Do I Have To Complete Sets?

I believe your dilemma is a good one. The bottom line is, whatever you like is all that matters. There are collector's that are very detailed, want everything in place, and only collect a specific coin/set. I am a lot like you, I become bored with a design, country, type of metal used etc etc etc. I think this is a really neat way to collect, I have a vast variety of everything from French Medals to Buffalo nickels, and everything in between. Just keep collecting, and enjoy the variety that we have at our disposal.

Dave.. Do tell.

I'm also very random - I like them all. I collect everything.. medals, ancients, tokens, contemporary counterfeits, US, World, varieties.. and try to learn about everything. So now I know some about many but am an expert in none.. and that's ok. If I ever focus on something then I will; if not, I'll end up with a great and varied collection to boggle my children's minds with.



Exactly It's your collection, and your collection is what you define it to be.

Well, imagine a 3D grid packed with intersecting lines. Only the truly random ones don't intersect anything - that's what "random" is about. If you fill the grid with enough intersecting lines, the room for the ones which can't possibly intersect anything can be calculated.

In other words, a pattern. You can always determine what "isn't" by calculating what "is" most accurately.

Collect and buy what YOU like.

If you are a random collector I'd suggest doing a 7070 type set.

I never really tried to complete any one series. A complete book or folder of cents, quarters, etc. never really appealed to me, although I had my share of Whitman Folders back when you could collect Buffalo nickels, Mercury dimes, and Standing Liberty quarters out of circulation. Of course, I never came close to completing any of these folders.

Over the decades, my main collection was a US type set (with lots of extras), but this can never be completed, either. Coins like the 1796-1797 Half Dollar, 1796 no stars Quarter Eagle, and 1793 Chain Cent will forever be unaffordable (for me). After I reached the end of the line for the type set (missing almost all pre-1834 gold types, the flowing hair silver types (other than the half dollar), and most of the early cents and Half Cents), I gave up on true numismatic items.

I then went on to cheap pre-1933 US/foreign gold (mostly) -- you can see some of these on the "How far back can we go? Third Edition - 2015" thread. Now I'm getting tired of these, too, after accumulating a tiny fraction of what's out there. It's hard to say what I'll move on to next, but I definitely won't be striving for completion.

@ tkbslc

When I read your post the thing I took away from it was that you are fighting with boredom. You stated that you started in the hobby about a hear ago and have tried your hand at starting a number of different sets only to find yourself bored fairly quickly. Do I have that right?

If so then you are very much like many collectors in their first year. It's a time to get a feel for what interests you. So to that end I'd say don't worry about completing sets at this time especially if you find yourself getting bored. Perhaps what you might want to do is put most of your collecting time into learning about the coins that DO interest you. If you stumble upon a coin that you like, dig deeper by learning as much as you can about that coin or it's type or series, etc.. You've probably heard people say "buy the book before the coin". It sounds like a cliche but it's quite valid, especially at the crossroads you're finding yourself now.

If you take the time to learn as much as you possibly can about an area that interests you, you're likely to become even more interested. And learning can be done in so may ways. Reading here on these forums, in the many, many great numismatic books that are available at the library, online, or purchased. Learn from your local coin dealer or from a local or online coin club.

I'm sure I'm not telling you anything you don't already know but as you're finding yourself distracted, or your interests in completing a set is waning, why not take a step back and focus on learning all there is to know about a coin series that interests you.

And hopefully you'll get a second wind and end up with a hobby that makes you happy for a lifetime.

Not so much boredom, but feeling like I should be working toward organized sets when I enjoy reading about all different kinds of coins and collecting unorganized sets...

Just still not sure what I want to do. So far, larger silver coins seem to give me the most joy. I fact, I started this whole thing by a relative giving me three older silver rounds as a birthday gift.




I've got most of a 20th Century type set done. I got frustrated when I got to the Barber coins and it's not a design that I like, but it costs a ton of money for good examples. I fear I'd run into that even more in the 19th century.

From the posts here, it sounds like there are a lot of us in (some degree) of your boat, tkbslc. I too am somewhat of an ADD collector. I jump around from set to set randomly...it's whatever captures my interest at the time.

That said, in the long haul, all my sets get equal billing, so it really depends on the time frame in which you consider them. Week to week I probably seem like:



But if you look at my collecting on a scale of 5-10 years, things steady out quite a bit.