What Strikes a Young Collector’s Fancy

We’re very pleased to share this Q&A with a young collector from Detroit. Jack came to our attention when his mom sent us a photo of him with a copy of his Showcase and his collection. He started at the ripe young age of six!

Here at Littleton Coin, we enjoy the opportunity to interact with youngsters who’ve discovered coin collecting. In an earlier Heads & Tails article, we featured two of our colleagues who help local Boy Scouts in New Hampshire earn their Coin Collecting Merit Badges.

In this blog article, we invite you to meet Jack and follow along as he answers our curious questions about our shared enthusiasm for coin collecting!

In the Winter 2022 Showcase, you told us coins you received from a neighbor who was scuba diving in the Pacific Ocean sparked your interest in coin collecting. Can you describe how those “under the sea” coins led you to start collecting coins? What was it about them that caught your attention?

There was a coin from 1832 and I thought it would be a fun hobby!

You recently finished a National Park Quarters Collection. What inspired you to collect those particular quarters? Are they loose? Or, are they in a Classic Series folder?

I was inspired to collect these because Santa brought me a “America’s State & Territory Quarters” folder and I put all the quarters in slots on a map in the folder.  Also, my grandpa brought me some quarters from a business trip to Montana and that really helped build up my collection.

How long did it take for you to build that collection?

About 2½ years – I started when I was 6.

You took your National Park Quarters Collection to school to share with your classmates. Can you describe their reaction? The teacher’s?

My classmates had a lot of question and compliments. My teacher was really fascinated with my collection!

What’s the next quarter series you’re collecting? Or are you looking at a new denomination, such as Lincoln Head Cents? Or, Jefferson nickels? Or, an entirely new category?

My brother Charlie and I are racing to complete the quarters in the America the Beautiful series that includes national parks and monuments.

What coins do you have, or want, that are linked to a place you’d like to visit? Or, to a period of history you’d like to experience?

I like the Alaska state quarter that has a bear on it and it really makes me want to visit Alaska. I have an 1893 American penny that makes me curious about its history. I wish you could look at a coin and know its whole history and who’s passed it down and where it’s been!

What is your favorite coin so far?

An 1832 Russian coin.

What is your newest coin?

I found an 1968 quarter at church this morning, which I love because the Detroit Tigers won the World Series that year!

What’s the date of your oldest coin?

A 1754 coin that my nana said was maybe from a pirate ship.

Did you ever trade a coin for a coin? If yes, which ones?

I traded my papa a plain old quarter for an Ohio quarter that I needed for my collection.

What’s been the reaction from family and friends about your coin collecting? Have you gotten any of them interested in the hobby?

My family is always on the lookout for coins I need.  I got my brother Charlie involved, and now we’re both trying to get our little brother Michael involved!

Where is the latest place you’ve been with your Showcase catalog?

I took it Up North with me on a family trip.