Starting a coin club

John Gibson is starting a coin club in Fountain Hills. It’s interesting to hear about how he’s going about it. Below is an excerpt from the article.

Numismatics wanted. No coinage required.

If you are a coin collector, or curious over what it’s about, this is the place for you.

Fountain Hills resident John Gibson, a numismatic for over 40 years, wants to hear from other coin collectors in the area.

Gibson, who has done coin presentations in places such as the senior centers and schools for over 15 years, thinks there may be other coin collectors in Fountain Hills who would be interested in a club where they can get together to share this common interest.

“I’ve been involved in one in Mesa, and was president of that club years ago, so I have a little experience with that, and I enjoy the hobby,” he says.

A 10-year member of the National Coin Association and a member of the American Numismatic Association, Gibson has an extensive library on coin collecting.

“I actually have a book, How to Start and Form an Operative Coin Club,” he says, “so hopefully we can use that as a guide.”

He started a coin collectors club at the Boys and Girls Club for eight- to 10-year-olds, which meets monthly. He recalls that he got interested in coin collecting when he was just a boy, himself.

“I just got started collecting with a couple of neighborhood kids,” he says. “One of my buddy’s parents had a collection started for him when we were very young.

“Then my neighbor started a collection, and he had a duplicate coin in his collection, so he gave me the duplicate, and that was my very first coin. And it just kind of grew from there.

“I still have that coin,” he says with a laugh.

Gibson is pleased that sons share his enjoyment of the hobby, as well.

And Gibson is excited about the idea of getting people together who share his passion.

“I would like to see the usual business side of a club, and then a more casual side, a collectors’ side, where we might have an opportunity to buy and trade coins, maybe a show-and-tell for collectors to bring things in and make presentations,” he says.

“There is always a topic where we can learn from each other. So it will be an educational format, as well as entertaining.”