Coin Collecting is no longer a Hobby but a Sport instead.
braddick
Posts: 23,970 ✭✭✭✭✭
Definition:
HOBBY: "A pursuit outside one's regular occupation engaged in especially for relaxation".
SPORT: "A source of diversion"
Coin Collecting used to be a hobby. You would travel to your nearest Coin Shop and brouse, picking up a coin or two to plug into your coin album. You'de even maybe search your change (and your parents change) for those semi-keys.
You'de trade coins with other enthusiasts at local Coin Club meetings and look forward to the monthly coin magazines (like CoinAge or CoinPrices).
There was about a dozen grades or so, like Fair, Good, Fine, Very Fine, Extremely Fine and AU. Unc was broken into Choice Unc, Gem Unc and Superb Unc (never owned any of those as a kid!).
Coin weren't AT'ed or doctored too much- although you did have to worry about counterfeits and whizzing.
Coins were fun stuff, not to be taken too seriously. A joyful passtime.
There was no nitpicking over an "MS62" or even "VF35". Prices went up, kind of, but all you really needed was a Red Book each year and you were set.
Not a lot of bickering; sniping; backstabbing or "my coin is better than your coin" attitude. No Registeries or competitions. No Awards for the best set, and no having to worry if this coin will crossover. No 'ACG'. No $400.00 Commemoratives with $20,000.00 worth of toning.
Not that all of what we have today is a bad thing- but let's just call it what it is. Coin Collecting has evolved into a Sport- now containing elements that detract from a passtime or hobby.
It's exiting, but I do find myself nostolgic for the days when it was a hobby and really nothing more.
HOBBY: "A pursuit outside one's regular occupation engaged in especially for relaxation".
SPORT: "A source of diversion"
Coin Collecting used to be a hobby. You would travel to your nearest Coin Shop and brouse, picking up a coin or two to plug into your coin album. You'de even maybe search your change (and your parents change) for those semi-keys.
You'de trade coins with other enthusiasts at local Coin Club meetings and look forward to the monthly coin magazines (like CoinAge or CoinPrices).
There was about a dozen grades or so, like Fair, Good, Fine, Very Fine, Extremely Fine and AU. Unc was broken into Choice Unc, Gem Unc and Superb Unc (never owned any of those as a kid!).
Coin weren't AT'ed or doctored too much- although you did have to worry about counterfeits and whizzing.
Coins were fun stuff, not to be taken too seriously. A joyful passtime.
There was no nitpicking over an "MS62" or even "VF35". Prices went up, kind of, but all you really needed was a Red Book each year and you were set.
Not a lot of bickering; sniping; backstabbing or "my coin is better than your coin" attitude. No Registeries or competitions. No Awards for the best set, and no having to worry if this coin will crossover. No 'ACG'. No $400.00 Commemoratives with $20,000.00 worth of toning.
Not that all of what we have today is a bad thing- but let's just call it what it is. Coin Collecting has evolved into a Sport- now containing elements that detract from a passtime or hobby.
It's exiting, but I do find myself nostolgic for the days when it was a hobby and really nothing more.
peacockcoins
0
Comments
as george carlin used to say, in order to really be a "sport" there has to be a ball involved.
al h.
<< <i>HOBBY: "A pursuit outside one's regular occupation engaged in especially for relaxation". >>
I still find it to be very relaxing and truely hope it never gets to the point where it is anything more than relaxing. I think that may be the day I stop collecting and seriously think about liquidating my collection.
Blaze - Yellow male b 3/17/93
Onyx - Black male b 3/7/99
Duchess - Yellow female mix b 3/12/02 rescued 9/18/02
Rifle - Yellow male mix b 12/1/02 rescued 8/8/03
Diamond - Black female b 5/3/05 adopted 8/3/05
First Cam-slam - 9/21/04
My eBay
Some folks still go the hobby route, though. I like both the hobby aspect and the sporting aspect. Maybe this is what drew me to the PCGS Set Registry originally (which had the byproduct of my appearing here). When the game becomes less than sporting and becomes stressful, I put down my expensive toys and pick up my Holey coins or cheap Darkside pieces. That puts everything back on track.
<< <i>"There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor-racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games."
- Ernest Hemingway >>
It's not on the list.
Russ, NCNE
Bullfighting.
'nuff said.
peacockcoins
Russ, NCNE
Some things in life are bad,
They can really make you mad,
Other things just make you swear and curse,
When you're chewing your life's gristle
Don't grumble, give a whistle,
And this'll help things turn out for the best,
And.....
Always look on the bright side of life.
[whistling]
Always look on the light side of life.
[whistling]
<< <i>hey pat, are you bored or what???
as george carlin used to say, in order to really be a "sport" there has to be a ball involved.
al h.
...And definitely no discs. He has a particular disdain for hockey.
Brian.
<< <i>If life seems jolly rotten,
There's something you've forgotten,
And that's to laugh and smile and dance and sing.
When you're feeling in the dumps,
Don't be silly chumps.
Just purse your lips and whistle. That's the thing.
And...
Always look on the bright side of life.
[whistling]
Always look on the right side of life,
[whistling] >>
I feel like Michael Palin already.
<< <i>Good point, except I spell "fighting" differently.
Russ, NCNE >>
New collectors, please educate yourself before spending money on coins; there are people who believe that using numismatic knowledge to rip the naïve is what this hobby is all about.
Blaze - Yellow male b 3/17/93
Onyx - Black male b 3/7/99
Duchess - Yellow female mix b 3/12/02 rescued 9/18/02
Rifle - Yellow male mix b 12/1/02 rescued 8/8/03
Diamond - Black female b 5/3/05 adopted 8/3/05
First Cam-slam - 9/21/04
My eBay
It will always be a hobby, and I enjoy the "sporting aspects" of the hobby.
LSCC#1864
Ebay Stuff
hitting a homerun at the grading service, vaulting the latest acquisitions, and
breaking a bead (around the proof set).
And some of us are skating on thin ice when sprinting to be the first one in the
door at the coin show, and then do a floor routine.
Most dealers will tell you they never expected to become a weight lifter.
Sport hell, we need our own olympics!
Supercoin, I like your idea....hmmm, The "Pepsi Commemorative Collection"?
Today I see some collectors who are constantly buying and selling. They don't seem hold on to anything, and they are also the first ones to complain when they lose money. I guess for them it is sport.
Unless I have goofed and paid double what something is worth, I really am not that concerned about the resale value of the coins, tokens and medals I buy. The way it has worked out when I got ready to sell something, the market had passed my purchase price long ago in the vast majority of cases.