should every collection have direction?

Sounds like a lack of direction is your direction.
Keep it up. Some call it diversification

 

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Love the 'Duke's' take on things.......

Any chance that the mayo jar will appear in the avatar future? :devil:

 

I think my direction is finding value in things that are not too highly valued. For example I found a 1932 Canadian cent. The cost was 1 cent, and the value is 25 cents. 25 times my money isn't bad. That's just an example. I like buying silver coins at around melt and finding stuff that's worth more than that.

 

Oh you might just see some mayo in your future

 

I find that I need to focus my collection somewhat just so I spend my money more wisely. That doesn't mean I only buy one type of coin, but I spend more time on a few types than others. I will branch out someday and I do deviate from the areas of focus, but I know I'll never finish anything if I buy everything, and it's important to me to finish something eventually. That's just me though. I had a bad habit of going on ebay and looking at all the auctions ending soon and just buying stuff, and I'd find I was spending a lot of money and not really getting anywhere with what was really important to me.

 

I believe a direction greatly helps prevent purchases that you might regret later, or feeling like you need to do some spring cleaning on your stock. Case in Point, I collect Ike's (PCGS Graded, and raw specimens), Silver Proof Sets, and Circulation Coins in Albums (Can't give up the whitmans, hahaha).
Recently I went out on a limb (partially out of boredom) and picked up a few PCGS ATB Quarters. They are nice coins, but now I'm wishing I would have stuck to my Ike's since the ATB's are not a set that I plan on pursuing. (By the way, the ATB's are for sale, PM me)
I have fallen into this trap before and end up putting a lot of coins up for sale that don't fit my "Collection."
I feel like I've finally learned my lesson, but only time will tell.

 

You know, I have the very same feeling about mine. I've tried to go after one series, but the problem is that I get bored with or I see another coin design that I like even more (particularly two toned coins, like the Philippine 10 peso or the Singapore dollar coin for example). So... I kinda changed my outlook on coin collecting. If I collected baseball cards, stamps, or any other type of collectible, I wouldn't narrow it down to fit a series, I'd collect all and be happy with it. As long as you're happy with what you've collected so far, I say enjoy it and forget what others say.

 

My "direction" has been opportunism -- finding coins that I can buy low and sell high. To the extent that I don't follow through on the "sell high" part, it's making me look like a hoarder.

However, as I've followed that "direction", I've found myself starting to specialize a bit. If you're bargain-hunting in a competitive marketplace (like eBay), the only way you'll win is through luck, which I don't find very interesting, or through knowing more than the competition. (Not all the competition, just the ones who happen to have spotted the auctions I'm looking at.)

I'm old enough to understand that I'll never know more than the competition about everything, so I start to focus on areas narrow enough for me to get an edge. Currently, it's mid-grade early Walkers and Barber halves, plus some other odds and ends. I specifically ignore Morgans, because there's so much specialized knowledge there (especially VAMs) and so many people chasing them.

Mostly, though, I'm with the folks who say "collect what you find rewarding to collect". I don't feel a great drive to define myself.

 

I too buy whatever catches my imagination and consider myself a collector with hoarder tendencies as I have never sold a coin. I'm not sure what a "token" is but if they are shiny, I'm in!

 

I too buy whatever catches my imagination and consider myself a collector with hoarder tendencies as I have never sold a coin.

 

I buy whatever catches my eye, as long as the price is fair enough.

 

All my indicators say that gold and silver are both headed north which gives us an opportunity to sell some things that don't "fit" in order to add some better suited pieces. I will need to force myself to take my "misfits" to the coin shop. I'm starting to sweat just thinking about it. I am a seller/virgin.


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it obvious that you have direction and that's to buy what you want that's all that matters/.. if it makes you happy get it..id say yess it helps dramatically like if you like war stuff get a collection of war stuff if you like commems of thew 50's or the black suffrage and civil rights gor for that

 

In my opinion, it's fine for me to collect what I like with little direction if I'm buying current coins directly from mints. I also coin roll hunt from time to time because it is relatively cheap and it exposes me to a lot of the same coins. The moment I decide to take the plunge into older coins, I feel I must have direction so I am comfortable paying for legit coins at a fair price. There's a great deal of research involved that is both fun and exciting, but also necessary.

 

Ah...using strategery I see. Only from mints due to forgery issue?

 

I am new and I think you need a direction if you have a limited budget. I have seen alot of stuff I would like to have but would be more comfortable spending money on something that fits in my collection

 

The day I gave up my Dansco 7070 and started collecting slabbed coins I liked I found a much greater pleasure in collecting. I would still say I'm assembling a type set, but it doesn't really know any bounds. If I feel like 5 different mercury dimes there nothing stopping me from doing it. To each their own, but I personally enjoy the collect whatever method.

 

Absolutely, but also because of the theory that most, if not all, coins will be of high quality.

 

Here's what I've decided to do. Since I can't decide on what to collect or limit myself, I've done a little bit of both. The "type collection" goes into the album, the "hoard" goes into boxes. That way I get the best of both worlds. I just can't let a good non circulating coin go.