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 Replies: 31 / Views: 3,639 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
757 Posts |
My nephew's 13th birthday is fast approaching and I'm wanting to get him something coin related this year. My sister is a stickler for frivolous toys and video games so I try and balance out the "garbage" (her words) presents with semi educational ones. He collects yu gi oh cards and is pretty intense with making checklists and trying to complete series of these cards, so coins should be right up his alley. He enjoys looking through my coins and his father and grandfather have small collections he looks at often. I was thinking of getting him a cent album and a box to start it out, but then I thought about my cent collection and the holes I still have. Not to mention the cost to fill those holes. I was then thinking about State Quarters, but that set is just sort of blah. You can buy complete BU sets for basically face. No challenge at all. Washington quarters and Roosevelt dimes may get to costly for him, So that leaves nickels. I think he may be able to complete that set from rolls or relatively cheap enough. Is there anything I'm missing? I want something fun and challenging but not overwhelming for him. Last summer they found out he had a brain tumor. 2 straight days and 18 hours of surgery later they removed the entire thing. Now he has to go back for reconstructive surgery around his eye socket, so he has to rest most of this summer too. I think roll searching may be a good thing. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5825 Posts |
13yo.
Born 2002?
A proof set might catch his interest.
They are certainly impressive.
And who knows where it might go from there.
Edited by kanga
06/07/2015 7:11 pm
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Rest in Peace
United States
7075 Posts |
You sound like a great uncle!  I am sorry to hear that your nephew has to have surgery and I hope it goes well. I am concerned that staring at dates and MM is not going to be that easy for him. You might want to wait and see how he's doing. If it isn't a problem, you can always give him rolls to search as his 'get well' present. Since he already seems to have the collector DNA and since he already has a collection started, might I suggest a little fire-proof lock box? That way nothing goes missing. It isn't hard to misplace something and then blame someone else. (guilty  ) You could also get him a Red Book and a coin from a hundred years ago -- 100 years older than he is. He can look through the book and pick out his own favorites. A circulated set of silver Washington quarters is doable -- over a period of time -- with the help of a generous uncle. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4085 Posts |
Proof set is a really good idea. The other thing that impressed me when I was around that age were coins I hadn't seen before. I remember the first time I saw a Franklin half and I thought "wow - it seems really old and rare to me". Depending on how much you wanted so spend, you could do a half dollar "starter" type set of a Kennedy, Franklin, Walking Liberty, Barber and maybe even a Seated Liberty for not too much if you stuck to circulated examples. That would be something that he could keep forever. Or it could be dimes or nickels - whatever fits the budget and he would think was neat. I remember when my Grandfather gave me a Seated dime when I was a kid. Thought it was the oldest rarest most valuable thing I had ever seen. Turns out it was but not in the way I thought because even though he has been gone over 40 years I still have that coin and when I see it I can still actually remember when he gave it to me. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
11951 Posts |
Sorry to hear of the problems with your nephews health. I hope he will have a full recovery. I do like the idea of doing the Jefferson nickel set. Doing a circulation set is something that can be completed over time. One suggestion I have is doing a Dansco silver eagle set. Either 1986 to date. Or taking a blank binder, putting in blank ASE pages and start the first coin from the year your nephew was born. Other Family members may be able to help ... each buying a coin to fill the empty holes. Having a collection of big silver coins .. is something most like to own. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
632 Posts |
Maybe this wouldn't be good enough for the whole gift but maybe to supplement the gift I would suggest world coins. They can be really interesting and can get a bunch of them really cheap. My local coin store has four different bins full with coins that at 1/50/25./10 apeice.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4211 Posts |
Wishing your nephew a speedy recovery~!! How about an album of a modern day 20th century type set (I think intercept makes one?) and a 2002 proof set?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
602 Posts |
Indeed, OR you could buy him coins he may have never seen before. What I mean is, you can get him one of the following: IHC, a wheat, a buffalo, V Nickle, a merc. dime, a silver Roosevelt dime, an Ike dollar (doubt he has ever seen that before), etc etc. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1704 Posts |
Quote:
Last summer they found out he had a brain tumor. 2 straight days and 18 hours of surgery later they removed the entire thing. I am very sorry to hear that he had to have this at such a young age. I do hope he has a full recovery. He was born in 2002 so maybe some U. S. and world coins from 1902 would pique his interest in coins. My first brain tumor, a meningioma, was discovered in October 2003 at age 47. I had a recurrence of that tumor in December 2013 which was 90% removed in March 2014. I am partially disabled due severe weakness on my right side from the mass of the tumor which continued to grow at an aggressive rate pressing on the area for motor control since that surgery in March 2014. The weakness is the arm and leg not responding to the neurological signals from the brain to those limbs as they should. Operating again to remove the new growth was not an option, it's complicated and no need to go into details. I underwent a cyberknife, target radiation, procedure to kill the tumor cells the beginning of April this year and am now in the wait and see period as to how effective that procedure was. |
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Valued Member
United States
317 Posts |
The RCM and the Perth mints are currently cranking out things like Looney tunes, Disney, Superman, Star trek etc coins, things young people and non collectors might appeal to. If you have to collect sets, I'd try Ike's, especially the proof Ike set since it isn't long and they won't destroy your wallet. But a silver annual set from the Mint is always a nice gift. |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
757 Posts |
I'll look into the proof set. He may have one he doesn't yet know about, because my mother was buying all the grandkids proof sets for a period of time. The ASE book could be a good idea too. I have been giving him them as Easter gifts for years now so I know he has a small collection of those. I get him ASE and his two sisters pandas and kookaburras as my sister doesn't want them having "all that candy". The world coins is a good idea, one I wouldn't have thought of because I have no idea about that realm of collecting. Unless you count Canadian because I get that daily in change living so close to the border. This is the tough thing about collecting there are so many options and I don't want to get him hooked on something that would be hard for him to complete. That could be a deal breaker getting him hooked into coins. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2775 Posts |
Might think of one specific album/type, then add 13+1 (one to grow on) coins or rolls to start it out. Just a thought. Thanks, Doug.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
5828 Posts |
A birth year proof set would be cool! I remember getting mine just last year! Or, a birth year ASE! OR BEST: A coin from 100 years after the year he was born! |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
513 Posts |
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A coin from 100 years after the year he was born!  Is he a reader? CoinWorld subscription? roll searching--Jeff nickels is a great idea. Lincolns too mystery solver?--big batch of common world coins, then a Krause world coins catalog. a penny board is stereotypical and the way that lots of folks (myself included) got the "bug." Can always future gift Lincoln cents to fill holes. |
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Valued Member
United States
113 Posts |
I agree with a birth year proof set! Also, a roll of dimes or pennies to search and an album to start. And...your company as he recupes! If you go hang with him as he is getting better and bring some of your collection for him to look at, you may be able to see where his interests lie. Old coins, silver, large coins, foreign, who knows? What a great opportunity to be with him as he gets better!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
757 Posts |
I think I'm gonna get him the cent, nickel, and a small Canadian cent album. I have rolls upon rolls of wheats I've never even searched yet (I have pulled 8 rolls worth out of the drawer at work this year already) and probably 50-60 dollars worth of unsearched Canadian cents sitting in the bottom of my safe. Heck I may even find a hole filler for myself. I'll probably grab him a few books too. RedBook for sure but are there any other beginner collector type books out there? Probably get him a loupe, Just so he doesn't have to strain his good eye anymore than needed while healing up. The kids a fighter and it was amazing to see how fast he recouped from the first surgeries. While this next one isn't a walk in the park It's a lot less risky than what they have already done to him. This was him just under a week after the first two day surgery.  |
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Replies: 31 / Views: 3,639 |
Posted 06/07/2015 7:20 pm
