Massapequa Coin Club celebrates 50th anniversary
While many see their spare change as nothing more than tip jar fodder, Amy Herman sees the potential in those pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters.
“When I get change back, I never use it until I look at it,” Herman said. “I’ll have people in my deli saying they have something. I’ll come in and [identify it]. I always tell them I’ll buy from them.”
As president of the Massapequa Coin Club, Herman is an expert in identifying valuable and rare coins. Her love for this niche hobby, formally called numismatics—the study or collection of currency and coins—began about two decades ago on eBay. As a stay-at-home mom, Herman would play online games in her spare time and met a man who asked if she knew about the online auction site.
“I started to buy coins for him and I got really into it. I never knew about coin collecting, but I started buying silver dollars on eBay,” said Herman. “I loved bidding and I got hooked.”
Herman had no background in collecting when she started bidding, but now the Massapequa Park resident makes a living collecting coins, stamps and other collectibles.
When she first began collecting in the late ‘90s, she took to books to deepen her knowledge of coins and their value. Another huge help was the Massapequa Coin Club, which this year, is celebrating its 50th anniversary.
“I found the coin club online and all these guys would teach me things. They’re a bunch of great people,” Herman said.
Not only is Herman one of the club’s youngest members, but she’s also one of the few females. And, she holds the distinction of being the club’s first female president, a title she’s worn for the past six years.
At 125 members, the Massapequa Coin Club is one of the biggest coin collecting clubs in the country. Members meet the second Thursday of every month at Allen Ellsworth Park in Farmingdale to talk about their coins as well as sell and trade their items. On Saturday, March 3, they’ll also be hosting a Coin, Currency and Collectible show featuring exhibits, items for sale, a young numismatists forum and prizes.
Shows such as the one the Coin Club is hosting is a big part of being a coin collector, said Herman. In addition to being a place where coin lovers can update their collections, it’s a forum for numismatists to learn.
And education is vital for a coin collector; what may look like a five-cent coin to most people, could actually be worth hundreds, or even thousands.
Among the more valuable finds are error coins, which may feature an indent or image off-center, or silver dollars, which are 90 percent silver if minted in 1964 or earlier. A Buffalo nickel, a copper-nickel five-cent piece that was in circulation from 1913 to 1938 is another rare find.
The introduction of technology has made finding and identifying valuable coins much easier, said Herman. And with the help of Google, as well as groups like the Massapequa Coin Club, coin collecting is a hobby anyone can get into.
“Anybody can get into it. There’s so many books out there and every state probably has a club. And plus you can always Google,” said Herman. “It’s a great hobby.”
The Massapequa Coin Club’s free Coin, Currency and Collective Show takes place Saturday, March 3 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Elks Lodge #2162, 2162 Veterans Blvd., Massapequa.
Find out more about the Club by visiting massapequacoinclub.webs.com or calling Herman at 516-476-1562.
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