I've been reading all the latest postings about the competition that seems to be mounting regarding CRH. Yes, I concur that there are a lot more people getting involved due to the rising price of silver.
However, let me try to give all of you a prospective on the up and down flow of the hobbie. I'm 64 years old (born in 1945) and started collecting coins back in the mid 1950's when my Grandfather gave me an 1837 seated liberty dime and told me never to spend it. I still have it today. Back then, each Christmas and birthday one of my aunts would give all of us nephews and nieces five silver dollars as gifts (and I mean real SILVER dollars.) I think I was the only one who ever saved them and still have them today. Remember, back then a dollar (any dollar, coin or paper) was worth a lot of money. I lived near the beach in New Jersey and can remember when me and my buddies would go under the boardwalk in late August to sift for coins that people inadvertantly dropped and fell threw through the cracks into the sand. We would get a ton of them in a day and then wind up spending them on hot dogs, ice cream and games. I often wonder if I ever found or spent a 1916D mercury dime. Who knows, because back then I had no idea what they were. Remember, there was no "clad" coins then. They were all SILVER! In high school from 1959 to 1963 we used to flip Walking Liberty coins as if they were pennies. In the fall of 1963, I was a freshman at the University of Tampa in Tampa, Fla. and on Monday Nov. 18th President Kennedy was on a motorcade threw the city. I watched him go by me only fifteen feet away. My God, there was the President of the United States so close to me. Four days later, he was shot and killed in Dallas. In 1964 when Congress approved the Kennedy Half Dollar, everyone and their brother wanted a roll of those coins, but in those days, $10 was a lot of money. I could almost live a whole week on that $10, but I got a roll and still have it today (BU Unc.). The price of silver was extremely low then. No one even thought of silver for great value. Actually, Buffalo nickels were the thing. I used to search rolls of nickels and almost everyone had at least 5 of them with readable dates. I saved a bunch of them, but a few years later (approx. 1968) I needed money, so had to get rid of them. I simply rolled them up and took them to the bank. Who knows if there were any good dates. Approximately 1979, I occasionally started looking through half dollar rolls and believe me there weren't as many silver halves as you might think. Almost everyone saved all their Walkers, Franklins and Kennedys back then. Times were good, people had jobs and the "Clads" were everywhere. Silver dimes and quarters had all but dried up. Kennedy 40%ers were still floating around, but not as much as you would think. People hoarded them because of who Kennedy was emotionally and they thought that some day they would be worth a lot of money. In 1980, when the Hunt brothers tried to corner the silver market, many people cashed all their silver in at nearly $50 an oz. (remember, that was 30 years ago). Wish I did too, but many held on for greed thinking that silver would continue to go up. Well!....it crashed very suddenly back down to "peanuts". I often wonder how many silver coins were melted down back then. Anyway, most Americans continued to hoard their silver hoping it would go back up. Now, myself included, people from that era are all getting old. Times are tough and young people don't seem to have an interest in Grandpa's coin collection (in 2007, in NJ, I got 23 rolls of all Walkers and Franklins (turned in by someone who inherited them)....not a Kennedy in the bunch). I doubt that would have ever happened in 1980. So guess what......! all you young CRHers (me included because thank God I'm still alive) are now reaping the benefits due to hard times and people who don't know any better are simply turning in the old coins at banks or coin machines. Ala, you now find them in rolls or boxes. It will continue. It always has, but you just have to be the one who gets to the bank first or sweat and grunt searching boxes. In short, you young CRHers should know that CRHing back in the late 1970's and 1980's was about the same as it is today. Believe me, in 1980 finding 90% silver halves was almost the same as it is today. If there is anyone out there reading this that is my age, I'd like to know your thoughts on this subject. Again, I'm on the east coast in a heavily populated area. It could be different in less populated places (remember, there were a ton of gold mines in California, but none here!). As for the youngsters in this hobbie. Stop whining, hang in there and treat CRHing as "a hobbie, not a living." Nuff said. I'd like to read your thoughs. Hope I didn't bore you readers.
rileyboy
However, let me try to give all of you a prospective on the up and down flow of the hobbie. I'm 64 years old (born in 1945) and started collecting coins back in the mid 1950's when my Grandfather gave me an 1837 seated liberty dime and told me never to spend it. I still have it today. Back then, each Christmas and birthday one of my aunts would give all of us nephews and nieces five silver dollars as gifts (and I mean real SILVER dollars.) I think I was the only one who ever saved them and still have them today. Remember, back then a dollar (any dollar, coin or paper) was worth a lot of money. I lived near the beach in New Jersey and can remember when me and my buddies would go under the boardwalk in late August to sift for coins that people inadvertantly dropped and fell threw through the cracks into the sand. We would get a ton of them in a day and then wind up spending them on hot dogs, ice cream and games. I often wonder if I ever found or spent a 1916D mercury dime. Who knows, because back then I had no idea what they were. Remember, there was no "clad" coins then. They were all SILVER! In high school from 1959 to 1963 we used to flip Walking Liberty coins as if they were pennies. In the fall of 1963, I was a freshman at the University of Tampa in Tampa, Fla. and on Monday Nov. 18th President Kennedy was on a motorcade threw the city. I watched him go by me only fifteen feet away. My God, there was the President of the United States so close to me. Four days later, he was shot and killed in Dallas. In 1964 when Congress approved the Kennedy Half Dollar, everyone and their brother wanted a roll of those coins, but in those days, $10 was a lot of money. I could almost live a whole week on that $10, but I got a roll and still have it today (BU Unc.). The price of silver was extremely low then. No one even thought of silver for great value. Actually, Buffalo nickels were the thing. I used to search rolls of nickels and almost everyone had at least 5 of them with readable dates. I saved a bunch of them, but a few years later (approx. 1968) I needed money, so had to get rid of them. I simply rolled them up and took them to the bank. Who knows if there were any good dates. Approximately 1979, I occasionally started looking through half dollar rolls and believe me there weren't as many silver halves as you might think. Almost everyone saved all their Walkers, Franklins and Kennedys back then. Times were good, people had jobs and the "Clads" were everywhere. Silver dimes and quarters had all but dried up. Kennedy 40%ers were still floating around, but not as much as you would think. People hoarded them because of who Kennedy was emotionally and they thought that some day they would be worth a lot of money. In 1980, when the Hunt brothers tried to corner the silver market, many people cashed all their silver in at nearly $50 an oz. (remember, that was 30 years ago). Wish I did too, but many held on for greed thinking that silver would continue to go up. Well!....it crashed very suddenly back down to "peanuts". I often wonder how many silver coins were melted down back then. Anyway, most Americans continued to hoard their silver hoping it would go back up. Now, myself included, people from that era are all getting old. Times are tough and young people don't seem to have an interest in Grandpa's coin collection (in 2007, in NJ, I got 23 rolls of all Walkers and Franklins (turned in by someone who inherited them)....not a Kennedy in the bunch). I doubt that would have ever happened in 1980. So guess what......! all you young CRHers (me included because thank God I'm still alive) are now reaping the benefits due to hard times and people who don't know any better are simply turning in the old coins at banks or coin machines. Ala, you now find them in rolls or boxes. It will continue. It always has, but you just have to be the one who gets to the bank first or sweat and grunt searching boxes. In short, you young CRHers should know that CRHing back in the late 1970's and 1980's was about the same as it is today. Believe me, in 1980 finding 90% silver halves was almost the same as it is today. If there is anyone out there reading this that is my age, I'd like to know your thoughts on this subject. Again, I'm on the east coast in a heavily populated area. It could be different in less populated places (remember, there were a ton of gold mines in California, but none here!). As for the youngsters in this hobbie. Stop whining, hang in there and treat CRHing as "a hobbie, not a living." Nuff said. I'd like to read your thoughs. Hope I didn't bore you readers.
rileyboy
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