Does anybody just?

Does anybody just collect coins? I don't mean one type or set, but just coins they like? I am working about 10 different Lincoln Whitmans three of the first '09-'40, four of '41-'74, and three '75 til. I know trhese want have alot of value but they are fun becauase I can find most of them roll searching. I have others like proof singles I bought cheap, or Indian heads from G to AU or full date buffalos and some AU buffalos. I can't remember all of them but if I like it I buy that doesn't mean I want the whole set heck i can't afford the keys in most sets and if I could they are not a priority. I just wondered what you collect?
Kent

 

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u bet

Actually, I don't really collect.

I try to find.

I also like to drive folks crazy while receiving change by looking at it, Hard.:goofer:

 

I think I know what you mean, Kent. Though I do have many sets of coins started, very few are finished, and I don't collect to put a set together. I buy what I like at the time. If it happens to fall into a set I have going, then great. If not, oh well. It sort of allows me to broaden my collecting experience this way, and learn about a wider variety of coins than just one series at a time.
Guy~

 

I would place myself in the "collector of all coins" category. I have coins of nearly all US denominations and many world coins. I started as a collector of Indian Heads and Wheat cents and moved to the others over time.

 

Well I have harris folders for quarters, nickels, dimes, and cents. I have completed several of the later dates. I do this because it is fun and it keeps me entertained while I look for coins for other collections. I like bust coinage the best.

 

Absolutely my friend! I collect it all. If I see it, and like it, and most importantly, can afford it, I will buy it! I've been working on sets of ALL the circulating coinage from change and rolls, I've done fairly well. I'm two clad dimes away from a complete set for example. (4 if you count the 2009s)

One of the most fun things I ever did in coins, one time, I ordered a pound of bulk world coins. Going through them was a blast, and I have been wanting to do it again for more then a year now, but money has been too tight. (it cost more to ship it then to buy it, too!). In there I got stuff as old as 1893, as new as 2005, and some really great stuff too. Stuff I wouldn't have even known existed, like for example an OPA red point. US issued, for use in rationing in WWII.

The source I bought them from sells 25 pounds for about $180, with free shipping. I'm seriously considering doing that as a Christmas present to myself. There would be roughly 2200 coins in that order. That would more then double the size of my current collection!

The duplicates make great trading fodder too, provided you don't misplace them...which I did with the 5 or so duplicates I got out of the pound I bought. Oops!

If I only collected one series or so, that wouldn't have happened, my world coin collection would have been almost non-existant and I would never have learned about the things I did because of it.

It's not that easy to do with American coins, because they sell propionatly too high. And for the older examples people charge based on their metal content. (which I HATE, I think it should be based on their numismatic content...I also think it should be illegal, a felony, to melt coins, any coins). And then, on the rare times you see places selling stuff like that for American coinage, it's in bags of 5000 or just priced way too high.

 

When I'm at auctions, I often see a "lot" of foreign coins that seem to go for rather low prices. It seems that many people (even coin collectors) don't bid on them. I have gotten a few lots for rather low dollar values (under $20) and found out later that they are worth $50 in currency value. One time, I purchased a French 1901B 2-Franc. I got home and couldn't find it in the book. After some deeper research, I found out that it was a Swiss 2-Franc (VF20) and worth about $135. I bought it for $2. I was screwed but loved it!

 

Sounds to me like you got a great deal there Phil! Unless you were working on a French set, LOL

 

Nope, I'm only saving French Fries

 

Well I do that on Ebay auctions too I have found alot of bargains especially in the current stuff. I bought 2 president dollar proof sets and a state quarter proof set for $4.95 each last week and shipping was cheap. I have bought a lot of coins I would not normally but just because they were way too low in price.I will keep them and later on trade them for something else, or give them to the kids. I just love to find good ones that I like and the price is right.

 

I collect US and foreign business strikes only. No proofs, no mint and proof sets, no commemoratives, and no error coins. I collect by date and mintmark.

 

One of the local coin shops has a huge bin 3'x3'x4" with about 50lbs of common junk US and foreign coins for a dime each or whatever you want to pay LOL

I cant resist pawing thru the mess and finding a shilling or peso or whatever that I find appealing albeit worthless in $$. Or a totally common Lincoln with uncommon toning. Its fun to play in the pennies while the customer behind me is negotiating on an expensive piece of California gold or whatever. To the shop we are both legit customers just a different focus.

Yes! collect what you like, thats what separates miserly hoarders from collectors who actually have fun with their silly little coins.

 

Now that would be a great way to spend the afternoon. I bet you find some pretty cool even if it is worthless to you it could be priceless.

 

When I first started with coins it was with a nice pile of inherited Morgans. And a handful of souvenir coins from the Canary Islands. After a year or two of trying to fill albums with uniformly colored MS dollars I finally realized a beat up, chewed on, scarred coin worth maybe 20 bucks had lead a far more interesting life than a GSA MS64 that had spent all its life in the purgatory of a government vault.
Same for my 1893s G8 compared to a 1893s MS61 that was locked away in a coin cabinet for over a hundred years.
Every picture tells a story, so does every coin.

 

Yes. That's what I do. Probably what most do. There are so many beautiful designs out there to collect, but for most, you can't even dream about putting together the whole set. For sets, I try not to go over board and stick to what I can handle. I finished my MS Kennedy halves set pretty easily. P's & D's anyway up to 2009. I've got 11 coins to go for my MS Franklin halves set and a good start on my mixed grade buffalo nickel set. Those are the only sets I'm doing for now. Well, except for collecting the Kookaburas but they're bullion coins. When the Franklins are done, I'll probably start the WLH's set to some degree, just to have another set going. Pretty common progression for half dollar collectors.

I like to pick up a few for the sets every now and then but mostly focus on individual stuff. I'm not in a hurry to finish sets.
I think commemoratives are quite gratifying. Many have beautiful designs, they are two to three coin sets and can be finished easily. Many are low mintage but yet close to bullion. Especially the gold. Also, less concern of counterfeits.

I dabble in several different types. I like CBH's, Liberty seated types, Morgans once in a while. It's pretty wide open for me. Sometimes I have the urge to get some nice old large cents or half cents. Sometimes I'll want a gold type coin. For a while all I wanted was a 1900 O/CC Morgan! If I find one at the next show in a couple weeks, I might just get one and be done with it.

It makes it more interesting to me, chasing after different types. Sometimes doing a one year type set will give you a reason to get something you normally wouldn't buy.
I could have finished my sets a long time ago if I focused on them, but I have other coins I like and even other hobbies to deal with. We can't have it all. I'm very happy with this method of collecting and my collection so far.

 

I agree. I tend to like some worn out AG-G ones just as much as their high quality kin. Just because you can handle them and not worry about it. Sometimes you forget what that's like.
And you're right, they did live a more interesting life to get that worn down. I've often wondered if the prices might not go up on these some day just because of that fact.

 

I love the silver proofs but collect a little of everything , lets face it they have been minting beautiful coins for many years & when you run across one its hard to resist , and lots of times I don't resist, ode to the collector in me : )

 

There is no "one way" to collect coins. Some people like to put together sets, others just coin they like. The fun of collecting for me is the hunt and that FIND OF THE CENTURY. Don't let anyone ever tell you HOW TO collect; just do it.

 

It seems like every time I read something about collecting for beginners, they always say to collect one type only. To me, that's impossible. I collect whatever interests me.

 

I agree in a sense with the last two posts. No one way to collect and collect what interests you. At the same time it can make it tougher to really learn what you are collecting - different characteristics, strikes, etc. I subscribe to the "what makes it fun" for you club. The key is minimizing mistakes - especially the costly ones. Be it AG coins or MS coins, coppers, moderns, bullion, etc - collect what you enjoy. Take the time to learn what minimizes the mistakes. In the long run some people(me included) will have some incomplete sets - and some people might even regret it.

Now if you plan on doing this as some sort of "investment" then I think you game plan should be different. To me this is a hobby to enjoy and not make it like work.

PS - yes I know it is an old thread, but it never hurts repeating. HAVE FUN!!!