Do you COLLECT...or.... COMPETE ?

topstuf

Would your collecting/investing change significantly if you were not allowed to post pictures of acquisitions?
Are your acquisitions primarily for your own enjoyment or the enjoyment of besting another?

We're even competing for SLABS now. PCGS is best! Is not...NGC is!

Seemingly even to the exclusion of the coins contained therein.

Just a random thought on a lazy afternoon.

mgoodm3

No, probably not. But I do love the whole picture taking thing. I would take them for myself even without PCGS boards. I love old rare coins and because of this place I have discovered old rare proofs. My habits may have been different without the input and pictures of this board.

Betta285

well mainly because i don't have a scanner/camera attached to my computer i don't have any pics to share but even if i did, my coins are just for me..I think it's great if other people enjoy them but at the end of the day it's whether they make me happy that matters...

DHeath

When I was a kid, the local Clarks Dept store had a 25¢ machine at the front of the store filled with low-grade Buffalos in clear plastic eggs. I used to buy them, take them home, crack them open, look them over, and add them to my collection. I had no idea how that process had imprinted itself in my brain until this post.

BBN

I've only posted one pic and that was to get an idea on a grade. I don't compete. I only enjoy competing in sports.

kranky

If I was in this hobby to compete, I wouldn't find much enjoyment in it.

Cratylus

I certainly don't use this hobby as a means of competition (I don't make nearly enough money to do so). However, I do enjoy collecting coins for the joy of completion. There's a great sense of satisfaction when you press that last coin into a coin album.

Actually, you're hitting on Cratylus' Reason #244 Why Slabs Are Evil: people collect the slabs, not the coins. The proof? Registry sets. Like I give a flying rat's a$$ you have the #3 Registry set of Lincoln Cents or whatever. Big deal. It doesn't matter if quite a few of the coins are incorrectly graded. Hey, the slab says "X", therefore I can use it to climb the registry ladder.

Show me nice coins; I could care less what plastic they happen to be in.

relayer

I only have a few Registry sets now, which is the only place I would compete, but I don't really view that as a competition so much because it is pretty much a matter of how much money you can afford to spend on coins. And there are many, many people who can afford more than me.

nwcs

>Would your collecting/investing change significantly if you were not allowed to post pictures of acquisitions?

No, my strategy wouldn't change. But my enjoyment level would sure drop down as I get enjoyment from ownership and showing them to others

Russ

Both. I like my coins, but I also like competition - specifically the registry. But, it's damned tough to keep up with the other set owners who actually have some money to spend.

Russ, NCNE

Russ

<< <i>people collect the slabs, not the coins. The proof? Registry sets. >>



Yeah, that sure proves it. Anybody who has a registry set certainly must be only buying the plastic and cannot possibly care about the coin.

Russ, NCNE

Cratylus

I wrote: << people collect the slabs, not the coins. The proof? Registry sets. >>

Russ responded: Yeah, that sure proves it. Anybody who has a registry set certainly must be only buying the plastic and cannot possibly care about the coin.

Nowhere did I claim that everyone or anyone who has a registry set must only be buying the plastic. You have to admit, Russ, that there are a lot of collectors out there who are looking for a certain slab grade just so they can climb in the rankings... and some of them don't care if the coin is accurately graded or not, so long as it makes a particular slab grade.

The fact is, there are many, many coins out there in slabs that say one thing and whose coins in those slabs more accurately grade something else. And some people knowingly use those inaccurately graded coins as part of their registry sets. The fact that those inaccuracies exist and the fact that registry sets exist is proof that there are people who only collect slabs. To claim otherwise means that every single collector who participates in the registry set program has 100% of their coins accurately graded. And we all know that that just ain't so. There are collectors out there who know that some of their coins are inaccurately graded but they won't submit them for regrade simply because they might come back with a lower grade and that would drop them in the registry rankings. It happens, Russ. Maybe it doesn't happen frequently, but it does happen.

Russ

<< <i>Nowhere did I claim that everyone or anyone who has a registry set must only be buying the plastic. >>



Actually, that is precisely what you said. How else does one interpret the following:



<< <i>people collect the slabs, not the coins. The proof? Registry sets. >>



The word "some" appears nowhere in that statement, nor is there any equivocation or clarification appearing anywhere else in your rant against slabs and those who like the registry.



<< <i>that there are a lot of collectors out there who are looking for a certain slab grade just so they can climb in the rankings... and some of them don't care if the coin is accurately graded or not >>



Yes, of course there are some. Frankly, though, they are a minority. Most registry participants care about the quality of the coin far more than the number on the holder. There are many who spend a lot of time and money upgrading laterally, just to make sure they have the best possible coin for the grade.

Russ, NCNE

BBN

I'm putting my type set together in slabs. Not to pump up my ego, but because i want the very best I can afford. If I'm only going to have one example of each I wan the best I can get. I'm not a grader and something that I would call MS 62 may only grade AU 58 by grading companies. Not to mention when I buy gold coins I want them slabbed so I know for sure they're authentic. Trust me, nobody here will probably ever see any of my collection.

Cratylus

Russ wrote: Actually, that is precisely what you said. How else does one interpret the following:

<< people collect the slabs, not the coins. The proof? Registry sets. >>

Russ and others may not be as familar with the nuances of the English language as I am so I'll explain (I studied syntax and rhetoric as part of my degree and also in order to give me the edge in my college debates).

The word "people" in that sentence neither implies all people nor does it necessitate that all people are being referred to. The use of the word "people" in that sentence is indefinite, meaning no particular amount of people were specified. It is the same indefinite usage as in the sentence, "I don't share the details of my personal life with co-workers because people talk." The speaker of that sentence is not directly claiming or implying that all co-workers (or people) are gossips. The speaker is merely saying that some people spread gossip and that is the reason he doesn't talk about his personal life. The same rule of syntax holds true for my sentence. People collect the slabs. Not all people, but certainly some do. And if you have more than one person, by definition you have "people."

badger

I use compulsion to get to completion.

I admit to competitive spirit. However, I feel that the relationships in the collecting are more important. Without the people interface, a registry set will not be incontention.

Money is the ante, but in the end, people sell to whom they want to have the coins.

nOoBiEeE

I already know the coins I have are nicer then anyone elses so there's your answer..

Russ

<< <i>Russ and others may not be as familar with the nuances of the English language as I am so I'll explain (I studied syntax and rhetoric as part of my degree and also in order to give me the edge in my college debates). >>



Cratylus,

Thanks for the lesson in the "nuances" of the English language. I understood precisely both what you wrote, and the intent of same.

Russ, NCNE

coinkat

I collect and don't compete...

jdimmick

I collect, and enjoy my purchases for my self. I post sometimes in order that others can enjoy a coin that I am happy to own.

I dont list on the registry and have no intentions, and if I could never post another coin or even show another person, i would still buy and collect the same as I do now for myself.

jim

RGL

I like both, but collect is by far on top. In my top Jeff proof set, I have spent some good bucks on better coins (1953 PR-67 CAM to replace a PR-68, 1961 PR-68 DCAM to replace PR-69 CAM, etc.) that did not gain me a point in the Registry.

oreville

I decided to be #1 in a mini-type set of a small series of gold so that I can remind myself that I mangaged to be #1 in the mini set, meaning, minute, insignificant, unimportant, small, tiny, etc. etc.

In other words, as my wife said, I managed to be the smallest of the small!..

My lust to win has now been sated.

Now I can go back to be a regular guy instead of being too small for my britches!

razorface1027

I couldn't compete even if I wanted to, I have nothing to compete with. I'm back to collecting as I did as a kid. It's much more fun. My kids are enjoying it too.