Anyone Here Older Than 50?

No Tams, I wish I could say that I have a signed Roberto Clemente baseball or so from my collection. But because I was still unsettled when my parents were moving, all my collection got sold or given away. My one prize piece was a boxseat that I captured from Forbes Field on the last game played there, it was sold for a mere 50 cents at a garage sale. It was worth $1000 at the time, early 1980's. I hate to guess what it is worth today.

I too mostly collected penny nickel dimes and some quarters at the time through my boy scout troop. I do remember that my favorite coin was the Franklin half and I tried to get a collection. I wished I would of kept that going to today?

Before I turned 10, I remember seeing wheats but they were no big deal, I was aware of the 1909 S VDB because my friend was a coin collector and owned one he bought at a flea market but it never occurred to me to look for anything else that might have value. I remember seeing an occasional Buffalo nickel.
I don't think I watched for silver coins, but I did notice a Mercury dime or Standing Liberty quarter once in awhile but it got spent same as any other coin.
I got half dollars from an Uncle once in a great while and I remember them being Walkers.
I think it is interesting to think about this as I do recall different coin designs and was aware of a key date before I became a collector myself. For a few of my Birthdays I got 1 half dollar for however many years old I was from my Dad. It seems Dad did that for all of us there for a few years in a row.

What a great thread, I just found it. I was born in 55 so I'm in the over 50 group. I started collecting coins in 2nd grade when my dad gave me a Seated Liberty quarter (1854) when I lost my tooth. It was the quarter he got from his dad and when my son lost his first tooth it passed to him. I also got an old 1958 "Bluebook" that my dad had, he showed me how to look up coins and I was hooked. I couldn't believe there were coins out there worth more than face value and started checking every coin I saw. My father used to take me with him on Saturday to his downtown office and then we would walk over to the local Bank of America 2 blocks away and he would introduce me to the first teller in the lineup (he seemed to know them all by name)and then buy $50 worth of dimes (a small fortune to me as a 6 or 7 yr old) and I would sit in the lobby at a table and go through them and pull out the Mercs and occasional Barber, then re-roll the Roosevelts and go back and cash in the ones I looked at for more rolls from the next teller. It would take me several hours to work my way down the teller line and when I was done, the bank would call my dad and he would walk over and get me. Cheap and effective day care circa 1962. When we got back to his office he would look at my little treasure trove and then let me pick out my favorite 10 and he would keep all the rest. Often during the week he would come home with a bundle of cent rolls and I would go through those and he let me keep anything before 1940 and any "s" mint ones. (I still have over 100 rolls of pre 1940 cents stashed away. By the time I was in 6th grade I had 5 merc sets missing the 16d and the two 21's, and a Lincoln set 1909 -1958 complete except the 09svdb, 14d, 22 no D, and the double die. One of my great finds was a 31s in circulation because none of my friends had one. Most of my common silver was sold in 1978 for the downpayment on my first house but when my father passed in 1992 low and behold his old work safe was in his garage still full of all the old dimes and a lot of other silver. I never knew he had kept it all so it was quite a surprise.

I think all the over 50 crowd is taking their nap. Do any of you have clubs or groups helping new collectors? It is a problem with the antiques trade because new collectors are not being educated in the field.

Yes I'm over 50, 52 now. Been collecting since I was 10 yrs old.

Sel69 I had a 1969 Mercedes Benz way back when.I had to finally give her up because parts and repairs got out of hand and quite expensive.She was a great car,had over 300,000 miles,got excellent mileage,rode like a dream,no rust to speak of,she was cherry.I got a greaaat offer for her,but I still miss her.
I also collect "Civil War" everything I can get my hands on.gasman96
PS Planned a trip once to Australia,never made it though,my brother and his wife lived in Sydney and another city I can't think the name of for many years.

Nice to get back to coins on this thread. About to retire next year I was wondering how much time other retirees spend on coins. Running around, sorting, selling, buying etc.