Home U.S. Coin Forum

Is it possible to collect coins without being a coin geek?

I know I am "coin-chic"! image
image
«1

Comments

  • notwilightnotwilight Posts: 12,864 ✭✭✭
    Why would you want to?
  • keetskeets Posts: 25,351 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Is it possible to collect coins without being a coin geek?

    yes.
  • richardshipprichardshipp Posts: 5,647 ✭✭✭
    I don't know, what do you think???

    image
  • mgoodm3mgoodm3 Posts: 17,497 ✭✭✭
    you're not a geek, you're a dweeb
    coinimaging.com/my photography articles Check out the new macro lens testing section
  • richardshipprichardshipp Posts: 5,647 ✭✭✭


    << <i>you're not a geek, you're a dweeb >>



    That's actually not me... I thought it was Saintguru... image
  • saintgurusaintguru Posts: 7,727 ✭✭✭
    Gimme a break!

    here I am!!! image

    image
    image
  • guitarwesguitarwes Posts: 9,289 ✭✭✭
    I thought geeks were supposed to be RICH and SMART? I'd like to be called a geek if I could own a Saint like the last one you bought!


    Sticks and stones may break my bones, but Gold Saints will never break me! -Saintguru
    @ Elite CNC Routing & Woodworks on Facebook. Check out my work.
    Too many positive BST transactions with too many members to list.
  • jdsinvajdsinva Posts: 1,508
    Isn't that a tune by Wierd Al that just broke the Top Ten on the charts?
    Jeff

    image

    Semper ubi sub ubi
  • LeianaLeiana Posts: 4,349
    I am not a geek, I am a NERD thank you very much. image

    image

    image

    We're just as normal as everyone else, right? image

    -Amanda
    image

    I'm a YN working on a type set!

    My Buffalo Nickel Website Home of the Quirky Buffaloes Collection!

    Proud member of the CUFYNA
  • saintgurusaintguru Posts: 7,727 ✭✭✭


    << <i>I am not a geek, I am a NERD thank you very much. image

    image

    image

    We're just as normal as everyone else, right? image

    -Amanda >>





    Uhhhhhhhh, right?? NOT!! image
    image
  • MrEurekaMrEureka Posts: 24,391 ✭✭✭✭✭
    What about coin investors?

    Andy Lustig

    Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.

    Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
  • Moose1913Moose1913 Posts: 402 ✭✭✭
    Coin geeks, dweebs, nerds, etc., etc., etc.

    The whole lot of you!

    image
    I pick things up
    I am a collector
    And things, well things
    They tend to accumulate
  • WTCGWTCG Posts: 8,940 ✭✭✭


    << <i>I thought geeks were supposed to be RICH and SMART? I'd like to be called a geek if I could own a Saint like the last one you bought!


    Sticks and stones may break my bones, but Gold Saints will never break me! -Saintguru >>



    They can be rich and smart, but most men would trade in all that in order to have the opportunity to reproduce with a female.
    Follow me on Twitter @wtcgroup
    Authorized dealer for PCGS, PCGS Currency, NGC, NCS, PMG, CAC. Member of the PNG, ANA. Member dealer of CoinPlex and CCE/FACTS as "CH5"
  • mozeppamozeppa Posts: 4,431 ✭✭✭
    They can be rich and smart, but most men would trade in all that in order to have the opportunity to reproduce with a female.


    at this stage of the game ...i'd like to only go thru the motions withOUT the actual reproduction....and i get to pick with whom the practicing will occur with.....especially if i'm gonna be dumb and poor afterwards.
  • Karl Malone (Basketball great) collects coins... I dare you to call him a geek. ;-)
  • SanctionIISanctionII Posts: 12,510 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Who cares? Even if you are a geek, nerd, dweeb or just plain goofy, if you are good enough and work hard enough at your chosen field (i.e. coins, computers, etc.) you can become wildly successful and be statisfied with your lot in life. Heck, if you want to, you can present a high public profile and become part of the "in crowd".

    You could then probably find and get into a "relationship" with a "trophy" girlfriend, boyfriend, wife or husband if you need that sort of thing to make you feel alive and good about yourself.
  • ElcontadorElcontador Posts: 7,645 ✭✭✭✭✭
    What about coin investors?
    ¡Ellos son boludos!
    "Vou invadir o Nordeste,
    "Seu cabra da peste,
    "Sou Mangueira......."
  • WTCGWTCG Posts: 8,940 ✭✭✭


    << <i>Karl Malone (Basketball great) collects coins... I dare you to call him a geek. ;-) >>



    Karl Malone has never been a coin collector. Him showing up at a past ANA was at the persistence of his agent, Dwight Manley. Mr. Manley wanted to show Karl what his other profession was.
    Follow me on Twitter @wtcgroup
    Authorized dealer for PCGS, PCGS Currency, NGC, NCS, PMG, CAC. Member of the PNG, ANA. Member dealer of CoinPlex and CCE/FACTS as "CH5"
  • nwcsnwcs Posts: 13,386 ✭✭✭
    Of course. Unless you're like Weird Al's song White And Nerdy
  • michaelmichael Posts: 9,524 ✭✭✭
    Is it possible to collect coins without being a coin geek?


    no
  • michaelmichael Posts: 9,524 ✭✭✭
    Is it possible to randomly accumulate coins thinking you are collecting coins without being a coin geek?

    YES
  • MyqqyMyqqy Posts: 9,777
    My girlfriend is mucho beautiful, so I don't think I'm completely geekful..... image
    My style is impetuous, my defense is impregnable !
  • MisterBungleMisterBungle Posts: 2,308 ✭✭✭
    -------------------------------------
    I'm not a geek...
    I'm not a geek...
    I'm not a geek...

    Oh god, I'm a geek!!
    ------------------------------------


    "America suffers today from too much pluribus and not enough unum.".....Arthur Schlesinger Jr.

  • BaleyBaley Posts: 22,663 ✭✭✭✭✭
    We're gonna need definitions here!

    generally, the more one knows about coins, the more they're a coin geek in thee eyes of non-collectors.

    someone can collect some coins and not be any geekier than the average joe

    but if they've got books about coins, and talk online about coins, sorry guys, yer a geek

    Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry

  • Sorry, Jay...this is Nerdsville and you're precinct captain of your block image
  • Coins are Money equals Wealth

    Donald Trump..........must collect coins

    I wouldn't call him a coin geek


  • For God's sake, Jay. Are you going to keep making me upload pics to prove we're NOT COIN GEEKS??? image

    image
    The Accumulator - Dark Lloyd of the Sith

    image
  • MisterBungleMisterBungle Posts: 2,308 ✭✭✭
    -------------------------------------------
    So, who graded those girls 69's??
    -------------------------------------------
    image


    "America suffers today from too much pluribus and not enough unum.".....Arthur Schlesinger Jr.

  • 66Tbird66Tbird Posts: 2,858 ✭✭✭
    Is it possible to collect coins without being a coin geek?

    I'll have to check my pocket protector crib notes on that oneimage
    Need something designed and 3D printed?
  • Not ONE has been graded a 70 yet, that I know of!!!image
    The Accumulator - Dark Lloyd of the Sith

    image
  • fcloudfcloud Posts: 12,133 ✭✭✭✭
    Ask yourself a simple question. Do you have a written need list you take with you to coin shows?

    Yes=geek.

    No=probably you just don't have a list.

    President, Racine Numismatic Society 2013-2014; Variety Resource Dimes; See 6/8/12 CDN for my article on Winged Liberty Dimes; Ebay

  • guitarwesguitarwes Posts: 9,289 ✭✭✭


    << <i>For God's sake, Jay. Are you going to keep making me upload pics to prove we're NOT COIN GEEKS??? image

    image >>




    You're standing around enough plastic to reholder all PCGS graded coins for the next 27 years!
    @ Elite CNC Routing & Woodworks on Facebook. Check out my work.
    Too many positive BST transactions with too many members to list.
  • RichieURichRichieURich Posts: 8,531 ✭✭✭✭✭
    OK, Lloyd has proven he's not a geek. The rest of us might not have pocket protectors and our glasses taped together, but, the sad conclusion is that we must be coin geeks. Which brings up the question, how do you know if you're a coin geek?

    1. Magnifying glass attached to your glasses.
    2. Magnifying glass on lanyard around your neck.
    3. Checklist of either coins you need or coins you already have.
    4. You are able to recite the exact mintage of any coin.
    5. Carrying a Red Book or the Greysheet.
    6. You know which coins are listed in which version of the Greysheet.
    7. You can consistently determine NT vs. AT, and you know what these acronyms mean.
    8. You know what years the Philadelphia mint used the P mintmark.
    9. You know what coins were contained in each shipwreck.
    10. You know that new pennies aren't made of copper, nickels are mostly copper, and Ike "silver dollars" usually contain no silver.
    11. You meet Lloyd and his entourage and focus on Lloyd rather than the entourage.

    Anybody want to add more?

    An authorized PCGS dealer, and a contributor to the Red Book.



  • << <i>You're standing around enough plastic to reholder all PCGS graded coins for the next 27 years! >>



    simply hilarious.... im pretty sure one of those "ladies" is a man lol, and another looks like Katherine Harris!
  • Sure! Just take old MrPlatinum, for example!

    He was just so cool! yet a modest and refined gentleman!image

    But, then, he didn't really collect COINS did he?

    (Man, this thread just reeks of OFism.)
    "Wars are really ugly! They're dirty
    and they're cold.
    I don't want nobody to shoot me in the foxhole."
    Mary






    Best Franklin Website


  • << <i>-------------------------------------------
    So, who graded those girls 69's??
    -------------------------------------------
    image >>



    did someone say 69? yes please.
  • coinguy1coinguy1 Posts: 13,484 ✭✭✭
    << Is it possible to collect coins without being a coin geek?>>

    In theory, yes. Based upon what I see on this forum (myself included)? No way!imageimage
  • saintgurusaintguru Posts: 7,727 ✭✭✭


    << <i>For God's sake, Jay. Are you going to keep making me upload pics to prove we're NOT COIN GEEKS??? image

    image >>



    Coin geeks surround themselves with prostitutes.
    image
  • coinguy1coinguy1 Posts: 13,484 ✭✭✭
    <<Coin geeks surround themselves with prostitues.>>

    Jay, I don't think those women are geeks OR that Lloyd is a prostitute.image
  • CoinHuskerCoinHusker Posts: 5,033 ✭✭✭
    This is like the chess club calling out the math club to a rumble. image
    Collecting coins, medals and currency featuring "The Sower"
  • RichieURich:

    Checkmark me for your numbers 2,3,4,8 and 10. Sometimes 11 if I was at a coin auction!!image

    Jay, only you pay for that sort a thing... OF blowup, here we come...

    <<You're standing around enough plastic to...>> That, is funny!!!
    The Accumulator - Dark Lloyd of the Sith

    image
  • RichieURichRichieURich Posts: 8,531 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Lloyd, glad you enjoyed the list! Done in fun and enjoyed in fun!

    An authorized PCGS dealer, and a contributor to the Red Book.



  • << <i>They can be rich and smart, but most men would trade in all that in order to have the opportunity to reproduce with a female. >>


    Smart may not help you, but if you can get that rich part down well enough you probably won't have any problem getting that opportunity

    If you can't collect without being a geek then the Mint believes that almost 50% of the entire population of the US are coin geeks. Anyone else believe that?

    Actually In my opinion MOST of the people who collect coins are NOT coin geeks, knowing little more than what coins they still need for the collection they are putting together and MAYBE the current price of the keys they still need. Mintages, compositions, designers, varieties, grading, these are all alien to them. Even for their chosen collection. Most collectors are little more than well organized accumulators.
  • USCGCraigUSCGCraig Posts: 1,008 ✭✭
    I love watching the SCI-FI channel especially Battlestar Galactica, Dr. Who and the Stargates, I collect coins and currency, used to work at a shop part-time. I did divest myself of most of my sports cards. I read sci-fi especially the Star Wars books and the alternative history books of Harry Turtledove, S.M. Stirling and John Birmingham. I play soccer and softball and used to play pro-am beach volleyball. I recently sold a 1969 Firebird 400 convertible with a Ram Air III and fully loaded in order for my wife to go to Grad School.

    Am I a geek? I would say I am a closet geek.
    Coast Guard Craig

    Looking for Denmark 1874 20-Kroner. Please offer.
  • jedmjedm Posts: 3,128 ✭✭✭✭✭

    [WARNING- OLD THREAD ALERT]
    I love to watch Ben "The Coin Geek" on YouTube, and wanted to see how many others here enjoy him also. If you haven't seen him I recommend his channel as entertaining and informational.
    So... I just had to use the search function here and this is what I found. Quite a few posters from the old days on here.
    To answer the question, I suppose it's possible (yet highly unlikely) to be a coin collector (or as @Conder101 would say "well organized accumulators") without being thought of by non-collectors as a bit of a geek.

  • WalkerfanWalkerfan Posts: 9,645 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited April 2, 2025 10:34AM

    I don’t mind being called a coin geek or coin nerd. This is because when used in this context, it is complementary rather than derogatory. It implies knowledge and specialization. Also, most are successful financially, as well, unlike casual collectors.

    Finally, in an effort to answer the nearly 20-year-old question: Yes, I do believe it’s possible.

    Sometimes, it’s better to be LUCKY than good. 🍀 🍺👍

    My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947):

    https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/

  • BarberianBarberian Posts: 3,940 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited April 2, 2025 9:45AM

    It may be possible for others but not for me. I nerded out on coins big-time just before a football game between two 2-0 teams in front of 105,000 people.

    Division 1 football teams stay in hotels the night before games to enable them to focus on the upcoming game. Unfortunately, the motel Northwestern stayed at in Ann Arbor was across the street from a coin shop.

    I could not resist paying a visit after breakfast and creating a stir in the shop when I pointed out that all of the dealer's 1911-S Lincolns were altered 1941-Ss with a VDB on the shoulder. I left after 10 minutes without buying anything, and of course, I caught some stink-eye and harsh words from the coaches at the hotel doorway.

    Michigan played flawlessly that day and won 69-0. The game had to be stopped twice because Northwestern fans were pelting the team with apples they received in their sack lunches, and they ended up all over the field. I was partially blamed for the loss for not having my head in the right place" for the game, even though I played pretty well that day.

    I blame them for picking a hotel across the street from a coin shop.

    3 rim nicks away from Good
  • SapyxSapyx Posts: 2,335 ✭✭✭✭✭

    If we accept the premise that "coin geek" equals "numismatist", then yes, it certainly is possible to be a "coin collector" without being a "numismatist".

    • Investors "collect coins", or sometimes pay other people to collect coins for them, without knowing or caring anything about the coins except "how much is it worth".
    • Hoarders and accumulators acquire large "collections" of coins but know little if anything about any one specific coin chosen from their "collection" at random.
    • Heirs who maintain and even expand a collection out of a sense of obligation or duty, rather than because they themselves actually are interested in coins.
    Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one.
    Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, "Meditations"

    Apparently I have been awarded the DPOTD twice. B)
  • WillieBoyd2WillieBoyd2 Posts: 5,251 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Step right up, folks!

    image

    :)

    https://www.brianrxm.com
    The Mysterious Egyptian Magic Coin
    Coins in Movies
    Coins on Television

  • GuzziSportGuzziSport Posts: 156 ✭✭✭✭✭

    My girlfriend posits that the only bigger geeks than coin and stamp collectors are bird watchers… I cannot bring myself to let her know that I also enjoy watching birds.

Leave a Comment

BoldItalicStrikethroughOrdered listUnordered list
Emoji
Image
Align leftAlign centerAlign rightToggle HTML viewToggle full pageToggle lights
Drop image/file