Things Only A Coin Collector Would Understand

My just 5 years old son, who says that daddies coins are realy boring.. but when he pick up coins he only handle them by there edges..

So this one is busted/rejacted...


Around the age of 1,5 / 2 years old he spend a lot of time in my 'coin' room and I told him once he only could pick them up like that there. Now in 'real' life like a restaurant or so, when he get his hand on the chance he pick the coins up by there edges.. makes me smile every time when I see it..




Here a picture before "coins are boring" ..

Being able to recall info about a series or a coin without having a reference book available. My non collector friends are amazed I can remember so much info.

Not selling a valuable coin I own in my collection, just to get money.

Most non-collectors I've interacted with do understand the basic theory that "old coins can be valuable", even though they may not understand exactly what makes certain coins more valuable than others.

What they have a much harder time understanding is the concept that the coins in my collection are in my collection, and therefore not for sale. For any money. I have coins that I could make a nice profit on, if I were to sell them now. My non-collecting friends and family do not understand why I would refuse to do this.

Wow, that's a good one!

For every country I visit ... always acquire an example of the current circulating denominations ... even though they are likely a loss in value when brought back to the USA.

Flipping through the penny jar at the local store ... always on the lookout for Wheaties.

Roll searching ... really my friends say ... cents and nickels every week.

Lowball requests at coin shows ... even the dealers do not yet understand this niche hobby

David

People never understand when I say them that coins of the 18th or even 17th century (16th too for some types) can be had cheaply, and ancient Roman coins aren't normally worth too much either.
Everyone seems to say that anything so old has to be worth hundreds of dollars or even more (these figures get ridiculous occasionally).

Why, just the other day, I was talking with a friend about the Bourbon dynasty, and briefly mentioned that I do, in fact, have a coin of Henry of Navarre (that is to say, Henri IV of France). The friend immediately asked how many hundreds I paid for it. I replied, surprised, with the actual figure... 35 rubles (about a dollar). He didn't seem to believe me anyway.

If I'm in a pub or restaurant with someone and they get out their money to pay, I always look out for interesting coins, and swap them with change of my own if they put any Olympic 50p or Commemorative £2 coins on the counter. Do the same when the waiter / waitress brings around the little saucer thing with the change.