COIN COLLECTING WITH CUB SCOUTS

A while back a friend asked if I would give a presentation on coin collecting for his Cub Scout den. I figured it would be a cakewalk. His children and my daughter are about the same age, and I've talked to seven- and eight-year-olds about coins before. On top of that, I was a kid once—and a Scout, and a collector.

Well, it was fun, and it was educational (for everyone, including me), but at times it was like herding cats! The group was about a dozen first- to third-graders, mostly boys, with a couple girls. Energy level: Off the charts. My friend, their den leader, was very helpful in keeping the kids focused and on task. He provided some printouts. I brought line-art diagrams of the parts of a coin, a box of Red Books and coin folders, a few other coin books, and some show-and-tell pieces.

I talked to the Scouts about the designs of coins, and what they mean—the American eagle, portraits of presidents, etc. I told them about the ancient Greeks, and how they used symbols on coins to show what was important to them. We did a creative exercise where the Scouts drew a coin design of their own. They really liked that.

We explored how coins and medals are actually sculptures, with depth, and how they're works of art made by real people. I showed them a medal created by my friend Jeanne Stevens-Sollman, a Saltus Award–winning artist and former member of the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee.

[Image: I brought some medals to show high-relief sculpture. This one has a portrait of my old beagle, Hyacinth (rest in peace!). Its creator, Jeanne Stevens-Sollman, and I are both dog people, and Jeanne's medal is a star in my collection. The Scouts thought it was cool.]

All the kids paid attention, but, interestingly, the girls seemed the most thoroughly engaged, judging by the depth of their questions and responses. One Cub Scout's older sister was there, and I opened the Red Book to show her the 2013 Girl Scout commemorative silver dollar. Her eyes lit up, and she excitedly showed her dad—the coin was minted the year she was born. She wanted to go out and get one right away. I loved seeing that reaction!

The boys asked questions, too—mostly of the 100 Greatest variety: What's the most expensive coin you own? What's the oldest coin you've collected? They wanted to know about the biggest, the best, the rarest, the treasures.

To read the complete article, see:
Collecting Friends: Collecting Coins with Cub Scouts (https://blog.money.org/coin-collecting/collecting-with-cub-scouts)

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