If You Could Give Yourself Numismatic Advice

If you could somehow travel back in time 10 years, and give your 10-year-younger-self some hard-earned numismatic advice, what would you tell yourself? What lessons or encouragement wold you share? What insights from the school of hard knocks would you impart?

I think I would tell myself several things:

1. Always be patient. The right coin will come along, sometimes sooner than you think. Don't buy that coin you see because it is there, wait for just the right one.

2. Learn to grade for yourself. 10 years ago, I had a basic understanding of grading, but I relied on the TPGs. I took their word as gospel. If you are buying numbers, this is OK - but we are buying coins. Read a book about grading (I have a suggestion about a good one, if you need it). The TPGs serve an important role, but when you learn to grade for yourself you don't need to depend on someone else to tell you if that coin is good quality or not.

3. Eye appeal, above everything else. Always choose the most attractive, eye appealing coin. If you only buy the best, it will serve you well. Refer to #1 - if it doesn't have the right eye appeal, wait for one that does.

4. Originality is important. While I haven't had too many problems with un-original coins, some of my purchases were probably less original than I would have hoped. I lost some money selling them, which could have been avoided.

5. When the right coin comes along, don't hesitate to buy it. The price isn't terribly important, within reason. Sometimes, when you've been patient and that perfect coin finally shows up, the price might be a little higher than what you wanted to pay. If the coin is all there, don't be afraid to spend up for it. I've missed out on a couple of coins that I regret, because I wasn't willing to spring for them when I should have. But, on the flip side, don't go crazy for it either. Be reasonable. If the coin is going for too much, refer to #1 again, and be patient.

6. Focus. Don't get distracted. Focus on a few series. Build something great, rather than an accumulation of random stuff. There are a few series that I am currently working on, but I have the tendency (as do many of us) to buy whatever I see, if it looks pretty. I look at the pile of stuff a year later, and wonder why on earth I bought that. Then I have to try and sell it, sometimes at a loss. Figure out what your goals are, and focus on building a collection rather than a hoard. For most of us, 2 or 3 sets at a time will tap out our budget - there is no way you can make progress on more than that.

7. Learn your series. The adage used to be "buy the book before the coin," and in many cases that still holds true. However, even if you don't want to buy the book, do enough research to really figure out what you are doing, rather than randomly buying and making mistakes. There are plenty of resources on the web now that you can make a good start for free. If you refer to #6, focus, this makes it easier. By specializing in a couple of series, you have the time to really learn the ins and outs of those series. There is no way for you to know enough to have the competitive advantage in more than a few series - so dive deep. I learned this the hard way by trying to build a set of French Colonial coinage. I was buying a bunch of stuff, not really knowing what I was doing, and I wound up having a bunch of stuff I didn't understand (and because of that, spent way too much). If I had focused on one or two areas, I would have fared much better.

8. If you don't understand a coin, or don't know if its a good price/value, don't buy it. This is a corollary of #6 and #7. There's an old saying "If you have to ask the price, you can't afford it." The numismatic corollary is "If you have to ask if its a good price, you shouldn't buy it." Several times I bought coins which were outside my focus, thinking they might be good values but not really understanding the market. It turns out, I was wrong.

9. Ask questions. Ask a dealer, ask a friend, ask a forum. Learn. Never stop learning. If something is unclear, ask. If you don't know something, ask. Never be afraid of looking dumb, because you'll look a lot dumber when you buy an ugly coin or loose a lot of money buying something you shouldn't have. If you don't understand something, you probably shouldn't buy it - but that doesn't mean that you can't learn about it. Once you've learned enough about it to understand it, then you won't have to ask if its a good value or a quality coin. Because you'll know.

10. If it isn't fun anymore, take a break. I learned this one the hard way. This is a hobby, and should be fun and relaxing. For most of us, this is not our job. When you find yourself getting more stressed out by coins and collectors than you are finding enjoyment, take a break. Work on a different series, explore a different hobby. Set it aside, and when you are ready come back to it. Several years ago, I was getting really tired of coin collecting, so I set it aside for a few months. I realized that I really did miss it, and so came back with renewed enthusiasm, a different perspective, and a new attitude.

So, I could have bypassed a lot of wasted time, and saved a lot of money by knowing and practicing these things. What would you tell your younger numismatic self? Share it here - and maybe we can save some people from making the same mistakes that we did.

(focus here on lessons learned and advice - not specific coins you wish you could have bought for their price appreciation)

 

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Mine are much shorter, but should go back 25 years, not just 10 years:

#1 - "Self, stop buying coins for resale!" I haven't lost money, but I haven't made much either, especially on an hourly basis.

#2 - Hook up with attorneys who do a lot of probate work. They do NOT like to mess with collectibles, for the most part, and your sealed bid for a messy lot (something that requires a LOT of labor) is often accepted without a second thought (or a second bid).

 

10 years would do nothing for me, i'd hafta go back at least 30 for it to count...

 

Don't but a computer

 

Don't join eBay...

 

or HA,NEN,DLRC,CRO and on and on

 

I probably wouldn't listen anyway.

 

Actually mine would go back 60 years and would include - save your silver coins!

 

10 years ago? Buy $50K worth of silver @ $5 or so, and sell when it reached $49.

Chris

 

For me it would be, trust your instincts. Gold will recover. Buy as many $20 Liberty's and Saints as you can. The $600 price tag will look great in 10 years.

 

Don't link your credit card to your PayPal account.

 

That's safer than using it alone.

My only advice to myself would be, "Yes, it's cleaned."

 

Too easy to buy that which you cannot afford.

 

Temptation and the devil........

 

Ha! Conceded.

 

Why not? Many of my purchases are from Ebay, HA, Stacks, DLRC, CRO, TT, etc... in the modern world, the savvy collector uses all the tools at his/her disposal. The computer and the internet has been one of the greatest inventions in the history of mankind - and a wise collector can leverage that power to their advantage.

The key, of course, is to understand your series, know their true value, and not get carried away in a frenzy. If you have patience and knowledge, you can master the tool - don't let the tool master you.

 

If I go back 10 years........ I'd only be 8 years old

But I'll go with only 5 years back and if I could go back 5 years and re-think things...... re-think who your friends are

 

"If it isn't fun anymore, take a break."

Try stamp collecting.

 

I would say always buy the best premium coins you can within your budget. Junk bought today will still be junk 10 years from now, probably 50 years from now.

 

I don't have much to offer...I think the first post covered a lot of the things I would reiterate to myself. Especially the "stay focused" because I was reorganizing my coin storage last night was looking at some things I bought a few years ago that I have no desire to own today. Thankfully they were not expensive - a couple cups of coffee from Starbucks or energy drinks each but it adds up! Sure, we all wish we could go back and buy low and sell high (the inverse is just strange) so no sense in telling myself something that obvious.

I wish my first coin book would have been the "Experts Guide to Colleting and Investing in Rare Coins." It's essentially a manual about how to form a collection - the way the Q. David Bowers wrote the book was from the point of view that a well built collection is what it takes to make an investment quality collection. It is a guide to selecting coins.