Do You Collect With Any Defined Purpose??

dragon

I was going over all my stuff the other day at the bank, and I just figured out that I collect with no purpose whatsoever. I just buy Morgan dollars (primarily DMPL's) that I like regardless of date or how many of that particular date I already have. Just as an example, I have over 81 DMPL Carson City dollars, but only 8 different dates.....I must have that squirel mentality I guess.

Do you collect with any defined purpose and goal like building a complete set, one of each type, varieties, etc, and also will you sell a coin if you find a clearly better one for the date??

dragon

Russ

Personally, I would never have more than one example of the same coin.

Russ, NCNE

ER

You are a squirrel, not dragon!

barberlover

fatman told me why i collect a couple months ago "because i like shiney round pieces of metal"
actually, for me it's one of the only hobbies that young and old, rich & poor can all enjoy and it's nice sharing a hobby that my wife enjoys. Les

and it really apeals to me to have a jawdropping uncirculated coin minted more than 100 years ago.

Russ

Did somebody mention uncirculated coins minted over 100 years ago?





Russ, NCNE

Popcoin

Coin collecting is a very slippery road, make a plan, get directions, drive down the middle of the road and the next thing you know, YOU ARE IN THE DITCH.....

Plan...."one of each major type"

Larry

Barry

Russ,
Is that the Accented Shield variety 2 cent piece?

CarlWohlforth

I started with many defined purposes. I had many goals. But none of them included getting more than one coin of a particular date!

Now I have two goals, a proof set of Jefferson Nickels and a complete US Type set.

The focus helped me because it enabled me to sell off lots of coins that weren't my focus anymore. That is good because I can learn about more different types now...

RNCHSN

I've been trying to finish a set of Morgans (only need 2 more), then bought some Walkers and Peace, and Frankies, and Kennedys, and Ikes, and gold ............. and so on and so forth..........

I now am so far into buying, selling, and trading that I don't know what would happen to me if I walked away from it for even a week!

LincolnCentMan

I'm working on brown Lincolns from 1909-1929, 1930 and up... 66RD or better.

David

P.S. Anybody got a PCGS or NGC 65BN or better 1909-VDB availible? Brown only.

nwcs

Nope, no purpose. Just whatever catches my fancy for a while. Right now it's cool mercs. Then it'll probably be back to Morgans or Peace dollars for a while. Then maybe some more 20th century types.

CLASSICS

sometimes iam at a show, and i see something that i had no intentions of buying,but it looks so nice, or maybe has some very pretty toning......and i say to myself....ah, what the heck.and sure enough it goes home with me.......so, i guess not , well at least not all the time.......

a2labmom

My purpose is to collect at least one of every coin minted or piece of currency printed on the planet of Earth.

mdwoods

sometimes iam at a show, and i see something that i had no intentions of buying,but it looks so nice, or maybe has some very pretty toning......and i say to myself....ah, what the heck.and sure enough it goes home with me.......so, i guess not , well at least not all the time.......

Exactly!

ARCO

Yes and no. I collect any beautifully toned circulated coin I can find that is in the $5.00 - $250 range. I am also very focused on Barber half dollars and am determined to put together a near perfectly matched VF-XF set. I am about 4/5 of the way there and can not give up!

If I had the money (which I don't) I would like to put together one set after the other. I talked to a rich west coast collector some months back who had put together 40 barber half sets in 30 years or so of collecting. Most were G or VG sets. He had one XF set after 30 years! Of course he bought a huge barber hoard worth six figures so I guess he upped his completed sets by at least ten more!

Tyler

jdimmick

My ultimate goal would be to obtain at least one key-date in the highest grade I can afford for every series (minus gold, and errors)

BAJJERFAN

Other than trying to put together a fairly decent yet affordable set of Morgans, Nah. I will likely upgrade some, maybe add a few major varieties and buy some keys for an investment. I have completed the full set part, all slabbed, mostly PCGS, about 10 NGC and a few ANACS and a couple PCI. All in all a fairly decent set tho not real well matched by grade.

Julian

The definition of a collection is extremely important. I have seen many people lose interest in numismatics because they had no specific focus. There is no right/wrong collection. Just define your collection. You can make your own definition. Birth year, gold type, foreign minors, Geo. Washington items, etc. You will be much happier being focused.

smprfi

My plan and purpose is to enjoy myself.

seahorse

Do you collect with any defined purpose and goal like building a complete set, one of each type, varieties, etc, and also will you sell a coin if you find a clearly better one for the date??

Yes, to all the above. Would like to build a set of Peace Dollars and Franklins. Would also like to have one of every type, though. Currently looking for a Twenty Cent Piece in VF or a Seated Dollar in F. That's about all the quality I could afford.

tjkillian

I would like to collect a complete type set from 1793 to present in the "sweetest" grade, whether PO-01 or PR-69DCAM. Also, collect an Indian Head Cent collection in an average grade of MS-64BN.

Tom

RGL

Three complete registry sets of early Jeff proofs, the big 1938 to date run and I just completed early Roosie proofs, with some upgrades to come. Now starting Washington proofs ... I have lots of miscellaneous coins I have either stolen (price-wise in slabs) or made raw that range from dollars to cents ... in circ coins, still working on my complete major type set ... three-fourths of the way there. I also have a very nice complete set of higher-end circ Buffs ... (including 3 leg, but no 18/17-D or 16/16), etc. I guess I am all over the place, but that's a lot of the fun!

oldcameoproofsguy

I always collect to complete a series. I believe (though there are many here that would argue contrary) that a set is worth more completed than not. Don't get me wrong; coin collecting is not an investment, but I would like to get as much money as possible out of them when it comes time to sell.

Plus working towards a particular goal for me is part of the reward.

relayer

The PCGS Registry tells me what to collect

FrattLaw

Initially I wanted to complete an entire US Dollar set, but I soon fell in love with my toned Peace $ and that has basically sidetracked me. Now I want the highest graded, most colorful complete toned Peace $ collection. As well as a mini-hoard of toned Peaces in various years and colors. Maybe I'll eventually sell my duplicates and get back into the dollar collection or maybe just limit it to a complete dollar type set.

Michael

dorkkarl

i collect an extremely narrow & carefully focused population of specific coins: round 1's

K S

ccrdragon

I'm like dorkkarl - if it's round and used as money, I collect it!

I am working on MS sets of IHC's, buffalos and roosies (that keeps me focused), but I will look at and purchase just about anything that catches my fancy and that I can afford (hence the reason that I bought a Texas half and an Oregon half at the last coin show - they are the only clasic commems that I have ever looked at and thought about buying!)

ccr

Defined purpose!? What`s that? I`m trying to keep focused on completing a set of Peace Dollars but, get distracted by other coins that I see and like. The spirit is willing but, the body is weak.

Baley

I collect US type coins, with the intent of having (at least) one example, in the best condition I can find and "afford," of each major coin type and subtype issued by our country. I try to find coins that compliment each other in appearance and seem to "go together" so that the history of the coinage flows from on to another. the set is complete from 1800-2000 in copper, nickel and silver, and from 1834 on in gold, selectively upgrading and working (slowly!) on the earlier pieces, boy are those tough!

Also have collected a few series, completed Franklin halves with proofs and a couple varieties, Ike dollars with proofs, and Jeffs to 1964, still working on the early indian cents and Lincolns and merc sets i started as a kid, and have a few Peace dollar holes to fill and then several upgrades to consider.

Beyond that, I just collect what I like, including well-circulated draped bust quarters and halves by die variety, a small but growing type set of Spanish colonial coins, some additional interesting foreign and ancient pieces, the occasional commemorative or super gem or attractively toned US coin. etc etc.

pmh1nic

I always have a plan but the plan keeps changing .

Actually I started collecting working on a U.S. gold coin type set and got pretty close to completion (just those pesky, relatively expensive 18th century early gold coins got in the way ). Then I had some fun putting together a set of dollar coins (just the major types) including gold, silver and clad. Now I'm one coin away from completing a set of toned Franklins and thinking about what to work on next.

It is a challenge to stay focused and not get distracted. You see some wonderful coins as you go along and it's a real temptation and thrill to buy. Maybe it's a sign of getting older but I've been pretty good (not perfect ) when it comes to refraining from impulse buying.

It's good to have a plan.

mrearlygold

Hahahaha me too! Although I've helped many create the foundation in and build very specialized and defined collections ( ie: bust and early dollars, patterns, early gold), my own personal collection contains early eagles, early half eagles and OREGON TRAILS!. Oops not to mention those art bars

Baley

mrearlygold welcome to the forum, if you need help posting pics just ask, it's pretty easy and we'd love to see some early gold this morning!!

BillJones

I collect for the history and the beauty of the coinage. I've always been interested in the U.S. presidency, and it's fun to image that George Washington or Abraham Lincoln were in office when a certain coin was issued and in circulation.

I also collect 19th century political medalets and tokens. I especially like pieces that have slogans on them that were related to key issues during the campaigns.

I'm big on eye appeal. I don't go nuts over excessively high grades because the expense. I'd sooner own a fair number of really nice coins than a very small number of superb coins. That won't get you very high on the registry, but I find it a lot more fun to collect that way.

barberlover

I thought i'd add something to what i said before.
I think it's tre for most of us that economic circumstance form are collecting goals. During the best of times for me, ny collecting goals are to build the best eye appeal set of mint state barber vquarters and halves that i can afford and also to pick up high eye appeal examples of every type thats not priced into the stratusfear. Eye appeal & scarce classic type is what i look for when i'm financially able. If i was rich, i would start a registry set of mint state bust dollars. As i said before [it's nice to dream] Les

Wisconsin

I am focussing on draped bust coins at the moment, and in particular want to do a date set of half dollars. I sure am tempted, almost daily I might ad, to buy coins out of this category. It is hard to stay within my goals, but I had a friend once tell me that if I spent my money on other types, I may not have the ability to buy the ones I really want when they are offered. Every time I think of purchasing something different I remember that tomorrow might be the day that wonderful draped bust coin comes along and I better save my money.

If I really need a coin fix I will look at civil war tokens. I can buy something pretty nice for $25 and it satisfies my cravings.

Jay