When I first started collecting foreign coins, I kept them all by date, mintmark and denomination. Then I switched and just collected by catalogue number and pulled out duplicates of that number. Now, in Germany for instance, I have one of each 1,2,5,10 and 50 Pfennig coin instead of a dozen or so 10 Pfennig coins with different dates and mintmarks, etc. In the end, it's my choice, but was wondering how the rest of you do it. Thanks for your comments.
Usually I collect by type too. Don't care about different years and mintmarks. And when it comes to "subtle" design changes, it is entirely up to me to decide whether such a change should be reflected in my collection or not. Christian
Same here. Off the top of my head, I can think of only one world coin of which I have more than one example. Whether world or U.S., date series hold no interest for me.
My preference is to collect by OGP year sets in uncirculated and proof. I also enjoy large silver coins, usually in their original packaging or in a capsule.
Since the OP did not specifically call out "modern" world coins I will chime in with "I like big silver coins with lots of history". Earlier than Napoleon has been my general cutoff date.
I also collect by type, though sometimes more than one example if I can't make up my mind between a high grade common date and circulated key date. Collecting by dates/mints when focusing on world coins in general is a daunting task. Germany alone turns one into a borderline hoarder to complete
Just try one of each type. I started off doing year and variety and that got very expensive. It's hard to stop now unless I seriously consider to sell them...
I used to try to get one of everything, and then at some point I realized it was an impossible task and it didn't make sense to spend time and money gathering coins that I only wanted to fill a hole. So for most coins I decided to become more of a type collector, though if I have several really nice examples of the same series or if it's a certain age I'll keep more than one of a type. I never keep multiples of the same date. Some of the coin series that I really like I decided to hold onto my accumulation, like British pennies. A few of my country sets were too close to complete to give up on and I still have those, but the majority is just a type set. And then I have a parallel collection of coins with animals on them.
Wow, this hits home for me. Years ago I worked hard to rid myself of the compulsion to fill holes, and since then I've been a much happier collector.
It really depends. For those series for which I have the corresponding albums (i.e. Swiss, Japan, Britain, etc.), I do try to fill in the holes for a type set within the constraints of my budget. For others, such as coins from Eastern Europe, I usually satisfy myself with a coin or two as a representative of that country.
I used to collect just by KM number. If I didn't have it, I kept one. Some countries I kept multiple dates. When I got up to 6 full 4" binders I decided enough was enough. Now I go for quality over quantity. I have mostly limited myself to about a half dozen different areas but honestly, I can't say no to something that speaks to me.
Not to mention that when you think about how most series have some key dates that mean big money for a coin that is otherwise just like the rest in the series, what's the point if it doesn't really mean anything special to you? A key date or common date coin look the same. The only real reason to get the key date is to show off to other collectors.
I think most of you know I no longer collect coins and have not for a long time now. But what fewer may know is how I collected coins, what I based my collection on. For me it was quite simple, if I liked the coin I would buy it. It didn't really matter what country the coin was from, what date it was or what mint it came from. All that was required was that I liked it ! And there could be different reasons that I liked a coin. Usually it was because I liked the design, but there were also times when I liked the condition of the coin coupled with the design. And some times it was because it was a design I liked, in a condition I liked, and of a scarcity that I liked. And money, the value, of the coin played no part for me. What I mean by that is this, it didn't matter if the coin was valuable or not. The coin might have only cost me $30, or it might have cost me $4,000 - I bought them anyway because I liked them ! With parameters like that, well, you're not gonna be a set collector, at least not in the ordinary sense. But there were a few times when that aspect did come into it a little. For example, once I had purchased my first Real d'Or I decided it would be cool to collect a mint set of them, meaning 1 minted at each mint that made them. There weren't many, it would have only been a handful of coins, but I'd never seen or heard of anyone who had done it so I decided what the heck, I would. And then there were the Netherlands gold ducats of course, a coin that became truly to special to me. And with those I decided that I would try, stress try, and collect a date set of them, one of each date that they were ever minted, regardless of mint. Again because no one had ever done it. Of course I knew from the get go that it would be a daunting task, which was probably why no one had ever done it. It was after all a coin that had been minted with the same basic design for well over 400 years at the time. But I was determined and set out to accomplish my goal. I never got there of course because I quit collecting before I did. But I had well over a hundred of them and was definitely on my way. Today, my hope is that one day someone else will take up that task and see if they can complete it. If they ever do it will truly be an accomplishment worthy of note. One that will likely go down in the annals of numismatics. As this thread has shown there are many reasons why a collector collects the way he does. But I think it also shows why they don't collect differently than they do. In other words I think they too are daunted by the task at hand because of its degree of difficulty. And if you are one of those people I would say to you - don't be. If there is something you'd like to do then go ahead and try ! Don't cheat yourself out of that greatest feeling of all - the sense of accomplishment, the sense of completely something that was hard to do. It just doesn't get any better than that
When I was a kid in 1964 I started collecting world coins and used the book "A Catalog of Modern World Coins" by R. S. Yeoman, sixth edition, published in 1964, to keep track of the collection. The book had illustrations and prices for world coin types dated from around 1850 to 1964 and was easy to carry around to local coin shows. When the seventh edition came out in 1967 I bought one and would circle the catalog numbers of coins which I had. Of course, inflation has made the values obsolete, but the illustrations still help in identifying coins. Now I am more selective.
I agree with Doug, the sense of accomplishment with your collection is what's best. With coins, you can create your own completely unique collection that perhaps nobody else in the world has. You just have to be willing to have a unique collection, and not go after what everybody else wants. That's the kind of thing that holds my interest in coin collecting. For some, the novelty is in the condition rarity of their coins. For others, the novelty is that the grouping of their coins itself is unique, or at least, unusual. I would also recommend FOCUS as something that can be a key factor for World Coin collecting: Only spending your allowance on that ONE THING in numismatics that will create a collection almost nobody else has, and not on all the other shiny things that catch your eye.
In my heart of heart I am a type collector. I like having a US 7070 (gets maybe 1-3 coins a year), a Japan Type (though I have the album plus a slabbed virtual album now), and the ultimate type collection that will always need a coin, the One From Every Country (OFEC). Defining the country list is part of the challenge there. That said I do have a few more complete collections, which were generally somehow an offshoot of the OFEC when I couldn't decide on ONE coin. Like my Greenland bears, my Saint Pierre & Miquelon set, and a few other oddball things I've started. Oddly I have a mostly circulated set of Swiss 2Francs underway. Japan has grown into an extensive set with varieties (even a few errors) and full date sets. That is my true OC. Well, that and Zog of Albania. In that case I'm after the full (non-prova) series...just one Zog era coin was undoable for the One From Every Country set. I kind of feel like anyone who collects outside their own nation probably is interested in the world in general, and the tendency to do a type set is strong. Not that we can't find areas to hyperfocus on, but the overall collection can be very general. Sometimes.