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 Replies: 14 / Views: 1,843 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
767 Posts |
This may not be relevant for those who were introduced to numismatics by there parents or whoever. I clearly remember at least 8 or 9 years before I ever made the decision to start collecting looking at ancient coins on ebay. I thought it was so neat that ancient coins could be bought for such low prices. Though I didn't buy any at the time, I was interested. I also remember finding a 1955 Canadian nickel in my change. I kept it in a box with a few wheat cents I'd discovered here and there over the years. No idea what became of those coins. At a seasonal job I had one summer, I talked my boss into letting me have one of those big water jug things that turn upside down to supply a little water fountain. I took it home and started saving my daily pocket change in it. I loved watching it fill. When checking out at a gas station, or anywhere for that matter, I would often ask the clerk "oh, do you have change for a couple of dollars by the way?" That jug once grew to over $350 before I cashed it in. I know some people save up thousands and thousands in ordinary pocket change. I actually enjoyed sitting on the floor and sorting it all out, and counting it every couple of weeks. I am glad I found this hobby. It's a good way to put and end to such nonsensical behavior. Haha.  |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
5828 Posts |
I really wasn't into the hole "coin" thing before I started collecting, but I did like finding bi-centenial quarters when my mom gave me change to play an arcade game :)
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
I don't think this applies to me. I started collecting coins about the time I learned what they were as a kid.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
818 Posts |
My collection started as State Quarters, and then I grew interested in collecting the old ones like wheat pennies and silver dimes, but recently I became interested in paper money as well. |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1269 Posts |
@Scottk My story is similar. For several years I would find interesting coins in my change, occasionally look at some sites with interesting coins, and watch Steve Bromburg on the shopping channel. It was not until a few weeks ago that I finally decided I would start collecting some coins. My collection is very small. My other interest is silver bullion and I have stacked some of that away in the last few weeks. I am very interested in the offerings from the RCM, but in many cases the mintages are too high for me. I would rather pay a little more for something not as readily available. I do not have much of a clear focus at the moment except for "coins that I like" but I expect that the focus will develop over time. |
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Pillar of the Community
Russian Federation
5172 Posts |
My country went through a hyperinflation period in 1992 (when I was a baby) - leaving people with lots of now-worthless pre-1991 Soviet coinage, and the occasional 1991 and 1992 series coins - and a bit of regular slow and steady inflation in the next few years; a redenomination in 1998 (I was 6 years old) made people's already near-worthless jars of 1993 series* coins fully worthless as well.
The result? Everyone had loads and loads of nice varying coinage that wasn't actually worth anything. One of my earliest memories involves counting out a large jar of 1993 series coins to figure out how much it was in new money (as I recall, it came out to a bit over 1500 old rubles - that is, a bit over 1.5 new rubles, or, at the exchange rate of the time, almost exactly a US quarter).
With that sort of stuff available, where regular kids in other parts of the world had toy soldiers or Lego bricks, I had toy coins. The common 1993 series coins were regular soldiers (or occasionally building material), the uncommon ones (Soviet, the occasional 1991 series, and a few foreign coins from dad's old collection - for some reason we didn't have much of the 1992 series) were commanders (or occasionally other characters).
Then later I kept buying and saving dozens of cheap low-value coins (usually 10 kopek, as they were much more common than the lower denominations) and looking over them for early dates or SP mintmarks; didn't save much of that, sadly.
I didn't really discover serious coin collecting until at least 2008; by then, I very much had "a thing for coins" already.
...I'm pretty sure I planned to write an awful lot more than I did write, but for some reason I can't remember anything that I've missed, either.
*) In this post, the phrase "1993 series" refers to regular coins in circulation during the mid-1990s, including the 1 and 5 ruble coins minted in 1992, of which there were no 1993 dated versions; meanwhile, "1992 series" refers to the 1992 versions of the higher denominations, which are distinguished by metal and/or color from the later 1993 coins (in particular, none of the 1993 series coins are bimetallic). I don't remember enough of that early period to be entirely sure whether the 1992 coins circulated together with their 1993 equivalents, unfortunately (to be fair, not many coins circulated at all, considering that the highest valued coin was worth $0.02 by 1997).
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Moderator
 United States
187582 Posts |
I would say yes. I had a thing for Eisenhower dollars, but did not really take to collecting until two years later. I just liked holding and looking at the dollars. At some point I started sorting change into dates and my mom thought it would be a good idea to put them somewhere, so I started filling holes in folders. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
11951 Posts |
Some of my earliest memories are saving coins. I know I liked finding Mercury dimes, Walking Liberty halves and silver dollars. I would put them in a old grey suitcase, Whitman folders and small boxes of coins. When I went into the military, remember being worried about who to leave that suitcase with, until I could come get it. in the mid 80's my collecting really took off. I started metal detecting all the time. I was stationed in the Wash DC area. Digging many silver coins and using the regular clad change to buy more silver. After seven years in DC I got orders for Hawaii. I put all the silver 90% coins in one box and shipped it to my brother-in-law, the box weighed 56 pounds. I guess it is safe to say ...coins have always been in my life. |
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Valued Member
United States
337 Posts |
I've been interested in coins since I was a kid and always saved my wheat cents and other older coins but always seemed to cash them in every once in a while for one thing or another. About two years ago I found a 64 quarter in change and the bug hit me to start collecting coins and over the past two years have accumulated a nice collection and most has come from coin roll hunting.
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Pillar of the Community
Thailand
1509 Posts |
I blame/thank my mother. She got me interested in foreign coins at a very early age, though not collecting.
The seeds planted took a few years to develop and mature but I got it eventually (and yes she was a good gardener also).
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Moderator
United States
187582 Posts |
Moms are great.  |
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Valued Member
United States
56 Posts |
I started like most of you collecting as a kid. I had a decent collection, but then something happened to stop it in it's tracks. I acquired an affliction called "Girls." There went my collection. I needed money to sustain my new habit. Over the years it seems like I really just replaced one collection with another. Fifty years later, the lure of the shiny metal is just as strong as the shimmer on a beautiful woman's face. My bullion is stacked and so is my Lady !
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1192 Posts |
I was always interested in old things as a kid before I really started collecting. Museums etc. When I found out I could get old common coins for about a $1 like Buffalo nickels and V nickels I was hooked. The junk boxes of dealers really got me hooked. The coins in flips in display cases was too intimidating for a 9 yo. I kinda slowly drifted off since I didn't have access to the internet or books. Parents would only take me to a coin store like every six months. I definitely can't say girls did me in. College I had fun in Canada collecting all the different quarters from my pocket change then it died a few years after I left. Last spring it really took off when I found both a cheap whitman roosevelt album and this site. I also started getting a lot of access to coin stores so I decided to fill the book from junk trays and it was super fun. Now I'm on the junk halves to fill books. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
I first got interested in coins back in 1966. But as a five year old with NO money there was no way I could collect coins. So instead I read everything I could lay my hands on. (School library, local library, main city library.) Some six years later in 1972 I managed to get my father interested and that provided me with a funding source so I could begin collecting
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
548 Posts |
No, but I've always liked shiny things (precious stones and such).
I also love history.
Coin collecting allows me to combine my love of shiny, precious things with history.
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Replies: 14 / Views: 1,843 |
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Posted 03/22/2015 11:20 am
