Why do you collect what you collect?

I decided to create this thread, to see..

Why do you collect what you collect?

for example- A Jack and Phoenix collect cents, why did you guys choose to collect those?

stainless

 

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Originally I started to collect coins because my parents had some coins when they traveled abroad.

I only started to collect Russian coins because I was furious over the lack of decent souvenirs while I was in Russia. (Not a joke!)

 

I like old stuff Stainless.

There's a lot of history tied into it. Would surmise that a lot of U.S. type collectors, world collectors and ancient collectors have similar reasons. I could be totally wrong too

This is also why an MS70 Silver Eagle etc. does nothing for me. Not knocking anyone here but it's just a hunk of silver to me.

Give me a 20 cent piece, a half cent, a conder token and there is history.

Do I own modern stuff? Yes - but it's always been more of a "I might make a few bucks on it so I can buy something I REALLY want" type of relationship.

clembo

 

I inherited quite a few Canadian coins when My grandpa passed away a couple months ago. He got me started many many years ago, and decided I was in the hobby for the coins, and not to inherit his collection to sell.
I mostly collect Canadian coins because I live in Canada, and .. well.. i dunno. they're beautiful.
I have been slowly working my way into American coins, but Canadian stuff will always be my core

 

Well its my first post, but I started while traveling in the Marine Corps. It seems like every country I went to I always ended up with some of the money left over. So I would just throw it in a drawer when I got home. Well a couple years ago I found all those coins and could not remember the value of them. So I started looking them up and before you know it I was down to my local coin store and and on ebay looking at coins. The rest they say is history.

 

What I collected and why changed over time.

First (about 1954) I collected Lincoln cents out of circulation because they were cheap.
Graduated to Jefferson nickels out of circulation because they were cheap.
Coin collecting slowed/stopped in the late '50s and through the '60s.

In the '70s I started up again. I went for the most recent silver issues (Roosies, Wash quarters & FDRs.) I was starting to have more income so I could afford this stuff and it was still inexpensive.
And Morgan/Peace dollars caught my eye.

Because of the runaway market around 1980, my collecting lapsed during the '80s.

Around 1990 I got back into coin collecting.
I had more money to play with and the holes and grades in my collections annoyed me, so I did a lot of filling and upgrading.
Notice, no particular issue had grabbed me yet.
I wanted to fill holes and complete sets. This was the "why" in the '90s.

By 2000 I pretty much had my sets the way I wanted them.
Started thinking, "What now?"
Mercs and SLQs (20th cent) were still basically empty, but they didn't grab me.
Except for Morgans the 19th cent was wide open, but full sets generally too expensive.
Enter the TYPESET.
The Concept: Get a coin from each issue (major varieties included) so that I could show what our coinage looked like over time. And in high enough grades so that a person could get an impression of what the Mint had in mind.
The Problem: Anything "Draped" or earlier in the grades I wanted couldn't be included. WAY too expensive.
Result: The collection is essentially done. Maybe needs a tweak here and there, but I'm satisified.

Now what?
With the same collecting idea in mind (being able to show what out coins have looked like over time), I'm picking up a few odds and ends.
Got my first (and probably only) coin from the 1790's. It's in NGC getting authenticated and graded.
I'm looking for one Dahlonega and one Charlotte coin.
As far as sets go, I'm toying with a lower grade Early Commemorative set.

That's sort of it.

 

I collect mostly 19th century coins and some early 20th century, with a few exceptions. I enjoy the history behind the coins also. You can sit and look through an album of Mercury Dimes, for example, and date by date remember an important time in history and wonder whos hands that particular coin has passed through.

 

Simple realy if I like the look of it I will collect it :smile Nice shinnnnneee metalsis :whistle:

 

I like gold and silver US coinage and I admire the idea that money should actually have intrinsic value rather than just be a representation of value.

 

Welcom to the forum devildog47

stainless

 

Same here

 

Real Simple, when you are 6/7 years old and trying to collect out of circulation, even quarters get expensive - at least for me back in the 50's. Then I started selling off the larger coins to buy some nicer smaller coins.

 

I like collecting coins because there is alot of history in them like Clembo said.
I am a Type collector because I like the large variety of coins in type sets where there is way more variety than just a date or mintmark difference. I've tried a Lincoln set but that didn't go too well for me, I got really bored. I think i have coin-ADD :whistle:

 

Me too. I like everything. If I had the money to do it, I'd collect Morgans, Bust Halves, Buffalo Nickels, Obsolete Currency, Gold Indians, Seated Lib- well, you get the idea.

I love the beauty of many of the older US issues, as well as many foreign issues.

The other thing I would need besides a lot more money is a bigger house to hold my collection.

 

I collect along these lines.

I prefer to collect silver year/mint sets, BU, is what I desire, and all 1964 and older. It started off as a collect of the years commemorating family members birth years and went on from there. I am trying to complete as much of 1964 sets and older as I can. I have BU sets for the 30's, 40's, 50's, and 60's. I have all but the 61 sets and most of the 50's. Then 4 years each in the 30's and 40's. What is great is that I can spend the rest of my days putting these together, and enjoy every second of it.

I must agree that collecting, for me, invokes at great dealt of interest in the history going on at the time of their conception. Having the pieces in hand from that time kind of makes you think about back when.

Keep on Collecting!!!

Allen

 

Well, I collect what I like, or what I think would be fun.
For example, Im trying to collect a birth year set - with proof/mint sets from around the world (I try to get a proof set, unless only a mint set is available).
However, I also am trying to put together a simple collection of Indian Head cents, and an 1899 set - excluding gold, for now, lol.

 

It all started with US coins and the 'need' to have one of every date/mintmark. But when I started getting into ancient coins, I realized that, rather than spending a ton of money on a coin that looks almost exactly like the rest of the series, I could buy a splendid example of an ancient for the same price!

Its kind of hard to explain, but it makes perfect sense in my head.

 

No, it does make sense.
Instead of spending 1000$ on a 1909-S VDB. you could buy a very nice gold ancient.

 

Lincoln cents - need 1909-s and 09-s VDB.
My favorite is my type collection in a Dansco album. Only a few holes left, and I upgrade some of them from time to time.
I have a complete IKE set, and am working on a Morgan year set, and a Peace dollar set. I also seem to buy some silver eagles - more for bullion - not really a set per se.
I guess big dollar coins is most of my focus.
I also have a WWII set - working on a type set of coins from each of the combatants during the 1939-45 years.

 

I like the early american copper mostly. I started buying Morgans & Peace Dollars when I got back into collecting (3 months agao), to only notice the special ones, even if they weren't listed as such, were always found by someone else who had deeper pockets than I so I wandered around until I found coppers and all the wonderful varieties that not many care to learn about or take the time to look up from a coin that's been listed without a variety. I've managed to start a nice collection of mostly scarce or better cents, without spending a fortune for them and if I ever decide to sell them, I will list them properly and make a profit, which makes them a good investment (IMO).

Here's a partial listing of my Draped Bust Cent Collection so far:

1800/79 S-192
1800 S-199
1800 S-???
1801 S-224
1802 S-226
1802- S-228
1802 S-234
1802 S-235
1803 S-255
1803 S-257
1803 S-261 (scarred neck version)
1806 S-270

I also have a few half-cents in my collection, along with a few colonial coins (Virginia Penny, New Jersey Cent, Massachusetts Cent, etc...), numerous Condor Tokens and Classic/Matron/Braided Hair Cents. I have other coins also (silver dollars, halves, quarters, dimes, buffalos, etc...) but I will be selling those so I don't consider them a part of my collection. One of the first to go will be that MS-67 1936-D Texas Commemorative I somehow managed to not get out bid on but I don't know what it grey-sheet's for? :goofer:

Ribbit

Ps: I have two 1801 DBC's coming in (can't remember the varieties), along with another 1803 S-261, three 1773 Virginia Pennies, a 1792 Kentucky Token, a 1801 Draped Bust Dollar (VF-20 - repaired hole), and several counterstamped early colonial French & Spanish coins.

Ribbit - Ribbit - Ribbit