I have oft told the story of how my grandfather sent me a 25 pound box of coins when I was 12. Among that box were 4 large cents all culled or holed. Here are the two that really got me into the hobby. All I know about them is that they are draped bust, they are far to gone for me to see the dates, although I think the second one might be an 1803. They are the start of my collection and will always remain in it.
Like you, I also have some coins which hold special meaning to me. In my case, it is a small bag of world coins which my mother gave to me when I was a child, which she had collected on her travels. They will be the last to go.
Some coins Some coins have dates and denoniations. Some coins have luster, mint marks &/or errors. Some have heritage/history. Sometimes PM=Precious Memories. That is why I like this hobby. It can be substantial & fragile at the same time. Nice photos, too.
Thank you for sharing...these are just further proof, in my opinion, that badly damaged coins can still make memories for people! It all depends on the situation.
Reminds me of my first coin--a 1818 large cent I found in my Dad's drawer. I promptly sanded , cleaned and shellacked it!
I'm sure your Dad was grateful. Kinnda like the day my daughter improved my Acoustic Research speakers by stabbing them with a pencil. To let her live required making a decision instead just reacting with passion.:desk:
Nice coins and a great way to start. I do not have pictures of my first, but below is my second one. My story is a little different - after my mom's death in 2000 starting in 2001 my father started talking coins a lot. Just something we have had in common my whole life. We did this for about a year and in late 2003 we decided to shop around and the local coins stores. We looked, but did not buy - first I decided to complete my 1/10 and 1/4 oz AGE(3 coins). Then I decided to do grade ASE's - we kept talking coins for about another year to year and a half. During that year or so we were convinced that we could never collect older series of coins. My father has an obsession with MS graded coins, not me. Well my father announced he was going to do morgans and I was going to do shield nickels and IHC's - I did not need the key dates in my mind for either series. I still remember the trip to the second coin shop(the one I never use) to look for morgans and shield nickels. In 2005 I joined this forum(just lurked for a few months, before posting). The had my first DDO shield nickel sitting next to a 1798 AG coin for $90 and I bought it for 75$. I was now hooked and did not know it. I wanted older coins in that price range - but my main shop had the below coin. I got some AG low 1800's DB cents and I must have looked at this coin for a month - did not really know about varieties yet - and bought it. I am not sorry I bought the coin(paid more for it than the 1793 I just posted) - that was the nail in the coffin. Then this site taught me about varieties(other than red-book) and I bought several large cent books. I think when I first started I posted one coin on here that was trashed(still using a scanner then) - but it did not discourage me. It is probably the only large cent purchase I regret making now(and the only one I ever sold) - there have been 3 or 4 bad ones, but this was the worst. So you can probably look at my large cent posts over the years to see how I have grown as a collector(not all are posted). No I don't need high grade coins to make me happy and my little dansco album does have 2 or 3 I will replace with different varieties at the right time. At this point I can not imagine not collecting Bust coinage. Plus somewhere along the line I decided I needed the key dates(shield, IHC's and large cents if possible) - so know I have them all except 1793 chain, 1793 Liberty cap, 1799 and 1804 Bust cents and the 1877 proof shield nickel. It has been an enjoyable 4 or 5 years.
Thanks for sharing man. Its funny that I started with those large cents, but never really did get into large cent collecting. I buy nice pieces every now and then but not by variety, although I probably should get the books just to have the reference material.
