What got you intersted in collecting coins?

[coinsarefun]

For me I started out wanting something that was from my heritage
Russia and Hungary. My first piece was this Hungarian gold








I enjoyed its design and beauty I stated looking for something Russian and bought.


this one raw and it graded very nicely.............ever since I have been hooked







Since then I have branched out into Morgans, Tokens, British Conders.......heck, I love them all!

[regandon]

An intro. of why I collect German commemoratives
My grand mother was Bavarian, and my grand father was Prussian. It was grand mother that got me started into history and collecting commemorative coins. She sat me down one day in 1966 when she was 96 yrs old. She pulled out her coins and told about the history behind them (she was a history teacher in Bavaria). The first coin she showed me was a commemorative 3 Mark coin from the German State of Saxony, it was dated 1913. Her great grand father had fought at the battle of Leipzig. This coin was a commemorative that commemorated the German victory at that battle in 1813. She also had commemorative coins from the German State of Prussia that also commemorated the great victory. The coin I found most interesting, was a 1911 5 Mark commemorative of the Prince of Bavaria. It commemorated his 90th birthday, and my grand mother was at the celebration. While that time in history means nothing to us here in the US, it does to me just knowing that my grand mother was there.

She gave me a project to do, and I had only three weeks to complete it. She wanted me to write a paper on the history of the battle at Leipzig in 1813. If I complete the project on time she would give me the coins. What I did not know at the time, was that she was making me find a liking of European history. She had showed me that history and coins go together. I also found out, that not only did she teach me history through coins. But she was also showing me how to gain knowledge about history and how to write it down using my own words. This is why I love to write about commemorative coins and the history behind what the coins represent. Since 1974, I’ve been trying to assemble a collection of German commemoratives in memory of her, and keep the tradition going. I’ve taught my daughter European history since she was 5 yrs olds, the same way my grand mother was teaching me. My daughter is now 28 yrs old and has her degree in European History, the same as I do.

[Scottishmoney]

My mother said I was saving coins back to the time I was a toddler, but I really did not get started until my dad gave me what seemed like a huge bag of Asian and Australian coins when I was 9-10 or so.  I still have much of the contents in various places, MPC's, Vietnamese, Japanese, Australian money, some Thai stuff too.  The MPC's have been very interesting, I have added quite a bit to that area, because of the females on them.

I collect Scottish because of my heritage, quite a few of my ancestors came over from Scotland and or N. Ireland mostly in the 18th century.  Scotland is one of those places where anything coin related is usually over 300 years old, a challenge.  I find pursuing unique or very near unique coins a special challenge and many of the coins I own are much scarcer than well known rare coins.

[Billy Kingsley]

Regandon, very cool story and a nice tribute to your grandmother!

As for me, well, I lost my dad to cancer in 2002. He was not a collector (well...he collected car parts and BiCentennial Quarters) but he did have a small stash hidden away behind the heater in the back room of my basement (which is so small and cramped, it is not possible to stand up in-the ceiling is about 5 feet only in that back room- I don't know how he got it in there because he was 5 11!)
Last Year, my brother found that said stash. There were 5 Peace dollars, a Morgan, a small handfull of Mercury dimes, three silver quarters, more then 25 BiCentennial Quarters, a handfull of halves (all JFK) and several hundred wheat cents, as well as a large size 1923 Silver certificate, a 1928 Red Seal USN $1, a North African Emergency $1, and some 1976 $2s. When I was looking through those items, it was amazing. While wheats and BiCentennials were nothing new to me, the Dollar coins were totally new to me, as were the paper bills. I had never seen anything like them, they were mesmerizing. That was it, the bug had bitten, and I've been a collector ever since. I soon joined the ANA, the CU Forum, and visited my first coin shop, where I got what was then my oldest coin, an 1832 half dime. I didn't even know what a half dime was and I mainly bought it because of the age, and the fact that it was only $5. Since then I have learned quite a bit, enough that I actually feel I can speak on some topics and not be 100% wrong, although I doubt that any person can learn it all. Previously, I had found a zip-lock baggie of come coins that had been brought back from Europe during WWII. There were quite a few Nazi German coins, as well as some Austrian, German occupation issues for the Netherlands, British, and a handfull of French coins, dating back to 1889, as well as a French and German not issued after the allies had taken back the lands, and two notes from the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. I Went and got them from their location in my basement the same day, and I've been hooked on all coinage since then. I DID have a very, very small collection previously. Around 1995, I was interested a little bit. I am assuming 1995 because that is the latest any coins were dated from that stash, and there were some world coins I got at the Science store in the Danbury (CT) Mall. I wish I knew I would become a coin collector eventually, I would have gotten a lot more! I distinctly remember searching for the error cents in 1995...never did find one though.

That's my story...
 
Edit: As a tribute to my dad, I now save every BiCentennial quarter I come across. I believe I am at about 50 now. The last time I counted was around last year at this time, and I had 39 at that time. I think I've gotten around 10, give or take, in the last year so that would put me at around 50. I know there is nothing too special about them, but I do that in a tribute and I doubt I will ever stop- every BiCentennial quarter I recieve, I keep.

[BCNumismatics]

I started off collecting coins by collecting some of the non-New Zealand coins that used to turn up in change from time to time when I was growing up in my home town of Wanganui.We used to get coins from Australia & Fiji turning up a lot in change,especially the 5c.,10c.,& 20c. coins.Occasionally,we used to get coins from some of the other Pacific Islands turn up,including the occasional Cook Islands & Papua New Guinean coins.I used to sometimes get the odd British 1/- & 2/- coin in change.Only once did I get a British large 10 Pence coin in change as 20c..

The New Zealand 6d.,1/-,& 2/- coins were still legal tender as 5c.,10c.,& 20c.,so they were common when I was growing up.It was from around 1990 that they started becoming less common to find in change.

Since 2006,we no longer find any foreign coins in change,as the 5c. coin was finally pulled from circulation,along with the old 10c.,20c.,& 50c. coins.

The 1c. & 2c. coins have been pulled from circulation since 1990.

Aidan.

[bear]

Old American coinage, is interesting and filled with

historic value. They were always a magnet for me

when growing up. They represented a piece of

earlier years ,that I was able to hold in my hand.

[FilthyBroke]

I just collect things.  I have a box of Bicentennials and some old silver given to me through the years. I guess that got me started. We've all seen ordinary circulating coins, but when something new comes along I just have to look.  I think it started as a fascination with coins that I didn't know existed, and that same thrill still motivates me.  I've seen about everything that U.S. coins as to offer, so I have broadened to world coins.  It's now getting interesting, with so many strange designs and much historical significance, I can see sticking to my current path of collecting interest for a while.

[QuarterCollector]

My first big influence in coin collecting was in a college.  I took a class on American history and politics.  The professor was a avid coin collector and would frequently bring in his early colonial copper to show the class.  In fact, the class became more of a numismatic history class then anything else.  However, we did read the Federalist.

Second influence was a small group of coins I inherited from my grandfather.  Nothing major but it forced me to buy my first Red Book.

The rest is history....

[FilthyBroke]

Welcome aboard, QuarterCollector!

Your story reminded me of my seventh (or was it sixth?) grade American History teacher that spent the largest part of the year teaching us of England's history.  Not complaining, it was fascinating and very pertinent.  I think that's a good part of the reason for my current interests in hammered coins. 

[mmarotta]

Great stories all, and especially from regandon and Billy Kingsley.  Compared to those, my history is prosaic.  Ever since I read Atlas Shrugged as a teenager, I knew about gold and silver, but had little attraction for numismatics per se.  Bars and rounds were my type sets through the 70s and 80s. 

In 1992, working for a robotics firm and knowing something about numismatics, I recommended that for an upcoming trade show, we make a token good for $1 toward the purchase of a robot.  With a workcell costing $100,000+ and with attendance estimated to be 15,000 there was no danger that someone would take us for a free robot.  I put together a formal proposal to marketing, including examples of trade tokens and medals related to the automotive industry and manufacturing generally.  They turned down my proposal, but by then I was in Mich-TAMS.  The following year, I joined MSNS and the ANA.

I bought some Mercury Dimes and Barber Dimes, a Large Cent, ... a few more things...  but nothing really caught my attention...  And face it, tokens, are utlitarian in the extreme... 

Then, one afternoon, in the summer of 1993, I was watching a rerun from Carl Sagan's Cosmos series, "The Backbone of the Night."  It inspired me to pursue a collection of small silvers worth a day's wages from the towns and times of philosophers.  I lost interest in collecting in 2000, and deacquisitioned nearly all of it.  Before I quit, I had a pretty good run of over 50 from Thales of Miletus to Hypatia of Alexandria.

Now, I only buy to get material for research for articles; and once the feature appears in print, I sell the stuff.