I only had a few coins passed to me from my Grandmother (mostly pennies and some silver dollars) and one of my WWII vet step Grandfathers (Coins of Europe) in coffee cans/cigar boxes.
My Dad was a serious lifetime magician and had lots of halves and English pennies. He also had lots of interesting magicians coins which I now have.
When I was six, we sorted as a family at the kitchen table on Saturday mornings. My father went to the bank and picked up pennies, nickels dimes and quarters.
We couldn't afford halves often.
I was 10 in 1964 and it wasn't long after that we quit except to pull anything interesting from change and order some stuff from the mint.
Proof Sets were heady and exotic to me at the time.
In 2008 I got the collection passed to me and it was the collection of finders, and not buyers. Nothing fancy.
Nevertheless, it was a start and fortunately, I could find plenty of silver halves from bank boxes and loads of old small change were returning to circulation with all the counters in place.
I found tons of stuff.
I also have a huge pile of sorted non-US coins from all over the world, again, because of the counters. Huge.
So, I will end up with something nice and fairly expansive for the average guy and will need to pass it on.
I will sell only if pressed and I know selling in a hurry is never good for the seller.
My OCD was just developing when I was six, or, I was in training to utilize my afflictions for hoarding, sorting and chonic pattern recognizing objects.
I naturally collect rocks, minerals, fossils and lots of other stuff which accentuate my love of science, outdoor adventuring, firearms and electromechanical devices. (I love old telephones for instance) Coins are a just small part of my greater whole.
So, what will become of your collections?
Have you made a plan or will it just become something your family will have to deal with someday?
I know most dealers are just waiting for you to die, and those left behind to get rid of it.
0CD