by David Provost

If you've read any of the numismatic newspapers or magazines over the past few years, you probably have noticed articles and editorials bemoaning the fact that interest in our hobby is declining. While there have been any number of reasons offered for the decline - high prices, dishonest dealers, problems at the ANA - one that seemed to be mentioned again and again was the inability of today's silver-less pocket change to interest and excite today's young collectors.

It has been reasoned that with only non-precious metal coins in circulation, it is a waste of time for collectors of any age to sort through their change as no valuable collections will ever be built from such endeavors. Well, I admit that such a conclusion is probably justified. But I have to ask the question - Is future profit the only reason why someone should become a coin collector?

Before moving to North Carolina early last year, I was President of the Roxbury Coin Club in New Jersey. (I just can't get away from those "RCC" acronyms!) It was a thriving club, and one in which we often had a half dozen or more YNs at a meeting. I'm a strong believer in education as an ideal way to keep collectors interested in their hobby, so I tried hard to maintain the interests of these YNs through various educational exercises.

My educational experiments often included incentives (read: bribes). For example, one program I started was a "Pocket Change Treasures" contest. The YNs were encouraged to take the time to go through their pocket change (and their parent's!) and bring in the oldest or rarest or most valuable coin they found each month for "Show & Tell." Each

YN who brought in the winner in each category received a numismatic prize valued between $1.00 and $3.00. And to show them that I was going to be checking my change as well, I began to work at completing a set of Roosevelt dimes from 1965 to date. I went out, spent $2.00 on my blue Whitman folder, and began searching my pocket change for dimes to fill my holes.

Each month I presented my progress. After one month, I had the folder more than half filled. After two months, it was probably three-quarters full. After three months, I was missing less than ten. I figured my remaining holes' days were numbered. I was wrong. It's now been about 18 months since I began my pocket change crusade, and I'm still missing five or six dimes from the late 1960's and early 70's; all but one are from the Denver mint.

As I've worked toward completing my dime collection, it seems I've experienced many of the things that makes numismatics such a great hobby. I've experienced the thrill of the search, a growing sense of accomplishment as each hole has been filled, and a sense of frustration as the total number of dimes searched keeps increasing and the number of "holes" rarely changes. I've also learned a little about how even coins with mintages in the hundreds of millions can still be a bit "scarce." And I've learned that I can still get excited about finding a coin, even if it isn't worth anymore than its face value. I basically feel I've relearned a lot about being a coin collector vs. a coin investor.

I realize that none of the coins I've put in the folder are silver (though I did find a silver 1959 in my change during National Coin Week!), and no, none of the dimes are ever going to be worth more than ten cents (at least not in my lifetime!), but the coins have taken me back to my coin collecting "roots" and that, I believe, is a good thing. If you've become a bit disillusioned with the hobby lately, you might give a similar exercise a try. Better yet, why not attempt such a set with a young person you know!

Someday I'm going to complete my dime collection, and when I do I'll be heading to New Jersey on the first Wednesday of the month to show off my efforts! I know I'll spend more on gas and tolls than the collection is worth, but sometimes its the principle that matters, not the "net profit." Who knows, maybe the current club President will give me a prize for my perseverance.