Turning a maxim around to explain Coin Collecting...
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lkenefic
Posts: 8,160 ✭✭✭✭✭
It's not "The Pursuit of Happiness" it's "Happiness of the Pursuit"... discuss... 
Collecting: Dansco 7070; Middle Date Large Cents (VF-AU); Box of 20;
Successful BST transactions with: SilverEagles92; Ahrensdad; Smitty; GregHansen; Lablade; Mercury10c; copperflopper; whatsup; KISHU1; scrapman1077, crispy, canadanz, smallchange, robkool, Mission16, ranshdow, ibzman350, Fallguy, Collectorcoins, SurfinxHI, jwitten, Walkerguy21D, dsessom.
Successful BST transactions with: SilverEagles92; Ahrensdad; Smitty; GregHansen; Lablade; Mercury10c; copperflopper; whatsup; KISHU1; scrapman1077, crispy, canadanz, smallchange, robkool, Mission16, ranshdow, ibzman350, Fallguy, Collectorcoins, SurfinxHI, jwitten, Walkerguy21D, dsessom.
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considering I have had 3 financial windfalls in the last 6 weeks but can't find a single coin on my want lists, ; I think anguish is the word you are looking for. James
I always say “thrill of the hunt”, but “happiness of the pursuit” sounds infinitely better!
“The thrill of the hunt never gets old”
PCGS Registry: Screaming Eagles
Copperindian
Retired sets: Soaring Eagles
Copperindian
Eh, I think they both resonate pretty well!
I will say a corollary of the maxim, which perhaps @seatedlib3991 may agree with is, "occasionally the hunt has to resolve in a catch." I haven't made a significant score in quite some time, and I found myself making offers on stuff I might otherwise not look too closely at. (I got one the other day that I ended up thinking, hmmm, did I really need that?)
New website: Groovycoins.com Capped Bust Half Dime registry set: Bikergeek CBHD LM Set
@Bikergeek: I was having the same problem, but in my case I’m @ or near the end of my series. Can’t see putting out thousands to go to a + grade when I already like the one I have. So, my “solution” - start another series lol…..
“The thrill of the hunt never gets old”
PCGS Registry: Screaming Eagles
Copperindian
Retired sets: Soaring Eagles
Copperindian
Sometimes ya gotta wait for it
It's the chase.
Few things are more exciting than the chase. You have to celebrate the journey, not the finish line!
It sounds like you need to update your signature line...
Collector of Liberty Seated Half Dimes, including die pairs and die states
100%. The hunt is always the best!
Dave
For me the pursuit can get old, especially when it involves auctions. Auctions are work; they are usually no fun at all. Shows are a lot more fun.
I prefer learning more about what I have and what I am hoping to buy.
Hmmmm. While the pursuit of coins is a very large share of the fun of collecting, retention and collection building is a significant component of collector happiness as well.
The "thrill of the hunt" and the subsequent catch are 100% what "catch and release" fishing is all about. I don't see many collectors immediately selling their coins as soon as they acquire them. I use this example to partition out the hunt and catch and emphasize the happiness of the ownership component of collecting coins.
To carry on with your metaphor... I think some of this is somewhat reflective of how we collect and present that collection. Sure "catch and release" fishing is all about the hunt but there's a trophy or a picture or some tangible proof of the fish that's put on a wall or in a scrapbook... or album. Otherwise, it's just a fish story about the one that got away... like so may auctions lately!
Successful BST transactions with: SilverEagles92; Ahrensdad; Smitty; GregHansen; Lablade; Mercury10c; copperflopper; whatsup; KISHU1; scrapman1077, crispy, canadanz, smallchange, robkool, Mission16, ranshdow, ibzman350, Fallguy, Collectorcoins, SurfinxHI, jwitten, Walkerguy21D, dsessom.
All components equally important. In my case, #3 gives me the most satisfaction. Nothing like “catch & release”.
“The thrill of the hunt never gets old”
PCGS Registry: Screaming Eagles
Copperindian
Retired sets: Soaring Eagles
Copperindian
I "rediscovered" shows today... I decided to start a Wayte Raymond album of Liberty and Buffalo Nickels in VF-XF. After I finished my submissions at PCGS and looked for a few higher end type pieces, I slowly walked back through the Baltimore show specifically for the smaller dealers with raw coins. Sitting down with a box of raw coins and filtering through them brought back the memories of when I first started this affair... damn near liberating to walk away with 4 nice coins for less than $50...
Successful BST transactions with: SilverEagles92; Ahrensdad; Smitty; GregHansen; Lablade; Mercury10c; copperflopper; whatsup; KISHU1; scrapman1077, crispy, canadanz, smallchange, robkool, Mission16, ranshdow, ibzman350, Fallguy, Collectorcoins, SurfinxHI, jwitten, Walkerguy21D, dsessom.
Well, technically, from those of us who collect coins before the dead presidents and founding fathers found tribute, it is the "Pursuit of Liberty", but we already had that covered
Seriously though, at least for me, I think part of it is the pursuit (the "hunt", so to speak), and a larger part of it is the journey (the knowledge, friends and experiences).
“We are only their care-takers,” he posed, “if we take good care of them, then centuries from now they may still be here … ”
Todd - BHNC #242
That's true to some extent. I tell fish stories, and some didn't get away, unlike the coins that have escaped me by missing closing times for auctions lately. I wait years for a coin to come around, then lose track of time and miss the closing by 5 minutes.
I may be atypical for a coin collecting fisherman, but I have a thousand or more photos of coins on my computer and not one fish photo. I do have a 6-pound rainbow on the wall, though.
I agree. Recently I have started a short set of Walkers (1941-7) in raw MS-62 to 64 and a set of Indian Cents in raw EF.
The auctions are the pits these days. You bid higher than has previously been paid for a coin in a given circulated grade and get blown away. These coins are far from the condition census or finest known. I’m talking bids that are higher than “Coin Facts” retail and higher by many thousands than any of the previous prices realized, even a grade or two ahead. It’s like it was in 1979-80. People are throwing money at coins. They don’t seem to care how much they pay. And the buyers’ fee is meaningless. They ignore it.
Back then I collected a set of Two Cent Pieces in EF. Now it’s the Indian Cents and Walkers.
I found a roll of 60-D SDs but never found a 60 SD. Another low-mintage Lincoln (81 million) I found in good numbers was the 1940-D.
Now I've got to get rid of them all.
All I can add is that people call me the Bustchaser not the Bustcatcher.