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 Replies: 8 / Views: 1,293 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
595 Posts |
I was just reading a posting about a member who got a Walking Liberty half dollar at the bank, which he acknowledged to be bargain for 50 cents, which was nevertheless so thoroughly cleaned and polished that it was "ruined as a collectible." That makes me wonder: what exactly renders a coin uncollectible? If I collect it, it must be considered collectible; that is, a coin in a collection is collectible by definition, I should think. But that is probably too simplistic, a matter of semantics. Perhaps what the member really meant was that it was the value of the coin that was ruined, not its chances of spending the rest of its life in a collection. But there again, that very coin might be welcomed by an admirer of Walkers who is not -- or, for financial reasons, cannot -- be fussy about condition. Which would make it collectible. As an old professor of mine used to say, one person's "Oh boy!" is somebody else's "So what?" Very likely it's because I'm on vacation until after the holidays that I have time to sit around pondering weighty questions of this nature that probably make not one bit of difference to anybody else. Happy new year, everyone. Jan |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1267 Posts |
And my father used to sing a little song about Treasures in the Trash-Pile after some folks (ahem, friends of a friend) came to the farm once and wanted to dig around where an old Saw-Mill which used to be set-up back in the 1890s. They dug out old snuff bottles and other junk... It's all relative I suppose.
Take Care
Ben
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
19935 Posts |
I wouldn't say it's "uncollectable". The proper terminology would perhaps be "devoid of any numismatic premium".....basically worth melt. It could still be a "hole filler".
Lincoln Cent Lover!VERDI-CARE™ INVENTOR https://verdi.care/
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5318 Posts |
Quote:
That makes me wonder: what exactly renders a coin uncollectible? Scarcity of the coin plays a part towards collector interest and value. Since there are plenty of Walker halves in better grades than that polished example, there's little collector demand for the damaged coin. On the far opposite end, a rare coin like an early American pattern will be extremely valuable--even if holed, corroded, or scratched. There are really no absolutes when the coin is rare enough and demand is high. |
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Rest in Peace
United States
3730 Posts |
During a trip to England, I bought a framed set of British coins. I knew at the time they were cleaned and polished, and one can only guess what adhesive might be on the reverse side. Regardless, they are on my office wall, and look very nice. They are coins. They are attractive. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."  Edited by Gary Burke
12/26/2008 10:20 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3294 Posts |
Nothing is truly noncollectable. In this case, it is just extremely difficult to find a party interested in collecting that particular piece at the typical collectible price.
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Valued Member
United States
227 Posts |
I would agree with Badthad it is not uncollectible but I think with coins uncollectable means it has no numismatic value over melt in this case or face in nonprecious metal coins.
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Rest in Peace
United States
9104 Posts |
Quote:
"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." Sting is in the hand of the bee holder. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Ever see the really big smile on a little kid that finds a beat up, dirty coin on the ground. And he saves it.
Anything and everything is collectable depending on who, what, where, etc.
Might not be what a super coin collector wants, but someone out there would be happy to have any coin. Same with cars, stamps, sticks, rocks or anything that someone wants to collect.
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Replies: 8 / Views: 1,293 |
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Posted 12/26/2008 2:30 pm
