Does any one know a good method to get children interested in coin collecting with out owning a bank???
I would (and have) given partially filled Lincoln cent albums to grandchildren. It has gotten one granddaughter slightly interested. And welcome to CoinTalk, Tony!
Show them something completely different from what they'd see in circulation. Maybe start with modern 1 oz silver rounds from around the world. Most people don't even know about American Silver Eagles, Mexican Libertads, etc. Heck now they have Coca-Cola bottle cap shaped silver coins, skull shaped, and superhero themed ones, too - I bet these Mints are trying to reach out to the young generation somehow, so FWIW, use their research (images below). I'd probably stick with government issued ones like the ones below, as opposed to privately minted ones since the former have a further element to them - you can tell them it's legal tender and watch their reaction! Not that any sane person would actually use it to buy something at only face value... but still technically true. One good place to browse the different varieties is MCM (Modern Coin Mart). Pics from the 'net.
Give that man the cigar !! I think my son was about 8 when I took him to his first coin show - and I took 4 of his friends with him, boys and girls. At first they were all hesitant and stuck right to my coattails like glue. But with just a little talking and explaining all 5 of them were soon running around that coin like kids turned loose in a candy store. And all I heard for the next 5 hours was - Dad, Dad, look at this ! or Doug, Doug, look at this ! You have never seen 5 kids with bigger or more smiles on their faces - not even on Christmas morning ! And of course all of them went home with a great many treasures. And when I got home, I spent the rest of the night, until bedtime, watching my son search through about a hundred pounds of change - which was of course continued the next day until every single coin had been looked at - and about half of them set aside ! Now for the upshot of the story, 7 or 8 years later all 5 of those kids were still collecting coins. With all of them making many frequent trips to my house to show off their acquisitions over the entire time period. Now that's just one example, there were a lot of other kids involved over the years, and many adults as well. Now the kids are understandable, but how did I get the adults interested ? Same kind of thing really - show them something they've never seen and explain to them why it's cool ! For probably 15 years, maybe even a bit longer, I always carried one of these in my pocket, every single day. And you'd be surprised how many excuses there for pulling one of those out your pocket just in the course of everyday life. And when you do, why every adult within eyeball range is gonna wanna look at it ! They will literally stand in line to look at it ! Do you hook every fish that comes to the bait ? Nahhhh, of course not. But ya are gonna hook quite a few. And in turn each one ya do is eventually going to get somebody else interested. I can't even begin to count the number of collectors that I have initiated to the hobby, both directly and indirectly, over the course of my lifetime. But it's not hard, it's actually quite easy. All you have to do is have a bit of knowledge and something to show them that they've never seen before. The rest just comes naturally
...And as for what set to work on for kids, I think Jeffersons are the way to go. Key date(s) won't break the bank (1950-D for about $10), even the older coins are still found in circulation, and it's a big set to keep them interested for years. Lincoln cents are heavily recommended, but tell a kid that he needs an S-VDB, a 14-D, and a No-D for his set, and that those three will cost a minimum of $1k, and just watch the enthusiasm drain from his/her face.
Wow all great ideas. I know my grown daughter knows how to spend money; maybe I can get her children into collecting it. Hahaha
I started with my niece and nephew when they were 8 and 9. Now they are 9 and 10. So not too long ago. I got them a couple of silver rounds and then a couple of ASE's. Then they told me they liked them so I brought them to my coin club. They liked getting cull Morgans and Peace dollars. When I bring them to the coin club now they are little rakes and blow their allowances. So I have to be careful and watch them.
I agree that coin shows are great. My two kids love going and also will spend their allowance on all sorts of things. Many dealers will also give them unusual things to spark interest. If they look around they will find something interesting. My daughter likes cents and my son is a silver bug, so he usually looks for dimes. There are some scavenger hunts you can find online that you can give them to complete during a coin show too.
That specific coin, I only carried in my pocket for 7 years. But it was merely the last example in a line of them. To answer your question - yes, I carried a 1 oz AGE in my pocket every day for at least 15 years, but it was probably closer to 20 years. The reason there was more than one of them, well, it was because I would spend them. And when I spent one I would go right out and buy another one to take its place in my pocket. And now you'll probably want to ask how I managed to spend them. It wasn't hard, in each case it because I was at a coin show and I had spent all the cash I had on me, but still wanted to buy another coin or two. So when that happened I would reach in my pocket, pull the gold coin out, and flip it to the dealer off the end of my thumb - just like when flip any coin. The dealer would catch it, and our deal would be done. Then when I got home I'd go out and buy another one and put that coin in my pocket That last one, the one I posted pictures of, a member of this forum bought it from me. It had particular meaning for him, one because it was mine, and two because it had cost him a rather expensive dinner one night while we were at a coin show. We flipped a coin to see who would paid the bill - that was the coin I flipped - he lost A couple of years later he bought the coin.
I'm guessing you traded your "pocket change" at melt value. I guess that's a lot better than carrying around that much more equivalence in cash. But, carrying around a gold coin in my pocket would be way too risky for me, since I lose stuff on a regular basis lol. Even when I store coins in my binder, my coins disappear and are still MIA!
I understand your point and a lot of folks have said the same kind of thing you're saying. But at the same time it was never a worry for me. Why ? Because I've never lost anything, not ever. But I will acknowledge it is common for others to do so - so yeah I get it. And besides that, I was the only person I knew or ever even heard of to carry a 1 oz gold coin in his pocket. And that coin served a purpose beyond the cool factor, but I'll admit the cool factor was a part of it. The purpose, as I said above, it was a means of drawing others into the hobby - and it worked
