What Got You Started On Coin Collecting?

Granddad

My dad brought home pennies each week from work. They were change inside a pack of cigarettes. Those days .23 per pack...2 cents change.
Notice the common starter>>>>>>>DADS!

My family got me started in coin collecting. I remember being a young kid and seeing my grandfathers coin collection. I was in awe at what I saw. Indian cents, Buffalo nickels, and Mercury dimes, were all foreign to me. I remember seeing Morgans, Liberty head nickels and many others. Once I saw his collection, I was immediately hooked. About a year later my grandmother gave me a heavily worn Mercury dime and I haven't stopped collecting. Its been over 20 years since I saw that collection, but I won't forget the impact it had on me.

i was really young and only remember a tiny bit about when I started. I got whitman folders for lincoln cents when I was four years old, and I even remmeber the first 1991 penny I found one day at preschool. then when I was 5, my dad took me to a coin shop and I filled some holes in book number one. I got a 1909VDB in VF for 75 cents! although I now have a red uncirculated one, I still kept that coin as a sentimental piece, but that 1991 cent is probably in some jar or bank vault now.

My grandfather started coin collecting when he was a kid in the early thirties and his collection has grown up until about the year 2000 which is when he stopped renewing his subscription to Coin World. Once he stopped getting the magazines, I knew it was over. But when I was young he used to show me morgans, peace, flying eagles, mercury's, barbers and tons of other types. I never got to see his ENTIRE collection though. He very well could have some rare coins in his collection that are stashed in his room and closet. I am leaving for colorado in 1 day to see him and I will finally see his collection in its entirety. Sorry for the long story, but it was all his "fault" that started my passion and Thats one of the many reasons I love him.

Wow! I can see alot of dad's and grandad's are "responsible" for getting us started.

As earlier stated, my dad gave me my first two coins, but he was not a collector. He knew I liked to collect things (at that time bottle caps and rocks were common for me), but I think a coworker of his suggested the coins as a way to get my brain more involved with what I was collecting, especially the historical significance. I say it was a successful idea!

My grandfather was not a coin collector, but he did collect radio electronics, modern and antique. In his "swap meat" endeavours he often met a lot of coin collectors, which enabled him to help me acquire things! It was one of his swap-meet buddies that introduced me to Dansco albums and my grandfather bought me my first two albums in 1984 (I still have them).

My mom found a pretty decent Barber dime (I still have it but can't remember the date) and putted it away in a drawer. A few years later I was helping her clean it out and I found it and it was amazing(to a 9 year old) to see an 90+ year old coin and I've been hooked since.