Ancients: Organization and attribution at work Discussion in 'World & Ancient Coins' started by iamtiberius, Aug 15, 2014. I've been collecting US coins since 2011 and ancients for only a few months. But I tend to buy a lot of coins and my ancient collection is growing quickly and the greater complexity of ancients sent me into the past Coin Talk threads and I found the above thread. I found all the contributors info to be useful but mostly I found a sense of gratification that I am in the right place! Obsessive, detail oriented, self effacing and did I say obsessive? I almost fainted in envy when I saw Steve's (stevex6) system. I am shopping for a 500 lb safe today! And Doug's security system made me snort coffee onto my tablet screen. You guys are the best!
Perhaps this is the thread of which you speak? https://www.cointalk.com/threads/ancients-organization-and-attribution-at-work.250251/
https://www.cointalk.com/threads/ancients-organization-and-attribution-at-work.250251/#post-1968536 sorry!
I'm having trouble organizing lately. I tend to go on shopping sprees, buy a dozen or so coins, then catch up on organizing them. I did move to flips in a folder though. I find it's easier to enjoy my collection by turning pages rather than taking a flip out of a box, looking at it, putting it back in where it belongs. Also, it's easier to keep an eye on potential problems like BD. But yeah, that Steve guy is a neat freak. I'll bet he uses disposable toilet seat covers in his house.
Steve is the OCD Man! I just told my wife we have to rip out about $3000 worth of custom shelves to accommodate my new safe. She is not amused and I am scouting new safe locations. I like to see my coins all at once so I'm currently using trays like in the coin shops. For my special coins is use this fancy shmancy red tray with a pull out sleeve deal. My others go in cheapo trays that sell for $7 for 2 on amazon. Each black tray holds 18 2X2 flips.
My system is not elaborate, but it works for me. ChrisMat has seen it and commented on the neatness applied to storing my coins. First, I have everything documented in a spreadsheet catalog. All of the coins pertinent data is there, along with, images, date purchased, from whom purchased and costs. Lastly, the catalog indicates the coins storage location. As an example, a coin will have 1/2/3/4 at the end of the entry. This represents binder 1, page 2, row 3 and column 4. All my coins are stored in 2x2 flips and then in pages of 20 with in binders. I have six binders, each representing various times in history, i.e., Greek/Roman Republican, Julio Claudians/Civil War, Flavans, etc. I only own about 620 Ancients, but I would soon run out of space if I kept them in trays.
The trays are attractive, to be sure, but I have the same issue with space. If I had my own den with enough shelving for a hundred trays, that would be fine. They're just not practical if you've got a substantial collection.
I can see how space will be the issue but I'm just starting out in Ancients. My US collection takes up a ton of space. The trays are stack-able so for right now I'm cool. I can see migrating to flips in a binder. My spreadsheet needs attention for sure.
My fancy shmancy red tray with the pull out drawer is great for taking a few coins on the road. I've hooked up with a local ancient group who meets once a month so I'm looking forward to that.
I wish we had such a thing in my neck of the woods. Our local coin club is comprised mostly of US collectors, which is understandable, since the majority of collectors in the US collect US. I occasionally grab a nice type coin if it suits my budget, but I'm not particularly interested in going to a club about it. For now, CT is my coin club, and FORVM is my library.
I find myself in pretty much the same position as you. I would really enjoy meeting other ancient coin collectors in my area to learn from and share what little information I might have with them. My daughter and I belong to 2 local clubs and rarely meet anyone who collects ancients. In fact one time my daughter brought a couple of her favorite roman coins to the club for show and tell and the guy sitting next to us remarked "you don't collect those things do you?" Has anyone on CT ever put together a list of cities or regions where members live? Perhaps we can set up some informal get-togethers between members who live near each other?
I would love to go to a collector's club meeting where at least one other person collects Ancients. So far no luck even though I know there are other Anbcient collectors who live in the area.