I learn something new every day. And it's easy. I sit in the middle of a group of numismatic experts. Yup, there I am. Me and my collection of Indian head and Lincoln cents. I am the novice among them.
But I am learning. I used to call them pennies instead of cents. Now I know better.
The collection of Indian heads was a gift from my grandfather. He had neatly glued them to pieces of cardboard (I know, I know. Do not emulate this method.) and had neatly marked the year in pen below them. He stored them in the basement near his workbench, and when I was about 7 years old he pulled them out one day and gave them to me. I was thrilled, and official coin folders were soon purchased. I had taken my first leap into the coin collecting world.
The next few years were busy scouring through tins of pennies, grandma's pocketbook and every cent received in change at the store. My collection grew, but then stopped when I became a teen-ager and found more interest in looking out for boys than for coins.
Over the years my grandfather also passed on to me a few silver dollars and Kennedy halves. I regretfully admit that as a newlywed I used those coins to help pay bills. We were young and poor and lived in a drafty old house that might as well have burned dollar bills for fuel at the rate we were paying to stay warm.
But the Indian heads and Lincoln cents stayed in their folders and now sit on my bookcase at work. I've entered them in My Portfolio on the NumisMaster site, and although they won't make me a rich woman, it's fun to check on their value as the market changes.
Someday I'll pass them on to a grandchild, who may be spurred to collect something else; perhaps the new Presidential dollars or Buffalo nickels. And when he or she takes them out to admire, I secretly hope they'll think of me. Just like I still think about Grandpa Art.