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One thing I've learned about collecting 20 yrs ago vs now...
GoldClause
Posts: 838 ✭
20 years ago I couldn't afford to collect things that I really wanted to, like 1794 cents by die variety or draped bust dimes.
20 years later, even though I'm making a lot more money than I used to, I still can't afford to collect things I really like, because classic coin prices have risen even more dramatically than my salary.
I'll guess I'll always have to collect dreck.
20 years later, even though I'm making a lot more money than I used to, I still can't afford to collect things I really like, because classic coin prices have risen even more dramatically than my salary.
I'll guess I'll always have to collect dreck.
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Eric
But surely in 20 years you've learned to spot a good value within your own particular niche in the food chain, eh?
There are good buys and bad buys in every level of the market.
There's a line in a Jethro Tull song (yeah, I'm a diehard Tullhead) that says, He's a lover of life but a player of pawns, which sums me up pretty well. I'm not a knight or bishop or king on the chessboard of material existence, but even we lowly pawns can make a good play or two.
("Bungle in the Jungle", from the WarChild album. One of the few Tull songs that actually gets occasional radio airplay, even today.)
<< <i>Walking through forests of palm tree apartments ---
scoff at the monkeys who live in their dark tents
down by the waterhole --- drunk every Friday ---
eating their nuts --- saving their raisins for Sunday.
Lions and tigers who wait in the shadows ---
they're fast but they're lazy, and sleep in green meadows.
Let's bungle in the jungle --- well, that's all right by me.
I'm a tiger when I want love,
but I'm a snake if we disagree.
Just say a word and the boys will be right there:
with claws at your back to send a chill through the night air.
Is it so frightening to have me at your shoulder?
Thunder and lightning couldn't be bolder.
I'll write on your tombstone, ``I thank you for dinner.''
This game that we animals play is a winner.
Let's bungle in the jungle --- well, that's all right by me.
I'm a tiger when I want love,
but I'm a snake if we disagree.
The rivers are full of crocodile nasties
and He who made kittens put snakes in the grass.
He's a lover of life but a player of pawns ---
yes, the King on His sunset lies waiting for dawn
to light up His Jungle
as play is resumed.
The monkeys seem willing to strike up the tune. >>
Here's the YouTube link, if you need a retro '70s kickstart for your day.
<< <i>20 years ago I couldn't afford to collect things that I really wanted to, like 1794 cents by die variety or draped bust dimes.
20 years later, even though I'm making a lot more money than I used to, I still can't afford to collect things I really like, because classic coin prices have risen even more dramatically than my salary.
I'll guess I'll always have to collect dreck.
Or step your game up
<< <i>But surely in 20 years you've learned to spot a good value within your own particular niche in the food chain, eh? >>
I quit collecting about 10 years ago, started collecting paper money last year, but got drawn back into coins, so it's kind of like starting over, I don't have much experience to draw on per se.
I've been a bit surprised at how high some coin prices are for classic stuff. I've owned a couple very-low-4-figure coins back in the day (a Dahlonega half eagle for one), but they were type coins, not something I could "collect", and they were quickly sold when I needed funds for other stuff that I did collect (mid grade barber halves etc.).
I haven't even really decided what I collect now. I've been buying nothing but random dreck over the past year.
<< <i>
<< <i>20 years ago I couldn't afford to collect things that I really wanted to, like 1794 cents by die variety or draped bust dimes.
20 years later, even though I'm making a lot more money than I used to, I still can't afford to collect things I really like, because classic coin prices have risen even more dramatically than my salary.
I'll guess I'll always have to collect dreck.
Or step your game up >>
Sure, can you loan me 10 grand.
You can play the cards you're dealt or you can fold. So maybe you've only got a pair of sevens, but you might be selling yourself short. Other folks out there have a pair of deuces, or a scattered hand that looks like part of a straight but really isn't. (Hmm. A poker metaphor from somebody who doesn't play cards much. But you knowhutimean.)
Well said, if you specialize, then you KNOW great value when you see it. I buy stuff every week that is way under valued, imo.
Also Ian puts on one heck of a great concert
(Eh, whoops, sorry for the hijack. Back to the topic at hand. Playing your pawns well, or not folding on a pair of sevens. Pick your metaphor.)
Edit to add: you don't even have to specialize to do OK at the grand game, though that doesn't hurt. I happen to be a wide-spectrum generalist who knows a little bit about a lot of different things, and that has served me well. I might not be as expert as those who do specialize, but I know enough to be dangerous sometimes (only occasionally to myself, haha).
<< <i>
(Eh, whoops, sorry for the hijack. Back to the topic at hand. Playing your pawns well, or not folding on a pair of sevens. Pick your metaphor.) >>
Ha ha, ok, I folded 10 years ago and cashed out. Now I'm back in the game, shocked that the ante is 5x higher, and I'll I got is a pair of sevens to bluff with, and I'm not good at bluffing.
``https://ebay.us/m/KxolR5
<< <i>20 years ago I couldn't afford to collect things that I really wanted to, like 1794 cents by die variety or draped bust dimes.
20 years later, even though I'm making a lot more money than I used to, I still can't afford to collect things I really like, because classic coin prices have risen even more dramatically than my salary.
I'll guess I'll always have to collect dreck.
Tell me about it.
I know I look like a "whale" to some people, but if I could have bought some of the items I've purchased over the past couple of years four or five years ago, they would have cost me a lot less.
Even the big guys are feeling the pinch. One very prominent dealer I know told me that he not comfortable with Mint State Chain Cents bringing more than $400,000. Of course that was before that piece brought over a million at the January FUN auction.
Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
Inflation is the devil.
EF 08/07 half cent @ $600.
Wreath cents, 1799 cent...yada, yada.
Numerous original bust dollars at $1k/ea.
I just finished replacing my Barber half set...of course I upgraded from VG+ to VF+...now that was an ouchie!!!