What Should I Collect?

Silver and Gold

One thing to consider is that you can complete a Jefferson nickel set from circulation. There are a few members on here that have done it and amny in the process.

Mainman750 idea is lots of fun-working on a set of Jeffersons from circulation. It will also get your daughter used to checking out all of her change as she gets it.

If you are looking at something to collect without a lot investment, the Jefferson nickels would be perfect. Mercury dimes are really nice too until you need the 1916-D. Me personally, I prefer Franklin half dollars. There are no real hard to find years or mint marks for them until you get into the higher grades and full bell lines. Most importantly, have fun and follow your heart!

1lost coin,
I am new to collecting and this forum (save for a few coins given to me as a kid) and I have decided to collect silver, with a focus on silver dollars starting with O marked morgans. I received a 1900-0 as a gift and I love New Orleans so I have decided to focus on that mint. I am also intrigued with ConfederATE MONEY and think that at some point I may try to collect that money with a connection to my home state (AL).
I have also purchased come inexpensive Buffalo nickels to go through and have as conversation pieces. One thing that I like to do is go through buckets of pennies and seperate out the copper stuff. It's fun, cheap and is great to do while listening to some christmas music. Once I learn more about pennies I a am going to go through those pre 82s and look for some rarer ones.

Hi All

Thanks for all of the great information. All your ideals are fantastic. I like the ideal about collecting coins and bills with animals on them. Since she is 5 yo. she would like doing that more the searching pennies. She did find me 2 wheat pennies while I was searching a gallon can of pennies that I have. For me I will continue completing my pennies and the look at doing a reverse (starting with this year to 1900) collection of dollars and half dollars. I have always loved the Buffalo nickle also. Does anyone have any suggestions as to where to find coins with animals on them? Our local dealer had Buffalo nickles but did not see much foreign or anything with animals. I would love to collect gold and silver as Torn suggested but way out of my price range ... lol. Again thank you very much I really appreciate your suggestions.

As to what to collect, try to remember that at 5 years old, kids have a habit of loosing interest fast. If you allow coin collecting to become boring, whe will just loose interest and do other things more fun. At many banks you could actually get a bag of pennies for $50. That could last a long time for the two of you to go through but again, remember, at that age that will really become boring. Not to many of our coins appeal to kids either. That is one good thing about the State Quarters, they are not boring. Although coins like the Jefferson nickels could be an easy one to start and complete, those are really, really boring for a kid of 5 years old. Actually for any age.
Type sets are interesting for a kid but in most instances you would have to buy almost everything. Same with Mercury dimes or any coin that is no longer in production. Chances today of finding them in change is remote.
My only possibly good suggestion is to buy her a few books on coins. The Red Book by Whitman Publishing is one of the biggest sellers and is full of pictures on coins. Even if she is only starting to read, lots of pictures. There is also a book on Lincoln Cents that too is full of pitures of all the different dates and mint marks, Try asking at https://www.coppercoins.com for that one but should also be available elsewhere. Try book stores for any books full of photos of coins.

At her age I wouldn't suggest the roll searching. I think someone else just made that point (I skim read the posts). I just started about 3-4 months ago and started with pennies. I then saw a "toned" Nickel and I've been hooked since then. I didn't even know coins could turn such beautiful colors and have it add a premium to the value.

Also remember that when you're collecting, most people "collect" sets of coins. For her, there's no real reason to in my opinion. Someone hit the nail on the head with the animals and such like that. You can get a binder that holds 2x2 coin holders and start to fill them up with animal coins etc.

All in all, go to a coin show. Don't go with a lot of money, just do some looking until something catches your eye. Then keep looking at the other tables and maybe ask if they have whatever caught your eye at the previous one. If it's enough to keep your attention, there's a good start. That's what I did and I hope it helps a bit.