I Have More Coins Than I Thought...

454SS - I understand and appreciate your comments, however I am but one person and have not had the time to build up a large inventory - that takes a lot of time, and at a couple of dollars per coin it's not something a person can make a living at...and I refuse to get into nickels, dimes, and quarters just to make money.

The store I have is to sell extra stuff I have as I find it. It was never intended to be a 'living maker'. My living was to come from writing books, developing websites, and doing art work. The store was just a means of thinning out the extra stuff I have to get it out of the way.

Wow!. That's amazing.

Where would you store all those?

Basement? Garage?

It seems like that much weight could possibly do damage to an average house unless it was on a slab.

That is a really mind boggling amount. Hats off to you.

Haha, that's extraordinary! I've been collecting for about 16 months and I have 296 *official* coins in my collection, and plus other duplicates/unofficial and some foreign ones. I actually have a handwritten list of every official coin in my collection and I add one to the list if I get a new one. Also, they are categorized...now you must think I'm a neat freak. lol

Good luck with the move/new job!

Again, this isn't as much a 'collection' as it is a 'hoard'. The actual 'collection' consists of about 2,000 coins, carefully documented in flips in 20 pocket pages in binders. Another group is of about a thousand coins that are in an electronic inventory for sale. The remainder is lots, groups, bags, and boxes of rolls that were purchased at the right price at one time or another and are just awaiting examination and determination as to whether they go to the bank, out for sale, or included in the collection. Fully 99% of these coins are simply 'bulk' that needs an experienced eye before they are dumped.

As to my interest in other coins and other series - I have 30 years experience in coins and it's not all Lincoln cents. I have photographed thousands of coins, many of them are some of the rarest coins in existence. I have personally held and photographed nearly a dozen 1907 high relief St. Gaudens coins, a few octagonal PanPac $50 coins, flowing hair dollars and half dollars, an uncirculated flowing hair dime - some very nice and very rare stuff. I have also worked years in coins shops part-time helping grade and price incoming collections. This working with different stuff is nothing new to me at all.

Additionally, the place where I am going sells strictly commemoratives and eagles. No classic coins, and nothing that I personally would have interest in collecting.

As for doing a series of books in other series - the other series are not my specialty - Lincoln cents are. The other series would be very expensive for me to acquire to the extent that I have Lincoln cents, and I have little interest in doing that on the scale that I would be able to write a book about them. I am a Lincoln Cent specialist - and will probably remain so for the rest of my life.

Chuck..good luck with the move and welcome to Sunny Florida. I'm up on the Panhandle not far from Pensacola. I've purchased a few coins from the company you'll be working for/with. They are great folks and have some fabulous coins at good prices. If you are ever up this way, drop me an email....sure would like to meet ya and talk "cents".

Regards,
Bill

Woah... 800K coins, 3 tons of metals, 30 years of experiences, 1 cent knowledge..... all are great number. So far, to my knowledge, you are #1 in the Lincoln series with no 2nd person in the horizon.

Congratulation on the job find. The move may be a pain, but it's for the better.

Hopefully we can still picking on your brain. Btw, I haven't finished reading your book yet, so take your time on the second one.... hehehe

That is one amazing collection, WOW! Good luck to you in your move. Are you moving the cents yourself or hiring a special moving company? I'm sure they'd have to charge a weight fee. I ask because I've had to move multiple times over long distances. One time I just thinned out the collection prior to moving. Another time I let the moving company do it and it was a near disaster because of the way they throw the boxes upside. Many BU rolls in plastic tubes were smashed open even though I thought I packed it really well. So the last time I moved it myself in a horse trailer exposed to the elements and thankfully it didn't rain during the move. I really don't trust moving companies to move something this valuable. I hope I don't have to move again.

BTW, I'm amassing a hoard of Indian cents. I'm at around 9400 and climbing. I can't even imagine 10x this let alone nearly 100x this amount. I'm already running out of space. I also have about 2500 Liberty nickels and maybe 5000 Buffalo nickels, and maybe 1000 silver pieces (assorted dimes, quarters, halves, dollars). So I'm at around 18,000 coins.

My local coin dealer told me a story about an out-of-town collector who would drive through once a year and buy all the bulk wheat cents he had in his store. One year, the collector had made stops along the way so by the time he got to this area, the car was completely FULL, trunk and front to back seat of Wheat cent bags, except for his wife in the passenger seat trying to get comfortable. The collector amassed more than 1 million wheats I was told before he died.