Why Do I Feel More Compelled to Study Something AFTER I Buy It?

Coinosaurus

I bought a pricey medal out of the Stack's Americana sale. And now all of the sudden I have to read all the references on it, like half a dozen of them, and I am not sure they all agree with each other.

Shouldn't I have done all this work BEFORE I bought the medal

lkeigwin

You're on a roll tonight. Too many thought-provoking questions.
Lance.

keyman64

Sometimes it takes a purchase to drive an interest...or sometimes an interest can exist prior to an interest.

BG

When it's a coin, medal, or anything else we desire, the rest be damn**.

We buy what we want for our collection.

Unknown

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19Lyds

I think, you buy it because you can but then learn about it afterwards because you want to.

magikbilly

Well, I prefer its value to go up after I pay for it.

Eric

Trime

Human nature and practical too.
The "compleat numismatist" has a library and computer to reasearch special coins before purchase. Yet many references are added after a coin is added to your collection. There is something special about having the details about a coin you treasure or even bought for sale. It is part of the collector mystique.
I am reading Syd Martin's 500 page exposition on Rosa Americana Coinage. This is a modern classic that has many chapters that could be comfortably read for their historical perspectives but also filled with details that would be glossed over without an example of a coin(s) in hand.

bosco5041

I do the same thing. Learn a little before the purchase and a lot afterwards, probably not the best way though.

Tiny

If it is in the hand it fills the eyes which in turn starts the brain to want more knowledge.

BillJones

I've noticed that I do the same thing, although I've usually done enough work BEFORE I purchased it to know enough to be an "informed buyer." Usually the reading I do after a purchase is icing on the cake. In other words the additional information I acquire post purchase has almost never altered my buying decision.

The one recent exception to this was the 1836 pattern gold dollar I purchased at a recent Baltimore show. I did not go to the show with the idea of buying one. I had seen them offered in the past, and I knew the history, but every example I saw had something wrong with it (rough spot on the surface, big scratch) that caused me to reject it out of hand.

A dealer had and PR-63 graded piece, and when I put the glass on it I saw right away that it had had a copper stain lifted from the surface. Therefore I was not interested. Then latter in the show he got another one from a shipment of pieces he said was going to receive during the show, and there was this PR-64. It was WONDERFUL. It was a much nicer PR-64 than the regular issue PR-64 gold dollars I had seen at the shows. In short it was what I would call “PQ,” and the price was reasonable, at least according to the pricing guides. So I bought it after I had done some pricing research at the local “Whitman” library.

TwoSides2aCoin

It's something like OCD in a Secure Plus holder.
...and it's okay

ricko

I think it is normal... I do limited research prior to a buy (except for 'gotta have it now cuz it's so cool' buys), but afterwards I really dig in to the history, design etc. Seems many are this way. Cheers, RickO

notwilight

Normal. Hard to commit to do a lot of research on something you may end up not owning. Once you own one, it is easier to do the research, which might end up in an upgrade. --Jerry