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<p>[QUOTE="Roman Collector, post: 3275382, member: 75937"]My story is very similar. I collected US coins in the early 70s -- mostly from circulation but also from coin shops and Christmas gifts. But I was always collecting something -- rocks and minerals, comic books, military antiques, stamps and so on. For much of my teenage and early adult years, stamp collecting was my major pursuit. But my stamp collection grew so much that I lacked only key sets that cost hundreds of dollars and I was a student on a limited budget. The brick and mortar coin and stamp store I frequented had an ancient coin section (overpriced, I now know) along with a large US coin selection, which bored me to tears. I realized I hadn't as much added a single coin to my collection since the seventh grade.</p><p><br /></p><p>I fell in love with a tribute penny -- the one in my avatar -- admittedly for its biblical association and because it was going on 2000 years old! And I could hold it in my hand. Back in those days, the melt value of silver was crazy and I sold most of my old US coin collection to the dealer and bought the tribute penny. Did I lose on the deal? Who knows? My US collection consisted of well-circulated 20th century coins, most worth no more than melt value, I suppose, with a handful of Indian head cents, a large cent in fine and a bust half dollar with problems. I lost all of my records when a computer crashed many years ago and I can't remember what I paid for the tribute penny. It's probably best that I don't. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]864827[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>I don't really miss my US coins. I still have a few that I kept for sentimental reasons -- the 1964 Kennedy half dollar my mother waited in line to get at the bank when it first was issued, a couple of 1921 Morgan dollars my grandmother gave to me when I was a kid, and some commemorative halves I received as Christmas gifts: George Washington Carver, Lexington-Concord, and Stone Mountain. I occasionally buy US coins at shows if I see something that grabs me. I bought the breast cancer set this past fall for personal reasons (loved ones with breast cancer). But I'm turned off by all the slabs in US coin collecting nowadays.</p><p><br /></p><p>I liked holding the large cent and the bust half as a kid, marveling at how they were more than 150 years old. I get the same feeling when I hold a sestertius, its heft filling my palm, and I imagine how its surfaces contain traces of lamp oil, pagan altar smoke, centurion sweat and gladiator blood. Did it buy wine? Almost certainly. Did it buy a pair of sandals for a five-year-old girl to wear to a festival? Could be! It bought food and wine and clothing and knickknacks and entertainment for thousands of people in antiquity. And that's just a really cool thing to think about!</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]864828[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Roman Collector, post: 3275382, member: 75937"]My story is very similar. I collected US coins in the early 70s -- mostly from circulation but also from coin shops and Christmas gifts. But I was always collecting something -- rocks and minerals, comic books, military antiques, stamps and so on. For much of my teenage and early adult years, stamp collecting was my major pursuit. But my stamp collection grew so much that I lacked only key sets that cost hundreds of dollars and I was a student on a limited budget. The brick and mortar coin and stamp store I frequented had an ancient coin section (overpriced, I now know) along with a large US coin selection, which bored me to tears. I realized I hadn't as much added a single coin to my collection since the seventh grade. I fell in love with a tribute penny -- the one in my avatar -- admittedly for its biblical association and because it was going on 2000 years old! And I could hold it in my hand. Back in those days, the melt value of silver was crazy and I sold most of my old US coin collection to the dealer and bought the tribute penny. Did I lose on the deal? Who knows? My US collection consisted of well-circulated 20th century coins, most worth no more than melt value, I suppose, with a handful of Indian head cents, a large cent in fine and a bust half dollar with problems. I lost all of my records when a computer crashed many years ago and I can't remember what I paid for the tribute penny. It's probably best that I don't. :) [ATTACH=full]864827[/ATTACH] I don't really miss my US coins. I still have a few that I kept for sentimental reasons -- the 1964 Kennedy half dollar my mother waited in line to get at the bank when it first was issued, a couple of 1921 Morgan dollars my grandmother gave to me when I was a kid, and some commemorative halves I received as Christmas gifts: George Washington Carver, Lexington-Concord, and Stone Mountain. I occasionally buy US coins at shows if I see something that grabs me. I bought the breast cancer set this past fall for personal reasons (loved ones with breast cancer). But I'm turned off by all the slabs in US coin collecting nowadays. I liked holding the large cent and the bust half as a kid, marveling at how they were more than 150 years old. I get the same feeling when I hold a sestertius, its heft filling my palm, and I imagine how its surfaces contain traces of lamp oil, pagan altar smoke, centurion sweat and gladiator blood. Did it buy wine? Almost certainly. Did it buy a pair of sandals for a five-year-old girl to wear to a festival? Could be! It bought food and wine and clothing and knickknacks and entertainment for thousands of people in antiquity. And that's just a really cool thing to think about! [ATTACH=full]864828[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]
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