How Long Have You Been Collecting Coins?

I've shared this before, but am happy to share it again.

My collecting days started in 1970 when my father took me to a small coin shop in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I was 13 at the time. I still have the 1878-S Morgan I bought that day for $5.50.

In my will I have given that coin to my oldest daughter . . . whether she wants it or not.

My younger daughter gets the circulated 1904-O Morgan given me by my childhood best friend around that same time.

Answer is in my signature.

I don't remember ever not collecting coins. I'm a younger collector (turning 30 this year) so that puts me at starting in the early 90s.

My parents gave me their entire collections (foreign "vacation money" and some wheat pennies / bicentennial quarters) when I was old enough to not spend them, but my grandfather--himself a lifelong collector--had the good stuff. I vividly remember sitting down with him at his study and sifting through the piles of his "treasure" ranging from coins he picked up on vacation in the 70s and 80s to coins he bought as a teenager in the 40s, including a couple medieval coins. Of course, I now recognize that most of those coins are still junk box coins 70 years later, but the tangible coins themselves aren't the important part.

I am careful to always take the time to share the passion with my daughters, and at least the oldest seems to be catching the bug, even at 5 years old. It will however be a long, long time before she is ready to see where I keep the coins that aren't worth less than a dollar!

I first got interested in coin collecting as a child in the mid 2000s, so 15 years or so. But my interest in coins has come in waves. I collected for a while as a young kid, then for some time in middle school. The most recent period started around Thanksgiving of 2017.

I know this is not really the response wanted, but....

I collected nickels when I was 10 or 11-years old. My Mom used to give me one each morning (Mon-Fri) to take to school so I could buy a half-pint of milk for my lunch. I just pocketed them (just used the water fountain for fluid) and then on Saturday I walked to the corner store and used those five nickels to buy bubblegum cards (I started by buying Batman cards from the TV show then changed later to baseball cards).
Anyways, that's my earliest memory of 'collecting' coins.

Finn235

"I am careful to always take the time to share the passion with my daughters,

EXACTLY what I meant... Your daughters will not remember that you bought them savings bonds for their education, but they WILL remember that rainy Saturday morning when you all gathered around the dinning room table and poured over a pile of "junk" but otherwise fascinating coins.

Gives a new dimension to the phrase, "What are my coins worth?"

And in time, with maturity, "the coins that aren't worth less than a dollar!"" will be meaningful.