Is owning it for a short while good enough?

lkeigwin

My guess is we've all done it. Bought a key or major error/variety or rarity because, well, we always wanted one. Early branch mint gold, first issue, a '93-S, '14-D, SVDB, maybe a 3-legger. A pattern.

And, after a while, the urges wanes. Completing another set forces the sale. Or maybe a non-numismatic event happens...the first born, first house, a career move.

What have you bought to keep forever but later sold? How long did you have it to hold and treasure? Do you miss it? Will you buy another some day? Or was owning it for a while enough?
Lance.

keyman64

Thankfully, I have been able to hold onto everything "important" to me. I have sold plenty of "extra stuff" to free up cash but never anything truly important. Interesting thread though.

AMRC

I will let you know when it happens....

Just Kidding. There were coins that I always thought were cool and once I owned them I realized they did not do as much for me as I had imagined. At one time I had a nearly full set of large cents, and then one day I just realized I was just not into them and I sold them to a dealer at Long Beach. Same thing with the Half-cents. Each album took me years to put together and then in a space of a week they were just gone and I have never looked back.

I have a similar story with colonial copper. The first few pieces were captivating, and then one day I sold them all except my George Washington No Button. I went from having sets, to just having one in a type set.

crazyhounddog

What a horrible question for you to ask me!! I have and I don't like looking back.

CoinCast

I owed my first 1909-S VDB, NGC F12 for about an hour at Long Beach a few years back, I thought I would keep it for a long time. I traded it and upgraded to a much better coin for $100 more, a PCGS VF 25 and was even happier camper. I still have that coin.

Another one was the 2006 and 2011 Eagle sets. I bought slabbed sets a few years back and was in love with them. I sold the 2011 last year and figured I would keep the smaller 3 coin set, then sold that off this year. I still like them and maybe will buy another later down the road. I slightly regret selling the 2011 just because I had so much fun looking at it, but it would have gone down in value.

magikbilly

Mine was a totally original un-dipped Proof Walking Liberty half and the coins around it. Had Seated and other - always wanted a Walker in a Pr set. I put the set together and sold it immediately - within 2 weeks. Also sold my 10C Pr type set. Can you believe there was a time I had a registry set that actually showed? LOL Picking the 06 Pr with that mintage was a good move.

But really important things are not going anywhere Turbine blades and bits from the Mauretania, bits of Lusitania, early autochromes, prints...and my memories.

Eric

Yes, the "sparkle" can disappear for me. I sometimes attribute it to desensitization. Then I realize what that really means - true good are not easy to acquire ay any price. So, I reset my aim. I sell some. My collection likes this strategy. With my postcards if it is a card I have seen twice including mine - I don't collect it. There are very few exceptions such as postmark/date.

DIMEMAN

I'll answer....as painful as it is......

Back in 2004-2005 I thought I was out of coin collecting and started to sell off some of the bigger items and my Mercury Dime set, which included a 16-D in 62 and the 21-P and D in 64 to name a few.

Other coins sold were 1796 thru 1804, 1822, 1871-74-CC's and the 1895-O in AU.

Thank goodness I kept a lot before stopping the selling and started collecting. I have not replaced all the biggies, but have a good start.

MidLifeCrisis

I've owned several 1955 Doubled Die Lincoln Cents over the years. I sell to fund some other purchase in my main focus area, but I always buy another one. I just really like them and enjoy owning them.

magikbilly

Now I am thinking about a few things I sold that can not be replaced. Hmm. Off to read another thread!

Eric

mirabela

Yeah, I've done a bunch of this. Basically, I've found that having it over the long term is less satisfying than the hunt. I've started to think of it almost the same way as I think of catch-and-release fishing. Find it, acquire it, get good pictures, appreciate it as part of your set, and then move it along (trying, of course, not to let the experience cost you anything!). I've had some neat stuff this way -- a gorgeous 16-D in Fine, various pieces of CC gold, seated proofs, all sorts of commems, bust dollars, draped & flowing hair pieces, tough DMPL's, amazing toned type, and so forth, which it would have been impossible for me to hold all at once. In the past ten years an assortment of stuff has moved through here that's worth about 1/3 the total value of my house, but I've rarely had more than 20% of that figure tied up in it at once. I'm not really in it to make money, but I've earned decent if unspectacular net returns this way, too.

As a rule, once a piece is gone, I miss it a lot less than I worried I would when I was contemplating selling it. It's just stuff.

magikbilly

Well, yes, it would seem so re the hunt. The item is still an ideal, a dream, rich with potential (even if it a known example). Once you have it, flaws are revealed, something always, some tiny thing. Anyway, it is now a reality once owned. What did Spock say top Stonn? Having is not always as thrilling as wanting? And that's once every 7 years...she must have been a - well.


Eric

tradedollarnut

Better than not owning it ever - especially if you made a profit.

magikbilly

<< <i>Better than not owning it ever - especially if you made a profit. >>




The Business version of Lord Tennyson!

Eric

baseballjeff

When I was in high school in 1999 I bought myself my dream coin at the time, a PCGS MS 63 1921 Peace dollar. Though the day I got it in the mail I totaled my mom's car and my dad made me pay for the damage. I ended up having to sell that coin right back, and since missed owning a really nice 21. Luckily I found a 21 Peace Dollar several months ago that suits me just fine! Though it's a story I'll never forget.

Unknown

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tradedollarnut

Honestly - I will never have enough money to own every coin that I want all at the same time, so why not try to have owned the ones I want at one time or another?

illini420

I like many different coins and especially high grade examples. Unfortunately, I don't have the budget to keep them all, but I still like to buy them and have them for awhile. I have a large list of coins I want to own someday and I'm happy with having owned them at one time or another, don't need to own them all simultaneously

coinsarefun

Interesting thread. Although I collect very differently from most here I have bought and sold quite a bit.
Most have been toned moderns,silver eagles,Morgans and several other type coins.

But when it comes to tokens I started out with very common and low grade ones. When I learned enough
I began to sell most and concentrate on the absolute highest grade and eye appeal I could find. This forced
me to be very choosy and the collection is very small. When it is done I will probably end up with a total of 30-40
coins and I'm getting very close. So right now I cannot think or see myself selling them as they are either condition rarity and or between
1-4 examples struck.

I feel the same way about my Russian collection as it has taken quite a bit of time and
patience.....waiting for just the right example. I have two Novodel's which I never get tired
of looking at.

to sum it up I have no problem buying and selling anything but I have to keep my
token and Russian collections and don't see myself tiring of them any time soon.


btw.....I just completed the sale of my toned American silver eagle collection along with proofs.

GeorgeKellogg

Of course not. To illustrate my point of view, here is an 1846-D quarter eagle that I purchased 25 years ago (uncertified), in the second B&M Norweb auction. Prior to that, it was in the Holden-Norweb family for over 75 years, having been purchased from dealer Elmer Sears. Thus, the piece has had two owners in the last 100 years. The images are courtesy of BluCC.

Walkerfan

<< <i>Thankfully, I have been able to hold onto everything "important" to me. I have sold plenty of "extra stuff" to free up cash but never anything truly important. Interesting thread though. >>





I don't regret selling anything but only not BUYING certain things.

OK, wait----I once sold an 1888 S MS 63 OGH Morgan but that is it for me. And I could get a nice replacement, if I really wanted to.

AuroraBorealis

Haha... In 1978 I sold a circ 42/41 merc dime that I had for only 3 years that I purchased the first year me and my wife were married... Wish I still had it if even for a hand me down... Thing was at that time I put ever last dime (pun intended) to help fund our very first business after leaving my dads farm...

AB

Bochiman

Keys, or super cool coins, that I have wanted, I have retained unless I have upgraded.
Not only are they for me, but I *want* to keep them to hand down to my son.

There are still, hopefully, many years before that happens, so things may change, but in the meantime, they are here for both of us.

I can see people having paths that change, but want I think is wonky, and to each their own, are the folks that just HAVE to buy a name-coin, in order to say they owned it...but, they flip it pretty quickly.

Just wanting to buy/own something for a short period of time is, to me, kind of like a kid wanting to play with a toy then get rid of it because they are immediately bored...but they got it before the other kids.
Not talking buying to flip, but rather, buying and pretending to want to own it for collecting reasons.

Type2

I never look back keep my eyes on the target. If i sell it i did not want it and i will try again till i get it right.

WildIdea

When coins hit my collection, they usually never come out. I'm putting two or three coins in my collection a year is all though. Im not talking about common date Saints or Libs but more like rare date condition rarities. When I zero in on a coin that has it all I want my powder dry to get it bought. It's usually a long process and after delaying gratification I take pride knowing I can afford to hold it indefinitely.

When I see fresh, interesting material pass a dealers desk, I think that's really neat but when they have to flip it to keep above water, it takes a lot of the cool back out. God bless em, as we all need a brisk market, but I wouldn't even call that ownership but temporary control with a line of credit or other structure. It takes a certain mind set to sell your coins and an even more steadfast focus to deal them, but I'm in collecting/hold mode right now so I don't worry about it.

ricko

No... I keep them all .... and enjoy them all.... Cheers, RickO

mozin

Never have paid up for a coin to be placed in my box of twenty, and then sold it. I sold off plenty of coins because of upgrades replacing them. Sure, I have been tempted to buy some coins that are way more expensive than the rest of my collection, but so far, I have not done so.

droopyd

Necessity has forced me to sell a few I'd have liked to have kept, but I've managed to be able to hold onto everything I really wanted to keep.

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Baley

I'm forming a collection of coins I own, not a collection of pictures of coins I used to own.

BillJones

<< <i>No... I keep them all .... and enjoy them all.... Cheers, RickO >>



I have want lists that I draw up and go after them for years. I have old want lists in my files, and have been pleasantly surprised that I had filled them. As for owning better pieces I generally buy them and hold unless I get an upgrade. Then they usually go by-by.

The only major collection I pulled the pug on was half cents by die variety. I hit a wall I could not penetrate and decided to call it quits.

ctf_error_coins

I have owned (and sold) many coins that I thought I would never sell.

In most cases I sold those coins to buy other coins that came along that were more important.

I have never looked back and glad I sold what I did when I did.

mirabela

It's great that there is this variety of responses -- it's one of the things that keeps coins available to buyers who want them, and buyers around for when those who want to sell do so.

^^ Captain Obvious has spoken!

Shamika

Purchased an PCGS MS65RB S-VDB about 13 years ago because I had wanted one since I was a kid and finally had the financial means to do so. I owned that coin for five years and then sold it for twice what I paid. Yea, I miss it. But I don't regret selling it.

spy88

Back in 2004, I thought I was going to be out of a job because of a injury. Money was
already tight so I sent off my entire FS Jefferson collection to TT and my entire Jefferson
PR collection to HA. Went back to work inside 4 months. Regret? You bet!

There was one episode of senility I have to admit to. Several years ago, I had a container
of accumulated circulated Jeffs...several pounds. Decided to sell on eBay. Did it and thought
I got a good price. Then I went looking for a circulated 1939 doubled Monticello I had found
(don't remember where) that I was going to list separate.

Yep, you got it. I then remembered putting it in the container of other Jeffs I had sold.
Turned out not to have been such a good deal!

TireKicker

It is always nice to have coins for awhile. But some coins we miss. Every once in awhile I think of that nice 16-D I sent your way a couple of years ago...nice coin

crypto79

I sold a better date DMPL 20$ gold piece out of my type set. I thought I could always come back and get one, that was naive on my part. Gold has gone up, PL coins have become vogue and double eagles are trendy, I would have to commit way to much to require a coin of Equal or even lesser caliber and that's if one could even be found.

LukeMarshall

I am sure we have all heard the term, "If you love something let it go".

The act of letting it go may encourage it to be loved from a different viewpoint me thinks.

And seeing it passed to a potential lover may indeed be worth more that tucking it away, never to be seen again...

...untill such a time where it gets passed on without a second thought.

All this being said, I still find it hard to part with special items that I cherish the most... but as they say "there is a time and place for everything".

Cheers

Pokermandude

I tend to hang onto my better pieces, even if I am currently feeling blah about them. Sentiments change, but as others have mentioned, it is not always easy (or financially prudent) to let them go and then try to buy a similar one later.

It helps to have plenty of dreck to sell from my earlier collecting days and recent purchases of others' collections. It helps put a dent in the funds required for the next keystone piece, without having to liquidate other higher end pieces.

coinbuf

In a sense we are all short term owners, some just shorter than others.

spy88

<< <i>In a sense, we are all short term owners, some just shorter then others. >>


Or put another way...
Everyone is both a short term and a long term owner. Sell while you're alive, or keep
and leave to a relative in death. It's always going to be one or the other.

rec78

Many times. I sold my Morgan set that I put together from 1972-1977 in 1978 to get a down payment for my first house. I did not have a 1893-S or 1895 in the set. But I did have a lot of BU Morgans in it and I sold it for $6,000 which was a lot of money in 1978. (It cost me only about $2250, so I made out well), still I wish I would still have it.

I sold the nicest 1802 half cent that I had ever seen for $1,000 - I cherried it off a local bill board for $50, so it was a big, big profit margin. But today, I cannot buy one half as nice for twice the price.

I had the counterfeit 187_ bust half--I paid $15 for it at a local auction and my friend sold it for me to Sheridan Downey for $60 about 1980. I did not realize the value of this piece. Mr Downey highlighted it in one of his auctions some years ago, but I don't know what it sold for.

I had a RB unc. 1864 small motto 2 cent piece that I also just whisked away for song. I made $5.00 on this coin paid $50 for it and sold it for $55.

Also had an Unc. 1861 new Brunswick half cent that I got in a lot of foreign coin for less than a dollar and sold it almost immediately to a Canadian dealer for $100 way back about 1974. This coin is over $1000 today.

I hand picked a full set of full bell line Franklins and sold it for $600 which was grey sheet bid at the time. This was before any third party grading systems.

I did a lot more - these are all the come to mind at the moment.

Now, to answer your question----Is owning it for a short while good enough?

Yes, If you like the profit more than the coin.


Bob