anyone feel "blah" about collecting or have mild burnout?

Doogy

I'm kinda at a point now that i'm feeling "blah" about collecting; I wouldn't say i'm at a burnout per se, but just a bit uninterested. How many have gone through this in coin collecting, and how did you handle it? Personally, I'm the type of guy that doesn't keep things around that i haven't used/looked at/found interesting in awhile, but i'm pretty sure i'd miss my coins if i sold them.

blah in Phoenix,

Doug

cacheman

every day....

theboz11

Due to lack of suitable material, yes

JCMhouston

I've gone through this several times over the past 30+ years of coin collecting. I have several other hobbies, and sometimes one just seems to take precedence for months at a time. I've stayed away from buying for up to 2 years at one time, then it comes back.

Doogy

<< <i>I've gone through this several times over the past 30+ years of coin collecting. I have several other hobbies, and sometimes one just seems to take precedence for months at a time. I've stayed away from buying for up to 2 years at one time, then it comes back. >>



in your case Jeff, it came back with a vengence recently!

good advice

thanks

BBQnBLUES

Good analogy Doug !

My collection interests are broad... so I just go after other related items when boredom or prices get artificially inflated by speculators.. at present I'm chasing after International Passports

lordmarcovan

Not at the moment. I'm not feeling that "blah", but then I'm in dealer mode and not really collecting, per se.

I did have some doldrums a while back. It's all cyclical with me.

coinkat

Not with world coins because there is sooo much to look at and appreciate.

Suggestions?

Look at designs and not borders

Other ideas?

Attend coin shows to see and handle coins instead of looking at pictures online. There is something alittle magical about design combined with history when in hand instead of online.

covers

Doug - my sure cure is to sell and start over in something new. Although I am a philatelic dealer, I am also a collector. When the intellectual stimulation dwindles, I usually sell and start afresh elsewhere (currently Roman coins).

A couple collections I still keep, but rarely add to, and as they don't eat they are happy to just sit on the shelf.

koincollect

Happens many times to me, but every now and then that special coin shows up to rekindle the fire!

Stork

Definitely right now. I've got my eye on a few things and I troll ebay out of habit, but overall I feel pretty bleh.

I'm only a couple coins away from filling up my Japanese type set Dansco--then it's just upgrades, and for some reason I just don't feel the urge to chase them.

My most defining collection are the mommy medals, and I'm in the middle of a great deal of ambivalence at work--which makes me ambivalent about the coins/medals too.

Plus other interests are at work, my husband is in the middle of a big career decision time thing etc. It's just hard to get excited about the coins and medals, though I like reading about everyone elses.

Sigh.


Cathy
(who still wants a Middlesex 324 (#?) greyhound conder however--even though she Doesn't Collect Conders).

bidask

step back and do nothing, it will reignite down the road

personally I feel a little bloated....

Dawg144

My collecting drive tends to oscillate, so yes. I usually burn out after going to a show, but I'm always "back" before the next one.

ajaan

In a way yes. It might just be being busy with other things at the moment.

shirohniichan

I find that family and work take precedence over collecting, so there are times when numismatics don't take up much brain space.

Also, there are times when the coins I want for my collection are so hard to come by that there isn't anything else that really gets me excited about collecting. Recently I've started "hole plugging" as a way to keep me in orbit around numismania. Post George VI Canadian nickel, tombac and steel 5 cent pieces have been the ideal avenue for this. There are no real stoppers in the set, except perhaps for varieties. Although I usually collect circulation coins, I'm now buying PL coins. Not only are they great to look at, but they are inexpensive. Once Colonial Acres has one of its "blowout" sales I can get 15 different dates for only about $20 US. The blank Dansco album will cost me as much as a full page of coins.

lordmarcovan

When I get the blahs with collecting or buying and selling coins, I just go outdoors with the metal detector and dig some up, for a change of pace.

The dug ones usually ain't as pretty and you have to take what you can find (no choosing dates or types, that way), but it's fun.

Sorta like fishing- you never know what you'll come up with. A lot of the non-coin finds are just as much fun and just as interesting.

wybrit

I'd say that I'm in a "blah" phase. There are much bigger priorities right now.

SaorAlba

I never have blahs, I just go to another area of collecting. But then I collect 19th century European gold, nicer 19th century USA gold, early Federal coinage, colonial notes, banknotes with lovely ladies, Scottish coins, Portuguese coins, Russian coins, 17th century English tokens, Swedish plate money etc. I never run out of interests.

covers

At the risk of being pelted with stones ... some "allied" collecting areas may provide intellectual stimulus. Postal history can be studied well after the item is acquired. The first paragraph of an article I just wrote last week sums it up:

With the Tibetans in Kumbum during the Mohammedan Rebellion


In examining postal artifacts, such as the cover shown below in Figure 1, one is often lead into a veritable garden of forking paths. A cover may be of interest for many reasons, such as the adhesive it bears, the contents of the enclosed letter, the importance of the letter-writer, the postal services used to transmit it to its destination, or the history of the location and era. All of these paths are of great interest in the study of this cover.

Full Article

Hussulo

Say it's not so Doogy

I've been through stages, but I wouldn't sell any of my coins, unless its to fund a new collecting interest.
I'm sure in the future I'd be sad that I did. When I go through these patches I tend to do something else,
or buy books about coin that I don't necessarily collect but do more reading instead of buying.

I hope you get through your "blah" soon.

Regards,
Hus

Trebor

It's early fall and there's been much to do outside all Spring and Summer. My enthusiasm level rises greatly when it's mid-February and the temps are in the 20's F. For now I cruise the boards but spend much of my day outdoors.

BillyKingsley

Not really-I'm still in the stage where everything is new, shiny and an adventure to learn about. (metaphically speaking here)

I am sure, in time, I will get to a point where I get to that "blah" stage-if so, I'll simply put everything away and wait for the "drive" to come back. It always does, usually. Unless something changes and it's no longer fun to collect, or something generally makes it no fun to do anymore, I always come back.

And, even if for some unknown reason I no longer collect new coins (doubtfull, even though I may not like all the new designs, I still collect them-I'm a completist to a high degree!) I still have hundreds, even thousands of years worth of history that will leave me with enough different designs that I could buy multiple different designs every day of my life and still not come anywhere near to having it all.

It's funny, in all my other hobbys, most of them are America only, and few go back to pre-WWII. But with coins, it's all over the world, and going back in time farther then I ever imagined.

MY big problem is affording anything. I'm not very financially well-off, and I KNOW some things will always be out of my price range; probably always will be in fact. But I get what I can afford and treasure what I have. Anything new I can get, I will treasure it too-this is why the majority of my collection (about 85%) has been pulled from circulation, and until very recently, it was closer to 95%! (I purchased a bulk lot that had 110 world coins which greatly increased my variety and percentage of circulation finds vs. purchased.

While I have a lot of coins-over 900, under 1000 (I don't remember the exact total but I have the info in Excel), the total combined "value" of all of them is likely less then 1 coin from many of the members here's collection. They are priceless treasures to me though, and the most I've ever paid for a coin is $25, earlier this month. (I would guess, were I to sell them, their current market value would only be about $200-250, with more then $100 of that in face value US coins alone, 98% of them from the clad era, and the biggest bulk of the value besides that are the 2 Morgan and 5 Peace Dollars handed down from my grandfather-which will stay in my possesion for the rest of my life!) I go for quantity over quality, because I like having lots of coins to sort and look at-and I like circulated coinage best. (yeah, you can call me crazy now!) I often wonder, if I had a lot more money to spend, would I get "better" quality coins? In the end I think no, because I have the most fun sorting them and I could get a lot more coins if I had a lot more money.

BUT, I don't let my lack of funds depress me, I simply enjoy what I have and add to it when I am able.

MrEureka

All it takes is one coin - the right coin - to cure burnout.

sumnom

With the political events of the past few days in the US, I have not been thinking so much about coins.

Doogy

I wanted to say thanks to everyone for the encouragement, and it was good to hear some recommendations. I read every one of your posts, and enjoyed the feedback. I think being that we're world coin folks, we're blessed in just how diverse world coins can be! I'm going to look outside my normal collecting "zone", and find some things to reinvigorate me again. thanks guys!


Doug

TwoKopeiki

I have been going through the same phase, Doogy. To me, it's just not having the coins I really want to add to my collection, at the moment.



<< <i>All it takes is one coin - the right coin - to cure burnout. >>



Totally agree with that statement.

WhiteTornado

Yep, the blahs have definitely sunk in with me the past few years. It didn't help that I changed jobs twice and also me and my family relocated from FL to MD. I mostly have my old stuff still. I will sell part of it, but only when I'm ready to reinvest the proceeds towards some new direction of coin collecting. But, I don't see my interest jumping back up anytime soon.

JimK

Doug,
I wish you well also and as you said it is in the World Coin realm that there is so much out there hopefully there is something that can peak your interest again. I haven't gone through this phase as of yet as I have too much fun with the hunt and the hopeful eventual score!
Best to you,
Jim

pendragon1998

I'd say mild burnout is about where I am, only in regards to everything rather than just coins. I'm feeling overworked and worried about the country and I think it's casting a pall on everything else.

IloiloKano

<< <i>Personally, I'm the type of guy that doesn't keep things around that i haven't used/looked at/found interesting in awhile, but i'm pretty sure i'd miss my coins if i sold them. >>



Doogy, I just want to help you out a bit, so here is a proposition. You don't have to keep them around, and you don't have to sell them. If you send them to me as a gift, I will shoulder the burden for you my friend. Let me know, and I'll go out of my way to help you in this regard.

ColinCMR

Doogy, if you wish to remain specific to coins, I would recommend taking some time and looking at some coin, numismatic, and historical economics books to stimulate an interest in other areas of numismatics. This works really well if you like history and love learning your way into a new interest area, you get to plant your own seeds.

I find that this adds fuel to me, also collecting as a hobby for me is not restricted to coins.

Sometimes just updating they way you store, sort and keep organised can help re-invigurate your mind.

Another route too could be to put coin collecting aside and fill that time with other hobbies or activities, if you do not have to sell, you can always hold onto the collection and let it stew for a while.

hope that blah disapates soon!

Doogy

<< <i>

<< <i>Personally, I'm the type of guy that doesn't keep things around that i haven't used/looked at/found interesting in awhile, but i'm pretty sure i'd miss my coins if i sold them. >>



Doogy, I just want to help you out a bit, so here is a proposition. You don't have to keep them around, and you don't have to sell them. If you send them to me as a gift, I will shoulder the burden for you my friend. Let me know, and I'll go out of my way to help you in this regard. >>



always willing to help a brother out, huh? PM me your address, and i'll get them right out to you!

ormandh

Yes!!! And when you put it away for a while and pick it up at a later date, things will come back with a vengance(?). Give it a try. Once you have the winter set in and things get slow, take your collection out and pay attention to it. Realize what you have and what you may be tired of and take care of it accordingly. Think about a new way to collect. Perhaps you want to try an area that is unknown and cheap to complete. It has worked for me. I used to collect US coins and turned to the Darkside three years ago. I also collect bottles, stamps and relics. So, I often change my collecting habits. I have recently spent my money on a hobby that I have had forever, photography. Hopefully, I can have some pics to justify the expense. -Dan

wildjag

I have narrowed my coin collecting to just a couple, and the one main interest is where I seem to have hit a wall. I never see many coins that will upgrade the ones I have. I used to look and look everyday at various sites, but now I might check once a week. So yeah I would call that burnout