Have some Series became too specialized at their highest levels?
ambro51
Posts: 13,949 ✭✭✭✭✭
I am thinking here of dime die marriages as Stone lives eats and breaths them , the extensive research into dies used on Franklin half proofs, the flying eagle cent of 1856 .. So I'm not sure where I'm going with this idea but im sure it's a fair topic for discussion on a boring evening
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There are so many different avenues you can collect, in say the Bust Dime series.
You just end up molding your collection how you like and go from there.
It's YOUR enjoyment, and not necessarily anyone else's. Sometimes you parallel
other collector's and how they collect, but probably not perfectly so!
For Bust Dimes...there are dates, grades, die marriages, die stages, counterfeits, etc.
It's the same for every series. And sometimes we collect ourselves into such a specialty
corner that no one else decides to join or appreciates what our collections become.
I know it's not much compaired to die marriages but I like the series, and I think it be fun and not to draining on my wallet.
I think this is more prevalent on the Liteside than over on the Darkside, where there's so much more ground to cover, meaning folks have less need to focus on minutiae. Then again, I've heard some British large penny enthusiasts wax rhapsodic over some esoteric die varieties.
<< <i>For Bust Dimes...there are dates, grades, die marriages, die stages, counterfeits, etc.
It's the same for every series. And sometimes we collect ourselves into such a specialty
corner that no one else decides to join or appreciates what our collections become. >>
But that, for me at least, is what makes this a wonderful hobby. The speculators, the investors they
want to/need to be in that easy liquidity portion of the market, but for the true collector....for the
true hobbyist we end up in that corner by choice.
I had a friend when I was a kid who was really into Lionel trains. He had whole cities and towns build
in his basement with working trains and accessories. I thought he was nuts. I remember asking him if he ever
thought he could sell all this stuff when he grew tired of it and he just looked at me like I was nuts. Go figure.
Well trains were his hobby.
Coins are my hobby.
I like the corner of the market I play in and sometimes enjoy the peace and quite.
Imagine those ASE and AGE flippers. Now I am glad I don't play in that corner.
There are the different motives to consider. Die variety minutiae doesn't make too much sense to someone who's trying to resell, perhaps. The narrower the niche, the smaller the potential market.
Unless maybe one counts the larger specialist groups like VAM dollar people or Overton variety Bust Half Nuts or EAC copper folk. Those communities are large enough to support their own trading networks, probably.
The true collector need not necessarily concern himself with profit or resale. He's working within his own parameters, and does what he does because he likes it, and who's to fault anyone for that?
I see both sides, I suppose. I'm not that kind of pure collector. I'm one of those strange but common hybrids who has a foot in each camp. Some of my collections are "pure" and others are done with one eye firmly fixed on the bottom line. And as far as specialization goes, I've always preferred to be a "general practitioner".
World Collection
British Collection
German States Collection
I'll bet it was the one about Brit penny collectors waxing rhapsodic over esoterica, wasn't it?
Hey, more power to 'em, if that's what they like. I like Brit large pennies, myself, not to mention Bust halves and early US copper, but perhaps not with that level of focus.
I like to see the forest for the trees. Some specialist folks zoom in so far with their microscopes that they can't see the trees for the bark, let alone the forest for the trees, if you knowhutimean.
My point is that folks like the collector of bust dime die marriages has chosen a specialty that appeals to him and a few others, but is not for all. This can be quite a bit more fun as you are no longer swimming in the same pond as the Morgan collectors, to choose one very popular series.
So, I would say hooray for the specialists, particularly in the less collected areas.
<< <i>... of course my inattention to minutiae has gotten me majorly cherrypicked more than once. >>
I remember when this sold on Ebay with a surprising result before selling and surprising again. Examples like this are the reasons I kind of want to get involved in more detailed collections. Benefits of being specialized are no more apparent than in rare die marriages and VAMs.
-D
-Aristotle
Dum loquimur fugerit invida aetas. Carpe diem quam minimum credula postero.
-Horace
<< <i>But remember you can't collect bust dimes same way let's say Barber Halves...too many die marriages and that can be said for many....and that is exactly why I go for bust dimes and bust half dimes and not barber halves. >>
Besides that bust dimes usually don't show up in choice unc while Barber halves are quite common as such, and don't show the typical high point rubbing that plagues "MS" bust coinage.
They are both cool looking coins. The luster patterns on the obverse of a Barber half are mesmerzing. But bust dimes were never really meant to survive in choice to gem MS.
roadrunner