When I 1st got into coin collecting I had a pretty nice collection. I had 5-6 grades Morgan dollars, 4 graded Franklin half dollars, quite a few raw seated, capped and barber coinage, old paper money, and over 1,000 wheat cents. At one time my collection probably came close to $1,000. Which I sadly had to sell to pay bills. I have slowly been getting back into collecting. For a while there I was buying a coin, admiring it for a few weeks, then selling it. I guess I was a "coin renter". Nothing wrong with that, I just didn't have a budget to keep a firm collection. It allowed me to enjoy many coins with a small budget. Then I re shifted my focus into album collecting. After doing it for a while, I soon realize album collecting was pretty boring, unless you do a type album. You open the binder, and see rows and rows of the same exact coin. Meh. Personally I'm more of a history collector. I like collecting coins that are over 100 years old. I'm not a big fan of moderns, but don't get me wrong, there are a few pieces I admire, including a few silver commemorative issues. I also like slabs. Some people don't but they provide an added benefit. Slabbed coins are more liquid, they protect the coin, and they assign it a grade that is usually spot on. But I try to never pay much extra for a slab unless its a necessity. I'm a firm believer of "buy the coin, not the slab". Now getting back to history collecting, slabbed is not always an option. This is true for lower grade coins. Anything old in a slab will command a premium, of at least $10 So for old, low grade coins, I stick to raw. Here is a neat little collection. It's a 1860 Indian Head Cent, the CN kind referred to as a "fattie", a 1877 seated dime from the Carson City mint, and a 1864 2 cent piece. Pardon the images, my camera does not handle the color brown well. The 2 cent and the Indian cent are a nice brown color. I paid $12 including shipping for these 3 coins (they were individually listed). Although they are worn, they still carry quite a bit of history with them. The 2 cent piece and the Indian cent might of been carried by a soldier, in the pocket of a high-ranking government official, or in the pocket of my Great Great Grandfather. You just never know. You can squander your entire collecting budget on bullion, on modern coins, but for me, personally I like to collect OLD coins.
Thanks for sharing, love to hear of other's interest in the hobby... I started collecting JFK Halves and now am getting into albums and ASE's...:yes::yes: :thumb:
Detecto You weighed 300 pounds, and went on an interview that requires strenuous physical labor? This is a serious question meant to help you. Shouldn't you borrow money to get your stomach stapled?
Why on earth would I have my stomach stapled? I've dropped 32 pounds so far. I worked at Hy-Vee for over 2 years as a bagger, stocker, and cart reteriver, with my weight around 250, and over 2 months at a packaging facility moving boxes around.
That work doesn't require 1/10 the physicality of UPS. Using the numbers you supplied, if you dropped 32 from 298 you should be 266, not 250. Not fibbing about our weight are we?
I'll stick up for detecto on this one. There's no reason for him to get his stomach stapled that I know of. That is a drastic decision, and not one to be taken lightly. I'm glad he has lost weight, and I agree that while not optimal, a young person who weighs between 220 and 250 or so can do a full day's work like he has done before. My concern is not him losing weight, but the choices he has chosen in doing so. He doesn't fully understand the ramifications of a diet like this. He thinks carbs are unneccessary devils just designed to create fat stores in people's bodys. That is untrue. Carbs are there to provide the energy people need to do things. Without carbs of some sort or another that energy store is not there. It's like being a drained battery of a person. The truth also is that anytime you over fill a system, it either has to overflow or it has to get stored. The human body can't deplete the extras, so it stores them. That can be good in times of scarcity and can actually help people survive. It's part of the reason that people can go a long time without food, but little time without water. But detecto, you are losing weight at the expense of your body. Based on your diet, I don't see that you (especially in winter in the mid-west) will get enough vitamin d, for example. Your body can make it by going outside in sunshine 10-15 minutes a day, but I doubt you do. That's only one, but this one is one that perhaps is a necessary one to have good myelin structures in the brain. There are diseases that people are speculating are created partially by the loss of the myelin sheath, and cannot pass vital stuff over the gap --- things like vitamin D. I don't have the full story on that but it's really suspected by scientists. Anyhow, glad you like the old coins.
As a history buff my self I like what you are saying and doing, I collect Icelandic tokens and grade for me is far from the first thing I look at, I look at the history and ask questions. You coins look great and if they would talk they could tell far many more stories then a hight grade slapped coin would be able to do. On a side note I´m feeling a little ashamed about some of the people that are commenting here, It´s hard enough to give solid advice on collecting coins. But it seems people can comment on very dangerous operations. People should stay on topic and talk about what we love. Collecting Siggi
Given your post Detecto I seriously would look into collecting world and ancient coins if you do not care for slabs and want real history.
Every once in a while I look at a holed or scratched Seated Lib that I got for junk prices and think, once again, glad I got it! Not only do the coins reveal history, we make and create our own history by engaging in collecting them.
How would I know the answer? I figure he's either 2'10", 6'8", or somewhere in between. And that's all I know of your height, also.
The economy has hit me hard as well Detecto, especiallyhaving a 6 year old with autism. I’ve made large numismatic purchases in thepast, but lately just been buying collector bullion here and there. Haven’t hada problem paying bills in the last couple years (knock on wood); but when Idid, I did not let my coins become an option. In the safe, out of sight and outof mind.
Yep... it looks like some of the comments on his "diet" thread got merged with his "coin" thread, lol.
