A Little Over 4 Years On The Forum.

I've been a coin/currency collector since I was 7 years old, but I collected in fits and spurts. In 2017, I decided to get back into it. I looked around for forums, some are just too much into the registry sets/slabbed coins, others have very little activity. So for a few years I lurked rather than participated. But I generally like the family friendly vibe of CCF and decided to join.

Becoming a member here, I saw members post lots of coins I wanted. This made me reconsider what I was collecting. A few years ago I had a conversation with a fellow collector about specializing. As part of this, I ended up selling a lot of lower value items and prioritized upgrading where it made sense and in other areas leaving completely.

This entailed revisiting what I collected and what I kept. And while I "purged" a lot, I still kept some of the items.

In the end this is my collection.These and the ASE are my oldest coins. For a long time I was purchasing from the mint, but I lost interest in Clad and therefore most of the sets were sold. The below were kept as I used a few for my 20th century type set and also as some have sentimental value



My ASE collection started in 1986, but when I was in college, I didn't keep it up. I picked up a few recently and I completed the full set in 2019, but not having the 1995W, I doubt I will have a complete Proof set. So I buy if I find Proofs it but its more a nice set than a full collection.



When I came here I went to albums, and while I had a set of Lincolns, this was the one set I upgraded.



The one thing that CCF really made me do was complete the sets I had several example of.




And 2 sets that I really wanted to do.



The posts by Commons made me want to add a few commemoratives that I liked.



Being on the forum also caused me to revisit my roots. Eventually doing a set of high grade coins/currency from Portugal.




Not to mention the US paper money collection.



I guess in the end the specialization never took hold, but I did go to quality were I can afford it. What CCF made me do was like what I collected and look for a coin/currency that I am happy with and can enjoy.

PS, getting the collection out to take pictures and processing them takes a long time. I think I may to reduce further ;)