Set collecting

PTVETTER

I believe those that are building sets, both new to the hobby and veterans alike have 2 goals
1) complete the set
2) upgrade the set

I am doing both at the same time. As I look to fill holes I find upgrades without looking.

I am also amazed that parents spend so much cash on their child's cell phone or games.
Neither are remembered years from now but coins seem to remained treasured for a longer time.

ldhair

Wish I could cash in all the phones and games I bought my son.

Zoins

I collect sets but, interestingly, my goals are to neither complete nor upgrade my sets.

I like eye appeal and rarity so it can be hard to complete and also hard to upgrade. When a set is complete, it's more due to serendipity than the chase.

oldgoldlover

I collect coins and Indian artifacts. I do not buy a coin or artifact unless it is a keeper as my experience has been you will have to get rid of the duplicate after the upgrade at a loss.

That being said you are in the hobby for the right reason IMO as your son has been getting a good education in more than collecting coins. I wish I had a dad like you when I was growing up.

koynekwest

I collect date sets (they're much cheaper) of Buffalo 5c, Mercury 10c, Standing Liberty (except the 1916) and Washington 25c, Franklin 50c, and Peace 1$. For the Buffs, Washingtons, and Franklins I look for the best toned coins I can find, regardless of grade. I look for better toned coins for these sets, not upgrades, as long as they're MS.

ricko

I have done sets.... CC Morgans, ASE's, Franklin's, Kennedy's.. Except for the CC's they were really just sidelines that 'happened'...I really like coins that just appeal to me, so it is quite random. And gold... any gold.. I just like gold coins. I have too many other interests to totally devote my time to coins... Cheers, RickO

1630Boston

@PTVETTER
I do both at the same time.....but you have to set limits both time and money...Just my opinion

PTVETTER

If you eat out enough you will see parents giving them phones to play games.

And I can't believe how young the kids are with phones.
I guess those 5 and 6 year olds need them for work LOL

SkyMan

I'll be intrigued to see (well, alright, I'll be dead by then, but really...) what first generation smart phones are being sold/bought for in 50 years by collectors.

btwini

@baseball said:

@SkyMan said:
I'll be intrigued to see (well, alright, I'll be dead by then, but really...) what first generation smart phones are being sold/bought for in 50 years by collectors.

They're already bringing thousands. Video games that were quite common like Zelda are bring 5 figures in some cases and many rarer games well into the five figures. That generation, and subsequent ones, are not yearning for coins in any way shape or form. Just like the Boomers, they're looking to buy back their fondest childhood memories and that rarely includes coins. It includes sports cards, comic books, video games, and probably eventually smart phones and other electronic gadgets.

With all due respect to those that opine that they'll eventually pick up coin collecting, I can't help but roll my eyes and laugh because my mind works in logical form (though not necessarily always accurately) and I just don't see the rationale in someone who has never collected coins all of sudden taking it up as a passion. Now I'm sure there will be exceptions, but I highly doubt it will be anywhere near close enough to make enough difference. I think we will all see this soon enough.

I can't even count the number of times that people here have mentioned the economy as a reason for the lackluster coin market. That wouldn't explain the exploding prices in cards, comics, video games, Pokemon & Magic cards. In fact, if any of the 3 existing 1952 Topps Mantle cards in Gem Mint came to market, I imagine it would sell for more than any coin has ever sold for. And that is a rather common card, albeit in incredibly high demand.

I think part of the reason it's hard to image any sort of nostalgia for the current set of coins is because they've been so consistant for so long. After decades of the same faces, all the current generations see is changes in dates which they have no interest in besides commemorative reverses that change every year, and those are too short-lived and too varied to establish any sort of familiarity or nostalgia with younger generations.

Maybe it's time for a fresh start and some new long-term designs if we want people to start holding onto their change. It won't make your morgans spike up through the roof but if you want to garner new interest it might be a start.

PTVETTER

No problem
Just trying to make a point why the hobby is not growing.

Take for example coins for kids, How many give folders and have a pile of cents for them to go thru.
When something is given away people feel there is little value and lose interest quickly.
In fact is a few cases it is a babysitting service, sad to say!

SkyMan

With regards to sets, FOR THE MOST PART, I've stopped buying big ticket coins... although this does NOT mean all. This year I actually bought the 4th most expensive coin I've ever bought (in roughly 30 years of collecting). The coin was a 1795 Flowing Hair $1 for my Type Set.

On the flip side, over the last 5 - 10 years, I've been buying a lot of raw coins to fill in Dansco or Whitman albums, predominantly Franklins and Washingtons, but also Peace, Eisenhower and SBA dollars, Walking Liberty short set, Mercury (1935 - 1945) and Roosevelt dimes, and IHC (1880 - 1909) and Lincoln cents. I've done this strictly with disposable income, and have had a LOT of fun doing it. I figure most of them are going to be busts when I try and sell them, but I enjoy looking at them in the interim, and in the grand scheme of things we're not talking a lot of money.

My big ticket money has been going into building another sort of a set... specifically I've been trying to get at least one FLOWN item from every Mercury, Gemini and Apollo (MGA) mission from the early US manned space program. There are 27 missions in total; 6 Mercury, 10 Gemini, and 11 Apollo (with another 4 missions that used Apollo hardware if you include the 3 Skylab space station missions, and the Apollo-Soyuz flight). I have completed the original goal of collecting something from every MGA mission, and have some items related to Skylab.

I would say this somewhat goes to the point of baseball's argument, e.g. that these items are a reminder of my childhood. Being born in 1958 I grew up with the Space Race.

However, I would say collecting these items goes WELL beyond reminding me of my childhood, in three ways. First, that I'm a space junkie, with a Ph.D. in a space related field. Second, that these are historical items. I have literally WORLD historical items in my collection, including (my centerpiece) the Flight Plan (in essence the Log) of the second Manned Moon landing in history, Apollo 12. Furthermore, given that the Apollo 11 Flight Plan has been pieced out (e.g. sold page by page) my Flight Plan is the earliest complete Moon landing Flight Plan in history.

Third, and very important to a collector, these items, while expensive, are still reasonably inexpensive. Seven figure coins have become almost a humdrum affair, while six figure coins are almost a dime a dozen. There have only ever been three space related items that have broken the $1,000,000 barrier, and of those only one, broke the $2,000,000 barrier. WELL LESS than 100 items have broken the $100,000 barrier. I was lucky enough to get into the field before a big POP in prices, and most of my neatest purchases (NOT including the Flight Plan) have cost me in the $5,000 - $25,000 range. I strongly suspect, even though I did NOT buy these items to make money, that I have a far higher likelihood of making money on these items than I do on coins, particularly since collecting space memorabilia has become a growing field over the last five years.

ldhair

I have never let completing a set control me. It's cool to do but not all that important.

Walkerfan

Started my set in 2005. It has been an obsession since 2009. I'm nearly done and have upgraded a few along the way. I'll be glad when I finally complete it. It is a good store house for funds rather than spending it on something intangible. Jmho.

earlyAurum

Set building allows one to specialize and hopefully gain fluency in the specific date or type set. My personal experience is that i find it enjoyable. I want to finish my set without having to upgrade pieces. I want to buy "right" the first time. I am not married to the principal but try to follow it. I absolutely want to complete my set. i expect to have a sense of accomplishment when done.