This Is Why I Collect...

I too agree with everyone. This is a hobby and should be considered fun, educational and a way of spending time that is of some importants. Unlike so many other hobbies that come and go, coin collecting has been around for as long as there have been coins. It is a hobby and should really be fun.

Well when people complain about the cost of minting one cent and five cent coins, this thread gives that a whole new perspective.

The cost of minting small change is tiny in comparison to the amount of duty each coin will perform before it is retired.

Sure, some will say, "but they mint billions of them so the cost is really huge".

True, but now multiply that cost by the hundreds of hand-to-hand exchanges for each coin, and again the cost PER TRANSACTION is so tiny it's insignificant, and that's what really counts.

I'm just saying...

Duncan

Outstanding post! I've been asked why I assembled a set of Jefferson War Nickels in particular. I explain that to me it is significant beyond "a set of nickels" as my father fought in WWII as a member of Merrill's Marauders. I personally consider it a tribute to him and all the other servicemen that served during that time period.

jbuck- I know what you mean, but if the coin could actually tell you it's life, that would be amazing.

Yeah, I knew what you meant, but I had to jump on the opportunity to promote a fun thread.

I really enjoy the Widow's mites.
One Christmas, I purchased about a dozen mites as a lot on ebay.
I picked up a bunch of picture frames at the dollar store, and felt sheets from the craft department in a large chain store.
I placed the felt inside the picture frame with the coin centered on the top half.
On the lower half I placed, (printed on card stock) a historical reference to the coin and the appropriate biblical quote.
They made great gifts for friends and family. At about $15 each.

Great post! Collecting both ancient and modern, I too pull the old and worn out of circulation and give them a place in my collection. For me, coins are touchstones to history. They are windows to a past my imagination can explore. Finding a coin I know little about and then reading about the associated history is one of the great joys of the hobby.

For example, I never knew what silphium was until I started researching the coins of the city of Cyrene in Cyrenaica (in modern Libya). The silphium species described by Pliny the Elder was a highly valued plant that only grew in Cyrenaica. It had many medical applications, was used as a seasoning for food, perfume was made from it, etc. Potions made from it were supposedly a very effective birth control (the seed pod shown on coins of Cyrene looks like our modern heart symbol). This plant gave wealth and prosperity to the city of Cyrene, but eventual mismanagement and exploitation caused its decline. The last known stalk was supposedly sent to the emperor Nero. Is it really gone? I don't know, but it is a fascinating piece of history at first advertised, and now memorialized on coin.

Cheers!


Cyrenaica, Cyrene. 308-277 BC. AR Didrachm. BMC 245.
OBV: Head of Carneius r.
REV: Silphium plant.