Jim Bisognani: Coins Are Always With Me

As I passed by my living room window on the way to my home office this morning, I had to pause and stare at the view outside. It was quite animated, with the wind howling and the rain pouring down. Mother Nature had fashioned up quite the scene as a frenzy of fluttering, blowing and otherwise falling leaves was quite dramatic and colorful. I opened my front door to take it all in. Then, as I ventured out onto my porch, leaves began raining down everywhere; by the bushel full. What a mess to rake up.

Yet, through the maze of color, I was drawn to this trio, and guess what it reminded me of?

Remember, I'm a coin geek, so red, red and brown, and brown equal what?

I know, I know, only in the mind of a coindexter.

Anyway, as I made my way back to the office, I was thinking, "Those wet leaves are still cascading down and, of course, will be sticking to any surface. Yuck!" But all of Mother Nature's wrath was forgiven and a smile curved my lips as I looked down at one of my favorite and most recent numismatic acquisitions.

This handsome Mexican 8 Reales, or "Pillar Dollar," is a beautiful original lightly circulated example. My joy for the coin is twofold. It is a well-preserved relic of one of our country's early monetary staples and also happens to be the first Pillar Dollar I've ever owned. That's right, my fellow coindexters — until a few months ago, I've never owned one of these historic and lovely Pillar Dollars. The coins traded alongside our own coinage in circulation at an even par until 1857.

Click images to enlarge.

I'm still excited and happy that I finally have one of my own after nearly 60 years of being a collector. As usual, my want is to place any new acquisition at my work desk, so I can gaze at it every day.

Yes, my fellow coindexters, coins are still my favorite pastime and hobby — and also, thankfully, my profession. I always try to find new collectors and figure out what they enjoy about the hobby. Just last week, I had the opportunity to discuss coins with a few people in my neighborhood. During a relatively impromptu chat, hobbies somehow came up, and I asked them if anyone collected coins. One woman said yes, and said that she liked collecting Indian Head cents and had been buying circulated coins off of eBay.

Linda, hailing from my native New Hampshire, said she had a mild interest in coins since her dad collected Morgan Dollars and some other currency. However, as she put it, "I was never really taken by the hobby until I was watching an old western on TV and saw one of the characters giving change out at the store, and there were Indian Head pennies on the counter. That did it. I said, 'Wow, Dad had some of those.' "

Linda had gotten the coin bug, and she did some research and formulated a collecting plan. "I am going to build the series going backwards," she laughed. As she observed some price guides and values online (I, of course, referred her to the NGC US Coin Price Guide), she noted that the coins from 1900-1909 (notwithstanding the pair of San Francisco issues of 1908 and 1909) were the most inexpensive.

Linda said that, since early summer, she has been working back from 1909 and has just bought her first coin from the 1800s. She said, "Yep, I just bought my 1899 Indian cent. It's in really nice shape, and it's really exciting to hold a coin dated in the 1800s."

I told Linda that I understood that level of excitement, then asked if she had flips to house her coins. Luckily, she did. In fact, she had the 10 Indian Head cents dated 1900-1909, as well as the just-acquired 1899 coin with her in her purse! "I just keep the little group with me until I can get a Whitman folder with sliding windows or such to house them, which will be soon!" she said.

I wanted to see them, so she promptly removed the rubber-banded group of flips from a side pocket in her purse and handed it to me. It was a nice "grungy" brown, original group for sure. The start of her collection, "10 Little Indians," I called them.

As you can see, the group is nicely matched for the grade to boot!

Linda went on to say that she was excited to buy a few coins every other week, or when a few opportunistic coins came up on eBay for her to add to her collection. Her goal is to get the 1880-1890s run before spring. "It will be something for me to focus on this winter instead of the snow," she laughed. Then, she will need to save a bit more for the tougher-dated coins in the 1860s and 1870s.

"I don't know when the 1877 will make it to my collection," she said, "but I think that and the 1909-S will be the last pair I obtain. Hopefully in a few years."

Linda doesn't want anything "fancy," in her words, since she can't possibly afford to buy the set in Mint State. She said she is satisfied to accumulate nice, well-traveled coins. "Why bother," she said. "Really, I mean, I would rather have all the coins match like the ones I currently have."

I concur; a complete set of in the VG-F designation works. So far, Linda has only bought raw coins and, though aware of third-party grading, is content for now to just house her collection in flips and books. Besides, in her words, she likes to gently handle them.

Back to this afternoon, as I took my eyes away from the computer monitor, I noticed the sun had finally appeared and the wind had died down. So I took a break from auction research to step outside. The yard was now completely layered with leaves, so my feet crunched with every step. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something pop up on a branch on the bush next to me. It was this endearing little fellow:

The photo op reminded me of this Australian One Cent coin (1966-1984). While Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II adorns the obverse, the reverse features a Feather-tailed Glider — sometimes known as a flying mouse. Perhaps my visitor mouse and the glider on this coin are distant relatives? I can certainly see the family resemblance!

With a little imagination, and regardless of setting, coins are with me everywhere, and every day.

Until next time, be safe and happy collecting!

Want to see more articles like this? Subscribe to the free NGC Weekly Market Report.