A collection you can keep at home
Boosibri
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One of the unfortunate aspects of the hobby is that given the value of ease of theft, most of us keep our collections in a secure, off premises location. I have been working on a collection of exonumia from my hometown which I can keep at home with fear of financial ruin, and which brings me immense joy in looking through and adding to. That collection is my hometown exonumia, everything from Civil War store cards in high MS, to transportation tokens, shell cards, Masonic tokens, good for tokens and a few dies. I have probably 100 pieces thus far and going.
Here are a few “important” pieces which are either unique, or likely have less than 10 extant.
Celluloid pattern rail token, unique or nearly so.
Shell card, ex Bowers. Four merchants exist, I have 3 of 4. Perhaps unique.
Counter stamped piece from a resident in the key 1800’s who worked as a machinist. Julius Schelske.
Very rare Child’s token for the first electric streetcar started in the late 1800’s.
Hard runner token from a merchant that operates during the Civil War. They exist in Marion, black and brown. I have the first two.
Masonic die from Kalamazoo produced by the Henderson Ames co also from Kalamazoo
How about you? Do you have a collection that you can enjoy at home?
Comments
My coins are not worth much and living in a condo complex risk of theft is very low.
I have a PCGS war nickel set with varieties and my raw dollars in a wood display box. The rest keep the SDB company
11.5$ Southern Dollars, The little “Big Easy” set
If I lived in the USA I would own a few firearms (to hard to get handguns here in Canada) and protect my home. And 1-2 dogs that are trained for such things. But again my collection is not the dream theft for thieves.
I actually prefer to looking at high-quality images of my coins on a large computer screen.
This way, the coins can be stored anywhere with the added protection of having high-end photos of the coins making them easy to identify if ever stolen.
I keep albums and loose raw coins in saflips at home, the rest is in safety deposit boxes.
Mr_Spud
Yeah, I keep some lower cost and replaceable stuff in my home safe. I also occasionally bring stuff home from my SDB for a short visit. My coin/currency collection is a smallish fraction of my net worth, and life would go on just fine without it, financially at least.
I do own a large home safe it's heavy and bolted to the ground. No way 1-2 guys are going to lift this thing up just not going to happen.
@Boosibri - Time to get yourself a proper coin cabinet!
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
I wonder if this is actually true. I'd bet few would admit on a public forum that they keep valuable coins in their residence. As for where I keep mine? Can't say
Nothing is as expensive as free money.
Unless this guy comes then I am done he could lift my safe. If I am lucky he would just do a few lifts for workout then proceed to make himself breakfast/lunch/diner then use my washroom (that would be criminal in itself) then leave my home.
That's a very nice niche collection, Boosibri. And those tokens act as springboards to further research, looking for old photos, surviving buildings, postcards, etc. Fun stuff.
Love it. Can’t hit like too many times.
I do the same thing.
How do you find out about coins or exonumia from your home town? I have several examples of a centennial token produced in 1975 but I dont know if there is anything else available? Ill have to see if I can dig up some images!
Here we go....
Google search your town name with the word token, medal, or coin after it and see what’s out there. Do the same thing on eBay. Then repeat with surrounding town names, your county name and state.
If you insure your stuff you can keep it anywhere really — that would include a SDB of course, which isn’t otherwise insured — but also like at home in a ‘paint can’ in the garage, or whatever works for you.
Fun exonumia. Kalamazoo baby!
@Boosibri
Neat collection so far. Were you ever able to find a Kalamazoo map that kind of fit the items?
I started the same type of collection for Racine Wisconsin - lots of historical tokens to collect and I have learned a lot about my home town and birthplace. For example, who knew that in the early days of the NFL, there was a team from Racine in 1922-25, and 1926? I was born there and lived there until 1972 and NEVER heard anyone talk about the football team that play teams like the Bears and Packers. Go figure.
“In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock." - Thomas Jefferson
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Latin American Collection
I thought the OP was starting a new collection of safes...
I dream of one day putting together a collection that’s worth paying to keep offsite. I’m not sure what that limit is, I guess I’ll know it when I get there.
I don’t think I would post this info on a public forum.
I have an AU-UNC set of these plus some other foreign sets I keep at home. And also some modern US like Sac dollars and ATB quarters. The rest of my stuff is secure.
I have my childhood sets and enough bulk foreign to keep me busy forever
Luckily I live in the county in a small neighborhood where everyone watches each others house's. I also have a couple dogs and a nice extensive firearm collection. A few which stay loaded. No problem enjoying my collection whenever I want to at home.
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I think you would be surprised at what thieves will do. I've heard of them pulling up to a home, wrapping, attaching a cable to a safe and jerking them through the wall of a house. Many times the damage is more than the value of what was in the safe!
I keep my collections at home... coins, challenge coins, decks of cards, firearms.... Layered security, major safe, dogs...Not worried. Cheers, RickO
Many years ago there was a TV show where a professional thief would break into people's homes who claimed that they were burglar proof. One episode featured a police officer who was convinced his home was burglar proof. Within a few minutes the 'thief' was standing at the front door with the officers possessions one of which I believe was a handgun. I don't remember the name of the show but it was very entertaining.
Joe
Successful BST transactions with lordmarcovan, Moldnut, erwindoc
Some people missed the point of the thread which is really about the enjoyment of a collection which is accessible and has a connection to the heart of the hobby; history and depth of knowledge.
I hope your guns and dogs and safes give you peace of mind.
Latin American Collection
For me, it's stuff like the 7070 and small runs of 2x2 holders of Mexican 20 Centavos. The rest is in the SDB.
Nothing wrong with protecting your home, but it's always amusing when these kind of threads turn into who's the most rootinest tootinest cowboy in the west (or east).
10-4,
My Instagram picturesErik
My registry sets
.
I suspect it was the opening assumption you made about where folks keep their collections that encouraged at least some of the comments to which you're alluding.
To keep my contribution substantive, one of the ways I most enjoy viewing my collection is mirroring my iPad to my 55" TV, opening the PCGS Registry app and scrolling through my TrueViews. There is something about seeing tiny coins on a big screen that is quite satisfying.
Nothing is as expensive as free money.
I've been wondering if we'll ever get to the point where people just collect photos, and not actual coins.
In this situation, I've been thinking it would be great to create something like a cross between a Custom Registry Set and Pinterest. That way people that value the photos more than the actual coins themselves could build sets of coin photos that they don't have to buy.
For myself, I love high-quality photos, but it's not like holding a piece in hand, in a slab or raw.
A virtual existence is next......
"Got a flaming heart, can't get my fill"
So, basically what many of us had in 2020
I only keep 6 at home. The rest are in an insured SDB & I rotate them 3 times/ year.
They are so well hidden that a gold sniffing dog probably wouldn't find them.
So far as trying to burglarize the place when I'm at home, that could present other problems.
My Saint Set
I love both ends of the spectrum - high grade coins slabbed for preservation that are higher value that sit in the safety deposit box and then well loved coins that I can have lying around or in my pocket without fear of them losing value or them getting stolen god forbid. I have a safe at home that I used to store stuff in and I just felt more and more uneasy over time I remember the weight off my back the first trip to the safety deposit box. Now I leave the safe open and empty so would be burglars can see "he doesn't have anything valuable enough to keep in here on to the next house".
Here's what's currently sitting next to me on the couch. Love buying stuff like this in between bigger purchases.
No, I would never collect photos of coins that I do not own.
You may not, but people do it all the time on Pinterest. That's almost the reason for existence of that site.
Also, you mentioned you prefer photos of the coins better than the coins themselves, so it seems to be a natural extension to no longer need the coin....
I do not doubt that people do that.
Kinda like a research project. An information file. A book of photos of coins that you like but do not own.
What happens if someone burglarizes your place when you’re not home?
Great collection @Boosibri
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Bad transactions with : nobody to date
I post warnings.
My Saint Set
Latin American Collection
I have my IHC in an album on my shelf. All lower grade so I can enjoy them whenever I want. All my art collection is in the house but I can’t see a thief running down the street carrying a painting. It’s on every wall in every room so I can enjoy them daily. Can’t look at stocks, well you can but not quite the same enjoyment.
"I spent 50% of my money on alcohol, women, and gambling. The other half I wasted.
You don't have to. They've already been collected in places called the PCGS Registry and Coinfacts.
Sorry did not mean to cause problems. I was actually been honest as with these things I could keep more coins at home if I actually had expensive coins but I do not. For me it would have to come with safety first and these things offer safety. Not 100% but nothing is. I imagine very rich people have the luxury of having the best security they can afford. But the little guys like myself have to self protect if they can even afford it.
The Goonies...hahaha my favorite movie ever!!
For the record, my expensive coins and gold are in my SDB.
Your gold is missing certain oval stickers! Thieves will pass bypass you......
"Got a flaming heart, can't get my fill"
Acknowledged! I've made a notation in my log.
"Got a flaming heart, can't get my fill"