Thread: Weirdest things about coin collecting

Think back to when you first started collecting coins. What did you find most weird about the hobby, or others that were collecting or talking about coins?

My interest in coins have generally been for the art work and classical designs of the various coin series, with the academic or analytical aspects of hard assets and how coins are graded and priced.

So what I found the most weird were mint errors that attracted collectors and big money; also ugly coins that drew big money and interest. What have been aspects of coin collecting that you have found the most weird or strange?

I was surpised at the cheap prices of coins,
when I was young and went to a museum now and then I seen some coins (British Victorian pennies) and thought if a museum owned them they must be worth a lot!!
I also seen the age and thought they were worth a fortune like a roman coin or a coin from the french revolution.
Then when I got eBay and figured I could get one of these for like 1 euro.
Another thing that surprised me was the price for certain graded coins like the difference in grades MS 63 to MS65 can mean hundreds even thousands of $$$ in some cases.

While I understand it, the weirdest thing to me is the obsession to get the most perfect specimen possible of any given coin, and the premiums commanded by those coins.

I was surprised that a coin would be worth less after you shined it up than it was when it was old and dirty! Fortunately, I learned this before I shined up any old and dirty coins.

I'm still bemused that an MS61 key coin that looks like it got run over by a lawn mower is worth more than an AU58 specimen.

Graded on a scale of 70...what a weird number.

Weirdest things about coin collecting ?

The people who collect them

I guess if you collected other things before coins nothing really startles you. The comic book industry is a lot weirder. If you collect comics and have gone to Comicon nothing will ever faze you again.

Originally Posted by GDJMSP

Weirdest things about coin collecting ?



The people who collect them

In the words of the Quaker or Amish fellow, I forget which:

"All the world is queer save thee and me, and thee’s a little queer."

Those folders in which you only see one side of the coin.

Can you imagine bringing a friend to a coin show where people brag about getting their modern coin in MS/PR69 certified holders with CAC stickers, or competing to spend $$$ on those? There are things that wives, family members or friends will attend only once unless they are paid....

Originally Posted by icerain

I guess if you collected other things before coins nothing really startles you. The comic book industry is a lot weirder. If you collect comics and have gone to Comicon nothing will ever faze you again.

Or a Sci Fi or extraterrestrial intelligence convention....

Originally Posted by djaeon

While I understand it, the weirdest thing to me is the obsession to get the most perfect specimen possible of any given coin, and the premiums commanded by those coins.

Gotta agree. I didn't start out that way but I've ended up that way. I think it's absolute insanity for folks to purchase high mintage moderns at crazy prices, just because they have a 66/67/68 designation. But that's just probably the cheapo in me, and one collectors' very humble opinion.

I agree on errors. Though, I could be willing to consider an off-metal error like a dime on a cent planchet, etc. Those are intriguing.

Nothing really felt weird when I got into the hobby as a kid but when I left it in 1995 & returned to it in 2008 I thought it was weird how so many coins now were in slabs. It was like it came out of no where & then the prices which had gone up so much since I left.

Originally Posted by green18

Gotta agree. I didn't start out that way but I've ended up that way. I think it's absolute insanity for folks to purchase high mintage moderns at crazy prices, just because they have a 66/67/68 designation. But that's just probably the cheapo in me, and one collectors' very humble opinion.

My thoughts exactly. I am still PO'ed that the TPGers lied to coin collectors when they PROMISED us that no post 64 coins would ever get graded. I have no problem with slabbing to verify authenticity, and give it their grade for US coins. Fine and dandy. However, promoting new coins as "rare" as MS 70 and selling on HSN simply hurts our hobby. TPGers put cash in their pocket, our hobby is hurt long term in credibility. To many people we are little more than metal "beanie baby" collectors.

As for the weirdest thing when I started, I simply couldn't believe that defective coins sold for more than good ones. I do not begrudge anyone what they wish to collect, but to me it simply does not make sense to pay MORE for a defective coin. This goes for planchet or strike errors, doubled dies, missing mintmarks, (I think the 22 plain is a scam), overdates, and inferior product. It just me.

Chris