The tiering of a collection: My attempt at visualizing my collection in concentric circles

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Boosibri
Boosibri Posts: 12,715 ✭✭✭✭✭
in World & Ancient Coins Forum

I often have thought of my collection as a series of concentric circles.

The inner circle the "Core" of the collection. Sell on coin and you are in effect abandoning the set. They are the "Pillars" holding up the structure.

The second circle are exceptional coins. Special and generally irreplaceable still but are not those which define the set.

The Third circle are the amplifiers which give depth to the set as a whole.

The Fourth and final circle fill in the collection to give further depth and completeness to the story being told.

Here is my mornings attempt at visualizing my set.

Latin American Collection

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  • coinkat
    coinkat Posts: 24,542 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Well done- Just curious if you are using Trueviews or your own pictures?

    Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.

  • Boosibri
    Boosibri Posts: 12,715 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    @coinkat said:
    Well done- Just curious if you are using Trueviews or your own pictures?

    Both, just quick circle crop cut and paste.

    Latin American Collection

  • Boosibri
    Boosibri Posts: 12,715 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    You spent time on that @pruebas

    Latin American Collection

  • pruebas
    pruebas Posts: 5,285 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    I think I'm at circle 6 already.

  • MrEureka
    MrEureka Posts: 24,778 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    @pruebas said:
    I think I'm at circle 6 already.

    Don’t sweat it. I’m a coin dealer, so…

    Andy Lustig

    Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.

    Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
  • Boosibri
    Boosibri Posts: 12,715 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Well, I sourced or had representation from @MrEureka for 24 of the 54 coins imaged. I wonder how that fact fits into the toilet analogy?

    Latin American Collection

  • realeswatcher
    realeswatcher Posts: 538 ✭✭✭✭
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    @Boosibri said:
    I wonder how that fact fits into the toilet analogy?

    That's a sink... flush down the toilet is kicking it up a notch, no?

    With the current trajectory of Latin American coinage, I suspect none of your plumbing is draining anytime soon!

  • Boosibri
    Boosibri Posts: 12,715 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    @realeswatcher said:

    @Boosibri said:
    I wonder how that fact fits into the toilet analogy?

    That's a sink... flush down the toilet is kicking it up a notch, no?

    With the current trajectory of Latin American coinage, I suspect none of your plumbing is draining anytime soon!

    My mistake

    Latin American Collection

  • pruebas
    pruebas Posts: 5,285 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited May 2, 2026 8:36PM
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    I was just having a little fun at your expense @Boosibri. It was really a very ingenious idea, and cool photo (though too small to appreciate the coins).

    I have thought similarly about my collection, but I have always likened it to a tree.

    The main branch is Mexican patterns. Then, for example, I hit a something like a pattern made by Charles Pillet, I branch off to find other interesting things (other country's patterns, or sometimes rare regular issues) made by Pillet. Or maybe there are no obtainable patterns for something like Pillar Dollars, so I branch off and collect some cool type coins that can represent Pillars in my collection. All those branches serve to add depth to the collection as you mentioned (and like a real tree, they sometimes grow too big and need to be trimmed).

    Sometimes when a branch grows too big (ie. Soho Mint) and it bends down to take root and start its own new tree. Now I have Soho Mint patterns for not only North America, but diverse countries like Denmark, Brazil, Russia, and India. Or I have cap & rays topical coins from the USA and some other countries.

    It's an affliction I tell you!

    And occasionally I buy something cool that is totally apart from what I normally collect--a British or French gold medal, or a Danish abolitionist medal. How do they fit into the above model? I guess they are the weeds growing under the tree.

  • Plus00Vltra
    Plus00Vltra Posts: 127 ✭✭✭
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    I thought these were electron orbitals at first glance; 2, 8, 8, 18...

  • MEJ7070
    MEJ7070 Posts: 954 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    I think this is cool @boosibri. Neat concept. I can’t take my eyes of the volcano peso in the center ring.

    If I were to attempt something like this with my collection at the moment it would look like one of Russell Crowe’s window drawings from A Beautiful Mind.

  • Boosibri
    Boosibri Posts: 12,715 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited May 3, 2026 6:27AM
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    @pruebas said:
    I was just having a little fun at your expense @Boosibri. It was really a very ingenious idea, and cool photo (though too small to appreciate the coins).

    I have thought similarly about my collection, but I have always likened it to a tree.

    The main branch is Mexican patterns. Then, for example, I hit a something like a pattern made by Charles Pillet, I branch off to find other interesting things (other country's patterns, or sometimes rare regular issues) made by Pillet. Or maybe there are no obtainable patterns for something like Pillar Dollars, so I branch off and collect some cool type coins that can represent Pillars in my collection. All those branches serve to add depth to the collection as you mentioned (and like a real tree, they sometimes grow too big and need to be trimmed).

    Sometimes when a branch grows too big (ie. Soho Mint) and it bends down to take root and start its own new tree. Now I have Soho Mint patterns for not only North America, but diverse countries like Denmark, Brazil, Russia, and India. Or I have cap & rays topical coins from the USA and some other countries.

    It's an affliction I tell you!

    And occasionally I buy something cool that is totally apart from what I normally collect--a British or French gold medal, or a Danish abolitionist medal. How do they fit into the above model? I guess they are the weeds growing under the tree.

    Nice post and also think of the Tree analogy for mine but it’s more like a trunk with some scraggly branches likely to fall off in a 20mi/hr wind. Makes tons of sense as an analogy though.

    Latin American Collection

  • 291fifth
    291fifth Posts: 25,218 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Tone down the light level of the lines. They are too bright and attract too much attention. The coins should be the focus.

    All glory is fleeting.
  • MrEureka
    MrEureka Posts: 24,778 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    @pruebas said:
    I was just having a little fun at your expense @Boosibri. It was really a very ingenious idea, and cool photo (though too small to appreciate the coins).

    I have thought similarly about my collection, but I have always likened it to a tree.

    The main branch is Mexican patterns. Then, for example, I hit a something like a pattern made by Charles Pillet, I branch off to find other interesting things (other country's patterns, or sometimes rare regular issues) made by Pillet. Or maybe there are no obtainable patterns for something like Pillar Dollars, so I branch off and collect some cool type coins that can represent Pillars in my collection. All those branches serve to add depth to the collection as you mentioned (and like a real tree, they sometimes grow too big and need to be trimmed).

    Sometimes when a branch grows too big (ie. Soho Mint) and it bends down to take root and start its own new tree. Now I have Soho Mint patterns for not only North America, but diverse countries like Denmark, Brazil, Russia, and India. Or I have cap & rays topical coins from the USA and some other countries.

    It's an affliction I tell you!

    And occasionally I buy something cool that is totally apart from what I normally collect--a British or French gold medal, or a Danish abolitionist medal. How do they fit into the above model? I guess they are the weeds growing under the tree.

    Andy Lustig

    Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.

    Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
  • coinkat
    coinkat Posts: 24,542 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Being There or should I write been there

    Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.

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