We previously posted a story by David Hall describing how his numismatic ventures began. In this issue, Mike Sherman shares about how his life-long numismatic experience began along with other stories from our readers about how they got started in the numismatic hobby.
For years, a favorite topic among fellow collectors is whether or not there is a "collecting gene." In other words, are people "born" to collect? Most collectors I speak with believe that the fascination with old things – whether coins, stamps or thimbles, is something you acquire at a very early age, and the question is not so much whether you'll end up a collector, but what you will collect.
Speaking for myself, I know that from the moment I learned to think, I was thinking about old stuff – why and how things I saw around me, got to be the way they are. If I was looking at a radio for instance, I was immediately curious about what the one before that one looked like... and the one before that... . and then the one before that.
When I was about five or six, my great Aunt showed me a little pouch of coins she had kept in her dresser. Included were several large cents, and a small group of Indian cents. She gave me one of each, and I proudly posed in front of my dad's camera holding one in each hand.
But it would be another three years before I was firmly bitten by the coin collecting bug. It was 1964, and my buddy and I were at my house playing. He mentioned he had a penny collection, and I remembered that my father had a large penny jar he kept on top of his dresser. I snuck into the bedroom, and purloined the heavy jar. Dumping it out on the den floor, we began to examine the contents. We found all sorts of dates from the 30s, 40s and 50s, with a few from the 1910s and 1920s. But near the end, we struck gold. It was a 1909, and turning it over, he saw the tiny initials "VDB" at the bottom.
"Oh my God," he shouted. "This coin is worth like $100!" Well, that was all I needed to hear. No need to worry about school anymore, or even a job when I got older. I was rich – and not even 10 years old yet! Woot.
That Saturday, I persuaded my dad to take me downtown to the big coin shop. We were living in St. Louis, and as fortune had it, he worked for one of the city's major department store chains, Famous Barr. On the third floor, they had a large rare coin department (which was leased I believe). I proudly approached the counter, and laid my treasure out for the manager to behold. He smiled.
He told me that there needed to be a small "s" under the date for the coin to be very valuable. As it was, he could pay me 35¢ for it (which I think was because my father was a fellow department manager) or... . I could start a coin collection. He gave me a Whitman Lincoln cent tri-fold cardboard album that covered 1909 through 1940, one of the Friedberg price guides and a small checklist. He told me that if I brought the album back to him filled, he would give me $135. Now there was motivation!
I returned home to my dad's penny jar, and proceeded to fill nearly half the Whitman album with Lincoln cents ranging from my formerly prized 1909-VDB through the 1940. Most were Philadelphia and Denver Mint coins, but I did find a few of the rare "S" mints.
My interest quickly turned to type collecting though, and I remember for Christmas that year, I got a real Type Coin album, with plastic slides and everything! I set out, wallet in hand, and began to hunt for a Liberty Seated Dime.
My interest in coins would persist through Junior High, High School and College, and eventually led to a career in the rare coin business – but never really as a dealer. But that's another story.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------"It was back in 1973, I was eight and wanted to get the coin collecting merit badge in Boy Scouts. My mom was a button collector and she always found old coins and collections. She would buy collections, and I would make out like a bandit. In school my teacher was into coin collecting so I had a lot of family and friends back then with nice stuff. Over the years they lost interest so I would buy what they had or wanted to get rid of.
Then, I was a truck driver for far too many years (1986-1996) and toll money was a jack pot! I would see and find nice coins and bills along the road. Unfortunately that has ended now that I am handicapped so instead, I dug out my old coins. I am impressed with what I have but so many friends now need money. I am back to finding new coins every day and eBay has helped a lot but I have to really look and it's a flip of the coin on what you get. Shipping is the biggest way to spend money (if you don't watch out) but I am enjoying doing it again and it keeps me very busy. It's fun and I will not get hurt doing it."
Patrick Murphy
-----------------------------------------------------------------------"My late grandfather got me started collecting coins when I was 13 years old. He was an extremely talented wood-worker/machinist by trade and was going to build a grandfather clock using small Canadian 5-cent silvers in the face as a design. I had never seen coins so small. After a brief history lesson about coins and (the value of money) he gave them to me."
"As my passion for the hobby grew, he bought me a 1927 U.S. Quarter for my 14th birthday. It's only a VG coin, but the value lies in the fact it's the only coin I have left from him...all the 5-cent coins (and the bulk of my collection) were stolen.
Whenever I pull out my coins to browse through them, I always have to look at that one."
Brad Isbister
-----------------------------------------------------------------------"Some of my earliest memories involved my father pulling out an old cigar box that housed his coin collection. He would allow us to see the different coins and in a few cases, hold them. He had this special coin that was in a 2 x 2 flip that he would save for last. His eyes would shine as he told us about this uncirculated coin that was the last S-Mint Lincoln Wheat penny. He said that it would be valuable some day. He, of course, was talking about the 1955-S Lincoln.
He gave me his collection when I was a teenager and I have been adding to it when I could or sell coins when I needed money. All these years later, that original set of circulated Lincolns, along with that humble 1955-S, is still the anchor of my collection. He may have had other things in mind when he said the 1955-S would be valuable, but he was right. That coin has mellowed over the years to a rainbow-toned beauty. It is the only coin in my collection that I would never part with."
Thanks, Dad!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------Dear Jaime,
"In the early 50s, my mother was an insurance agent for a company that sold penny insurance policies. These were inexpensive life insurance policies that had a monthly premium of less than a dollar and were sold in the lower-income neighborhoods of Phoenix, Arizona. The agent was responsible for going door-to-door and collecting the monthly premium since most, if not all, of the clients did not have checking accounts. I rode shotgun and held the canvas money bag while my mom drove her brand-new 1954 Studebaker Commander through some of the worst neighborhoods in Phoenix ringing doorbells hoping for an answer.
You could still find plenty of Buffalo nickels and an occasional Indian Head penny back then. I couldn't keep silver coins because they cost too much and were needed to pay the insurance company. However, I built a pretty good Lincoln cent collection and had a good start on a Buffalo nickel collection too. I just wish I would have been able to keep all of those Walking Liberty Half dollars back then. There were some beautiful coins in general circulation in the 1950s.
So it was my mother who started me collecting coins, even though she only collected penny insurance premiums and never collected coins herself."
Patrick Boyer
-----------------------------------------------------------------------"It was in the late Fall of 1955 when I was a youngster. I accompanied my father to the house of a friend. During the course of our stay my dad's friend asked me if I wanted to see some "cool" coins. I knew nothing about coins except those I spent! We went down to his basement where boxes were stacked from floor to ceiling and were marked with years and type (Barber Half 1890s for example). He pulled one box out and showed me a roll of Lincoln cents and told me these were very special. He spread the coins out on top of the box and told me to look at them very closely. They were all 1955 DDO fresh from the Mint! He offered the roll to my dad for a $1. My dad laughed and said "who'd pay two cents for a one cent piece?" C'est la vie!"
Pete Acampora NYC
-----------------------------------------------------------------------"My aunt gave me a penny book for Christmas in 1970. I began collecting Lincoln pennies and soon the whole family was saving wheat backs for me. For many years, my Grandmother had been carrying around a half dozen silver dollars in her purse; they would clank as she walked. She kept them for good luck. As part of my Birthday present in 1971, I received an envelope with the silver dollars that use to weigh her purse down. Included in the lot was a genuine 1928 Peace Dollar in VF condition."
Tony W. Melbourne FL
Copper & Nickel
Silver Coins
Gold Coins
Commemoratives
Others
Bullion
World
Coin Market
Auctions
Coin Collecting
PCGS News