More Fun? Collecting Valuable Coins Or Cheap Coins?

I enjoy the hunt, I like finding coins at face value that are worth more than face value. I am thrilled when I find the 1931 CND dime in the roll of pennies, hence "I got it for a penny". I have bought coins in the 1-10 dollar range, but consider my self a face value collector. I know this keeps my finacial risk low. I don't think what I do is "Cheap'. I believe those who spend hundreds or thousands on a coin enjoy this just as much as I do. I collect coins!

For a while, I liked going to shops and asking them for one or two dollars' worth of 10-kopek coins (I obviously said that in rubles, but in the "pre Dec 2014" exchange rates in use at a time, one dollar came up to 300-350 coins).
Originally, I did that to fill holes in my 10 kopek date set. Then the date and mintmark set. By sometime in 2012, I had the entire set done except perhaps the most recent dates, but for some reason I continued getting them anyway.

As far as face value goes... I'd happily pay two hundred times the face value to get a 1 kopek coin from 2014 - which comes up, under current (post-December) exchange rates, to slightly over Three Cents in American money.


Returning back on topic: I am, indeed, not the sort of person who would pay thousands for a coin - thousands of our currency, that is (which means anything above $50 or so American). Even 300 rubles ($10 by old rates, $5 by new rates) seems like an awfully huge amount to pay for a coin - which is why I don't have much of large silver.

I don't think I've ever paid over $50 cdn for a circulation coin, I collect silver 50 cent varieties, most in the $6 - 20 range, so I want to believe I'm in the cheap coin group.

I only have a hand full of coins that I paid more then $100 for, most of my coins I picked up for under $25. I like the hunt of finding the best coin I can while not breaking the bank in the process.

Thanks SPP-Ottawa. Since Loonies came out in 1987 I imagine most people think there was no Voyageur after 1986.

For me the most fun is always by getting needed coins by either obtaining them at face value or a small amount over (maybe 25% over face max?).

When it comes time to buy higher priced coins it is more painful than fun; at least for me. For example, at the beginning of this week I needed just three quarters to complete my Washington quarter collection: a 1934-D, a 1939-S, and a 2013-D South Dakota. All three mean exactly the same to me: they are all just 'hole fillers'. Already I know that finding the 2013 coin in pocket change will make me happy. I did just buy the 1934-D, and even though I paid less than 'book price' for it I feel more 'guilt' than 'happiness' for doing so. Why? Probably because I paid for it with money I don't really have (used credit card, again!) and I know I'll be paying for it (and interest) for months to come.

I know that there's lots of you out there that don't have money problems and paying $100 or more for a coin means nothing. My buddy just spent over $7,000.00 a week ago for junk silver and to him it's just another day of coin collecting. I'm not saying that I don't like coin collecting, but I did enjoy finding my first batch of coins from pocket change and 'coin roll hunting' much more back in the old days.

I'm kind of torn on this question since there are a lot of cheap coins that I've gotten a lot of enjoyment out of over the years BUT a high percentage of my favorites are the more expensive coins in my collection. When I'm looking at my collection there are a few coins that I always examine every time and those are usually the more expensive coins that I'm able to afford on a lower middle class budget. I guess a part of this is associated with what I collect, classic U.S. coins where you have to pay up to get nice, undamaged examples in decent condition.

The main body of my collection comprises about 2,000 coins, in all metals. The only real requirement for them to take a place in the collection is for them to have high numismatic interest, for whatever reason.

A few of them would be valued at $thousands each. Those have come from internationally recognised auctions and dealers.
Perhaps around 500 of them would be valued between $10 and $1,000.
That leaves perhaps more than 1500 coins valued at less than $10 each, and a lot of those less than $1 each.

For all of my collecting life, I have had great fun searching through dealers' junk boxes.