Is Anyone Else Totally OCD About Their Collection?!

I am sure all of us here on CoinTalk love our collections, no matter how large or small they are. However, me, I am totally OCD about it. My wife thinks I am crazy, but I think it is smart. I keep a running tally of what I have on paper and in my mind. That way I know if something is missing either by theft or if I dropped it...somehow.

For instance, I know that I only have 1x Liberty Walking Half Dollar. I know that it is a 1944 plain. I know that it is in AU condition. I know that has a golden tone to it. I know that I have 16 total silver quarters, 15 are washingtons and 1 is an SLQ. I know what years in the WQDs are XF or AU, and I know where each and every one came from. Whether it was a roll find, a teller tray find, or a gift.

My collection is rather small, but growing. Tonight, I found myself VERY VERY happy that I can keep track of every coin in it because tonight I wanted to look at a few of my coins under a light-duty magnifier. I also wanted to watch Alcatraz with my wife, so I sat my box on my lap while we watched TV and during commercials I checked out my coins. I thought I dropped one and I started to freak out in my head. After the show I rushed my box over to my desk and started counting like crazy.

"Washington Silvers, 1,2,3...15. Good. SLQ, check! Silver dimes:1, 2, 3,...7. 4 are Roosies, 2 Mercs and a Barber. Good." "2 Buffalos, 30-S and 38-D, perfect." etc etc etc for every denomination and type until I was done, then I checked my numbers against my inventory and what I had in my head and it all was correct. My blood pressure dropped back down to normal and I chilled out. I was the MOST worried about the coins my great grandmother gave me. Like I said, I am thankful everything is there and in order.

That got me thinking though...is it just me, or are there others out there that are THAT careful with their collections? Like I said, I can even account for where every single one of these coins came from, who gave them to me, and what the occasion was it if was a gift. Even what bank they came from if I found them at a bank. I am sure once the collection grows to fill the box it is in now, and eventually spread into more boxes I will lose track...I kinda hope not though!

--Rob.

 

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I assigned serial numbers to my morgans. Then lost the paper that it was on :-/
For me they have to be organized (the only thing in my room that is)
They have to be in order by denomination, year mint so on. My books have to be lined up in order and my danscos and box do too
Alittle ODC i guess

 

Okay, since I started off on a bad note (Collecting) I have kept a reciept for each coin I buy, and if I didn't buy it from a shop, I write my own personal record of sale, I also keep a binder (with my modern coins in it) that has a tally sheet of each kinda denomination I have that I update monthly scratching them out, adding new ones, or even putting (numbers in parentheses) on them to designate multiples of each date. When selling coins, I assign each coin for sale its own serial number.

Also, the toilet paper goes over downstairs and under upstairs. That's my greatest pet peeve.

 

I never remember to keep records for the amount I bought certain coins for... I always forget

 

It's only for 1 or 2 that don't come with a sales bill or a price on the back

 

Documenting my coins collection is something I've wanted to do but never have decided to really start it.
As far as having Obsessive Compulsive Disorder for I don't think I have it. I'm very hesitant about how complete I want to make my sets. Do I want to just have every year of Mercury dimes or go for the micro ' s ' and large and small MM's and the 1941 over 42, 1942-D over 41 or what. Financially I have to draw the line somewhere because I'm on borrowed time now. But I detest shortchanging myself.

 

I've lost most of my OCD symptoms as I've aged, but mine never went in the cataloging direction anyhow.

You'll find that your current approach doesn't scale well if you start buying larger lots or accumulating based on (for example) silver value.

I worry a bit about not keeping track well enough, but it can actually add to the fun -- I sometimes find pleasant surprises.

 

I think you might be OCD.... and i thought i was OCD about my coins =)

 

Yeah i needed to keep checking my coins regularly at the risk of getting some prints on their proof finish, then i found easier solution cataloging everything by taking high resolution pictures of all of them and just flip thru the pictures

 

I have a google doc spreadsheet where I record all my coins by year, variety, grade, inventory #, price paid, date paid, and provenance. It takes around 30 second to enter this information when I get a new coin, so as long as I stay on top of it it never takes up too much time.

It's on the cloud so I have access to it from any computer, which is convient, and I will not loose it if my computer dies. The real benefit to having it stored on the cloud is the ability to open the document on my phone at coin shows. I never have to 'remember' all my coins although I do know the majority of what I have.

 

You guys put me to shame. Maybe its a function of how long you have been collecting. When I had just a few hundred coins I could tell you where I got them all and how much I paid, but at this point I have no idea what I own let alone anything else about a lot of them. Some of the more important pieces I do, but I have been buying for so long, I literally do not know I even have a lot of coins I have.

 

I keep a complete inventory of my collection, complete with when I bought, how much I paid, condition, TPG # (if certified) and location (I have several safe deposit boxes and the bulk of my collection resides there.)
When I bring coins home for study, they get stored in my gun safe.
I use Excel spreadsheets and it works out fine for me.

 

My collection is too large to remember what I have so it is on a spreadsheet with date, mm, grade, blue book, red book, Coin Values and notes columns. Each page has a subtotal and the last line is the total. I print a copy of the entire inventory and put it in a binder to take with me to coin dealers/shows. That way I can do upgrades or buy a coin that is missing from my collection. This, along with scans of my coins serves as a reference for insurance purposes in case of damage or theft. So to a degree I am OCD.

 

I'd go in debt renting safe deposit boxes.:rollling:

 

I have a good memory, I don't need to be OCD knowing what I have. I collect for fun as well, so I don't let my collection consume all of my thinking time, there's just way too many other important things in life to think about. If your collection controls you and your thoughts to the point where you obsess over it constantly, I think you need some help (actually serious on that one).

 

Okay, spreadsheet gurus, coach me here.

I buy a bag of 160 Liberty nickels for $200. It includes 20 culls, 100 AG-VG coins, 20 VG-F coins, 15 F+ commons, a lightly corroded 1886, two 1883 no-cents sliders, an XF 1912-D, and a nice AU 1909 with a good bit of luster remaining.

How many separate rows does this occupy in my spreadsheet? (If you say "160", you might have OCD.)

My serious question: how do I assign "purchase prices" to each category? I would lean toward tracking the groups as I broke them down above, but I'm at a loss how to apportion the purchase price.

 

I use google doc spreadsheet i only separately track coins that are over certain value, rest i simply have an aggregate coin total and increment total. Only problem i have is when i sell or trade coins it throws off my yearly totals and i have tough time balancing things out.

 

160.



That's right, I know the date, cost and location for every single coin I've acquired since I got back into collecting.

 

Well I definitely feel less crazy now =D I think I may start a spread sheet or something like it on my computer, as a back up. So many of you seem to do it, and it makes a lot of sense. I don't know if I will log pictures of all my coins, but probably just the ones closest to my heart.

Thanks for all the input!

--Rob.

 

I have never kept a tally or any sort of record of my coin & currency collection.... I've been collecting since 3rd grade and my collection is pretty big nowadays.... Keeping records is on my list of things to do, but I just haven't had the time.... Hopefully one day..... I like the forum because its a good way to pick up on some ideas for future reference....