Have you helped someone receive a Numismatics-related merit badge? Perhaps helped inspire someone young in your life to pursue the hobby? How?

I was the Scoutmaster in Peterborough, New Hampshire, and I helped the scouts get started with coin collecting. Many of them obtained their merit badges.

Name and Address withheld

I absolutely have, and still do. Every year, generally during our National Coin Week, I go to our local school and give presentations to the 4th-grade classes. I usually speak to about 80-100 kids. They end up being roughly 60-minute sessions. The kids are made aware of this ahead of time, so some bring in a coin or two that are special to them. Most of them are excited to be there, which is payment back to me. I always try to give them each a world coin and a Buffalo nickel, as well as some gifts that the ANA sends out for NCW. Those are given out for the thoughtful questions some may have.

Name and Address withheld

I am currently retired, but for 29 years, I taught fifth grade in a small Iowa community. Each year at Christmas, I gave the students a numismatic gift that I tied to lessons from the various curriculums that I taught. These gifts varied each year, based on what I was able to acquire for my 20-30 students. Some examples included the Statue of Liberty commemorative half dollars, Iowa commemorative state quarters, Zimbabwe 100 trillion-dollar banknotes, Burgundy medieval deniers from the 1200s, coins from 1800's Zanzibar, Mombasa, and Muscat and Oman, as well as miscellaneous foreign coins that I let the students look up in my out-of-date Krause Standard catalogs. I finally settled on ancient and medieval Chinese coins as I had a generous supplier who gave me some really good deals on 2000-year-old cash coins that I would put on ribbons and the students wore as necklaces.

To this date, seven years after I retired, I still have students come up to me and remind me of what I gave them for Christmas. For some, it was just a souvenir of the year we shared together, but for others, it started them on a journey of collecting. Several students would stop back and visit with me about their collections during their high school years, but I really do not know if this became a lifetime hobby for them or not. As we all know, college years and the early years of marriage or single life often take their toll on collecting experiences until some of us are lucky enough to rekindle the passion in later years.

I am proud to say that my son, who was in my classroom as a student and now teaches in the same building that I did, has chosen to keep this tradition of numismatic gifts alive. While not an active collector (although he really enjoys my collection of train coins from around the world), as a child, he saw the significance of this gift and now enjoys being the giver to generate excitement for his students.

Steve Mengler, Belle Plaine, IA

As a high school golf coach, one of my players, who was working toward his Eagle Scout honor, asked if I would help him earn his badge for numismatics. Of course, I did, and he earned both the badge and the Eagle Scout award. Likewise, my grandchildren, upon reaching the age of five, have been taken to our local coin show to see what's going on. Afterward, I give them an album for a series they might be interested in and several duplicates from my own collection to get started. Monthly, after that, I take home rolls of coins from the bank and let them go through it to fill in the holes. The squeals of delight when a needed coin is found is music to my ears.

Kim Romohr, Lincoln, NE

I have saved coins and started some books for my children and grandchildren. But, I have a son and one grandson who have continued saving coins and going through coins. They continue to look for and fill in empty spaces in their albums but have started to enjoy "different" coins. For instance, my grandson looks for and saves "burnished" coins. My son likes and looks to increase his "nickel" albums. My grandson is 19 years old now, but he has always 'helped' me every chance he could! My other family members 'don't get it.' It will be interesting to see how many people are actually trying to pass the hobby on to the next generations. 

Name and Address withheld

I work the front table at our monthly coin show and bring many things for the children who come with their parents. I have pages with numismatic themes to color, crayons, information on how coins are made, how to store coins, parts of coins, dinosaur coins, artificial BIT coins, and replicas of existing coins. The coins are slightly larger than the real coins, which makes them easier for the children to enjoy. I also have boards for cents and nickels, along with rolls of coins for those boards. The children I see tend to come month after month with their parents, so I try to have different things for them every time I see them. It's an enjoyable moment every time they come by. 

Tim Janecke, South Brevard Coin Club, Melbourne, Florida

How have I helped inspire youth? There are a few neighbor kids to whom I gave several lots of clean, uncleaned, and identified ancient coins. I’ve sold some stuff as well, at a fraction of market value, with the goal of inspiring others. Finally, and perhaps more effectively, I self-published a book (in e-form as well) of around 100 pages on how to get started in one of three areas of the hobby: the US, the world, and ancient coins. It is found on Amazon searching for my name. A few have probably read it entirely. I'm not sure, but I did give it to those neighbor kids - that was my initial intention when writing it.

Joe Sabet, Address withheld

Yes, and yes. The Fairfax Coin Club of Northern Virginia, under our Youth Coordinator, John Hutchinson, and with the help of numerous members, myself included, have hosted several local Boys Scout Clubs in pursuit of their Coin Merit Badges. Personally, over many years, particularly since I retired at the end of 2020, I have helped encourage many young collectors by providing examples of coins and books in their areas of interest. I find these endeavors very rewarding. 

Lorne Lavertu, Herdon, VA

I am the secretary for the Fairbanks Coin Club in Fairbanks, Alaska. This club works hard to inspire young collectors at every monthly meeting. We always have an educational presentation, many of which are done by youth members. Youth members participate in drawings for door prize coins and are sometimes given coins for their collections. Activities in addition to the monthly meetings include a summer cookout, occasional youth-only auctions, and chances to bring in favorite coins and discuss them. There is no membership fee for youth 18 and under.

Patrician Walker, Address withheld

My grandkids and I do coin roll hunting every week. A box of dimes, nickels, pennies, and quarters, a Red Book, a magnifying glass, and, of course, their piggy banks, and off we go. I love it, and so do they.

Name and Address withheld

Ran about a dozen boys through the Coin Collecting merit badge. I was able to distribute numismatic material that was available for the taking at the Long Beach Coin Show to the boys. They appeared to enjoy it.

John Friend, Sun Valley, California

I have been collecting seriously since the 1980's. But as a member of the West Hernando Coin Club, as a club, we taught the local Boy Scout troop the Merit Badge Course. There were ten scouts involved. The older scouts from ages 13 through 16 were more interested in numismatics than the younger scouts! We had, as an added bonus, the scouts do an essay about any U.S. coin they wanted. We then let the club members grade them. The two best essays received a Boy Scout commemorative graded coin from the club. 

Bruce A. Schneider, Address withheld

I've attempted to do this by offering the online Moneta Coin Museum to provide decent photos and informative text, often with Adobe Reader documents, so that the history can be accessible without membership or fees. It's possible for anyone to upload photos and have a forum discussion about individual coins, tokens, and medals.

James Martin, Address withheld

I am a school teacher, and several years ago, I bought a roll of dateless buffalo nickels with the intent of giving them away to any students who showed any interest in coins. When I told the coin dealer what I wanted them for he gave me a great deal on them; I gave them away years ago. Just yesterday, while I was taking tickets at the Wasatch Winter Coin Show, I ran across two young men who will be going to the high school where I teach next year, and they begged me to start a coin club at the school. I guess I'll look into it.

Brian Cole, Spanish Fork, UT

My local coin shop gave me a bag of world coins to give to my son’s history teacher. The teacher used them for a history and geography lesson, and soon after, several students started to go to the coin shop with their parents and grandparents.

I have heard of a biology teacher who only collects coins with insects on them and shows them to the students.

I could see coins being used in science and math subjects. Just getting students to handle coins can bring a lot of questions, curiosity, and, with that, an interest in coins.