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 Replies: 23 / Views: 3,784 |
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Valued Member
United States
337 Posts |
A friend asked me "what's does a coin collector do?" I came up with some answers but I figured I would ask the community what I might be missing. First, we usually pick a collection. It could be U.S. coins only, another mint (like RCM), all international coins, only bullion-quality, only older coins, only new direct-from-mint, coins by date, or whatever you choose. Then, you have to decide on how to collect. Is it by ordering them? Do you visit coin shows? Perhaps you only collect what you find in change or through roll hunting. In any case, you have to decide what method(s) work for your budget, your collecting style, and likelihood of ever finding your desired collection. Now that the coin(s) are in hand you have to choose to catalog, display, store, and insure them. Catalog could be non-existent, using computer software, or keeping a journal of your collection. Maybe you research the history of each coin, its time period too. Perhaps you choose to keep the coins in the original shipment cases, place them into 2x2 albums, or some other system. Do you keep them on display or locked away? Do you keep them in a safe at home or in a bank deposit box? Do you buy separate insurance? Beyond that, I guess you could trade the coins. What else do you do with your collection? |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4897 Posts |
I like to stare at mine and smile like an idiot... ....no seriuosly I do!  |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
3167 Posts |
 same here  |
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21786 Posts |
Not so silly.
Close examination and appreciation of them gives you insight into a number of other areas directly associated to your collection:
More able to identify fakes
With ancient coins, a better appreciation of the societies and cultures from which the coin came from,
Minting techniques,
How you managed to acquire a particular coin
The value of a particular piece
The artwork in the design
The identification of varieties and errors
A better ability on how to grade a coin
This list could be almost endless.
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Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
Quote:
I like to stare at mine and smile like an idiot... Thats easily the most honest description of collecting I've ever seen |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1195 Posts |
basebal21 and amida |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1109 Posts |
Funny thing...just before coming in here and getting on the internet, I was in my game room looking at my collection of Lincoln cents. I was just staring at the collection and thinking and sitting there with a stupid grin on my face, then I put it up and came in here and saw this post. Yeah, that definitely happens. A lot.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
814 Posts |
I see coin.
Coin makes me smile.
Coin becomes part of collection.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1839 Posts |
I feel about coins very much like I feel about art. I love that each coin, no matter the condition has it's own unique look and feel. Some are ugly, some are beautiful, but they all are unique and have some kind of story behind the journeys they have taken. Where they have traveled and who has owned them remain a mystery which I find fascinating. I'm mostly drawn towards naturally toned coins as many tone in a way that give them great character. Shades of cobalt blue, sunset golds and sea green. Some only around the edges from years in an album, others across the entire surface, or speckled here and there only in the fields or on the devices. Perhaps only on the obverse or only on the reverse due to laying at the bottom of a canvas bank bag stored in a vault for many years. And every once in a while I'll come across a coin that just speaks to me in a way that I can't really explain. Those are the coins that I aspire to collect.
Edited by Tbone
04/24/2013 02:03 am
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Pillar of the Community
2087 Posts |
For me Collecting coins is akin to treasure hunting. I can't go bush bashing in South America or hunting for wrecks at the bottom of the sea. But I can search out unique coins with equally unique stories
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Moderator
 United States
14463 Posts |
with austrokiwi, In my "Visited the Darkside" album, I have coins from 8 countries I have visited. In my "Birth Year Set" album, I have coins from 77 countries.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2869 Posts |
Every coin collector is different and every coin collection is different and there are a lot of us I think. In a rather pretentious way I could say I don't collect coins, I collect toutchstones to history - but really I get as giddy as the next person about a shiney discs of silver or copper. I try not buy anything that people wouldn't have used for actual transactions - so no proofs, NCLT, things in sets or plastic, though inevitatibly I have a few, and I don't really buy anything more modern than WWII.
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New Member
Australia
31 Posts |
Quote:
For me Collecting coins is akin to treasure hunting. I can't go bush bashing in South America or hunting for wrecks at the bottom of the sea. But I can search out unique coins with equally unique stories I like this explanation, I look at it much the same. I also like the connection between coins and art, this aspect is underplayed I think. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Interesting question. I have no idea why I collect coins. I just have a habit of collecting things. I also collect lots of other things and at times wish I didn't. I enjoy going to coin shows, flea markets, garage/yard sales looking for coins, guns, knives, swords and/or anything. Many times I look around and say get rid of everything. Live like the people with very little and do nothing. Then I go to another coin show and buy, buy, buy. And it never, ever stops. I suspect this is a mental problem.
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
856 Posts |
Not so much with the collection, but I spend an awful lot of time trawling the internet for coins to compare condition, details and prices. I research, looking through old auction catalogues and records to spot coins I've seen (or better, own). And I spend a fair amount of time discussing coins with my on-line contacts.
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Valued Member
Austria
194 Posts |
the same to me: I like staring at my collection - to see and find all the special properties of each coin.
the material, the inscriptions and the design.
and then there is one thing, I regret: the day I die, it is not possible for me to carry them with me...
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Replies: 23 / Views: 3,784 |
Posted 04/23/2013 9:38 pm
