Finally free of that Registry bug...

FredF

I'm finally free. Free of the feeling that I need to compete in the registry. Free of letting the registry define what "my sets" must contain. And I'd like to (genuinely) thank our friends ATS for helping me with this.

Rewind to 10 years ago. I had just gotten started in collecting again, once I got to a point where I had a bit of disposable income. Very quickly I found out about slabbed coins. I also learned how sellers on eBay can take pictures of slabbed coins at angles to hide spots and such. I had put together part of a 1909 mint set, then decided to work on an 1857 set because those two years by themselves go a long way to a type set, and they both had transitions in cents. In parallel, I was working on a type set.

When I first started out, I was just buying stuff, having no clue. When I started the 1857 set, at least I was buying decent stuff, avoiding dreck, but I was still "hole plugging." Buying the plastic, not the coin, because I would get points. Things like "that's a 53 in a 55 holder... but that means more points." After a couple years, I took over the #1 slot in the registry. I played ATS because my collection was 50/50 NGC and PCGS, and they gave points for both vendors. Once I had "won," I got more and more selective. I bought exactly one coin in 2011. It is my avatar coin - an 1857 S$1 in AU58. I bought nothing for the 18 months from June of 2013 until January of 2015. Not that I wasn't looking, just didn't find anything I liked enough to buy.

The first shoe dropped in late 2015. I found an AU 20c with nice rim toning and good luster for the grade. But it was in an old ANACS holder. Couldn't get points for that in my type set. Didn't want to cross it. I'm sure it would cross, but that era of ANACS was pretty solid grading, and I actually preferred it in the older holder. I excused this by saying that my type set was barely in the top-50, so who cared if I didn't get points for it.

Back in November, our friends ATS announced that they would no longer award points for PCGS coins starting Jan 1 of 2017. It was ok, because even with just the NGC coins, I was still #1 for the 1857s. But I realized I didn't really care any more. 8 years of having the #1 registry set in a category that nobody really pays attention to didn't really mean anything. I think one year they sent me a paper certificate. Yippee.

Due to a confluence of work and family matters, I had a couple weeks free recently. I finally decided to go through the collection and sell the coins that I didn't really love, mostly accumulated in the 2007-2009 timeframe. (What a great time to buy a bunch of "meh" coins. Right at the top of the market.) A couple of my 1857 coins were in the lot that I shipped off to Great Collections last week.

And now I'm down to #2 for the 1857 mint set. Which is fine. And once I realized that was really truly fine, now I'm free to focus on what I really want to be working on (a type set, with my 1857 and 1909 coins anchoring it, and an 1873 proof set which I will never finish). So a couple more of the 1857's will be saying their good-byes soon. Also - since I'm not as focused on the registry stuff, I get to define the coins that are needed to complete my type set, not someone else. To me, Liberty Head $20 with motto is a type, but I don't care about "Twenty D." vs. "Twenty Dollars." A Seated Liberty quarter from 1854-1855 with arrows is not a type, but the 1853 with arrows and rays is, simply because I think it's a neat reverse, and I've always wanted one. Thus it's a type. There was a debate here the other day as to whether Gobrecht dollars are type or pattern. I think academics may view it as a type, but in my mind - pattern. I'll never own one anyway. So no slot for Gobrecht dollars in my type set. I did include the 1792 Half Disme, even though I'll never own one of those either, because it just felt like the right thing to do. Indian Head cents - the 1859 is a type, but the Copper-Nickel 1860-64 is not a separate type from the Bronze in my set. It's very freeing. My game, my rules, my slots to fill.

All that said, I had told my wife that since I was selling a bunch of coins, I would not feel bad about buying something "big" soon. Then I took the car in, and it needed a ridiculous amount of work. So, instead coins paid for the car repair and I gotta replenish the coin budget. Life isn't perfect.

abcde12345

Well thoughtout and explained. Thanks for this. (I don't have a registry because none of my coins are worth very many points.)

Walkerfan

You can't let others define what you collect. I was very disappointed, when they pulled the plug on the Registry ATS, but that will not stop me from enjoying my Walkers or from completing my set. I refuse to limit myself. Good coins never go out of style or favor, regardless of what happens between competing companies.

bolivarshagnasty

I have also broken from the registry set ranks. Having too much fun creating showcases of my own whim. Much more enjoyable to me and you can fine tune to spend as little or as much as you would like.

ElmerFusterpuck

I do the registry just for me, no one else. It's great for inventory, getting leads for the empty holes and for the digital coin albums. I really don't care if I'm #1 or #100 - it's all about filling albums, just like the old blue Whitmans. Isn't that what collecting is all about?

ricko

I congratulate those with registry sets.... the work and dedication is commendable...I have done some series...for my own enjoyment....now I just like to buy the coins that I find interesting/attractive. Cheers, RickO

1630Boston

To each his own, most importantly....enjoy what you do and what you collect

WildIdea

Registries are cool I guess. I have one. It's comical the never ending attempt to make organized spreadsheets for something as complicated and varied as coins sprinkled with a dash of basic human nature. Everything has a burnout factor. Hopefully, for everybody that fries there's someone new to take their place. I burnt when with no warning the points would change. One day a coin had 2500 points the next it was at 2000 next month maybe something else. Based on what? Who sets the scores and who decides they change? Probably some sort of politics. That's when I started considering it a photo album.

coinnut

Congrats on your new found freedom. I've never had interest in the registries myself. I'm happy to collect for my own enjoyment.

LindeDad

I just wish I could put all the coins in. Some are just to interesting to only have one, but they all go into the inventory.