Whitman Folders & The Joy of Collecting

[coindood]

Coin collecting has evolved quite a bit since I started in the mid-1970s but one thing that has stayed a constant are the venerable blue Whitman folders. Some say that they don't offer much as far as protection, and that's a fair point, but to me, they'll always be my preferred way to house minimally valuable coins.

When I began collecting, I naturally started with Lincoln cents. At the time, volume 2 housed the most recent coin dated in the series (1974), making a tidy, 2-book set.

Time went on and I experimented with with different ways to house post-1974 Lincolns. I had a large blue H.E. Harris folder than covered 1975 thru 1994, then a green Littleton folder for everything 1995 to the present. Although functional, they were still outsized and didn't fit into my nice row of Whitmans. Blank books could be purchased, but it wasn't the same without pre-printed dates and mintage figures below the holes.

So today I'm perusing coin supplies on eBay and what do I discover? The Whitman Lincoln Cent Volume 3 folder is now complete thru 2013! I'm six years late to the party, but I am stoked! I cannot wait to fill that sucker up and make my penny set a 3-volume thing of beauty. I even bought Volume 4 that starts with 2014, but unless I live to 87 years old, I won't see that one filled, if we even still have pennies in 2052.

So I'm suddenly a teen again, filling my Whitmans with the latest pennies. They're worth only face value, but it's not about that. It's a connection to the past in more ways than one that brings me happiness on a daily basis. How many inexpensive things can you say that about?

[aloneibreak]

Coin collecting has evolved quite a bit since I started in the mid-1970s but one thing that has stayed a constant are the venerable blue Whitman folders. Some say that they don't offer much as far as protection, and that's a fair point, but to me, they'll always be my preferred way to house minimally valuable coins.

When I began collecting, I naturally started with Lincoln cents. At the time, volume 2 housed the most recent coin dated in the series (1974), making a tidy, 2-book set.

Time went on and I experimented with with different ways to house post-1974 Lincolns. I had a large blue H.E. Harris folder than covered 1975 thru 1994, then a green Littleton folder for everything 1995 to the present. Although functional, they were still outsized and didn't fit into my nice row of Whitmans. Blank books could be purchased, but it wasn't the same without pre-printed dates and mintage figures below the holes.

So today I'm perusing coin supplies on eBay and what do I discover? The Whitman Lincoln Cent Volume 3 folder is now complete thru 2013! I'm six years late to the party, but I am stoked! I cannot wait to fill that sucker up and make my penny set a 3-volume thing of beauty. I even bought Volume 4 that starts with 2014, but unless I live to 87 years old, I won't see that one filled, if we even still have pennies in 2052.

So I'm suddenly a teen again, filling my Whitmans with the latest pennies. They're worth only face value, but it's not about that. It's a connection to the past in more ways than one that brings me happiness on a daily basis. How many inexpensive things can you say that about?

great post !

my first whitmans were lincoln cents too

got off to a good start by looking through my grandmas jar of wheats , but she made sure i paid her back for the ones i took out !

[Know Common Cents]

Unfortunately, coins destined for the blue Whitman folders are usually the ones that get forgotten over the years or end up being the object of wonder. Whitman-type folder coins are a great idea for the novice collector. Fun to be able to push another one into that empty slot when one is found in circulation. So many of us have started our collecting hobby this way...regardless of actual value for each of the coins.

Just don't elevate your expectations for a valuable set beyond reality. Wheat cents are usually paid at the rate of $0.02 for any of the Whitman blue folders that are brought into a coin shop. It's not really the folder itself, but the coins in it.

Unfortunately, key coins just aren't found in circulation in contemporary times. Sad fact since I was introduced to coin collecting in the late 1950s. It was a fun time to do roll-searching and that rush when a well-worn wheat cent was turned over to the obverse was better than anything I knew at the time.

Just don't lose sight of the roots of coin collecting. It runs deep.