Poll: The social aspect of collecting

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Good Post...
I'm more of a category 3 (Surprise! )
If it wasn't for socializing about coins on and off the internet, my collection would be much smaller and just collect dust in a safe somewhere.
Thanks everyone for 3 GREAT years here come October 3rd !! ....

 

Until about 3 years ago I didn´t know such things as coin forums existed. Then, when I inherited my Father in Laws collection, I realised I needed to know more about the coins. Fruitless hours of conflicting info later I came across this site. Talk about a revelation. People discussing and showing coins that I have, raising the same questions I had, and discovering some very knowledgeable specialist collectors. It has also turned me onto a collecting avenue that is far away from the World and US coins I inherited, that of Ancients, Roman and Greek. For that and everything else this site provides for the newcomer, seasoned experts and everyone in between, I thank and am grateful to you all. So, in a nutshell, I am firmly in the 3 camp in your poll.

 

Bravo, Bravo!!

 

Yes, it is a bit addictive. Considering it is known as "the dark side", it has shed a lot of light on certain periods of those eras.

 

None of the above. I enjoy helping and educating other collectors. The only places I can do it is on the Internet, exhibits at FUN, an occasional seminar at the FUN shows or an occasional published article.

My local club went sour because one dealer, whom I invited to come to club, decided that he had to run it. He demanded that I resign my position in the club immediately a year ago. He could not wait until January when I my term was up. I had to leave then. The other clubs in the area are too far away.

So I have no personal interactions with any other collectors.

 

I stay very private locally as far as coin collecting. It's a security thing. I only socialize on the forums and the Fun Show each January. Now that I'm retired, I hope to make a few more shows each year.

 

I say that I am a #2.

For most of my life I was independent. Early, up to about 16, I interacted with a group my age that held swap meets. We had no knowledge of errors and varieties. We counted on each other for news and trades. From then until I retired it was me alone. When I retired I found CT. The info on these forums got me to take a second look at my coins.

My sets were virtually complete from the late 1800's to modern times. What to do next? Friends and acquaintances at CT helped me get into ancients. I have cleaned and identified about 150 since I started.

I don't go to shows and don't have a local dealer. I am addicted to searching change so I coin roll hunt.

Thanks for all the support CT.

 

I can honestly say that if it wasn't for the loss of my beloved Papillon friend, Cinnamon (avatar), I wouldn't even know about coin sites. Her loss was so profound I had to find something to think about or loose my mind. And yes, I have buried four parents two brothers and a son, but she was my one true friend. I still cry to this day.
Coin wise I collected in ignorant bliss for almost fifty years.
I will admit though, it is interesting to learn about other collectors. Adds a nuance and makes me a better collector. James

 

I only share on this forum.

 

Good response. Me too!

 

I'm a 2 as you can deduce from the brevity of this reply. Seriously, I am active in my local coin club, make acquaintances and friends at coins shows, reach out occasionally to members here when our paths cross. But like @ldhair I do not advertise my hobby to anyone not firmly in the hobby due to security concerns.

 

Ever since I spent every available afternoon at a tiny coin shop between my school and my house, I love being around coin people. Otherwise I am entirely non-social.

 

I remember it well. We had a blast. We had our own little coin show. Some really cool coins were passed around the table. I has able to meet many forum members, I had known for years, for the first time. I have known @lordmarcovan for about 20 years but just meet him at the Fun Show in January. He was easy to spot. So were you Doug. I could spot that hat from a 100 yards. I miss those days.

 

Cointalk represents the only social interaction that I have with respect to collecting.

I'm firmly category 2 (would still collect without the forums), however, I fear that this admission might downplay the extent to which Cointalk increases my enjoyment of the hobby. Being able to socialize with people that share my interests is like the cherry on top for me.............. but it's a HUGE cherry!

 

Yeah, I'm off in a different direction, too.

For me, face-to-face (or even voice-to-voice) interactions with people take serious mental and emotional effort. It's often worth it, but that does serve as a barrier -- given a choice between something that requires socializing and something I can do by myself, I'll pick solo, sometimes even when it's not a healthy choice.

I took up collecting when I was a little kid, with encouragement from my grandparents (who DIDN'T count as "stressful") and my big brother (I was probably more stressful to him, being six years younger). I fell away from the hobby partly as a result of other interests, partly by being separated from those influences.

This site right here is entirely responsible for getting and keeping me re-engaged with the hobby. Yeah, finding a guy trying to dump silver into a CoinStar got my attention, and so did watching the spike in PMs in 2011, and chasing "bargains" on eBay -- but if I didn't have CoinTalk and you CoinTalkers to discuss what I found, to compare notes, to straighten out my misconceptions and help me cement the things I do understand, I wouldn't have stayed in the hobby more than a year or two.

So, I guess my position is a combination of category 1 (I don't want local criminals to get wind of something I have and decide it might be in my house instead of the SDB), category 2 (I socialize as little as I can possibly manage), and category 3 (I wouldn't stick with it without you folks in particular).

So, um, thanks. Again.