Idaho St. Savings

A Cigar Box, a Garage, and Decades of Quiet Saving

The Idaho St. Savings did not begin as a formal coin collection. There were no albums, display cases, grading labels, or careful records. Instead, these coins were quietly set aside by someone who recognized that they were worth keeping.

For as long as the family can remember—and certainly since moving into the home in the early 1970s, the coins were stored in a cigar box in the garage. The owner was not a dedicated numismatist and did not collect coins by date, mintmark, or variety. He simply knew that the older dimes, quarters, and half dollars contained silver. Whenever another interesting old coin came along, it had a chance of finding its way into the box.

Years passed, silver disappeared from everyday circulation, and the cigar box remained.

Inside were Washington quarters, 1964 Kennedy half dollars, Walking Liberty half dollars, silver Roosevelt and Barber dimes, along with many loads of Wheat and Indian Head cents. The initial inventory included roughly 65 silver coins, plus several rolls of early American cents. Some pieces were heavily circulated, while others retained surprisingly strong detail after decades of storage.

What began as pocket change gradually became a small store of value.

When the collection was finally re-found in that long forgotten dusty cigar box as Mr. Idaho St. was cleaning out the garage, he remembered that many of the coins were silver, but he was surprised by how much he had stuffed in that cigar box. A quarter once set aside for twenty-five cents was now worth many times its face value before any consideration of date, mintmark, condition, or collector interest.

That realization inspired the name Idaho St. Savings. These coins were never held in a bank account, yet they became a form of savings all the same, accumulated a little at a time, kept through changing times, and preserved long enough for their history and value to be appreciated by a new generation.

The family wished to remain anonymous, so the collection is represented only by the name Idaho St. Savings. The name honors the place where the coins rested for so many years without revealing the identity of the people who protected them.

Each coin from the Idaho St. Savings is being individually photographed, identified, and evaluated by Pops Change Exchange. Where appropriate, coins will be offered separately or assembled into traditional rolls, including a roll of twenty 1964 Kennedy half dollars.

These are not untouched rarities from a famous cabinet. They are something more familiar and, in their own way, more personal. Genuine American coins saved from circulation by an ordinary person who knew they should not be spent. Every mark, worn detail, and patch of natural color is part of that history. From pocket change to cigar box, from garage storage to a new collector's cabinet, the Idaho St. Savings continues its journey, one coin at a time.