Are You Secretive About Your Collection...

For the few who get the priveledge of me sharing my Numisnerdiness with them; they also know me well enough and my pile to know there isn't really anything there worth breaking the law or morals for.

Not being able to talk and share with anyone about the thrill of the chase or the history of the pieces would be a super buzzkill.

Some in my family and not much, my lovely wife for sure!

I must admit that I've told quite a few casual acquaintances, partly because I've spent much of my life working in the travel business and meeting other people who travel or are from overseas. I've been able to add lots of foreign coins to my collection this way! However, most people probably imagine that my collection consists purely of modern foreign loose change and things like Olympic 50p coins...

My collection is fairly low in value. I have a few pieces of value and have filled out a detailed inventory that my wife and daughters are familiar with advising them as to how much they should expect to get for it, and how to dispose of them. What I have of value is gold and silver bullion, and that's in a safe deposit box. Once again, daughters and wife are familiar with where it's at and can refer to the inventory in the even of my demise. I'm 68, in good health, but plan to slowly start selling off numismatic pieces on ebay myself. I don't think an auction house would be interested in the bulk of my items with the exception of about a dozen MS 65 and 66 Morgan dollars.

My family don't care about coins, so I be selling as time comes, but things may change as time goes.

lambo2991- most beneficial for me are the learning experiences-whether it be about specific questions I have or general numismatic knowledge as I read through different discussions. I also enjoy the general coin discussion and sense of common interest-which as I said I do not get offline.

It depends on the audience. I started my nephews on coin collecting at an early age. Who knows if it will stick or not. With friends I remain tight-lipped. Even though I keep my stash in a safety deposit box and I trust my friends, it only takes one mention of the collection to one of their friends to create an unforeseen nefarious problem.
With family, I've brought it up at times but I don't overplay it. Most aren't interested. My dad and brother find the history of the coins interesting. When I showed them my flowing hair dollar their eye brows raised. They were mesmerized by it at first, but then you get the inevitable annoying question 'how much is it worth?'. Same goes for any high priced coins in a collection. If you tell them what it's worth, you'll get the even more annoying question: 'you spent blah blah blah on a coin?'.
It's better done in a community like CCF where everyone shares the same interests.
Unfortunately, the outside world just doesn't understand the obsession.