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Coins, people, personalities, and associations.Which is greater and why?
bidask
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Are coins, pure and simple, greater than the people and personalities that make up the coin business/hobby? Or are the people, associations and personalties greater than coins, pure and simple?
In other words what really drives this mish mash of coins, coin business, coin hobby, collectors, associations, etc? Is it the pure coins or some other combination of people and personalities?
I bring up this question for it seems to me each has its own impact on the other. There are coins that can have an impact on people and personalities and there are people and personalities and associations that have an impact on coins.
Something in my gut says it is the pure coins. At least, for the most part, they continue to exist and literally stand the test of time, long after former owners, presidents, founders, associations, collectors, and innovators are dead and buried. Thoughts?
In other words what really drives this mish mash of coins, coin business, coin hobby, collectors, associations, etc? Is it the pure coins or some other combination of people and personalities?
I bring up this question for it seems to me each has its own impact on the other. There are coins that can have an impact on people and personalities and there are people and personalities and associations that have an impact on coins.
Something in my gut says it is the pure coins. At least, for the most part, they continue to exist and literally stand the test of time, long after former owners, presidents, founders, associations, collectors, and innovators are dead and buried. Thoughts?
I manage money. I earn money. I save money .
I give away money. I collect money.
I don’t love money . I do love the Lord God.
I give away money. I collect money.
I don’t love money . I do love the Lord God.
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Other times, the mystique and the hype help make the coin what it is.
Take the 1913 Liberty nickel. Obviously with five known it would always be a classic rarity, but it became larger than life numismatically with all of B. Max Mehl's hype over them. This is part of the reason, IMO, that its value is often in the mid-seven figure range, when coins with equal or greater rarity may be stuck in six figures.
Another example of a coin whose legend and lore is WAY greater than the coin itself is the 1844 Seated dime. Because of hoarding and the "Little Orphan Annie" tag the coin received, despite a very low mintage it has survived in abnormally high numbers, and the coin is very expensive relative to its availability.
For each of those there are rare and very scarce coins flying under the radar, for which there is no hype, no prominent personalities behind them, no famous stories to tell. For these pieces, the coin *is* the story.
<< <i>Something in my gut says it is the pure coins. At least, for the most part, they continue to exist and literally stand the test of time, long after former owners, presidents, founders, associations, collectors, and innovators are dead and buried. Thoughts? >>
A coin doesn't establish its own perception of its value. I'll use the 1844 dime as an example, romanticized as the "Orphan Annie" dime long ago by someone long gone, and it's still a sought-after date for that reason. The 1846 is just as scarce, but lists for half the price in the guides.
A coin also doesn't have very good social skills. Granted, neither do some dealers and collectors, but part of the pleasure most derive from this hobby is the interaction with others of a similar interest. If all collectors needed to be hermits, there wouldn't be much of a hobby passed on to others.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
It may be a reasonable set of facts that cause this to happen , but as the saying goes "freedom of the press belongs to those who own one", large dealers can use their microphone quite effectively which causes the bandwagon effect to go into high gear and the small guys/gals want to get in on it.
So personalities and people are the greater, without them we would just spend our coins and turn in old ones for new ones, which is what happened in 1857.
On the other side when gold was banned from private ownership in 1932, I think an instant collectable was born.
The court jester does not play, but gently pulls the strings…