Family Tips - Coin Collecting For Kids And Young Teens

The following extract is from a series of articles, videos and tips about coin collecting …

Since coins are so prevalent in our culture, it is easy to get children and teens interested in coin collecting. Children will get excited by coin collecting because they can discover coins everywhere, whether it is in their parents’ pockets, or discovering a lost penny on the ground. Kids relish the idea of adding a new coin to their collection. They enjoy the interesting appearances of the varied coins and love organizing them. Getting kids interested in coin collecting might be easier than you imagine, so here are some tips to help you get a child or young teenager started.

Give the hobby of coin collecting as a birthday or holiday gift. A coin collecting startup set can make a wonderful gift in general, and the cost of gathering together a few essential coin collecting supplies is relatively inexpensive. Don’t forget, your gift can look rather impressive and important to a young person. It’s money, after all!

Start with a fancy album to hold the common coins. There are some very nice binders for protecting and sorting coins available on the market. Make sure that the album you select is either one for displaying modern coins easily found by a child or one where the child can indicate the types of coins on his or her own. Include a package of plastic coin holders in your gift set, as individual coin holders are cool things for children to play with. There are plain types and more fancy ones, so if the price difference is negligible, go for that little extra.

Provide the basic tools as well. Coin collecting is a serious activity, and you should add a pair of latex gloves for handling, a soft cloth to place coins on, a good magnifying glass, and a plastic ruler to your coin collecting kit. From the beginning, convey the importance of not washing coins to prevent damaging them. Kids are usually thrilled by dirt and knowing exactly why dirty coins are a good thing will have them puffing up with pride and telling everyone their new knowledge.

Another way to add interest to the hobby is to add a coin collecting book. With a coin collecting book, children will get extra information about the hobby that they can read and absorb. Find a book that has a variety of hints and tips to keep kids interested in new ways to collect coins. Look for books on the market that explain things in easy-to-understand terms for kids who want to begin a coin collecting hobby.

Do toss in a coin collecting price guide in your gift, though. We’re talking money, after all, and even money has a value and price. Kids will rave about that special coin worth a lot and a coin collecting price guide can be an extra motivator to encourage the hobby.

Last, but not least, start the collection for your child. A child will have round eyes to see that in the album you present are a few old rare coins or a couple of old Roman coins. You can find one of these on eBay or at an antique dealer. Some world coins are a good alternative, though, and having a handful of low-value coins from other countries (again, check out eBay or have friends worldwide mail you some) can be a fun way to encourage coin collecting.

Kids often change their preferences, and that can happen rather quickly. If you try to get your child interested in coin collecting and the child loses interest after a short time, don’t feel disappointed. In time, kids come around and appreciate the collection that you helped put together. Often, kids might even turn into an avid collector and put together an impressive collection themselves.

For more tips and videos on old coins, go here: Coin Collecting Videos