Should I Buy It ? Reflection

I only buy or even think of buying a coin that I need, not want.

I wonder how you colleagues stop yourself from rash purchases. For example, I clicked "place a bet" several times, and later asked myself why I did it. But it happened even worse when I still won a coin, paid, received, and after a while I did not understand why I bought it because it only takes up space, requires money for proper storage and much more and I had to sell. Sometimes (often) the desire to quickly get rid of unnecessary junk prompted me to sell everything at auction for a song.

I am attempting to build an OFEC collection
One From
every Century
every Culture
across the whole of numismatics.

Thus, I will buy a coin on it's own merits in isolation, provided that it is good value for money at the time of purchase. Extensive experience of decades helps. Nevertheless, my learning curve is still steep.
In short,
I will buy any coin that has numismatic merit, and is excellent value for money

In my experience, bargains are easier to find with this sort of strategy. The whole of numismatics is opened up for you. This sort of collecting philosophy prevents one from being an investor, with a view to selling any coin later on, at a profit. This has been my approach to collecting for perhaps 50 years or more.

The other piece of advice is to avoid temptation. This forum is really bad for finding eye candy. For example I look at Dr. Burnzy's IHC and I want a few. And don't click on Hokies registry set. Think of this place as a Girl Scout selling cookies at a pot convention. If you aren't hungry don't look at all the eye candy.

You have to set collecting goals and a budget. Do your homework on the value of what you are about to purchase and do not overpay. I have purchased and sold a lot of coins. When I lost money on a coin, it almost always came down to paying to much for the coin.

While there are times I will try to work on one set/project at a time, usually I bounce all around and buy what I happen to find a good deal on that catches my eye, regardless of if I'm actively working on that set or not.

Once I came across a Buffalo nickel with such incredible eye appeal, that I had to snatch it up for my type set even though I already had one and had no desire to upgrade at that time. It was a later date in MS65, so nothing special in terms of its value, but I had never seen a Buffalo nickel in person with such eye appeal, and I just couldn't pass it up.

A big part of why I bought it was that the price was right, but even if I had to spend a little extra I would have simply because it jumped out at me.

It's actually the only coin I've ever bought where I thought I might actually resubmit it someday in terms of truly believing it could actually get a higher grade as opposed to really hoping it would.

Slerk,

I only collect 2 different series, basically US coins and coins from Portugal.

For US coins I use Grey Sheet (it's a dealer pricing guide), I use that price as a starting point. Last year it's almost impossible to find coins at greysheet, so I use the price guides/eBay sold/PCGS prices to try and figure out what is fair and sometimes still pay over as that is the way the market is currently. If it's crazy over I just pass. Setting up searches on the places you shop helps to keep the prices reasonable.

For Portuguese coins there isn't a good price guide or a fair comparison using ebay sold sometimes so I pay usually what a dealer asks or try to negotiate a % discount. Also most Portuguese coins are under the price I worry about (usually $20 for none precious metals and $35 for silver) that I just don't worry too much on the price. It's not significant enough to worry too much.

Almost always. I haven't learned how to be consistent with any price guide, because they change all of the time. ebay is quick, easy, and accurate as long as you know what you're doing.

Although most of my purchases are impulse buys, coins that are meant for resale, I do still make a "ten coins to buy this year" list. Those are usually pricey ones, and ones I plan to save up for throughout the year. I pick up a lot of other coins throughout the year as well.



That's the thrill of the hunt, you never know what exceptional coin will come tomorrow. All you can do is prepare yourself with knowledge and availability so you can buy that coin. Adding unexpected coins to the collection is good, it keeps things fresh and you have some new knowledge or coin slot filled that would be empty otherwise.



Two and a half years ago, I was drooling over one single 1921 Morgan dollar. Seated and bust coinage was unfathomable and unobtainable, too old and expensive. Gold was a pipe dream. As a sophmore in high school, I started buying and selling coins, saving up, and purchasing coins that I really wanted. I was going to over 60 garage sales per saturday and ask for coins. I went from drooling over that single 1921 morgan to having coins like draped bust large cents, AU capped bust halves, and pre 33 gold pieces. All of which were earned through putting time in and getting coins in return. Some may say I got all of these for "free". It goes to show, if you want something spectacular, you can make it happen.