POLL: have you ever quit collecting, then started again? UPDATE: RE-READ THE OP

CertifiedGoldCoins · January 12, 2009 3:26AM

I noticed a few Forum members on another Topic who quit coins, then came back. I'll start off by saying that my first collection started when I was 13, then I quit, and started in 1959. I then kept at it for about 20 years, got divorced and sold all but one coin. Started again a couple of years later, and I've been at it ever since.

edited to add: After looking at the results (131 responses), it appears that a large majority (over 60%) of collectors take a long break (a year or more) from coins, with another 20% doing so more than once. I found the reasons given to be extremely interesting, sometimes economic, lifestyle, educational.

But overwhelmingly, the most common story involved starting as a young person, then moving on to other things, until getting interested again. This hobby needs to keep Y/Ns interested, somehow.

I've done some things in that regard at my kid's school, and here's an excellent example of what can be done: LINK There are other things that can be done. Give away a few coin folders, a book, or a subscription. Take your kid, and one of his/her friends along to a coin show, instead of going alone. Let's do something, instead of bemoaning the fact that few young people are seen at coin shows. Other ideas? Post them, maybe someone else will follow your suggestion.

End of editorial.

sweetwilliet · January 12, 2009 3:36AM

I collected as a child, then quit for about 15 years, and started back with a refined taste in what I wanted.

McDonis · January 12, 2009 3:38AM

I quit collecting in 2006 and didnt pick it up again until last month.

LanLord · January 12, 2009 3:39AM

quit? No, slowed down for a decade or more at a time? A couple times.

MidLifeCrisis · January 12, 2009 3:39AM

I collected as a teenager in the late 70s and early 80s. I quit for many years. I got back into the hobby about six years ago.

RYK · January 12, 2009 3:47AM

<< I collected as a teenager in the late 70s and early 80s. I quit for many years. I got back into the hobby about six years ago. >>

Same here, almost to the day.

My entry back in was in fits and starts until I got serious about seven years ago.

Bayard1908 · January 12, 2009 3:47AM

I quit for many years: college, graduate school, law school, etc. I now expect to collect for the rest of my life.

saintguru · January 12, 2009 3:49AM

<< 

<< I collected as a teenager in the late 70s and early 80s. I quit for many years. I got back into the hobby about six years ago. >>

Same here, almost to the day.

My entry back in was in fits and starts until I got serious about seven years ago. >>

Same here. I started when I was about 6 (1960!

) and kept at it until around 1969.

Then I found that I could sell my 6 best IHC's for two bags of weed.

That was it until around 2001.

BillyKingsley · January 12, 2009 3:50AM

That is a tough question for me to answer. Both yes and no would be correct. For a very, very brief time in 1995 (when I was 11) I collected. I didn't know what mint marks were, and I don't even know if I paid attention to the year. I just went for whatever was super shiny. That apparently meant new because I had a binder with three pages of those cardboard 2x2s. In that time period I also got a handfull of foreign coins from a science store in the Danbury (CT) mall. They, as well as the shiny new 1995 editions, and other odditys made it into the binder. However, since I didn't know anything, and wasn't at it in any real sort/sence of the word, I don't really count that. A false start if you will.

I only figured it to be 1995 because that is the latest year of the coins in the book. There was one quarter, dime and cent. No Nickel.

Also around that time I was given a few classic pieces, like a nearly worn smooth 1853 dime and some early 1900s nickels. They also went in the binder.

But it stopped around 1995. BUT....

at some point between 1995-2008 I purchased, somewhere ( I don't know where) three 1909 Lincolns, two 1909 Indians and a highly worn Spanish coin from 1870. I don't know when or where I got them but I found them in my dresser drawer earlier last year. (I think one of the Lincolns has been cleaned-his face has turned purpleish) The two Indians cost me $1.50 each and the three Lincolns .50 each.

I also collected the State Quarters as they came out, putting each one into a Littleton folder.

But, I don't really consider myself becoming a true coin collector until May of last year. (2008). Several things happened around that time: My first visit to a coin shop, my first efforts to learn about coins, my first reference purchases, and my first attempt to sort coins by year. That led to me joining this board and trying to learn as much as I could. I would say that I am officially a coin collector now, where I was not before.

Also, of note-I have always saved Wheat cents and any and all foreign monies I have come across-mostly Canadian. I don't think that counts though, I didn't even bother putting them all in one central location. I'm not even sure now if I've hunted down all that I have saved.

mirabela · January 12, 2009 3:53AM

I quit from about 1982 till 1986, then again from 1988 to 1994, then again from 1995 to 1999, and since then it's been sort of seasonal for me. I tend to get really excited about it in the winter and forget about it in the warmer months in favor of outdoor puruits.

tmcsr69 · January 12, 2009 3:56AM

I can't say I quit as much as put things on the back burner. When you work 70 hours per week and have a family with 6 active kids, it doesn't leave much time for hobbies. I never really quit, I just wasn't active for a long period of time.

500Bay · January 12, 2009 3:58AM

I quit twice due to school, money, and other priorities. I imagine I am in now for the long haul.

lordmarcovan · January 12, 2009 4:23AM

I did once drop out, for several years. Here is a summary of my numismatic history, if anybody cares.

I started on Thanksgiving Day of 1976, at age ten and a half, after finding a steel cent and a 1936 Merc dime in my grandmother's silverware drawer while I was setting the table.

I dropped out around 1984, when I graduated high school and went off to college (at the time, I had a serious Dungeons & Dragons affliction).

I kept a modest, casual interest from the sidelines in the interim, from '84 until the early '90s, but I didn't jump back in until about '91 or '92, just after my first marriage and the birth of my son. Those were lean hand-to-mouth days and my Darkside interests really took root then, as did my metal detecting, which I had also started back in the late '70s. Darkside coins and dug coins are lovely because they provide a lot of historical interest and don't cost much out of pocket.

After the first marriage crumbled in a pathetic story of debt and divorce, and I moved back to GA from NC, I amped up my metal detecting and then got into the Dansco 7070 type set thing. This eventually morphed into a slabbed type set.

1999 brought me to eBay, and the eBay coin chat boards, where my latent knowledge grew considerably from actually having contact with other collectors. (I met oreville there). Shortly afterward, my slab set morphed into a PCGS Registry Set, and in 2001 I came here.

The rest, as we say, is history.

BillJones · January 12, 2009 4:37AM

I've never stopped collecting coins after I started to collect at 10 years of age. The closest I ever came to stopping was during the time I went back to graduate school full time. I didn't have any extra money so I couldn't buy any coins, but I didn't sell my collection. I still read and looked at my collection, but it went no where for the better part of a year. As soon as I graduated, however, and got my first job right out of school, I was back at it!

ziggy29 · January 12, 2009 4:46AM

I don't know that I've ever really "quit" per se, but I've had several long stretches where I didn't pay too much attention and bought very little.

Today I'm paying attention, even though of late I've bought very little -- the Potential Unemployment Defense Fund is being accumulated.

mommam17 · January 12, 2009 4:47AM

I started in 1968 and collected to about 1984. Totally quit and in 1990 sold 75% of my collection. Came back in 1998 and I`m having a great time collecting. PCGS, NGC, and CAC have made it MUCH better for me.

DennisH · January 12, 2009 4:51AM

I collected when I was a kid, up until about high school when sports, cars and girls became priorities. I didn't get back in until about 25 years later. I sure missed a lot of excitement and opportunities during that period.

Boom · January 12, 2009 4:53AM

Warning* This is HIGHLY ADDICTIVE! Once started it gets in your" Blood" and is almost impossible to quit!

Type2 · January 12, 2009 4:56AM

Ever day when I go to sleep Just to start over it's like the movie groundhog day.

19Lyds · January 12, 2009 4:58AM

I've never truely quit but admit that I have gotten severly "distracted" at times.

droopyd · January 12, 2009 5:17AM

i quit a few times, due to lack of time, money or both.

Bcsican · January 12, 2009 6:06AM

I started and quit so many times if I still had all the coins silver and gold I bought would never have to work again by selling a few at a time...

slinc · January 12, 2009 6:10AM

My exwife collected coins abit so when we were dating in the early 90's i used to buy her coins here and there which i kept doing periodically after we were married which eventually led me to have an interest myself, so when we got divorced in 03 we divided up the collection. after 6 months of running around like i was 21 again i got myself into debt and arranged to sell my coins to a dealer, he gave me a fair price and i told him i was done collecting to which he replied that i had the bug and would be back and how right he was, a few months later i was on vacation and spied a coin store i bought a pretty nice 1828 half cent and a few other pieces and have been seriously collecting ever since.

lasvegasteddy · January 12, 2009 6:15AM

started when i was 6 in 68'...quit when i was 13...all were sold

picked back up when i was 22 till 29...took a loss but birth of a child with no insurance bites...oh well...all were sold

currently bowed back in at 43...i'm 46 now but due to finances...i'm on the side of late with last purchase being paid off next month...at least i'll keep all my coins this time till i've got some disposable income again...later this year

my taste have greatly improved and i'm happy about that as the coins i sit with...i'm happy i got um

shorecoll · January 12, 2009 6:23AM

I am a serial entrepreneur. I have stopped collecting and sold everything to fund start-ups 3 times. This current time was the only time it was probably worth it. The time that breaks my heart was in the early 90's, I sold about $30k worth of stuff that would cost at least $300k to replace and I'm too cheap to do that even if I had the money. I was smart enough to buy nice early type, just not smart enough to hold on to it.

GrumpyEd · January 12, 2009 6:45AM

<< I collected as a child, then quit for about 15 years, and started back with a refined taste in what I wanted. >>

That's about what I did. In the 70s I got busy with other things but still tossed some wheaties in my jar. Years later I started back full steam.

ChrisRx · January 12, 2009 6:50AM

Started collecting around 8-ish stopped around 14 picked it up again at 20. I am sure I'll have to quit again for school/buy a condo.

anablep · January 12, 2009 6:51AM

I never really quit. I just slowed down for a while to the point where I accumulated some material here & there but not actively.

cladking · January 12, 2009 6:58AM

I went through a prolonged lull between '65 and '72. It was a combination
of the old coins disappearing from circulation and a preoccupation with "other"
things. I sold my buffalo nickel collection but did still keep looking at circulat-
ing coinage.

Raybo · January 12, 2009 7:49AM

dogwood · January 12, 2009 9:19AM

As a Kid early 70's, cheap stuff, circ stuff.
1983-85 Washington and Franklin, then Barbers.
2005-present, Barbers.

Fairlaneman · January 12, 2009 9:33AM

Started collecting in 1981 which is the year my mother gave me her "Tavern Coin Collection" that was made up from finds from the tavern cash register which she owned. Stayed in collecting hot and heavy untill the latter part of 1988 and then sold everything I could find. Cold turkey from the hobby from 1989 untill 1998 I think it was. Thanksgiving weekend of 1998 I went to the Salem, Oregon coin show and was and still am hooked again. The hobby is certainly much different now compared to 1981.

Ken

Louis · January 12, 2009 9:48AM

I was born a poor white child, I collected tin cans.

53BKid · January 20, 2009 11:52PM

I quit in the late 70s -- buy prices collapsed, though sell prices remained high, and my trust for my local B&M guy vanished. Bold-faced lying was what did it for me.

garsmith · January 21, 2009 12:02AM

I haven't realy quit, but for almost three years my colection has grown mainly from my US Mint purchases. Not many purchases outside of there, a few but not like before when I had 2-3 set additions or upgrades each week.

intence · January 21, 2009 12:11AM

i agree there are certain periods where i had to slow down because of more important priorities

collegecoincollector · January 21, 2009 12:41AM

I get a Redbook every year for christmas. I know I must have quit / slowed down because I don't have any dated 2001 or 2002. I may have still been collecting at the time but it wasn't to an extent that my parents noticed.

CertifiedGoldCoins · January 21, 2009 3:11AM

please read the revised OP. Thanks!

1Mike1 · January 21, 2009 3:30AM

I think it's easy to get youngsters interested in coin collecting but it's difficult to have someone in their teens, twenties, thirties intersted in something other than the opposite sex, having children, and providing for their families. Once your settled it's easy to get back into collecting.

Tryfaen · January 21, 2009 3:36AM

I quit collecting in my teens(High School stuff then Military) and just got back into collecting a decade later. I pulled out my collection and was happy to find out it has just about doubled in value. I am back in the hobby again and hope I stick to it this time.

CertifiedGoldCoins · January 21, 2009 3:43AM

Tryfaen!

BlindedByEgo · January 21, 2009 4:06AM

I never really quit since childhood, but there have been several extended quiet periods.

McDonis · January 21, 2009 4:06AM

"But overwhelmingly, the most common story involved starting as a young person, then moving on to other things, until getting interested again. This hobby needs to keep Y/Ns interested, somehow."

Ok here is my two cents as to why.....

1. By an large the hobby is dominated by older men who have enough disposiable incomesavings to bid up nice items to sums well in excess for the kid or the 20-30 something. (with exceptions of course)

2. The image of this hobby is a reflection of its core members thus young people dont see themselves or their peers doing what we are doing.

3. By and large venues (especially this one) where young folks could go to be on par with their elders are turned away by an elitist attitude of some.

4. No idol to worship... There just isnt any pop icon or tv star who hypes his coin collection. Lots of folks in the 18-35 bracket are swayed by popular culture. Since its not talked about where they live they dont even think about it.

5. The look and feel of stores, online shops, and the people you meet are typically geared towards the main coin purchasing audience. Which is in reality is older men, so young folks feel out of place and not as welcome.

lcoopie · January 21, 2009 4:23AM

collected in the 60s with my Dad
restarted when he passed away, 4 years ago
and I had to figure out what to do with the "stuff"

TwoSides2aCoin · January 21, 2009 4:47AM

I got in and out a few times. Disenchanted by the lack of good looking babes, I strayed into other things like Bookstores, Grocery Chains, and Starbucks coffee houses.
This is where I cherrypick my statehood quarters.

I reserve the right to remove my post before the children get home from school.

Mark · January 21, 2009 4:48AM

CertifiedGoldCoins:

I followed the link in your post to the thread about teaching in a local school. I did the same when my kids were in the 1st and 2nd grades by teaching a 6-week session on coin collecting during their class's "hobby" time. It was really fun. I realize that few students of those that took my session will actually take to collecting...but one can always dream that the seeds I planted will grow. Aside from my own kids, I had/have most hope for a young Black girl who really seemed to enjoy the time and the process of finding pennies to put in the penny book I gave her. I hope that when she is older and able to do so that this seed will sprout and she'll become a collector.

Additionally I went to the FUN show a couple of weeks back. Though I spent very little time there, it really seemed to me that the average age of the public was younger than in the past. That's not to say that there were a bunch of 18- and 19-year olds roaming the bourse but there did seem to be more than a handful. There also seemed to be a lot of people in their 30s, which I think is clearly younger than the average FUN participant. So perhaps coin collecting still has a future.

cladking · January 21, 2009 5:18AM

<< I quit collecting in my teens(High School stuff then Military) and just got back into collecting a decade later. I pulled out my collection and was happy to find out it has just about doubled in value. I am back in the hobby again and hope I stick to it this time.

>>

Welcome aboard.

It's hard to keep young men and women interested in coins
and I doubt this will ever change.

It goes twice over for men and most coin collectors are boys
or men.

SeaEagleCoins · January 21, 2009 5:59AM

<< 

<< 

<< I collected as a teenager in the late 70s and early 80s. I quit for many years. I got back into the hobby about six years ago. >>

Same here, almost to the day.

My entry back in was in fits and starts until I got serious about seven years ago. >>

Same here. I started when I was about 6 (1960!

) and kept at it until around 1969.

Then I found that I could sell my 6 best IHC's for two bags of weed.

That was it until around 2001.

>>

Sounds a bit like my story...

(we're even the same age Jay

)

Started with my grandfather at around 5 or 6... then worked in a Coin Shop during 1st year of Jr. high (now they call it Middle School)... it was 1969... ALOT going on... coming of age became much more important... as the saying became...Sex, Drugs and Rock N Roll...

Then, after I had settled back down a bit... cut my hair (most of it is gone now

) and put away my tie-dyes... stepped off the bus, so to speak... in 2001 I saw an ad for the Buffalo Commem... the Buff was my absolute Favorite coin back in the day... so I ordered the 2-coin set and once it was "in-hand" the bug was officially caught... and I quickly made up for lost time...

mrearlygold · January 21, 2009 6:44AM

After sooooooo many years, I decided to pack it in for a while. I was traveling almost every week back and forth, forth and back to NYC that I almost rented an apartment there for a year. But I was given such a great deal on a suite at the Grammercy Park Hotel ( this is before it was renovated and taken over by Ian Schrader ? ) that it didn't make any sense. Then I started doing international travel. From the moment I touched down in Saigon I knew this 2 weeks was not going to be the extent of my travels there.

I did quite a bit of traveling in the South but before I went I had been in touch with a guy, a Canadian who owned a company there and had relocated there full time. I was on my way to Phan Thiet which is about a 3 hour drive up the coast from Saigon and I decided to pay this guy a visit before I left. One of his office staff openned the door for me and wham, what a smile! What a beautiful person she was ( is ). I went to Phan Thiet and couldn't stop thinking about her. When I got back to Saigon a few days later I asked her out on a date. Forget it. No way she said. I was a "bad man" and no way. Hmmmm, well there was no way I was taking no for an answer either but there was a limited amount of time so I went all out with the little hand written notes, flowers, etc. Remember the movie Good Morning Vietnam? Kronhour ( sp ? ) finally got a shot to see that lady and when he went to see her the whole family was there? Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Brothers, Sisters, Parents?

Well that happend to me. And it happened only 2 days before I was returning to the States. Dayum! I was smitten too, smitten down. Got back to Wellington Fl a couple days later and immediately called the travel agent. Get me another visa! And within a few weeks I flew back to Vietnam. Then back to the USA. Then back to Vietnam, then back to the US. I did this 7 times all in the span of a year until finally I realized how crazy this was and so I decided to move there full time. I did that in mid 2001 and stayed. Lived in Saigon, then had an ocean front place in Vungtau. I became the first American individual to sign a free trade agreement of sorts with a government entity there. That happened after 9/11. Everyone was so accomodating and it became the type of story I could write a book about . I did run "Buying Coin Collections" ads in the local papers for almost a year. I never met Howard Daniels who last time I heard was living there.

Long story short, we moved to Thailand, traveled a number of times to other countries and places, all over south Vietnam, then to Maylasia, several places in Thailand, ( lived in Thailand for 10 months ) China, HK, several stopovers in Taiwan but never really did anything there. And except for a 4 month period when I had to return to kick start my business while we awaited immigration we have not be apart for more than a few hours. She's my partner now , not just in the coin business but in life.

Life's an adventure sometimes and sometimes you have to take a chance. That was the closest I came to leaving this business . I could never stop collecting though. Never.

POLL: have you ever quit collecting, then started again? UPDATE: RE-READ THE OP

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POLL: have you ever quit collecting, then started again? **UPDATE: RE-READ THE OP **

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POLL: have you ever quit collecting, then started again? UPDATE: RE-READ THE OP