What sparked your interest in this hobby?

What began you interest in collecting coins? Was it a find in change, a gift or a hobby passed down from a generation (father, uncle, etc.). Please post below what sparked your interest in the hobby. I can't think of mine now but will post later. Thanks

 

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For a birthday (I think my ninth birthday) my dad gave me two proof sets from the year I was born, which was 1983. I started showing a little interest, so then he gave me a pretty nice 1899-O Morgan dollar, and I was hooked.

 

A tendency to hoard things. What Freud would call an anal personality :mouth: - that is, in today's terms, an obssessive-compulsive fellow. It so happens that my hoarding was more proficient with coins than with other things, and a more serious, genuine interest began developing then.

 

The year before I was born my father bought me an American Eagle Silver dollar(1986). Every year on Christmas there was one at the top of my stocking. I always admired them for their beauty but never was too too interested beyond looking at the coin on Christmas day. When my father passed away I wanted to continue the tradition and my collection so I started buying the eagles every year on my own but again never really thought much about it any other time of the year. About 10 months ago a customer came into my store and paid me with a silver quarter- instantly I felt it was different than a normal quarter. Thus began my obsession with coins. Most of my collection I like to find in half dollars (the banks love me when I drop off like 5k in halves) but I also collect eagles and a few other random coins. Collecting is a ton of fun and a good investment.... I only wish I had been doing it for about 22 years longer. Just found a stone Mountain half not too long ago

 

My parents bought me a lincoln penny book from 1975 - present (1994) back when it came out. I mostly filled it and then forgot about it. About 3 years ago i found it again and it sparked my interest in coins and later bills. I spent a while looking for the different 1982 pennies in circulation. It took a while to find the last one. Along the way I picked up other old and foreign coins. I then happened to find a 1934A $10 and that was the beginning of my bill collection.

 

One word......HISTORY Traci

 

My Dad was a collector and starting giving me coins when I was about 8. Have been a casual collector since.

 

On my 6th birthday, my grandpa gave me 6 Ike dollars. Seventh birthday I got 7, and so on. I think he ran out of the Ike dollars he had been keeping by birthday number 8 or 9, but it didn't matter...I was already hooked.

 

My grandpa collected, and passed his collection on to me when he died. It was always something we did together, but my whitman lincoln cent album was pathetic compaired to his collection. So, when i inherited his, i wanted to keep it going. When i turned 9, i learned one of my friends older brothers collected avidly, and he took me under his wing. Since he was 17, he took me with him to all of the coin shows in the surrounding 200 miles, and an occasional auction or two.

Me and him still make it a point to go to a couple shows a year together, but, he has his own family now, so, it's a bit harder for him to drop everything and go. But we're going up to the mid-america show together tomorrow; I can't wait!

 

I always wanted hobby, but could never find one I really liked enough to continue. The state quarters got me started and I'm still here in the hobby.

 

I took a math class in college and sat next to a guy who worked in a coin shop. We got to know each other a little bit and began studying before class together and play cribbage now and then. Eventually he gave me an assortment of Indian head cents for free and I wanted more and more and now I have a mini hoard.

 

For me, it started with coins.:mouth:

 

What sparked my interest in this hobby was researching the values of coins that my dad left in his estate.

 

It's pretty interesting to see how everyone started out, this is a good thread

I used to keep any wheat penny or foreign coin I'd find. One day I just wanted a book to keep them in, next thing I knew I was getting silver eagles for christmas. Now I have thousands of coins, I like my mini bank in my room :kewl:

 

I like old stuff. It intrigues me and always has. What did people live like back when these coins were new but if I really think about it it's not just coins.

When I was a child (1960s - born in 62) the family would go visit my grandmother in Knox, IN. Really not that far but to a kid of 5 or 6 it took FOREVER to get there.
TV reception was horrible, grandma always made a great meal but kids get bored you know? So it was usually my sister (7 years my senior) and I that would go for a walk.
We stumbled upon an old cemetary and it fascinated me. Seemed to be a family plot - the family being the Humphries.
A lot of them died in the 1850's. 1856 seemed to be a real bad year for them.
Every time we went to visit grandma from then on my sister and I would go "visit the Humphries". Years later a friend of my grandma did some research. Seems smallpox took a heavy toll on that family.

So what did they live like? What did they do? How was life before illness? What was their everyday spending money?

So at age six I took an interest in coins. Got the "coin collecting kit" from the Sears Wishbook. Had some off time over the years believe me but never really got tired of it.

About 10 or so years ago my wife and I were driving by the Knox exit and I got off. Can't believe I still knew how to get there but visited the Humphries.

To this day I will stop at cemetaries of little note when on vacation in the middle of nowhere. I like to look at the stones. See when they were born and when they died and wonder what their life was like.
Most of it's the history of everyday people that helped form this nation. May sound weird to some but it's really cool to me and worth a few minutes of my time.

So if I really think about it the Humphries' got me into collecting and they've been gone for a long time. Like 140 years.

 

Going to gradma's and searching for wheaties in her pennies every week. Then my father starting to collect proof sets in the early 70's. Those two combined got me started with the mint in the mid-80's. After my mothers death in 2000 me and my father were bored one day and he said -"Lets go to the local coin shops". I got my first large cent and shield nickel - the rest is history.

 

I started collecting pennies at age 10, because my older brother did, and to be a properly annoying little brother I felt I had a responsibility. Shortly thereafter I started delivering newspapers (The Detroit Free Press), and one customer would pay her bill with a "nice shiney" silver dollar. I kept every one of those dollars, an 40+ years later they turned out to be really worth something.

 

I started buying junk silver just to have bullion in my portfolio. Sometimes I would find Barber Halves and Standing Liberty Quarters in the mix. One Christmas my Dad gave me one of those framed Coins of the Twentieth Century cutouts with all the coins in. I couldn't stop looking at it all day and I was hooked.

 

Clembo, I actually kind of do that too with cemeteries. I know where alot of old ones are around here.

 

I got a metal detector last year and for Christmas my wife bought me a few metal detecing things and on a whim got me the red book. Now I had a few coins and bills I have collected over the years but this book brought me a whole new sense of the hobby and I began to really look at my coins. It brought me to buy some coins and now I am hooked on collecting. Tim