I started in the hobby back when I was 9 or 10 not by collecting Lincoln cents, but by collecting the coins of Iceland. My father had been involved in coins for nearly 20 years by that time and was heavily involved in dealing world coins. Sadly, I lost interest after a few months, mostly because I couldn't readily get the coins - I had to get them at coin shows and those weren't happening every weekend. I think it would have been more productive had he started me first on Lincolns - I could find those anywhere and my enthusiasm could have been kept alive. Jump ahead 25 years to the present and I'm back collecting Icelandic coins. I was able to get my collection from my father so I wasn't starting over from square one, but now that I am older, I can afford to have coins in better grades. Pushing a lawn mower a few Saturdays a month could buy me 1 or 2 nice coins or a bag full of decent coins - three guesses what I did. In reviewing my collection, I only need a handful of coins to have all the types represented, mostly the post 1981 stuff since that's after I stopped collecting. I have some holes in the dates for the various types I do have and I plan on adding those as I find them. Since there aren't that many coin types, I can understand why my father thought it was a good place to start - the coins are cheap and one can complete a type set in XF without spending much more than a summer's worth of mowing. Since Iceland didn't start producing it's own coinage until the 1920's, I started to look at what was used in the years before and that has led me to a very interesting find. The Central Bank of Iceland (Sedlabanki Island) has a history of the currency used in Iceland. I had been researching using the internet mostly finding the information in wiki's or on out of date websites - and some of the history was conflicting so I wasn't sure what was more factual. The document I found cleared up some of the conflicting bits and is very detailed. Finding this document has really helped me understand the coins I am collecting, why they exist and why it took so long for Iceland to issue it's own currency. This is what makes coin collecting fun for me today and these nuances were lost on me at age 10. Having a greater understanding has now led me to collecting the coins used by Icelanders prior to the creation of their own currency. I am not sure why I am drawn to Iceland, maybe it has something to do with it being such a small country and having a difficult history. The people of Iceland have overcome some huge obstacles yet they continue on. This tiny island nation has fostered my interest in the coins of Norway and Denmark, and dare I say, even an interest in paper money. It's funny what a little research will lead to. Here is the document that helped put it all into focus for me; http://www.sedlabanki.is/uploads/files/TheCurrencyofIceland.pdf -Steve
Will have a read of that as soon as I have a bit of spare time LOL I have a couple or three Icelandic coins in my collection and have not long ago recieved my first Banknote :smile The main thing though is I am allways interested in learning something new :hail:
to paraphrase a quote i used to pass everyday; don't simply learn, acquire the habit of learning. it has done me well, and filled many bookcases. -Steve
