Talked to a guy at a gas station who changed how I look at old pennies

I was at a Shell station in Akron last Tuesday waiting in line and this older guy saw my keychain with a 1909 VDB penny on it. He asked if I collected and I said yeah but mostly just random finds from flea markets. He told me I'm doing it wrong and that I should focus on one type of coin like Indian Heads or Mercury dimes instead of grabbing everything. Said he got 40 years of value out of just studying Barber halves. It hit different because he wasn't being a jerk about it just matter of fact. I've been digging through my box of random stuff since then and honestly he might be right about narrowing down. Has anyone else stuck to one series for a long time and regretted it or liked it?

2 comments

2 Comments

oscar_hunt616d ago

Man, that gas station guy nailed it. I did the exact same thing back in 2012 when I got serious about collecting. I picked Buffalo nickels and it changed everything. Instead of just having a pile of random coins, I started learning the little differences between years and mint marks. Like the 1913 type 1 with the bison on a mound versus the type 2 with the flat ground. After a few years I could spot a fake or a cleaned coin from across the room. That focus made my collection worth way more than my old junk box. Just pick something you actually enjoy looking at, and don't worry about being perfect at first.

elizabetht565d ago

Feels like a lot of pressure to turn a fun hobby into a whole project though. Can't you just enjoy looking at whatever coins you like without turning it into homework?