Coins & Coin Forums: The Addiction

Need I say more?

I am slowly seeing many on the coin forums here and all over that not only love coins, but live them.

Does it ever cross the line? Is there a fine line between true passion for coins and border line "no life" addiction?

I can see myself crossing into the later category if I don't move on..and that's not a great thing because per speaking to Illini420 today, coins are not the most socially appealing hobby if you want to meet the pretty girls and such.. even though i still do it.. i feel people look down on me if i don't show them a $3,000 coin and impress them..

I have a few jobs, don't do too bad on top of my trading, but still can't help but find myself seeing what others post and reply to threads I create and threads others create..

 

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I've found myself going to less and less forums as I used to. I only go to one, and that is cointalk, and with school and my lady friends ( ) I don't have the time I used to when I was ill.
As for coins, my passion still burns for them as hot as it does for my lady friends...

I'd say I have a good life, and coins just add to it.
Now if coins were all I had, and I started talking to them and having tea parties.... Then we might have a problem

 

I agree, there is a line. But I think that would be very difficult to cross. There are times I'll be out with friends, and we just won't be doing something that interests me so I'll leave, come home, and poke around cointalk and other forums. If your coins come in teh way of you MAKING and KEEPING friends, I feel it could be an issue. But if you have friends, and to put it simply just aren't interested in doing what they're doing. Then by all means, spend the night with your coins!

 

I enjoy coin collecting very much, no doubt. But, I don't think I'll ever have to worry about "going over the line". Actually, I see my collecting all but stopping in 2010. I do have a list of coins I own that I will work on upgrading before the end of 2010.

 

Exactly, once you show them the big money, they'll come around...

But I don't really talk to people about it much. I just say "I collect coins" - that is, even if it comes up in conversation.

 

And it really never does!
Coin Collecting is almost like the red headed step child of the hobby world. (Probably not an accurate statement, but I would like to see some facts on where coin collection ranks among hobbies.)
Not too many people know or really even care to learn about coin collecting

 

I'm lucky in that my best friend is also a collector and just so happens to work in a coin shop. And before someone asks, he was my friend 30 some years before he worked in a coin shop. Oddly enough we don't sit around and talk about coins, ever, unless he's at work. As far as forums on coins, 90% of the time I'm on one it's when I'm on the other end of the road with work and sitting bored in a hotel room. That way I'm not taking away time from the family. It all works out.
Guy~

 

For me "crossing the line" would manifest itself as spending more than I have available, i.e., unable to pay for the necessities (food, house, etc.)
That's why I have a spreadsheet which I use to keep track of my coin budget, and I NEVER let it go below $0.
I have a wife I'd have to answer to and I wouldn't want to disappoint her by getting out of control.

I never bad-mouth anyone's choice of coin types that they purchase.
I will point out problems with the coins if applicable.
All of us have a ceiling on how much we can justify spending on coins.
If someone has $20 available to spend and they spend it all on one coin, what more needs to be said. They went "all in". They bought the best they could afford. And that is one of my philosophies.

 

BNB...

Passion, Desire and Addiction are 3 very different terms. Two (2) of which you mention here.
Passion you see is in the "Soul" of the collector, a deep feeling that needs satisfaction and nurturing. Addiction is is a form of "self gratification" where "I must have this" is a driver not a passion.

It is my belief that a mix of the 3 lead to the exceptional few, those that pioneer an area within the field of Numismatics in whatever direction they are passionate about. Can a person cross that line? Well it depends on the line the person establishes, no boundaries is for the few, the eccentric and the lavishly wealthy collectors. Very few of us will ever reach that mark and it is not often you hear of these folks until their collection come on the market.

If I may be allowed to, a comment on myself as a collector with regard to the 3 terms mentioned, I feel I am passionate about my collection, I feel I am passionate about this and other forums learning from other passionate people about their collections, I have a strong desire in the area of Paper Money.
I revere the collectors that preceded me and those of who are among us now that eclipse me. I am passionate about my experiences with others like me that have exceptional dedication, passion and some even with addiction, so crossing a line is the right of the individual whether he or she be labeled crazy, eccentric or a down right idiot.You see BNB, it is not what matters to anyone else and how they feel, but what matters to you, the driver behind your (passionate) collection.

Some may think that what I do is insane and the $$$ I spend on my desire and passion. It is after all a personal choice. Why question it?

RickieB

 

What's so odd about that? I have lunch with Ben, George and Lincoln. Lincoln likes whole wheat bread.

 

Ditto on what Kanga said - except for one thing, I am single and do not have a wife to answer to. I would never show a coin to impress anybody. Very few people know about my collection - and nobody besides myself has actually seen it. Yep - I put up pictures here, but that is about the extent of my sharing. Only a few people outside my family even know I collect - and I do not talk about it unless someone brings it up. As far as it being an obsession - far from it. Yes - I do spend a lot of time looking and trying to learn, but I will never devote enough time to learn everything that a few others know on this site. It is a hobby for me that I enjoy and plan on continuing into the future.

There was a thread about mistakes made - one I made was not finding this site sooner.

 

I agree with Kanga 100%

 

I have caught myself crossing the lines several times over the years. There are two lines I have learned to keep track of, money and time.

The money line is the easy one to get a handle on. Everyone needs a direction and a goal in this great hobby and everyday life. My checkbook always told me where this line was. When I crossed the line, I could look back and see where I lost focus on the goal. Most of the time I could see where my passion for coins, made me buy something I really didn't need.
This taught me to save and wait for the coin that was part of my goals.

The tough line for me was time. It's too easy to just kick back and enjoy a good thread on the forums. I had to learn how to take short breaks from life to check the forums and not the other way around. I'm getting better at this but really have to work on it to keep everything in balance. I have a really cool lady that helps me with this.

 

My suggestion is this - if you have to show them a $3k coin to impress them, or if they don't like you because you aren't "socially appealing" because of coin collecting...then count your blessings and look elsewhere for a girl. If the girl won't take me poor, or rich, around the best, or around the homeless, then I wonder if she will stay by my side in the bad times, as well as the good.

Don't let other people dictate who you are, and what you can be - in business and personal life, put others first, and show that you care, and in turn they will care, and take care of you.

This is a coin forum, and I know that I have kindof gone off topic, so I'll try to bring it back - I'm not on forums as much as in the past - CoinTalk is the only one I post on even though I have user ID's on most of the major forums. It isn't that I have lost interest in coins, or anything like that to cause my slow down, it is more personal reasons.

Take your time - don't do something like coins so much that you become burned out - take it one day at a time, and make sure you have time for work, family, and friends, and I'm quite sure that you will find time as well for hobbies that you enjoy...such as coins.

Speedy

 

Hello, my name is Mike and I'm a coinoholic :goofer:

 

Yup, there have been a few people I mentioned it to this year, because I went to the Long Beach Coin Show.
So of course I said "I went to Long Beach this Summer"
"For what?" they'd ask
"A coin show" (lol) I'd say.

and if they were interested in coins (or if their parents collected, or something) they'd ask me, if not, it would pass over.

Anyhow, I agree with what everyone else said here

 

Well I always want to cross the line but never do,I have other hobbies and interests also,I'll get hot and heavy into one hobbie for awhile then as I start getting bored with it I'll do something esle for awhile until bored with that and go back and restart the last hobbie for awhile,get updated and keep in touch with whats going on in the hobby. Whichever way the wind blows! I have very wide interests and learn as much about a subject as I can,I think I like the learning part the best.

 

I wanna pose this question to you all if I haven't done so already in an earlier thread:

Have you met anyone on these coin forums that have resulted in lasting friendships?

I feel that there are so many people here that you don't know if you can trust..

I met a few off CT and I don't know, in the beginning they were warm and friendly and helpful, but then eventually their self interests drives them away and then I start worrying whether they are really my friend.. I see that a lot on forums like these..

 

BNB, yes.
I've met people that I talk to everyday, and one of which will come down to eat with me and my family a little bit later on in the year in 2010.
This is a great place to make friendships, and I feel I have made some that will last a lifetime.

 

I have what I consider friends here, some I have actually met and others only know through the forum. There are others I don't know well enough to call a friend, but I certainly have respect for them.