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Rest in Peace
United States
18456 Posts |
Ever say to yourself why am I paying all this money just because there is a small letter (MM) on this coin .or because there is no MM on that coin. are we crazy or just obsessed ? Yes; the money we will spend because of a tiny letter on a certain coin.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7840 Posts |
Peculiar that you started this thread...I have been reevaluating my collection style (varieties), and I may be at a carfax in my hobby.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5825 Posts |
Everyone's Crazy Except You and Me...And I'm Not So Sure About You ;-)
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Valued Member
United States
424 Posts |
Are we insane? One of my friends has defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. In a way I think coin collecting comes close to this.
IMHO the whole concept of money is rather odd and the idea of collecting it is rather peculiar. We take some paper or metal disks and impress certain images on them and that somehow makes them worth X amount. We sacrifice large amounts of our personal time in order to accumulate as much of the paper and metal as possible. Some of us never even see or handle this paper and metal, it is just some number on an electronic pulse sent to a destination of our choice which is ultimately a series of I's and O's (binary code for those of you that are wondering). After we accumulate enough of this paper, metal and/or binary (PMB) we will then exchange it for some bit of metal or scrap of paper that has a declared value less than what we are exchanging it for.
So yes this is a very strange hobby with a healthy dash of insanity mixed into it.
I Love It!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6370 Posts |
Quote:
Ever say to yourself why am I paying all this money just because there is a small letter (MM) on this coin .or because there is no MM on that coin. are we crazy or just obsessed ? Yes; the money we will spend because of a tiny letter on a certain coin. My thoughts exactly. This is precisely why I do not collect by date/MM and stay away from key dates. They are not much different from the coin that I can pay $5 for instead of $5000. Collecting by type is much more rewarding IMO. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
19951 Posts |
I'm sure some people think we are! Paying 500-10000+ times face value for a cent, some people must think it's absolutely nuts. To my family, I explain I'm not paying for a cent, I'm paying for rarity and collectability.  |
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Valued Member
United States
343 Posts |
In my case it would be two letters. :)
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Moderator
 United States
188513 Posts |
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Are We Insane ? If you can ask the question, you are not.  There are way worse ways to waste money. I think we are saner than most.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4085 Posts |
I have certainly had this thought. But value and scarcity in general falls prey to this same type of question. While is gold considered valuable? Why is silver considered valuable? It has some utility, but it is really valuable because everyone considers it valuable. This has survived the test of time, so it is not considered a fad like beanie babies or to a lesser extent things like baseball cards or tulips. I would say coin collecting has some history behind it, so it is less likely to be a complete fad that will collapse like the beanie babies did. But as coin collectors we are still vulnerable to the popularity of the hobby somewhat. In the end, it comes down to scarcity and the value someone puts on that scarcity. Baseball cards collapsed because at some point the more modern issues were not really scarce. But older cards still have value because they ARE scarce - so my 1973 Topps baseball card set has value still. The same is somewhat true of stamps - older stamps still have some value but newer issues have collapsed with a loss of interest in the hobby coupled with a large supply of moderns. We have seen it somewhat with modern issues like State Quarters; they have been losing value recently and often are worth face only. Even silver State Quarters have regressed towards the silver value vs. premiums paid say 10 years ago. What happened with stamps, baseball cards or beanie babies could happen to coins, but I don't think coins have gone through a mania period like beanie babies or baseball cards, so it is somewhat less likely - but still possible. If no one is interested in collecting our coins in the future, they will lose value. That's a risk but I do feel like we have some continuous history of collecting that is on our side. Edited by KenKat
02/05/2016 12:58 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
982 Posts |
The argument is especially relevant when it comes to the so-called 1922 "Plain" Cent. Many collectors pay a premium if the Denver mint mark cannot be seen.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3155 Posts |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
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Ever say to yourself why am I paying all this money just because there is a small letter (MM) on this coin .or because there is no MM on that coin. are we crazy or just obsessed ? Yes I am, do you have a problem with that? I don't. (Makes more sense than paying a lot of extra money just because of the piece of plastic it's in. Oh wait I do that sometimes too.) |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1316 Posts |
My wife prefers to use "ridiculous". Either way, it can be tough to argue I'm the definition of normal.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1911 Posts |
I am with TypeCoin. I don't need a full collection of one (almost) same coin over and over. Different types are nice seeing all the different types over the past 200 years!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7375 Posts |
Yeah, I'm insane, but not stupid  |
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Valued Member
United States
59 Posts |
Honestly, I can't think of anything better to collect than MONEY!
Now, I always have some.
Dates, mms, and such, just make it a lot more interesting.
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Replies: 50 / Views: 6,364 |
Posted 02/05/2016 09:26 am
