Collecting Versus Investing

T-bop, I understand there are people with different interests and we can learn from each other, but that is not what the OP is about. Comments like

" don't think of these people as real coin collectors; ...' and

"Are people who buy coins just to resell them coin collectors, or are they simply investors"

serve no other purpose than to put a label on someone that is different from you and has no value.

And how the heck do you quote something on this forum anyway?

I do very well focusing on what I like and I am not putting labels on people. I am pointing out that thinking of oneself as a coin collector can have many meanings, but for me, someone who buys coins with no intention of keeping them is not a collector in the strict sense; they are investors. There's nothing with that. But if they think of themselves as collectors, they're going to have a hard time convincing me that they love getting coins as much as a nine-year-old kid who can't wait to fill up another hole in his or her Lincoln Cent album.

Anyway, repliers have shown that many investors who simply buy and sell also have wonderful collections of their own. So you can be both.

I used to only collect coins, and I wouldn't sell any. That changed later on once I knew I could turn a quick profit and sometimes double my buying power by making a profit.

I still collect, but I also move quite a bit of merchandise now. A lot of times I will buy coins and paper money to make a profit to feed my main focus now which is paper money. If I get tired of seeing a certain piece in my collection, I sell it and buy something else. If someone down the road is interested in my collection I will hand it down, if not I'll just sell it off eventually.

So I suppose I'm half of the way to being an investor using jpsned's definition?

Lol,I resemble that remark!

Interesting question.

Couple of things. If life got REALLY tight on money, would you sell your collection?


I am a collector, but I do look for opportunities to purchase, with the two intentions - improve my core collection series and break even/make money on purchase.

If I happen to make money, then on to the next purchase.

Of note, I have not completed a series yet. I am very close on a couple - Lincoln cents and Washington quarters. Both are UNC sets.

Then, when wife and I took the two oldest grand daughters to The Money Museum, watching their attitudes from "ho hum" to "some of this is kind of cool" (in 4 year old and 6 year old terms), it was fun to watch.

At the close of our visit, I saw the Mark Twain commemorative in person. When I looked at the reverse, see the jumping frog and raft, this spurred many memories of reading his books about his adventures. I was able to hold my history, my enjoyment of reading a couple of books, reliving some of my memories.....just by holding that commemorative.

Yes, I bought it. There will be a note inside of the box, indicating where, when, with whom, and why I bought this commemorative.

I love opportunistic collecting. It results in an eclectic collection, but you always are free to buy what you like.

Well... maybe the US doesn't demonetize coins, but here in good ol' Yurop it's quite common. So in that case your coin collection might suddenly partially go from face value to scrap value - as there will be millions of them, it's not a proper investment. :) Those coins are simply for the fun of collecting.

With my bullion coins and rare coins, though, I always keep in mind that it's possible to sell in case required. This makes me theoretically an investor but practically a collector, I guess.

I'm not against pure investors or pure collectors (or anything in between). Most important is that we all share an interest in coins. Both are needed to keep this hobby alive.