Your story of collecting coins?

Christmas reading and reply to my site www.petitioncrown.com
I started collecting nearly 50 years ago and last weekend I drove to the house I lived in at that time. As fortune was the present owner for over 20 years was cleaning the ice outside and he invited me in.
It brought back memories of coins and when they would arrive I would take them from the envelope and put them on the shelf above the fireplace or the window sill. My dear friend u remember the days when we were a real minority in collecting. I remember buying an 1820's half sov it was 40 gbp from a man called Smith Antiques at Headingly. Many memories came back to me. I had no safe in the house just the old Swan wooden cabinet. I was lucky to acquire coins during this period; it is no secret many years later I sold many coins to gain money. Well coins are round and are made to go round.
The life is not so comfortable that money comes only one way, it also ebbed away and there were many years that I could not afford to purchase either because of poor business, education of the children.
U mention many times about my coins and how lucky I am, it was luck not a planned investment. The bringing to the light for the coins to be enjoyed now is for the new collectors to understand the opportunities that are in front of them to aspire to. People I know and prices are not prepared for me and especially these Bruce pair which are from two different dealers, anyhow Scottish is just new in the last few weeks to me in a more serious way.
I remember clearly only collecting British milled coinage in the beginning. Then one day I acquired a hammered coin from a dealer called Abelson, he was a collector come dealer. It took me days to understand what was written on the coin. Some years later if my memory is good I bought more coins from him which were Soho re strikes.
I would travel to York to see Vic Mort and look in his box; I remember being offered 12+ Gothic proof florins for 200 gbp [which I did not buy] and then seeing John Smith in his tiny shop in the walking street. These were days gone by. I did exchange an old car for a book and the book for the Cromwell artefacts now on exhibition in the ANA Museum. See we did strange things in those days.
There were my businesses trips to London, Garland coins, Mayfair coins, Seaby, Spinks, the jewellers of oxford street, Jeffrey Hearn and at this time so many.
I try to get the bug from the system, but once u r smitten with coins u have it for a lifetime. One of the differences other than putting coins in a capsule for posterity is we are not buying for investment, we r just in love with our coinage.
Today there are a new young vibrant collector community who are realizing that numismatics is interesting, challenging and for sure under priced.
Jc
www.petitioncrown.com