Hoarding? Good or bad?

keoj · February 3, 2006 1:38AM

A couple of questions just to see where peoples heads are at on this topic:

- What is the definition of hoard? For example, I know a guy (yes, and its not me) that owns 66% of the known population of a MS variety. Does this consitute a hoard? Is it based on % of total population?

- Does anyone begrudge people who hoard for sport or pleasure?

- Does anyone know of any extremely high end hoards in existence (other than the grouping of 33's that was just turned in) that people have collected?

keoj

Hyperion · February 3, 2006 1:56AM

all I know is a typically hoarder will be found when they're in thier 80s and a large stack of papers falls on them and traps 'em.

not an attractive thought.

Rampage · February 3, 2006 2:23AM

I once had a hoard of well over 150 1979-P Wide Rim SBA $. All were uncs, and some were PCGS graded. Since that time, my hoard has been depleted and I only have maybe 5 raw ones and two PCGS MS66 left. I will be selling the raw ones on eBay when I get around to it.

I am now starting to hoard another variety (but my lips are sealed on that one).

To me, if you have more than a few of a certain date/mm/variety, then that constitutes a hoard. Do I dislike people who hoard, no way. To me, I enjoy the variety and I enjoy the chase of the variety. I gain pleasure by hoarding.

BECOKA · February 3, 2006 2:55AM

Does hoarding 1 of each date of a rare series count? Basically this would amount to a good % of the coins available.

cladking · February 3, 2006 6:35AM

It doesn't matter if it's good or bad since people are going to do it.

It's good in the sense that it provides coins (new or old) for the future and that it establishes
a floor value for them as the accumulator continues to pursue them. It's bad inasmuch as the
entire hoard might be destroyed or lost and in that when it is dispersed it can cause a price drop.

AU58WALKERS · February 3, 2006 7:44AM

I have a large hoard of ammo for my ak47's. Does that count?

ColonialCoinUnion · February 3, 2006 8:32AM

This was my answer in a similar thread about hoarding a few weeks ago - I'm pretty proud of that line about the Tahitian girl, so I'm just going to fire it up again verbatim:

I think a lot of people imagine themselves making a killing by hoarding some rare coin and then holding the market hostage as they release them 1 by 1 for huge prices, buy a large luxury yacht and retire at age 41 in the tropics with a young Tahitian girl who wears a bra made of two seashells.

The reality is that most people who do try to hoard pick items that aren't that rare, they buy examples of the coins enthusiastically for a while, then realize that corning the market on some of this stuff is impossible and ridiculous and not that much fun and so they give up, but when they do give up they just unload everything all at once and take a huge bath trying to liquidate 100 of something at one time, which is no longer a hoard but a glut.

Peaceman · February 3, 2006 9:00AM

Used to be the 1928 Peace $ for me.... Some members here have some really nice coins.... at one time I think I had about 86 of them in PCGS holders..all in MS and white to blast white.... At the very end of my hoarding, I had a cert. list of about 300 coins that were dogs because I ran into the same junk all too often... also, at that time, I couldn't find ONE blast MS-64 28 Peace $ for sale let alone ANY 28 for sale.... look now and you can find plenty of them.... I think I cornered the market and helped bump the price of them up... I remember buying 64's for $650 all day long...

Now my sickness is Peace $ VAM's.... and it's much worse....

CharlieB · February 3, 2006 9:03AM

Hoarding? Good or bad? You make the call.

A friend of mine wound down his series collecting of copper, some years ago. I would see him at the coin shows all the time. He then started collecting only one coin - chain cents. He had many of them. It was something to see. He knew his chain cents.

My mom's supervisor at a Department store in the 1950's collected only 1932 quarters P,D and S from the store's cash registers. She had been doing this for years and had a bunch of them and kept them all in a cigar box. I know, I saw them. I tried to get one but she wouldn't part with any.

An elderly man I knew had a small hoard of 1909-S-VDB's. He told me his father saved them and he just carried on the collecting tradition. He had many of them and was leaving them to his children who he said would sell them off slowly. Sadly, he could not get one of his children interested in collecting.

Another friend of mine collects only silver dollars and US gold. One day he showed me several high grade mint state 1921 Peace dollars with high-point detail. It isn't every day you get an opportunity to compare coins like these in front of you side by side. 1921 was the year his mom was born. Personally, I have a nice collection of uncirculated Isabella quarters. If I am at a show and see an eye catching toned Isabella that strikes me and for the right price I will add it to my collection. I happen to like the coin's features, the way it got promoted and the history that surrounds the 1893 World's Fair. I always liked series collecting but over the years I became burned out on this method of collecting and this new type of collecting has given me a lot of enjoyment.

It is a wonderful opportunity to compare features, varities, strikes, patinas, etc. when you have several examples of the same coin all out in front of you.

We have all heard of some hoarders trying to corner the market on a few very low population coins.

Now, are any of you hoarders? If not then maybe you have duplicates, triplicates, etc. of the same coin because you just couldn't pass them up when they were for sale? If so, you may be on your way to hoarding a particular coin and don't even realize it yet!

- Charlie B -

au58 · February 3, 2006 9:44AM

If someone holds 2 of 3 (66%) of something, that is probably not hoarding. Holding 2000 of 3000 is hoarding.

michael · February 3, 2006 10:15AM

hoarding collector coins is okie

hoarding toilet paper and food when there is a shortage is not okie

RYK · November 4, 2009 11:55PM

I am contemplating starting "hoards" of two completely different coins:

One is a very rare coin, fewer than 20 known, but esoteric and extremely interesting. Unfortunately, these are rather expensive. It is doubtful that any collector ever had more than two examples in his/her collection. It is one of my favorite designs, and having one is such a thrill that I think the thrill may be exponential if I had multiples.

The other is a relatively common coin, with estimates of 4000 or so examples in existence. It is one of the best struck examples of a longstanding series featuring another of my favorite designs. It has beauty, intrinsic value (gold), and other numismatically significant features. I owned one for several years, sold it in one of my purges, and missed it so much that I recently (finally!) bought another one. These are generally available, though as with most 19th century gold coins, nice ones are difficult to find in collector grader as so many have been ruined. If I purchased two each year for ten years, which is very doable, it would make for a very impressive "roll" or Box of 20.

Mind you, the purpose for accumulating these pieces is not for monetary gain, but for numismatic enjoyment. I think the profit potential is relatively low, but the likelihood of breaking even is very good, and the "fun" potential is quite high. What are your thoughts?

ocon4008 · November 5, 2009 12:08AM

<<hoarding collector coins is okie>>

Excuse me, but I am okie. Hoarding is OK; I am also a hoarder.

crypto79 · November 5, 2009 12:23AM

Some coin prices are kept alive by hoarding (1938d 50c) while others are & can be suppressed by lack of availability. I in turn have picked one coin that is scarce to rare that isn't generally included in the complete set of a major series but has been gaining consistent steam by the year for the last decade. While helping to spread the word about it to non-specialists and writing to major publications for its inclusion. Hopefully by taking a non-passive approach and thinking about the selection of the hoard my girl in sea shells will be waiting. I have a dream!!! Also it helps knowing that there is at least one other high level person that is working the same coin at the same angle and hopefully our combined work will pay dividends for both even though there is no collaboration between us.

BillJones · November 5, 2009 12:33AM

I really dislike people who try buy up all of the examples of particular item with an idea toward controlling the market. They take all of the fun out of it for other collectors, and when they go sell, they find out that that they have to sell the hoard slowly or they don’t make that much money.

Two hoarders who come to mind was one guy who had to own all of the 1876 medals that were issued by a certain old time coin club, and another who had to own all of the Civil War tokens that had been issued by a Michigan store. I didn’t care about the Michigan store that much since I don’t collect Michigan tokens, but the coin club medals were a source of aggravation. I only wanted ONE example.

ziggy29 · November 5, 2009 12:36AM

Well, the Yankees hoard the top free agents, and it seems to have worked out for them....

Seriously, though -- I put hoarders and "flippers" of limited-mintage Mint products in roughly the same category. In both cases you have people who are more interested in taking supply away from other collectors for their own personal gain than in genuine interest in the items themselves (in many cases), and in both cases it's an attempt to make other collectors pay a lot more than they otherwise would have to pay.

mkman123 · November 5, 2009 12:38AM

hoarding because you like something and are having fun is good

hoarding because you want to inflate prices artificially=not cool

Walmann · November 5, 2009 12:59AM

If you mean if hoarding is good or bad for the hoarder, most likely good unless it is causing distress or hardship in other aspects of the hoarders life ( creating finanical distress or hurting a relationship with a loved one).

For the rest of the collecting public it depends on what the hoarder is hoarding and how they deal with or dispose of their hoard.

If they are hoarding thousands of colorized coins then for the general public its probably a good thing keeping those out of the market place.

If they are hoarding a single key date of a series while they are hoarding it is making it more difficult for collectors of that series to obtain that key, on the other hand those that have the same key date and wish to sell wil benefit by a higher realized sale price due to decreased availbility resulting from the hoarding. Of course when the hoard is disposed of then it will be a good thing wishing to obtain that date due to increased numbers on the market.

If they are hoarding numerous dates and series it is most likely of neutral impact while they are hoarding and depending on how well they are perserving and storing their hoard they are either creating a source of well perserved coins or a pile of corroded heartbreak for future collectors.

Bear · November 5, 2009 1:00AM

What ever floats your boat.

tbarreca · November 5, 2009 1:06AM

<< <i>hoarding because you like something and are having fun is good

hoarding because you want to inflate prices artificially=not cool >>

I agree with this, but human motivations are rarely this pure.

shorecoll · November 5, 2009 2:02AM

A related topic is people who collect rare coins by die state. Many people defend this practice to the death, but if people are collecting rare coins by die state (like chain cents) it does drive the price up for everyone.

Rampage · November 5, 2009 2:22AM

Wow, my hoarding criteria have changed since I first posted to this thread almost four years ago now.

Walkerguy21D · November 5, 2009 2:28AM

Talked at length to an old dealer at a show a few weeks ago. He said he realized back in the '60's that the 23S quarter was under rated, under valued, and would likely be an excellent investment piece for years to come. He set about collecting a roll of them for each of his 3 kids. I don't think there was any malicious intent to corner the market and manipulate prices. Just someone using his knowledge about a particular coin, and his desire to provide a means of wealth preservation for his beneficiaries.

AJ2525 · November 5, 2009 12:56PM

Hello,

I've bought about a dozen of a particular coin I think is undervalued. *Someday I think it's price will go up and I can sell off mine for a profit. So far this isn't working for me. Maybe one day it will.

I do not view this any differently than buying a few shares of stock in a company I like. Of course buying these coins took a bit more effort.

Am I a hoarder, yes. I have no where even remotely close to this coins mintage so I don't think I am a hoarder.

Truth in the eye of the beholder?

TwoSides2aCoin · November 5, 2009 1:33PM

Hoarding is bad

Type2 · November 5, 2009 1:55PM

Good no bad no good no bad ya bad.

jmski52 · November 5, 2009 2:46PM

When I was a kid, one guy in town supposedly owned a roll of BU 1909 vdb cents. I thought that would be a cool hoard to own, although I never got to see the roll.

Hoarding? Good or bad?

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