Is there such a thing as too many coins?
Zoins
Posts: 34,290 ✭✭✭✭✭
Recently, I've been finding it more difficult to find the coin I'm searching for as I store then in multiple PCGS boxes. I have to find the right box and then guess at what slot the coin is in. Finding the right PCGS box and finding the coin in it is like what Forrest Gump said his mother told him.
Forrest Gump's mama said:
Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.
The lack of ease in finding a specific coin has me wondering if I have too many and if I should cut back.
This reminds me of when I used to collect baseball cards and would have hundreds of them to flip through. I've been wondering if moving to the slotless Intercept Shield boxes would help but I'm not sure how the PCGS slab feet would affect flipping through them at angles.
I'm still hoping PCGS will change their slabs and allow the insert to be shown on top.
Have you cut back or limited the number of coins you have? And if why did you do it?
Comments
As a newbie 2years or less I am starting to listen to the wisdom shared so often by more seasoned collectors. Books and study questions and applying what is being shared. I have bought several books and noticed that I’m not rushing to buy just anything that’s popular. I too am surprised by the volume of slabs I’m accumulating but I am now beginning to sort out what can go and be replaced with something better. 🤓
Getting rid of 4 and replacing with one will help plus I’m thinking about putting similar coins in one box with a little label on the outside 😎
🎶 shout shout, let it all out 🎶
Give every coin an SKU#.
File the coins numerically.
I can find any of my coins in seconds.
This.
It's not your coins. Zions, it's your filing system.
For my ANACS coins, the same system works pretty well.
I am starting to consider selling some coins to make finding what I still have easier.
Have you noticed that Heritage has the SKU on top of the coin so it can be read from above... like ANACS? Just put a label on the top.
And I know people hate change and love the system they have, but @ErrorsOnCoins point is well taken. If you assign SKUs and file accordingly, you can find any coin in minutes or seconds even if you have a million coin inventory.
As a series collector (yea I'm a dinosaur in that way) and a Lincoln cent series collector I have quite a few slabs. So I learned long ago that a good filling system is a must, once at the SDB I can find any coin in just a few seconds.
My Collection of Old Holders
Never a slave to one plastic brand will I ever be.
For me, assigning a SKU and thinking of coins that way isn’t that enjoyable. I know it works but I’m not sure I’d want to do it for a hobby. ANACS is different because the denomination and coin name are in the insert.
Of course EOC is a dealer so it’s important for him.
As for hating change, I keep asking for top readable inserts in slabs. I hope people wouldn’t hate that change!
It must be at least a little important to you: you started a thread about it.
ANACS is materially different from Heritage because ANACS has coin information on it including denomination, issuer, year, etc.
And yes, it’s important enough to me that I’m thinking of approaches like reducing my collection.
Many people have limited collections and only add a few coins a year. I’m mostly trying to get perspective from those collectors on what caused them to move in that direction.
# Personally, I only have one coin. I figure that way it's easier to count.
It is time for a thinning of the collection. What coins do you really appreciate? Those are the coins to keep.
That worked really well for Stuart Weitzman and the 1933 double eagle.
I’m not sure if I could have that much of a focus but it’s a notable way to collect if you get the right coin.
The Sultan of Muscat 1804 dollar up for auction would be a great coin to have in a 1 coin collection. This approach is definitely worth considering.
This is not the first time that you have asked a question and then later in the thread announced that you are only interested in answers from a certain select group. Why not in the future direct your questions to that group rather than the entire membership, seems like that would be a far better way to get your answers without receiving answers that do not apply and wasting your and others time.
My Collection of Old Holders
Never a slave to one plastic brand will I ever be.
I like this thought. One issue is when I pull out a coin and think “why do I have this”? Even if I didn’t know what I was going to pull out it would be great if every coin was, “wow, that’s a special coin.”
I think the difference is that I do think the coins are nice, but I’ve enjoyed owning them and can move on to things that are more notable.
Well, I did say “mostly”, not “only”, so you may be reading too much into that statement.
I do think the dealer inventory management approach mentioned may be too heavy of a lift for many collectors. I don’t have the time or inclination to assign SKUs. SKUs also add a degree of indirection as they don’t say anything about the coin so you’d need to look it up in a database. I don’t see collectors doing this but I agree is important for dealers to manage inventory.
I don't like having too many coins because it takes up too much space or results in having too much money tied up in coins I don't really like that much.
My better coins (value wise and those I want to secure most) are in a SDB. The rest are now in a small suitcase at home, a combination of slabs and flips in boxes. Many of these I'd like to get rid of now but it's not worth the effort for most.
I don’t have the time or inclination to assign SKUs
A SKU numbering system will save you time for sure.
It may save time during lookup if the number of coins is large enough but at my relatively low volume of lookups, it’s debatable it will reduce time overall.
This is because a SKU numbering system would involve looking it up in a computer which I don’t do now. It also involves maintaining and updating an indexing system, which would be additional time investment.
I was never a complete generalist which is my inference of how you collect based upon your posts and what you have posted.
I'm where I am now when I decided I can either have a less distinguished collection across many series and coins I mostly don't really like that much or I can prioritize my resources in one area and attempt to put together a collection almost no one else can own. That's what I decided to do.
Most will find my approach boring due to lack of variety and the difficulty in finding anything to buy. There are still other coins I like that I would like to buy (somewhat) but not enough to increase my budget, replace what I buy now, and/or have too much money tied up in my collection. It's a hobby, not an "investment".
I like following a general organization hierarchy, and it has served me well.
With an emphasis on keeping everything in order, putting something where I would expect to find it later on. If the item is exonumia with a catalog number like the So-Called Dollars or Civil War Tokens, I will sort by the catalog number instead of by year and mintmark.
And I tend to do something similar when renaming photo files on the computer.
Custom album maker and numismatic photographer.
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I wouldn't say I'm a complete generalist but I do like a wide variety of different things which ends up being many mini-collections.
It's good to work something notable and is a challenge.
It's good to have focus. I personally like variety, but that comes with the territory with exonumia
I hope not!
for PCGS. A 49+-Year PNG Member...A full numismatist since 1972, retired in 2022
In general, there shouldn't be!
Certainly, people like Tyrant and Virgil Brand didn't let numbers stop them
But a growing collection does seem to require a greater investment in some type of management system.
You can put whatever you want on the SKU
LM1969MS63 could be the SKU: Lincoln Memorial (cent) 1969 MS63
It doesn't have to. If you use SKUs that are informative and then box them by SKU.
There's a hundred ways to do it. But let's say you have a lot of so- called dollars. So, you have 5 boxes of SCDs. The SKU could be HK12. Then the boxes are labeled HK1to100, HK101To201 etc.
Or you can have a simple sheet printed out and stored with the boxes. Sort it however you want: by year or denomination or both. Takes seconds to flip to Indian Cent 1863 to find that box 203 is the one you want.
Perhaps it’s different views. For me every coin is part of my personal collection. If I had inventory then it seems like my personal connection to my coins would be different. A number not an addition to my collection. Not having inventory makes my needs different from a dealer as far as cataloging. Just a simple location and type in boxes.
🎶 shout shout, let it all out 🎶
That is an inventory system. There's no difference between collectors and dealers here. The point is to be able to find things. Every individual, dealer or collector, has their own system.
Zions posed the question in terms of large numbers. Our response was that an inventory system can handle millions of coins.
A Whitman album is an inventory system. A box of 20 is an inventory system. Post-It notes on the wall are an inventory system.
Since you’re storing them in PCGS boxes they must be slabbed. If so, then why not use the certificate number as the sku and make a spreadsheet saying which box they are in? You can even put them into the boxes in order by cert number to be even more organized. Should work even if it is a mix of PCGS, NGC, ANACS because I doubt they would have the same cert number.
Mr_Spud
I could, but I prefer tot not have to do a spreadsheet lookup.
It could be ok to use the PCGS phone app against a PCGS box and have it list the 20 coins in order via the RFID chips.
Cert numbers aren't very meaningful to me. I'd prefer to keep them organized topically. Using a CoinFacts type of taxonomy would be better for me.
Zoins,
I believe that there can be such a thing as too many coins for certain people and types of collectors…I believe that it is important to be able to either recall the coins you have or smile about them when you see them. As I know you collect tokens, I will explain. As I was collecting CWT’s, I started to accumulate storecards and patriotics. While I like them both, I soon was adding some of each, some raw, some slabbed, and while I liked all of the pieces, I didn’t love them or the feeling I got when looking at all of them…so I sold a number of them, and used the funds to buy items that met my changed/improved standards.
As of now, my CWT patriotics are nearing 40, and I am beginning to think that I am reaching my max attention, maybe it will be 50/60, but I don’t think I will enjoy having 100. As I add new stuff, some things that were special before , become less special..
Now I respect Bowers/ Fuld others that accumulated lots of items or tried for all items, but that is not for me, but it could be right for you.
The same thing happened for me type collecting, upon reflecting, I had coins that I liked to fill a slot, but that I really never thought about or enjoyed them…so out went many of those.
Additionally, all the coins tie up resources, so for example now, I am playing golf more, when I look at some of my coins, I debate if say 10 tokens worth $100 each gives me more enjoyment then say a new set of golf clubs. If the coins tokens haven’t been looked or thought about in the last 18 months or more, they likely get sold to fund current passions being other coins, other hobbies, car, house improvements..
So yes I have sold, yes I think certain people can have too many coins for their goals/ interests, and for me now, my threshold is probably about 100 items, and as I collect longer, that number seems to continually go down as what interests/excites me seems to be either rarer or of higher quality.
It's only too many if they would crush you if they fell on you.
That's too many for me, but not some!
From: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/copper-penny-rolling.232996/
I actually had something similar to that happen when I was a graduate student. I was looking for a copy of a research paper, opened the top drawer of a 5-drawer file cabinet, and closed it only part of the way. Then, I searched through folders in the next drawer, the third, the fourth (not fully closing any of them), and started to open the bottom drawer... The whole cabinet suddenly tipped over and pinned me against a table, at a 45 degree angle. My office mate rescued me five minutes later.
RMR: 'Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen?'
CJ: 'No one!' [Ain't no angels in the coin biz]
In my years in the stock photography business, I had a short inventory number that got incorporated into a long descriptive number which told me tons of info about the photograph. The problem with a long description inventory number (or a PCGS number) is that it is long and that long number has to be inputed.
For coins, I opted for a short (4 digit soon to be 5 digit) SKU#. All my coins information is in the computer so I can sort any keyword to group coins. I can find my coins many ways and when I do , the SKU# is there and all coins are filed numerically.
Since you don't want a separate indexing system, and want to find a slab within a box:
1. Label boxes by denomination and date range
2. Add labels on tops of slabs with date-mintmark and grade
I know you collect tokens, so you might need other grouping categories besides denomination.
If you don't want to do the work of adding labels to the tops of slabs,
and prefer to remember the location of a slab within a box,
then yes, you will need to cut back on the number of coins in your collection
(if you can no longer remember locations).
For my collection, it is mostly one denomination and almost no slabs, so they are flips in a box sorted by date-mintmark and variety number.
Too much junk, yes. Too many nice coins, never.
I think you can only have too many coins you don’t enjoy. If they still bring joy, never too many.
I have started a baggy of coins that I could part ways with. Haven’t done anything with them yet, but they will likely be trade fodder some day.
One of my joys in collecting is rearranging my collection. I’m doing it right now.
Folders and slab boxes get themes (age, value, denomination, metal, or some combination). When I’m looking for a coin and I open a folder that’s all copper, I know if I’m close or not. As my collection grows, different groupings make more sense, but they’re always grouped in a way that makes sense.
Since you’ve got largely (only?) PCGS slabs, you’ve just got to pick how to store and identify them. Blue boxes get pre1900 stuff? Green boxes get proofs? I don’t know, but I’ll bet there’s an easy system that will work for you and you’ll be able to sort through them quickly to find what you’re after.
If you start selling because your coins aren’t organized well (for you), then you’re not solving your problem, you’re just ending up with less unorganized stuff. (That’s also a personal reminder for myself and my closet).
Is there such a thing as too many coins?
Have you cut back or limited the number of coins you have?
And if why did you do it?
above are questions the OP seems to be asking, although most of the discussion is focused on the fluff between the actual questions. to answer directly:
yes.
yes.
a lack of interesting, quality choices being offered for what I am looking for.
Just put the dang things in order and number the boxes! That's what I do!
I have roughly 200 slabbed PCGS coins. Almost all fall under some collecting theme. As such, I have simply taped a label to the end of each box identifying the contents. Coins within the box are organized by date (for a series), denomination (for WW2 Proofs, e.g.), or alphabetically by country (for darkside). In the case where a collection spans multiple boxes, I simply write a number such as Roosie dimes 1 (2, 3, ...).
FWIW.
I do something similar: 1 letter and 3 numbers.
My system is quite arcane: B is is for Bullion.
Sometimes in slabs, near spot.
R is for Rolls.
S is for Sealed. From the Mint.
And in answer to your question: NO.
Even if you can’t find you what you want, somebody will.
I have always thought that the collectors who brag that they have never sold a coin have too many.
Surely and hopefully your taste or eye for quality has improved since your first purchase.
Sell the coins that don’t excite you any more and buy something that does. If you say they all still excite you, I don’t think you are being truthful with yourself.
Your set will be better.
The other thing about having a numbering system is that it makes finding images of you coins super fast if kept numerically in folders.
I haven't sold any yet but it's not because I like to brag about it.
The reality is that I feel I don't have time to sell at the moment, though I do know getting a reseller certificate can cut down on my taxes.
It’s something to consider because I had to last year— in the event of a fire, how much of a pain will it be to get your good stuff out?
As much as this is an issue, I went ahead and bought another piece just now, haha!
Wow, how much space will they take up after they've all been slabbed??
My Adolph A. Weinman signature
I tried that but I kept losing count at zero.
My Adolph A. Weinman signature
