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Pillar of the Community
United States
968 Posts |
I got into coin collecting as a kid in the 80s, but lost interest by the early 90s. I regained my interest again a couple years ago. My collection was in storage at my parent's house the whole time so it was kind of like opening a time capsule when I saw my collection again. I was in a coin club at the time so much of my collection came from there.
What I notice now that I didn't pay attention to then is that I have a number of nice coins with significant scratches. Back then it didn't register with me that it was a big deal, so if the coin was in EF condition but had a big scratch I considered a regular EF and assumed the price was the same. My whole collection isn't like this, just some coins. I still like the coins since they have nostalgia value so I'm not to worried about resale value.
The other mistake I made was not always handling the coins carefully enough. I noticed that some coins have 20+ year old fingerprints on them, which is more than long enough to become permanent. Fortunately none of my valuable coins have that issue.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10635 Posts |
A lot of the messages I'm reading in this thread are along the lines of "I wish I bought more 20 years ago when prices were low." The lesson that should be learned from these "mistakes" is that NOW is the time to be buying... time goes on whether we want it to or not, and in 20 years don't be one of those people who then are saying "I wish I had have bought more coins back 2011." History has a way to repeat itself unless you learn from it!
Buying bullion seems to me to be an unpredictable crap shoot, but regular collector coins never seem to fall out of favour. I remember looking at lower grade 1916D Mercuries about 15 years ago, but passing on them because I thought they were just too expensive. Fifteen years ago they were about half what they are now. Where will be in 15 or 20 years from now? Not cheaper than they are right now, I can say that for certain!
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Valued Member
75 Posts |
Back in the mid 90's my 10 year old Son got interested in collecting sports cards/sets looking back now I wish we would have gotten into coin collecting instead of wasting those $1000.s of dollars on sports cards that were over produced at that time, so now there are monster boxes of cards and many sets just stored away since he lost interest so did I....
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
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Back in the mid 90's my 10 year old Son got interested in collecting sports cards/sets looking back now I wish we would have gotten into coin collecting instead of wasting those $1000.s of dollars on sports cards that were over produced at that time, so now there are monster boxes of cards and many sets just stored away since he lost interest so did I.... Your far from alone on that one. I suspect almost anyone with kids in the 90's also got taken up in that mess of sports cards. I know we did and when my Son foune he could buy a box of 5,000 of them for a few dollars, he too gave up that hobby. However, think of those that got caught up in the Beanie Baby mess. Many of those were selling for hundreds of dollars and today are selling for 2/$1. Note this though about going back in time. If you did, the Earth would not be in the same place so you'ld just pop out into empty space.  |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
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The lesson that should be learned from these "mistakes" is that NOW is the time to be buying... time goes on whether we want it to or not, and in 20 years don't be one of those people who then are saying "I wish I had have bought more coins back 2011." History has a way to repeat itself unless you learn from it! This is VERY true. No matter that people think "Prices are so high today", 20 years from now you will look back and see that somethings, if not many things, were bargains at today's prices. The problem is to figure out which ones they are today. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
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This is VERY true. No matter that people think "Prices are so high today", 20 years from now you will look back and see that somethings, if not many things, were bargains at today's prices. The problem is to figure out which ones they are today.
So true, so true. Way, way back who would have ever thought a silly nickel with a 1913 date would be worth more than a nicke. Would anyone ever, ever think of Gold as being more than $35/ounce? Sure wonder how much a 1916D Mercury dime will be selling for in about 50 years. And who would have ever thought of a Beanie Babie selling for $1? |
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Pillar of the Community
 Egypt
3470 Posts |
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Bizybackson: That's a very interesting question, Amr. It's not something that I've really thought about extensively. In general, I've regretted not buying more gold when it was trending between $500-$800 an ounce for years, and for my parents for not buying proof coins from the classic era (1858-1916) when they were ridiculously cheap in the 1950's & '60, or complete sets of uncirculated gold when it was legal to own again in 1974. In their defense, they were a young couple who had neither the time nor the money to sock away coins with a young family to support, hedging against inflation was not their highest priority, putting food on the table was. I feel very fortunate to be in the place I am today, with the ability to do what they couldn't, to enjoy buying and possessing rare coins. I think I turned your question on its head, even on my bad purchases I am grateful for, as I learn something new about numismatics or about myself. So in that regard there's nothing I truly and utterly regret doing or buying, an if I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing! There is a rhyme and reason why things happen the way they do. Good question! So, we can say that you advice to buy if you can afford it  Edited by EgCollector
10/29/2011 7:26 pm
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Pillar of the Community
Egypt
3470 Posts |
Quote:Blueszone: Knowledge is king. I remember when I was just starting out collecting and my Great Grandmother gave me gallon jars of Buffs,Mercs, and LWC to look through. I didn't know anything other than what holes were in my Whitman folders so I filled them with the first coin I found of that date and moved on. Who knows what was in there like doubled dies and variations that I never knew about. Get a Red Book! There could have been a 55' Double Die LWC in there and I would have never known. I will use your words in addition to the coin community forum slogan "Knowledge is King" "Education is the key to collector success" |
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Pillar of the Community
Egypt
3470 Posts |
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muddler: The mistake I made when I was young was to focus on quantity instead of quality. I wanted to fill the holes and move on. Later in life I have found myself replacing the lower grade purchases with acceptable grades for me now. I now accept holes in my album if the grade requirements are superseded by finances. I am proud of my collection of 40+ years and will continue to acquire that next "new" coin for the hoard. "Try to focus on quality instead of quantity." Although other members may disagree with that. I think that new collectors (and most of us did) like to have many coins as they can until they find what they are really interested in or start to have a theme in their collection. But at the end I think other members may agree with it too |
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Pillar of the Community
Egypt
3470 Posts |
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just carl: The problem with this subject is if you could go back in time, you would have to know what you know now. IF that were the situation, coins would be of most least concerns. By that I mean with todays info, you could purchase stocks that you know are going to go up up, up. Such as Microsoft for $1/share. Or a 1957 Chevy Convertible for about $2,500 and sell today for $30,000. Just to many things with info from today to use rather than coins. A person could buy a parcel of land where a shopping mall is today.
Way, way back I used to buy my wife Gold Charms for her Gold Charm bracelet when Gold was $35/ounce. When our first kid was born I had a special one made of 1 ounce, 18K, Gold. One charm for every Holiday and anniversary.
With todays info when I was a kid for coins I could have purchased almost anything since so few people collected coins. True for a hobby many coins would, could, might have been aquired but with todays info, probably the last thing people would go for. and thats why I posted this thread because new collectors will need your info and knowledge from your past experience to guide them through their first steps, instead of repeating the same mistakes all over again |
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Pillar of the Community
Egypt
3470 Posts |
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Secret Argent Man: in 2008, silver was hovering around $12/oz. I got a feeling, a nagging feeling that we needed to buy some. I just knew. My wife and I went to the library & checked out books and everything--- but in the end "we" decided both our jobs were in shaky industries and it was likely better to keep cash on hand in the emergency fund. After all, silver had fairly recently been down to $5/oz for years.
And then there is the fact that certain family members collected, and I "kind of" knew about it but never shared the hobby with them... and after they passed I saw their collections and the passion they had for it and wished I would have been able to connect on that level. Unfortunately it is easyto hide this hobby for security reasons-- but this also deprives you and those you love.
Oh, speaking of theft I had a lot of stuff stolen a few years back... incl a full set of franklins. That is a big regret.
Other than those couple of things it is similar to the above posters, I just wish I would have known... lots of good deals on good coins have slipped through my hands over the years because of my own ignorance.. butthat's part of the fun. This is such a big topic that no one can know everything about every coin, and you are constantly learning. Very interesting, I think you added a very important advice. "Try to share your passion for the hobby with someone you trust" and again "Knowledge, Knowledge, Knowledge.... you have to read, ask and listen to more experienced collectors" |
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Pillar of the Community
Egypt
3470 Posts |
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bibd: If I could go back in time, I'd tell myself:
1. It's very hard to sell coins for what you'd pay for them. So wait for ultra-bargains, unless it's a really tough coin/date. In particular, roll-search more early on and try to find stuff for "free" from circulation.
2. Join CCF 2 years earlier than you did!
3. Don't listen to collectors who tell you to buy in "the best grade you can afford". That is not only meaningless, but has been flat-out bad advice recently. My best move (by far) was to buy ALL the common low-grade silver Mercs, Washingtons, Franklins, Walkers for melt back when melt was 5-10 times face. Sorry to disagree with you, mudler, but I say fill common holes right away. It focuses your collecting efforts on the handful of tougher dates, and gets you acquainted with their scarcity. Not only that, but for silver, melt value will probably, in the long run, catch up with high-grade (even semi-key-date) silver. It sure has with gold! You hardly have to pay any premium these days for nice classic U.S. gold circulation coinage. I'll use your own words; 1- " It's very hard to sell coins for what you'd pay for them. So wait for ultra-bargains, unless it's a really tough coin/date." 2- "In particular, roll-search more early on and try to find stuff for "free" from circulation." 3- The other school " fill common holes right away. It focuses your collecting efforts on the handful of tougher dates, and gets you acquainted with their scarcity." i agree with this school in collecting as it gives the newbies a time to be more knowledgeable and practice buying, thus preventing them from overpaying. but this is my opinion |
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Pillar of the Community
Egypt
3470 Posts |
Quote:Conder101: I would have ignored all the US coins I bought back in my early years and started buy my Conder tokens MUCH earlier. By the time I got into them seriously in the 90's Mint State pieces cost around $20 to $25 apiece. Back in 72 when I started collecting MS pieces were $2 each and Mint Red pieces were $3. Today it is hard to find even the most common MS pieces for less than $150 each. That's a minimum of 12% compounded annual growth for 40 years for the COMMONS. My collection right now is impressive, but if I had started back in 72 today it would be AWESOME! I think that means "Try to find your theme in collecting, the earlier you find it the better your collection will be" hope I phrased this right |
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Pillar of the Community
Egypt
3470 Posts |
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jbuck: I am one of those nuts who honestly believes that who we are is defined by our experiences, both successes and failures. I would not change a thing in fear it would change me for the worse.
Okay, who am I kidding?
I cannot think of anything to avoid, but I would have bought all of my key dates back in the 1990's instead of wasting money on other (frivolous non-numismatic) things. Well you already said it: "Try to buy all the Key dates instead of wasting money on other (frivolous non-numismatic) things." |
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Pillar of the Community
Egypt
3470 Posts |
Quote:Buddy: Okay, this is hard to admit here but...I was never a real collector because I never learned anything. I just saved old coins -- lots and lots of them. When my husband found coins in boxes and jars at his late father's house we both got interested..but I was a bit over-anxious and started looking and sorting until I came upon 6 Kennedy halves with green goo on them. I grabbed a rag -- take a breath -- and wiped it off. I truly didn't even think about anything except that green goo is bad and getting it off the coins was good. I had no idea what the stuff was and I acted on impulse. I can only say that I am glad that I didn't ruin anything ancient or historically valuable. Oops, I forgot to answer the question! LOL Of course I would have done differently. I would have made a point of finding out what the green goo was. 1- Dont you ever clean coins. 2- If you dont know what to do, PLEASE ask the right person |
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Replies: 49 / Views: 4,217 |
First Page
Posted 10/26/2011 7:56 pm
