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 Replies: 22 / Views: 5,151 |
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Valued Member
United States
56 Posts |
I have been collected stamps for more than 20 years.
and I just got into coin last month after washington dollars out.
I guess some of you are collecting both coins and stamps, others are only coin lovers.
What do you think about coin vs. stamp collecting?
There should be pros/cons and differences/similarities between two hobbies.
It would be interesting to discuss it.
Based on one month coin collecting, here are main differences I see so far.
1. coin need more money than stamp:
Stamps are just piece of paper in a sense, and
used stamps have no real value practically.
If you go to stampshow, you'll find tons of junk stamps below 10c per piece.
but, coin looks like jewelry in a sense. gold, silver, real money.
it seems that coin collecting costs more than stamp
2. coin is more difficult to find new one:
If you go to postoffice, you will find 99% perfect mint stamps very easily.
But, it is very difficult to find new coin even though we go to bank.
so my first impression was that coin collecting is MORE difficult than stamp in economic and practical aspects.
Do you agree it? ^^
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Valued Member
United States
414 Posts |
I collected stamps for more than 30 years and just started my silver and gold coin collections. The problem of stamps is easy to collect and hard to store and sell later. I need something that have higher values and easy to pass to my kids. I got more than ten to twenty thousands of stamps, postal card and other. If my kids don't like them, I don't know what to do with them. With gold and silver, I don't think they will refuse. Just a thought.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4867 Posts |
I gave up stamps. They were too difficult to collect when they became self adhesive.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4589 Posts |
I collect both as well as Paper money coins will keep your investment I believe better unless of course you have the ultra rare Stamps. but I think you will find many stamp collectors here I started out as a coin collector. I don't think coin collecting is any harder you just have to learn where to find the material , in fact I would assume that stamp collecting should be harder since they are just paper and should not last as well as coinage. I do think coin collecting may cost more than stamp collecting though. just my opinion Welcome to the forum you found a great place
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1840 Posts |
I'd agree with your first point. My sister collects stamps and I'll buy her one from time to time for her birthday or Christmas. I've always been surprised how inexpensive they are.
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Valued Member
 United States
56 Posts |
you're right.
coin costs more, which means coin rewards more.
sounds not bad... ^^
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Member
United States
703 Posts |
20 years from now, would your rather have a bucha stamps that some stamp shop would be willing to pay you half of face value (or)
a bunch valuable coins that will be worth way more than you paid for them if you bought them wisely and they would be VERY Liquid.
errrror
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Pillar Of The Community
3147 Posts |
Stamps are almost impossible to sell and I found that out the hard way. In the end I used most of my collection as postage as that was the only way I could get my money back (face value). Now coins are a complete different story. Most dealers are begging for inventory and most coins have doubled and tripled in value in the last 10 years. I have found, from over 30 years experience, it would be best to mix your coin collecting habits among different series, such as the classics or moderns, rather than put all your eggs in the same basket so to speak! And, plan on holding your coins FOREVER or until the profit margin reaches your expectations. You, over a period of years will see many times the unexpected comes quickly and the expected never arrives! Most importantly enjoy the hobby!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4867 Posts |
Can we use older stamps as long as we put the correct postage amount?
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Valued Member
United States
393 Posts |
You can use stamps as old as you want as long you use the correct postage amount. I received a letter sometime back that had stamps issued in the 1960's. I've got a few stamps that I picked up through the years and they're not really worth much more now than when I got them. Don't plan on collecting anymore as a priority.
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
9349 Posts |
I enjoy collecting both and have done for 40 years. Once you have a large collection, they can both be hard to store. If you buy stamps wisely, they can appreciate in value as well as any coin. As for selling them I don't know, I have never sold any of my stamps or coins. When I look in the newspaper, I see both Stamp and Coin collections for sale at about half of catalog value. The thing I hate about both hobbies is the fact that the Mints and Post office produce too many new items each year, just to try to fleece from our hard earned cash. That's why I tend to stick to circulated coins and used stamps. Coins are at face value. Stamps, someone else has paid for them. One good thing about stamp collecting, is grading. Basically used or mint. Coins are much for difficult. Steve  |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Pretty much already said. I too USED to collect stamps. I noticed over the years as I told people they would give me boxes of stamps that they said they were planning on doing something with someday. Almost all were just stamps. I still have boxes of those that I have no idea what to do with them. One person from Europe I know gave me a complete Hitler Stamp series on sheets of paper from some album. They to just sit. I've been to many, many coin shows but can't even find one stamp show. I've checked with stamp/coin shops and they were in the market to get rid of stamps and only if I gave them to them free would they even bother. I too spent many of the stamps that were usable from back when I collected entire sheets. It is just difficult to put about 5 to 10 stamps on a letter to make the .39 now due for postage but that is where most have gone. Once cancelled they are basically paper. With coins you can always spend them as money also but would you get some strange looks trying to use a .20 piece somewhere. I've already had people tell me I'm using play money when I try to spend a $2 bill or a Kennedy half dollar. Regardless, remember that at one time Beenie Babies, Hot Wheel Cars, Stamps, 45 RPM records and many other items were the hot things to collect. So it may go to pass with coins. Although they have been a item to collect for thousands of years now, the craze may end any day now. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1031 Posts |
It's always fun to see the reaction of someone when you give them a fifty cent piece. Personally, I'd rather collect coins than stamps just for the fact of the materials that they are made of. I do have some stamps but I prefer coins and only will spend money on coins.
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
9349 Posts |
To those of you who would rather collect coins than stamps, I am offering foster care to unwanted stamps. Here they will be loved and cared for and never sold. LOL Steve |
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Moderator
 Australia
16804 Posts |
Ksyim asked for pros and cons of coins versus stamps. Here are two, one "pro-coin" and one "pro-stamp", from a "world collector" perspective:
- Coins go back further than stamps. The postage stamp was invented in the mid-1800's. If you want to go back further in time than that, you'll have to switch to coins. There's simply no such thing as postage stamps of Napoleon Bonaparte, Henry VIII, the Crusader States or ancient Rome.
- Not all countries make coins - most make stamps. This is linked to the first point ksyim raised - that stamps are a lot cheaper and easier to produce than coins. For many smaller countries and territories such as Liechtenstein, Tonga, Norfolk Island and Hutt River Province, the sale of postage stamps to collectors are a major source of revenue.
In the British and French empires, "monetary unions" comprising several nearby colonies were normal - it was cheaper to make a large batch of coins for "those colonies over there" than to make tiny batches of coins for each separate colony. Thus, there are no coins for Upper Volta, Tanganyika, Northern Rhodesia and many others, and very few coins from places like Gold Coast, Ivory Coast, Dahomey/Benin and Antigua. These colonies used coins in the name of entities such as "British West Africa", "East Africa", "British Caribbean Territories" or "French West Africa".
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
Edited by Sap
04/07/2007 01:54 am
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Moderator
United States
23472 Posts |
Practical Side
I collected mint (unused stamps) cost a premium
I tried to sell them some went back 20 years.
I had a very hard time getting even face value for them - then I sold them at face value minus a percentage to a friend who whould use them as postage.
I collect coins and banknotes - Mostly foreign (Australia) and USA
I have never sold a coin or banknote for less than or even exactly what I paid for it.
i have made a profit on each one I chose to depart with.
I do presentation for youth groups also work with retail shops to educated employers on counterfeiting.. I have given many coins and a few banknotes away to these folk and it always put a smile on their face even to receive what would be termed a foreign junk coin.
My coins/banknotes hold their value and although there are some beautiful stamps out there
I stick with coins
But you should see my lovely collection of PNCs (both coins and stamps on one envelope) These are by far my favorites and on these the price almost always goes up.
just one mans opinion
rggoodie
aka Richard
"catch em doing something right"
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Replies: 22 / Views: 5,151 |
Posted 04/06/2007 1:43 pm
