Coin Collecting: How I got started.

It was sometime during the late 80's, I don't recall the exact year, when i started collecting coins. I was a little boy then and had no knowledge of proper coin storage and handling. Now I have gained more knowledge in handling and storing coins because of the ready info online. I have just recently rekindled this hobby of mine having stopped for many years since going to college back in 1998. When i look back, i can still remember how it all started. How one coin would start me on a road to collecting currencies and other stuff.

I remember one afternoon sometime during the late 80's that I got my very first coin. My grandmother's friend came by the house. I don't recall why she was there, but I do recall her reaching into her purse for money and out came a piece of cloth. She unwrapped the cloth and there was the largest coin I have ever seen. With eyes wide open, I stared at this round metal disc with images alien to me. When my parents saw my reaction, they knew that i had to have the coin. They asked of they can trade for the coin. As they were talking, i heard the word USA and i knew the coin was American. The prevailing exchange rate back then was 20 pesos to a dollar. My parents exchanged 20 pesos for me to have that huge US dollar coin. As i held  the coin in my hand the first thing i saw was an eagle apparently landing on the moon. The other side was the head of a man. I wasn't well versed with American history so i didn't know who that was. The year on the coin was 1972. From then on, i started collecting coins. Old local coins, foreign coins, old bills, etc. My collection grew, but i didn't know of proper way to store and handle coins so i kept them in one box. As time passed by, of course the coins that were shiny became dull and scratched. My first coins covered by new additions and stayed under the pile for a long time.

A decade down the road and I would stop collecting. Another decade would pass by until my interest in coin collecting would be rekindled. Whenever i get home to the province, i rummage through my old box of coins and look for my very first coin. I would hold it in my hand, do a couple of coin tosses, and put it back in the box. Its now a dull coin with lots of scratches, but its still my very first coin which started me on coin collecting

I will be going back to the province next weekend. This time, i wont be leaving my collection behind like i use to whenever i came back to the city. This time, i will be bringing them all with me. Its time I treated my collection properly.

In case you were wondering, my 1972 coin, is the "Dwight D. Eisenhower Dollar".

Enjoy!

Update:
I recently found out that there are three types of Eisenhower Dollars. The typing has something to do with the earth on the reverse of the coin. I am now very much excited to get back to the province and check my Ike Dollar. I am hoping its type 2. And if it is, it just became the most expensive coin in my collection.