What Do You Consider A Large Collection

I have been thinking today about what is a "keeper".
Thinking so much that I did not buy any coins today.

I could not decide if I wanted to buy some more silver or a better coin. I was looking at a tray of Morgans but did not pop on any.

As said a "keeper" would be different for everyone.

For me .. I lean more toward modern coins, I think because I can buy higher grade coins that I hope have a lot of potential to increase in value over long term.

If I am looking at my Lincoln cents
1909S vdb, 1914D, 1909S, 1931S and any higher grade early Lincoln's with good eye appeal. For me I also like 1970S and 1960 small date cents.

For Jefferson nickels
1994 and 1997 matte proof coins are at the top of my list
Unless I was lucky enough to own a 1971 no "S" proof ... then that would be top of my nickel list.
I also like full struck early nickels and nice 1939D's

Dimes .. where I am sure dime collectors would have their choices as to what keepers are, and I have a lot of dimes none really come to mind of what would be a keeper to me.
Looking at my spread sheet I have around 1500 silver dimes But I think more about the roll of 1996W Roosevelt's that I have been slowly putting together .. that will be a keeper for me when complete.

Quarters ... all my State Quarters

half dollars .. 1998 S matte proof (NGC SP 70) and a nice 1829/7 half dollar are some of my favorites

dollars .. I have been trying to learn more about VAM's so the few that I have figured out which VAM they are .. are my keepers. I would also have to put my complete collection of UNC modern commemorative dollars as one of my top keepers, it was a collection I worked hard at putting together .. and really enjoyed doing it.

As I am typing this .. I am thinking keepers are coins I would sell last .. if I had to sell my collection ..

svslav I understand what your saying .. but my whole statement is





you left out .. that I said "IF" I had to sell.
My experience is that you never know where life will lead you ... something could come up that will be more important than your coin collection.

IMO - everyone looks at coin collecting differently.
Some say they will never sell, some plan on selling when they are older.

For me .. I might one day have my own coin shop, so some of the coins I purchase may be future inventory.

If I don't have my own shop someday I believe I will get to a age where I will start to sell the bulk of my collection. Using coins as part of a retirement plan is possible if you learn how to buy .. and sell coins.
You will be better at buying coins .. if you also learn how to sell coins.

To answer those that will jump in and say .. coins are not a investment .. they are a hobby. I say for some, that they can be. Of course I do have Stocks, CD's, savings and retirement income. I think if you put together a collection that is worth $50,000 to $100,000 or more .. and not count it as part of your retirement .. than you have much more money that I do.

Thanks for the nice comment GR58 but I have seen MANY impressive coins from all members ;-)

This is how I would determine if my collection is large:
If it is large enough to have an auction for (IE 1500 wheats wouldn't be an auction it would be a couple of quick sales) then I have a decent collection
If my collection would have to be done in two or more auctions then I would consider it large.

I base this off the sole fact that its not only the money aspect but the variety of coins you have.

I would define a large collection as either 500 coins with an average value of at least $10 or $10,000+ if a much smaller quantity.

So if I have just one coin but it's unique and valuable, say $50,000, can I say I have a large collection?
I agree with Sap, the value of either individual coins or the whole collection does not determine its size! There's a correlation though, of course.

Some of this discussion reminds me of a (very innocent) cartoon I saw as a child. The characters (some cute animals) tried to determine what constitutes a pile [of nuts].
"Is 10 nuts a pile? - Yes!"
"What about 9? ... 8? ..."
There's no clear boundary. An as fuzzy as it is it gets even fuzzier when you involve more opinions.

Very interesting discussion, I enjoyed reading all your replies. Speaking for my self, when I started collecting coins I considered a large collection is the one that contained as many coins as I can get. I guess this is normal and most of us has gone through this "The more ..... The merrier" but lately; may be a year ago I began to focus more on some countries, some type coins .... I describe it as I am starting to mature as a collector from my own point of view .... and if I am to answer your question, I would say A Large collection of What?

If you tell me of World coins by type and date, I would say an over 5000 coin collection like that of triggersmob is a large collection.

Of a single coin, I think just_carl has a large collection of completed Dansco albums by type, date and mint mark for Lincoln cents and other coins.

Although both collections may vary in the number of coins but still both are considered large collections.

and still another member may not consider any of these as large collections ..... so it is something variable from one to another.

I think the best answer I could say is that a large collection is the collection that I had fun collecting it and gives me pleasure when I search through and look at it