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Different collecting philosophies
MidLifeCrisis
Posts: 10,550 ✭✭✭✭✭
I have a different collecting philosophy than some forum members...and that's OK.
Like most on here, I don't have an endless supply of money, so I try to reach that sweet spot where my budget matches up with the high quality I want. Sometimes it takes a while...sometimes a LONG while.
I'd rather own one nice $5,000 coin than ten nice $500 coins.
Eye appeal is everything...but that's subjective and occasionally I compromise for rarity (but not condition rarity).
Most US federal issues don't do much for me.
On the other hand, what I collect is not wildly popular with other collectors. Even among those who collect what I do, I'm an oddball because I prefer slabbed coins.
And my focus on pedigrees turns some people off.
We each enjoy the hobby in our own way. It's all good.
Like most on here, I don't have an endless supply of money, so I try to reach that sweet spot where my budget matches up with the high quality I want. Sometimes it takes a while...sometimes a LONG while.
I'd rather own one nice $5,000 coin than ten nice $500 coins.
Eye appeal is everything...but that's subjective and occasionally I compromise for rarity (but not condition rarity).
Most US federal issues don't do much for me.
On the other hand, what I collect is not wildly popular with other collectors. Even among those who collect what I do, I'm an oddball because I prefer slabbed coins.
And my focus on pedigrees turns some people off.
We each enjoy the hobby in our own way. It's all good.
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In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
I give away money. I collect money.
I don’t love money . I do love the Lord God.
<< <i>I'll take what I can get with little rime or reason and almost no continuity >>
Well, I guess that's OK too.
On the other hand I dislike rules and try to avoid making them for my collection.
What went unsaid is how often the op buys those $5000 value coins. If it is one coin every month, it isn't exactly being focused and about like a lot of unfocused folks. If it is more like one every two years that is a degree of patience that I find interesting, but don't have. I may wait a long time to buy certain coins, but if I don't buy something every once in a while, say at least two coins a year (every six months), it doesn't feel like I am active in the hobby. Again, others will strive to be more active or less active.
Away from the deep pockets of the PCGS forum, collectors with modest incomes wanting to buy $5k coins might have to save up for ten years or more. A collector with a modest coin budget might buy their $50 value coins at about at the same rate as the $5k value coin buyer in the op. What does it mean? Not much. Again, collect what you like and enjoy the hobby.
That said, usually the coins that I like are going to cost a fair amount (at least for me), but I won't specifically rule out a $5 coin, $10 coin, $100 coin or
any other dollar level (up to a point that I can no longer afford it).
<< <i>I'd rather own one nice $5,000 coin than ten nice $500 coins. >>
What I meant by that comment is that I prefer to save my money and buy fewer, higher value coins than several lower value coins that end up costing the same in total.
In other words, quality is better than quantity, and quality usually costs more.
``https://ebay.us/m/KxolR5
At the same show, I'm likely to buy an early $15 Canadian bank token, a $300 Barber half, a $500 large cent, and a $1000 walker. And being a part time dealer has not helped matters, but does give me a 'reason' to spring for just about any 'cool' coin I run across. However, I have become more selective, quality-wise, and far more adverse to problem coins, regardless of the scarcity or price.
All of my important U.S. coins are in PCGS or NGC slabs. I have some raw pieces, but I’ve not spent more than a $1,100 for a raw coin in the last 20 years. For a collector who is only sending in a few pieces for grading, getting coins slabbed is a hassle. I would rather buy the coin in the holder I want.
I collect selected tokens, medals and medalets, mostly with political themes. Almost all of them are raw. I’ve paid as much as $5,500 for a raw token. I do have a few certified tokens, but I only bought them because I wanted the piece, and the slab came along for the ride. Since I don’t see the need to crack them out so that I can put them in my albums, I have not “liberated” any tokens from their slabs.
If all of this sounds confusing I guess I’m a mixture of the old days when nothing was certified and the modern times when many collectors look upon raw coins with suspicion
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<< <i>I'd rather own one nice $5,000 coin than ten nice $500 coins. >>
What I meant by that comment is that I prefer to save my money and buy fewer, higher value coins than several lower value coins that end up costing the same in total.
In other words, quality is better than quantity, and quality usually costs more. >>
Generally I agree with that, but when you are going for a complete type set, there are some cheap coins there. It makes not sense to find a way to make them expensive. For example an 1896 Indian cent in Choice Proof makes me just as happy as an 1877 would.
We each enjoy the hobby in our own way. It's all good.
If you think "it's all good", you're not paying very close attention to what all of the other collectors are doing.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.