Are you collecting or accumulating?

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I do both. I buy whatever I feel like, but have bigger concentrations in areas that interest me overall.

I understand what you are saying about the satisfaction of striving to complete a set, but that is only for some people. That is the reason I went away from US collecting, I hated the oppressiveness of what others determined I had to buy in order to have a "set". I refuse to buy an overpriced S VDB, so to US collectors I am not an "advanced" collector. In ancients, since there can never be a complete "set", you are free to collect what YOU want.

I also somewhat disagree about value. Unless you build a very impressive set that gets credentialed, I do not understand how EVERY collection is only valued based upon the sum of the coins. Most people do not wish to buy a complete collection, so almost every "set" someone collects will get broken up when sold. I understand how a mishmash of coins might be hard to appraise accurately, or how it might be hard to shop it to a specialist if you have a variety of coins, but simply do not comprehend how you say almost any collection is worth more than the sum of its parts. Certainly, a collection with desirable coins like key dates or high grades is more valuable and easier to sell than a bunch of low grade common dates, but I would say a set of miscellaneous coins that are problem free and in attractive collector grade is very easy to sell.

Maybe you are confusing this issue with too many collectors bad habit of buying problem coins? Any rare coin in collector grade that does not have issues is easy to sell. Problem coins are the bain of most "accumulators", because they never educated themselves enough to know what is a good coin and what isn't.

Just my opinion.

 

I like to accumulate 1 oz bar. Anytime I have extra cash I like to buy about 5 of them each time.

 

There is a lot of excellent material in your post to chew on and I hope folks can read it and think about it all.

 

I do both I have many sets that im working on.

but when it comes to silver foreign i grab what looks cool

 

so let me get this straight, the coins that you appraised were all purchased at less than catalog prices? Which catalog, grey sheet, numismatic news, coinage, red book, littleton catalog, pcgs or ngc price guides? And now that the collector is selling they are worth less because he bought them for less?

I must be misunderstanding something here?

 

well when newbies start collecting they really have no idea what to collect. after a long period of time they get more focused on which coins they want. I know because I was everywhere on coins. now I am much more focused on which coins to buy/save for.

 

I'm in the both category also,

While I work on and save for my 3 main sets I work on 22 other sub sets. While these subsets are all over the board they still have a goal. When I finally finish one of my main sets I will bring up one of the subsets and be more proactive towards it. Basically they tide me over while waiting for the right coin for the main sets.

My accumulation is when I find a piece that is undervalued and/or under priced these are more for a flip in the future.

 

I'm probably mostly in the accumulator catagory, although I'm working on a fairly high grade Lincoln and Franklin collection.

Otherwise, I buy what I like. The fact that there won't be a premium on it at some point in the future when it gets sold is meaningless to me. I don't buy coins with the intent to sell them.

If I suddenly drop dead, I'm sure whoever cleans out my stuff will be much happier with my coin collection that they can take to the local coin store to sell than the 20 bins of yarn and another 20 bins of paperback books they'll have to deal with.

 

As of now, I am accumulating circulate coins and filling Whitman folders. It's fun to do, but I haven't start focus on high grade, yet. I did bought Dansco 7070 and want to collect BU quality to that folder, but I have been distracted by collecting IKE dollars and Kennedy half dollars. Sometime, it's just a matter of what we enjoy in collecting and stick with it.

 

I'm mostly focused, but on occasion do some accumulating. I get satisfaction from both quite equally. Future monetary value plays no part whatsoever in my collecting, so nothing factors into that area of collecting. The value I obtain is through the enjoyment of the hobby.

 

im in both categories also, i collect mint sets and silver coins an bullion, i also collect circulated and uncirculated lincoln cents and jefferson nickels, i have a decent sized accumulation of circulated wheat cents along with pre 64 roosie dimes an washington quarters with a few kennedy's an ike's in there, an more recently been accumulating a collection of varieties an errors, i do not do this for profit, it is strictly a hobby, i have no intention of ever selling any of my coins (made that mistake 25 years ago and still regret it to this day), all my coins will one day go to my son an he can do with them as he pleases.........

 

It seems like a question someone with less experience would ask. Collecting is a process of buying and selling for a profit and rolling that back into the collection. Your question indicates a distinction made by someone just sort of starting out on this. Accumulating is a necessary part of collecting unless you just want to spend money on this.

 

And what if that particular coin is all they want to acquire? Some folks don't need the 'best of the best' sir. I fully realize that the decisions I make regarding certain purchases are not weighted toward profiting in the future, because if they were, I wouldn't be in this hobby.

I totally understand the point you are trying to make ToughCoins, and I can agree with it to a point, but some folks are just happy accumulating stuff irregardless of direction or future value. In my case it's a hobby and not a business. The enjoyment I garner from my wayward manner of collecting far exceeds any need to profit down the road.

 

I prefer to accumulate. I choose to collect coins for fun and not for profit.

 

Me I collect both ways I focus on early large cents bust dollars and uncirculated cc Morgan's are the sets I'm trying to get plus a type collection but I will often get distracted by a nice early coin with great color or eye appeal basically I buy coins more on liking the design and the surface/color/toning

 

Btw, I just wanted to be clear Toughcoins I do understand what you are saying. We have all seen the random accumulations of 1970's proof sets, bicentennial coins, colorized state quarters, etc that comprise the "collection" of a large percentage of casual collectors.

I do appreciate your post, agree with much of it. My post was only to clarify that once you do learn the differences in coins, know what you are doing, there is nothing wrong with buying what you feel like. Unfortunately, most collectors never get to this point. I believe that for casual or new collectors your entire post is on point. Its just grumpy old men like Ken and myself don't like to be told how to enjoy our hobby.

 

I'll echo Chris. He's an amazing collector of coins most extraordinaire, and much less grumpy than me......

 

And yet, I've seen other posters in this very forum lamenting the single-minded care and expense that they put into their exemplary complete sets of (say) Franklin halves, only to find that they couldn't get much more than melt for the complete set, and that they would have to piece out everything to maximize their return (which would still be much less than they put into the set).

Are there seriously dealers who pay a premium for a themed set, or are such sets always valued on the assumption that they'll be pieced out?

As for me, I'm an opportunist. If I see a coin for $75 that typically gets $150 in the same venue, I'll snag it. If I see a lot going for junk-silver rates with a couple of potentially desirable items, I'll take that gamble. I don't do much reselling yet, so I guess that makes me an accumulator. Perhaps it also makes me crass or contemptible, but I'm enjoying myself and harming no one, so I'm not losing sleep over it.

 

I

also see many a cumulations of low grade common coins in large quantity to me they have no appeal