Any member(s) here who have stopped collecting coins?

braddick

Perhaps those who used to and maybe one day will pick it up again, yet today are not actively seeking coins for their collection. I think I'd still be interested in keeping up with the market and the hobby if I stopped purchasing coins- heck- I've gone months without buying a coin yet continued to read these forums.
If you fall into that category, what is your story?

Zoins

Roger Burdette stopped collecting coins but he's still interested in coins, publishes books and posts online.

I'm not sure months without buying a coin qualifies as "stopped buying coins" for many as many members only acquire 1 coin a year and they are still collecting.

Rob9874

I have been off and on my whole life. I was checking my post history here and saw that I joined around 2006 and was active for a while, then no posts for 7 years until 2013, and then again absent for 7 years until 2020. Early this year, I got back into guitar as a hobby and lost interest in coins a bit, but I didn't sell this time. Good thing, because I caught the fever again recently. I'll just accept the fact that my interest level ebbs and flows, but it'll always call me back.

WCC

@Zoins said:
Roger Burdette stopped collecting coins but he's still interested in coins, publishes books and posts online.

I'm not sure months without buying a coin qualifies as "stopped buying coins" for many as many members only acquire 1 coin a year and they are still collecting.

I have not bought anything this year, last coin was at least seven months ago.

BillJones

I don’t buy expensive U.S. coins any more, but I continue to be active with Roman, British and political and historical items.

Zoins

@BillJones said:
I don’t buy expensive U.S. coins any more, but I continue to be active with Roman, British and political and historical items.

So you are still buying U.S coins

I mostly buy exonumia, but I like my coins as well. Recently, I've picked up a few WLHs which I've always loved.

BillJones

Yea, like modern Proof sets or commemorative coins if I like them. Note the hassle I have had trying to buy a 2021 silver Proof set to keep the date set going.

rec78

Twice, right after i got married. From 1973-1978 and again from 1982-1993 when the prices on everything was sky high after the silver market boom. I restarted in 1993 after the market settled down and I could buy coins at reasonable prices again.

291fifth

I stopped buying coins about 7 years ago. No one in the family has any interest and I had reached the age where such things should be considered. I still collect numismatic knowledge.

braddick

@291fifth said:
I stopped buying coins about 7 years ago. No one in the family has any interest and I had reached the age where such things should be considered. I still collect numismatic knowledge.

I think that it is cool you can and do enjoy this hobby without having to be an active participant in purchasing- coins.

MilesWaits

I stopped a couple of decades ago and switched primarily to bullion only “coins” and crypto “coins”.
Much more liquid/tradable and less subjective. My dealer and I are a lot more friendlier, because of that.
Great question Braddick and I would imagine we all have a story behind this Q.

Zoins

Lots of people collect photos via Pinterest. I keep telling myself it would be easier on my budget if I did the same thing but haven’t gotten there yet. I still like holding coins in hand too much.

ironmanl63

There are times when I am less active. Also there are times when I just can't seem to find anything that causes me to pull the trigger. I also go thru times when I buy like crazy. I am glad I am not a dealer. I do not know what I would do during those times I am unable to find coins. Might not be the answer you were looking for but it is my reality.

markelman1125

If you had asked me 4 months ago I would have said yes I had stoped, but ever since I got my stimulus check I realized I could buy more coins, so that’s what I have bean doing, even when my stimulus money ran out.

Hydrant

Never.

Panda4456

I just started collecting seriously a year ago . Before I just used to collect junk silver

yspsales

I do have an interest in 21st century quarters.

However, mostly grading and flipping stuff of all types ATM

koynekwest

Pretty steady since 1961. There have been periods of less activity but they were minor and not long lasting.

lkenefic

I have an "off and on "relationship with coin collecting. Currently back on, but I only buy a few times a year... usually at the Baltimore show... with that not happening, I've turned to the BST and ebay. My buying frequency is higher, but I'm spending less on the individual coin.

TurtleCat

I am currently actively buying. I have been for about 18 months now. With a few minor mint acquisitions I took a break from 2007-2019. In fact, most of my collection was sold in 2006. I wish I had the gold back but otherwise it was a good thing for my sanity.

I expect to be acquiring for a while longer. Once I get further along on my gold dollars I may take a break for a while to gather money for the more expensive items.

LeeBone

Have collected off and on over the years since the early 70's(as a kid). Sometimes I was full force for a good amount of time. As I got older and my eyes have all but failed me, paired with no interest from anyone in my family I have decided to start selling my collection slowly.
Why not?...
2 kids in college at the same time this fall...

Sold around 100-150, all PCGS graded coins in the last year or so. Was tough to start out but as I sell more it gets easier. Gone are my examples of..
1857 Flying Eagle Cent Error Rotated Reverse
1877 Indian Cent
1908-S Indian Cent
1916-D Mercury Dime
1937-D 3-Legged Buffalo Nickel
1938-D Mint State Walking Liberty Half Dollar
Lots of the Morgan VAMS not needed for the Complete Set, and duplicates.
And many more..
Still have lots of PQ coins in most Series, but best of all, in my mind, my complete 97 Coin PCGS Morgan Dollar Set.

Down to around 250 PCGS graded coins to sell in the future but have been happy with the process thus far.

Bittersweet, but moving forward.

I still like to read all the posts, look at the coins, and hear the stories. Eye Candy never gets old.

Been a member since 2006 and have learned so much over the years. Thanks everyone!

My post is Charlie Brown approved.

kiyote

I don’t collect vintage gold, jewel encrusted stick pins but I am slightly obsessed with them. You don’t need to be actively buying to enjoy a hobby.

CoinHoarder

I have never stopped collecting coins. Even during times when I wasn’t buying coins, I still watched my change for keepers. When I first started collecting as a kid, I never thought that I would ever pay money for a coin. My whole collection during my early years, was almost exclusively from circulation finds. Probably because I didn’t have enough money to buy coins! I will likely never lose interest in coin collecting.

bsshog40

I haven't bought much in the past few years. Was keeping up with my proof sets 1955-2020 and my registry jefferson proofs 1950-2020, but lately have lost interest in trying to keep up with them. I'm getting to a point of either just stopping or selling and going to another series. I still enjoy the forums and learning, but until I decide if I want to keep collecting, purchasing is still on the back burner.

ReadyFireAim

I'm in saving mode right now while I wait to accumulate enough for my white whale.
If a nice French Marianne comes along that I don't have, I'll take a swing at it.

In 2021 I've only purchased one coin but I still look.

Walkerfan

I've slowed way down. I only purchase about three or four coins a year but I still look everyday.

BillyKingsley

I essentially stopped in 2013. I am allergic to nickel, the metal, and I couldn't sort my coins or roll search anymore. When I almost died from a disease I didn't know I had in 2013 (literally came 5 minutes away, family was told by er staff to say goodbye and was told if you had called 911 five minutes later it would have been too late) I now have to take very expensive medicine 5 times a day for the rest of my life. With the physical pain the hobby was causing me and the need to come up with the money for my medicine every two weeks I dropped the hobby. I stuck around the forums for a bit because I'm actually after knowledge, not coins themselves, but it was too depressing so I just stopped coming to the forum.

I still have the urge to collect and document (I enjoy that more than actual collecting) but I don't do it often. I will still make an occasional purchase when I'm in the mood, but I think the last time I purchased anything was in February 2019 at the Parsippany NJ show. The fact that I don't know is telling in and of itself.

I'm currently feeling in coin collecting mood so I'm back to reading the forum... haven't found anything I felt the need to purchase yet. I keep myself on a very limited budget, since this is at best my 3rd string hobby. I'm trying to find a world coin from the 1770s for $20 or less, the most recent decade missing from my collection, but I no longer trust my judgement on what's real or not. Use it or lose it is true.

Although I wasn't buying I still chased the new issues from circulation. All change was checked, and I have had about a 75% success rate of finding all the quarter designs, if not all mint marks.

PerryHall

I think most coin collectors who have been collecting for a decade or more have taken a break from the hobby for any number of reasons. Most eventually come back to the hobby because once coins are in your blood it never goes away. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not though.

ricko

Due to my career (pre-retirement), which often meant drastic geographical moves, collecting would have periods of few acquisitions. The interest was always there (since I was a very young lad), even when living in other countries. I still acquire, but not according to a rigorous plan. Now it is coins that catch my attention, due to design, history or condition. Will be checking my change until I make the final purchase. Cheers, RickO

WCC

@ricko said:
Due to my career (pre-retirement), which often meant drastic geographical moves, collecting would have periods of few acquisitions. The interest was always there (since I was a very young lad), even when living in other countries. I still acquire, but not according to a rigorous plan. Now it is coins that catch my attention, due to design, history or condition. Will be checking my change until I make the final purchase. Cheers, RickO

I might end up in another country when I am no longer working and have recently thought about what to do with my collection if I do. I don't want to sell it but have no intention of paying thousands of dollars to export it, it may or will be a hassle to bring it back to sell it, and there is no market for it where I would likely move. I can leave it here but then there isn't much point to having it either, typing up capital and paying recurring expenses essentially for nothing.

AuldFartte

I have collected off and on since the late '50s when I was a kid. Long breaks have occurred, especially when I got married in '72 and within 6 years we had two kids, a mortgage, two car payments, etc. There just wasn't money for collecting. I seriously got back into coins around the turn of this century and found this place in either '04 or '05. My interests change off and on still, based on the cost of coins I want or sets I wish to complete being higher priced than I can justify spending, so I'll begin a different collecting mode. For example, I am getting away from early US stuff mainly due to the cost and going to more British coinage, like Scottish shillings, and my long-time goal of completing my British Victorian Type Set. I did have a major break from everything I enjoyed when my wife passed in 2014. I just began recovering from that a couple of years ago and slowly got back into coins again. Life happens to us all, and there are times when our interests or available funds change. I think everyone here understands that.

I must say that whether I am in collecting mode or not, I enjoy learning from these forums, and I am grateful to all of you from whom I have learned valuable information.

WingedLiberty1957

I am out.

10000lakes

I’m in the not currently collecting camp.

After re-entering collecting in 2003, I was actively buying with some selling up to 2017. Then I went to actively selling from 2018 to 2020. Now just holding coins with their value mainly based on their bullion value.

Too many things had changed that made me less interesting in continuing to collect.

1) The advent of CAC.
2) TPG’s adding plus grades and the general change in grading standards.
3) The state I live in made it so some national dealers would no longer sell to residents of MN.
4) The enforcement of sales taxes being applied on residents of my state by the major auction firms.

I could deal with some of these individual changes, but in total it was just taking the “fun” out of continuing to collect, let alone the financial impact of sales taxes, re-grading and getting CAC approval just to preserve any financial value of the collection over the long term.

I miss the thrill of the hunt for coins I needed or wanted for my collection, but not the other BS, that came with it.

Mgarmy

I stopped buying to catch up on submitting. Big relief now that the ASE type 1 proof set completed. Have some left to be graded and then some to upgrade to 70.

mirabela

I'm on something close to a hiatus. The last few years I've acquired a coin or two each winter and sold a bit more than that, but I'm questioning more and more often lately if the money I have tied up in my collection would make my family or me happier if I were to do something else with it.

I think part of the problem is that a lot of the value, certainly better than 50%, is intrinsic / bullion related so I tend to look at the collection at least in part as a hedge, an emergency store of buying power that is part of my overall financial strategy. Consequently I'd be reluctant to sell it and really spend the proceeds -- I don't see dumping the collection and buying a new boat or vacationing extravagantly or anything like that.

On the one hand, if I'm trying to keep the funds tied up in some sort of a tangible, inflation-resistant store of value, a coin collection is more interesting than straight up bullion. On the other hand, it's a much bigger hassle to liquidate. I'm thinking a lot lately about making things easier, both for me and for anybody who has to manage the mess I leave.

ms70

I've ground to a halt. I've pretty much completed my half dime quest and just like that I was done. I tried to find interest in other series but quickly lost interest and sold it off. I rarely even come here anymore and I used to visit constantly.

cmerlo1

I haven't for around 20 years now. I still love coins, and spend plenty of time with them as Texas Rep for ANACS. I decided I enjoy collecting ephemera and wristwatches more. I cherrypick and flip varieties on eBay to support those collections.

dpoole

I've stopped. As I've written elsewhere, I've gone through the whole high, even arch trajectory since I reengaged with the hobby after the kids moved out in 1999. I've now chiseled the collection down to a very few favorite 19th and early 20th century gold pieces and odd favorites here and there, as well as apostate bullion in preparation for the apocalypse.

Of course, if that SPECIAL piece comes along and catches my eye, well....

MJD

Like many, I tend to start and stop depending on the demands of life. I started as a kid in the 70s, came back to it for a while in the early 1990s and started again more seriously about five years ago. I’ve been working on a proof Jefferson set for the last few years and now I’m starting a classic commemorative set.

Zoins

So... do we need a support club for those that quit... or those that haven't yet?

bidask

I’m still buying like crazy !