Coin Collecting

I could be a pretty annoying kid when I was growing up. When I think back on it I don’t know how anybody could put up with me? I was the youngest of three children and the only boy so I was spoiled and I could be very obnoxious.

At some point in junior high school my mother decided I needed a hobby. Oh, I had some hobbies, but nothing really serious. I hunted arrowheads with my father and I loved to fish and hunt. My mother decided I needed something to do the rest of the time.

Miriam Cathy was an older woman on my mother’s Avon route. Mrs. Cathy had a coin collection and my mother decided that would be a good hobby for me probably because I couldn’t seem to hang on to any coin that passed through my hands. I think she thought I would save money and get involved in the hobby…sort of killing two birds with one stone.

She bought me a penny book to start my collection. It was a tri-fold book with slots for coins from 1940 to the present. I starting taking a closer look at pennies that I received in change. I went through my parents change every time I got the chance and was amazed that they let me keep ones that I didn’t already have and even a few of the ones I did. They always let me have any penny that I came across that would fit in my book. Soon I got a second penny book for pennies from 1900 to 1939. I discovered that this was such a lucrative way to get money from my parents that I started collecting nickels and dimes. By the time I started talking about collecting quarters my mother was on to me and suggested I stick to the small change.

Mrs. Cathy was really kind to me. I did wonder why she was so nice but I soaked it up anyway. She talked Mom into letting me join the Mt. Pleasant Coin Club. I don’t think there was a single person under sixty in the group. They met once a month at the REC building on east Washington Street. They usually had a short monthly meeting and then a coin auction. People in the group put their own coins up for auction and bid on others that were for sale.

I soon discovered why they wanted me there. No one wanted to be the auctioneer because if they were they couldn’t concentrate on the auction. So, I became a coin auctioneer. They would call my house each month to make sure I was coming and were always very nice to me. I got pretty good at it after awhile and a few mistakes. Once I tried to sell a 50-cent piece for twenty cents. That didn’t go over too well. Another time a buyer tried to go back on the deal but I stuck to my guns and the other club members stood up for me so the guy had to pay. He was mad and left right away.

As I got older and busier I stopped going the meetings and they soon found another kid to take advantage of so they let me drift away. I still have all of the coins I collected. They are in a box in the basement. Maybe, when I’m over 60 I’ll get them out and start collecting them again.