I used to take my kids to the local shows in Denver a few years ago, but they were a little young and I was a little too enthusiastic a collector to allow them a proper introduction to numismatics. This year they are 8 and 10 years old and the ANA description of the Kid’s Zone warranted a family visit.
We all woke up a little early and made the trip downtown so that I could catch the JRCS meeting. They were very patient during the Barry Sunshine and Jim Matthews presentation on “Developing a Passion for Bust Dimes” and several of the members took the time to look at the girl’s fledgling collections after the meeting while everybody was socializing. I had the extreme good fortune to meet John McCloskey and have him sign my Federal Half Dimes book.
After the meeting, we registered for the show where the girls received wrist bands and tote bags courtesy of ANACS. The doors soon opened at 10:00 AM and we went straight to the Kid’s Zone to pick up the Treasure Trivia Questions and to the ANA store to pick up World Mints Passports for each of them. It was quite the undertaking to navigate the bourse floor and visit the booths that were stops to answering the trivia questions. Along the way, the girls learned about coin compositions, designs, grading scales, toning and errors. They were also introduced to tokens, elongated coins and coin resources such as Coin World and PCGS. I was a little jealous as they ended up with sample slabs from PCGS, NGC and ANACS. All of the booth stop hosts were very enthusiastic and often had coins in the case that were clues to answering the questions. For example, Douglas F. Bird, Inc. had a nice selection of large cents (but none with dates earlier than 1793), allowing the kids to quickly figure out that the first large cents were struck in 1793. I learned quite a bit as well and could only answer half of the questions before visiting all the booths.
The passports program was equally exciting, but significantly more contained. We visited 8 different mint exhibits and the girls received passport stamps and sample coins from each. The highlight was the Austrian Mint, which featured some great designs including butterflies.
Fortunately, and unfortunately, Stephen Album Rare Coins was one of the stops we made first. Fortunately, we learned about world coins and the girls picked 3 coins each from a grab bag of world coins. Unfortunately, I got a preview of an upcoming auction and nearly my entire collecting budget for the year will be earmarked so that I can participate aggressively.
I could not help myself from browsing the bourse floor to expand my capped bust collection. I had a great visit with W. David Perkins Numismatics and enjoyed discussing half dimes with Richard Meaney. As a result, I am starting to consider adding die states to my fledgling collection of half dimes. I also purchased a nice 1814 10c JR-3 from Jim Matthews who had the largest selection of third party graded bust dimes in affordable grades.
We also stopped by Whitman’s where my 10 year old decided to start a dime folder and my 8 year old decided to start a quarter album. Our purchase came with free magnifying glasses so that the 3 of us would not be sharing my loupe. We were fortunate to meet Q. David Bowers and Kenneth Bressett who signed our 2017 Redbook.
As we were leaving, my girls ran into some of their classmates from school who were at the ANA show with their father and grandfather. Their grandfather works for Heritage Auctions and was in town from Dallas. I got a little nostalgic and wished my Dad could have attended this show with us. He is still a passionate collector and participates in major auctions, but does not visit as many shows.
Our collecting interests have diverged significantly, but our discussions on how the marketplace and knowledgebase has expanded over the past 40 years fascinate me. I am no longer 10 years old and excited about purchasing a medal from the World’s Fair in St. Louis. Now I have a 10 year old, who was desperately searching for a rainbow toned coin that fit in her $20 budget.
The aftermath of the show includes the soothing clink of coins being dumped out of a jar as the girls scour the dates and mint marks to press into their albums. I dare to dream that before too long we will be searching rolls from our local bank.
We all woke up a little early and made the trip downtown so that I could catch the JRCS meeting. They were very patient during the Barry Sunshine and Jim Matthews presentation on “Developing a Passion for Bust Dimes” and several of the members took the time to look at the girl’s fledgling collections after the meeting while everybody was socializing. I had the extreme good fortune to meet John McCloskey and have him sign my Federal Half Dimes book.
After the meeting, we registered for the show where the girls received wrist bands and tote bags courtesy of ANACS. The doors soon opened at 10:00 AM and we went straight to the Kid’s Zone to pick up the Treasure Trivia Questions and to the ANA store to pick up World Mints Passports for each of them. It was quite the undertaking to navigate the bourse floor and visit the booths that were stops to answering the trivia questions. Along the way, the girls learned about coin compositions, designs, grading scales, toning and errors. They were also introduced to tokens, elongated coins and coin resources such as Coin World and PCGS. I was a little jealous as they ended up with sample slabs from PCGS, NGC and ANACS. All of the booth stop hosts were very enthusiastic and often had coins in the case that were clues to answering the questions. For example, Douglas F. Bird, Inc. had a nice selection of large cents (but none with dates earlier than 1793), allowing the kids to quickly figure out that the first large cents were struck in 1793. I learned quite a bit as well and could only answer half of the questions before visiting all the booths.
The passports program was equally exciting, but significantly more contained. We visited 8 different mint exhibits and the girls received passport stamps and sample coins from each. The highlight was the Austrian Mint, which featured some great designs including butterflies.
Fortunately, and unfortunately, Stephen Album Rare Coins was one of the stops we made first. Fortunately, we learned about world coins and the girls picked 3 coins each from a grab bag of world coins. Unfortunately, I got a preview of an upcoming auction and nearly my entire collecting budget for the year will be earmarked so that I can participate aggressively.
I could not help myself from browsing the bourse floor to expand my capped bust collection. I had a great visit with W. David Perkins Numismatics and enjoyed discussing half dimes with Richard Meaney. As a result, I am starting to consider adding die states to my fledgling collection of half dimes. I also purchased a nice 1814 10c JR-3 from Jim Matthews who had the largest selection of third party graded bust dimes in affordable grades.
We also stopped by Whitman’s where my 10 year old decided to start a dime folder and my 8 year old decided to start a quarter album. Our purchase came with free magnifying glasses so that the 3 of us would not be sharing my loupe. We were fortunate to meet Q. David Bowers and Kenneth Bressett who signed our 2017 Redbook.
As we were leaving, my girls ran into some of their classmates from school who were at the ANA show with their father and grandfather. Their grandfather works for Heritage Auctions and was in town from Dallas. I got a little nostalgic and wished my Dad could have attended this show with us. He is still a passionate collector and participates in major auctions, but does not visit as many shows.
Our collecting interests have diverged significantly, but our discussions on how the marketplace and knowledgebase has expanded over the past 40 years fascinate me. I am no longer 10 years old and excited about purchasing a medal from the World’s Fair in St. Louis. Now I have a 10 year old, who was desperately searching for a rainbow toned coin that fit in her $20 budget.
The aftermath of the show includes the soothing clink of coins being dumped out of a jar as the girls scour the dates and mint marks to press into their albums. I dare to dream that before too long we will be searching rolls from our local bank.
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