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what should i collect?

I wrote this last night.
I was wondering if it makes any sense or if I failed to make any points.
I really could use some feedback.
I love PSA 10s and BGS9.5s.
Please help me make this story make sense.

I am not, but if you are Donald Trump or Bill Gates, you can collect whatever you desire. Since the time of the ancient Mesopotamians, wealthy groups have collected or conquered real estate. The wealthy merge their possessions with others who possess. They buy up tech companies. A venture may involve purchasing a casino or ballpark with a friend. They also collect the lesser things like stocks and bonds and precious jewels and metals, and if they are smart, they collect fine wine and art.

Maybe you worked for twenty-six years on the railroad. Suddenly you win $596 million dollars in the Missouri State lottery. You may buy the engine you serviced. You may go nuts, collect three boxcars and a caboose, and call yourself an engineer. The horsepower of an automobile may also obsess the extravagant collector. Car and motorcycle enthusiasts covet classics. If ever a Shelby Cobra comes up for auction, the bids begin to race. A little more down to earth is the husband and wife who collect nineteenth century steam tractors. The couple’s finest tractor cost $200 at an Alabama auction. It took 4 years and 1000 hours of labor to bring the tractor to its original glory and estimated value of half a million dollars.

Perhaps the chance of a boiler explosion makes you think twice about tractors. Maybe you are not into suicidal doors or Hooker headers. Moreover, you do not think a motorcycle helmet will help. I have a hobby for you. Antiques appreciate. They can be cherished in the safety of your home. Antiques are collectible and most are one of a kind. The popular antiques are Federal-style furniture, Henry rifles, Bowie knives, Rookwood vellum vases, Lalique glass, Black Forest cuckoo clocks, American flags, Native American blankets, historical documents and signatures, Daguerreotypes and 1953 Fender Telecasters at $75,000 a guitar. Though popular, these antiques come at a premium. Maybe you are more accustomed to spending $800 on a 1979 Fender Telecaster, almost an antique, but not quite. In order for an antique to be valuable, it has to sit around for 200 years. A trading card can be worth its weight in gold overnight.

Coins and stamps are collectible. They will undoubtedly outlast Major League Baseball. Coins and stamps serve a purpose. A baseball card is a novelty. However, the United States makes a limited number of collectible coins and stamps compared to the selection of modern sports trading cards. Try as it may, the US Mint is not the leader when it comes to diverse coins. Is it logical to pose Robin Yount on the company’s one product for sixty years? Thomas Jefferson has been on the nickel for almost seven decades. TJ was great, but come on. I need excitement. Don’t give me yesterday’s heroes year after year. I know who they were (US president). I remember what they did (Louisiana Purchase). Show me today’s home run hero in mid-swing. Show me an in-action pose of Jose Reyes stealing second. The collectibles of stamps has never been so popular. All the same, I do not see the thrill in a collectible that requires the viewer to use a microscope. Baseball cards are small, but stamps are tiny. Not only are stamps limited by size, but they have no reverse. Foreign coins and stamps allow for more choices, but who wants to collect Euros?

Comic books are great collectibles. Comics have characters, plots and scenes in full color. Similar to sports trading cards, comic book prices are based on how hot the artist and writer is at that moment. Comic books and baseball cards do not necessarily require age to be valuable. Comic books have a precarious size. The graded format of comics is very bulky. Though graded comics are where the money and most coveted classic wind up, the comics are sonically sealed, limiting the owner to the front-page artwork and advertisement on the back cover.

I don’t know about you, but I will not be featured in Forbes magazine this year, so collecting real estate, fine art, ballparks and casinos is impractical. Due to lack of funds, at best, you or I can buy one classic car a lifetime. We can drive it every Sunday, but then we will miss the NFL on Fox. Antiques are nice. Yet, I lack taste and the ability to recognize style. I am not capable of telling the difference between fine crystal and leaded glass or mahogany and medium density fiberboard. Sports Illustrated and the result of an evening of baseball is my price guide. Coins and stamps will keep their value longer than a baseball card, and though Liberty’s bust is firm and beautiful in gold, I prefer a woman in full color who can buy me a 2003 Topps Lebron James PSA10. Comic books are a close second to trading cards. That said, as much as I enjoy fiction, Captain Marvel is unable to shake my hand. Peter Parker may have Mary Jane. Nevertheless, he does not have a signature or a soul.








I collect PSA 9, 1986-1989 baseball.

Comments

  • Just my opinion but stay away from Comics unless they are ancient and in great shape. I could never make my money back on a comic and some of them were used a toliet paper when I was overseas on long missions. Coins seem to be strong but you should choose something you enjoy.......
    "Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum"
    (If you want peace, prepare for War).........Semper Fi
  • StingrayStingray Posts: 8,843 ✭✭✭
    Not a rip on those who collect coins and not thinking of this as an investment, but cards are so much more enjoyable. You can read the stats on the back of the cards, there are some great pictures on the front that you can look at. Try and see what stadium the picture was taken at, see what is going on in the background. Coins IMO, just look the same, year after year. With sports cards you always get some new design every year.
  • BarndogBarndog Posts: 20,492 ✭✭✭✭✭
    collect capped bust half dimes by die marriage and remarriage (aka "die variety" by some).

    image
  • Im gonna check ebay, where would you buy half dimes? should you buy them graded?

    The following types of half dimes were produced by the United States Mint:

    Flowing Hair Pattern, 1792
    Flowing Hair 1794-1795
    Draped Bust (Small Eagle Reverse) 1796-1797
    Draped Bust (Heraldic Eagle Reverse) 1800-1805
    Capped Bust 1829-1837
    Seated Liberty (various subtypes) 1837-1873
    I collect PSA 9, 1986-1989 baseball.
  • Collect what you think is fun!!! Everyone has collections they say are worth tons of money. Well, you never see any of that money unless you sell it off. If you do that, you no longer have a collection to enjoy. So basically, the value in it is what you make of it!!! Go rock hunting....collect meteorites from the desert, gold nuggets, rubies, opals.......there are places to go find stuff like that....it's nice, it's got value and you may strike it rich and then can afford the real estate like Trump!
  • I agree, collect what you like you will enjoy the ride. It's easy to follow others lead but
    finding your own way to me is the way to go. Enjoy!
  • softparadesoftparade Posts: 9,276 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Collect what makes YOU enjoy the hobby! Cards, stamps, coins, beer bottles, WHATEVER image

    ISO 1978 Topps Baseball in NM-MT High Grade Raw 3, 100, 103, 302, 347, 376, 416, 466, 481, 487, 509, 534, 540, 554, 579, 580, 622, 642, 673, 724__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ISO 1978 O-Pee-Chee in NM-MT High Grade Raw12, 21, 29, 38, 49, 65, 69, 73, 74, 81, 95, 100, 104, 110, 115, 122, 132, 133, 135, 140, 142, 151, 153, 155, 160, 161, 167, 168, 172, 179, 181, 196, 200, 204, 210, 224, 231, 240

  • grote15grote15 Posts: 29,696 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Collect what makes YOU enjoy the hobby! Cards, stamps, coins, beer bottles, WHATEVER

    Amen to that!


    Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
  • BarndogBarndog Posts: 20,492 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>Im gonna check ebay, where would you buy half dimes? should you buy them graded?

    The following types of half dimes were produced by the United States Mint:

    Flowing Hair Pattern, 1792
    Flowing Hair 1794-1795
    Draped Bust (Small Eagle Reverse) 1796-1797
    Draped Bust (Heraldic Eagle Reverse) 1800-1805
    Capped Bust 1829-1837
    Seated Liberty (various subtypes) 1837-1873 >>



    I stick with the capped bust of 1829-1837. Get a copy of "Federal Half Dimes 1792-1837" if you go with half dimes. Ebay is a good place to find half dimes, but dealers and shows give you the chance to really inspect the coins first. Raw or graded/slabbed matters little to me, especially if I get to look at the coin in hand first.
  • collect Ben franklins or maple keafs (1 oz ,999 gold) both are good as cash is king in this market.
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