother, my uncle, Uncle Don was a Vietnam Veteran and he would get me the annual Silver Proof sets each and every year since my birth year (1968). I would always scratch my head and look at my Dad with a look of, "what the heck do I do with these?” He and my Uncle Don would just tell me to put them away and save them and that one day I would understand. This would go on for years. During this time we traveled all over the world since my Dad was in the Air Force. He would collect coins from every country we visited. When I entered the service (Army 1988) I began to do the same thing. I would collect coins from each and every country I was deployed to.


I collected all these coins in an old Cuban cigar box. Around 2003 I was stationed at Schofield Barracks, HI. It was my dream assignment. I met a friend by the name of SSG Simpson. He was a tall red neck soldier from South Carolina that stood 6 feet 4 inches tall and always had a ball of tobacco on one side of his cheeks. He carried an unused coke bottle to collect his spit. He was always looking on the ground as he walked, I mean ALWAYS. I would joke around with him and told him, "Why are you always looking on the ground Simpson?" He looked up at me and smiled and said, "Let me show you something". He turned around and unlocked a foot locker and pulled out an old cigar box that contained numerous amounts of gold chains, gold watches, gold chains, silver coins, gold nuggets, diamond ring, etc...He said, “You would be surprised what people drop out of their pockets when they reach in their pockets to pull out money". Since that day I have always walked looking down for treasure and I swear to you I now have my own cigar box full of treasures lost that I now collect.


SSG Simpson also introduced me to EBay and I was off. I started to collect everything from Morgan Dollars, Peace Dollars, Trade Dollars, Cuauhtémoc Mexican .900 coins, silver rounds, silver bars, paper money, etc. I was also a World History buff and well as you know History and coins go hand in hand. I am completely fascinated with the history of coins and where they have been, who had them in their possession, etc. Since those early days of my coin collection I have traveled all over the country and overseas to buy and collect silver coins or any coins that I like or would like to investigate further. This is why I always tell everyone I meet, collect what you want, not what others tell you to collect. If you want to buy raw, then buy raw or if you want to buy certified coins only then do that. Just do what makes you happy. I personally don't collect in hopes that I can make money. Now, if what I bought years ago is now worth more than hey that's great. If what I bought lost money then I am ok with that too.


Back in 2003 Silver was $4 / ounce and Gold was $400 / ounce. I bought hundreds of oz of silver and probably 50 oz of gold. How would I know that silver would go up the way it did or that gold would do the same thing. By the way I still have those original purchases to this day; locked away at an undisclosed location. This is my nest egg so to speak. I love collecting it is what I do to De-compress. It is my way to deal with the long day's work. I allows me to calm down. So yes it is my hobby. I encourage everyone to collect for the fun of it. This is just my 2 cents worth. Thank you and enjoy what remains of your day.



MJH

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Also found am 1853 gold dollar in a ring box along with a 3-cent piece.

 

Unfortunately it was not my original thought, I stole it from a friend of mine.

 

My first coin purchase was mail order. 1970 or so. 4 Columbian Exposition 1/2 dollars and some stamps for $6 and change as I remember. I still have the coins. I bought some liberty 1/2's for face value from friends who were using them at the store. Still have them.
Seeds which did not sprout for decades. As the saying goes, all my money went to cars, women and booze. What was left over, I just wasted. Then came kids and college...
A few years ago I dug my collection out and found out they had value. Kinda caught the bug. I bought a roll of ASE's to give at graduations and birthdays. My interest has snowballed from there.