Phases of collecting.
keets
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Like many collectors, I have been through several phases and changed directions more times than hindsight tells me is advisable. Still, I think they have all benefited me and helped with the next phase. I remember once scrubbing a few Cents with a Brillo pad so they looked as shiny as the others in the folder --- don't do that!!! I got focused on brilliant white Mint State coins(apologies to my friend, RickO) and learned that time changes things and they are often left as they are, even if they aren't as bright as I'd like. I discovered that there is more to collect than just coins, that some pretty cool things have been made over the years that weren't money yet are still in the realm of Numismatics. There are more, but I think you should catch my drift by now.
So the Genesis of this all is, wonderfully, The Beatles. I was thinking of where I am in the Hobby and the opening narrative by John Lennon for "Two Of Us" popped into my mind.................." 'I Dig a Pygmy', by Charles Hawtrey and the Deaf Aids... Phase One, in which Doris gets her oats!" I know I'm past phase one and I know I'm not in the last phase(at least I hope not). I think that I'm in the midst of a phase where I finally know what I want my Heirs to have to contend with or what I want to have accumulated when I decide to stop collecting. In a way it's sort of comforting.
Can you identify a phase you're in or describe a few you've been through?? I think the perspective of older collectors might help newer, younger collectors. At least it should. 
Al H.
Comments
Good post. I need to think about it but I'm looking forward to the responses!
I'm at the phase where I'm thinking what happens to my collection when I'm gone. Tidying up some loose ends, looking for nice coins to complete a few sets that just need one hear or there. Need to get it on paper ( as my youngest has told me several times ) As my sons have no interest in collecting, I'm unsure what will happen. Been thinking that I'd like to see at least part of my collection stay together. Top Ten Registry sets in particular. I do have some of my raw coins in Dansco albums ( 3 ) one for each of my sons.
I have been through multiple phases of collecting. My grandmother introduced me to the hobby when I was about 7 or 8, and took me to an ANA convention on Miami Beach when I was 10. My grandmother also gave me her issues of Coin World and the Rare Coin Review after she was done with them. I started out with gifts from family members and a monthly subscription from Littleton (a couple of dollars in coins came each month). That ended, and I graduated to more serious coins. At that time, I was buying European coins---Austrian and German talers. I spent one summer as a part-time worker in a local coin shop, cleaning coins. I saw more whizzed, polished, tooled, etc. coins than I care to remember.
There was a hiatus when I was in college (undergrad.) and I sold most of my collector coins because I lost interest. I did not need the money, and I now view that as a mistake. When I started grad school, I had access to lots of coin shops in the greater Los Angeles area, sold my junk silver for a nice profit, and started slowly collecting Barber halves. Two decades later, I finished the series in what was then called choice AU. Along the way, I finished a set of Standing Liberty quarters, in AU55-58 (today's designations). I took faculty jobs in northern Utah, but there weren't many B&M shops and I was busy running a research lab. I also had run-ins with a well-known dealer there, and I briefly lost interest in collecting.
After moving to Arizona in early 2007, I renewed an interest in the hobby (in part because of the many B&M shops in southern AZ). I sold almost all of my coins and started anew. Up until this time, I had maybe a dozen numismatic books (and a couple were given to me by my grandmother). However, I always had lots of books when growing up and in my adult life, and became interested in pre-1945 numismatic literature, and literature related to early coppers in general. So I began assembling a numismatic library; this is something I can routinely use (my coins are in safety deposit boxes) and interests me more than coins themselves. I recently began buying antiquarian numismatic books (16th - 18th century) that have interesting engravings of coins, tokens, medals, or even minting equipment.
I also began seriously collecting large cents, using ones that I bought decades ago as a starting point, and also began buying whatever attracted my interest in terms of coins or exonumia (19th century Mint medals, Conder tokens, Civil War tokens, etc.). I am done with collecting a long series (as I did with Barber halves), with completion as the goal. I now collect pieces because there is something that particularly interests me--design, history (including provenance), unusual toning, interesting minting error, or whatever. While I have many type coins in silver and gold, most of what I buy is copper or bronze. These kinds of pieces present particular challenges, in part because so many of them have been brushed to the point that they are now hairlined, have been cleverly tooled, and/or recolored.
At one point, largely to relieve boredom, I started a side collection of 19th and 20th century foreign gold (both raw and certified), all European, British, or Latin American. I accumulated something like 100 different types, and learned a lot. Many of the coins had values strongly tied to the bullion value of the gold in them. When gold last jumped up pretty high, I sold everything, made money, paid the IRS, and plowed that money back into my real collecting efforts.
Along the way, I bought and sold coins from B&M shops, vest pocket dealers, nationally known dealers, auctions, and fellow collectors. During the last decade, my buying has migrated to purchases made via the internet and occasionally coin shows. Local B&M shops simply do not carry items that interest me. I also learned to be more careful when choosing a venue for selling (small B&M shop, nationally known generalist dealer, nationally known specialty dealer, auction, other collectors, etc.).
My experiences, buying and selling, have left me with a strong sense of wariness, as far as the business end of the hobby is concerned. Many collectors, and I was present on a number of unfortunate occasions or learned of things after the fact, get burned when buying or selling, and this sometimes sours them on the hobby or even is financially ruinous. I also made some stupid mistakes when selling coins in the past. Collectors who never sell coins are apt to learn tough lessons about what they bought, whom they bought pieces from, and/or falling for marketing ploys that frequently target investors.
I have seen a lot of people enter and exit the hobby, so I strongly feel it is very important to find some effective way to maintain a tie to the hobby, particularly when not actively buying items for one's collection. For some, it is this forum or local groups of collectors, or specialty numismatic organizations (EAC, JRCS, etc.). For me, it is mostly via books, old auction catalogs, and other related literature.
It has been a 55-year journey, and a very interesting one. One facet of collecting has escaped me. I have never owned an ancient coin. Maybe that will be another step for me.
When it's time to check out, I will have coins with me. Two of them.
RMR: 'Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen?'
CJ: 'No one!' [Ain't no angels in the coin biz]
My phases since the beginning
And there is the phase of being thankful and appreciative of what you have been able to buy and submit
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
1) Collect coins and stamps as a kid.
2) Rediscover coins at 40 or so.
3) Collect everything at first.
4) Focus on collecting a Morgan Dollar Set.
5) Focus on a 7070 Album.
6) Focus on Silver Commemorative Set.
7) Get amazed at major error coinage.
8) Start collecting major error coins.
9) Start roll searching and sell the finds.
10) Buy (95) 2001Silver Dollar Commemoratives and flip them.
11) Realize I should become a part-time coin dealer.
12) Buy more major error coinage and start to focus on an error coin typeset.
13) Do a local coin show and watch the sharks come by and gobble up all my underprice non-error coinage.
14) Sell all non-error coinage and put proceeds into major error coins.
15) Buy more major error coinage and go for the best set that I can build.
16) Get offered a coin that I need for my set but can not afford it.
17) Turning point.
18) Decide to become a full-time coin dealer, and put all off my personal collection out as inventory except for my prized pieces, the best of the best.
19) Because phase 18 worked out so well, I decided to put all the rest, the best of my personal coinage up as inventory.
20) I had my best raw error coins certified and sold all the rest of the lesser raw error coins.
21) Massive growth in sales.
22) Put all profits into buying new inventory and Grow inventory.
23) Start Instagram page.
24) Tipping Point!
25) Covid-19 hits .... holding steady .......
This paragraph is so well written, I can totally relate.
Great thread!
Believe it or not ... I never went through phases in my collecting.
I only got two phases left
Ok maybe 3 or 4
Perhaps 5
At this point I only collect knowledge. It's a lot easier on the wallet.
The more I know the more I realize I don't know.
Life in general takes all though many unexpected twists and changes, hobbies are just the same. After going though the early years of collecting lots of stuff (still have too much of the stuff), a brief but enjoyable Morgan phase, old slab phase (still look for those but rarely find one I don't have to buy now), and Lincoln set. I am sitting at a crossroads. I have a few year sets that I'm dabbling with like my 1940 set for my mothers birth year but no real direction at this time. I know I don't want to do another long series and Lincoln memorial cents don't do it for me. Thinking that I should get serious and sell off the Morgans and stuff and buy more gold coins but haven't been motivated to do that with gold prices so high. So I'm just waiting for something to strike me as interesting as I sit in limbo.
Throughout it all I have learned a lot including these points:
1) Never get caught in the plastic trap, which means never be focused on one brand
2) Never worry about the registry, I'll never have the funds to compete
3) Never buy a coin with spots and/or fingerprints, those eyesores will really eat at you
4) Be fussy, buy what you want the first time don't play the buy and upgrade game, that's a game the dealers win collectors lose.
My Collection of Old Holders
Never a slave to one plastic brand will I ever be.
In the last few years I’ve gotten a lot more patient in my collecting and have grown to greatly appreciate original surfaces.
My YouTube Channel
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I primarily collect four denominations from two mints of one design (not US). That's all I have the money for if I'm ever going to make any real progress with it.
There are other coins I like but less or a lot less, such as when I was starting out as a YN in the mid to late 70's. Aside from financial limitations, I don't buy it because it's available (almost) any time over 95% of the time if I want it, even when it is (somewhat) scarce.
If I ever do change focus, it will likely be to something more "advanced"; Spanish cobs, Crusader coinage or something in ancients like Byzantine silver and bronze.
Collect from change only.
Collect some series (requires some purchases)
Collect challenge coins and poker chips
Stack gold and silver
Collect only that which has strong appeal to me - this is where I am now.
Cheers, RickO
I have been an avid coin collector since my early childhood. I got started collecting when I went to the Woolworth Store in the mid-to-late 1970’s. They had a coin display case with the rotating trays and I became fascinated after looking at a 1943 steel penny. My Dad purchased that coin for me and we soon returned for an Indian cent that we saw in the same display. Since that time, I caught the collecting “bug”. I recall begging my Dad to take me to a coin shop when he got home from work. The earliest recorded coin acquisition I have was a framed collection of Jefferson Nickels that I received for my 9th birthday. I still have that collection in its original picture frame. I read as much as I could about coins and learned grading from A Guide to Grading US Coins by Martin and Dunn, which I still own.
I collected off and on throughout high school and college but do not have any coins of note that I saved from that time period. However, I do have a couple very nice Johnson and Matthey one ounce silver bars and a 1917 Series $2 bill that were gifts from my Mom and Dad.
I slowly started building up my collection again after college when I had more disposable income. I was a frequent visitor to the local auction scene and always wanted to score "a good deal." Coins still in my collection from that time include an 1806 Draped Bust Half Cent in AG condition, an 1857 Flying Eagle cent in VG-8 condition and an 1882-CC Morgan in Uncirculated condition. These aren’t my best coins but were as much as I could afford at the time and I have good memories of when they were acquired.
Coin collecting was enjoyable, but I was often discouraged at the amount of time I was spending at auctions. It seemed like the other collectors were older men and I recall I didn’t like spending my Saturday and Sunday afternoons with these cranky old guys. I took a bit of a hiatus from the hobby in 1994. My soon-to-be wife got me interested in it again after she took an interest in my collection soon after we started dating. She purchased an 1858 Flying Eagle cent in F-15 condition as a gift for my birthday and that got me going again in the hobby. I soon started visiting various LCSs and going to as many coin shows as I could. I also discovered on-line auction houses like Teletrade (starting in 1998) and Heritage Auctions online (in 2003).
About this time, I discovered coins certified by Third Party Grading companies like PCGS, ANACS and NGC were gaining in popularity. My entire collection was in 2x2 cardboard mylar holders which I stored by denomination and year in a binder. I didn’t know the extent that certified coins would take over so I cracked out my earliest certified coin purchases from their holder which I now regret. I also learned that collectors prefer “original” coins that haven’t been cleaned or messed with in any way. I tried to avoid coins that were overly white or had too many hairlines, like those from being wiped or cleaned.
In my late 20’s into my 30’s, I collected as my time and attention permitted. I was a new husband, father, and homeowner and I had many other priorities and interests but I always had that collecting bug. I would sneak off to the LCS or check out a Heritage or Teletrade auction when I could (this is when I also started hiding purchases from my wife.) I collected consistently and added new coins to my collection between 2002 to 2008. I’ve been collecting consistently since that time, however, some time was taken off as our house burned down and we were building new again in 2015 and 2016.
My collection is a type collection that exemplifies the history of American Coinage since 1793. However, in a lot of ways it is a history of me. The thrill of the hunt has provided much enjoyment in my life and I’ve had a lot of fun adding these coins to my collection. I can recall when and where I picked up many of them and the excitement I would get when I found one I liked or when I won out an auction lot with a last minute bid. I recall purchasing the coins when the kids were little or when we lived in a small townhouse while our house was being rebuilt.
My collecting passion has survived that fire, losing my job in the 2012 recession, my daughter getting sick and us not knowing if/when she would get better (she did!) and now COVID-19 and so many other events in our lives.
Starting in 2017, I refocused my collection by selling my early “mistakes” and coins in which I no longer had an interest to acquire better quality material. In total, I sold over 60 coins from 2017-2019 in an effort to acquire nicer coins.
It has been a worthwhile hobby for me but, most of all, I hope my family gets either enjoyment or profit out of it eventually. After all, they are much more important to me than this collection. I gave them names of some trusted sources that they can reach out to if they wish to sell it. I encouraged them to sell the collection if needed but try to use the funds for something they too will find fun and enjoyable.
1) Dumb
2) Expensive dumb
3) Wise up
4) Selective
Here's a warning parable for coin collectors...
Selective? Do you mean selectively dumb, selectively expensive dumb? Selectively wised up?
RMR: 'Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen?'
CJ: 'No one!' [Ain't no angels in the coin biz]
1) Even though my family had no money when I was young (1960s), my dad had a fairly sizeable collection of circulated coins in Whitman folders (probably from teenage years).
2) This, along with a great uncle who bought mint/proof sets, sparked my interest in coins and looking through my change.
3) My dad's collection got stolen by Allied Van Lines in a cross-country move in the early 1970s.
4) I got a paper route in high school (mid-1970s) and decided to put some of the proceeds into assembling Whitman albums of Morgan and Peace dollars. Had most of the common dates, no toughies.
5) Shortly after graduating high school, I sold all the silver dollars for a few hundred bucks and blew through it pretty quickly.
6) Fast forward to 1998: I start to realize that all of the 20th century coinage would soon gain cachet by being from the previous century.
7) With my newfangled broadband connection, I start surfing the web looking for places to buy (generic) slabbed coins.
8) I soon realize that some coins are dogs and that photos (and return policies!) are essential.
9) I discover eBay and start enjoying auction fever.
10) Though initially going after blast white coins, I soon branch out into toners thanks to Greattoning's (and others') auctions.
11) I started going to the Long Beach coin show (very early 2000s) fairly regularly which was a feeding frenzy in those days and totally opened up my eyes to the beauty of classic coinage.
12) My preference for color and eye appeal grows stronger.
13) I notice that many of my favorite toners are silver Roosie dimes and decide to pursue assembling a complete PCGS set.
14) Somewhere along the line I realize that not all toning (even wild color) is attractive to my eye. I also realize that toning which is appropriate on some series doesn't appeal on others. I sell a bunch of stuff.
15) CAC comes along and I react by moving away from US type and focusing on the Roosie set and darkside.
16) A few years ago I get into large type US paper money.
17) I finish (late 2019) my complete Roosie silver set (PCGS 67 or better) and decide to post it on the Registry.
18) I get reinstated to the CU Forum after a 4-year ban to facilitate commerce and communication.
19) I go to FUN for the first time ever and meet the Roosie brotherhood.
20) I make peace with CAC and start actively looking at acquiring US type again. I also pursue upgrades for the Registry set.
21) I spend too much time on the CU forum........................
I am 26 but have had the privilege of being in the hobby for about 15 years. Started by filling Whitman folders with Lincoln cents in my early teens. Moved on to mid-grade raw type (7070 collecting) in my later teens but overextended myself a bit with high-end certified stuff and sold everything right before college. Now I am back to high grade type (within my means) and a focus on silver dollars and halves.
Phase One - Childhood
I collected coins as a kid, from about 8 to 16 years old. I built a collection of random coins that interested me. I dreamed about key dates. I remember ordering coins from dealers I read about in coin magazines, calling their 800 numbers, and waiting impatiently for the coin to arrive in my mail box. One time I remember ordering a mint state Mercury Dime from New England Rare Coin Galleries. I remember thinking it was the greatest thing when I got it in the mail. I also searched flea markets and made friends with a local dealer. In my teen years, my dad and I bought proof sets directly from the US mint.
Fun times.
Phase Two - I'm an adult now with a little extra money
I never lost interest in coins, but life, marriage, family, the military, etc. took me away from the hobby from about 1983 to about 2004. Then I bought a run of proof sets on eBay on a whim and was hooked again. But I was living in Italy at the time and didn't put much more effort into it than buying on eBay occasionally.
Phase Three - The Colonial Bug bit me hard
On 17 August 2006, I sent an email to a dealer I'd never heard of named Coin Rarities Online. I was retired from the Army and living in Maryland and surfing the internet when I ran across a coin on their site, a 1740 Mo MF Mexico Pillar Dollar MS62 [PCGS] ex Pittman. I soon got a response, bought the coin and started discussing coins and collecting with some guy named John. It didn't take long before that discussion turned to colonial coins. Meanwhile, I became fascinated with high grade 1773 Virginia Halfpennies and with the idea that I could own a mint condition coin from the 18th Century. The more I learned about colonial coins, the more I wanted to know. I was hooked. I still am.
I will pause here to say that finding a single area of interest and focusing on that area almost exclusively has served me well over the years and I highly recommend it to other collectors.
Phase Four - In and out of the hobby
I've built two primary collections since 2006: a collection of colonial coins with a traceable provenance and a collection of world coins that circulated in early America. I really enjoyed both but I spent a lot of money on both. Other things came up that I needed to spend money on so...I sold the first collection and left the hobby for a while. I returned, built the second collection, sold it, and left the hobby again for a while.
Phase Five - I'm back.
I've returned to the hobby again and I'm slowly building another collection. I've been having a lot of fun so far!
What kind of collection are you working on now?
It will be a combination of the two I previously built - colonial coins with a traceable provenance and world coins that circulated in early America. I had a lot of fun building those collections and I still remember quite a bit.
Great post! I found myself nodding in agreement and appreciation several times as I read it.
Nice thread.
Began collecting at 7. Roll searching. Filling the two Whitman Holders. ‘The Great Wheatstalk Act of 1968’ mandated saving all wheaties.
Met advanced collector (father’s colleague). Taught me about going for high end 'BU' condition. Started working on uncirculated Washington Quarters and WLH short set. Completed sets prior to entering college in ‘75.
Dormant (except for basic US mint products) for decades.
While travelling (later in my career), started visiting coin shops. Bought ‘this and that’. Several early silver dollars. Started purchasing some slabbed coins. Purchase of a complete toned O mint Morgan Set in its original album focused collecting efforts on Morgans with attractive toning.
Began high end WLH set in 2007. Added WLH proofs later.
Sold the toned Morgans and other 'this and that'.
Then a change to acquisition of coins that I could never have had as a kid:
Liberty Seated Dollars.
Liberty Seated Half Dollars.
Also Capped Bust Half Dollars.
Looking forward to adding Draped Bust Half Dollars.
Phase 1 - Snagged on a street corner by an antiques/coin selling woman with her own shop drumming up business.
Phase 2 - Began to roll search cents to fill holes in a blue Whitman folder.
Phase 3 - Too busy to collect – got bikes to repair, fish to catch, etc.
Phase 4 - Consistently given coins because I was labeled a coin collector. Expanded to accept silver quarters, and junk silver.
Phase 5 - Discovered girls!
Phase 6 - Went to college.
Phase 7 - Got married. Occasionally would drag the coin albums out and would get a few rolls to search.
Phase 8 - Put missing coins on layaway now that I had a job.
Phase 9 - Given a box of Capitol Plastic Boards in appreciation of helping a coworker sell his collection.
Phase 10 - Moved all raw coins in most series into the Capitol Plastics Board.
Phase 11- followed career – got divorced, got remarried.
Phase 12 - Discovered eBay and had the money to buy the 1909 SVDB, 1914 D and 1922 Plain to finish the Lincoln set.
Phase 13 - Got my 8-year-old started in collecting State Quarters. But he also got me looking more seriously at what I was collecting.
Phase 14 - Given more stuff because I was a coin collector.
Phase 15 - Got rid of everything – focused only on Lincolns and went for TPG coins because I was tired of getting expensive cleaned coins.
Phase 16 - Started a PCGS Registry set of basic Lincolns – expanded to proofs and expanded to varieties.
1961-62-Whitman folder/coins from circulation phase
1962-learned to cherrypick, mostly mainstream varieties phase
1969-72-military and marriage-a somewhat dormant phase
1972-1989-better quality raw coin complete set phase
1989-2009-intensive cherrypicking, mainstream and lesser known varieties and full strike Buff 5c phase
1992-2014-complete proof Buff 5c set made possible by cherrypicking phase
2010-present-high color toned coin and reassembling of IH $2.50 gold phase
I’m on a final ten year plan. Complete my coin projects in five years and then sell the whole chabang in ten...........
I always reserve the right to change my mind
mark
Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
Coin collecting and study is a long class for sure. An enjoyable one if you have the stomach to invest upfront in the learning curve.
Every time I get to a point I think that may be it for me, something new comes along and pulls me back in. The last time was cast satiracle medals from WW1 and I was running in that big time.....then Covid 19 hit and I just stopped altogether cold turkey. It triggered “Project Survival Mode” with only bills and bare essentials being covered until more stability gets nailed down.
The last 20 years of my carrier just pushing so hard so I could cover all that and still have something amazing coin wise coming my way regularly. Now feeling that old lifestyle was over blown and played out. I have plenty to show for the effort. Recently, I’ve watched some killer pieces come and go I would have bought in a second last year and not even sad. I’ve stayed somewhat active here posting and reading and even started finding myself doing my old searches for the first time in months , just to look see, so who knows how long this will last. I like not buying coins right now, makes me feel more in control. A new phase for me for sure.