Are you really a Numismatist?
abcde12345
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I was watching Toy Story (the first one) the other day and was struck by Buzz Lightyear’s experience. It wasn’t his fault he thought he was a space ranger; he was programmed to think so. Even though he’s acting loony throughout the film, he is actually quite rational (considering his background).
It was interesting to see how strong his conviction was. No matter what anybody said, he was absolutely convinced that he was not a toy. I couldn’t help but think that me as a coin collector is the same way. On one hand, they seem impenetrable; people are so set in their ways.
But then in one moment, Buzz sees a commercial for other Buzz Lightyears and instantly doubts. In the dramatic scene, he doubts his doubts and climbs up the railing to fly out of the window. The genie was out of the bottle but he could put it back in. Of course, he falls and realizes that it was all true; he was just a toy.
Buzz becomes depressed and hates this new reality. Once he works through it all, he realizes that it is so much better being a toy where he can bring joy to Andy.
I couldn’t help but see the parallels between this and me as a coin collector who all this time believed I was a true Numismatist. No, I am not. What I think I know and contribute to collecting would barely fill the pinkie finger of one of the real greats among Numismatists of the past and present.
Easy to be cocky. Sometimes each of us needs a reality check.
Comments
Might be good to define what qualifies as a “true” numismatist. For example, does one need to count reeds or do other things?
TRUE NUMISMATISTS:
Adolphe Menjou 1890 – 1963 Collection auctioned in 1957
Louis E. Eliasberg 1896 – 1976 Put together the only complete collection of United States coins ever assembled
Robert L. Hendershott 1898 – 2005
Joseph Douglas Ferguson 1901 – 1981 First Canadian to be President of American Numismatic Association, Honorary President of C.N.A. and had the finest collection of Canadian tokens, coins, and currency, purchased by Bank of Canada Museum in 1963 and medals at the Glenbow Museum
Richard S. Yeoman 1904 – 1988 Wrote A Guide Book of United States Coins
Oscar H. Dodson 1905 – 1996 Kept a collection of ancient Greek coins with him while serving onboard the USS Hornet in 1942
Keith Bullen 1906 – 1976
Buddy Ebsen 1908 – 2003 Owned a $4 Stella; co-founded the Beverly Hills Coin Club
Philip Grierson 1910 – 2006 Bequeathed his collection of medieval coins to the Fitzwilliam Museum
Arne E. Holm 1911 – 2009 Collection is in the NTNU Museum of Natural History and Archaeology
Eric P. Newman 1911 – 2017 Collection sold over five auctions in 2013–2014 for almost $55 million
John Jay Pittman 1913 – 1996 President of A.N.A. 1971-73 and C.N.A., a massive collection of high-quality US and World gold and silver coins sold by David Akers in auctions from 1997-99
Farouk I of Egypt 1920 – 1965 Collection included a 1933 double eagle and was sold by auction for a fraction of its real value in 1954 after Farouk's overthrow
Arthur W. Hummel, Jr. 1920 – 2001 Inherited collection of Chinese coins from his father Arthur W. Hummel, Sr.
Chris Schenkel 1923 – 2005 Collection auctioned in 1990 with 3404 lots
Russell Rulau 1926 – 2012 Coined the term "exonumia"
Nelson Bunker Hunt 1926 – 2014 Collected Greek and Roman coins; collection auctioned off in 1990 and 1991 as a result of his bankruptcy
Jerome Remick 1928 – 2005 Edited The Guide Book and Catalogue of the British Commonwealth Coins; established the Royal Canadian Numismatic Association's Jerome H. Remick III Literary Award in 1995
Harry W. Bass, Jr. 1927 – 1998 Collection resides in the American Numismatic Association Money Museum
Kenneth Bressett born 1928 Collects Chinese and Japanese coins as well as ancient Greek silver coins
David Gee 1929 – 2013 Collected Australian coins
William Herbert Hunt born 1929 Collected Byzantine coins; collection auctioned off in 1990 and 1991 as a result of his bankruptcy
Jerry Buss 1933 – 2013 Owned a 1913 Liberty Head nickel and an 1804 dollar
Q. David Bowers born 1938 Began collecting at age 13 and became a coin dealer at age 14
Walter J. Husak born 1942 Collection of 301 large cents auctioned in 2008 for $10.7 million
Gregg Bingham born 1951 Owned an extensive collection of commemorative half dollars and a complete collection of
silver dollars.
I'll add several hundred members of CU to that list!
Thanks you!
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
No. I'm really a son, a brother , an uncle , a dad, a grandpa, a great uncle , a husband, and even an ex.
That list is very short.
End Systemic Elitism - It Takes All Of Us
I don’t consider myself a numismatist. I consider myself a collector who enjoys the metals, artistry, history, and uniqueness of coins. I am interested in the manufacture of coins and some of the trivia. But I don’t enjoy the detailed research and piecing together stories that others share. I’d rather read them.
I’m glad there are numismatists who do enjoy all that research and pool together a lot of knowledge and disseminate it to the rest of us.
TurtleCat Gold Dollars
Where are James Bennett Pryor, Gene Gardner and Dr. Duckor??
Sometimes, it’s better to be LUCKY than good. 🍀 🍺👍
My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947):
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/
Apparently, you ARE a numismatist.
Well golly! I never felt like I was, though. I guess it all depends on how you define it, I guess.
TurtleCat Gold Dollars
Noooooooooo.
Numismatist: someone who studies or collects coins, paper money, or medals. [Cambridge Online Dictionary, available at https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/numismatist, Accessed 07 January 2020].
I would say most everyone here qualifies.
LIBERTY SEATED DIMES WITH MAJOR VARIETIES CIRCULATION STRIKES (1837-1891) digital album
Ditto. From what I read here, I guess not.
Say, who has a reeded edge bust half "broad mill?"
Nothing on Coinfacts but Taxay said it was R8 and it brought big money in 1973,
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/numismatist
I think most, if not all, of us here meet this definition of a numismatist.
HOT DOG! The lady next door who has an accumulation of coins is a numismatist! She is going to be delighted to be recognized as such!
Times have change for that coin. Now probably scarce to very scarce.
Yes, no, maybe, I don’t know, could you repeat the question.....???
I don’t think the definition is fixed and I don’t think there’s anyone policing the term....... you don’t need a license to practice - so, I don’t see how it makes a difference.
That is kind.
Great transactions with oih82w8, JasonGaming, Moose1913.
Often people in the hobby have a more specific set of tiers:
1. Accumulator
2. Collector
3. Researcher
And usually Numismatist = Researcher.
But it's also fine to define it as "studies or collects".
The Researchers might point out that "studies" appears first in that sentence.
To what degree of research ? I collect moderns due to budget constraints. Been collecting for 55 years. I study my collection, ( not as much as some ) and know the background of the coins I collect. I know APPROXIMATE grades of my coins. Am I a collector or a numismatist ?
Posted a couple of things you guys might enjoy.
My small library of numismatic books acquired over the last few years and also a small book I found here in Mass, “The Coin Dealer”.
I figured Insider2 would get a kick out of it considering his recent thread about college degrees in numismatics.
I am............but only by my own definition of numismatist...............and that's all that matters............to me
Successful transactions with : MICHAELDIXON, Manorcourtman, Bochiman, bolivarshagnasty, AUandAG, onlyroosies, chumley, Weiss, jdimmick, BAJJERFAN, gene1978, TJM965, Smittys, GRANDAM, JTHawaii, mainejoe, softparade, derryb
Bad transactions with : nobody to date
I enjoy silver & gold. Love coins. It's fun chasing dates and reading the history of some of them. But defining numismatists isn't easy. Besides tiers there must be other levels too....an excellent numismatist, an average one, a poor one....
I think I'm just a hoarder. That would be tier # 1 Accumulator.
So if someone just throws their change into a huge jug year after year, are they to be considered a Numismatist? They are collecting coins. Nobody said the coins must be old or worth more than face value. That would be tier # 2 Collector.
My neighbor has a Red Book and looks up coin values....is he a numismatist? He is researching, is he not? That would be tier # 3 Researcher.
I agree with the last two posts. I consider myself a Numismatist by my own definition of what one is. I have a Red Book and read coin magazines, this forum and other sources. So I am " doing research " I consider myself a Numismatist. That's all that matters to me
You are doing great @Tom147
Anyone that enjoys coins, their history, their value, their educational value, and most of all the joy in owning and understanding their history is a Numismatist.
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Bad transactions with : nobody to date
We know we are numismatists when we escape the rest of the world to immerse ourselves into these silly little orbs.
Numismatist In training. Morgan dollar padawan
100% positive transactions with SurfinxHI, bigole, 1madman, collectorcoins, proofmorgan, Luke Marshall, silver pop, golden egg, point five zero,coin22lover, alohagary, blaircountycoin,joebb21
I'm a numismatist...
...as long as most of you aren't in the same room as me. 😉
"If I say something in the woods and my wife isn't there to hear it.....am I still wrong?"
My Washington Quarter Registry set...in progress
@Electricity is a bibliophile.
define Numismatist
https://www.omnicoin.com/collection/colind?page=1&sort=sort&sale=1&country=0
True!
In for a penny, in for a pound
Studied many subjects.. Chess, Food, Women... Currently Numismatics until something else comes along.
Always donated the books once I’m done......
@Electricity is a ....voracious....bibliophile!
Me too. Coins, bonsai, old toys, rocks and of course.... GUNS !
Right next to me at this moment are 20 or so Gun Digests.
Women? OJT.
Don’t worry, I’ll NEVER figure them out😂
I don’t know anything about guns, but every time I go to auctions where guns are being sold... the bidding goes bananas and after the guns are sold those buyers exit right.
How long have you been collecting?
Perhaps the most intelligent comment I have ever read here. NO.....maybe not the most intelligent, but certainly the most insightful.
Well, I just bought a book on the history and production of the Charlotte mint. Maybe I am a closet numismatist?
TurtleCat Gold Dollars
Coins are round so they don't get stuck in coinstar machines (aoc), so they skip across water, but mostly because they couldn't be counterfeited as easily or chipped away at without notice.
All of the "great" numismatists you mentioned I assume were also Buzz lightyear toys just considerably bigger.
I always assumed it goes back to the ancient days of hammered coins where the coin would spread in a roughly circular shape when struck.
TurtleCat Gold Dollars
I am a coin collector, never called myself a numismatist.
I never got the t-shirt but I did get this:
I don't do drugs, and I'm tested regularly due to my professional pursuits, but I read somewhere it's two puffs and then pass it on dude! Ha ha ha! That was a deep unpacking of Buzz Lightyear's perception on reality.
I started in the late 70's/early 80's but I'm definitely just a collector. I have too many interests to prioritize the time to be a numismatist, at least as I would define it. I like what I like and make informed buying decisions utilizing market prices and the partial insurance of coins graded by PCGS or NGC and sometimes endorsed by CAC.
Awesome
100% positive transactions with SurfinxHI, bigole, 1madman, collectorcoins, proofmorgan, Luke Marshall, silver pop, golden egg, point five zero,coin22lover, alohagary, blaircountycoin,joebb21
I don't think being a numismatist requires one to be particularly wealthy, or to be the owner of a 1913 nickel (ala Jerry Buss).
I've always felt that the simple act of collecting, and having an interest, made you a numismatist.
From dictionary.com- a person who collects numismatic items, especially coins......
Those who seek recognition rarely deserve it...your peers will let you know.
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According to the definition in the dictionary I am a Numismatist, but not as far as I'm concerned.
I don't study enough, I don't research enough and I let PCGS and sometimes CAC tell me what coins are real or have been improperly cleaned. BUT I don't let ANYONE tell me what coins I like. I consider myself a hobbyist and a collector of coins that appeal to me, but I'm no Numismatist.
Donato
Donato's Complete US Type Set ---- Donato's Dansco 7070 Modified Type Set ---- Donato's Basic U.S. Coin Design Set
Successful transactions: Shrub68 (Jim), MWallace (Mike)
I am a collector and I suspect some of the specific individuals named here were too.
I consider myself to be a Numismatist. I enjoy the study, history and discussion.
My YouTube Channel
Perhaps I'm a toy caught in an alternate reality...
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