New Contest with some really good prizes

My way again for saying thanks for this great forum. I have learned a great deal since joining back in 2005.
Here are the rules. Please just give a brief description of what you got into coin collecting. I know a lot of us of probably said this before on the forum but always nice to hear the stories of how we got into this hobby.
Posters with 25 or more postings can play. This will be a quick contest. Deadline will be Wednesday May 11 at 7PM Central time. I will mail out prizes Thursday afternoon when I get off work.
Now for the prizes:
First Prize: A Roosevelt Dime Wayte Raymond Album The National Coin Album. It will have 9 BU Dimes in it: 1954-D, 1954-S, 1955, 1955-D, 1956-D, 1957, 1960-D, 1963-D and 1964-D.
Second Prize: a 1962 quarter PCGS PR66DCAM and 1962 quarter ICG PT67 CAM.
Third Prize: 1 1964 JFk Half NGC PF67.

My daughter will draw the winners. Good luck!:hail:

 

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My father has always collected coins since before I was born. During my childhood he tried to get me involved by taking me to coin shows, stores and showing me his stuff. It never really clicked for me. He continued collecting up into the 1980's.
A couple of years ago he suffered a heart attack. It was of course life threatning, but he pulled through and is very much alive and happy today. He did however face his own mortality. So one day last year when I was visiting, he starting bringing out albums and boxes of coins. He wanted me to have them. He knew I wouldn't just sell them off and would treasure them.
I immidiately became a collector. I dove in head first and started buying every coin I could to fill the empty album holes. The rest is history.
Nothing makes me happier now then showing him all the new coins and finally being able to have a conversation about collecting and numismatics with by dad. It has brought us closer togethor then anything ever has. I just wish I would have started sooner.

 

Great idea for a contest.

I got interested when somebody paid me with a 1943 Lincoln cent in the 50's.
I took it to my grandmother who confirmed it was REAL.

Then she showed some of her SPECIAL coins.

That lead to the WHERE/WHY/WHEN stuff.

 

2 Great stories so far. gbroke and DoK U Mint are entered.

 

Hey, no hard questions in this Flyer contest......

Like Greg above me, it was my father who got me into collecting. One day, when I was around the tender age of fourteen, he brought out a metal box and a few of the old Whitman folders. The individual folders contained Mercury and Roosevelt dimes, Jefferson nickels, Washington quarters and (of course) Linclon cents. The albums were by no means complete and he explained that I could have them if I managed to complete at least one of the albums. The first one I did complete was the Roosevelt dimes. Piece of cake as at that time I had a paper route and silver roseys were quite plentiful in the change. I was hooked for life and the albums were mine to keep. I've still got them. Oh, the metal box? What was in it? Proof sets......'54-'63. Dad explained that he'd been buying them since we were little. That metal box was instumental in keeping me focused on "moderns" for many years. It wasn't till I arrived at this forum that I began to branch out in my collecting endevour. This forum community, in which we reside, has been influential in helping me expand my collecting horizons.

 

Nah..No hard questons this time Green! Great story. I wish I would of started young like yourself. Playing catch up after all these years. Good luck in the contest.

 

I got into collecting six years ago when my grandfather gave me a no-date Buffalo nickel. From there, I got a Silver Eagle, and my collection turned into what it is today.

Thanks for the contest! :thumb:

 

Thanks Coinmaster. You are entered.

 

I had six years of age, when I received a bunch of coins from one of my uncles and my maternal grandfather. My uncle was a bank manager, and my grandfather was teaching engineering to his slaves in South Africa. I developed an interest to collect coins. After their deaths, I opted to only collect U.S. coinage.

 

My grandparents had a box of coins, my dad was tasked with dividing the coins up among the 4 grandchildren, but he handed the task off to me. I was sucked into the hobby as I checked out a Red Book to look up coins and try figure out who got what. It was so interesting to see all the different type of coins and learn their history. Dividing the coins was a nearly impossible task as my Grandma wanted the divisions to be equal. I tried to give everyone as wide of variety of coins as I could. Some got more junk silver than others, but for me, I did end up with some coins I love. As for what the others have done with their coins, I don’t know. But the coins I received have been put into holders and are ready to be passed on to my kids years from now. At this time my budget is tight, but I continue to try to learn as much as I can, so in the future I might be able to add on to my small collection.

 

Nice to hear about your score on the dimes Flyers.
I got into collecting in the 80's but just picked it up again as my children have become interested. My grandfather passed away in the 60's and had accumulated quite a collection of silver dollars. According to my dad he had collected at least 2 of every year and mintmark that had been released by the us mint for circulation. Sadly, my grandmother sold the collection when silver was at a high in the 80's and received melt value for all of the coins. When my dad found out that she had sold the coins, he asked if there were any left. There was a small box that contained several 2c coins and about 15-20 Franklin halfs. Those were given to me at that time. Now I like collecting Jefferson nickels and enjoy filling holes in my childrens lincoln cent album. (just wish I could have all of those dollars!!) The local coin dealer made out well I suppose (no longer in business)

Doug

 

I had a small collection of coins ever since I was young. I obtained them from my great grandmother's belongings after she deceased. So whenever I looked at them, it would remind me of her. But it wasn't until Christmas 2009 that I really started to get into collecting. I was at my uncle's house and he starts talking about his collection and then brings out his albums. Something just clicked in my head and ever since then, I've been collecting and ever out did my uncle's collection. lol. Whenever we get together, we talk coins. It's great to be able to do that with people (face to face, not internet) as I've only met a few people who were into collecting coins. I've since tried to get my own children into collecting, but have had mixed results.

 

I got interested in coins as a child. My mother had an old plastic "safe" that I learned to pry open to see how to unlock it. Inside it there was some 2 dollar bills, some ikes, and a magical WL half. I used to open that safe once a week just to stare at that beauty, (a 1943 d in VF, nothing now, but the most beautiful thing in the world back then). I started collecting what I could, saving up allowance for IHC and the like, while finding wheaties, buffalos, and war nickels in change. I figured out early I like type coins, as rare wheaties and other "keys" never interested me, as I could buy a ton of coins I didn't own in exchange for one 14d.

I liked silver a lot, and was lucky winning a $500 bingo, so invested all of it in silver in the late 70's. I sold when it got to about $33. I still hung around coin shops after that, but didn't buy too much. I got back in the late 80's, starting when silver got lower and I could afford rolls of LW halves and Mercs. I gradually got more and more, then moved into SL halves and Bust halves as my "real" coins I collected, along with higher grade type. It was off and on for the 90's, but then around 2000 found out that ancients were affordable and offered MUCH more variety than US coins ever could, so I have been down that path ever since.

TYVM for having this contest. It should be fun to read how everyone got started. If your daughter happens to pick my name, please pick out a YN here to give them to, as they are the future of this hobby.

Chris

 

Thanks for a contest - here's my story:

My interest in coins began when my mother used to take me to my grandmother's house. She had one of those large glass water jugs filled with Lincoln Cents. They'd pour out a handful or two on the carpet in the living room and tell me to sort them all by year. After I'd sort them, my grandma would pull out a Whitman folder and have me put the best ones in the book. As I got a little older, I got to search through more and more of the jug - I remember getting really excited every time I'd find a wheatie...

I also remember wondering for YEARS why some of the holes in the book were filled in - I thought, "What happens when I find one? Do I have to scratch the cardboard out to put the coin in? Why would they DO that?"

Every once in a while, once I got old enough to ask if she had any other coins, my grandma would pull out something different from her collection: mercury dimes, jefferson nickels, kennedy halves. It's funny - I collect ALL of these now and never gave it a thought until now. I'd help my grandparents with their booths at the flea market and spend my money on cheap coins - a proof clad roosevelt dime here, a mint token there, even a damaged bust half dime! Sadly, once I got into junior high school I shifted focus to basketball cards...just as they were printing out eighteen billion cards and four hundred sets a year. All that money spent...and absolutely nothing to show for it. If only I'd spent it on coins!

I stopped collecting anything when I joined the Navy. I didn't have much room to carry stuff around (living on a ship) and I was a bit disillusioned from basketball cards not being quite as successful as I had been led to believe. It was only when I came home from the Navy and started college that I started going over to my grandparents' house again - and talking about coins with my grandmother.

I still go over when I get new coins. I still go over every time I go to flea market (she doesn't go anymore) and I show her the odd stuff I'm able to pick out...silver foreign coins for a quarter, 1914 Lincoln cent in AU for a dollar, 4 silver war nickels and a worn but legible 1888 Liberty nickel in a bag for $3. Every birthday of hers (or Christmas) I have been giving her a coin from her birth year (1927) in the best condition I can afford. I thought, "Eventually she'll have a complete set, and then what will I give her for presents? This is so easy!" But then I looked into it and, yeah, I'll never quite be able to afford that 1927D Double Eagle...especially as a college professor. UNLESS I HIT THE LOTTERY! Ha ha ha...

So, that's how I got into coins, how I got out, and how time spent with my grandmother has pulled me back in for good. I do more than just separate the dates now - and I love reading about the history behind each coin design - but in the long run, I'll always remember sorting through that handful of Lincolns in my grandmother's living room. And I've started filling up a water jug of my own (with coppers and common wheaties), just in case my niece or nephew comes over and needs something to do while I talk with my sister.

 

More great stories. I got everyone so far that has posted in the pool. Chris is you should win I will be sure to pick a YN instead. Thanks
Craig

 

my dad got me into coin collecting when i was 13. i found a 1958 wheatie in change and thought it was different because it didn't have the memorial on the back. he asked if i wanted to learn how to collect coins, and i said sure. he took me down to the coin store and bought me a couple of whitman folders, and then took me to the bank and bought $5 in cents. he showed me all about the years, mint marks, explained the difference in reverse designs, and even gave me some 1940's and 1950's wheats, plus a 1943-s, for my growing collection. since then, because of my dad, i've been a cent collector at heart.

 

I'll echo Chris's sentiment too Craig. If I'm ever so lucky......

 

Fab idea/How generous!!

My father served in the US Armed Forces right when I was born and a few years after, and he brought back a little box with assorted world coins. Several years down the road when I was growing up I found the box and had to know what these coins were!!

He told me he got them when he was serving the country as a medic. I quickly became fascinated by all coins and money and had to know what each of his coins were.

I still have his little box of coins, all of them still intact. I've added a few of my own pieces haha.

Thank you again for being kind enough to donate some of your collection to maybe inspire another collector or their children, to collect certain coins. Have a great week!

 

I will be glad to do that. Thanks!

 

I started collecting coins back in 1967 when I was 10 years old. There were a two catalysts for me.

First was stumbling on the blue whitman folders for Lincoln Cents in a drug store and also finding and buying a Red Book in the same store. Lincoln Cents was the first series I started collecting and I found a lot of the dates and mints by roll searching. I was able to eventually find almost all the dates and mints from the mid 1930s on ... and even filled some slots (mostly P mint) from the 1910's and 1920's. Reading the Red Book really opened my eyes to the rich world of coins -- especially the different coin types -- and rare dates and mintmarks.

Second, was the realization that 90% silver coins could still be found in change and they were no longer being minted -- so I started making trips to several local banks to get rolls of dimes, quarters, and halfs and searching for silver coins. It was like my own little treasure hunt, which was really fun for a 10 year old, and I was eventually able to accumulate $80 face in 90% silver coins. (I was definitely slowed by the limited budget of a 10 year old). The oldest coin I found in roll searching was a Barber Quarter. Funny I didnt save the 40% silver Kenney's at the time because they were still being minted and didnt seem valuable (funny!).

I remember my dad telling me that banks gave away bags of Morgan silver dollars at face value in the early 1960's. It made me sick hearing that and realizing that I missed that opportunity by only 5 years. However where would I have come with $1000 for a bag of 1000 (probably UNC) Morgans? Maybe I could have convinced my parents? I do remember thinking ... why weren't my parents (who had money) interested in getting a bag or two of Morgans back in 1962? After all, there was zero downside as they would always be worth face. My family used to make fun of my obsession with coins and called me k.k.k. which stood for "kooky koin kollector".

Funny, thirteen years later in 1980 my father told me that I had the right idea about saving silver coins and he should have been doing the same -- of course this was during the huge hunt brothers boom where my silver stash had a value multiple of 50x. By 1981, silver prices came back to earth and my coins had a multiple of between 4x and 8x, which is where it stayed for the next 20 years.

I also concur with the previous posters ... "if your daughter happens to pick my name, please pick out a YN here to give them to, as they are the future of this hobby."

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