Why Did You Start Collecting Coins?

I started in the 1960's when I saw a friends collection. I thought it was so cool to see all the different coins that had been made in the US. He had some that were handed down by his Dad to him that were the older types like Indian Head cents and Barber dimes and such. I got my first coin price guide and got a quick education about coin types.

i remember finding a Wheat penny from the teens back in 3rd grade and my baby sitter said that I should save it because it could be really rare, we looked it up online and saw that it was worth hundreds (in MS-66 and 67, I had no idea what these letters and numbers meant) and I traded it for this gigantic cast iron penny. so I eventually started collecting.

I found a jar full of old coins when I was only a child and found that very fascinating. The oldest was a small German copper coin from 1757 which I still possess.

I don't really remember but I think I got curious by finding a 1909 US cent, had an internet connection, and started browsing a bit about coins. I started hanging onto old dated cents (lost track of almost all of them, some were from the teen dates, US, possibly accidentally spent :( ) You know, you find a cool old coin in your change and toss it into a jar or container. Can't part with it but not a collector yet?

I got more interested some time back and even joined this forum, then lost track of the forum link, and most of my cents , but recently rediscovered the forum and have even progressed in the last month or so to buying some rolls of cents from the bank and searching, plus letting people know I'm "into pennies please save yours for me and I'll buy them off you"

So I guess I recently crossed the line into "collector" and active searcher. Where this will lead I don't know, but I'm getting deeper into it now. Must be hooked!

I love things of the past and the stories behind them. Am home lots, have major RA issues so can't work jobs I used to. Coins are small, circulation coins are easily accessible, so its an accessible hobby for me that doesn't take much space and I can afford to start very small and low budget. Its fun, interesting, informative, and leads to new things.

The people connecting is really important to me too. Connecting with others with same interests and active conversing. making new friends. Dings all the right bells for me and just makes cents in general

I started because when I was a kid my Great Grandfather used to give us kids a silver dollar every Christmas. Everytime I would see a silver dollar I would think about him and how the coin was so big and heavy compared to all the other coins I was used to seeing in change. One day I started looking on ebay and found the Morgan dollars on there and decided I would buy one just for the heck of it and when it got here it brought back all those memories of my childhood and the rest is history

I went with coin collecting since cannons, tanks, bazookas are to big.

vermontensium: I live in Sydney, and as a kid I only ever saw one train set that was made by Lionel. My friend's dad who used to be in the RAAF (Royal Australian Air Force) brought it back from the U.S. when he went there for training in the 1950's. His train set needed a step up transformer to convert from 110V to 240V. My train set was by Marklin (German). I now own another German product: A 30 year old 6.9 litre Mercedes W116 450 SEL 6.9.

As for my train set? I sold it when I was 18 and bought myself an MS63 St Gaudens Double Eagle.

I too, like some of you, inherited the collecting bug from a parent. My mother had her tin of world coins and these were added to my own collection on her passing. I don't remember any specific coins from her but they are all a constant reminder of her and her passion for collecting.