Still excited over new quarters

Collectors of America the Beautiful quarters are not as numerous as collectors of the state quarter series were 1999-2008.

That is understandable as 15 years into changing reverses on the denomination five times a year, the novelty has gone.

However, novelty might be what first captures a collector’s attention, but it is the collecting impulse that keeps him or her going for a lifetime hobby.

I have been collecting for 51 years. While I would never claim to have seen everything in numismatics and done everything in the field, it is certainly true that I am familiar with more elements of it than I ever have been. Yet, I am still interested. I am still learning. I plan to keep going.

My attitude might be my own, but I have learned it in part from watching other collectors. I have had communications from older collectors that not only provide me with information, but also stand out as evidence of the fact that the collecting bug once it bites just keeps going and going.

A handwritten letter arrived Monday. The spidery handwriting is a good indicator that the person who wrote it is no longer young.

The letter tells me about a first find of an Arches National Park, Utah, ATB quarter. This is the third design to be released in 2014.

It was released about a month ago and this is the first time the letter writer has seen it. He even told me that a soft drink truck driver was there to witness it. The coin came out of a vending machine.

Clearly the fun of collecting is still very much a part of this hobbyist's life. He had a witness to his discovery and he wanted to let me know about it as well as readers of Numismatic News.

I share this collector's enthusiasm. I hope I will continue to have it for coin collecting for many more years to come as this collector clearly has.

Buzz blogger Dave Harper is winner of the 2013 Numismatic Literary Guild Award for Best Blog and is editor of the weekly newspaper "Numismatic News."