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Numismatics actually is "all about money"
scottgardener
Posts: 1,205 ✭
I've read numerous gripes about how the best registry sets are also the most expensive ones, and how, "it's all about the money." I just felt the need to put in a bit of editorial commentary.
First off, WELL, DUH! Coin collecting is pretty much about money. Indeed, it's money squared, or curved back on itself in a space-time anomaly that could only be accurately described by Spock or Lieutenant Commander Data.
But, aside from the coins themselves being, well, money, there is the sheer, undeniable association between a coin's desirability to have and its market value, represented in, well, money. The rarer a coin is, the harder it is to get, and thus the law of supply and demand drives up the price. Registry sets create competition, driving up the desirability of the top end of the population figures. And, while modern coins may have a certain amount of volatility--that is, as more people crack open original mint packaging (or cut open, in the case of special mint sets), more high pop coins may potentially show up--the really, really high dollar coins, the fifty thousand to million plus coins, will likely remain firmly in the realm of the exotic.
Collecting coins is about questing and compiling. It takes an incredible amount of knowledge to do right, but to assemble collections that stand out in a world-class level, it is going to have to take a lot of money as well. $100, $1000, or even $10,000 is not going to be enough to build sets that compare to, say, Stewart Blay's Indian Cent collection.
"Collecting" pretty much means getting things. Collecting coins means bringing in money. There's no getting around it--this hobby is expensive. If we're going to compare what we have, then those who have more money to spend are going to have the advantage, and there is no way around that that would make any sense.
First off, WELL, DUH! Coin collecting is pretty much about money. Indeed, it's money squared, or curved back on itself in a space-time anomaly that could only be accurately described by Spock or Lieutenant Commander Data.
But, aside from the coins themselves being, well, money, there is the sheer, undeniable association between a coin's desirability to have and its market value, represented in, well, money. The rarer a coin is, the harder it is to get, and thus the law of supply and demand drives up the price. Registry sets create competition, driving up the desirability of the top end of the population figures. And, while modern coins may have a certain amount of volatility--that is, as more people crack open original mint packaging (or cut open, in the case of special mint sets), more high pop coins may potentially show up--the really, really high dollar coins, the fifty thousand to million plus coins, will likely remain firmly in the realm of the exotic.
Collecting coins is about questing and compiling. It takes an incredible amount of knowledge to do right, but to assemble collections that stand out in a world-class level, it is going to have to take a lot of money as well. $100, $1000, or even $10,000 is not going to be enough to build sets that compare to, say, Stewart Blay's Indian Cent collection.
"Collecting" pretty much means getting things. Collecting coins means bringing in money. There's no getting around it--this hobby is expensive. If we're going to compare what we have, then those who have more money to spend are going to have the advantage, and there is no way around that that would make any sense.
Improperly Cleaned, Our passion for numismatics is Genuine! Now featuring correct spelling.
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