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 Replies: 35 / Views: 3,506 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3486 Posts |
Not a question of gender but rather of collecting styles. The "hunter" sets out on the quest to obtain a certain coin. The "gatherer" sets out "to see what is available today." I may be hunting a wart hog, but if I find a nice berry bush along the way that is ripe I "pick" away. I have come to to this personal decision after years of disappointment. Case in point: I went to a coin show, maybe 22 years ago now, and had absolutely no luck finding Barber dimes. Instead I had a choice before me of not one but two 1913-S quarters. Had I not been flexible enough to change from hunter to gather and pick the nicer "cherry", I would not be happy, all these years later, with owning a decent coin now worth four times what I paid for it. So, dear friends, let me hear from you. Have you ever found a coin, quite by accident, that you bought because it was "ripe?" That you bought just because you could not leave it behind? |
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Valued Member
United States
291 Posts |
I'm a hunter. Not so much in the dates sense, but in the series and grade sense. I only look for original VF Barbers whenever I'm looking. Nothing else matters.
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Valued Member
United States
80 Posts |
Considering right now I've only just started out and collect exclusively from circulation, I guess I'm a "gatherer", going around and seeing what I get. But maybe I'm a "fisher", in that I go out and see what I can get by "casting my net" and spending physical currency instead of using a card.
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Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
Id say I'm a combination. For my collection I hunt certain grades and wont settle just because theyre harder to find, but I gather in the sense that I may set out looking for one coin but if I find a great deal on another I will switch my focus to that. I guess you could say I'm an opportunist
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3345 Posts |
Gatherer. All the way. I mean I've only once set out to buy a coin and actually bought it. Other than that, I just buy whats pretty and shiny  |
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
7096 Posts |
I would say I'm a bit of each.
If I need a particular coin I will hunt that baby down until I get it.
On other occasions I just buy stuff on a whim or because it looks interesting,I have started a lot of different collections doing this.
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Valued Member
United States
492 Posts |
Mostly gatherer. I sometimes start out as a hunter, but usually end up as a gatherer anyway. Limited finances, so I'll agree with basebal and say I'm also an opportunist.
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Pillar of the Community
3352 Posts |
Hunter or Gatherer, eh? Hmmmm, I'm sure that I'm a bit of both ... => I usually start off knowing exactly what I want to find, but then occasionally somewhere along the way I seem to get a bit disoriented and the next thing I know I've made a major purchase with little or nothing to do with my original game-plan!! Yah, I think that I'm either a Huntherer, or I'm a Gunther!!? Edited by stevex6
09/22/2012 5:19 pm
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
3486 Posts |
Poor LogPotato, those VF Barber quarters are going to drive you crazy! A "fisher?" An opportunist? Both are good words. My "quest" for a 1908 Philie Barber dime in XF/AU is stymied. But an 1837 Half Dime, No Stars. in XF, just happened to be for sale. I bought the Half Dime. The dime will soon come along, but the Half Dime, not for a LONG TIME! You have to grab when the grabbing is good. At least, that is my current philosophy. |
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Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
Quote:
You have to grab when the grabbing is good.
At least, that is my current philosophy.  If youre specifically looking for one thing to finish a collection thats one thing, but if you have a lot to fill and specifically look for certain ones at a time youll end up paying a lot more in the end then if you just fill it as the best deals and fits present themselves |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3486 Posts |
A "Gunther?" A BEAUTIFUL, new word!
I hunt and I gather. Whatever is available.
Flexibility is the key.
I bought/traded for three "V" nickels from a dealer who LOANED me his personal
collection overnight to allow me to examine it! Took four months to connect.
I want a nice, balanced set of "V" nickels in VF or above.
And I bought three coins from a dealer who let me look through his private stash.
Tell me I am not a happy collector!
I was not looking for these, but I GRABBED THEM!
Make friends with your dealers, folks, and THAT is how you make good deals.
Edited by matthewvincent
09/22/2012 5:57 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3486 Posts |
"(T)-he best deals and fits present themselves(.)"
WISE WORDS, basebal21.
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
Actually, I know of a guy of German background whose family name is Gunther, maybe purely coincidental.
For my own part, I think I must be neolithic, rather than paleolithic.
Rather then being mostly a hunter or a gatherer, I think that I may have settled down, to practice the numismatic version of husbandry and agriculture, because I have certainly learned a lot, via numismatics.
I still enjoy hunting and gathering, however.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1195 Posts |
A fisher with poles I guess I am at the moment: I've got a want list here, a want list at my coin shop of choice, and a good rapore with a teller at a branch of a bank that I have no account at.
I also have a gathering spot in the form of an honor system change jar on campus.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1840 Posts |
Quote:
Hmmmm, I'm sure that I'm a bit of both ... Me too. Being a world coin collector, it can be difficult to find what is on my want list. I usually start off with coins on my want list, then move on to anything else that catches my eye. |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
535 Posts |
Judging from the boxes,binders, jars,containers, and loose coins all around me, I would say that I am a gatherer and a hoarder
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Replies: 35 / Views: 3,506 |
Posted 09/22/2012 3:14 pm
