If you had to do it all over again.

I'll try to stay positive in my message. Divorce is forcing me to liquidate my coin collection and investments. I get a blank slate to start new.

If you had the opportunity to start from scratch where would you begin?

 

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Collecting same coins as now - already took some lumps(and won't make those again), but I would still collect exactly the same type of coins. On the large cents I might be a little more careful with some of the conditions - but that would be it.

 

Look harder, buy higher graded coins..quality not quantity and I would start with my Lincolns. I have an attraction to wheat cents. you are doing the right thing by staying positive. I understand that it is not easy and wont be for a long time...This I do know, I had a friend who found his wife having an an affair and he went over the deep end. He got started on some bad stuff, stopped paying bills and was kicked out of the military.
So if you ever need to vent come here first

 

I'd chase what I really liked, the same stuff, but be a little more discerning and not in such a rush. And I would put less faith in our TPG's.
Lance.

 

I probably wouldn't change a thing from how I collect now. When I first started ,however, I was more into silver. Now I'm more into old copper, so I'd probably start there.

Then, of course, if I ever married again I'd not tell her about my collection so that it wouldn't be brought up to divorce lawyers. My wife has no idea what I have, and I plan to keep it that way
Guy

 

I would not by as much of the mint new releases, especially annual sets of circulation coins. I have way too much money tied up in them now. I was buying three sets of each including the silver sets. (One for me and one for each of my two children) They are now in their forties but I think I could have put that money into better use on some older coins. They will get it all on their inheritance anyway, but I think the investment factor/value would have yielded more .

 

Sorry to hear about your situation....best of luck to you.

I'm with Shoe, quality over quantity. I've liquidated a lot of stuff but I still have far too much. I'm planning on selling most of what I have to focus on ultra high quality. I used to be possessed with the "complete collection" idea and that has faded over the years. As I grow older I'm starting to wonder just what my familiy will do with my coins once I'm gone. I don't want to leave them an overwhelming task and chances for mistakes should they need to sell it.

 

Danged heck of a way to welcome you to this forum, given your current circumstances, but welcome all the same. If given a second chance.....if given another day to reflect upon what to collect......I'd probably do nothing more than what I'm doing now. And that's collecting what I like. Maybe I'd narrow it down a bit (for oft times I'm all over the place) but I'd still concentrate on collecting what I like. Always admired Classic Commem's and of late it's been my passion. Perhaps I'd concentrate more on that if given a second chance.

My sympathies are with you my friend for this hard time that you are forced to endure......

 

Well, I am still relatively young and learning everyday. God willing 40 years from now I will let you know the answer to that question.

 

Sorry to hear it Coinics. I have been there man, many of us have. Luckily I kept the coins, (though she got about 10 times the amount in cash).

Personally, I would think about it and if you were ever interested in another area of numismatics give that a try. Personally, I may get bummed starting the same collection over since all of the coins I would look at would remind me of what I has before. If you collected silver dollars, think about classic commems or large cents, if just US coins think about ancient or world coins. Stretch your mind and take your thoughts away from the issue.

Chris

 

Why dont you "sell" the coins to a friend, real cheap. After divorce buy back for same price
Get one for yourself

 

Twintubo...

Thats what i did when i got divorced.. i "sold" everything i had that was valuable to my best friend. Then he gave it back at a later date.

 

Seems trite given the circumstances, but :welcome: to CT. My sincerest wishes that the difficult times ahead leave you stronger and healthier for the long term. If numismatics and the CT crowd can be a part of that, so much the better.

As for what I'd do if I had to do it over again? Simple. I'd skip the bits where I prioritized the opinions of others or the "investment potential" of my coins, and get right to the part where I buy coins I enjoy owning.

 

I like the "sell" them to a friend idea.I don't know what you have but if that's no good maybe have them appraised at melt value that could atleast lower your losses and maybe let you keep your collection.Personally,my wife thinks my collection is just a bunch of old junk anyway,she has no idea of there true value.Good luck.

 

Dennis, lol

That's what my wife says. I normally hear "get that off the table", or "i don't get it" when talking to her about coins.

If i had to start over i would focus on one set at a time and get the best possible grade i could for each set.

 

Be careful guys, ok? What this little, "sell to a friend" thing is fraud on the court. The court will decide what is a fair distribution, and trying to sell assets off cheap to be recovered later has been tried for decades. If you get caught, you are seriously facing jail time and multiples of damages levied against you. Its literally a crime, and a crime perpetrated against a court. Judges seriously get mad when you try to defraud their court.

I have read many instances of this, but one that comes to mind is a guy selling his 67 corvette to a "dealer" for $3,000 before a divorce got finalized. It was found out, he had triple the true value of the corvette taken from his share and given to her, she got the corvette, and he got a year in jail. His "dealer" friend was fined and given probation. This is NOT a joke, its a serious crime.

I am not saying what someone should do, its always a personal choice, just am warning of the consequences.

Chris

 

Thanks for all of the suggestions. I will not be selling to a friend- trying to be completely open and honest for the whole process. We spoke to a guy who specializes in asset settlement today and he offered some good advice on how to avoid sawing everything in half.

Short story is I will try to keep the parts that matter to me most and look to compromise elsewhere where it matters more to her. Not a done deal by any means but an option to work towards.

 

It truly is hard sir, and my heart goes out to you in this time. I know I never want to go through that again. Hopefully its over soon and you move on. If you ever wish an opinion we are here for you.

Chris

 

And, the way you get caught is, although the wife may not understand coins, it would be rare indeed for her not to know what you've been spending on them.