My Way Of Collecting

Hi Snitchard. My thought is that it is the goals of the collector, i.e. what drives him/her to collect, that would determine whether the collecting mechanics are successful or not. In other words, does the collecting satisfy his or her goals. I've read that coin collectors generally fall into one of three categories: those who collect for fun; those who collect for long term appreciation; and those who collect for investment and have the intention of continuously selling and trading their coins as one might maneuver in the commodities market. The permutations of these three approaches are numerous and I suspect that for many collectors their goals combine elements of each of these and probably other factors as well. You like to give date specific sets to the children of relatives and friends to mark important days in their lives. That's a very nice by-product of you having fun with your collecting and your style of collecting accommodates it well. In the end each collector will have to assess their goals and consider whether their collecting activities are advancing them toward realizing those goals. Also, if the only purpose of collecting is just to have some fun and a healthy distraction from everyday life, there is certainly nothing wrong with that IMHO. Cheers to you, Ged

Every year for many, many years I've been giving away about 10 proof and 10 Uncirculated sets plus a Red Book for Christmas presents. So far none have produced a coin collector. Everyone I've given them to says they are in boxes somewhere. At least they didn't give them to the Salvation Army, YET. Really is sort of a shame that at that time of year when I see them opening them I hear that same old gee, another pile of coins. Sure wish at least one person would have appreciated them over all these years.

Awesome. People's are as unique and diverse as the collector. That is great that you like to give away proofs...anything that you can do to spark interest in others is perfect in my book!