Is There a Right Way to Collect?

I like the look of PCGS slabs the best, even though they are the priciest. Plus they stack on top of each other.

The downside is that they don't grade HTTs.

 

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I think there is really only one wrong way to collect, and that would be to go into the hobby with the expectation to make money in the future. Most people, I'm sure, would like to see their collection appreciate over time - or at least maintain stable value - but I get troubled when I hear of people who get into coin collecting with expectations that whatever they buy will be worth ten times its value in ten years (and so forth). For myself, I'm happy if I break even on my purchases. I don't even get too let down if I end up taking a marginal loss in trades and so forth.

In my opinion, that sort of expectation is open season on disappointment.

 

Go Slow and Keep Studying

Of course the best way to collect is the one that satisfies yourself but much depends on resources available and what you want out of a dealer. I needed
someone for both investment and numismatic questions. I started with one dealer (rude), switched to another (sold cleaned coin), switched again (bad grading), had another bad experience (waited 12 weeks for coin to arrive then was told they couldn't get it and I now had credit toward another purchase). At last I found one who was willing to help and was honest and frank. We have actually become fairly close friends through it all and I trust him implicitely.

The worst way to collect: (1) Buy on impulse (2) Buy on recommendation of a friend (3) Buy what's popular at the moment (4) Buy on ebay and (5) "Buy the slab." Most always you will pay a premium for the slab. I've seen it at every coin show - collectors paying more for a slabbed coin in worse condition than an unslabbed one! Slabs are important for type determination and authentication, particularly when the coin is over $10,000. Good luck in your quest.

 

I disagree....Ebay is a great place IF you know what you are looking at.
I suggest that before you use ebay much that you read lots on grading and cleaning and such.

Speedy

 

If you said those were among the worst ways to invest, I would absolutely agree on all but point 4. (Point 5 is a given, for investing, collecting, or even just hoarding.)

But this thread is supposedly about ways to collect, and that's a whole different beastie.

Ensconced in my collection is an old Russian copper, from the time of 18th Century Empress Elizabeth. My mother was born in Yelsvetograd (Elizabeth Town in one of several variant non-cyrillic spellings), and when I spotted this coin in an EBay auction just minutes before it closed, I violated your rules 1 and 5, but its one purchase I'll certainly never regret. One of these days I may even use it as the foundation of a type set of pieces from that reign.

On more than one occasion a friend has recommended that I check out a coin being auctioned, or being offered by a dealer, and I wound up buying. They didn't tell me to buy so I could make a million, they simply alerted me to something I would have bought no matter how I found out it was available.

There are a myriad of "right" ways to collect, and each and every one of them is the "wrong" way for someone else. My way is right for me, but not for you, and certainly not for GDJMSP. His quite different way is right for him, but not for you or me; and your even more different say is right for you; but definitely wrong for me or Doug.

Our great hobby just wouldn't be as great and inclusive as it is if there were a czar of procedure who could set collecting rules for everyone.

 

There has never been either a right way or a wrong way of collecting.My late friend,Bill Lampard,F.R.N.S.N.Z. used to say to me,"It is better to collect coins that don't have any problems,unless the coin is a extremely rare one in any grade".Sometimes one can't avoid collecting coins with holes in them,as that is what was on hand at the time.

Aidan.

 

I just collect everything. I don't care if it's old, new, high grade, low grade, discolored, etc. I just like collecting coins so I just keep whatever I can. I go to at least 2 coin shows a month and it is really difficult not to buy something. I hate going to a coin show and not buying something regardless of what it is. If it is in a slab, out comes the saber saw and no more slab.
As to dealers with the almighty attitude, it is not just with coins you know. I also go to gun shows, camera shows, knife shows, train shows, computer shows, etc. and around here there is a show of some kind every weekend all year long. The worst snotty dealer I ever ran into was at a camera show. He had a table full of Hasselblad, Leica and Bronica Lenses. I asked if he also might have a few Pentex lenses. He actually told me to move on so I wouldn't give others a BAD impression of his inventory.
For some reason people at gun shows are the best mannered people to deal with. Possibly the merchandise keeps tempers at a minimum.
So fare at the greatest amount of coin shows I've never met a rude or ignorant dealer. I say most because at the super international coin shows here I really meet some strage people.

 

I've always been fond of circulated Morgan and Peace dollars in the F to EF range. I inherited a small collection from my grandfather when he died and I'm thinking about expanding it even though the dollar value is relatively small. I'd rather buy several VF coins than one MS65, even though I've been told several time that this is the "wrong way" to collect. There are so many date/mintmark combinations that it really wouldn't be possible for me to make much of a dent in the series any other way.

This has been a good thread, and might give me the confidence to go back to collecting the "wrong way."

 

What a loaded question...what is the right way to collect? Hmmmmmm....

Well, to each his own, but I have changed my buying and collecting habits over the years.

First and foremost, I allocated my coin budjet to purchase QUALITY coins over QUANTITY. Commons will always be common, but coins that are key, high grade, demanded, etc., will ALWAYS have a market. With the influx of the state quarter program, a huge new generation of numismatics are hitting the market and that is good for all of us in the hobby. If you have the choice to buy a key instead of 10 commons, buy the KEY first and fill in the commons later. Common date coins will always be circulating throughout the hobby and will NOT increase in value as that key, quality coins. After all, there are only so many coins serving a growing hobby/investment base.

Second, unless you know the seller personally and have the blood of his first born, DON'T buy any key dates "sight-unseen" RAW unless your grading/authentication skills are up to snuff. There are just too many dipped, whizzed, counterfeit, altered dates, etc. on sites like eBay and others to really turn you off to the hobby. If you buy coins online, I prefer coins holdered in slabs from the top four TPG's (PCGS, NGC, ANACS and ICG). I may purchase a SEGS or PCI graded MS coin, but I will mentally deduct 2 to 4 MS points before I bid on these coins. Again, don't buy any key date RAW coins on line. That premium and self assurance you mentioned when buying a slabbed coin is well worth it in my book.

Third...collect what you like, not what everybody else says you should collect.

Fourth...plan a trip to a major coin show and bring cash. Cash is king and will help you acquire coins at better prices than if you hit a single local coin store. Of course, keep your coins/cash you are carrying with you at all times and well protected! Save your coin budget for your targeted coins. Research bid/buy prices of the coins you have in mind. Use the TPG's that have tables at these shows for their opinion and grade of any raw coins you may find. I can't tell you how many times these on-site graders have saved my butt from dipped, whizzed, or retoned coins. Best part...it is FREE.

Fifth...don't look at collecting as an investment. Only a few players are experts in turning their holdings into real money. Collect for any reason such as to keep your mind off of the hustle and madness of the world. If you buy low and sell a coin high...look at that as icing on the cake. Apply those profits into better coins.

That is how I think you should collect...but that is just me. After all, how often do I offer opinions in this forum?

 

Good stuff guys. I was surprised to see that Aiden stirred this old thread up again. Cloud, I'm with you on getting your F-VF Morgans. That is a much more manageable task. Also, if you want to upgrade some of them or start buying better ones at some point, you can always do that. I do agree with Midas that it would be nice to buy the key dates first, but that's not always possible. Also, I feel there's some kind of balance to be reached. If you just save money all of the time and rarely buy any coins, you will lose interest and that's no fun. So, I try to make purchases that allow me to get nice coins and maybe not the most common ones all of the time, but definitely not always the best either. I'm sure I could save up money for years and years and eventually buy a 1907 High Relief Double Eagle, but in the meantime, I wouldn't be having any fun.

 

I've noticed that there are two opposing forces at work regarding collecting advice....

On the one hand, there are comments such as the following that make it sound as if it is best to buy high valued coins:
- buy key dates
- buy problem-free coins
- buy the best you can afford
- buy quality and not quantity
- buy coins slabbed by reliable TPGs

On the other hand, there are comments such as the following which make it sound like it might be better to buy lower valued coins and pocket the difference:
- buy what you like
- don't expect to make money on coins
- coins are a bad investment
- there is no wrong way to collect

This is pretty interesting because there seem to be pros and cons to buying either high grade uncirculated or average circulated coins in the same series. Maybe one is right and the other is wrong. Mabye both are right. Maybe both are wrong.

 

Cloud, I totally agree with what you're saying. It is true that there are two camps. Here's my take on it. I think that it is definitely true that if you are able to buy rare, key-date, high value coins, that they have a better chance of maintaining their high value in consideration of resale. However, a lot of us aren't able or don't want to do that, so if you collect however you're comfortable with, so be it and that's great! I'll bet that the majority of semi-serious coin collectors (not people whose collection consists solely of a state quarter folder that they put coins found in change into) are probably somewhere in the middle.