Home› U.S. Coin Forum
Options

Does being a coin collector instantly make you a Nerd?

BroadstruckBroadstruck Posts: 30,497 ✭✭✭✭✭
in U.S. Coin Forum
I've heard the mention of "Coin Nerd" on the boards a lot in the last few days...

Like the member who mentioned about not taking his spouse to a show in fear she'd see that he might possibly evolve into an even bigger Coin Nerd.

How does this hobby differ from any other as I've never rolled out of bed in the morning looked in the mirror and thought I was a Nerd image

image
To Err Is Human.... To Collect Err's Is Just Too Much Darn Tootin Fun!
«1

Comments

  • rickoricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Not all coin collectors are nerds.... I have seen many coin tables set up at gun and sporting shows where nerds are scarce. Also, knowing many coin collectors personally, I can assure you that nerdism is not a common trait. Cheers, RickO
  • JustacommemanJustacommeman Posts: 22,852 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Coin collectors are super nerds. The higher the post count the bigger the nerd. It's in the by-laws. Next...............MJ
    Walker Proof Digital Album
    Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 46,786 ✭✭✭✭✭
    You guys are talking like being a nerd is a bad thing.image

    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

  • JedPlanchetJedPlanchet Posts: 908 ✭✭✭
    Now being a coin geek, that could be a problem ... image
    Whatever you are, be a good one. ---- Abraham Lincoln
  • TwoSides2aCoinTwoSides2aCoin Posts: 44,548 ✭✭✭✭✭
    If one finds himself signing up here for a Free Trial., he could be a NERD:

    Numismatist Evolves Researching Data

    ``https://ebay.us/m/KxolR5

  • 7Jaguars7Jaguars Posts: 7,729 ✭✭✭✭✭
    That would be a "Yes". Oh, well, nerds are people and need loving too!Was always glad to be bigger than average and play sports so no "beatdowns" when I was younger.
    Love that Milled British (1830-1960)
    Well, just Love coins, period.
  • BroadstruckBroadstruck Posts: 30,497 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>Now being a coin geek, that could be a problem ... image >>



    Yeah Geek is right up there with Nerd... I'd settle for Coin Nut! image
    To Err Is Human.... To Collect Err's Is Just Too Much Darn Tootin Fun!
  • JCMhoustonJCMhouston Posts: 5,306 ✭✭✭
    Sorry, but I think the answer is yes. We're only one step above stamp and sports card collectors.
    JCM-Houston
    World Collection
    British Collection
    German States Collection
  • JustacommemanJustacommeman Posts: 22,852 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>Sorry, but I think the answer is yes. We're only one step above stamp and sports card collectors. >>



    image The size of my sportscard collection is about equal to that of my coin collection. Smoeone feel free to shoot me if they see me with a stamp. I mean that. Really. I'm serious. Right between the eyes. Please.............The irony is that I design women's shoes for a living which actually goes along ways with the ladies. How often have I even mentioned my collecting habits to them? That would be zero. MJ
    Walker Proof Digital Album
    Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
  • AnkurJAnkurJ Posts: 11,370 ✭✭✭✭
    Comic book collectors are UBER NERDS! I know, I used to be one! image

    You should see the kind of people in line up at comic shows. They make coin shows look like 5th ave boutiques!
    All coins kept in bank vaults.
    PCGS Registries
    Box of 20
    SeaEagleCoins: 11/14/54-4/5/12. Miss you Larry!
  • AMRCAMRC Posts: 4,280 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Not right away, like everything else, it takes practice.
    MLAeBayNumismatics: "The greatest hobby in the world!"
  • TomBTomB Posts: 22,033 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I prefer the term geek myself.image
    Thomas Bush Numismatics & Numismatic Photography

    In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson

    image
  • partagaspartagas Posts: 2,056 ✭✭✭
    Coin collectors are super nerds. The higher the post count the bigger the nerd. It's in the by-laws. Next...............MJ

    You are the king of nerds especially when you have doubled my post count, and I have 5 years seniority on you.
    If I say something in the woods, and my wife isn't around. Am I still wrong?
  • EagleguyEagleguy Posts: 2,264 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I was a nerd way before I became a coin collector...

    JH
    JH

    Proof Buffalo Registry Set
    Capped Bust Quarters Registry Set
    Proof Walking Liberty Halves Registry Set
  • JustacommemanJustacommeman Posts: 22,852 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>Coin collectors are super nerds. The higher the post count the bigger the nerd. It's in the by-laws. Next...............MJ

    You are the king of nerds especially when you have doubled my post count, and I have 5 years seniority on you. >>



    I'm on pace to be an Elite Nerd.......

    I would say 50% of my posts are on this forum. 35% on the PM Forum and 15% on the Sportscard Forums. I'm happy to report I've never posted in the Stamp Forum. CU is a nerd magnate.............NU- Nerd Universe.........MJ
    Walker Proof Digital Album
    Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
  • partagaspartagas Posts: 2,056 ✭✭✭
    perhaps uber nerd, or ultra nerd, but you have catch Russ for that.
    If I say something in the woods, and my wife isn't around. Am I still wrong?
  • JustacommemanJustacommeman Posts: 22,852 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>perhaps uber nerd, or ultra nerd, but you have catch Russ for that. >>



    A lofty goal I may add. Smoething to shoot forimage

    MJ
    Walker Proof Digital Album
    Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
  • hockeyfan9hockeyfan9 Posts: 457
    The only way coin collecting makes you a nerd is if you are searching for a coin from the first Klingon dynasty!
  • ObiwancanoliObiwancanoli Posts: 1,065 ✭✭✭
    N.E.R.D.

    Numismatic
    Enthusiasts
    Restrike
    Dedication
    image
    UBERCOINER

    A Truth That's Told With Bad Intent
    Beats All The Lies You Can Invent
  • BroadstruckBroadstruck Posts: 30,497 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>The only way coin collecting makes you a nerd is if you are searching for a coin from the first Klingon dynasty! >>



    imageimage
    To Err Is Human.... To Collect Err's Is Just Too Much Darn Tootin Fun!
  • dohdoh Posts: 6,457 ✭✭✭
    Ask my wife...
    Positive BST transactions with: too many names to list! 36 at last count.
  • fastfreddiefastfreddie Posts: 2,902 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Nerd on brother...at least we'll have something to show for our hard earned money. On second thought, I'm selling everyhting so I can go the drag strip circuit.

    Different strokes for different folks IMHO.
    It is not that life is short, but that you are dead for so very long.
  • agentjim007agentjim007 Posts: 6,256 ✭
    yes
  • TwoSides2aCoinTwoSides2aCoin Posts: 44,548 ✭✭✭✭✭
    This is kind of off topic. Yesterday, a young man with his 3 year old son came into the shop. Dad ( thirty-soemthin) spent a good deal of time looking at currency, which is nothing impressive by any stretch of the imagination.
    He spent under a hundy on his credit card, and I handed his boy a large Mexican Peso (they have about ten percent silver and the value is about a buck seventy ). The child got kind of excited (not even understanding anything but that he had a big hunkin' piece of whatever his daddy was into ) . He looked it over and blabbed a bunch of noises , which I could only assume was his way of telling me I was a bigger nerd than his dad image, as he proudly shoved the coin into his pocket.

    I told him I was hoping he would grow up to be a nerd like his daddy. Then I asked him what kind of coins he would like. Interestingly enough, he said he wanted the same coin my granddaughter wants.

    Where can I find "Dora the Explorer" coins ?

    ``https://ebay.us/m/KxolR5

  • RichieURichRichieURich Posts: 8,552 ✭✭✭✭✭
    How can you tell a REAL coin geek?

    (From another thread: Tuesday October 24, 2006 11:41 AM)
    How do you know if you're a coin geek?

    1. Magnifying glass attached to your glasses.
    2. Magnifying glass on lanyard around your neck.
    3. Checklist of either coins you need or coins you already have.
    4. You are able to recite the exact mintage of any coin.
    5. Carrying a Red Book or the Greysheet.
    6. You know which coins are listed in which version of the Greysheet.
    7. You can consistently determine NT vs. AT, and you know what these acronyms mean.
    8. You know what years the Philadelphia mint used the P mintmark.
    9. You know what coins were contained in each shipwreck.
    10. You know that new pennies aren't made of copper, nickels are mostly copper, and Ike "silver dollars" usually contain no silver.

    Note: This post is satire, and is intended as humor only.

    An authorized PCGS dealer, and a contributor to the Red Book.

  • JustacommemanJustacommeman Posts: 22,852 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>

    << <i>The only way coin collecting makes you a nerd is if you are searching for a coin from the first Klingon dynasty! >>



    That my friend was image.........FYI--Check out the darkside for those. MJ
    Walker Proof Digital Album
    Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
  • SeaEagleCoinsSeaEagleCoins Posts: 3,262 ✭
    I am sure I shared this in another thread at some point... but here we go again... image

    Right after my first coin show, several years ago, I was telling a non-collecting friend about my experience. I told his that while I really enjoyed the show, I found it a bit troubling that there were so many geeks and nerds at the show...

    He just laughed and said... "No wonder you liked the show... you fit right in"...image


    FTR... we are still friends... although I am not sure why image
    Re: Slabbed coins - There are some coins that LIVE within clear plastic and wear their labels with pride... while there are others that HIDE behind scratched plastic and are simply dragged along by a label. Then there are those coins that simply hang out, naked and free image
  • BroadstruckBroadstruck Posts: 30,497 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I may have to face reality, as when I think how excited I got at the last show about a magnifier... That's mighty nerdy! image
    To Err Is Human.... To Collect Err's Is Just Too Much Darn Tootin Fun!
  • droopyddroopyd Posts: 5,381 ✭✭✭


    << <i>Not all coin collectors are nerds.... I have seen many coin tables set up at gun and sporting shows where nerds are scarce. >>



    There's plenty of nerds at gun and sporting shows. A different syptupe of Nerdus obsessivus perhaps, but nerds nonetheless.
    Me at the Springfield coin show:
    image
    60 years into this hobby and I'm still working on my Lincoln set!
  • yellowkidyellowkid Posts: 5,486 ✭


    << <i>

    << <i>Sorry, but I think the answer is yes. We're only one step above stamp and sports card collectors. >>



    image The size of my sportscard collection is about equal to that of my coin collection. Smoeone feel free to shoot me if they see me with a stamp. I mean that. Really. I'm serious. Right between the eyes. Please.............The irony is that I design women's shoes for a living which actually goes along ways with the ladies. How often have I even mentioned my collecting habits to them? That would be zero. MJ >>




    This sounds familiar MJ, I'm not a nerd, nerds collect coins, I also collect postcards and 18th century English creamware moulds, among other things. If I even look at another field save a bullet for me.image
  • scottgardenerscottgardener Posts: 1,205 ✭
    Numismatics does lend itself to nerd-dom, but as a therian and a regular at A-Kon in Dallas, coin collecting is very, very mild. I have seen things... I have run across Cosplay stages, dressed in blue stripes and face paint, attempting tsaheylu with a Digimon. I have seen Star Trek III: The Search for Spock more than 20 times. I have entered the den of the Furries and anthro-artists and lived to tell the tale. I have been to Steampunk rock concerts and Japanese heavy metal.

    Coin collecting has the potential to develop its own nerdiness, but I can assure you there's a long way to go.
    Improperly Cleaned, Our passion for numismatics is Genuine! Now featuring correct spelling.
  • lcoopielcoopie Posts: 8,873 ✭✭✭✭✭
    who here knows the value of pi to at least 5 decimal places?

    or

    what is the circumference divided by the diameter of your coin?
    LCoopie = Les
  • TevaTeva Posts: 830 ✭
    Years ago I was at a show in Kentucky I bought so much stuff I had to get a bag from the concession stand where the girl behind the counter told me "Youall's inflected" That about covers it we are doomed to be nerds if you admit to it or not!!image
    Give the laziest man the toughest job and he will find the easiest way to get it done.
  • DentuckDentuck Posts: 3,820 ✭✭✭


    << <i>.... I also collect postcards .... >>



    Funny, this all made me think about postcard collectors.


    [ Disclaimer: I write a column for Postcard World magazine. LOL ]

  • SeaEagleCoinsSeaEagleCoins Posts: 3,262 ✭


    << <i>I may have to face reality, as when I think how excited I got at the last show about a magnifier... That's mighty nerdy! image >>




    So now how am I supposed to feel?

    You got so excited and shared it... what did I do? ... I immediately did an online search and bought one... it is on it's way to me right now via Priority Mail...

    Does this make me a Nerd?... or a Geek?.. or a Widget-owning-Wannabee?

    NO... I am just a Numismatist from New Jersey ...

    ...wow... that's two definitive social strikes against me... all in one short sentence...

    image
    Re: Slabbed coins - There are some coins that LIVE within clear plastic and wear their labels with pride... while there are others that HIDE behind scratched plastic and are simply dragged along by a label. Then there are those coins that simply hang out, naked and free image
  • BroadstruckBroadstruck Posts: 30,497 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>

    << <i>I may have to face reality, as when I think how excited I got at the last show about a magnifier... That's mighty nerdy! image >>




    So now how am I supposed to feel?

    You got so excited and shared it... what did I do? ... I immediately did an online search and bought one... it is on it's way to me right now via Priority Mail...

    Does this make me a Nerd?... or a Geek?.. or a Widget-owning-Wannabee?

    NO... I am just a Numismatist from New Jersey ...

    ...wow... that's two definitive social strikes against me... all in one short sentence...

    image >>



    I think your just still in awe over the Love stamp! image

    Seriously I feel you made a wise investment, but please report back on your thoughts on the quality of the magnifier image
    To Err Is Human.... To Collect Err's Is Just Too Much Darn Tootin Fun!
  • laxmaster92laxmaster92 Posts: 777
    The word "nerd" originated at the school that I currently attend, yet, I don't consider myself a nerd at all.
  • COALPORTERCOALPORTER Posts: 2,900 ✭✭
    Really, it is the other way around because you were already a nerd, and then you became a coin geek !! image (its in your DNA) heheehe
  • Dog97Dog97 Posts: 7,874 ✭✭✭
    I'm a scumbag biker. I'm nasty, mean & scary and I have long hair, tattoos, a mustache, and wear my wallet on a chain. I'm also a coin collector and nobody has ever given me crap about it.
    I hardly qualify as a nerd.
    Change that we can believe in is that change which is 90% silver.
  • ChrisRxChrisRx Posts: 5,619 ✭✭✭✭


    << <i>Not all coin collectors are nerds.... I have seen many coin tables set up at gun and sporting shows where nerds are scarce. Also, knowing many coin collectors personally, I can assure you that nerdism is not a common trait. Cheers, RickO >>



    Nerds with guns.
    image
  • DennisHDennisH Posts: 14,010 ✭✭✭✭✭
    This would be a perfect poll question.

    Put me down for "yes".
    When in doubt, don't.
  • BroadstruckBroadstruck Posts: 30,497 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>Nerds with guns. >>



    image
    To Err Is Human.... To Collect Err's Is Just Too Much Darn Tootin Fun!
  • CoppercolorCoppercolor Posts: 1,475 ✭✭✭
    Dunno but my wife says that we all need to work on our tans.

    She says we look grey. Ouch.
    I'd like my copper well done please!
  • TwoSides2aCoinTwoSides2aCoin Posts: 44,548 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>Dunno but my wife says that we all need to work on our tans.

    She says we look grey. Ouch. >>



    image
    Perhaps we dealers can co-op and get a tanning table to the next show.
    Free pocket protectors is another idea.
    Come in pale , go out cool.
    Please wear a collared shirt with breast pocket.

    ``https://ebay.us/m/KxolR5

  • JustacommemanJustacommeman Posts: 22,852 ✭✭✭✭✭
    You know you've reached the pinnacle of the coin nerddom when Tommy Bahama shirts dominate your bourse attireimage

    You have arrived. MJ
    Walker Proof Digital Album
    Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
  • EagleguyEagleguy Posts: 2,264 ✭✭✭✭✭
    image

    image

    JH
    JH

    Proof Buffalo Registry Set
    Capped Bust Quarters Registry Set
    Proof Walking Liberty Halves Registry Set
  • WTCGWTCG Posts: 8,940 ✭✭✭
    Not all coin people are nerds although a lot them are just that.

    With that being said, is the nerd connotation a good or bad one? That depends on your priorities. Being from Silicon Valley, nerdom is alive and flourishing here. If your goal is to be respected for your intelligence then being a nerd is a good thing. If your goal is to reproduce, then being a nerd is a liability.

    A lot of Silicon Valley brainiacs take pride in their work and have a superiority complex regarding their mental capabilities. All that goes out the window when they realize they won't have the opportunity to pass on their genes while complete meatheads like the guys you see on "Jersey Shore", while lacking in brain smarts, hook up with girls daily. Just like their Silicon Valley brethren, coin nerds are no different.
    Follow me on Twitter @wtcgroup
    Authorized dealer for PCGS, PCGS Currency, NGC, NCS, PMG, CAC. Member of the PNG, ANA. Member dealer of CoinPlex and CCE/FACTS as "CH5"
  • johnny9434johnny9434 Posts: 29,140 ✭✭✭✭✭
    i wouldnt condsider all coin collectors nerds. maybe ive seen some that are very very fussy about the grades but i wouldnt go that far as to consider them that
  • cmerlo1cmerlo1 Posts: 7,955 ✭✭✭✭✭
    No, being a software developer makes me a nerd. image
    You Suck! Awarded 6/2008- 1901-O Micro O Morgan, 8/2008- 1878 VAM-123 Morgan, 9/2022 1888-O VAM-1B3 H8 Morgan | Senior Regional Representative- ANACS Coin Grading. Posted opinions on coins are my own, and are not an official ANACS opinion.
  • BaseballAbsBaseballAbs Posts: 2,621 ✭
    I have always made sure i was never labeled a nerd. I guess if coin collecting makes me a nerd then bring it on!
    Winner of the "You Suck!" award March 17, 2010 by LanLord, doh, 123cents and Bear.

Leave a Comment

BoldItalicStrikethroughOrdered listUnordered list
Format
SpoilerCodeQuote
Heading 2Heading 1
Emoji
:):D:(;):/:o:s:p:'(:|B):#:*<3o:)>:)
Url
Image
Align leftAlign centerAlign rightToggle HTML viewToggle full pageToggle lights
Drop image/file
Home • U.S. Coin ForumComment As ...