Why Do You Collect?

I am kind of addicted to collecting in general and I have collected many different things over the years, including coins. Out of all the things that I have collected, only coins and M:TG cards have held any semblance of their worth. Everything else turns out to be a passing fad and is worth pennies on the dollar in just a few short years. That being said, I have just started to catalog my Magic cards so I can sell them off before the bottom falls out on them as well.

When I got back into coin collecting and stumbled on this sight, one of the first things I read was someone whose tag line reads something like "At least when you collect coins, you are never truly broke". I really like that thought process. No matter what happens, that quarter will always be worth at least 25 cents. Even if 25 cents doesn't buy what it used to anymore.

Simple - I enjoy it. It's interesting to me and it's a great distraction from some of the garbage at work.

As to why I'm collecting what I collect from modern circulating coins, I have these reasons, at least one applying to each denomination I collect:
1) Because I can
2) In general, I'm attracted to objects that are greater than nearly double my age, and SF Mint circulating coinage and others dated to that era are cheep to acquire at merely face value.
3) The fact that the various Ike-forward dollar coins and the Kennedy half don't circulate much is cool.

As to why I'm getting into the game of purchasing coins, it's one thing to look at pictures of the classic and bullion coins that I find beautiful, but it's an even better thing to actually OWN an exemplar of them!

I collect coins for the same reason I collect baseball cards, play video games, and build model airplanes - because things like this are the "spice" that makes life worth living. Not to say I'd be miserable if those things all went away, but they make a good life great .

For me, I inherited a jug of coins and instead of turning them in for the cash, I got intregued. I actually found my interest to fall more in world coins (modern and ancient) because of the history of them and the design of them. I am a biologist so the animal coins is my niche thus far.

I have a couple reasons for collecting coins:

When I was younger I didn't have the cash to collect and now I feel like my time has come, it's not a lot but I can actually get some of these dream coins and sets together.

I want to leave something interesting behind. Great great great grampa's coin collection will probably be pretty cool in a hundred years or so.

I hate spending money on junk. At least the money spent on coins is still there.

I agree => that was a really cool thread, Carl ... I fessed-up that I also collect music (records, tapes, CDs, etc) ... and then others mentioned that their "other" hobbies included collecting Hot Wheels, stamps, fishing, etc, etc ...



=> but ummmm, why do I collect coins (money)? => it merely comes naturally => I love everything about it!