What Is The First Coin That Started Your Collection

I went to a rummage sale and saw this ugly clock. As I looked at it I realized it had 1964 Quarters at 15 and 45, a 1964 Half at 30, and the rest were 1964 dimes, except for at the top (12) was a 1881 S Morgan all coins in new condition.

I bought it for what they were asking... $1.00

For mine, we go way back to when I was about six or seven, which would be about '67 or '68, and in the summer. I was digging in the garden out back, helping out because my mother wanted to put flowers in. I stuck the shovel in, pulled out a clod of dirt, and noticed something shiny. Grabbing it and cleaning it off, I found that it was a '58 50-cent-piece. I took it into the house and showed it to my mother, who reacted with the typically Canadian attitude toward such coins of something like "Oh, wow, that's a 50-cent-piece, and they're worth keeping because they're rare. I'll buy it from you."

So she gave me two quarters for it. That was fine to me, because 50c was "a lot of money" back then. I could get a chocolate bar and a coke for a quarter.

She cleaned it off better under the tap and put it into her jewellery box. I could look at it any time I wanted to, and to me, it was an impressive coin, so I looked at it often. If anything, the whole episode including the fact that she saved it opened my eyes to coins in general and the idea of collecting coins in particular. At the time, I already was a stamp collector, so why not branch out and collect coins too? Surely that made sense. So I started with saving pennies.

And, yes, I still have that original 50-cent-piece. No matter how dire things were at home, my mother never spent it. It sat in her jewellery box, along with a 1928S half she later got in change on a trip to Seattle.

My first coin was a 1978 nickel dollar given to me on my birth day. Literally.
A family member left me some old US coins when I was about 12 or 13, among them were an 1803 half and an 1839 Half Dime. Though these coins were important, the real fire was lit when I got my first coin book and knew I just had to have a 1973LB quarter. No single coin has ever been more important to me from a pure, love-of-the-hobby standpoint.

My dad gave me a 1895-o Barber dime back in the early 80s...been collecting ever since

Question for 1cent.... Have you found your 1973LB yet

The first coin in my collection was a 1968 nickel dollar my father gave me back 1978. I told a friend at school about it and he started educating me about Canadian coins; silver coins, tombacs, 1970 rarities. Then I started going to the bank on a regular basis and my roll hunting days began.

Since my original collection from childhood was stolen, this would be the coin that started it again:

The 1967 centennial coins did it for me when I was a kid