What our collections mean to us!!!!

My two grown sons were at my house over the weekend and we had my coin collection out and they were doing there best to act interested in it. My wife was telling them that a guy and his two young sons that live in our small town offered to buy my whole collection for his kids for probably $1000 more than it is worth and quite a bit more than I spent putting it together. I turned them down flat and told them it was not for sale for any amount of money.
Now, I have been dissabled for the last 2 years and my wife and I are on fixed incomes and have had it pretty rough getting through until I was eligible for medicare. My sons seemed aggrevated that i would not take this offer and start all over collecting again. They do not understand what we put in to building our collections, and that is not just the value of the coins but their sentimental value.
Each of my coins means something different to me, the ones that I made great deals on and the ones that i made not so great deals on, but learned from. My grandchildren on the other hand are very interested in them and have no idea that they are worth anything, they just love to look at them and learn about the presidents and such that are on them.
I try to explain to my boys that some day these will all be theirs to share with their children but I don't know if I am getting through. We left the discussion over the weekend with the fact that they still think I'm crazy but if it makes me happy then they will leave me to it, and they each got on the computer and put $50 in my paypal account so I am off and running hunting on Ebay tonight!!!!:thumb:

 

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biggiej

I get those kind of comments from my oldest son from time to time and my stock response is "I AM A COIN COLLECTOR, NOT A COIN SELLER.
seems to pretty much get the message across.
If I collected match books or knives or some such thing there would be no discussion of selling the collection, I think because we actually collect MONEY
there seems to be a thinking among family members that when things get a little tight it should be the first thing sold.Things get tight for everyone from time to time. Then things pick up that is the way of things. My coin collecting helps get me through the tight times. With a smile on my face
And with a positive attitude the tight times end quicker
Just my 2 Cents worth.

Stewart

 

Many of us are in those situations. Not exactly, but similar where no one in a family wants what we have spent our lives accumulating. Although coins are on the increse as a hobby for collecting, it is more than likely temporary. Not as much as Beanie Babies, Hot Wheel Cars, Baseball/Football Cards, US Postage Stamps, but I suspect most younger individuals feel that way. Many or our children have seen those hobbies fade with a great monitary loss and are thinking this coin stuff will end the same way, so why bother. There is this fad for the State Quarters which is temporarily creating some new Numismatist but even many of those are getting tired of all the varieties and since a temporary hobby, starting to give up too.
Dealers I know say that the surge of selling those State Quarters is fading, fading, fading. The baby sized Dollars too are just a temporary fad that is a collectible but difficult to utilize so many see that fading also. Still a nice educational tool if schools ever think about using them for that.
My son, his wife and their kids have absolutely no interest in my coin collection or any of my other hobbies. I suspect after I'm gone the entire collection will either end up in a bank or coin store. Same with numerous other hobbies of mine. I still continue to collect coins but have really put aside other hobbies knowing what is to be the end of them.
The real thing is not to worry about what will happen to your personal belongings since you have nothing to say about that afterwards.

 

i found this post and it home in a big way.me my and 2 kids are facing eviction in the next coming week and it looks like i have to sell everything for a place to live.tough times ha im swining in it .

 

I'm with you Biggie. My coins are not for sale at any price. I have a 15 year old grandson who is interested, my other 5 grandchildren and kids are not. I have certain sets I collected, set aside for him, as for the rest, after I'm gone it's my wifes decision. I don't collect to make money, it's the joy of the hobby. I also am disabled, have to get around with a walker, but I attend every coin meeting of the two clubs I belong to and always seem to get a ride to any coin shows within a reasonable distance. The guys in my clubs always find room for me in their cars or the club will take a van. This hobby is the passion in my life.

 

I am sorry to hear about families that have to struggle and make the tough decisions to give up something they love in order to help survive. And of course with these tough economic times, this seems to be happening more and more. But it's also a time when I see more families banding together to help each other out, and this is very heartwarming.

I am fortunate in that I haven't had to make a choice to sell or keep my collection due to economic considerations, because if I did, it would be a very tough decision. But I have to say, if I needed to pay the mortgage or some medical bills, or something just a serious, I probably would sell my coins because, even though I absolutely love my coins, I know how much joy and pleasure I got finding each one, and I am sure I would again enjoy locating new ones to replace any that I had to part with.

I'm not trying to compare my situation with those who have to choose between keeping their coins due to hardships, but I thought I'd add that, as a dealer, I do have to struggle when I find a really great coin that would fit nicely into my collection, because I know I could probably sell that coin and make a profit, rather than keep it. And making a profit at selling coins is my full time profession and the way I earn a living. So if I keep a coin rather than sell it, it takes away from helping to pay the bills and expenses of being a coin dealer. That is exactly why most dealers I know do not have personal collections, aside from their inventory.

But I look at it this way. I am fortunate enough to come across some really beautiful coins, so I decided long ago to "cherry pick" any coins I find for my personal collection first. But unless it is an upgrade or a year I still need, even though a new coin might be really beautiful and have fantastic toning, I just go ahead and sell it.

There have been times when, even though I didn't "need" it for my collection, it was still very hard to part with a new coin because I "fell in love with it." But if I didn't need it or think it was better than one I currently had in my sets, then it went straight to inventory.

By the way, my husband and sons also do not share my interest in coins (I don't have any grandchildren yet), so right now, I plan to sell my collection BEFORE I pass on, because I'm afraid if I leave it for my family to sell after I'm gone, they will not be able to get anywhere near the true value of what it's worth, so I plan to sell it myself sometime when I feel the time is right.

 

I was forced to sell my collection in 1990 due to the terminal illness of my first wife and medical bills. My oldest grandson, got me back into collecting when he was 7 years old and joined a coin club, a teacher was running at his elementary school. Fortunately I have been able to reacquire what I was forced to sell plus many more. It makes my coins special. Sorry to hear about others troubles, be;lieve me I understand, it's not easy. Look for me in Baltimore Penny, I'll be the guy walking with the walker and the big smile. Medically, I shouldn't be here so every day is a gift. See you in a couple of weeks.

 

Great post. The passion behind it is very striking and almost brought a tear to my eye. I haven't even been collecting for more than a few months and I can relate. Wow.

 

great posts, I have only been interested in coins for a short while so I still do not understand what it all means, but I hope to have some fun finding out.

 

Here is one more situatioin that always brings me to thinking about just selling off everything before it's to late.
A neighbor and good friend passed away some years back. He was a small arms instructor in the Army and had accumulated a massive amount of firearams, ammunition, reloading equipment and lots, lots more. He got me interested in firearms by taking me to gun shows in the area and soon enough I too started collecting and using them. He developed Cancer and eventually it got to him as he passed away. His wife and other relatives had no interest in any of his STUFF. I had married in the meantime and had moved away and didn't know what was about to happen. The family called in a gun store, personal from the store came over, made an offer for $1,000 and they took it. Possibly many hundreds of thousands of dollars all went for one thousand dollars. Many of his collection were WW2 guns in fantastic condition.
This is just one thing that usually happens with valuable items. If you watch the TV show The Antique Road Show, many times you'll hear of people buying or even finding items or great value. Many times at garage/yard/estate sales where someone passed away and the relatives just want to get rid of the STUFF.
It is sad to think of some of the coins I have had for over 60 years ending up in a banks counting machine. I'm sure this has already happened to many collectors of coins as well as other collections.

 

You know that the widow and the heirs do not want to let things go for nothing, that is why it is important for collectors to write out a survivors letter. You write out what bank accounts, safe deposit boxes and other things that are of value, collectors could also leave instructions of a trusted dealer to sell the collection to. It would not hurt to talk to the dealer first about it, if you do not have that sort of relationship you could ask a fellow collector that you know and trust if they would help in case of an untimely checkout.

Nobody wants to think of such things, but nobody lives forever.

 

I feel the same way, Biggiej, in that I could never imagine parting with my collection, at any cost. I never look at what I buy with a dollar value, but just as a piece I want to have. It irritates my wife to no end and my kids could care less about coins. But, I have a brand new nephew as of this month, so I'm going to work hard to convert him to a collector. Bought him the 09 uncirc set for a birthyear set, so he's off to a good start and he doesn't even know it yet
Guy~

 

A couple of questions for you:

(1) Having seen your collection - if (god forbid), something happened and you had to sell them all - would you be happy collecting on a much smaller budget?
(2) Would you change your mind if someone(and I mean one of your real kids) took an interest in your collection? Or in collecting in general?

My thought has always been to enjoy them while I can and let my heirs handle the sale. You make some very interesting points I need to consider. Especially when it comes to my retirement.

And everybody needs to remember you don't have to be rich to collect, pocket change is a great way to have some fun. I am still hoping to find some of the wide or close AM varieties.

 

Mark, some interesting thoughts. For some reason, if I couldn't afford better, I think I'd be content putting together a really nice PQ AU Indian set.

And I'm pretty sure neither of my boys will ever be interested in collecting coins. They've been around it long enough to get interested, and although they help me out at my shows now and then, the interest is just not there.

However, if they had kids of their own that showed an interest, I would be very happy to teach them and help them put together a set, but I would not start them out on a higher quality set such as mine. I would get them started on a nice circulated set so they can learn first, and work their way up towards uncirculated. If when they were older and I knew they were very much into coins and really appreciated quality coins, then I would consider leaving my collection to them - but only if I knew they would sincerely appreciate my collection.

If my kids/grandkids didn't appreciate the coins I put together, the toning, quality, value, etc., then I would much rather sell them to a collector who would get the same joy from the toning and varieties of my little copper babies as I have!

However, all that being said, if something unexpected happened to me, my husband and boys know who to go to to help them sell my collection and my inventory. And even though they know my cost code, I also keep prices on all my coins, even my personal collection, so they have a better idea of what they're worth, not just what I paid for them.

I also keep a complete inventory list of all my coins, both personal and the ones I sell, that contains when I bought each coin, what I paid, and what I have it priced at. So if my family had to sell my coins before I was able to, they know how to get fair prices for them.

 

I love collecting but I'm sure that my daughters won't love it as much. I do know that they will understand the value because I send the entire database to them regularly and they buy me coins for my birthday, Christmas, etc. When they visit, I show them the coins that the sent me and how I present them in my total collection. I can tell that they don't totally understand my obsession with my ollection but they do understand that it is my hobby and that it makes me happy. I can also guarantee that they will someday not sell the collection for 10 cents on the dollar. They, like me, are far to stingy to let that happen.

 

Today I had a 1995 Silver proof set show up that I won on Ebay. i didn't even realize when I bid on it that it was a premiere set with the fancy box. I was all excited and when I showed my wife, she barely glanced at the coins but just loved the pretty box!!! OMG:headbang::headbang::headbang:

 

I think that I'll start a jewelry store with cheap jewelry in expensive boxes. It could be a great Christmas after all

 

LOL! That reminds me of a 1-year old opening up Christmas presents and liking the box and paper much better than what came inside!

 

I have in the past been through some really rough times and fortunately most of my coin collection made it through with me..I cant imagine selling it...I still have a meager budget for coins , but when times get tough now I actually think about selling my harley before my coins...the sentimental and historical value of my collection is very important to me...

 

Interesting thread....

The accumulation of coins and or paper money is a hobby that truly is individual and not for the masses. It is often misunderstood as well as misrepresented by a few that have given it a "sour grapes" appeal to most would be collectors.

We have all heard the horror stories of the Dealer taking advantage of the unknowing public.....well it is deeper than that.

For me, my immediate family has no idea of the value of my collection or what to do with it when I pass on in this world. So knowing this, I have created a detailed record of my holdings, where I bought them, how much I paid, who it was purchased from details on the piece and Auction information in the event they would like to sell.
I have named specific Dealers that I trust, respect and have done business with in the event of my sudden demise.

I encourage you all who feel like they are the "Black Sheep" of the collecting family, do this simple thing, document your collections and leave a will with instructions.
When my son sells my paper money collection 20-25 years from now...those of you around then will hear of the RickieB Collection....

Do not leave your loved ones guessing...make it easy for them and let them see what effort and pride you have taken to accomplish what is thought to be a nerdy hobby! The Hobby of Kings is named correctly!

My collection is a snapshot of the Worlds finest Engravers of Security Documents. Their story lives within the Pride and Craftsmanship of a Country growing into a Nation.
Vignettes of Generals, Presidents, Treasury Secretarys and Men that formed the Country we all love are portrayed in vivid detail of the gravers line. A lost art of the 18th Century of USA Banknote Engraving and Artistry. A revealing glimpse into the thought and financial history of our beloved United States of America. What our currency stood for and how it protected the COuntry from failure, challenge and bankruptcy.. Andrew Jackson was the only President ever to not have a deficit..Ole Hickory was indeed a man of Honor...brutal and rough but full of honor and love for the USA.
Currency reveals all these things in a pictoral history of the founding of the United States...it is all right there in front of us.
That is what my collection means to me.

Regards and best wishes to all..

RickieB