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 Replies: 16 / Views: 2,495 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7273 Posts |
On another forum a topic was refreshed about how long old collectors stay in the game, the topic actually switched to who is a serious and who is a casual collector.
And I think it's a good topic for CCF. What are the characteristics of a serious and a causal collector. And to make it interesting which one are you?
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
7273 Posts |
So I'll start. There are several serious collectors in my opinion on here, examples include Coinfrog, Barryg, Kanga, Westcoin, grăpe, winesteven, ty2020b, Steve in Tampa and a few others.
You can see it the coins/currency they purchase and the knowledge they possess.
To me serious is buying the best coin you can afford and being knowledgeable about the grade, condition, variety and it's history.
While I love to look at the serious collection, I myself don't consider myself a serious collector. I don't generally care about the grade (visual appearance is more important), I don't care if a coin is details and I collect more what I like rather than what is collectible. I also limit what I spend so I'm to me more casual, but I'm a history buff so I'll know a lot about the history. Also coin collecting isn't my only interest.
I guess in the end if I only had a certain amount and I could only use it on coins or a vacation I would be flying some where (hoping there was a coin shop where I fly to but if there wasn't I would be ok). I like coins/currency but it isn't my life. So I consider myself a casual collector.
Edited by hfjacinto
08/20/2021 10:54 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2869 Posts |
I to am a casual collector.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3468 Posts |
I've been casually collecting and accumulating coins for the past 50 years or so. I've assembled a few sets and have accumulated many coins that should be assembled into sets if I could only focus long enough to do so.
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21786 Posts |
I have been a casual collector for the whole of my adult life. A contradiction despite decades of experience? Not really.
I am a numismatic generalist, not a specialist. I will defer those here in the CCF, that know lots more than I do, in their specialist fields. That is why I am here in the CCF, and why I still regard myself as a casual collector.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
19120 Posts |
Casual works well for me. On occasion I'll experience a streak or two of near seriousness, then my focus/effort will broaden again.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3281 Posts |
I'd say I'm a mix of both. There have been times where I've spent hours upon hours every day coin roll hunting, and such.
As many of you know, I travel overseas, meaning my coin collecting time is quite limited. However, when I'm back in the States, I take every opportunity possible. For instance, this Summer while I was on the West Coast, I went to several different banks. I've put a lot of the money I have into both silver and variety/error coins as well. If I had the opportunity, I would be a serious collector. However because of my circumstances, there is only so much time I can spend.
I know what I want to collect, I don't just have a bit of this and a bit of that. Compared to others, such as those listed, I am certainly not a serious collector, as I don't have a big enough paycheck to spend as much. But, compared to myself and my own experiences, I would consider myself a serious collector. Coin collecting is my top "physical, real world" hobby. I have already started focusing on years down the road, investing in coins to better myself when I'm older and need to retire.
But my inactivity in the hobby is very prominent, but that's because I'm currently dealing with the most chaotic and busiest year of my life.
So all in all, I'm a casual collector at the moment, but once I return back to the United States after this last post, I will become far more invested and more serious in the hobby, as it will likely be my main source of spending my free time.
Edited by SilverCents
08/21/2021 09:01 am
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Rest in Peace
United States
18456 Posts |
Quote:
I've been casually collecting and accumulating coins for the past 50 years or so. I Yep that's me too . I was never one to study the books , so not paying attention to errors I just concentrated on Dates ,mints ,and grade of U.S. coins Cents through Halves . And that's where I still stand to day .  |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
5239 Posts |
While not to be argumentative, I am not convinced that being a generalist is an indicator of being casual, nor that getting the best grade you can is a sign of being serious. Many but of course not all aspects of collecting are not greatly concerned with grade or variety. Certainly prior to modern times, identification and history play a rather major role. Perhaps the distinction between being a collector and being a numismatist is a bit blurred at times. In my mind being a serious collector means you have some relatively clear objectives, devote a fair bit of time plus exert effort to develop expertise in your area of interest.
To make a possibly poor analogy, you can't be a serious golfer if you play once a year and make no effort to learn how to drive and put well. You can't be a serious musician if you don't work at your craft. You also can't be a serious collector if you just dump all your change in a jar.
I am inclined to think that quite a lot of the active forum members are serious collectors. I guess I am too, although I try not to take myself that seriously.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10284 Posts |
I am very serious about my casual coin collecting.  Over my lifetime in the hobby, it has fluctuated from being obsessed to being the last thing on my mind. It's an affliction I just have to live with. |
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Moderator
 Australia
16808 Posts |
"Serious" and "casual" are words I would never use to describe collectors. They are too vague and undefined, and frankly kind of offensive.
What makes a "serious" collector?
Someone who spends a lot of money on their collection? I don't think so. You aren't "serious" just because you're rich and can afford to throw your spare money at a hobby. It's possible for you to spend a lot of money on coins, and prove nothing except that you're a trend-follower and perhaps an unwise steward of your finances.
Someone who spends a lot of time at coin shows, coin club meetings etc? Does that condemn everyone who has family, friends, other interests, and other signs of having a social life to the "casual" status?
Someone with an encyclopedic knowledge of the minutiae and trivia of their aspect of the hobby? I don;t think so - not when we've determined that a "coin collector" only becomes a "numismatist" when knowledge becomes an important aspect of the hobby; having knowledge as a prerequisite would in fact disqualify all "coin collectors" from being "serious coin collectors".
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7273 Posts |
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"Serious" and "casual" are words I would never use to describe collectors. They are too vague and undefined, and frankly kind of offensive.
Kind of offensive? I think you read too much into the question. Many of us are serious and many of us are casual. I like to think that one can be both, but some of us are what I would consider a more serious collector, mostly based on what they collect and the look of feel of their collection. As an example Grape and I both are collectors, just based on my conversations with Grape I consider him a serious collector. He strives for a beautiful coin will wait months for the perfect coin and actually works as a dealer. That's pretty serious. Now I like my coins I have Registry set that's number 78, but that's not my goal, my goal is to finish my set with coins that I find appealing, I don't consider myself that serious. I don't strive for all MS coins , actually some of my favorite coins are the AU and under ones. In the end we are both collectors but some people get deeper into it than others. Some are more serious and some are more casual. |
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Pillar of the Community
4628 Posts |
I am both, I am very serious about my NZ predecimal coins, Tradesmen's tokens, Australian silver, Fijian coins and notes.
And don't even get me started on my Halfcrowns and Florins.
Yes you should add a 3rd category - OBSESSED!
Yet coins are fun to me as well and I will casually collect world stuff like buying a bag that had 15 small Dutch 10 cent coins of the 1970s (Completely worthless). Plus having a pile of grot I can just "play" with also adds to casuality. I can assure you the play coins do not include any Florins or Halfcrowns worth over about $15.
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Moderator
United States
94867 Posts |
For years (since 1972) I have been a casual collector - more of an accumulator actually, just filling Whitman folders. I think I'm getting more serious these days as I'm aiming on completing sets and studying the coins I get.
I'm putting more time in trying to learn about the coin I have and will get later on. Lately I have been spending more and more time in cataloging and grading my coins. does that now make me serious? I don't know, but it sure is fun to find and collect coins and see what others have gotten.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Quote:
"Serious" and "casual" are words I would never use to describe collectors. They are too vague and undefined, and frankly kind of offensive. Same for me. |
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Valued Member
United Kingdom
251 Posts |
I'm kind of with Sap on this - the terms aren't really defined enough for me to be able to say where I fall. I suppose you could vaguely categorise people, but it would be very rough. For instance, someone who collects the different coin designs out of their change is definitely more of a "casual" collector than someone who will actively make enquiries to find the ones they need (asking friends to keep a look out, maybe befriending someone at the bank etc). I don't really buy very much - I might occasionally purchase a couple that I really can't find in circulation (such as for my pre-decimal collection) or something that I find interesting, but for me the enjoyment of collecting is in actually finding the coins or notes you need. Buying things isn't really very fun for me - I'm sure if you're trying to put together the best condition set you can, it's a necessity and there will be people who will spend months searching auctions to try and find the perfect coin, but that just isn't for me (at the moment, I might change in the future as there are fewer and fewer new things to find in circulation).
I do think that I'm fairly serious about my collection though, especially with my circulating coins - I will go to extreme efforts to search them out and have (to some degree) educated myself about what I do collect, and I think that separates me from someone who purely collects what happens to come their way in change. Sure, I'm not really fussy about grade, but I don't think that should be a criterion for being "serious". I certainly wouldn't call the efforts I put in "casual".
Edited by Collector28
08/24/2021 04:46 am
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Replies: 16 / Views: 2,495 |
Posted 08/20/2021 10:57 pm
