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Rest in Peace
10197 Posts |
Sounds like I'm the old man of the bunch. Born in 1951, my father started putting together these flat blue foldout folders by Whitman Publishing Co. around 1958 or 59. Back then every coin was silver (  ), for me my job was working the cents and nickels. We would get rolls from the bank, much like today we'd "upgrade" when found...and toss back to return/deposit what we didn't need. It was quite the norm to find IH's, much like today's we find LWC, Barber, Mercury dimes were readily found as were Buffalos. My dad had folders through franklins can't remember @ Dollars, but did have some loose that were passed down from his mother. Favorite story: around 1961 or 62 was getting a cherry-coke at the Woolworth's counter in downtown Glen Ellyn IL. In change was, no kiddin', an honest to God 1937D 3-legger! Because there wasn't a hole in my folder, and had no idea @ 2x2's, put(hid) it in my safest place...my piggybank. (I never spent any of it). About three months later was going to show my best friend the coin...wasn't THERE! I hadn't been in there, so what happened? Come to find out, my mother had raided my bank for .....parking meter money!    Edited by Crazyb0
06/20/2017 11:52 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3479 Posts |
I got into coins from watching reruns of Dennis the Menace Mr. Wilson was always obsessing about his coins and especially his 'dime'. I can't recall what type of dime it was. Any ways, that's what got me started at 7 years old. My relatives must have secretly hated me. Every Sunday after church we would go over to Grams house and I required all of my aunts and uncles to surrender their change. I would sort through it and pick out anything pre 1965 as well as any wheat pennies. I amassed a pretty impressive collection for a 7 year old kid. I also asked for specific coins for my birthdays and Christmas. I still have all my coins from those years. Never sold any of them. Some I removed from their original holders but I wish I wouldn't have done that. These are the ones in their original holders including the 1909 vdb I found in my uncles pocket change. The red-pen hand writing is mine from when I was 7 or 8 years old. All circa 1985-87  Edited by MikeF
06/21/2017 12:29 am
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2624 Posts |
I remember that my Grandma still had pre-decimal coins floating around her house (this was in the 1980s so decimalisation had taken place about 10 years earlier) and I alreasy had a coin collection.
My collecrion consisted of a little white plastic tray with a red velvet inlay. On it say about a dozen coins.
One of these was an Irish 50p piece with a bird on it, an older kid convinced me to swap it with a Diana and Charles crown.
We had half pennies then and old green pound notes.
Once a week my father would have to submit acvounts for work and would throw several hundred pounds on the carpet for me to sort into denominations.
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Valued Member
United States
403 Posts |
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Valued Member
United States
309 Posts |
Some of these episodes just aired on Pluto TV. At least two dealt with rare coins including an 1895 Morgan dollar in UNC condition offered as a prize in a paper drive and a 1907 High Relief Indian gold eagle that got tossed in the town square fountain. Do you remember when hobbies were popular before video games? |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1126 Posts |
When I was a little kid growing up in the late 70s I started collecting Lincoln cents from circulation. My folder was only a sheet of paper that I would scotch tape the pennies to, and pencil in the date underneath. Right around the time that the small SBA dollar coin was introduced people seemed to not want the big old Eisenhower's anymore. My uncle owned a bakery, and upon learning that I was collecting coins, whenever he visited he would bring me a big Ike dollar or a $2 bill that he'd gotten from customers and that was always a special treat for me. Fascinated by those big cartwheel dollars, whenever I went into the local grocery stores I'd ask if they had any "big" dollar coins. Once in awhile they had a couple and gladly exchanged them for cash. I guess I could say that was my 1st experience in buying coins. My best memory was when my childhood buddy came to me and said that our elder neighbor Mr Martinez, (already retired at the time), had an amazing coin collection I should see. We ran across the street knocked on his door, sat with him and his wife, and chatted about coins for a minute. Then he brought out a Whitman folder marked " Indian Head cents", and inside was a full set of what he said were all extremely fine to uncirculated coins, and that he would not settle for less. Every single coin had partial to full mint luster  well except for 1 hole that was empty. He says I'm only missing that one, the 1877, and asked us if we'd like to accompany him to a coin shop on Saturday to buy the final coin. Needless to say we were delighted to go  On the Saturday before we left to make the purchase he says he brought something from his banks safe deposit box to show us, and he pulls out a shiny UNC $20 St. Gaudens gold coin, until that moment I thought big Ike dollar's were cool, but this was just mind blowing for a 10 yr old kid. We accompanied Mr Martinez to the coin shop, me and my buddy were like kids in a candy store, too busy looking around the shop, every once in awhile I'd look over and see Mr Martinez and the dealer, each hunched over the display case, having a long and intimate discussion with coin in hand. Finally a handshake and the exchange, and we left. On the way home in the car he says "so what do you think?", and shows us a shiny red 1877 Indian Head cent Last time I heard about him was over 25 yrs ago, and sadly to say the news was that he had passed, I've always wondered what ever became of his collection. I'll never forget Mr. Martinez and his coin collection or the impression that he left on me. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
When I was a kid my Dad gave me Silver Dollars for an allowance. I blew them all at a place called Riverview amusement park. At one time my Dad gave me a brand new Penny that looked like Silver. Those Steel ones just came out.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2627 Posts |
I suppose my experience is a bit different given that I'm a college student now, but my grandfather was a coin collector who got me interested in the hobby as a kid. I remember looking through his small collection and always admiring his Blue Ikes and a certain Peace dollar. I started collecting around the Recession and began with the usual LWC/LMC's and Jeffersons, but also took on Kennedy halves and the new Presidential dollars. I still distinctly remember going with him to a bookstore and getting the green Littleton folders for them, while I got a larger plastic folder for the Pres $ through a school book drive. I would then go to the bank to see if the tellers had the dollars I was looking for, and since I was a kid, they would happily look through their drawers for the Presidents I needed.  I also remember thinking that 2016 (when the series ended) seemed like an eternity away...how time flies! |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2797 Posts |
I've shared these memories here before, but it's been some time ago. I came into this world in the early 1950's and my dad was an enthusiastic coin collector. He would give my older brother and me a 5 dollar bill each week and tell us to visit merchants, wait until they weren't busy, then ask if they had any silver in the drawer dated before 1940, any Buffalo nickels or Indian cents. We would exchange for face value and would go through that $5 very quickly. Those clerks couldn't resist a blond-hared, blue-eyed six year old. Dad would use the coins to fill Whitman folders, extras that he wanted to keep went into 2x2's, the rest was re-entered into circulation. When I was 8 and at a friends house, I noticed an Indian cent on his dresser. I offered him a quarter for it and he readily accepted. I showed my new acquisition to Dad and he nearly fainted ...it was a VG example of the 1877. I didn't know this was a key at the time I got it, but I learned fast. Dad knew something wasn't right, so he asked the boy where he got the coin. "Oh,Mark X gave it to me." Dad recognized the last name as another local collector. He gave him a call and asked if he had an 1877 Indian in his collection? Sure do he answered. You might want to check on it. The coin was returned to its rightful owner and I was out a quarter, but got an invaluable lesson. Mark X didn't fare as well. Other coin related things I remember: The local teen pageant winner getting her weight in Morgan and Peace silver dollars for college tuition. She sat on a counter-balance scale as they poured coins from $1000 bags ... and if I remember correctly she was a stocky farm girl. Another memory was at the county fair. The local Lions Club got a mix of $500 in coins (dimes, quarters, halves, and silver dollars) all pre 1964 and stirred it into several bales of hay. Then they had the kids aged under 12 search and keep all yhey found. That was a hoot! |
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Moderator
 United States
189340 Posts |
Quote:When I was born in 1955, my Great Aunt decorated a small box, personalized with my initials, and filled it with Peace dollars. The box, which brings up fond memories of my Great Aunt, is worth more to me than the silver dollars, and they included a 1928!! Very nice!  Quote:Right around the time that the small SBA dollar coin was introduced people seemed to not want the big old Eisenhower's anymore. My uncle owned a bakery, and upon learning that I was collecting coins, whenever he visited he would bring me a big Ike dollar or a $2 bill that he'd gotten from customers and that was always a special treat for me. Fascinated by those big cartwheel dollars, whenever I went into the local grocery stores I'd ask if they had any "big" dollar coins. Once in awhile they had a couple and gladly exchanged them for cash. I guess I could say that was my 1st experience in buying coins. Excellent!  |
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Valued Member
Canada
109 Posts |
I was born in 1964, and I don't remember not collecting coins. It was mostly pennies to start with. I remember being fascinated with how so many had maple leaves on one side, but some had a bird instead of the maple leaves. And most of those had a lady on the other side, but a few of the older dirtier ones had a man instead. And then there was another penny that was completely different. It had an old guy with a beard on one side, and some strange rectangular thing on the other. The aforementioned Canadian pennies likely all got spent except for those with King George VI, which would have been absorbed into my collection, but the penny with the old guy with the beard is still filling the 1959D space in my Whitman folder.
Edit: I also remember asking my mother who the old guy with the beard was. She told me it was Uncle Sam!
Edited by rusty_f
06/21/2017 9:00 pm
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Moderator
United States
189340 Posts |
Quote:
...but the penny with the old guy with the beard is still filling the 1959D space in my Whitman folder. Excellent! Quote:
Edit: I also remember asking my mother who the old guy with the beard was. She told me it was Uncle Sam!  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3474 Posts |
I remember my friend Larry telling me to check my pennies for wheat ears in the lunch line in 1966. According to him, they were worth 2 cents and I should be keeping every one of them I found. Well, I've looked for them and kept every single one I've ever found. And so it began....
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Moderator
United States
189340 Posts |
A lovely intro into your life.  |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
2213 Posts |
I remember one of my friends thinking that the wheat ears were feathers...
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Replies: 27 / Views: 3,454 |
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Posted 06/21/2017 12:17 am
