Coin Collecting In The 1960-S

G'day from Oz, I started collecting in the 1960s, as a child. Dad would let me keep any pennies from his cash register, in order to build up a year set. I didn't know much about mintmarks then. Decimal conversion in 1966 motivated me again, and I tried to accumulate the silver coins that still circulated upto c1971.
After that, I put aside any commemorative coins that came into my pocket.
Last year I got back "into" collecting. I'm trying to build up a complete set of Australian circulating coins, by type & years, since 1966, from circulation. I'm getting there.
NCLT has no interest for me. Proof sets are only slightly interesting. Real coins are made round to go 'round: and this way, I don't have to pay too much.
So, I agree that "it used to be fun" ... AND "it's still fun now".
The Australian 20-cent of 2001 came in eleven different reverses, and three varieties of obverse.
The Australian 50-cent of 2001 came in ten different reverses,
... and I only started catching up in 2006.
... as the CCF motto says "what's in your pocket ?" - is where it all begins.
Peter in Oz

Hey, you know folks are always talking about the good old days, the 60s and stuff. Maybe 40 years from now collectors will be talking about all the great finds they came across in the '00s (is that what you call this decade?). True we're into cheaper metals, no silver or gold, clad coins. What will be the best contemporary picks from today? Circulating coinage, maybe, but I doubt it.
ASEs?
AGEs?
Commemoratives?
Silver State Quarters?

More than likely they'll be looking how inexpensive classic coins, key dates, etc., could be scooped up for. I suspect the prices today will look real cheap in 40 years even after factoring in inflation.

What do you think guys?

No matter what anybody says I still like your coin find stories Firecom. How did you come about your user name?

Firecom, I also started collecting in the sixties. I would have been in my early teens and it started with my two best friends, Donnie and Steve (brothers). We would gather up pocket change and set on their front porch and go thru the coins. Worst of all, shudder, we would then take erasers and rub the heck out of cents until they turned red. Then, when we were done, we would take anything that was just everyday change and play cards. These are still some of my fonder memories.
Jim

I also started collecting in about 1963 (third grade). My father would take me to work with him on Saturday in the morning and give me $100 to go around the corner to the Bank of America building where all the tellers knew me and I would start at one end of the teller line and buy either rolls of halves or rolls of dimes depending on my mood and then sit in teh lobby, look through all the rolls, keep the good ones (high end walkers or mercs, any barber's or anything special like a 32d or 32s quarter and then take the rest back to the next teller and on and on. It got to the point where several of the tellers would set aside special coins for me, knowing I would be in every saturday morning to look. Over the course of time I acquired a few Seated halves, lot's of full date Standing Liberty quarters and a dozen or so Barber coins. I After going down the whole line I would take the $100 back to my dad, he would look through them and ask me questions about them and then I got to keep $5 worth and he kept the rest of the good ones. I still have all mine and found all of his in a box in his closet when he died in 1992. I miss the good old days, however just last month my daughter and I were camping in Yosemite and bought hot chocolate one morning at Camp Curry and I noticed a Franklin half in the change drawer so I asked if I could have all my change in half dollars and got 5 walkers and 3 franklins for my $4 change. Best cup of cocoa I've had in a long time.

I did not get started until 1969,, but I've always had an entrepreneurial spirit.

I collected pop bottles .10 each,beer bottles .03 each and such things (they were all glass then )I also had about 12 yards that I mowed in a two week cycle,, and I asked them all to pay me the 1.50 or 2.00 I earned per yard in change,, silver was still circulating to some degree and I would get a few coins a month from the local market,, wheat cents at the rate of a roll every few weeks,, but the best coins came from those old folks,,30 and 40 year olds who's yards I mowed,, when they found out I collected coins they paid me with silver dollars,silver half dollars and silver quarters and dimes,, wheat cents .

never let it be said that it can't be done as a kid ,,its all in the approach!

Metalman

Oh so many say they wish they were around way, way back or as some mentioned, they wish they were older. NO YOU DON'T. Be happy that you are young. When you get old, you find all your family members are mostly dead. All the people you grew up with are mostly dead. You find younger people don't want to associate with you because you can't do anything they can do. You can't go places like when you were young because when you get old you can't do things like when you were young. Then there is that famous word that when your young it is mostly something you hear about but it dosen't effect you. That is CANCER. I had stage 4 and that is supposed to be it. I fooled them so far. I'm still hear and still collecting coins.
Now what was it like even longer ago than the recent 60's?
My Dad had a gas station in the 30's and after that until he retired. I used to go there all the time in the 40's. I started collecting coins when they came out with those Silvery Looking Lincoln Cents in 1943. My Dad let me keep all the ones he took in and since it was 43 there was a lot of them. Why so many pennies around. Remember gas was about .22 or so a gallon. A fill up would cost about $3 or so. I eventually ended up with about 30 rolls of those steel cents and still have them today. I keep them not due to value of coins but as a rememberance of a great DAD.
The thing about those days is Indian cents were common in change. And don't forget a Mercury dime was the lastest thing out and Liberty Head Dimes were still common in change. Who was Roosevelt anyway? All halves were mostly Walking Liberty ones. Many people paid in Silver Dollars and my allowance was also in Silver Dollars. My Dad thought I was saving those too. However, when I got older and found out about those things called GIRLS, those Silver dollars paid for a lot of fun with them. There was a place called Riverview. An amusement park and a great place to take a girl and spend all my Silver Dollars. Again, remember they were everywhere then so no big thing. You could get them anywhere. At a bank it was like asking for a dollar bill. The Standing Liberty quarters were facinating so although the latest thing called Washington quarters was replacing them at a fast rate, I did save several Whitman folders of them.
The worst thing we did with pennies back then was pitching them. In the city the sidewalks all have those separated cracks every so many feet. A group of kids with nothing else to do would set up a game of pitching pennies. You would stand behind one crack, line, and pitch for the second line down with pennies. You could pitch as many as you wanted to and the closest one would win them all. you could imagine all the dents in them after a few hours of that. No idea of how many rare ones were badly dented. Then there was the RR tracks. You just had to put a penny on the tracks to see what would happen.
You know I always remember when I was finally old enough to know coins and found a coin shop and in the window there was a dish with 10 - 1916D Mercury dimes in it for $1.50 each. Don't know where I ever acquired that much money but I bought them all. Still have them too.
Yes those were the good old days.

Wow, good story Carl! 10 1916-D's! Wow, what condition were they in?