Anyone here a Coin Collector yet not actively purchasing anything?
abcde12345
Posts: 3,404 ✭✭✭✭✭
I mean, is there anyone who is somewhat content with their current collection and not seeking upgrades or new purchases for awhile? If so, what is your game plan? Is this temporary or have you not been at it for a bit?
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I stopped buying six years ago. There were several reasons.
I had reached the age where I had to think about what would happen to the collection if I were to die. No one else in the family has any interest in coins and the thought of them walking into a dealer's shop and saying the "magic words" of "I don't know anything about this stuff and just want to sell it" was strong incentive to stop collecting and sell now.
I have felt for a long time that US coins are a very mature and very overpriced market. They are a poor value for the money.
I feel that coin collecting is slowly but steadily declining as a hobby. I think this trend will continue into the future.
I am still interested in coins but not from the point of wanting or needing to own them.
Could it be argued one is not a collector if they are not actively purchasing for their collection? I am of the school of thought you still are, even to the point you sell off most of your collection. One who is engaged in learning and gathering information for educational purposes or simply for enjoyment is a collector in by book.
I am actively searching for coins I want but cannot seem to find one that I actually like, Oregon Trail commem, Shield nickel with rays etc.
Yep.
I'm stuck and I have to save up a bunch before the next one.
I'd be lucky if I can get it in 2019...Probably not.
Not upgrading the ones I have now because I like them.
Maybe I'll kill some time with a low $ set like innobucks.
My Saint Set
I am "reverse" collecting in that I've been pruning an already small collection. I might buy a coin once in a awhile, but the total number of coins owned now is around 20 coins.
"Got a flaming heart, can't get my fill"
I sold off all my coins about 6 months ago in order to build a house. Foundation should be going in in the next couple weeks. As soon as the house is done I plan on putting together another box of 20 even better than what I had before and I can't wait to get stated.
Oregons are easy to find nice, I am really picky about what I want with the Shield nickel, has to be rays, fully struck, no cuds, die breaks or soft areas in the strike - factors that eliminate a lot of coins when you put them all together.
Others might call it "not actively purchasing", but I call it being selective on a budget.
Been a collector for about 60 years. Had a long dry spell from 1992 until 2011 when I jumped back in with both feet until my last purchase in the Heritage Long Beach sale June 2016.
Sort of at a point where @291fifth is at this point in time.
Getting up there in age and no one in my family has any interest in the hobby.
All the empty holes remaining in the series I have most interest in are either not often available or seem overpriced when they do come to market.
Most of the folks I see at shows I attend are as old or older than I am.
I still enjoy the hobby and participating in the forum but I think my buying days may be over.
it's crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide
I took a break of about a yr after I finished my Lincoln set; came back to coins at the very end of 2018 and I expect to buy a few coins in 2019. I've done this on and off thing for the last 30 years due to lack in interest, funds or focus on other hobbies and family but thru all that time I still consider myself a collector.
My Collection of Old Holders
Never a slave to one plastic brand will I ever be.
I hope to be actively buying something in about 10 years' time from now.
Happy with my current collection, only buy a coin every year or two anymore. My want list is very specific and the coins very difficult to both save up for and find for sale.
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry
I have not been buying lately... went on active employment at a Firearms Range (Modern, all the amenities) and have been really busy....Maybe get back to it in a few months... Cheers, Ricko
After more than 10 years; I am 97 percent complete with my full primary set. I am very satisfied with each and every coin that I have, so no plans to upgrade. What I'm looking for is very specific and rare, so I have to wait for the right coin to come along. Meanwhile; I have been purchasing Morgans and standing libertys, just for fun, but nothing crazy.
Sometimes, it’s better to be LUCKY than good. 🍀 🍺👍
My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947):
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/
I just got back into being active with collecting. I expect to have fun working on sets for several more years.
I do expect to reach a point some year when I'll be generally satisfied so that I don't feel the need to add any more. I think I can reach that only because I see myself as a collector with defined goals and not as a hoarder nor an investor.
My strategy is about collecting what I intend to keep, not investing in what I plan to sell.
I wonder what percent of collectors are no longer actively collecting?
It seem like most of us on this page are NOT buying and either sitting on what we already have or starting to prune the collection. None of our family members have an interest in taking over where we will eventually leave off, probably sell everything to a dealer at wholesale someday. It is a shame that such a wonderful hobby is losing it's interest with younger people who are spending most of their money on video games and computer upgrades, NOT coins. At this rate their won't be anyone in the market to buy when we want to sell. Not a good trend.
Well now, that is the question of the day, isn't it. I'm not going to add a comment because I don't want to derail the thread. I think the comments that have already been made are very enlightening.
Still actively buying.
I tend to buy cheap than not buy. There’s fun in cheap stuff for me too.
I haven't bought anything significant in a couple of years. 3 kids in college puts a big dent in disposable income. Plus I'm kind of in between on collecting interests. Do I want to upgrade my existing sets or save for some interesting new stuff like a Southern Gold type set or 18th Century Copper and Silver Type set?
I’m actively collecting, but have hit a recent lull. I collect with a plan and my next two targets are proving somewhat difficult to get at the right price. It happens.
I consider myself myself to be an active collector, still on the lookout for a few items for my "conversation starter" 7070 album.
But, I haven't ACTUALLY added to it in 2 years.
For me, stacking PM's and adding to a gun collection have been more productive.
I would buy several items if I could find them.
I'm selling more than I'm buying and probably will continue to do so in 2019.
I have about as much committed to US coins as I'm comfortable with. A robust market would allow me to change out parts of my collection or move in some new direction without taking a beating (at both ends), but for now I sit tight. I suspect I'm not alone.
I haven 't bought anything in about a year, and nothing expensive in about 2 years. I'm happy with what I own, and gradeflation and doctoring is making a bad joke of the grades in various areas of the market.
If anything I'm more interested in selling than buying, but I still enjoy looking at coins, and reading these and other coin Boards.
U.S. Type Set
Right now I have too many other priorities, but I'm still buying a few. If I had a dealer nearby, I'd trade some stuff, and put the proceeds toward my "Box of 500".
To those selling: Keep selling! Get some fresh material out there for those of us buying!
Depends on your age .When you reach +65 you realize that buying/investing to turn a profit is not a reality.Time is against you.The next generation of buyers are gone and will not be collectors of anything.Comics,Sport Cards,Paper Money,Antiques,Coins etc were collected heavily in my generation.Now we are all dying off.Each subsequent generation after mine collects less and less.As we get older we think about liquidating as values decline every year.Used to be fun picking out coins from circulation when I was younger (1955-1975).That was really fun collecting ! When was the last time you collected for the fun of it and didn't care if you made money on it? Looking through pocket change to collect the dates of a series.The Good Old Days ! I don't buy anymore and have not bought in several years.Hope I live long enough to see the hobby come back to what it was,but I doubt it.
I went without purchasing anything for my collection for fifteen years at one point, but I remained interested in the hobby and held onto what I had in those years, alongside a remnant of my great grandfather's collection and the collection my dad built when he was active in the hobby. In subsequent years I did a lot of pruning and selling, and a smaller amount of purchasing, to arrive at my present, more focused and concise collection.
For the most part I think 291Fifth is spot on in his analysis of the overall prospects for the hobby; my agreement doesn't stop me from purchasing anything at all ever, but it does lead me to practice significant restraint. I've been on the one-nice-thing-a-year plan for a while now, and I think of numismatics as a winter hobby only. From the beginning of trout season to the end of deer hunting I pretty much forget about it.
I stopped buying coins and a lot of other things in 95.
But I guess I am still a collector.
Successful BST deals with mustangt and jesbroken. Now EVERYTHING is for sale.