Discouraged?

Rising prices on U.S. coins does get discouraging at times.

What I found to be a nice distraction is going after some foreign coin issues. The demand is not as large as so prices are lower. And all those different compositions and designs are enough to keep me going .

Right now I'm really having fun with early to mid 20th century foreign coins.

I agree with my colleagues that you should consider branching out and collecting different coins and also doing some roll searching (what I call the free lottery - where else could you wind up with something worth greater value $$$ and the downside is it is worth what you paid for it?).

Besides, if you don't keep amassing a huge collection of coins, how will you ever be able to have a treasure bath (ala Mel Brooks "History of the World part 1)?

I just got a roll of quarters today to try and fill my 50 states album. Yes, they are pointless to collect and will never be worth more than face value, but I need my fix .

Mkay, heres my situation.

I've got several series in various states. I've got a couple of sets of Lincolns in different grades, low grade IHCs and flying eagles, Buffs with readable dates, liberty nicks, Standing Liberty quarters, walkers, the usual random type set and some civil war tokens from the town I live in, almost all of it lower grades, nothing too expensive. I've got a lot of whitman folders that the kids and I try to fill from roll searching (trying to get them hooked ya see) and then a few odd world coins. Like I said before I've been concentrating on Lincolns but they're getting pricey and then there is this fugue that's set in where I just can't seem to get excited about any of this. I used to see a coin that would fit in somewhere and start to figure out how to work my budget around to get it but anymore I see something I should get excited about and wonder if I need to pick up ketchup before the weekend. Does that make sense? I'm not looking to unload my stuff but the interest seems to be gone, nothing is grabbing my attention. Does this happen?

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"I'm not looking to unload my stuff but the interest seems to be gone, nothing is grabbing my attention. Does this happen?"
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It sounds like your describing "burn-out." I'm sorry if this sounds like a broken record, as it probably does, but once again it is my belief that we collectors have to question all of our "cherished beliefs," concerning coin collecting, now that the Internet is so much a part of it.

We're told that specializing in a series or several series is better because we can become so much more knowledgeable than the sellers we're dealing with. Dealers have to maintain a balanced stock and have more general knowledge which supposedly puts a date specialist at an advantage. How fascinating then, that so many general dealers such as Dave Bowers can spend their entire lives involved in coins with out burn-out.

Burn-out is nothing more than the law of diminishing marginal returns. The more widgets you have the less appealing the next widget is. The Internet makes it possible to build a collection faster, probably 10 times faster than before.

One solution is to somehow introduce inefficiency--which, BTW, is the real marvel of the "thrill of the hunt." It used to slow things down in the past. I'm not sure that it even does that anymore with the Internet. Is ten minutes on ebay really a "hunt?"

One way is to spend more time researching your collections. This puts a real strength--more information--to work for you instead of the supposed strength of acquiring more faster.

Burn-out, from the Internet, IMO, is the biggest threat to coin collecting and yet nothing is ever said about it. I never once read the term "Law of diminishing marginal returns" in a coin publication. It's almost as if the whole subject is taboo. But collectors had better start talking about it and coming up with ideas to over come it, because the Internet is a big factor in it now and the Internet is here to stay.

Again, thanks for the input everyone, y'all make a lot of sense. I guess it's just one of those things you ride out and see what happens.