A brief commentary on changing Hobby interests.
keets
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Have your interests in the Hobby, things that you collect, changed much over the years?? Mine have and I got a stark reminder of that yesterday.
I was doing some work in the storage area at work yesterday and came across an old catalogue from the Michigan State Numismatic Society 50th Anniversary Convention. It was held in Dearborn over Thanksgiving weekend in 2005. I attended the show and the auction and a quick look inside the pages reminded me of a few items I was fortunate enough to win, mainly a couple of raw Dickeson/Elder pieces, HK-863 and HK-864 among a few others. Both graded MS64 at NGC. I recall getting the catalogue in the mail and being excited about the listings, making a plan to attend and view and then the excitement in the auction room as I waited and bid.
Now, I'm sure I looked at the catalogue intently, but today I'm seeing things that I would bid on enthusiastically but didn't even consider back then. I have noticed this same thing in web searches lately: as I look for specific types of Exonumia I get links to auctions that I either attended or bid in online with choice items I would gladly bid on today. Such is the course of changing interests.
Has this happened to you?? Inquiring minds want to know.......................
Al H.
Comments
I think it is commonplace if one collects over a period of time that one’s tastes change. For example, I used to dislike seated coinage yet I like it now.
Absolutely relate. Just the other day I breathed life into a long forgotten IPad after I found the wide end charger and spun the camera roll on it. We got a good laugh out of some of the family photos, but personally, I was shocked at some of the coins I had screenshotted. I will do searches and if I like a coin I screenshoot the page with all the info so I can access quicker and compare pieces with a left right swipe. Many of them I was thinking “I wish I would have bought that”, “should have bought that”, “so and so owns that now” and “I haven’t seen anything close to that since”.
Maybe a regret more than a shifting focus, it’s a trait I’ve developed to learn a bunch about something before I dip into the wallet. While doing that, I miss opertunities but I’m ok with it. Just popping on some unknown piece because of the let’s say, pretty toning alone is foolhardy. If I could go back in time though, for sure I would know what to buy now.
I tend to get temporary interests in other series, but the interest fades fast. I started $5 gold, lasted a couple of months. Seated Quarters...maybe lasted six months. I dabble, buy something, like the coin, think I will get into the series and then interest just evaporates.
Half dollars have kept my interest for 20 years; Seated and Barber mostly. Barber Halves never wane, never diminish. Like that heroin junkie, doesn't matter what will power I throw out it, the Barber Half heroin cravings always return.
ARCO, I think I can bear witness to almost that whole 20 year fascination, it seems ever since i arrived in 2002 you have been after them. I recall back then "starting" to look at XF's and thinking they were too expensive at around $150. they were soon around $450 and though they have fallen back some it still would have been a smart choice to start buying.
Yes, obviously. Life is change. I've sold a few things I wish I had now, otherwise, it's all just part of our challenge to grow, learn and enjoy the ride.
My focus actually gets narrower and narrower as I refine my business plan.
Certified Uncirculated Ultra Modern Major Mint Errors with Superior Eye Appeal
I think focus is important to build a successful business or an impactful collection.
Yep. Our personal interests and perceptions of detail within those interests are constantly changing - but often at a rate we cannot perceive except through retrospection, as the OP did.
That's part of keeping things interesting!
I find that now days I lack the desire to actually buy the items I read and research about.
Take Chinese advertising labels and firecracker labels. Instead of buying the actual collector items I just bought 3-4 books about it. By the time I have finished reading them my tastes have become so refined that what I actually want is not available for sale easily and I lose interest in actually trying to find them. The stuff I want is stupid rare. If they pop up, perhaps, I will take a stab at them but otherwise I am happy just knowing about it and viewing pictures of it.
Yes. At first I started just buying Coins that at first appealed to me. Eye candy shopping. But as I have read a lot over past few years. I come to appreciate more the history behind the coins. I have hundreds but only a few dozen that I really cherished.
Best place to buy !
Bronze Associate member
My current focus is on ONE coin.
Saints have been my thing for over 20 years, before that it was Lincoln cents.
It's pretty common for me to only buy only one coin a year.
My Saint Set
I was doing some work in the storage area at work yesterday and came across an old catalogue from the Michigan State Numismatic Society 50th Anniversary Convention. It was held in Dearborn over Thanksgiving weekend in 2005.
_2005? Who you calling old?
_
Yes and no.
I have been a collector since 1975 but only without interruption since 1998. In my prior three iterations, I predominantly collected US coinage. Since 1998, none other than a few proof sets I bought from the Mint which I no longer own.
More recently, I have narrowed my focus even more so that I can better compete for the best coins in my primary series and have a better opportunity to complete it, to the extent possible. I don't really intend to buy much of anything else for the indefinite future; only on occasion.
As for the future, if I were to change my focus now, it would be toward something I consider at least as if not more challenging. Series which immediately come to mind include Byzantine silver and bronze, Crusader states and Medieval coinage such as from France, England and Spain. This would be other options in addition to other world coin series where I have small accumulations but don't buy it anymore..
My buying patterns have changed quite a bit. At the last FUN show, I purchased one U.S. coin, and that was a Columbian half dollar in an original pouch of issue. The rest of my purchases consisted of two British coins, one 19th century U.S. Mint medal, two ferrotypes, one political token, one merchant’s Hard Times token, one Bank of the United States note and nine pieces of Confederate currency. I only bought the Columbian half dollar because of the original issue pouch that housed it. The coin sort of came along for the ride.
In the old days I used to come to the shows with a long want list of U.S. coins, but those days have changed. I still love the U.S. coins that I have, but the U.S. coin market has left me behind. Today it’s all about slabs and stickers, and the coins are of little importance. One old friend, who buys U.S. coins for retail dealers who don’t attend the shows told me, “The market is” … not much fun anymore, to put it more polite language. After attending hundreds of shows over a period of four + decades, he’s going quite in a year or so.
I have long had strong interest in political tokens and mint medals. Nothing has changed in that regard. The British material has become a strong interest since I really got into the history. The Confederate currency is interesting because of the politics and the economic issues associated with fiat money. As for U.S. coins, they just are not worth the hassle anymore.
“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” —Maya Angelou.
Check out my current listings: https://ebay.com/sch/khunt/m.html?_ipg=200&_sop=12&_rdc=1
Interests change over time... This is normal in all venues....I was obsessed with my CC series... completed that and moved on....I find the same in areas of interest other than coins....Cheers, RickO
I guess I can sum up my change of life, in coin collecting
, by saying I prefer quality over quantity now. Fifty years ago, it as all about how many coins I had, now it's the quality I have. The volume of my collection now is <10% of "what it was".
Matter of fact, I could say that about other collectables (e.g. guns). Years ago it was sheer numbers or quantity, now it's all about quality.
Sometimes series that I worked on before rotate from the back burner to the front... Kinda like a 7 year itch.
My collection and want list have certainly evolved in 45 years of numismatics. I have nearly every kind of coin for my sets that is fairly easy to get, and almost none that are super easy to find, or are younger than me.
Now comes the hardest part of my journey. Everything i need costs $5k or more, even in grades like vg and fine. Don't have the money to spare, being a working stiff.
Need to find time to sell a few pounds of raw silver and gold for something near what it would be worth certified and verified, of else do it myself, or i will leave tons of money on the table.
Don't mind some meat left on the bone, but also don't want to host a feast for vultures.
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry
Interests will typically shift, faster if you achieve your goals. I started with Garbage Pail Kids as a kid, then into baseball cards and now into coins. And I have been all over the place now that I'm in coins starting with modern releases then I discovered all the much older, and much more enjoyable, classic releases and my passion currently resides there.
I became much more focused. When I started, I had complete or nearly complete sets of many series. I was forced to sell off almost everything due to a divorce. I kept only my Morgan and Peace sets. After being stuck on the keys and unable to complete my Morgan set, I discovered VAMs, which became my focus. I concentrated on Morgan VAMs for years, then after my youngest was born in 2010, I suspended my efforts. I hadn't even looked at my coins in over 8 years and recently pulled them out and got back into the game, although this time I am focusing on my neglected Peace Dollar set.
I think it is only natural for our collection focus to change as time goes by.
I collect in over a half dozen different fields outside of numismatics. If one starts to get stale, I switch to something else. I don't recommend this shotgun interest in so many things as it takes more time to become knowledgeable. However, I have never been bored.