What I Learned By Appraising My Grandmother's Collection

Excellent article. Your description of your aunts and uncles sorting through coins at the behest of your grandparents reminds me of when I did that with my dad. When my son was younger, we did that as well. Now he just watches me asking how much we can spend (tweenagers!).

Yes, that first coin is magical. Thank you for sharing such a personal story.

My grandmother had one gold coin, the 1984 ten proof that was part of the gold and silver olympic set. They didn't make enough money to buy gold with any consistency, so I think she just avoided it. she did appear to buy some circulated Barber quarters and halves from mail order companies, but the majority of her collection was built with the type of material a collector new to the hobby would create. she followed what the mint offered and what was possible.

she had many commemoratives of the modern period, but amazingly didn't have any of the scarcer ones- I find that amazing and curious.

CC99999,
Your grandmother Ruth left you a gem coin: that of the love of collecting. There is much wisdom
and more than a tad of sadness in your article. Thank you for sharing.

I found that article very interesting. I think she fell into the trap the mint has and bought modern coins that just don't have much appeal or value to collectors but that are sold at a premium. They look nice though and come in nice packaging but they are over priced and plummet quickly. Even the commemorative dollars are tied to the price of silver at any given day as they are struck so well nowdays most modern commemorative dollars are going to be in a high grade straight from the mint. I admit to buying my little boy a proof set for the year he was born and I will buy the new baby one from this year but I am also building them 20th century type sets (sure the sets will likely be only worth several hundred dollars but are a fun to look at and have some collectibility).

I think we all collect what we like I love different designs so I gravitate towards type sets or commemorative halves and dollars with all the designs available. I have done a franklin set in the past and tried my hand at other sets but almost always seem to gravitate towards variety and type sets. I have a Statehood Quarter P&D set I mean I love the different designs but that thing is probably just barely worth more than face value but I like the set even if its not worth much. Same with the Presidential dollar set I have been putting together and the Sacagawea set because I fell in love with the Native American reverses.

I started collecting silver rounds because I liked silver and then moved to Franklins before finding my love the type set.

She was a looker, that's for sure. I think you have to factor in the fact this was pre Internet also.

My grandmother collected Morgan's and the one she left me is priceless. She never failed to pull all of her coins out of her dresser no matter how many times I asked.

I enjoyed the article, sounds like a very nice Grandmother and a nice family along with it. You very lucky to have all the blessings which go with being a part of a quality family.

Very lovely read Charles ... your grandmother left you the gift of collecting.

Thanks for sharing the story.

David

Great article. Thanks for sharing your story with us!