---AgReE or DiSaGrEe--- 'Shifting Interests is what keeps Numismatics Alive'

ambro51

Think about it.............

Dentuck

I disagree. I think a lot of collectors are driven by a sense of "completion" --- filling every
opening in their Whitman blue folder, collecting every Lincoln cent listed in the Red Book,
including varieties, owning one of every Top 100 VAM, etc. For them, it's the thrill of the hunt
that keeps numismatics alive.

CoinRaritiesOnline

I don't think it's necessary - I know a lot of people who have been collecting one particular series / area their entire lives with passion and enthusiasm.

Admittedly these people have chosen challenging specialties which cannot be finished quickly or easily.

Sonorandesertrat

My interests have certainly shifted---from early 20th-century US and Austro-German thalers to early federal coinage, medals and tokens. And now I am collecting numismatic literature to boot.
However, what shifted my interests is my evolving library. What keeps me in the hobby is the thrill of the hunt. In this regard, the internet has helped quite a bit. If I had to strictly rely on B&M dealers and attending shows, I don't think that I would remain a coin collector for an extended period of time. There are many coin shops where I live, but they mostly cater to beginning collectors and certainly do not have much of interest to me in their inventories.

ricko

Coin collecting is a wide and varied hobby....some individuals collect in the same area for a lifetime (i.e. cents, dimes etc) pursuing varieties, anomalies and rarities..... others collect many different coins - denominations, metals, countries of origin, year of minting etc..... The vastness of coin collecting in itself is what keeps numismatics alive..... Cheers, RickO

jmcu12

I choose all of the above. I think there a few different kinds of collectors;

1. As others have said, there are some who want to fill every spot in the album.
2. Some want to fill the holes and then do it again by upgrading.
3. Those who collect a series, fill whatever holes are appropriate for them and then they move on to another series and do it all over again.
4. Others still who lack focus and either hoard one particular issue or just buy everything.

I see these all the time in the shop and they all help to keep the lights on.

jmcu12

And what Ricko said!

TwoSides2aCoin

I agree that "shifting interests" or variety is one of the components or facets of numismatics that keeps me excited about tomorrow.

magikbilly

OCD is a great motivating factor

Eric

vibr0nic

<< <i>Coin collecting is a wide and varied hobby....some individuals collect in the same area for a lifetime (i.e. cents, dimes etc) pursuing varieties, anomalies and rarities..... others collect many different coins - denominations, metals, countries of origin, year of minting etc..... The vastness of coin collecting in itself is what keeps numismatics alive..... Cheers, RickO >>

19Lyds

I disagree.

I believe that numismatics stays alive due to a couple of factors.

1. What you collect can also be spent of sold for its intrinsic PM value.

2. Enterprising Coin Dealers always have a plan for expanding their positions (look at PCGS which was started by Dealers.)

3. Human Beings have in inherent desire to gather and collect stuff and what better to collect than money?

4. Once a collection is built, it takes a lot of determination and savvy marketing to get rid of it. It's almost more difficult to sell than it is to buy.

amwldcoin

Shifting Interests are what keep things moving!

hchcoin

The opportunity to make a few bucks keeps a few people in the hobby I believe.

rec78

DisAgree-

Coins are what keeps coin collecting alive.

crypto79

It doesn't keep numismatics alive but it certainly helps the dealers. The buy a coin on impulse-marvel over it-forget about it-need the capital for next impulse buy cycle keeps many a dealer in business esp if they are market makers who get first shot at the old friends.

The people with the greatest focus who study and share their findings are the core of the hobby in my opinion and the least likely to shift their focus (although expanding certainly happens)the rest are just consumers stuck in a buy/sell cycle and more often than not their collections reflect that.

Icollecteverything

For myself, I mostly agree. Like a lot of people I started at a young age collecting wheaties from circulation and sticking them in a Whitman folder. The problem with that is you find fewer and fewer new coins to add. If I had not moved on to other things I may have given it up completely.

I do think it's good to specialize and strive to become an expert in your favorite. I guess I get bored easily and want something different so I specialized in many different areas. I never really collected by date but I almost had a complete set of large cents starting from 1816 just by buying them when I saw the right look at the right price.

For some people it's all about the money and for others it's not.

JBN

Shifting interests are associated with shifting resources.

As a kid, I collected pennies and nickels. Getting a WLH on my birthday was a huge thing.

In high school, the money from cutting lawns and working at McD's went to collecting uncirculated Washington Quarters and CC Morgans.

Then hibernation for college and adult life. Collection gathered dust. Bought some mint products during that time, but nothing numismatic.

Now, back into it - with vastly more resources. I would never have dreamed of owning seated dollars, as I can do with my increased resources. Nor early WLHs.

I'll always enjoy my childhood collections, but I do enjoy the more 'advanced' collections (as the Whitman books called them) that I engage in now.

So I agree with the premise - but numismatics was never 'dead' for me.

Icollecteverything

<< <i>For some people it's all about the money and for others it's not. >>



That sounds kind of harsh. I should have said that most people are somewhere in between. I almost always read the book or did other research before buying unless it was really cheap stuff that caught my eye at a show.