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WHY do you collect what you collect?

In This Recent Thread FilthyBroke asks what we collect. It turned out that we have a wide variety of collecting interests that visit this board.

I'm wondering, WHY is you collect what you collect?

For me, I collect what I like. I happen to like it all, so I collect whatever I can, whenever I can! I do however favor American, Canadian, Italian, German, British and French coinage. Partly because I enjoy their coinages, partly because that is some of my heritage (the majority, but not everything)

How about you?

(PS if this has been covered before, my apologies)
Billy Kingsley ANA R-3146356 Cardboard History // Numismatic History

Comments

  • I'm Jewish and Palestine Mandate is a fascinating area of Jewish coinage. My wife is Bolivian and that is why I am building a World Class set of Potosi coinage. I live in sunny South Florida and have recently decided to branch out to Treasure coinage as well.
    Lurker since '02. Got the seven year itch!

    Gary
  • theboz11theboz11 Posts: 6,576 ✭✭✭
    Too keep my Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Satiated.image
  • HussuloHussulo Posts: 2,953 ✭✭✭
    Too keep my Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Satiated.

    image I think I've got that too. Lol. Luckily my wife doesn't mind but I do tend to get really obsessed or focused on one thing and for the past so many years it has been coins. I even loose track of time when I'm researching etc. or looking at coins.

    My collecting interest has changed over the years but currently I collect world gold coins, I like the fact that there are so many nice designs to choose from plus my grandmother always used to buy gold with her money, I guess she was old school like that and didn't trust paper. Some of her philosophy rubbed off on me.

    I am also collecting British fractional farthings. I like the designs and I think its an area that is under valued and collected. Most of them are low mintage and quite a challenge to find in high grade

    I buy any nice coins in genera, so I don't really rule anything out. Although I try to stay focused if I see something I like....







  • I collect because I like the art and the history.
  • RobPRobP Posts: 483 ✭✭
    I used to specialise in shillings, halfpennies with a good number of eclectic English. Now I am in the process of diversifying the sundries section. I modified the direction because of the difficulty in adding to the shillings and halfpennies.
  • AuldFartteAuldFartte Posts: 4,597 ✭✭✭✭
    I'd have to say that, for everything I collect, it's the history and the people connected with those pieces of time that fascinate me. I collect British Victorian (Type Set) because she and the entire Victorian Era has always interested me; British Conder Tokens with architectural themes probably because of their history and appearance - highly detailed pieces of copper; U.S. Large Cents and Half Cents because of their history and some of the interesting varieties available for the collector; and a U.S. Type Set through 1964 because I just want "one of each" of the U.S. stuff.

    I have stopped collecting Canadian, Australian, and other Darkside coins because I wanted to establish some kind of focus with my collections and not be so random. Although I am going to keep one little piece of French gold "just because" image
    image

    My OmniCoin Collection
    My BankNoteBank Collection
    Tom, formerly in Albuquerque, NM.
  • trozautrozau Posts: 3,455 ✭✭✭
    Since I collect gold coins, my collection doubles as my savings. In that regard it is easier to justify spending on the hobby. image
    trozau (troy ounce gold)


  • I collect artistry and history in coinage. I guess that my collecting habit satisfies my OCD and is an incentive for further learning.


  • coinkatcoinkat Posts: 22,721 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Artistry and History

    Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.

  • determineddetermined Posts: 771 ✭✭✭
    Art and history.

    Actually, for me, it's history first then art.
    I collect history in the form of coins.
  • MrEurekaMrEureka Posts: 23,892 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I was initially drawn to Central American Republic coinage - see below for an image of one - because I liked the design. I stuck with it because the challenge of the series fit me well. I'll attend a dozen coin shows and almost a hundred auctions a year, and I'll usually find just enough of these coins to keep my interest, but not quite enough to keep me broke. And building the collection to my satisfaction will take a few decades, which is more appealing to me than a collection that would take six months. Or, for that matter, 100 years.
    Andy Lustig

    Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.

    Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
  • JCMhoustonJCMhouston Posts: 5,306 ✭✭✭
    I love the history of them, that's the thing that got me in to German States coins.
  • agreed. History and Art
    Jim
  • ZoharZohar Posts: 6,629 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Nice design work of the Austrian and Swiss Shooting Talers
  • garsmithgarsmith Posts: 5,894 ✭✭
    US Coins - because they're there
    Philippine Coins - because I love the Philippines and my pinaka maganda asawa babae
  • Rickc300Rickc300 Posts: 876 ✭✭
    History for me, and of course VALUE! I started out with a gift collection of liteside coins, but found more bang for my buck delving into the darkside. I recall buying some really nice Morgan dollars for 15-20 bucks each while watching Gem darkside silver and gold going for melt or less. I have always had an interest in WWII and amassed a fair collection of reading material in regard to that war. My first German coin was a 1939-F alum bronze 5 Reichspfennig in AU condition that I picked out of a junk box (paid a nickel for it) while waiting to look thru a bucket of silver Washington quarters for dates/mints I needed. It caught my eye and as a self proclaimed war buff, I bought it for the history. On later visits, I would spend more and more time looking thru the junk boxes before looking for the US coins I needed until I eventually sold or traded most of my US collection picking up WWII coinage. I finally settled on Germany and then gradually moved back in time to include the Empire and Weimar. I realize this is a set that will never be completed in my minimum grade of VF (or any grade for that matter because of the sheer numbers involved) but will be far more complete than any US collection I could hope to ever afford (barring a major lottery win). There are still enough coins needed for my collection under a dollar as well as some pretty rare coins available for less than a hundred bucks and some ultra rare coins (in US coin terms) to keep me occupied for the rest of my collecting life and that if I ever do find are still much more affordable than their US counterparts of like mintages.

    I have acquired 41 different 8 Reales minted in Mexico (mostly XF or better) as well as some other interesting chunks of silver and copper from other various parts of the planet. I guess if it catches my eye it may end up in my accumulation, but Germany is the only country I actively seek out and collect anymore.

    Rick
    Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Freedom is a well armed lamb contesting that vote. Benjamin Franklin - 1779

    image
    1836 Capped Liberty
    dime. My oldest US
    detecting find so far.
    I dig almost every
    signal I get for the most
    part. Go figure...
  • Silvereagle82Silvereagle82 Posts: 1,219 ✭✭✭
    I collect primarily world gold for several reasons
    Historical significance of the various countries/rulers and gold coinage throughout the ages;the beautiful and unique artistic designs available
    and finally price/value vs US gold
  • I collect ancients because no other coin, be it US, or any World coin can compete with the artwork (although, the Capped Bust, 2.5 Indian, and Colonials are VERY interesting..I just don't have the bdget for them and ancients). I collect ancient mint errors because it tells us about the minting process and they have a very awesome uniqueness factor.


    stainless
  • WalmannWalmann Posts: 2,806
    Combination of reasons.

    History, design and connection to family and past. The order does not indicate primary purchasing factor.

    World coins mainly by birthyears of family members, but there are certain countries and/or designs I seek as I find the (in my eyes) designs to be of superior artistic quality.
    When a coin clearly conveys either a statement, feeling or depicts the personality of the person portrayed I am all the more attracted to those pieces.

    There are also some coins that carry a sense of history about them more so than others. Not a quantifiable quality, and is no doubt subjective.

    Hard to define but coins can be like a pretty face, and like a pretty face if there is nothing of substances behind it a long term relationship is unlikely.

  • pendragon1998pendragon1998 Posts: 2,070 ✭✭✭
    I'm not sure I remember any more image

    Probably the art and history aspects.
  • GritsManGritsMan Posts: 2,599 ✭✭✭
    I seem drawn by a combination of beauty, rarity, and precious metals. While a lot of common-date coins are very beautiful, I generally don't buy them because I want at least the possibility of monetary appreciation. I have a strong interest in animals, especially reptiles, so the world coin purchases tend to have reptiles on them.

    On the other end, I really enjoy collecting from circulation, and have probably enjoyed my U.S. and Canadian nickel collections as much as any other.
    Winner of the Coveted Devil Award June 8th, 2010
  • adamlaneusadamlaneus Posts: 6,969 ✭✭✭
    Why the heck did I take so much cash and buy so many useless metal things?

    Thanks so much for asking this question. image

  • wybritwybrit Posts: 6,952 ✭✭✭
    I grew up in England, thanks to my dad's job in the oil industry. When I was just an elementary school kid, my mom and/or dad and I would go to the bank and buy rolls of halfpennies, pennies and Ni-Br 3ds. I would go through them and collect by date. I found some pretty old pieces in these rolls dating back to the 1870s. I also found the odd "H" or "KN" penny in change or in rolls. All of these went into the Whitman albums of the time. The pieces then were moved into a "Collecta" coin album, which was a bit of a mistake.

    Years later, the collection came out of storage and was largely destroyed by the PVC in the coin album. Luckily, the only UNC piece I had was a blackened 1901 farthing, and thanks to its surface, appeared to survive the PVC carnage. I still own that piece to this day. The rest of the old collection was junk box material but did include a lot of 1920-1946 silver, which no one bothered to segregate out.

    Years later still, I found myself in a coin shop for the first time in many years, and the old bug bit me again. Only this time, the hobby got a bit more expensive. My initial goal of collecting 1838-1970 minors in UNC by date has been significantly lowered to just a few denominations.

    Former owner, Cambridge Gate collection.
  • Philippine coinage under US Administration, 1903 - 1936 Pre-Commonwealth (Primarily), 1937 - 1945 Comonwealth/Pre-Republic (Secondarily), though I do not collect the 1936 Commonwealth Commemoratives.

    A few of my reasons...
    1. They are indeed US Coinage, as the Philippine Islands were part of the United States during that time, just as Puerto Rica was (and still is) part of the United States.
    2. My wife is a Filipina, so my marriage is mirrored by the coinage displaying "United States of America" on one side and "Filipinas" (Spanish for Philippines) on the other.
    3. They are the only bi-lingual coinage ever produced for circulation in a US Territory.
    4. They are the only US coinage not denominated in Dollars and Cents (Pesos and Centavos), and which were officially exchanged 2 Pesos to 1 Dollar.
    5. They form the only category of US coinage where one can theoretically complete a collection of all dates, mintmarks and denominations without winning the lottery.
    6. Extreme bargains can still be found by diligent collectors.
    7. Conditional Scarcities/Rarities abound and are the norm due to a hot-humid-ocean climate, extensive circulation, lack of an early collector base, two world wars, multiple historic silver melts and rampant "cleaning" by the early collector base (which did not form in significant numbers until just after WW2).
    8. The coins are artistic and aesthetically pleasing.
    9. They include the only coins ever minted at the US Mint in Manila, and so a collection of coins from all US Mints cannot be completed without at least one example.
    10. History, history and more history.

    Edited for spelling.
  • GritsManGritsMan Posts: 2,599 ✭✭✭


    << <i>I grew up in England, thanks to my dad's job in the oil industry. ... >>



    Cool story! What a coin adventure you had as a kid! I never even thought to look in rolls when I was a young numismatist, but I also had many coins destroyed by PVC.
    Winner of the Coveted Devil Award June 8th, 2010
  • SaorAlbaSaorAlba Posts: 7,466 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I know why I collect some stuff, have no idea why the rest though.
    In memory of my kitty Seryozha 14.2.1996 ~ 13.9.2016 and Shadow 3.4.2015 - 16.4.21
  • AethelredAethelred Posts: 9,288 ✭✭✭


    << <i>WHY do you collect what you collect? >>



    My wife says because I am a touch insane.
    If you are in the Western North Carolina area, please consider visiting our coin shop:

    WNC Coins, LLC
    1987-C Hendersonville Road
    Asheville, NC 28803


    wnccoins.com
  • SapyxSapyx Posts: 1,976 ✭✭✭✭✭
    As a collector of coins of all kinds, ancient, mediaeval and modern, I like the direct connection to history that coins offer. I'm a "one from every country" collector, and the more obscure the country, the better. There's nothing I like more in this hobby than buying a coin from a country I've never heard of before, then taking it home and researching the coin, the country, the historical background.

    Coins can create this "historic link" better than most other artefacts, for two reasons. First, because they're relatively cheap and common, and second, because they are one of the few ancient inventions whose appearance and function has changed very little over the past 2,500 years: to an ancient Greek, a mediaeval Crusader or a modern office worker, a coin is a small round piece of metal issued by the government that you can use to buy things with. To me, my coins vividly demonstrate the continuum of human civilization.

    Coins are plentiful enough that you can buy as many as you can afford, yet they are still very distinctive and characteristic of the time and place that issued them. Each coin also has it's own unique history and provenance.
    Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one.
    Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, "Meditations"

    Apparently I have been awarded one DPOTD. B)


  • << <i>WHY do you collect what you collect? >>

    For the best of all possible reasons - I enjoy it!
    Roy


    image
  • determineddetermined Posts: 771 ✭✭✭
    Well said Sapyx!
    I collect history in the form of coins.
  • ZoharZohar Posts: 6,629 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I collect Austrian and Shooting Talers. True art in coins.
  • "As a collector of coins of all kinds, ancient, mediaeval and modern, I like the direct connection to history that coins offer. I'm a "one from every country" collector, and the more obscure the country, the better. There's nothing I like more in this hobby than buying a coin from a country I've never heard of before, then taking it home and researching the coin, the country, the historical background."

    Wonder how many YN's took this perspective and applied it to the State Quarters program.
  • STLNATSSTLNATS Posts: 1,597 ✭✭✭
    Since you asked, I think its a compulsion at this point and I'm probably legally certifiable. Like most of us, I started out as a US series collector, but lost interest pretty quickly since the dark side offered way more variety, historical interest (for me) at frankly cheaper prices. I still like to pick up interesting/pretty round disks from whereever, but have went over the edge and specialized deeply in a few areas (so that I am almost guarenteed to be able to come home with something when attending a show - LOL):

    I've collected Latvian state and city currency since college. Perhaps one of the dumbest collecting rationales, but I actually remember going thru the Pick catalogue in my back yard one summer looking for a country with relatively few notes that seemed easy to complete. This interest has run hot and cold over the years, but at this point I'm only missing one significant variety (the 1919 25R serial block A) in the state notes and less than a dozen varieties of the 1915-1920 city notes (per the Werag specialized cats). Got real lucky in the 1990s when eastern Europe opened up, the $ was still king and the market was flooded with cheap but really good material including specimens, Paraugs, etc.

    My vatican/papal interest is related to my late wife's Italian heritage. Over the years I've really become intrigued with a coinage that spans over to a thousand years. A lot of the same themes reappear - often depicted differently which is fun - and there's all kinds of themes you can develop (e.g., biblical references, the life of Christ, jubilee issues, lateran issues, buildings, contemporary events, etc etc etc). The baroque coinage (~1650 to the early 1700s) are probably the most lovely coins ever produced (in my not so HO) anywhere and anytime altho some of the more recent medals are real stunners.

    My US currency interests relates to my 2 "home towns" and to try and document/understand the history of the local national banks. It was triggered by a job change when I was in banking in STL.

    For a long time I specialized in roman folles of RIC 6 and still buy interesting varieties when the opportunity comes up. An interesting series that provides a vast number of interesting varieties and potential collecting themes (eg, emperors and titles, reverse types, mints and mint varieties, bust types, etc etc).

    edited to add: Looking over this again, I guess I've been drawn to series that can be approached in a variety of ways so that there's alway the opportunity to have something new to discover.

    imageimageimageimage
    Always interested in St Louis MO & IL metro area and Evansville IN national bank notes and Vatican/papal states coins and medals!
  • BillyKingsleyBillyKingsley Posts: 2,661 ✭✭✭✭
    Thank you all for the very interestesting replys. I enjoyed reading every one.

    It seems to me that while not the only reasons, historical significance and ties to personal history are the two main factors across the board.

    Thanks for all the responces!
    Billy Kingsley ANA R-3146356 Cardboard History // Numismatic History
  • Good play value for the money spent. That is, I can spend my time learning about a specific coin and the period/circumstances surrounding its minting. My cost divided by the hours spend in such learning makes it a good bargain. Plus, I don't have to be buying all the time to fill some hole in a grid that somebody else says is the proper grid to collect by.

    I collect Romans - collection here:

    A new favorite:
    image
    Richard Frajola
    www.rfrajola.com
  • cladkingcladking Posts: 28,307 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I consider myself a sort of ambassador; not only for king god and country but
    also for my time. While this era may have horrible faults and wide chasms in
    opportunity as well as being one of the most wasteful the #1 way of present-
    ing our best face is in assuring the survival of the best we have to offer. Our
    coins have enough problems without presenting only things like defaced and
    bent aluminum coins to the future.

    People will be interested in coins even after they consider the 2700 years they
    were made to be a mere blink in history.

    I hope!
    Tempus fugit.
  • sbeverlysbeverly Posts: 962 ✭✭✭
    Very hard to explain...

    When I was a kid (late 50's early 60's) and during one of my visits to my Grandfather, he showed me a box
    of Morgan's.

    I was totally fascinated...I would imagine who might have held these pieces of art, and wondered about the stories
    that these coins could tell if they could talk.

    Eventually I was plugging Whitman folders with circulated Lincolns, Jefferson's, and Mercs...
    I never got attached to the Roosies and just recently came to actually dislike them/him. (thats another story)

    I collected the circulating Walkers and Franklins later because they were to expensive for me at first.

    Every time I would visit him, I would beg and plead for him to show me his Morgan's. One day he gave them to me.
    He said "You will never stop pestering me about these so you might as well have them.

    I still have all of them and to this day, they are my most prized coins.

    When I could save up a few bucks, I would buy MS Morgans for $3. He couldn't understand why you would pay
    $3 for $1. I didn't know why either, it just felt right.
    Positive transactions with Cladiator, Meltdown, ajbauman, LeeG, route66,DennisH,Hmann,FilamCoins,mgoodm3,terburn88,MrOrganic, weg,dcarr,guitarwes,Zubie,Barndog,wondercoin,braddick,etc...
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