Coin Collectors: Any Regrets?
abcde12345
Posts: 3,404 ✭✭✭✭✭
Is there anything about this hobby you regret? This isn't meant to be a sad thread- just a somewhat enlightening one.
My regret is not pursuing key dates before purchasing the commons. (My Mercury dime collection will now always be missing that 1916-D.)
0
Comments
I think everyone has a tuition to pay in this hobby. I probably should have focused more on quality when starting out.
In one series I regret passing on a few coins that I haven’t seen again, and in other series, I regret not being more patient.
Evaluating those situations definitely comes from experience and knowing the market.
No Regrets
“I may not believe in myself but I believe in what I’m doing” ~Jimmy Page~
My Full Walker Registry Set:
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/
I could have gotten better grade stuff. Just the same
I sold my entire collection in 2007. All of it. To a dealer. 🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️ I am sure I got robbed. But I had a lot of good stuff and it’s hard to think how far I’d be if I hadn’t. I have since bought back everything I had back then and then some, but it still hurts
I’d say I have only regretted two things: selling some things without a real need for the money and being too scattershot for most of the time I’ve collected.
As a minor note, I regret being off the forum for 12.5 years before coming back.
TurtleCat Gold Dollars
no regrets! 🔥
I regret not being at more coin shows before COVID-19 hit. Some day...
I regret not buying more gold @ $ 300 an ounce an silver @ $ 2.85 an ounce. I think we all do, but even more regrets for not buying the higher graded rarities when I had the chance. Pre TPG an AU 16 D Mercury for a few hundred is one that comes to mind.
I regret talking myself out of buying Cheerios dollars on eBay for $50. I thought that was a little too much for cereal prizes.
Best
Decision
Ever
No regrets here. I really am proud of my collection. Think I’ve done a pretty good job of making every available hobby dollar count.
Reminds of that tattoo that reads "No Regerts"
Sometimes I think that animals are smarter than humans, animals would never allow the dumbest one to lead the pack
I regret not being more serious about that "double date" 1916 nickel in the Spadone error-variety guide back in the early sixties among other things.
I should have not focused on proof and mint sets and other moderns. But they are the "seed coins"
Not too many regrets so far, however the more I learn from studying, participating on the forums and interacting with other collectors.. the more I realize how many opportunities I have missed by either not having the “eye” or not having good patience with the stuff I do have.
Many years ago Laura told me to focus on buying fewer, rarer, more expensive coins and that was good advice, which I did not heed. It was her way of saying a box of twenty beats twenty boxes of twenty in the long run .
Commems and Early Type
I wish that I had loaded up on early U.S type coins including gold in the early 1960's.
In coins: I should never have sold my ancient Roman coins or my Liberty Seated Quarters. I probably should never have bought most of the rest.
As a dreck gold buyer my only regret is that I didn't buy more dreck gold 20 years ago.
Due to COVID and no coin shows, I turned to online auction houses, damn did I learn a lesson...
I regret not being more patient.
I regret not starting my own SAE collection back in 86, so popular today...
Also, wish I would have bought rare Lincolns back in the 70's/80's instant of buying beer...
The only regrets I have are ones that I never would have had if I didn't start collecting
😂
No regrets, I can't do them, today is a good day! Peace Roy
BST: endeavor1967, synchr, kliao, Outhaul, Donttellthewife, U1Chicago, ajaan, mCarney1173, SurfinHi, MWallace, Sandman70gt, Ricko, mustanggt, Pittstate03, Lazybones, Walkerguy21D, coinandcurrency242 , thebigeng, Collectorcoins, JimTyler, USMarine6, Elkevvo, Coll3ctor, Yorkshireman, CUKevin, ranshdow, Jzyskowski1, CoinHunter4, bennybravo, Centsearcher, braddick, Windycity, ZoidMeister, mirabela, JJM, RichURich
I believe that might be a double negative...?
That would mean I have no regrets, but that's not the case!
No regrets
No regrets for me. I love this hobby and the enjoyment that it gives me everyday. It's worth every penny I've ever spent on it.
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)
Regret is a pretty strong word, but there are some things I would've done differently if I'd known then what I know now. I'd have bought fewer 'meh' inexpensive coins that just became a nuisance to sell later. I'd have hung onto eight or ten choice pieces that I sold when I didn't need the money. I'd have bought a few things I was really tempted to buy but that just seemed like too much of a reach at the time.
All of these things have to do with the way I related to money as a younger guy. With student loans and stuff I was about 28 before I ever had two nickels to rub together, and I lived the next 20 years like the same guy who couldn't really afford to buy or do anything very spendy, and consequently we're pretty well set now barring the whole world running off its rails. I'm not sure I'd necessarily trade that security for having a better coin collection, but I didn't have to be quite as worried as I sometimes was.
Not buying Microsoft stock in week one.
Not buying Google stock in week one.
Yup, I had the opportunities but I was younger and just a couple years into my career after college and thought my salary was great at the time...it was, but not THAT great.
But I don't tend to regret much...I like re-framing it into..."If I didn't learn from my mistake, that's much more like regret."
...Though I still have no idea how to choose the right brand new stocks lol!
Coins are Neato!
"If it's a penny for your thoughts and you put in your two cents worth, then someone...somewhere...is making a penny." - Steven Wright
I regret not starting 40 years sooner.
I regret buying the non-silver run of mint and proof sets. I quit buying them in 2006.
With the exception of my cents, I regret buying most of. my coins that are not made of silver or gold.
I find that the non-precious metal coins, for the most part, have absolutely no future upside potential. They become a burden and take up too much state.
With the exception of a few other minor regrets, I am very happy and addicted to this hobby.
We all have our ups and downs in life and this hobby isn’t much different. I’m happy to be here doing what I’m doing than any regrets this hobby has brought on to me.
Not getting tuned into roll searching as a kid in the 60’s.
And several years ago, selling a 1927-s BU Peace with PVC green- to a dealer, for way too little.
I since then have learned a great deal about coin conservation and preservation.
Happily, I didn’t part with more to this particular dealer as I don’t believe he was entirely honest.
Happy, humble, honored and proud recipient of the “You Suck” award 10/22/2014
A few. Hind sight is 20/20.
Nothing I worry about though.
Just learn and move on.
Thankfully I have committed no major errors in my collecting endeavors.
In other areas, I could write a book. 🙂
Yes, when I was younger I chased the “good deals.” Well, in this hobby, the cheap becomes expensive. How would I be where I am now if I didn’t learn those lessons? Mainly my biggest regrets are selling some material too soon and cracking out coins from those new fangled “fad” plastic holders. I wish I had some of those early rattlers still intact. All in all I probably lost money in the hobby from buying and selling mistakes but again those are lessons I learned along the way. It’s been fun.
Too many, Selling my 1802 half cent VF, selling my New Brunswick half cent MS, selling my 187- (counterfeit, but valuable) bust half way too cheap ($60). Selling my 1864 small motto 2 cent piece MS. Not purchasing a 1793 liberty cap large cent when I could afford one. Paying way too much for one collection. Not purchasing a 1822 bust dime when hardly anyone collected bust dimes. Not purchasing a 1878-S liberty seated half dollar before they skyrocketed in price.
Not pulling the trigger quick enough on multiple occasions when an exceptional coin goes live on a dealer’s website. A few minutes is often too long to think it over.
My biggest regrets are what I didn’t buy (bid on, or bid high enough on) rather than what I did buy.
My biggest regret was buying too high of a grade coins for my type set. I'm missing three coins, (I don't collect gold), and everything is MS 63 or better, except for the AU Draped Bust $. I would have had a much easier time finding attractive material if I looked for mid to high range AU coins. It would have reduced the sting of increasing pops and related price drops, plus it would have saved me quite a bit of money.
"Seu cabra da peste,
"Sou Mangueira......."
I tend not to look back and second guess as it's incredibly rare for me to do something plainly foolish, so no sense in getting upset just because the outcome wasn't ideal.
However, I do wish I bid on a very low pop coin in my series of interest. It is actually the only one of that date/mm that met my personal criteria to come up for sale in a little over decade. I thought it was a little pricy and there would be further examples. I guess I was proven wrong. C'est la vie
Not too many regrets for me. Just that I wish I didn't take so much time off from collecting over the years. I at least could have read, researched, kept up on trends, etc. Also regret not buying more gold when it was under $500 an ounce.
I regret not being able to convince my family to buy silver/ gold for the past quarter century. ( especially on the dips).
My feelings are summed up in my favorite - and personal - theme song.... "Regrets, I've had a few,
And while it is not yet 'the final curtain', I will continue to 'do it my way'... Why change a winning formula. Cheers, RickO
But then again, too few to mention -"