How/When Did You Start Collecting Coins?

When I was around 10 (late 1970s), my grandfather gave me 2 Whitman cent foldrs (1909-1940 and 1941-1975) and then we went through his box of wheat cents and filled most of the holes together. I've been a collector ever since, although I took a pretty long break from about 1999 through last year.

So many of you started young, I'm the odd man out here. I always liked coins, but didn't really know how to go about starting a collection. I had a few silver eagles, but nothing serious. I consider myself a newbie but I'm learning.

My wife's mother passed away about a year and a half ago, she inherited her mother and father's coin collection. We had to split the collection 4 ways between her brothers and sisters.

The wife's share yielded about 20 rolls of Kennedy halves, (10 of them silver) About 40 silver washingtons, 110 silver roosevelts, about a dozen merc. dimes, various franklins, Walkers, 2 dozen ikes, a few morgan and Peace dollars, and about a dozen silver eagles. There was also a pretty good amount of currency - silver certificates and the like.

Since recieving this collection, we have added silver eagles, lots of Ikes and a few morgans. We intend to add much more to this collection and pass it down to our kids. I've been doing most of my shopping online and a coin shop in town.

Like most of you, I was about 12, (1970) when I got into it. Dad gave me a handful of coins he had with his WW2 memorabilia, then I started checking change, then my dad purchased proof sets for me.
The first coin I ever purchased myself was an 1879-S Morgan at Woolworth's at the mall. Still have it.
Got back into it more so past few years. Got into seeing what others do, like this forum the past few months.

Never thought of myself as a coin collector even though I had been picking them up piecemeal from all over the world as I went from place to place over a span of about 20 years. Scotland, Ireland, England, Spain, France, Morocco, Thailand, Japan, Korea, Viet Nam, India, Pakistan. Nothing special, just pocket change. Kept em because I liked em. Mostly they just stayed in a couple of old cigar boxes until late last year when I decided to sort em out by country and see what was there. The only things of any value were a couple of King George III pennies and a 1965 Churchill crown. Still have all the others but think they're just face value coins.

But that woke up my interest and bought my first two Morgans last November. Haven't looked back. I've got a few other coins also but Morgans are my main interest. Wish I'd started years ago. I still remember a trip to Vegas back in the day and all of those little old ladies with their plastic bucketsful of silver dollars feeding those slot machines! Oh, if I'd only known.

About 41 years ago when I was 7 or 8 and I found a SLQ with just enough of the date left to read. It was a '27-S! I sold it to my brother, who was a collector, for $3. That started me on my coin hunting for silver coins still in circulation and any older coins that I could find.

As I found them I would sell them to my brother and was happy to have a little money. As it turned out, my brother, who was 10 years older than me started to like beer more than coins, so he sold all of the coins he had to my Dad for FACE value. I started working with Dad to mount the coins in 2X2 holders and thought we were rich! I mean he had 30 or 40 Morgan and Peace dollars, most in Fine condition, but I thought they were worth $1000s.

As time passed, Dad gave all the coins to me. I even got back the 1927-S SLQ. This was in part because I had put so much work into learning about the coins and "grading" them as best as a 15 year old kid could. I was way too high on every coin, but loved every second I spent with Dad looking at the coins. (Part of the reason for giving me the coins was to show my brother that he had made a mistake trading rare coins for beer money.)

I started collecting error coins and found some great varieties. I even had a 1942 over 41 Mercury at one time in AU-50, but my eye turned to cars and I wound up selling almost everything to buy a used 1968 Shelby GT-350 when I was 20.

I still looked through rolls, change and when the Statehood Quarters came out, I started an uncirculated collection for my Dad, but he passed away before we finished it. I sold the last of the coins from dad in 2007 and bought a new '07 Lotus Exige S with a HUGE monthly payment.

Because of personal medical problems, I've sold most of my coins and should have the last sold by months end, but I'll be waiting until I can start collecting again and drooling over the coins I see here and learning all that I can.

YOKOZUNA: hopefully you'll get back into the hobby some day, but jeez, a Lotus - I can understand the dilemma!
PYROMANIA: maybe you'll also return in the near future - is your member name indicative of music, or a new pursuit? LOL

...from yokozuna

Good luck buddy, hopefully you'll make a comeback - I wish you the best, keep the optimistic outlook.