Why did you start? What keeps you interested? My boyfriend introduced me to looking at my pocket change and so far I think its fun to look through change and it gives me a fun reason to use cash.
I started when I was 10. I won $5 from a 16 year-old at the local poolroom, and he paid me with 4 dollar bills and a (Morgan) silver dollar. That was in 1957. I stay interested by reading most of the threads on this forum, thinking how some comments can be interpreted wrongly (meaning twisted until you're crying from laughter) and listening to Detecto complain about something at least once a week. Chris
I like the art of collecting in general. Coin collecting is awesome to me because of the eye appeal and history alone. We grow up watching movies and learning about events such as the titanic/WW1/Revolutionary War.. heck anything in history going back thousands of years and you can pretty much put your hands on a piece of history with numismatics. Overtime it has been a pleasure to see my collection grow and I get great satisfaction with taking time out to examine my coins. Another thing that blows my mind is that from Large Cents on back coins were pretty much pressed by hand.
I like the art and history that each coin could possibly tell. Whether its a 1 year old coin or 2500 year old ancient, its fun to think what action the coin has seen & whom has held it. Thats why I think problem coins can get a bad rap at times. If its a scratch, cleaning or a love token, it makes you wonder why it was done or with a love token, if the person that make it end up being with that loved one till death or did it fizzle. Coin have many stories to tell & thats one of the main things I love about them.
You are like my Dad - born in 1947 - should I call you Uncle Chris from now on? ;-) Anyway, this is the story of how I got into collecting coins and stamps. I grew up as a rebellious and extravagant brat. Never worried about money and never thought of saving some. As I grew older and learned about 'real' life from friends or colleagues, I started to appreciate more for what I have been given in life so far. Of course, I still love spending money. But in late 2010, instead of buying depreciating stuffs (some are useless really!), such as designer clothes or fancy up-to-date electronics, I started to buy stamps for my collection. While I was discussing about my stamp collection with a staff at my local post office about the flags of our nation series, the lady told me about State Quarter coins. From there onward, I started to collect any coins that I am interested in, be them clad, silver, gold or platinum. So now, I got to spend my money (can't get rid this bad habit really ) but at the same time, I am collecting money!
Like most have said, it's two fold for me. The history of it, thinking such and such held this coin or it was around during this time/event. Then the art, I've always enjoyed art and I enjoy coins or their eye appeal. So history (I'm a historian myself) and the art are what draw me to coins.
I like collecting coins for the same reason I like collecting old maps, photographs, furniature and a lot of other Americana....I love and appreciate the history and craftsmanship associated with them. It's one thing to read about history, but something entirely different to be able to hold and use that history daily, to be a curator to a small piece of history. Guy
