Coin Gratitude - I feel mine slipping, and I need to get it back!
NeophyteNumismatist
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I am still a green collector, but I have advanced a bit over the past few years. When I started, everything was new and everything was fun. I loved coin roll hunting, but now I will only do it when my kids want to. I have sets of W quarters, I have a huge jar with a few thousand wheat cents in it... so I think about the time spent, and how could I spend that time to better improve my collection (generally hunting eBay, dealer sites, HA, GC, etc., etc.). I really wish I could get back into it, but when I try... my heart is no longer in it.
Also, when I bought my first graded coin... I stared at that thing for hours. For weeks the things was 10 feet from me, in case I wanted to look at it. Now, I order coins for my sets and immediately start hunting for the next one.
Today, I spend 85% of my time hunting for coins online, 10% on boards like this, and 5% enjoying the actual coins I have. In a way, I feel that I am losing my gratitude in the hobby. I have shifted from appreciating what I have to always looking for what's next.... and I need to do something to self-correct... Here is my plan:
Make Time - I am going to carve out time with my existing coins. I will use this time to organize, attribute, and simply appreciate my coins.
Donate where it counts - I am going to give away every coin that I can no longer appreciate, but could be interesting to someone else. 100% of these will go to kids.
Deep Dive - Once a week, I am going to "spotlight" a coin for myself. I see the "coffee and coins" thread, and think this is something I need to incorporate.
Mentor - I am not sure how I will go about this one, but I would like to help others. This hobby started out very intimidating for me. Knowledge is the cure for intimidation in this hobby (and life in general). Now, with lots of new products and grading scales, there are many more nuances to consider. I would prefer to work with kids and teens, but not sure where to start (beyond Boy Scouts, where I am already assisting my boys' dens).
Have you found yourself with similar feelings? What did you do about it?
I am a newer collector (started April 2020), and I primarily focus on U.S. Half Cents and Type Coins. Early copper is my favorite.
Comments
If you feel your gratitude slipping, step away from it. Don't force yourself to get it back, it will happen.
Not sure how old you are. Many of us collected as kids and stepped away from it for 20 or 30 years, when Career, family, kids, mortgage, cars payments & REAL investing was the priority.
Think about local coin clubs to donate and for mentoring.
Disclaimer: I'm not a dealer, trader, grader, investor or professional numismatist. I'm just a hobbyist. (To protect me but mostly you! 🤣 )
Don't get me wrong, I love coins. But, I feel like I need to appreciate what I have more, and focus on "what's next?" less. When I had less, I appreciated it more.
I am a newer collector (started April 2020), and I primarily focus on U.S. Half Cents and Type Coins. Early copper is my favorite.
I like your points made and feel the joy comes more from the hunt more so than ownership long term (beyond the initial few months of ownership).
I learned the other day that my friendly neighbor discovered I am a coin collector (due to my wife blabbing
) and they would like to invite me to do a coin session with their grandkids that are homeschooled by their daughter. So, that is one way to share the joy and interest of the hobby that I hadn't considered. I think your instincts are great to share your knowledge and also to acknowledge that you know more about this hobby than 99.9% of the population.
As a guy who has participated in the registry set program for the past 18 years, now; I have a lot of coin gratitude. The chase and the hunt can be a very tiresome and costly. I truly appreciate what I have, now. I get a lot of pleasure out of that ownership. There are still coins that I am looking for and sets that I am building but I have slowed way down and am much more selective these days. I have one close coin friend and we attend shows together. That is a lot of FUN and gives me satisfaction.
“I may not believe in myself but I believe in what I’m doing” ~Jimmy Page~
My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947)
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/
If you are not already, and if there is one in your area, joining a coin club can be a good way to expand your coin enjoyment and appreciation without it being only about the acquisitions. I also went through a phase of rapid buying and also came to the same realization you have, I found that doing your first bullet point was a good thing for me.
While most of my collection is stored away at the bank box, I have spent the money to have professional quality photos taken of many of the coins I own. I get a lot of satisfaction and make time to look at those photos and remember how, and where I first saw and bought those coins. And most importantly the why, and how each coin made (and still makes) me feel about viewing them. Sharing those photos in my registry sets and on forums also helps with my continuing to appreciate what I have.
My Collection of Old Holders
Never a slave to one plastic brand will I ever be.
I am reposting your list, as it is a good one. Very good. Thank you for spending the time to quantify it, for you.
I see a lot of wanting to appreciate what you have and pay it forward. I try to do the same. I really love the hunt, and the new acquisition, but after a good hunt, reflection of the journey, taking good notes, preserving the stories and sharing with others gives me great joy. Helping others is icing on the cake.
“We are only their care-takers,” he posed, “if we take good care of them, then centuries from now they may still be here … ”
Todd - BHNC #242
This is a great topic. I think what you are experiencing is part of the natural evolution of this hobby, and probably many other types of collecting.
I sat down this morning to polish my slabs with a little Plastx, which has been a chore I've been procrastinating about for weeks, but it was way more fun than expected as I had time to look at and appreciate each and every coin in my collection—apparently, I have some pretty cool stuff. Your ideas to "spotlight" and "make time" will likely give you the same feeling.
Sometimes, I'll keep a coin on my computer desk to look at during the week while I'm working. It's a good non-screen distraction to focus on for a short break, and it reminds me that hard work equals cool coins.
Other things I do or have done:
• Actively contribute—I try to make one quality post here per weekend. It could be sharing a new purchase (which is what I posted yesterday), a GTG, or a topic like this post.
• Go deeper—read a numismatic book or magazine; the more knowledge I've gained, the greater I've appreciated things beyond the commercial aspects of the hobby
• Plan my collection—figuring out how I want my collection to evolve, which pieces I need, what I want to get rid of, research on the market of a particular issue, etc.
• Take a break—sometimes you just need to step away for a bit, or at least limit your engagement to a certain day/time of the week
Nothing is as expensive as free money.
My appreciation for coins comes from connecting with the history of the era they were in circulation and holding a piece of it in my hand while reflecting/reading up on it.
Watching documentaries of the era(s) while viewing a box of coins is a fun pastime as well and always keeps me going back.
I would only add that I have had periods in my collecting career where due to financial constraints I went years without buying a single coin. having said that I still participated in the hobby, just in a different manner.
Books or periodicals have always played a big role in my collecting experience. One example I can give you. In the early 1990's I got a copy of Walter Breen's Encyclopedia as my Christmas gift. Many people denigrate the book, but for me it was a watershed book. I spent more than 3 years just reading about all the different coins. It is what inspired me to start a Seated Half collection. For better or worse that period may have been one of the most enjoyable periods in my collecting career and I didn't collect a thing except knowledge, James
The read is key in my opinion. I got caught up in branch mint gold. Purchased all of Doug Winters books. Did a lot of reading. While I couldn’t afford to buy a lot of coins the ones I did buy I researched to death getting auction records, mint records, deciphering die pairs, learned the varieties, looked at coins I couldn’t buy but could study. I especially got interested in the coins made in the 1800’s where you had a lot of different die pairs and die states. That added interest for me anyway. Of course the more time and dollars you have helps
.
Good subject! Glad I'm not the only one that's struggled with this at times. I can really relate and empathize. I reentered the hobby about 8 years ago after a 32 year hiatus. However, I too have gone through some lulls in the last couple of years due to differing circumstances. During those times though, I managed to find ways to keep my interest going.
*Appreciate the coins I have successfully assembled. Pulling some out from time to time to admire them and their history. Researching their attributes and in some cases their provenance.
*Learning more about the hobby by reading what others have researched and published.
*Challenging myself to improve my grading capability.
*Admiring the pictures of great coins posted here and other places e.g. auctions, PCGS, coin facts, etc. I take great satisfaction in nice photographed coins without the need to own them.
*Planning my future attendance to the next LCS and national show along with my goals for each e.g. coins on my list, coins to submit for grading or photographing.
*Inventorying my collection and keeping those records up to date.
*Lastly, sometimes stepping away for days or weeks has a rejuvenating effect.
USAF (Ret.) 1985 - 2005. E-4B Aircraft Maintenance Crew Chief and Contracting Officer.
My current Registry sets:
✓ Everyman Mint State Carson City Morgan Dollars (1878 – 1893)
✓ Everyman Mint State Lincoln Cents (1909 – 1958)
✓ Morgan Dollar GSA Hoard (1878 – 1891)
not for me i still look though my change and such, never matters that i buy slabbed coins online it's the thrill of not knowing what is lurking in the wild keeps me going
2003-present
**1997-present **
I've been having fun in the past year looking in my change for copper cents and any new-from-roll quarters to put away. I get a small kick out of it.
I like trolling Ebay and finding something cool and unusual. I'll put it on my watch list and I get a small kick out of doing that.
I'll sometimes put a snipe bid in one day, and then take a second or third look at the coin after the initial wow impression has worn off. Sometimes, I'll reconsider and cancel the bid. I've still had fun with that coin.
I know that success in the hobby is "buy the best you can afford", but I've found that I have nearly the same amount of fun waiting for a $10 coin to arrive in the mail compared to a $40 coin. I don't have 1/4th the fun waiting for the $10 coin.
I have fun posting on message boards and reading other people's posts.
I really like going over to YouTube and seeing people do PCGS submission unboxings, tours of different coin shops, investigations of other people's collections, long-ago auctions where they highlight some awesome coins, and new designs that have come out from the different mints. I think that is fun. These are coins that will never-ever-never end up in my collection. I'm ok with that.
What I've been doing in the past few years on the U.S. side is slowly filling the 1932-1947 and 1948-1964 Whitman quarter folders with silver quarters. Also, I have two Dansco albums that I've been filling with silver state quarter proofs and atb silver proofs. Most of the value is bullion value, so there isn't a lot of downside. The next thing I'll be working on is good barber half dollars in a used Dansco album I just purchased.
That is also why I album collect. I get a small kick out of opening and turning through an album of silver coins that I've already purchased. And yes... I know another no-no is getting a "hole filler", but if I keep the purchase close to bullion-value and the coin doesn't make me cringe when I'm looking at it, I figure I'm not "wasting" too much money.
If I get anything cool, unique, and outside of bullion value it is normally on the foreign side. I just dropped $30 on a cool cameo (ICCS) graded Canadian dime - 1947 Maple leaf. It is in the mail. I can't wait to see it in real life.
I've been trying to stick to a couple rules when purchasing.
1. Look at the album I'm trying to add to. "Is this coin going to 'fit' with this album?" It helps me revisit my albums too.
2. I try to stay away from coin series that will just leave me frustrated
3. I don't do any buy-it-now's right before I go to bed. When I'm tired, I make mistakes. Coin purchase mistakes included.
4. If I already have something in the mail, I need to be patient and wait. I've had my fun for the week.
5. I use coin collecting as a de-stresser. If I've had a tough week, I realize that I'm more likely to make a purchase. I'll take it as far as to put something in the shopping cart and then come back later.
6. It is ok for a set to have a key-date hole or two in it. Do the best you can with the set and move on.
7. When purchasing coins at the level I am, there isn't a fear of "you'll never see a coin like this again in a decade." It is more like, "You'll see a coin like this again. In fact, there are coins just like this one available right now, but they are uglier and/or much more expensive."
So, I kind of rambled there. To get back to the original topic, those are kind of ways I trick myself to keep the hedonistic treadmill from going out of control in my coin collecting. I don't want to ever go to a big coin show and find nothing that interests me. I'm trying to keep my purchases intentional so I don't end up with a pile of unsellable junk (circ. 1960-1981 copper cents excluded). I'm trying to pace myself and stretch out my budget so that I'm not affecting my real life negatively. I have a wife and kids, so eating ramen to purchase a dream coin is a no-go. I've been collecting since around 2003 and I hope to continue to have an enjoyable slow-burn for 20+ years more.
I left coin collecting when I had to enlist in the military in 1971. I still ordered coins from the US Mint and had them mailed to my parents. When I return to the states and then retired, I got to look at all the mint and proof sets that had accumulated over the years. Then i finally started again around 2010. I know i missed it, but no other choice. I'm enjoying the hobby once again in my Petina (Golden/Rust) years. I love CRH and basically any coin i can get my hands on.
USN & USAF retired 1971-1993
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