When does a coin collector become a "serious" collector?

I was just wondering since I still consider myself new to coins. But since I have started, I keeping reading about coins and checking the market for prices. And though I like the Morgan dollar I still can't bring myself to pay hundreds of dollars for a coin. I think the most I paid was $200 for a Carson City mintmark, I have seen collectors spend $500 and up easily on one coin and I presume they must be a serious collector.

Funny thing is I wouldn't mind spend spending a few hundred on a comic book or baseball card. But when I look at a coin priced at $300 or so, something inside of me just screams no . So is it the amount of money a collector spends, or is it the knowledge of coins one has that makes them a serious and not casual collector? (If that made any sense.)

 

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Congrats, spending anything more than face for a coin constitutes you as "serious". That's the line in the sand for me back in the day. I don't believe the actual numismatic value relegates the level of your collector status.

 

I'd consider anyone who buys plane tickets to attend the ANA show and takes a few courses offered at the show while they were there.

 

People who purchase with a plan in mind are more serious than collecting haphazardly. Even collecting just one of everything is still a plan. It's picking the direction you want your collection to take.

 

Judging from eBay auctions, I'd say there are a lot of "serious collectors" who spend a lot of money but don't know spit about what they're buying.

Chris

 

I believe a serious collector would be anybody who thinks about coins on almost a daily basis. Who also actively seeks out and buys coins for whatever price.. Budget doesn't matter. Somebody who studies and reads about coins. Spends a lot of time on coin forums. They may have subscriptions and/or a small library of books they read to gain knowledge.

All of the above goes well beyond a typical collector who may get something once a year for Christmas or throws new, funny looking modern coinage (pocket change) in a jar because it looks different. Not saying that's wrong. Just stating the differences between what I believe to be a serious collector and a casual one. It's a huge difference.

 

Amen to that, couldnt put it better.
I think its not about howmuch you spend on coins, or howmuch coins you have, its howmuch you "love" the coins

 

I agree. To me its knowledge. I know ancient collectors of the whole spectrum. There is a guy out there right now spending millions of dollars on ancients, yet I doubt he could identify a single coin himself if he had to. I am not sure I would classify him as serious. I know 2 docs that collect ancients. One is a serious student of a series, and has done extensive research for a paper to be published in the Celator. The other buys "pretty coins" that he and his wife think look attractive. I believe the second doc spends more money, but I would say the first doc is the "serious" collector.

To me the dividing line has nothing to do with money, its the quest for knowledge and understanding. There are late Roman collectors who never spend more than $20 on a coin who I consider very serious collectors. While a big spender may be a "serious customer" to a dealer, (meaning he can afford a $20,000 coin), he may or may not be a "serious collector".

I like to ask people what they collect. If I get a response detailing relative rarity, die states, branch mint scarcity issues, etc I know its a serious collector. If they say, "oh I buy what I like to look at" or similar I don't classify them as serious. They are still a coin collector, I will help them all I am able and glad they are around, but I just don't consider them "serious".

Like a lot of definitions around here, completely open to debate though.

Chris

 

Doug you are not a collector, serious or oitherwise. You are a numismatist.

That's not a collector either, that is an accumulator.

A collector gathers coins with some sort of pattern, purpose, or goal in mind.

I think you have found what defines the "serious" collector. It isn't the actual amount of money spent on a coin, but when you get to that point where you hear the price of the coin and that voice inside you screams NO!!! and you do it anyway, you have stepped over the line to serious.

 

When you have passion for what you collect or study Icerain.

Bruce

 

i like gators an coins ???

 

Well one of these days I'm bound to step over that line.
I guess most of the things that were listed applies to me. I just need to measure how serious this disease... I mean habit is.

And no I don't like gators, for some reason I like snakes more.

 

Thats the way I feel with every coin I buy anymore.

 

When does a coin collector become a "serious" collector?

when they stop having fun !

 

When you give a coin which just happens to be one you REALLY want to your spouse as a birthday/Xmas/etc. gift

 

When you no longer are concerned over the value of coins monetarily, and appreciate them for their collectibility.

 

I once heard that the dividing line was when you paid $10,000 for a single coin.

 

I think serious collectors have the state of mind you describe, but if you don't own a coin you are not a collector, otherwise you are a numismatist. With that said, I agree with your idea that there are many different ways to collect coins, all of which make that person a serious collector.

To me, a serious collector is someone with a plan in mind when they collect, a goal for their collection that reflects their individual interests, means, and degree of knowledge. That can span the map from Dan Holmes large cent type serious collectors to searching penny rolls for modern varieties, but it requires something more then just buying coins on a whim.