collecting coins: is it a "hobby" or an "industry"?

dorkkarl · August 29, 2003 5:16AM

simple question.

K S

Placid · August 29, 2003 5:17AM

Hobby for true collectors. Industry for most dealers.

jadecoin · August 29, 2003 5:19AM

Hobby

FatMan · August 29, 2003 5:20AM

When we used to pull coins out of circulation to fill holes in whitman books it was a hobby. When we began pulling out the checkbook to add to collection it became an industry.

kamehameha00 · August 29, 2003 5:20AM

what placid said

EVillageProwler · August 29, 2003 5:20AM

It is both hobby and industry. That's the way it is when there is big money as well as little money being thrown around. It's inevitable; it's human nature.

EVP

Cam40 · August 29, 2003 5:23AM

doesnt it depend on what side of the table your standing on?

MrEureka · August 29, 2003 5:24AM

"Collecting coins" is OBVIOUSLY a hobby. Dealing in coins is an industry.

You know, there's also a bowling industry and a camping industry.

ccrdragon · August 29, 2003 5:24AM

Both - just like previously said. For the collector it's a hobby, but with peeps throwing big bucks around, it has become and industry to a lot of people...

ScarsdaleCoin · August 29, 2003 5:26AM

The bright side...unlike going bowling or golf...at the end of the day you still have something left!

cladking · August 29, 2003 5:29AM

A hobby is what the individual does and an industry is what collectors do in aggregate.
Though to some it is first, foremost, and always a way to earn a living or to make money
and to others it can be a livelihood and a ton of fun. So long as anyone is willing to pay
more than face/melt or buy coin supplies then it will be an industry too.

mgoodm3 · August 29, 2003 6:25AM

I've never sold a coin. That presumably makes it a hobby for me. If you sell a coin to buy a coin I suppose that you could still claim hobby. When you start to make a living from selling it becomes more of an industry for you.

Robgetty · August 29, 2003 6:26AM

Both: What you get out of it depends on what you put in to it.

Fairlaneman · August 29, 2003 6:41AM

yes and yes...simple answer.

Ken

tjkillian · August 29, 2003 6:58AM

All depends upon whom you talk. For me, it is an additictive hobby, while others making coin books would call it an industry. Both are right.

Tom

wallstreetman · August 29, 2003 7:01AM

Thats all determined when the coin is bought! Was it for you to keep or make a commission?

beorn · August 29, 2003 7:09AM

in my case its an addiction

291fifth · August 29, 2003 7:52AM

Most collectors would like it to be a hobby. Unfortunately, when substantial money is involved it takes on being an industry whether the collector likes it or not. I recently went thru my collection and pulled out about 20 coins, very nice ones at that, that were in market unacceptable slabs. They are now being crossed over at "any" grade. If I were viewing coin collecting as purely a hobby I wouldn't have cared what holder they were in. Unfortunately, they do involve significant money so future salability is important.

keets · August 29, 2003 8:05AM

hey Karl

it's a hobby but it's grown to the point where it involves quite a few various industries on a moderate level. i work in the plastic industry myself, and we all know how that's involved in the hobby. things have evolved into big money and bigger business.

al h.

stujoe · August 29, 2003 8:27AM

Simple answer...it depends upon the people doing the buying and selling.

coinkat · August 29, 2003 9:27AM

dorkkarl:

I think you know the answer to your own question.

barberlover · August 29, 2003 9:34AM

Its a racket to Littleton and Acuchump, It's an industry to most honost dealers and its a hobby to me.

Les

Nic · August 29, 2003 9:47AM

What Andy and Barberlover said. "That's Life, ....". K

kranky · August 29, 2003 9:51AM

<< <i>Hobby for true collectors. Industry for most dealers. >>

Agreed.

My grandfather, a button collector, came up with a way to make buttons from coal and watch crystals. He'd trade them to other collectors for buttons he wanted. He told me many times how button collecting was a fun hobby because the difference between a common old button and a rare one was no more than about $20, and there wasn't enough money in it for sharks to get involved.

He died, and my grandmother who by then had the collection died a few years later. One of my grandmother's long-time button collecting friends (a nice elderly lady) suggested to my parents that a particular midwest antique dealer who dealt in buttons might buy the collection intact, and my parents sold it to that dealer. Some research after the fact revealed the dealer auctioned the collection off and probably took in 10x what my parents were paid. I suspect the nice elderly lady either got a finder's fee or the equivalent in buttons out of the set. Even later we found out my grandfather's homemade buttons were listed in a couple catalogs and were considered collectible!

As Placid said, a hobby for true collectors, but an industry for most dealers (and some collectors as well).

lordmarcovan · August 29, 2003 9:54AM

What Placid said.

<< <i>Hobby for true collectors. Industry for most dealers. >>

In other words, it's both.

jadecoin · August 29, 2003 10:14AM

It is both and either, which is good. But I fear, it may becoming too much industry and not enough hobby.

collecting coins: is it a "hobby" or an "industry"?

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collecting coins: is it a &quot;hobby&quot; or an &quot;industry&quot;?

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collecting coins: is it a "hobby" or an "industry"?