Why Do I Feel More Compelled to Study Something AFTER I Buy It?

Coinosaurus · February 21, 2012 2:15PM

I bought a pricey medal out of the Stack's Americana sale. And now all of the sudden I have to read all the references on it, like half a dozen of them, and I am not sure they all agree with each other.

Shouldn't I have done all this work BEFORE I bought the medal

lkeigwin · February 21, 2012 2:27PM

You're on a roll tonight. Too many thought-provoking questions.
Lance.

keyman64 · February 21, 2012 2:47PM

Sometimes it takes a purchase to drive an interest...or sometimes an interest can exist prior to an interest.

BG · February 21, 2012 4:19PM

When it's a coin, medal, or anything else we desire, the rest be damn**.

We buy what we want for our collection.

Unknown · February 21, 2012 4:35PM

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19Lyds · February 21, 2012 5:12PM

I think, you buy it because you can but then learn about it afterwards because you want to.

magikbilly · February 21, 2012 5:22PM

Well, I prefer its value to go up after I pay for it.

Eric

Trime · February 21, 2012 8:55PM

Human nature and practical too.
The "compleat numismatist" has a library and computer to reasearch special coins before purchase. Yet many references are added after a coin is added to your collection. There is something special about having the details about a coin you treasure or even bought for sale. It is part of the collector mystique.
I am reading Syd Martin's 500 page exposition on Rosa Americana Coinage. This is a modern classic that has many chapters that could be comfortably read for their historical perspectives but also filled with details that would be glossed over without an example of a coin(s) in hand.

bosco5041 · February 21, 2012 9:37PM

I do the same thing. Learn a little before the purchase and a lot afterwards, probably not the best way though.

Tiny · February 21, 2012 10:15PM

If it is in the hand it fills the eyes which in turn starts the brain to want more knowledge.

BillJones · February 21, 2012 10:42PM

I've noticed that I do the same thing, although I've usually done enough work BEFORE I purchased it to know enough to be an "informed buyer." Usually the reading I do after a purchase is icing on the cake. In other words the additional information I acquire post purchase has almost never altered my buying decision.

The one recent exception to this was the 1836 pattern gold dollar I purchased at a recent Baltimore show. I did not go to the show with the idea of buying one. I had seen them offered in the past, and I knew the history, but every example I saw had something wrong with it (rough spot on the surface, big scratch) that caused me to reject it out of hand.

A dealer had and PR-63 graded piece, and when I put the glass on it I saw right away that it had had a copper stain lifted from the surface. Therefore I was not interested. Then latter in the show he got another one from a shipment of pieces he said was going to receive during the show, and there was this PR-64. It was WONDERFUL. It was a much nicer PR-64 than the regular issue PR-64 gold dollars I had seen at the shows. In short it was what I would call “PQ,” and the price was reasonable, at least according to the pricing guides. So I bought it after I had done some pricing research at the local “Whitman” library.

TwoSides2aCoin · February 21, 2012 10:53PM

It's something like OCD in a Secure Plus holder.

...and it's okay

ricko · February 21, 2012 11:54PM

I think it is normal... I do limited research prior to a buy (except for 'gotta have it now cuz it's so cool' buys), but afterwards I really dig in to the history, design etc. Seems many are this way. Cheers, RickO

notwilight · February 22, 2012 12:04AM

Normal. Hard to commit to do a lot of research on something you may end up not owning. Once you own one, it is easier to do the research, which might end up in an upgrade. --Jerry

Why Do I Feel More Compelled to Study Something AFTER I Buy It?

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