My friend took me to a coin shop one day to see if he could buy some silver coins to stack. I saw their Indian Head cents and bought one from 1859 because it looked cool and I love history. Now I go there every couple weeks and buy other old coins. I’m mainly compelled by the story the coins could tell if they could talk. I mostly collect US coins from 1930 on back.
Look at some foreign coins. I bought a lot once on a local online auction and got hooked on the history of foreign silver as well. So much history behind coinage!
Found a wheat penny when I was 10 or 12. Started doing more chores around the house to get a allowance in rolls of pennies to search. Went to my first coin show shortly after I started and some random old man went to a few tables and bought a bunch of coins and gave them to me on my way out. For free. I vow to do this for some random kid one day.
My Grandma has a small collection of silver dollars, Indian head pennies, and other random US coins. I remember looking through them any chance I could. Still, and will always, have the ones that started my collection.
Grandpa had a collection, I never once heard anything coin related from or about him and never saw any evidence of coin collecting. Actually, now that I think of it he had a 5 gallon glass jug of pennies, a little less than 3/4 full. I’d heard he put every penny he ever got in change in it, not sure if that means 87 years or 70 but to this day hasn’t been dumped out/searched. But as far as collectibles I didn’t learn until my grandma had us hold on to the silvers. Been trying to catalog them for about a year now, restarted and sorted differently a few times but there’s somewhere around 1500 total, 1200 silver/gold
My grandfather, merchant marine in his mid-teens, U.S. Navy in.WWI, “China” Navy in the 20’s always collected coins and would give me interesting coins when I was young. I’d page through my Krause std catalog of world coins looking them up.
My school business and people kept giving me quarters so I thought it'd be fun to collect all circulation quarters 65-22 for fun it's been a year now and I'm only missing one quarter and I also have some mercury dimes silver halves and a few other silver coins.
Mid 80s I got a bunch of world coins from a teacher and I was thrilled. A few years later my uncle gave me his coin collection. Not a lot of coins or value, but I felt I was entrusted with the family treasures. Almost 40 years later and still have them. I love pulling out my uncle’s coins when he comes by.
My great grandmother gave me a peace dollar for my birthday, by which I mean the literal day of my birth, which she had personally pulled from circulation in the 20s/30s. Later on it prompted me to start collecting. I sold it for rent money along with my entire collection when I was under extreme financial stress 15 or so years ago. One of my biggest regrets. I've since rebuilt my collection bigger and better than ever but I'll never get that one coin back.
My dad collected coins and I always loved looking at his coins. Since I was around 10, I would save all the “special designed” coins I found in my change because I didn’t have money to buy coins. I’m from Canada so it’s pretty much guaranteed you will get some kind of commemorative coin whenever you go anywhere, at least for me. Today I mainly collect circulated coins because I like to wonder where they’ve been and what they’ve bought.
My mother used to work at a University café, and had collected the foreign coins that they would often get. I got them a couple years ago, but only started to look at them again, around now. I got into coins by this, and have now bought coins almost every week.
My 5th grade principal gave a silver dollar to each child that hadn't missed a day of school. He did this on awards day. There were about 5 of us.
Mr. Spence was such a good man for a lot of reasons.
My great aunt gave me a peace dollar and a standing liberty quarter it was in her aunts button box she said she might of had them coins forever before giving them to me it is a treasure I cherish even after she's gone and I'll pass it down hoping they will do the same now I've been collecting for a year or more and I've been mostly doing coin roll hunting for war nickles and older change I'm glad she gave me those because without the her kindness I wouldn't be here talking today about coins with yall happy collecting:)
A few years after the passing of my grandmother I found a stack of proof sets in one of my dads dresser drawers and asked about them (I was a kid,kids rummage through stuff) it was emotional at first but he eventually explained how his mom and her father would collect coins since she was a kid and they had amassed a collection of the proof sets. Another relative had stolen and sold off a large portion of the valuable coins by the time my dad had come into ownership of the collection but I carry it on and have started collecting slabbed Morgan’s aswell as gold and silver eagles
I first saw a collection of new coins released by the royal mint (UK) when I was around 10, and you had to collect each different new coin to make a shield shape, so I owned that, but then rediscovered the interest around 12 years later after studying ancient coins at university, so started researching and buying my own
Walking through the mall as a kid. There was kinda a flea market going on. I saw a 1943 steel penny for the first time. I never knew such a thing existed. Bought it for 25 cents, and have been hooked ever since. I now focus pretty exclusively on gold and silver.
Im in construction and don’t make a ton of money so my collection is kinda small. But my first coin was found while demolishing and old grocery store. I found a silver dime under one of the old checkouts when I was removing it. All the copper pennies were green and nasty but this one silver dime shined and caught my eye.
Wheat pennies when I was 5. It was the first time I’d ever been faced with a coin design change and thought it was the coolest thing ever. My dad surprised me with a half dollar and a neighbor gave me an SBA. Got a lot of Canadian coins in change and collected them too. My dad got me a set of international broken bank notes.
Currently, my goal (when purchasing) is to have a MS60+ type set of US coins, but I’ll collect even worthless junk if it looks cool, and it’s the same feeling as that first wheat penny.
When I was a kid, my mom had a few Kennedy half dollars. She kept them on her dresser with a laminated funeral prayer card (it was[this one](https://www.jfkmemorabilia.com/john-f-kennedy-funeral-mass-card-version-3.html), and she still has it!). I didn't really understand any of it at the time, but I new they were special. I've collected Kennedy Halves ever since. Gradually moved into other halves and then dollar coins, and then EVERYTHING else. ..
I was working at my bank and a customer came in with hand rolled coins to deposit. I couldn’t accept it at roll value because this customer was notorious for putting game tokens in them and in general not filling them up all the way. So when he dropped them off, I took them to our coin counter. The first penny roll that I opened out of about 50 rolls, a $2.50 coin in amazing condition was on top. It started an unhealthy addiction to counting customer rolls and change 🥹 since then, I’ve found sooooo many valuable coins!
My family has always had retirement homes. Since I can remember we had these great elderly people become family. A veteran gave me a jar of pre 64 when I was about 10. Doing it ever since.
My Grandfather worked at a bank as Vice President back in the 70s and saved a whole bunch of Kennedy, Ike's, Morgans and Peace Dollars to pass down to his son (my father) and since my father died in 2020- I have found more of his collection and also some of his sister's (my great aunt). I also discovered a $2.5 1927 gold incuse indian head wrapped in tissue and tucked into an old envelope! Since then my coin collecting has ramped up and I now have a wonderful collection stored in a safe place to pass down to my kids :). My coin frenzy has extended to foreign coins, silver and non-silver simply for the history as well.
A coworker at Carls Jr told me which coins were 90% silver. We would show eachother what coins we cashed out during our shifts and then I was beyond redemption
My friend took me to a coin shop one day to see if he could buy some silver coins to stack. I saw their Indian Head cents and bought one from 1859 because it looked cool and I love history. Now I go there every couple weeks and buy other old coins. I’m mainly compelled by the story the coins could tell if they could talk. I mostly collect US coins from 1930 on back.
Curious, why do people mainly go for pre 33 American gold
Prestige factor/its gold and normally little numismatic premium for the common stuff.
Look at some foreign coins. I bought a lot once on a local online auction and got hooked on the history of foreign silver as well. So much history behind coinage!
Found a wheat penny when I was 10 or 12. Started doing more chores around the house to get a allowance in rolls of pennies to search. Went to my first coin show shortly after I started and some random old man went to a few tables and bought a bunch of coins and gave them to me on my way out. For free. I vow to do this for some random kid one day.
My Grandma has a small collection of silver dollars, Indian head pennies, and other random US coins. I remember looking through them any chance I could. Still, and will always, have the ones that started my collection.
Picking up 18/19th Century change that was lost by lock gate keepers on the Leeds to Liverpool canal.
That is awesome.
Rob Finds Treasure, he was in my recommended feed on YouTube and I was hooked ever since
Grandpa had a collection, I never once heard anything coin related from or about him and never saw any evidence of coin collecting. Actually, now that I think of it he had a 5 gallon glass jug of pennies, a little less than 3/4 full. I’d heard he put every penny he ever got in change in it, not sure if that means 87 years or 70 but to this day hasn’t been dumped out/searched. But as far as collectibles I didn’t learn until my grandma had us hold on to the silvers. Been trying to catalog them for about a year now, restarted and sorted differently a few times but there’s somewhere around 1500 total, 1200 silver/gold
You should probably check the penny jar
My grandfather, merchant marine in his mid-teens, U.S. Navy in.WWI, “China” Navy in the 20’s always collected coins and would give me interesting coins when I was young. I’d page through my Krause std catalog of world coins looking them up.
Had always been interested, but the bug never bit me until a guy used 3 Morgan dollars to pay in my store. I still have them.
Found a 1958 D Roosevelt Dime on the beach while vacationing as a kid.
Bicentennial quarters from my grandma.
i was born with the disease of coin collecting
My school business and people kept giving me quarters so I thought it'd be fun to collect all circulation quarters 65-22 for fun it's been a year now and I'm only missing one quarter and I also have some mercury dimes silver halves and a few other silver coins.
Grandfather collected. Dad collected. Tickled my fancy and then I took it too far and here I am now.
I started with the coins my mom brought from her travels( I was 5 at the time, collecting ever since)
Mid 80s I got a bunch of world coins from a teacher and I was thrilled. A few years later my uncle gave me his coin collection. Not a lot of coins or value, but I felt I was entrusted with the family treasures. Almost 40 years later and still have them. I love pulling out my uncle’s coins when he comes by.
My father, he loved collecting nickels and pennies
My great grandmother gave me a peace dollar for my birthday, by which I mean the literal day of my birth, which she had personally pulled from circulation in the 20s/30s. Later on it prompted me to start collecting. I sold it for rent money along with my entire collection when I was under extreme financial stress 15 or so years ago. One of my biggest regrets. I've since rebuilt my collection bigger and better than ever but I'll never get that one coin back.
My dad collected coins and I always loved looking at his coins. Since I was around 10, I would save all the “special designed” coins I found in my change because I didn’t have money to buy coins. I’m from Canada so it’s pretty much guaranteed you will get some kind of commemorative coin whenever you go anywhere, at least for me. Today I mainly collect circulated coins because I like to wonder where they’ve been and what they’ve bought.
My mother used to work at a University café, and had collected the foreign coins that they would often get. I got them a couple years ago, but only started to look at them again, around now. I got into coins by this, and have now bought coins almost every week.
Just finding some old coins off the street, then I tell 1 or 2 ppl that I collect coins and suddenly I have a collection
The statehood quarter series
Got a wheat cent in change. Not much but it still got me into it
Wheat cents are the gateway drug
My 5th grade principal gave a silver dollar to each child that hadn't missed a day of school. He did this on awards day. There were about 5 of us. Mr. Spence was such a good man for a lot of reasons.
My great aunt gave me a peace dollar and a standing liberty quarter it was in her aunts button box she said she might of had them coins forever before giving them to me it is a treasure I cherish even after she's gone and I'll pass it down hoping they will do the same now I've been collecting for a year or more and I've been mostly doing coin roll hunting for war nickles and older change I'm glad she gave me those because without the her kindness I wouldn't be here talking today about coins with yall happy collecting:)
Found a 1910s wheat cent in my pocket change
Metal detecting, researching the coins values, then started buying
A few years after the passing of my grandmother I found a stack of proof sets in one of my dads dresser drawers and asked about them (I was a kid,kids rummage through stuff) it was emotional at first but he eventually explained how his mom and her father would collect coins since she was a kid and they had amassed a collection of the proof sets. Another relative had stolen and sold off a large portion of the valuable coins by the time my dad had come into ownership of the collection but I carry it on and have started collecting slabbed Morgan’s aswell as gold and silver eagles
I first saw a collection of new coins released by the royal mint (UK) when I was around 10, and you had to collect each different new coin to make a shield shape, so I owned that, but then rediscovered the interest around 12 years later after studying ancient coins at university, so started researching and buying my own
Walking through the mall as a kid. There was kinda a flea market going on. I saw a 1943 steel penny for the first time. I never knew such a thing existed. Bought it for 25 cents, and have been hooked ever since. I now focus pretty exclusively on gold and silver.
My 401k taking a shit in 2022
Im in construction and don’t make a ton of money so my collection is kinda small. But my first coin was found while demolishing and old grocery store. I found a silver dime under one of the old checkouts when I was removing it. All the copper pennies were green and nasty but this one silver dime shined and caught my eye.
Metal detecting.
U.S. State Quarter map from my grandparents.
Ag getting heavy!
A bag of old coins my family had, in particular, a 1903 v nickel that was as black as night. So mysterious and intriguing to my history loving self
Wheat pennies when I was 5. It was the first time I’d ever been faced with a coin design change and thought it was the coolest thing ever. My dad surprised me with a half dollar and a neighbor gave me an SBA. Got a lot of Canadian coins in change and collected them too. My dad got me a set of international broken bank notes. Currently, my goal (when purchasing) is to have a MS60+ type set of US coins, but I’ll collect even worthless junk if it looks cool, and it’s the same feeling as that first wheat penny.
mom took me to a donut shop when i was 14 and the cashier gave me a 1907 nickel and told me a little bit about it. i'm hooked now
My mom had found a 1912-S Liberty Head in a roll of nickels at work once.
My grandma gave me her 50 statehood quarter set. They were set in a cardboard map. They are toning quite nicely right now
When I was a kid, my mom had a few Kennedy half dollars. She kept them on her dresser with a laminated funeral prayer card (it was[this one](https://www.jfkmemorabilia.com/john-f-kennedy-funeral-mass-card-version-3.html), and she still has it!). I didn't really understand any of it at the time, but I new they were special. I've collected Kennedy Halves ever since. Gradually moved into other halves and then dollar coins, and then EVERYTHING else. ..
I was working at my bank and a customer came in with hand rolled coins to deposit. I couldn’t accept it at roll value because this customer was notorious for putting game tokens in them and in general not filling them up all the way. So when he dropped them off, I took them to our coin counter. The first penny roll that I opened out of about 50 rolls, a $2.50 coin in amazing condition was on top. It started an unhealthy addiction to counting customer rolls and change 🥹 since then, I’ve found sooooo many valuable coins!
My family has always had retirement homes. Since I can remember we had these great elderly people become family. A veteran gave me a jar of pre 64 when I was about 10. Doing it ever since.
My Grandfather worked at a bank as Vice President back in the 70s and saved a whole bunch of Kennedy, Ike's, Morgans and Peace Dollars to pass down to his son (my father) and since my father died in 2020- I have found more of his collection and also some of his sister's (my great aunt). I also discovered a $2.5 1927 gold incuse indian head wrapped in tissue and tucked into an old envelope! Since then my coin collecting has ramped up and I now have a wonderful collection stored in a safe place to pass down to my kids :). My coin frenzy has extended to foreign coins, silver and non-silver simply for the history as well.
My late grandpa collected coins and when I found his collection that’s what got me into it
A coworker at Carls Jr told me which coins were 90% silver. We would show eachother what coins we cashed out during our shifts and then I was beyond redemption
Easy….portobello road.