Collector depression

Hey guys. Maybe not but some of you may have noticed that i havent been around the past few weeks. Ever since school started i really havent been thinking about coins that much. When i come home i have nondesire to look at my coins and i havent bought any coin in weeks. Ive been thinking about money a lot laately and even considered selling my entire collection and giving up the hobby. I dont want this to happen. I miss the passion i used to have for it. Has anyone else ever had this happen to them?

 

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Umm...I haven't been that way so I don't know what your going through. But I will say this before experts about this come, ask yourself "Do I like this hobby?" "Do I really want to do it?" "Should I change hobbies?" "Do I really feel like this, or is just a phase, maybe because of school?" I hope I helped.

 

OldSilver, I go through this a few times a year lol. This last time was because I just had a baby. When this happens, I put everything away and just forget about it for a few weeks. I never go through with selling coins though. I keep in my mind how happy it will make me feel to give the collection to my kids in the future. I worked very hard at collecting and spent arguably, too much money. I would like to think all of my efforts will be worth it in the end when I pass them along to the kids. I don't know. :|

 

Keep them and focus on school, this has happened to me before, but more seriously and because of other serious reasons, but some days I just get up and dread the fact I collect coins, I wonder where I will go with them and feel like I don't want to have them, but a few days later, I am back to liking them. This happens once every couple months to me and lasts a few days, I suspect your case is influenced by school, so do not sell your coins, you will be upset you did, just do not buy any more while you don't feel like it. Focus as much as you can on school while you don't have to spend time focusing on coins.

 

Yeah, don't worry about it. This can happen with hobbies. I have four main hobbies that I'm interested in but usually two or three are on the back burner at any given time. Let's face it. We all love coins but what do they do for you 24/7, 365? You look at them, stash them, and then focus on what's next. Some of us need more to do or think about than collecting alone. When I got back in, in 2008, I thought about coins 24/7. Just because I had so much to catch up on. But now, I'm comfortable enough, I can let it go for a month and not even think about coins.
Interests can change too. I collected as a kid, but when I hit highschool, I lost all interest in collecting, when I should have been focused the most. Can't change that now.

I'd wait a long time before you sell stuff. Sure enough, it will come back some day and you're likely going to wish you had it all. I'm not a hoarder but it's hard for me to come to grips with the finality of selling stuff, knowing you'll never see it again. Some stuff. Sometimes you wonder if it's the right decision.

I've sold a few guns in my life that I never should have sold. But that's what happens when you make knee-jerk decisions at moments in time. You go through a short time where you think, "screw it" and then down the road you want to bang your head into a wall over the decision.

Everybody deals with it differently I suppose. I have to really not care about something to be able to sell it. By the way you sound, I don't think that's where you're at.

 

Yes, may of us have run hot and cold about coin collecting. Some even give it up for years. Most come back at some time, it seems.

My advice echoes what gbroke said. Store your collection and avoid selling if possible. You'll be very glad when/if you come back.
Lance.

 

I get like that from time to time. I usually move on to some other aspect of numismatics that is even more prohibitively expensive.:yes:

 

I wanted to quit yesterday because I spent a lot of money recently and while I was looking at my coins I decided not to and now Im just as eager to collect them as I did 2 days ago you should be fine it happens

 

I've noticed that when I get stressed or depressed that I go to one extreme or the other with coins and other hobbies-either they are a lifesaving distraction or something more heaped on my overflowing plate.
The last few days I have met some wonderful collectors, and one let go and also passed up on some great coins 30 years ago that he can't touch now for less than $400+ more than what they were back then. He has some major regrets now.
Put them aside until you have the time/energy/desire to enjoy collecting again. The wonderful thing about coins is that they are not just a hobby, but they are an investment as well that may really come in handy down the road. Unlike people and school, they will be there without you having to do anything to maintain them. Focus on your highest priorities now, and it won't be long before you will be back at it again and happy to pull your collection out to oooh and aaah at. Good luck to you!

 

I have other hobbies too, and I come and go on them too. Lately I have been spending a lot of time on my model railroad - wiring up houses so they have lights in them, putting in driveways, sidewalks, fire hydrants etc. Kind if a nice and creative break from coins.

 

Well, I quit completely in 1969 and sold my collection to get married. I'm not sure which was the bigger mistake. So after getting divorced and remarried, raising the family and semi-retiring, I finally got back into coins. The passion is back, but I don't think it really left... just took a thirty plus year hiatus. Priorities change over the years, and some things get pushed to the back burner. Don't worry though, it will come front and center once again.

 

It happens. What I do is put the collection away somewhere safe and forget about it for a few months. After the break your passion will return, guaranteed.

 

I've kind of put my coin collecting on the side for now. With silver and gold prices high, I can't really afford to buy coins with those metals. I have been thinking about slimming down my collection though and just focusing on a few sets, rather than trying to collect a broad range. I haven't sold any yet, but some of my barber quarers/dimes may end up going soon (not really a fan of that design anyway).

 

I had to sell almost all my silver , including my Peace dollar set, my 'precious.'.
it's been 6 months and I still haven't looked at my collection since. Maybe when the winter gets harsh, I'll visit what's left of an old friend.

 

OldSilver? You need a session with Dr. Bob......


[video=youtube;Ow0lr63y4Mw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow0lr63y4Mw&feature=related[/video]


All of us have, at some point, gone through what you're experiencing now. It's hard. It sucks. So many extraneous occurances interfering with what we'd like to concentrate on. And also the thing that we're supposed to concentrate on. School. It's what's important now. Give it a rest (collecting).....take a vacation from collecting if need be. You'll find yourself refreshed and ready when you return. Don't "chuck it". That's not the answer.


Aside: Greg (gbroke). "You" had a baby? No excuse, as it is well known that you are of the male persuasion and it's a physical impossibility.

Unless, of course, I missed something on CNN during the overnite.........J/K

 

Been there couple of times. I know from your previous post you don't have a large budget. So I would suggest put them away and stock pile your budget then when you gain your passion back you have a bit of budget to spend.

 

i've gone through something similar. not really a depression but more like a boredom with coins. it's happened to me back in 2006 then i stopped and restarted in 2008 then got bored and stopped and started again last year. but like you, i am currently experiencing boredom with the hobby at the moment and if history is a good indicator, i will most likely stop collecting for the meantime and restart in a couple of years when the interest comes back

 

All the advice above is the ' Right Stuff '.

 

I know what you mean , so I'm going to work on my currency build it up, take photos of coin collections & place in the alblum, the web store was burning me out. But the antiques keep me busy. Please stay in contact with us as we are one Big family LOL .
Sandy

 

I have a file on my PC of all the coins I have sold-off over the years. Some of them make me depressed when I realize what I let slip through my hands for almost nothing. Case in point... from 2004. I wasn't depressed when I sold them, --I needed the money-- but I sure am depressed now when I look at the pictures of them. The dollars are a 20 coin roll of 1885-o Morgans. The other slabbed MS62 and almost impossible to find in that condition.