Getting rid of those date varieties, or The hard decision
Severo
Posts: 79
Several years ago when I became really active with my coin 'collection' (which used to be just a bunch of coins before that) my ambition was to have a lot of coins. Being just a kid, I though it was cool to have many different coins to contemplate and to show to my friends. Therefore I decided to collect coins by type, mint mark and variety. I did not want to collect coins by date because, well, two coins of the same type minted in different years did not (and don't) seem to me all that different.
So I went on studying the Krause books and the coins I had and was receiving from different sources, looking for the varieties and discovering many that are unlisted in the books (some of them you may see on my website; however, I have not updated it for a long time already).
The problem is that now I've found myself with a large number of practically identical coins which have very subtle variety... And every time I get a large bunch of coins I keep finding more and more new varieties, and mostly in dates - the part of the design that is subject to changes most of all. For example, I have listed up to 5 different date styles for common circulation coins of F.R. of Germany, 3 different date styles for Chinese fen coins, some modern Romanian circulation coinage, countless date varieties on Polish pre-reform circulation coinage and so on, and so forth...
So at one point I started to feel really tired. I hardly see any fun in researching those date varieties now that I realize that they were not intended to be, most probably. I get somewhat bored of sorting through dozens of identical, common coins looking for odd placement of the first "1" in date, or different shape of "9" (most frequently found varieties). Moreover, when I turn pages of my albums and looks at rows and rows of virtually the same coin types, sometimes I cannot even tell one variety from another without consulting with my records. And yes, now I have 'a lot' of coins but I've grown up and I understand that quantity means nothing, it's the quality, the assortment, the history, the art that matter.
So I'm approaching a hard (I call it 'hard' because I find it difficult to part with coins that belonged to my 'collection') decision of getting rid of those subtle, unintended varieties, excluding them from my 'collection' and adding them to my tradelist. I estimate the number of excluded coins to be around 100-200. That will also mean I will no longer publish those omitted varieties on my webpage since I will no longer research them.
I am definitely going to keep all coins with different mint and privy marks since they were intended to be different. I will also keep major varieties, such as different alloys, lettering sizes and so on.
I haven't decided yet what to do with some varieties, such as mint/privy mark placement (found on French pre-Euro and Euro coinage), rim width (Egypt, Bulgaria), mint mark size (US), open or closed '4's, '8's, '9's in date (Mexico, Slovenia) and several others.
What it boils down to is that I will still be interested in different coins that were intended to be different and no longer interested in coins that are different due to defects, die wear, overall low quality of minting, inaccuracy in reproducing dies, die re-engraving, etc. The 'varieties exist' note in the Krause book will no longer be a reason to look closely for those varieties and collect as many of them as I can.
To put it short, it's one of those cases when you change your collecting principles when they become an obstacle to having fun from collecting.
I know I've written too much on it, but I'd be glad to hear what you think about it.
So I went on studying the Krause books and the coins I had and was receiving from different sources, looking for the varieties and discovering many that are unlisted in the books (some of them you may see on my website; however, I have not updated it for a long time already).
The problem is that now I've found myself with a large number of practically identical coins which have very subtle variety... And every time I get a large bunch of coins I keep finding more and more new varieties, and mostly in dates - the part of the design that is subject to changes most of all. For example, I have listed up to 5 different date styles for common circulation coins of F.R. of Germany, 3 different date styles for Chinese fen coins, some modern Romanian circulation coinage, countless date varieties on Polish pre-reform circulation coinage and so on, and so forth...
So at one point I started to feel really tired. I hardly see any fun in researching those date varieties now that I realize that they were not intended to be, most probably. I get somewhat bored of sorting through dozens of identical, common coins looking for odd placement of the first "1" in date, or different shape of "9" (most frequently found varieties). Moreover, when I turn pages of my albums and looks at rows and rows of virtually the same coin types, sometimes I cannot even tell one variety from another without consulting with my records. And yes, now I have 'a lot' of coins but I've grown up and I understand that quantity means nothing, it's the quality, the assortment, the history, the art that matter.
So I'm approaching a hard (I call it 'hard' because I find it difficult to part with coins that belonged to my 'collection') decision of getting rid of those subtle, unintended varieties, excluding them from my 'collection' and adding them to my tradelist. I estimate the number of excluded coins to be around 100-200. That will also mean I will no longer publish those omitted varieties on my webpage since I will no longer research them.
I am definitely going to keep all coins with different mint and privy marks since they were intended to be different. I will also keep major varieties, such as different alloys, lettering sizes and so on.
I haven't decided yet what to do with some varieties, such as mint/privy mark placement (found on French pre-Euro and Euro coinage), rim width (Egypt, Bulgaria), mint mark size (US), open or closed '4's, '8's, '9's in date (Mexico, Slovenia) and several others.
What it boils down to is that I will still be interested in different coins that were intended to be different and no longer interested in coins that are different due to defects, die wear, overall low quality of minting, inaccuracy in reproducing dies, die re-engraving, etc. The 'varieties exist' note in the Krause book will no longer be a reason to look closely for those varieties and collect as many of them as I can.
To put it short, it's one of those cases when you change your collecting principles when they become an obstacle to having fun from collecting.
I know I've written too much on it, but I'd be glad to hear what you think about it.
Severo, a Numismatically Disturbed Individual
0
Comments
I have about 4500 coins and most of them are worthless. I like them, but I often question the wisdom of hoarding circulated post-WWII coins, when for most of them there are inexpensive mint or proof sets.
Interest story, btw
First DAMMIT BOY! 25/9/05 (Finally!)
" XpipedreamR is cool because you can get a bottle of 500 for like a dollar. " - Aspirin
It is ipmossible to collect all these "mistakes" and so on if you are speaking about
ALL the coins and not about some specifical period and country series mistakes and varieties. The world coins diversity is fantastic and it looks more excisting to concentrate on type (or ship coins type
So why do you need to concentrate on these bore date styles!?!
I often think that coin collecting lacks dynamism as a hobby, unless there's some change or trading involved every now and then.
At least, that's what I do, except for the main core of my Greek collection.
myEbay
DPOTD 3
<< <i>Only 100-200 coins and you call that a lot?
I have about 4500 coins and most of them are worthless. I like them, but I often question the wisdom of hoarding circulated post-WWII coins, when for most of them there are inexpensive mint or proof sets. >>
100-200 coins to exclude
My 'collection' is comparable to yours in terms of quantity, and yes, most of the coins are modern, circulated, common and 'worthless' in terms of market value.
Nick - BTW I have a couple of new ship coins, square 5 paisa from Pakistan, two different types. Already reserved for you
Dimitri - Thanks for the support
Once more thanks
In the UK, there is an obsession with the Freeman varieties - the different die pairings especially found in pennies and halfpennies 1860-1862. While it makes for interesting reading as to why they came to be, I find it tedious and largely uninteresting to collect the whole set, preferring a nice example of the date. If I was a dealer instead, I would have more time to devote to the study of such things, but the family and current career come first.
and for the main part they were easy to get rid of and have gone unmissed. They didn't really
fit in with anything else I was collecting and they required a lot of time. It would be very difficult
to reassemble any of these sets so it's important to be sure they aren't wanted anymore.
My Varieties Page
and My Krause 'Varieties Exist' Page
World Coin & PM Collector
My Coin Info Pages <> My All Experts Profile
<< <i>I really do admire your varieties collection online and the time and effort you've put into it but I can understand how it could get to be a tedious, never ending search for what may seem like trivial differences in workmanship. I haven't gotten to that point yet so if you decide to unload some of them I'd probably be interested in them and continue to ruin my eyesight by wasting my time futilely documenting them.
Thank you for your comment, Brad. Actually, the section of my website devoted to coin varieties will be there even if I discontinue researching them. I just won't publish more date varieties and some others that I will consider unintended.
As to sharing the information, you may use the info and the images on my website in any way you want. Perhaps I should also document the unpublished varieties that I've discovered (without images, though, otherwise it would take too much time) but will discontinue collecting, so that no info is lost, and publish the document for public use.
I did have about 250-300 coins at one point but i've totally cleared them all out.
Practically everything with a date after 1799 has been sold off, except for the sixpences, and a few other nice type example coins that i just like. But i suppose one day these will go too.
It's easier to sell than you think, i was debating about it, but once i'd started getting shut of them via trades, or part exchanging them with dealers for a coin i did actually want, i found i couldn't stop myself.
<< <i>I've never been one to collect die variety minutiae, either. I usually lean towards collecting by type. >>
Maybe that's what I need to do with those nasty German States.
First DAMMIT BOY! 25/9/05 (Finally!)
" XpipedreamR is cool because you can get a bottle of 500 for like a dollar. " - Aspirin
<< <i>Geez, collecting the German States by type would take several lifetimes! I'd just do those by state (one coin for each state, and even then, it'd be challenging!)
Imagine doing dates and mintmarks
First DAMMIT BOY! 25/9/05 (Finally!)
" XpipedreamR is cool because you can get a bottle of 500 for like a dollar. " - Aspirin
<< <i>Imagine doing dates and mintmarks
I do mintmarks. Not hoping to complete it, though
My work is done
FOR SALE Items
<< <i>Congrats, Alexander!
Another Pakistan 5 paisa coin, different from those that I have sent to you - already reserved for our next trade
Great thanks, Alexander!