Old days coin hobby is better than now

old days

i still think old days is better. everything were so cheap.

 

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I'm not an old time coin collector, but I would have to agree that the old days were much better. There are too many collectors these days.

I've searched through thousands of dollars worth of rolls and have come up with very little returns.

I have never found an indian head, buff, merc, walker, etc from circulation.

I think the #1 reason why people are collecting and hoarding coins is simply because our economy is down the toilet. Inflation is so high that our govt can't even afford to mint copper, let alone silver, gold or platinum. The melt value for silver is much higher than face value. Out of hundreds of rolls and from working as a cashier, I have only found 1 silver quarter this year. In the early 1900's, you could buy a loaf of bread for 1 cent, now it's about $2. At the time there really wasn't any inflation.

When silver and gold coins were minted, the dollar was very strong. It's not the coin itself that has more value. The value of these coins is the same as they were as minted. When compared to the value of the dollar, these coins appear to be much higher in value. Which is why so many people collect now.

Every collection that I know of has been cherry picked years and years ago. There aren't many old time collections still in tact, many of the old timers are dying out. Their collections end up being bought up at estate sales and are being sold in small lots on ebay. Of course only after the best stuff was cherry picked.

I consider every coin in circulation right now to be junk, clad coins have absolutely no vaue whatsoever. I wouldn't even consider buying a proof set unless it had 90% silver dime, quarter, half, and dollar.

My grandparents were collectors, my grandfather was born in the early 1900's and he had a lot of coins. He had rolls of barbers, a bunch of morgans, etc. They stopped collecting when silver coins went out of production. A few years before he died, he went on vacation and when he came back, his best coins were missing. He claims the landscaper came in when he was away and went through all of his things and took only the most valuable stuff and left the rest.

He claimed to have a gold piece the size of a penny, who knows what else he had that was stolen. He had coins all over the place, my uncle found some and sold them, my father found a small bag of silver in his closet. I found a piece of his collection in a filing cabinet.

I also had a coin collection as a kid. My father had bought a bunch of proof sets and I had a few silver coins. I never found out what happened, but I think they all got sold off.

I just recently became interested in coin collecting again. Even finding a wheatie now is a rarity, out of a 2500 penny box of rolls, I'm lucky to get 10-20.

Ever since the internet, coin collectng has become huge, so many people are now aware of rare coin varieties. Before the internet, the primary sources of information were from either books or word of mouth.

As tomn66 pointed out, in the early 60's, good coins could still be found in circulation. Most of the good coins were pulled out in the 70s when the price of silver skyrocketed.

 

Not quite PNX, it only seemed to be that way. When you stop and look at the old world in those days, you will find that things weren't quite as some of the "old timers" said they were. Here is an example:

Below is a collection of 1900 Chicago food prices from The 18th Annual Report of the U.S. Commissioner of Labor:

Cost per pound :

Rib Roast $.13, Chuck Steak $.08, Sirloin $.14, Corned Beef $.06, Butter $.22, Cheese $.17, Coffee $.14, Flour $.02, Lard $.10, Mutton $.08, Pork Chops, $.10, Rice $.06, Sugar $.06

Other prices:

Dry Beans—quart $.09, Bread—1 pound loaf $.05, Eggs—dozen $.18, Milk—quart $.06, Molasses—gallon $.60, Irish Potatoes—Bushel $.39

This is when you spent a whole days pay for one Rib Roast, or a nickel for that loaf of bread you mentioned. People ate a lot of potatoes and bread in those days, and considered themselves lucky.

 

senior and experiance person

old dan, you maybe the most senior person on this hobby. your comment on this topic should be the best answer for us. more power to you. old dan.

 

And incomes were so much lower! Pretty much a washout. Eveyone who looks back at those "cheap prices" tends to forget that. They look at 1940's prices and think with their 2005 incomes.

 

Exactly right. The only meaningful comparison is how many hours you have to work to acquire identical items.

 

Pushing 50, you still have plenty of time to make new "old days".

 

These are the "good old days".

 

good old days

yes, i agreed, good old days will always better.