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What is something you would like to collect, can afford, but don't?
291fifth
Posts: 24,681 ✭✭✭✭✭
... and why don't you?
All glory is fleeting.
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I suppose I could afford a nice VF to AU buffalo nickel collection. I don't collect them partly because I expect prices will be a little lower in a few years and mostly because I put together a set when I was young (in lower grade).
proof penneis fro m the 30's and 40's. Rare and pretty.
Circ Buffs, lincolns, walkers, etc. I try to focus on a few series at a time. I also have no B&M, if I did I would buy stuff like that just to build rapport, if they didn't have any of my real "needs".
A Whitman 1932-64 Washington quarter folder seemed like a rich mans game when I was a kid, now pretty pedestrian cost wise.
I think that you have inspired me....
A nice full set of F-VF walkers raw in a Dansco.... I like dirty girls I can take out and play with every once in awhile!
I don't because I have a few other sets including a full MS and Proof silver eagle set in the works (95W is going to be painful in this years budget) and I just play with junk 90% to hold me over
Successful trades.... MichaelDixon,
Indian Head Cents
pre 1940's coins in ms+. It's a great responsibility to preserve both history and art. And I know myself would crack open the slabs just to play with and smell the coins. lol Yes it's a sickness...
Currency.....I love the artwork and detail but I know it could get out if hand quick. Stay away on purpose.
I want to buy some gold Type, but anything less than MS64 is bound to have marks that bother me, so I'm constrained to collecting common dates. As soon as I buy a few, the price of bullion will drop by 50%, so you should be ready to sell your gold as soon as you see me post a NewP.
I collect circulated star notes but only to spend them each year on my birthday. lol .
Colonial currency
Why not? Three reasons: (1) JK warned me five years ago that the market for these notes was zilch, and I don't think anything has changed. (2) I don't really care for circulated currency. The problem regarding colonial notes is that the vast majority of uncirculated notes on the market were cut out of full printers' sheets, which IMO were crimes. I won't support that sort of thing. (3) I am too spread out as it is, with half cents to double eagles to exonumia to numismatic literature.
RMR: 'Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen?'
CJ: 'No one!' [Ain't no angels in the coin biz]
Early gold, I can afford entry level pieces. I just don't know enough about them and that tends to cause problems.
Not to mention the numerous counterfeits and altered notes on the market. A keen eye is need to spot many problems on raw notes.
There are a lot of things I like and can afford but don't because they are too common. I often feel if I use my budget for common things, I may not have budget available when rare things become available.
Of course, I have missed out on pieces here and there because of this approach. Sometimes I think things are common and pass on them only to find out they aren't as common as I thought
Small eagle gold
I would like to collect more large size currency especially the educational series. My ultimate goal is to get a national gold bank note from California and a $100 silver certificate.
Successful transactions: Illini420, Bajjerfan, Coinfolio, Chadc13, Konsole, DM679864, Weiss and many more
I like early proof, seated,trade etc. But I can not stomach the loss down the road even if I am dead
NGC registry V-Nickel proof #6!!!!
working on proof shield nickels # 8 with a bullet!!!!
RIP "BEAR"
Mine would be spending that $100,000 Gold Certificate off a chunk of my mortgage. lol Anyhow I thought gold certificate are all accounted for by the gov't.
A complete set of Barber Dimes.
I've always just stuck with the halves and quarters and find the dimes redundant despite their appeal having only a couple of expensive coins. Most of a set I saw at a show last week was XF/AU and I appreciated it greatly.
PF66 DCAM gold and up (pre-1933)
Barber half dollars. Maybe someday.
Successful BST transactions with forum members thebigeng, SPalladino, Zoidmeister, coin22lover, coinsarefun, jwitten, CommemKing.
1840's Philly gold. I may start this again one day but I'm not exactly a set builder and focus on exceptional pieces across a variety of series, US and World.
Latin American Collection
Proof gold
Civil War Tokens. Problem is I don't have the knowledge to begin. Bought the book, just haven't read it yet. Also, with these a mentor would help a lot too.
Joseph J. Singleton - First Superintendent of the U.S. Branch Mint in Dahlonega Georgia
Findley Ridge Collection
About Findley Ridge
Sets of Walkers and Mercs.... I just do not have the passion for complete sets anymore, but they sure do look nice.... So I just pick up one's that attract me, and I enjoy the freedom that casual acquisitions afford... Cheers, RickO
Proof sets from the 1936 to '42 era. I put together a six piece 1942 set because there are so many type coins in it, but I have collected few of the other coins. I'd like to assemble a 1936 set some day mainly because it represented one of the few things FDR did for hobbists after he recalled and melted so much U.S. gold.
MS pre-civil war branchmint gold, pre-classic head gold in XF-AU. pioneer gold in XF-AU, all so expensive......
I've tried but can't come up with an answer.
If I want to collect it and can afford it, I do.
I'll be back if I think of something and I'm enjoying the responses.
"If I say something in the woods and my wife isn't there to hear it.....am I still wrong?"
My Washington Quarter Registry set...in progress
Antique beer cans, for 2 reasons:
And yes, I realize this is not a coin comment per se, but the 2nd point is one of the reasons I believe coin collecting - with its plethora of auctions, dealers and collector to collector connections - is a safer place to play.
Coin Rarities Online
I was working my way to the bottom of the thread to post nearly this entire thought!
A few have caught my interest in auctions....but I don't have a clue about value, history, etc. Maybe when I'm retired, and have some time to dig into them....
I agree. Thin markets are dangerous markets. Beer cans were a hot collectible about 40 years ago but I haven't heard much about them since.
I've always been interested in beer cans, ever since I was a kid in the 1970s. That was when they reached their pinnacle in popularity. Dumpster diving and searching fields and ravines with my buddies in hopes of finding a James Bond 007 or a Playmate or Soul beer can. I decided to purchase a few cone tops, once again, in around 1998 or so. After that; I lost interest and I'm glad that I didn't buy any more than I did. I think about selling them on eBay from time to time but, so far, I've held on to them. I only bought four of them. They are cool but not a safe market or investment, imho, besides I like coins better, anyway.
Sometimes, it’s better to be LUCKY than good. 🍀 🍺👍
My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947):
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/
It's a thought-provoking question! There are many non-coin collectibles that are just too bulky to have very many different examples of, things like antique cars and furniture and suits of armor would be fun to have, but no space for them at home or in a bank box. Smaller items like old bottles, cans, matchbooks, etc can seem like trash to non collectors, especially compared to gold and silver coins and related items like bars and other neat bullion.
Among coins, similar concepts hold true, an example for me is the 5 oz "pucks", while I think it would be neat to have a set of these, and even display them, right now my biggest question is, where to store them? All my secure space is full, and I don't need another box of "stuff" that I'd drag out and look at once in a blue moon, there is no need to look, especially when I add in the government packaging volume and viewing trouble, I can see pictures of identical items on-line all day long if I want.
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry
Three Stooges memorabilia. I have their autographs and 1959 rings, but sometimes I want to build a real shrine for them.
rainbowroosie April 1, 2003
Some better carnival glass examples.
Complete barber series, all denoms, BU.
"Antique beer cans, for 2 reasons..."
As an antique myself, I worked in the old Rubsam & Horrmann brewery (R&H) on Rhine Avenue, Staten Island.
It had ceased as a brewery.
Manuals on zebra genitalia maintenance.
Proof WLHs
Such a nice design and add the proof surfaces. Not sure why I never picked one up. A full set is doable (the 36 is the only stopper in high grade)
For non-coin stuff:
Fossils (especially early mammal and of course dinosaurs)
Rocks and minerals
Medieval illuminated manuscript pages (I'm up to 3 now so maybe I am collecting them)
Beer steins
Coin auction catalogs
Civil war artifacts
Old video games
In the end there's only so many things one can collect. Gotta keep to a budget and not accumulate too much junk.
@Nap - my buddy collects fossils from massive fungi that were taller than the tallest trees earth has ever had. Their spores were the size of walnuts to baseballs (not microns). They're pretty freakin' neat, and came eons before grasses took over the planet.
Ferraris, I just don't have the space right now.
My first thought would be Bust Dollars. I can have more fun with the same money.
Pop singers, like Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Alicia Keys, Shakira, Kesha,
Heart would never survive, so I must leave them lonely.
Mid-grade US coins. I might casually collect much of the Red Book - thousands of coins - if I could find them raw and stick them in albums. But I would not want the same quantity of coins in slabs. Just too bulky and overwhelming for my taste. And I would not enjoy buying the coins in slabs and cracking them out, because cracking them out destroys value, and I don't like losing money.
Edited to add that it's not just about being able to "find them raw". It's also about being frustrated every time I see a coin in a slab that I would like to put in my album, and then deciding not to buy it because it would be worth less once cracked.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
This.
I find myself thinking about starting albums of multiple series quite often and, in the end, talk myself out of it because of the economics of it. I actually have an empty Dansco album for Bust Quarters and have several PCGS graded Fine to Very Fine Bust Quarters...which would look fantastic in the Dansco, but then I ask myself, why would I take this currently slabbed coin that I could get $400 for as it currently is entombed in plastic and crack it out and stick it in the album when the reality is, I'd be lucky to get $250 for it at that point raw. I'm a collector, but I'm also not blind to economics like that.
Cathedral Medals. Gorgeous designs, great relief, pure eye candy.
The reason I don't, just too many other numismatic interests.
I have the rare first and second editions in black and white if your interested.
I'm starting to feel this way about coins in general. I used to get a nice ping of excitement by buying coins then placing in an organized collection and really liked the process, but these days, auction process, or the pussy footing around with dealers seems like just a little too much hassle for what you get. I thought I'd try buying heavier more expensive coins thinking that would bring back the feeling, but that really just adds a weird stress, so that didn't work.
I'm starting to get back into what it was before I got in deep. Just going for a nice long ride, scoring a nice strong coffee, then hitting a few antique stores or district. Taking time to talk and engage with people. I suppose, that now my family is growing older, I'm getting freedom back to travel and I'm looking to get out and travel more (In style).
I'm not looking to sell, and I'm not against buying new items if the opportunity is clean, just not looking to chase anything or go way out if my way to land anything serious.
I would love to collect Standing Liberty Quarter again. Searching through Coin World ads and Numismatic News issues. Mail bid sales and desperately waiting for ads from folks like J J Tea Party or David Lawrence. Did anyone else have hour long conversations with J. Cline describing coins in detail?
Only problem? God won't make me 25 again. Still love the series though.
Lately I have given considerable thought to ancient coins.............
Mine have all been mentioned so far. I have a few items in these categories, but I am not devoting money/time/space to more.
Beer cans. I also used to be into these when I was a kid in the 70s and too young to drink! I tried once to collect some modern cans, there are oodles of nice designs now, but it was too much like junk and these went to the melting pot. I have a few cans that are travel souvenirs, I have about 5 feet of space atop some bookcases which is all the space these will get. I have one cone top, I could imaging getting 2 or 3 more, but that is all.
A) Minerals/fossils. These can be fascinating and beautiful, but I do not have the space to properly store and display them.
C) Colonial notes. I am interested in these, and I like that the market is poor, since I'd be buying. I kind of want to add to my collection here, but I always seem to spend the money on something else.