A whole lot of nothing VS a little bit of gold.

When I switched from collecting USA coins to GB coins, I fell prey to the collecting method I like to call "a whole lot of nothing".

Although I have a few nice coins, I have over 200 coins worth less than $5 each.

However, looking at a few collections from the coin club, and from people's estate at an auction, I see the same thing for about 80% of the time.

Masses of low value coins.

In fact, I attended an auction once that sold for over 30,000 dollars when it was all said and done. It was just common stuff. No $500 barber dime, no UNC 1909-S VDB, just rolls of common date morgans, buckets of wheats, etc. There was some gold, but average dates and grades.

So I've kind of kicked myself for doing this again.

Instead of spending $200 on 100 coins worth $2, I'm going to spend $200 on a really nice coin.

My question for the forum, have you ever fell victim to this? Or do you just have a small selection of really nice coins?

 

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I hope wrap up unfinished business first.

 

Of course.

I'm sort of on the fence. One part of me wants to have a few nice pieces, the other part of me wants to have a hoard like scottishmoney has that I could dive into like scrooge mcduck.

 

A large hoard of coins pooled together forms a solid mass. You can't dive into it, you would break your neck.

 

quality over quantity

 

I prefer to diversify, but that's mostly because I like quantity of silver. I am considering buying 2 $200 pennies, but it seems silly to me when I could buy 5000 for the same price as one.

 

Collecting relatively fewer coins of relatively higher value requires not only the desire to do so, but also the belief that one will be happy with that strategy and the discipline to carry it out long-term. I am an example of a person who fits the idea of a collector who purchases fewer coins rather than more coins. However, this is not for everyone.

Of the collections that I sell for clients, nearly all of the casual collectors (even if they had been a collector for many decades) have a few coins that represent 50-90% of the value of their collection and then have box after box and jar after jar and folder after folder of the great mass of their collection that represents the remainder of the value. It is quite common to see this even when dispersing collections ranging from $5k to $20k.

 

http://www.money.org/explore-the-wo.../ten-rules-of-successful-coin-collecting.aspx

 

Actually some of the little darlings peaking out of my little hoard are treasures - found a cud on one of the threenubs from 1944 - not a surprise since the brass 3d was a 12 sided clunker. Also have some rare date and MM Aussie pennies in there, some worth $30-40 each for some of the teen dates. Also lots of freestate Irish pennies, hope there are some of the piggy 1/2d's in there.

 

This depends entirely on what you want to do. If you want the highest quality stuff you can find, to caress and gaze at, with an eye on selling for profit next week, go for it. I can give you my perspective though:

I collect a lot of stuff that is coin-related. I collect foreign coins because I get them cheap, usually in lots of 50-100 for a couple bucks. The guy I primarily deal with pulls them and saves them for me. I have gotten numerous silver coins from those lots, but for me it's the challenge of trying to a get at least one coin from every country. Then, I can make type sets from the various countries, and even start collecting a specific set of coins from a particular country. I also buy those cents counter-stamped with the different states. Not because I think they're valuable, but for the challenge of getting all 50. Do I care that there is no money to made in this? Nope. Worst case scenario, somebody sells them for a couple bucks, or they go to a local school for history/geography lessons, or to simply hand out as playthings. When it reaches that point, I will have accomplished all I wanted to with those. For me, it's about the challenge, not the profit.

 

I like to collect coins, that is coins plural not singular, I did not fall prey, or become a victim of a type of collecting. I can take a common date Indian head penny that I bought for less than a buck and show it to some people, most people never ever even saw one before, much less two cent pieces, large cents or Morgan silver dollars, heck a good amount of people think I am giving them gold when I spend my Kennedy halves from roll searching.

No sense kicking yourself or anyone else either, if you like something you will stick to it, it is a hobby, if you find you are not enjoying it as much as you think you should maybe you should try something else. Or just set it aside for a while.

Just because you spend 200 dollars for a coin instead of two dollars does not mean you will enjoy it a 100 times more. Nor does your having a 200 dollar coin make you a 100 times better than someone who has a two dollar coin.

 

Everyone would like to have what Scrooge McDuck had..... wealth beyond belief, and the ability to do crazy things, like play in a room full of money (lots of gold in there). They think it will make them happy.

But...... That's a comic book. Real life is much different for most people. As such, you need to figure out what will be in your 'market basket'. That's a term that indicates what you are able to buy, and based on that, what you select to buy.

You've been selecting a mish-mosh of lots of coins, pretty much (from my viewpoint) with the idea that you are either going to be some huge collector, or you are going to be crazy rich from your choices/ability to quickly realize what other collectors haven't ever before. You then find out that that's not happening and you change direction *or it's because you didn't have so much an interest in that genre, but it was 'new' and you like 'new' things as adventure or something*. The upshot is that money is spent, you get dissatisfied, and you look for the next green pasture.

What have you not been able to put in your market basket because of your choices????? Why not figure that out and decide if you enjoy these quick diversion of lots of coins so much that you are unwilling to figure out what you really might like and have delayed gratification..... or just figure that you can't stand the idea of not purchasing when you have extra money and are willing to continue your flights of fancy. Up to you and no one else.

 

I entertained a bunch of people at my job who'd never seen a modern proof coin before, let alone the nice Mint proof set. I could have taken in an old $500 coin that nobody had ever seen before, and no one would have cared.

Find what you like. Doesn't matter if it's ancients or tokens. The hobby is the love of the search, not the re-sale value. (Although it is nice seeing the current value on my $5.75 silver Eagles.)

 

like most (I think) I started out with the lower value coins to build a bigger collection sooner. then I went for more expensive coins. the better dates and/or condition coins are just as much fun/satisfaction to build on but have better potential for a future profit so why not go that way

 

What matters is how you feel satisifed with your collection. Everyone's collection is very different and so is your opinion and mine.

I have no problem buying cull / junk lots. Sometimes you can find something that's very interesting that pays more than the lot itself. Not common but it can happen.

Here's a couple of interesting examples:

1795 MM 1 kopek.



Sure it's extremely corroded and you'll think it's junk but this holds an important piece of history especially if you are into Russian numistics. Moscow Mint finished minting coins back in 1767 and only restruck coins in 1788 (rather common), 1789 (quite scarce) and 1795 (very scarce). 1795 is an interesting year as this particular coin die was re-engraved from 1788 to 1795. On top of this, Moscow Mint was in charge of destroying / overstriking un-useable coinage which is 1762 2 kopek or Sadagura para - 3 dengi. Value wise? Hard to say but this is a key date that's missing in a lot of people's collection. There's probably less than 100 of these known.

1868 EM 2 kopek



Die rotation of 45 degrees. Sure very low grade but I know I will not come across another one of this any time soon even in any condition.

Most people wouldn't have attempted to touch this hoard as a lot of the coins had verdigris as well as had some damaged coins - it was rather obvious from the pictures. It wasn't cheap either but I decided to give it a shot and was lucky.

Bear in mind, a lot of my collection were hoarded when I was a student. You can do a fair bit with student budget so don't get disillusioned. What I found useful is specialized catalogs for my area of interest - I wouldn't take Krause as your bible.

Also, don't let anyone dictate how you should collect coins. I've spent money on silly things but they turn out to be useful as they may teach you how to spend money more efficiently. Also try selling your extras - you'll get to understand both side of the world of being a buyer and seller.

 

Don't you have another thread, posted today, asking for our opinions on coins that are less than $20 each?

I'm confused why you're wanting input on coins with such a low value in another thread when you're looking to buy coins with a value of around $200 in this thread...should I waste my time in voting for which coin under $20 I think you should buy or on this post where you state you're looking to buy quality coins?

Multiple contradictory posts make me wonder why I even click on these threads...I miss Clinker.

 

1. You can't look away. (Like all the people who slow to gape at an accident on the highway).
2. This one is worth looking at because gxseries contributed -- that was worth reading. Thanks gxseries!

 

Thanks for the link. It was nice to read it (again). I'm reposting the link it in the hopes that everyone will take a moment to read it.

 

It is a nice piece. It is all about the true appreciation for the "hobby of kings". I do like the "Connoisseurship" section; strive for little more than just plain mediocrity.