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Are coins inherently boring?
CoinJunkie
Posts: 8,772 ✭✭✭✭✭
In another thread, an excessively prominent board member averred that "coins are inherently boring" and that it's the
stories behind the coins that make them interesting. I guess everyone's different, but I can get lost looking at a
gorgeous coin in the same way I would looking at a great work of art in a museum. The history and stories are
interesting as well, but one big reason I like to own coins is because of their inherent beauty. And to me,
beauty is not "boring".
What are your thoughts?
stories behind the coins that make them interesting. I guess everyone's different, but I can get lost looking at a
gorgeous coin in the same way I would looking at a great work of art in a museum. The history and stories are
interesting as well, but one big reason I like to own coins is because of their inherent beauty. And to me,
beauty is not "boring".
What are your thoughts?
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For me, it has always been the historical context and the stories that make coins interesting.
Signed,
An excessively prominent member of the forum
<< <i>For me, it has always been the historical context and the stories that make coins interesting. >>
With few exceptions, this is true for me as well.
Only us schmucks that know a little about them think they aren't boring since we find ways to make them unboring. Either through provenance or history.
Of course those millions of people above consider us nerdy idiots too but thats for a different thread.
Do I think they are boring? It depends.
The name is LEE!
On the US Coin forum, coins are a little boring. Yep. They are. I find I can get bored and I bet i'm not alone.
I need a little World Coin action to spice things up.
having thousands of dollars tied up in them... it is more entertaining
reading about the biz, mysteries about the coins/people, and the
history that they took part in.
take lib half eagles for example. 201 coins in the series and they all
look alike except for the date and mint mark! sigh... see one lincoln
memorial cent and you have seen them all ;-) (odd errors being the
exception it seems).
for example.. take the whole lasering thing on gold proof coins as
a mystery. for some odd reason i enjoy trying to figure that one out
as there is nothing conclusive published to prove it.
oh, the biz part, talk about one huge gossip fest of coin dealers/sellers,
coin doctors, tpgs, scandals, fakes, etc... what a crazy hobby it seems
to be.
The obverse has been the same for too many years. (Except the new redesigned portraits.)
The reverse change of the three that have been done is not enough.
There needs to be a change to the obverse and reverse that will make people to start looking at the change they receive.
ADJ2
www.brunkauctions.com
I totally agree with this statement.
I still have this thing for old, circulated pieces of History.
For any coin to grade anywhere from Poor to XF +, this tells me
that a LOT of peoples' hands physically touched them = History!
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
If I buy an exciting coin out of a Dealers Inventory - boring after I have it a day or two.
best of luck, rip.
bored? keep me in old silver or gold and I'm fine. I'm still trying to ignore copper, it's a losing battle though I'm afraid.
<< <i>Are coins inherently boring? >>
No, but there are a lot of coins that are completely unappealing to me and as a result I find them boring. Morgan dollars are an excellent example. 85 gadzillion of them in every imaginable state of preservation, a Liberty that looks like she was dismissed from the East German Womens' Weight Lifting team for failing the pre competition physical and an eagle that more closely resembles a starving chicken. I find pretty much everything about Morgans to be unappealing so I am rarely more than nonplussed when they show up everywhere in every thread everyday.
All this said, boredom is in the mind of the beholder and even with my (possibly unreasonable) aversion to Morgans I can find three interesting things about them:
1) Their minting process and how it related to contemporary coins
2) DMPL examples, I must admit, do sometimes catch my eye
3) Their collectibility. Why does such a large percentage of the US coin collector base gravitate to these coins? Their are so many series that are more beautiful, more challenging, less expensive, etc, etc.
So I can agree with the sentiment that if you're bored you're just not trying.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
boring?
boring?
boring?
coins have stories to tell but sometimes you have to dig for them (unintentional pun)
www.brunkauctions.com
If you enjoy them as a hobby involving something you can learn from, enjoy and talk
about with other equally interested hobbiests...then no they are not boring at all.
If you get bored maybe you should think about what does interest you in your life and
spend more time enjoying that.
Boy - that was a lot of this' and thats'.
Hope it made sense.
We need money to make the world go 'round. It's what ties us together at the market. How boring is meeting a sexy chick at the grocery store and talking about the new Lincoln cents just out ?
I hope I don't get banned for my ridiculous effort to get the "boring" out.
``https://ebay.us/m/KxolR5
Seriously I could sell my coins, but my library would be the last to go as it's something I turn to far more often then my collection.
I like numbers, so mintages and their relationships to market values are interesting to me. So are flawless surfaces and not-so-flawless surfaces.
I like some errors but not all of them. I like toning but not all toning.
I like the itch of having an unopened OBW roll or an unopened box, and I like looking through a roll of coins to find the best one.
A coin doesn't have to be worth 6 figures in order for me to like it, although that 6 figure coin probably has some attributes that I would like.
I collect from circulation, but I also buy from the Mint and from other dealers. A gem is where you find it.
Boring, nah - coins aren't boring, although maybe I am.
I knew it would happen.
br
The coins I'm buying this week at the FUN show (or am going to buy) will be enjoyed and bring back memories for years to come.
Widgets use to be boring to me that is why I got into error coins.
This forum has helped me to appreciate the widgets, but errors are just too interesting, so they are the focus of my collecting.
Now clad coins.... hmm... those may be inherently boring.
The Gold Dollar series and the literature that delves into it has provided a rebirth in coin collecting for me, which I hope will continue for decades.
From the Ugly...............................................................................................................To the Beautiful...I like them all!
<< <i>If you mean "boring" like a painting, or an antique auto, or a jewel without someone to appreciate it, yes.
Well said. Coins are NOT boring.
Who is John Galt?
<< <i>
Bo-ring!
The name is LEE!
There are plenty of designs to admire and collect. No chance of getting board.
Have you ever looked at an Eliasberg World gold catalogue?
<< <i>I collect US gold coins and I find it absolutely FASCINATING that people actually carried and spent money that was made out of gold. >>
Definetly agree. Just the thought of who may held a particular coin can make the imagination wonder. Maybe someone from the Jesse James gang or even a former president, you never know.
Granted there are many uninspired designs kicking around on coins but the metal medium actually helps even some of those.
Now when it comes to collectors being inherently boring that is a very different question indeed.
the point. While I don't really agree I think I do see the point. To a very large degree our coins
really do represent other things. They are "tokens" of value. They represent the circulation of
money since you can't really tell where a coin has been by merely looking at it. They are reminders
of history manifest. Very few will see more than a stark beauty, at best, in something like an E German
1950-E 10p yet the coin still trades for $1000. Does it represent beauty to those who demand it?
Quite possibly. Perhaps beauty can lie as well in scarcity and potential moreso than merely a pleas-
ing design. Perhaps collectors see the chase of the coin and the friendships made as well as the im-
probability of the existence of the individual specimen.
I wouldn't use the phraseology but I think I do understand the point.
<< <i>Are coins inherently boring? >>
No. Not in the least. Now my best friends and GF will get that 1000 mile stare if I start to talk about numismatics. So, I try not to bring the subject up too much with them.
<< <i>I thought aqbout this statement for a while before this thread was posted trying to understand
the point. While I don't really agree I think I do see the point. To a very large degree our coins
really do represent other things. They are "tokens" of value. They represent the circulation of
money since you can't really tell where a coin has been by merely looking at it. They are reminders
of history manifest. Very few will see more than a stark beauty, at best, in something like an E German
1950-E 10p yet the coin still trades for $1000. Does it represent beauty to those who demand it?
Quite possibly. Perhaps beauty can lie as well in scarcity and potential moreso than merely a pleas-
ing design. Perhaps collectors see the chase of the coin and the friendships made as well as the im-
probability of the existence of the individual specimen.
I wouldn't use the phraseology but I think I do understand the point. >>
I think that you get it, CK. Obviously, if I thought coin collecting was boring, I would not have spent nearly 30k worth of posts discussing them. I have come to the conclusion that, to me, most coins really are boring. The ones that interest me do so more for the historical context, the stories of the previous collectors who collected them, and the fact that they have survived, against all odds, the ravages of time, circulation, meltings, etc.
A 19th century coronet Liberty $5 is a very bland coin. One that was struck in a rural area in northern Georgia, before the Civil War, and managed to remain unburied, not lost, not cleaned, not melted, not damaged, for 160 or so years makes for an interesting story...which makes coin collecting interesting to me.
My 1853 quarter is interesting to me because by father's grandfather found it in change in the early 1900's and gave it to my father around 1940, who gave it to me in 1974.
I like my 1869 shield nickel because I bought from IGWT, a expert on the series, who I admire as a collector and as a friend.
Coins without stories are just money to me. I have always enjoyed the way that QDB spins the "history in your hands" much, much, more than collecting for the Overton/Sheldon/etc. varieties and die states, discriminating grades to two decimal places, or counting the reeds on a Wash quarter to make sure the number is correct. (You get the idea.)
<< <i>From those who answer "yes" to this thread, I'm curious to know your general interest in art (in any form). >>
I enjoy art, but original, handcrafted art, not copies that were stamped thousands, millions, or billions of time with the same design (ie. coins). Not inconsistent with my interest in coins, I enjoy paintings of subjects that take me back to the period of the painter. I also like some abstract expressionists. I do not much care for sculpture, pottery, and other such media.
<< <i>
<< <i>From those who answer "yes" to this thread, I'm curious to know your general interest in art (in any form). >>
I enjoy art, but original, handcrafted art, not copies that were stamped thousands, millions, or billions of time with the same design (ie. coins). Not inconsistent with my interest in coins, I enjoy paintings of subjects that take me back to the period of the painter. I also like some abstract expressionists. I do not much care for sculpture, pottery, and other such media. >>
Interesting that you do not care for sculpture, as that is what a coin design is. I would also argue that the design of a coin
is handcrafted, and in spite of the fact that millions of bust coins were struck with "identical" designs, no two really look
alike at this point in history. When I view one, I am fascinated by the conception, the history, and the very thing itself. But, I
need eye appeal to complete the package!
N.B. I'm discussing coins in higher states of preservation here.
We have even learned about people and their professions...and sometimes learned about what we like to collect...!!!....
So ....collect what you like ..and like what you collect...!!......
<< <i>Yes. For me, it's the hunt that makes it interesting. For others, it could be the profit potential, the crackout potential, etc. >>
Same here. After a long search and a coin, I'll want more. And the fact that I can't get it right a way, the desire starts to set in and the hunt continues.
Are coins inherently boring? No...because my competition comes from my collection, the upgrading of it, how I can make it greater. I don't have time playing these fantasy games others seemed to enjoy. I've seen enough of other collections to know better. I don't cut corners and create a false image of myself.
Leo
The more qualities observed in a coin, the more desirable that coin becomes!
My Jefferson Nickel Collection
<< <i>I think that, on some level, coins are inherently boring. They are immobile. They do not play football or win Lombardi trophies (like the 2009 Steelers
If they went running around like that they would get all scuffed up.