What Do You Think Are The Personality Traits Of A Coin Collector?

Often when I'm hanging out with some friends in a social gathering or just wanting to relax, I'll at one point turn the conversation to numismatics, i.e. coin collecting. The conversations normally aren't too long, perhaps lasting anywhere from between a couple minutes to tenish minutes, give or take. Normally we just discuss the topic and then move on. Rarely whenever I am talking about coins do I find someone who seems to show an interest that I as a coin collector can recognize. Most people normally reply with, "Oh, that's cool.did you guys hear about the basketball game last night?" Of all the people I have been with in the last month, I'd say the ratio is something like 1 out of every 15 individuals show genuine interest in the topic or in the pocket piece I happen to be carrying that day. Oftentimes I've told myself, "Maybe I just see things differently." But what exactly is different about me? Where does this gravitation towards these normally small discs of metal come from? Is it something about my personality?

Which is why I'd love to hear what some of you folks here have to say on this topic. What personality traits do coin collectors have that gravitates them towards the hobby? Is it the innate urge to collect and hoard things, which probably saved a lot of our ancestors from starvation many millennia ago, manifesting itself in the modern day? Is it simple curiosity? A desire to complete something to a point we would define as whole? Is it the desire to make money via speculation, a more time-consuming form of gambling some would say? Perhaps many coin collectors are gravitated to the concept of time, realizing that many have already been here long before we or even our grandparents existed?

Personally, I got into coin collecting after looking through my father's change that he would bring back from business trips around the world. I thought it was kinda cool, these small metal discs with their various designs. Then one day, I found a liberty head nickel and was astounded by how old it was. 7 year old me was thinking "Whoa.this thing has been here for a loooong time." Today, I love collecting coins because of the direct linkage it brings me to various time periods in history. To think that most items from those eras were destroyed and lost long ago, yet these coins have survived. A testament to time, and a testament to those people. Sure, I might not have an astounding type-set collection, but hey, it's pretty awesome to have something that was present during the turmoils that bubbled into the American revolution, or crossed the savannas of Africa during the days of Henry Morton Stanley's adventures, perhaps sailed on a ship headed to South America for colonial trade (and sadly used by monsters who perpetrated native exploitation), maybe a token kept hidden in a Jewish concentration camp in WW2 (proving the atrocities of WW2 happened), or even a coin produced by a fallen institution that once wanted to proclaim to the world "we exist, we are here, we are real." And don't get me started on ancients! Perhaps for me personally, it is time that really gravitates me towards numismatics. Worlds have come and gone, societies and their cultures have risen and fallen, events have occurred that were at one time important to somebody, but today have long been forgotten. Coins remind me of the times and people we as a society today have decided are not worth remembering in our collective conscience. Sure cars, tech, jewelry, and the newest iPhone are all cool, shiny, and hip. But the glamour these items give doesn't compare to the stories hidden and represented in a coin, especially coins that have survived through many generations. If only money could talk, could we then know where it's been!

Perhaps most people I meet nowadays don't share the same perspective I do when it comes to the coins we all carry inside our pockets. And that's okay! But hey, every once in a while, pulling out an old worn coin at a party can lead to some pretty awesome and memorable conversations!