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Is the real key to enjoying collecting the ability to appreciate inexpensive but interesting items?
291fifth
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Increasingly, I feel that the need to own "condition census" and "finest knowns" may actually contribute to a burnout in interest in the hobby. Put the checkbook away and start enjoying reasonably priced but interesting items. What do you think?
All glory is fleeting.
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I am sympathetic to your point of view. Obsessive concern with coin values, beans or lack thereof, upgrade possibilities, etc. sometimes seems to suck the oxygen out of the hobby. Books and exonumia can be much less expensive and just as interesting.
RMR: 'Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen?'
CJ: 'No one!' [Ain't no angels in the coin biz]
Yes. I enjoy those coins I never expect to get my money back on. I enjoy the others too
To me it depends on the collector. Take golf for example. Some people just enjoy getting out, doing the best they can, enjoy their playing partners and score is irrelevant. Others find enjoyment trying to reach a certain goal (breaking 80, winning a match , etc). Same with coins---just depends on the collector.
I think this is one reason for the interest in Dan's pieces, they are fun, interesting and fit into many budgets.
There are many inexpensive and historical significant coins... And that should add to them enjoyment.
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
I don't know if it's the key, but personally, I do enjoy and appreciate a quality vf35-xf45 with smooth surfaces and a nicely toned patina just as much as a typical ms60-ms62 coin. Maybe even more so. Key word "typical."
I don't know about "the" key, but it's surely a helpful trait.
It certainly helps save money on purchasing coins.
Whatever you are, be a good one. ---- Abraham Lincoln
I found you can buy insane looking one of a kind major (modern) mint errors and they will not cost you an arm and a leg.
It is fun to "study" the different types of errors that come out of the minting process.
It's a good point, there are many interesting and historically and artistically significant coins at all condition and price points
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry
My latest collecting interest is nice world gold coins that can be purchased for little over their melt value (often below melt with 8x or 10x e-Bay bucks and free shipping). Lots of fun for a few hundred $$. Raw Maundy sets, too.
I agree. That's where I'm at with my collection.
Who can forget bongobongo's assessment of coin value.............
REMEMBER THAT OLD COIN IS ONLY WORTH FEW DOLLARS IN PHYSICAL MATERIAL VALUE - THIS IS WHY VALUE IS AN ESOTERIC CONCEPT IN MANY WAYS AND IT MAY BE VULGAR TO ASSIGN ANY MONETARY VALUE TO OLD COIN UNLESS YOU ARE A RUSSIAN OLIGARCH OR CHINESE SHODDY GOODS FACTORY OWNER
... Obsessive concern with coin values, beans or lack thereof, upgrade possibilities, etc. sometimes seems to suck the oxygen out of the hobby. Books and exonumia can be much less expensive and just as interesting.
I fully agree with this^.Coin collecting has to be more than "what's it worth (in $)?" to me or I don't want to do it.
Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.-Albert Einstein
I'm getting a kick out of samples and PCGS collectibles.
Shifted my focus more to American art a few years ago and samples continue to scratch my numismatic itch at a reasonable price.
Bongobongo also famously said, "If you buy what you like, at a price you can afford at the time, then things will be easier. If you buy what other people like, borrow to fund it and expect multiple of return, then you are likely to be unhappy. Bongo say nearly everything depreciates over time. Bongo would not pay $500 for a silver bell this Christmas and expect it to be worth $550 next year, but Bongo knows a Silver Bell is not old coin. Or is it? Bongo maybe not surprised that old coin is like any other limited non essential commodity and subject to the whims of taste and market. Put the coin in book and enjoy it. If it is worth more when you come to sell it, well done. If not, then you have had enjoyment out of it. "
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry
I collect almost a dozen different collectibles. When I get a little burned out with one, I'll switch focus. The one thing about collecting common to each field is that I must buy books, study, and learn the territory for each of them. That is the never-ending thrill of collecting. - the search for knowledge. Money plays no part. Sure, it would be great to buy anything I wanted whenever I saw it to complete examples of everything I learn about. Nevertheless, knowledge is power regardless of your finances. These days a person can assemble a virtual collection from internet images. With a little knowledge, in real life, a 25c picture postcard reveals its actual wholesale value of $125; the cancellation on a $1 junk box envelope is a rare experimental strike; the unattributed common Large cent is a non-collectable rarity... made my point? The thrill of collecting is not always what you have but what you learn.
Yes, and actually that's also the key to life.
Maybe you saw my other post
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/977993/took-a-pic-of-my-feelie-box#latest
I enjoy my coins.... I do not sell, therefore the value is not a focus for me. I know some of my coins are very valuable... I know many of my coins are not. I enjoy them all.... Cheers, RickO
I think that the title of this string of posts makes a good point. Those who collect nothing but the key date coins might make more money in the years to come when it comes time to sell, but they are missing out on some interesting items that don't break the bank you buy them.
For example, look at an 1881-S Morgan dollar in MS-65 or a lower Mint State grade. For less than $100 you have something that is over 130 years old. Rutherford B. Hays, James Garfield or Chester A. Arthur might have been president when it was minted. The "wild west" was in full swing. AND the coin probably has bright white surfaces that look pretty much the same today as they did in 1881.
When you think about it, that sounds like a bargain!
You know, I have a decent collection of British but all those I need now are huge bucks!
What series are enjoyable and feasible?
So I have gone back to collecting some moderns which I had mostly left (not entirely), the Franklin Mint COINS of the 1980s, esp. in uncirculated are quite a challenge & have recently found some items so presumably rare that they are not in the catalogs or searchable & leave the TPGs unable to grade. I got the entire Belize 1984 specimen set for all of 29.95 and this or ANY other FM specimen set from 1984 unknown.
Or yesterday at Baltimore I got an unlisted Barbados 1984 $10 that was a bit more at 80 USD. Prohibitively rare coins with beautiful designs at real world prices. I can enjoy them and share them with others.
I too have been on Danny boy's bandwagon for about 5-6 years and love his overstruck coins, despite what all the haters have said. I often take them out and look at them or also share them with others.
Well, just Love coins, period.
The real key to enjoy the hobby is never about the price tag. But the stories to tell and share with your love ones, friends and people who have the same interest. Even when a person can afford to purchase coins of any value in this world, he would always look back to that first coin.
I have found great enjoyment in the Registry Showcase section. Your imagination is the only limit to what constitutes a genre or set. Just completed my favorite Classic Commems in my sig line below.
The vast majority of us aren't even in the ballpark of which you speak.
Post something enjoyably inexpensive from your collection. Would love to see it!
I'm selling a very inexpensive coin on BST right now and it's getting a lot of interest. So maybe that best answers your question.
I have always collected type coins which are at either the lower end or other material at the tier below the expensive registry sets. The upgrade and registry set mania has filtered down to what I collect. That and gradeflation.
As a result, I haven't bought anything in over a year, and am not in a hurry to do so. If I had to do it all over again, I'd do a type set of nice AU coins. Sure, the Bust $s would be pricey, but most everything else would not cost too much (I don't collect gold). And, the lower dollar value of a coin, the greater the chance it will have original skin.
Some less expensive coins I find interesting are the 38 D Buff. You can get an attractive MS 66 for $50 or $60. The 1883 N/C Nickel, which used to run $1,000 in MS 66 can be had for $300 for a nice one in the grade. Much less for an attractive MS 65.
I think you can still get a common date attractive gem Walker for $100. They're beautiful coins. Ditto re a nice MS 66 Merc from the late 30s or 40s for $50. These are all beautiful type coins. I am guessing you can get a 30 P SLQ in MS 65 w/o a full head for two or three hundred dollars, as well.
"Seu cabra da peste,
"Sou Mangueira......."
I think we all enjoy the hobby in different ways.
For me, taking accurate photographs and knowing a bit of a coin's history is important. Others enjoy different aspects. Some enjoy the hobby immensely without owning anything numismatic.
I was recently shown a very esoteric and very advanced collection of tokens. I remarked that it was a fantastic thing for the collector to have collected, because the tokens were inexpensive enough that he could afford to buy whatever he needed, when it became available, and because they were rare enough that the collection required great patience and persistence.
Of course, "inexpensive" is a relative term. For someone with all the money in the world, all coins are inexpensive. But for those of us with more modest means, there are many opportunities to do great things without breaking the bank.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
I get just as much enjoyment from finding a 1948-S nickel in change as I do from buying a $200 coin.
Maybe more enjoyment.
I like to collect coins are related to my other interest. Like trains and baseball for example
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@MrEureka posted, "I was recently shown a very esoteric and very advanced collection of tokens. I remarked that it was a fantastic thing for the collector to have collected, because the tokens were inexpensive enough that he could afford to buy whatever he needed, when it became available, and because they were rare enough that the collection required great patience and persistence."
I have collected tokens for over 25 years now, along with U.S. silver coins. I was born in Detroit and my family removed to Detroit from Canada in 1832. I have a complete collection of the Detroit (Michigan) Civil War Store Card tokens which took almost 30 years to complete, yet wasn't overly expensive to complete except for the last Store Card token I added to complete the set. I even learned while researching the Detroit tokens that my great-great grandfather issued two of them!
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I also collect tokens and counterstamps with my last name on them, which for the most part is fun and inexpensive. This one is from Wisconsin, and is Unique! It only cost a few hundred dollars, and I was able to track down a relative and learn more about the man who issued this token.
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W. David Perkins Numismatics - http://www.davidperkinsrarecoins.com/ - 25+ Years ANA, ANS, NLG, NBS, LM JRCS, LSCC, EAC, TAMS, LM CWTS, CSNS, FUN
I agree and that's the reason why I'm working on a set of capped bust halves in very fine and Jefferson nickels before 1964. Raw is great. That said I still have my more expensive slabbed coins but I enjoy having the raw ones laying around
NGC registry V-Nickel proof #6!!!!
working on proof shield nickels # 8 with a bullet!!!!
RIP "BEAR"
Great thread! I also find enjoyment from all price ranges... $10 to $1000 can all be equally interesting if you are patient.
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I agree sometimes the least expensive coins are the most interesting and have the most history, but then again other times you have to pay up for interesting coins with history.
I don't think there is a one size fits all answer but one thing's for sure; if the only coins you find desirable are the same ones everyone else does you'll be disappointed unless your pockets are very deep.
Some of my favorite collections cost peanuts and contain rare and unique items because other collectors just don't care about them.
Sometimes I regret not being able to collect popular items but then if you just wait long enough they might be cheap again.
I've seen just fantastic collections that take your breath away like good fors of a single city or state. It's hard to imagine the patience and diligence required to amass thousands of tokens from a small area. Most new tokens in a collection like this will cost only a few dollars and the only time you'll have to spend more than a hundred is if you're going up against another advanced collector or buying his duplicates.
There are just an incredible number of ways a collector can go.
The author of the thread has mentioned late date medals and most of these are available for a song and not all are common. Boomers just stopped their collections in 1960, 1965 or the year they were born so many of these have not been cared for very well by the general population. People would be amazed to know how many coins, tokens, and medals just end up in the garbage stream in a throw away society run by greed and waste.
A collector of even the most modest means can assemble great collections.
I love them all. I've never owned a coin that didn't excite me in one way or another. For me, it is the history.. familial and world.. and the artwork is magnificent. Everything that's gone into them.. the manual punches, the overdates, brockage, incomplete dateless planchets, heck BIE cents, and pristine coins.. the changing alloys and designs.. the amount of work these people put in is just stunning!
I can't hate a specimen, unless it's a gassed slab or something.