How about some more sayings of some coin Sages

krueger

"Buy the book before the coin."
"Buy the coin not the label"
"A numismatist is judged on the content of his library not on the content of his cabinet."
"There are no Santa Clauses in Numismatics."

HAVE YOU GOT OTHERS?

DocBenjamin

Nobody ever got burned by passing on a coin.

Guru

Creg

Pecunia non olet - Vespasianus



Money doesn’t stink. Not a sage, but his head was on a lot of coins.
Read the origin, I forget details.

BryceM

"Have fun with your coins." - HRH

Honestly, this is best advice I can think of. It reminds us to keep it real, and not stress too much about money and grades. A wise numismatist once saw me at a show and asked if I was having fun. I guess the smile gave it away. I was having a blast. He made a remark about most everyone there being miserable to differing degrees. I looked around and definitely understood. It's a hobby. It's supposed to be FUN!

yosclimber

1. Buy low, sell high.
2. If you found a lot of coins in spare change or a parking lot, they are probably not all rare and valuable.
3. You can't accurately grade (or attribute a proof) from an average photo, but with a great photo or video you might.
4. You can have fun cherrypicking raw coin varieties, but don't expect to make a fortune, as many others also prefer to cherrypick their own instead of buying.
5. In a "bullet" auction, always save the last bullet for yourself - Fred van den Haak
6. There is no Santa Claus (singular) in numismatics, but there may be more than one Grinch.
7. He who dies with the most toys ... has left a mess for their inheritors.
8. Buy and hold - but I want you to hold it between your knees (Jack Nicholson, Five Easy Pieces).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTJ7AzBIJoI

hfjacinto

"If you want stickers collect bananas"
"Coins found in parking lots are not errors"
"No, you didn't win the coin lottery"

FlyingAl

Collect what you want to collect!

Sapyx

It is truly marvellous, that in this art [of counterfeiting coins], and in this only, the various methods of falsification should be made a study. For an example of a false denarius is now an object of careful examination, and people absolutely buy the counterfeit coin at the price of many genuine ones!
Pliny the Elder, "Natural History" Book 33 Chapter 46, circa AD 79

This is the oldest known reference to anything remotely resembling "coin collecting" in the historical record. Certainly these ancient counterfeit-collectors had, in common with us modern coin collectors, the irrational behaviour of paying above face value for a coin.

Typekat

Jeez, so Pliny the Elder foresaw people paying serious money for Machin’s Mill ‘tokens?’

Floridafacelifter

Coins are like buses- if you miss one there will be another coming along shortly.