Do You Collect For Quantity Or Quality?

Thanks for so many insightful responses! I think some of you may have taken my $100 example literally, but that's fine :) My birthday is next weekend and I have about $500 coming my way. I've already bought one coin with over half of it and am eyeing another with the rest. Of course, you'll see them as soon as they arrive!

I'm going to say both. I enjoy quality if we are talking about Morgan, Peace, or 100+ year old coins, if we're going newer silver coins like 64's I go for quantity. Slowly but surely I'm am moving towards quality though.

Somewhere down the middle for me. I have coins that were pricier than others just to get a jumpstart on a solid collection (I love "Godless" coins). The beginning of my collection was quantity, but as the years went by even my pocket change keeps are quality ones.

The way I think about it is this: If you were to show your collection to a friend who showed interest in the hobby, would you show him/her your quality coins or a box full of dirty common coins? It really depends on their personality and habits.

I go for quality but it can be a nice "circulated cameo" piece in a very low grade - it's all about the eye appeal for me....

The variety of replies correlates with the different ways people decide to collect and is what makes the hobby interesting. I don't know too many who, given the choice-as- a collector or investor as contrasted to an accumulator/hoarder( not judging, just using terms we all understand), would not choose quality over quantity.

Sometimes, however, the choice does not present itself in such a clear manner. Sometimes the universe of the coin you are collecting is so small that the likelihood of another coming along in the near future or even a lifetime is remote; and even if it did the cost in a grade that you desire would be prohibitive. In that situation you would have to decide whether to "play" and accept the fact that not all specimens are perfect or even good or leave that space in your collection blank.

Particularly if you collect early sets this issue not uncommonly presents itself. Take draped bust dimes for example. If you at some of the sets assembled and listed in PCGS and NGC you don't go very far down the collection list before you see significant gaps wherein all the points given the collection are for one or two coins in a set that may contain 20 different dates/types. There is a reason for this as anyone attempting to complete this set knows. The 1804 dime with 14 stars is a stumbling
block; the 1798/7 with 13 stars is another.

Given the option, as a collector, of owning those two rare coins, even in less desirable condition to complete the set, as opposed to leaving those spaces blank is a more satisfying approach to me than buying more common coins. It may not be the most economically wise approach, but it is one trait that distinguishes a collector from an investor.

Finally, I am influenced in my comments somewhat by the impact of third party grading in the valuation of the term quality. I must plead relative ignorance in coin grading as opposed to stamps which I have collected my entire life. In stamps the grade is generally 30-100 as opposed to 0-70 but the principles are the same. Particularly when we are at the top of the grading scale (95 to 100 for stamps) MS65 and higher for coins, it would surprise me if many could tell the difference between a stamp graded 95 or 98 or a coin graded 64 or 65 but the price differentials are enormous.

Naturally the coins and stamps in these grades are overwhelmingly recent; the examples for early coins in this condition being noticeably rare or non existent. But that I guess is my point: a rare coin such as the dimes listed above are still going to be rare no matter the grade and whether graded VF 30 or XF40 is still going to be a desirable AND expensive coin. A person who can buy that coin can probably buy even a better one; his universe for resale is much smaller-- therefore if he buys anything but the best which will be even more expensive, he has to understand that he is buying it primarily for himself--not to flip--a collector approach.

On the other hand common coins,even in high grade, are still common and will always be common--- the universe for resale is larger and therefore more conducive to an investor/flipper approach. In this scenario, the grade, not the coin is the selling point.

Two different approaches to the same hobby. The stories of what people collect and why are equally interesting to me and sometimes more interesting than the material itself.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Once, for quantity, hoarding vast amount of scrap silver in .500, .700, .750, .800, .835, .900 and .925.

Now, I have traded all of that off for solid .999 bullion and focus on collecting items that have a rich history and are there for their numismatic value not their metal value.

So yeah, I smoothly made the transition from quantity to quality, in a day's time and as such downsizing my collection from 1800+ to 350.

Still, I have low-value coins, things I find interesting as the silver Indian Rupee of 1862 my grandfather gave me or a silver peso of the Philippines from the US Administration.

The best thing is to save up for a high end coin. They make you feel better owning them too.

@Moe, So if you got like 50 bucks, you're just going to spend it? lol
It's better to save till like 200 or more.