One gentleman, who visits me on a regular basis, collects coins with eagles on them. Even with a collection of this size he still has many years of fun ahead of him. Civil War collectors for years have been incorporating a few samples of Confederate money in their memorabilia collections. Currently many World War II collectors are including coins from occupied nations as well as wartime emergency coinage such as the 1943 steel cent in their collections. Much of the occupation coinage of this period with its unimaginative designs minted in zinc reflects the bleakness many people felt during this era.
Coins depicting animals is one of the most popular themes, especially among young collectors.
From the anteater on Australia's five cent coin to the yak on Nepal's ten Paisa piece, thousands of different types of coins exist with an animal theme. The best part is hundreds of coins from all over the world can be purchased for less than fifty cents each, and many are available for free from friends and relatives who have traveled abroad. 1936 is the year John, one of my regular customers, was born. He collects coins dated 1936, and he has hundreds of them from all corners of the world and he still needs hundreds more to come close to completing his collection. John has had so much enjoyment from his collecting experiences that he has recently begun collecting 1990 coins for his grandson, Joey.