Okay, who collects for enjoyment, who for investment, and who for ???

mnmcoin

I am not sure if this has been done at all, but Anaconda's ebay post has invocted a question in my mind. And perhaps you can see where I am going with this, but I am really curious to know. Especially with the market researcher in me, I can not go based on biased information, so I beg to ask, what does "collecting" coins really mean to you all? Enjoyment, challenge, monetary gain, etc.

I'll start, with my so called biased understanding of what "collecting" really means...that is that people collect anything particularly coins for enjoyment. That is for some whacko reason they came across a particuar series and fell in love. And that is what they do. So this begs the conclusion to me, that why does it matter what one buys as long as they enjoy what they do. Whether it is a 1799 Bust $1 in VF20 or a 1998 Kennedy in PCGS MS70.

Call me ludicrous, but how many other things are there where there is freedom of choice. Cars, homes, residential city, spouse, job, sports, newspaper, tv, electronics, you name it there is perhaps dozens of options. And who is to say that it should be any different in hobby? And for that matter who has the scientific data that shows collecting classic coins provides more extensive enjoyment over modern coins?

Again, I am somewhat new at this, and only until recently have been putting coins away in a collection, but am basing what it is I put in there on what a few older, well respected dealers and collectors told me when I got into trading coins...and that is to buy what you like, but what pleases you, and buy things that you don't mind possessing for a open period of time.

sorry for the ranting, and again, hey if classic people don't want to come to moderns, I am all for them continuing to staying in their market.

morris <><

leothelyon

Morris
Are you kidding? Nobody collects coins here. LOL
Leo

its4real

I'll go with the "buy what you like" crowd. Enjoyment.

Tade

I buy the coins I enjoy and I buy to fill "groups" of coins, like a set of Kennedys or Franklins. I don't sell them as they are not inclined to make any money at the prices I payed.

I look at them and that is my only form of pleasure. I'm married, so many will understand.

09sVDB

I collect mainly for the enjoyment. If I make any money in the end that would be a bonus. I have been a collector for 35 years.

kryptonitecomics

<< <i>I collect mainly for the enjoyment. If I make any money in the end that would be a bonus. >>



That about sums it up for me as well. I only buy what I like, but I do throw in a Key Date now and then so that down the road there may be some monetary gain, if...............I ever decide to sell.

airplanenut

I buy what I like because I like it- the coins I buy for investment... I take the money earned to buy more valuable coins that I like.

beelzebud

Im a collector at heart, but I enjoy getting a "good" deal where cherrypicking comes into play. Nothing better than getting a better variety (overdate, sheldon, overton, or coins that are undergraded, ect) at regular prices!
As the old saying goes "Knowledge is power" and that certainly applies to our field as well.

Bill

tjkillian

I collect so I can remove as many 19th century coins from circulation so that we can go with a wholly paper currency

Tom

gsaguy

Morris,

I definitely collect for the enjoyment. Any monetary gains are just gravy and only allow me to collect more coins!

GSAGUY

shirohniichan

And for that matter who has the scientific data that shows collecting classic coins provides more extensive enjoyment over modern coins?

Yes, extensive, unbiased research from the Serpentino Verde Institute of Collecting Enjoyment (SVICE) has shown that collecting classic coins yields 87% more enjoyment that collecting modern coins. Neurological scans of classic coin collectors' (CCC's) brains showed heightened pleasure activity in areas of the brain that process aesthetics and historical interest. However, scans of modern coin collectors' (MCC's) brains showed evidence of atrophy most often found with avid comic book readers and viewers of daytime TV. Their brains' ability to process aesthetic beauty was especially pronounced among SBA collectors and in the foremost authority in the Special Olympics Commemorative (experts fear prolonged exposure to portraits of Susan B. Anthony and Eunice Shriver deforms and/or kills brain cells and blocks synaptic relays).

cladking

I collect for most all these reasons, but also to help the future
collectors to remember the good things about this era. It will
be easy to remember greed, crime, terrorism, and drugs. Nice
well preserved coins of the era will help people remember all
the good things too.

Coins also make good teachers of history, metallurgy, statistics,
and art.

Careful with the Shriver and SBA's though.




Last two paragraphs added.

Clankeye

That's the Shiro I love! LOL! (Don't get nervous, Shiro. I'm spoken for)

shirohniichan

Oops, I forgot to add

JY93

I collect for the enjoyment of having something that is part of our history. If coins could talk imagine the stories they could tell. I also collect because many of our coins are artistic masterpieces.

nwcs

I'm in it for:

1. History
2. Fun
3. Precious metals
4. Investment

Keyrock

Collect for enjoyment, always look for eye appeal and quality if I ever (or my heirs) need to sell them. When I pick up my chain cent (within the next decade) it may be more of a investment.
Rich

BillJones

I buy coins for my collection for enjoyment and buy coins for the business to resell. My collection has done very well financially, but that is a by-product.

I buy coins for resale as a part of the business. That's been OK, but this year it could have been better. The financial markets have taken some of my best customers out of the coin market.

RLinn

I am a pure collector and it is the one thing in life that I do just for me without regard for what anyone else thinks of my coins or what I paid for them. I just wish I could listen in after I die to some of the questions that will inevitably come. What is this corroded thing? Why in the world would he keep so many of these? Do you think it is okay to just spend them? The dates on these are so blurred I wonder what he saw in them?

DoubleDime

I'm not just a collector but a Numismatist. To me theres a difference. I'm in it for the enjoyment, history and romance of collecting. Its my escape from the everyday cares of the world.

mdwoods

More of an obsessive enjoyment sort of thing for me I fear. Coins are links to bygone eras, that is what I think is so great about them. Plus they are neat little shiny things too!!!! mdwoods

Lakesammman

My own research with MR spectroscopy and functional imaging has shown the same results - with BOLD imaging, there is no cortical activation with comic books or"billion made per year" coinage. Only subtle activation is seen in the brainstem, the more primitive, visceral (and less cerebral) portion of the brain.

In my case, spectroscopy (and positron emmission tomography) has shown a virtual cerebral orgasm when images of rare IHC's are flashed on a screen, conclusive evidence of classic coins being more stimulating, nearly to the point of creating siezure-like activity (prone to repeatedly raise a bid card, for instance, while the remainder of the body holds still and breaks into a cold sweat).

As an aside, other than coins, how many non-numismatic collections do you have?? (3 for me)

barney

Art and History on a little metallic canvas. Pretty shiny colors in silver, gold, and rainbows. A way to meet people from all over...and I don't mind the heat of the PCGS kitchen. On the other hand, I don't want to just throw my money away, either. I learned a lot from my recent "major" purchase of a toned
Morgan. Like Tonekiller just told me, "there are no dumb folks in this business." That's my point, I don't WANT this to be a business. But it sure beats the hell out of compulsive gambling (yeah, been there, done that-but haven't for almost 9 years) and other ways of throwing your money away (hey, putting money away in generic gold at just the right time funded a trip to Europe last summer!). The one thing I really don't like is this plastic-swapping game but it's part of the business, so I'm told. And I will probably resubmit my PCGS 64 Morgan to NGC in the future if I choose to sell it. I've received major feedback from Tonekiller, Anaconda and GSAGUY regarding this purchase. I shall take their advice and consider this a lesson as I try to enjoy coin COLLECTING in the future.

Take care and best wishes to all,
Barney

leothelyon

LOL After reading some of these post, why I felt like I was sitting in one of my old grade school
classes, I don't know? (Teacher) "OK children, today, each of you will come up to the front of the class and give a little speech about, why I like to collect coins" "Any volunteers?" "OK Jimmy, you can go first."

Leo

barney

Ah, what the heck, just some of us have too much time on our hands!

Barn

cascade

I collect for enjoyment, but I also like the buying & selling side of coin collecting (although it's usually more buying than selling). Plus it keeps me busy & out of trouble.

pmh1nic

I enjoy owning a tangible piece of history and appreciate some of the beautiful designs. I also enjoy collecting toned coins because each one is unique in some way.

FC57Coins

I think of my coins as miniature works of art for the period that they were minted. I love the history behind them, love reading about them, in short, it feels like a link to the past.

Frank

leothelyon

why does it matter what one buys as long as they enjoy what they do.

Morris

I mainly collect the FS Jefferson nickels. Why is that? It started when I had lost a job back in 1990
and with time on my hands while in search of another job, I don't know if it was a coin article or something I saw at a coin show but when I had learn about locating a Jefferson with steps on the Monticello and it was affordable then. It really caught my fire. And now I have a pretty nice collection at a very low cost. I don't like to boast but I do like to think that I have some of the best FS Jeffersons out there. But I know that ain't true because collecting the Jeffersons is too new. It's like collecting the Lincohn memorial cents, there's no telling what will surface.

Leo

CLASSICS

for me, i look at it this way. it is a part of our history, a piece of our past,of who we are, and how our country came to be. think of the founding fathers sitting around trying to work out all the details when they first started to set up the u.s. mint. washington, franklin, adams, jefferson, and all the others, thinking about the weight, and measurements, and who would grace the front of the coins, it was even said, they wanted washington to be pictured on our first coins, but he was not in favor of that. however, it is also said that some of his silver was used to produced one of our first coins, the 1792 half dime. history, fun, the thrill of the find, getting a good deal, and giving a good deal, and yes some good advice from ben franklin himself...take care of your investments, and your investments will take care of you.

ROBBItheOKIE

Well now I collect coins for the fun, and the love of history, seems to me that makes me a Numismatist along with the rest of Yall at this fine coin Forum.

oldcameoproofsguy

I collect coins for the norepinephrine, dopamine and seratonin surges that I get when I purchase a coin. The first neurotransmitter out of the postsynaptic membrane is norepinephrine. The sympathetic amines surge as I contemplate putting down $9000 on a little piece of metal, my heart races, I start to sweat and I feel all jittery inside. Dopamine follows activating reward center receptors as I score on that pop-1 monster finest known making me feel like a conqueror. Finally, a dose of seratonin follows making me feel warm and fuzzy inside when I see all those little conquests lined up in a row, date for date.

Plus I collect because its fun.

stman

Oldcameoproofsguy, What did you say?

Just kidding I understood what you were saying.

Stman

oldcameoproofsguy

stman,

I was just showing shiro and Lakesammman that there are more than just two eggheads on the forum. I have pocket protectors sewn into all of my shirts. HP calculators rule!

shirohniichan

I have pocket protectors sewn into all of my shirts. HP calculators rule!

You youngsters and your electronic calculators! I had a special holster made for my slide rule.

ARCO

Sheer enjoyment. For me, coins are like little works of art or treasure that are difficult to find in the condition I am looking for. They must be wholly original with beautiful eye appeal. I am not worried about making money, as I know from experience that what I find appealing in coins, many others do to and when the time comes to sell them, there will always be a buyer.

Tyler