Does your collection have a purpose?

My interest in coin collecting began only a few years ago after the death of my grandmother. She was a supreme hoarder and it took my father and I months to clean out her old house before being sold. Amid all of the clothes, purses, books, newspapers and expired canned food I found a few prescription pill bottles full of change which my father showed no interest in and told me to keep. One night I opened the pill bottles and at first glance thought I was looking at foreign coins; then on closer examination I saw that they were all American and were very old. What I had was several pill bottles full of nearly uncirculated V Nickels, Mercury Dimes, and Standing Liberty Quarters. Where most 20-something college students would quickly hawk them at the nearest pawn shop, I instead became instantly fascinated with them and over the next few years amassed a collection of error coins, old and error paper money, international currency, tax tokens, ancient coins, and anything else pertaining to Numismatics (a lot of OCD and genetically inherited hoarding coming into play here).

Very soon, I began to see that my collection had no real goal or purpose and resembled a huge blob of random crap. So I began to think and came to a conclusion on my collecting: I would no longer collect anything that I could not touch.

So, I began repurposing my collection by selling the vast majority of it on eBay and gifting a few of the pieces to a coworker who's young daughter is interested in coin collecting. I used the new funds from the sales to purchase a large amount of circulated silver coins (mostly Morgan dollars and Standing Liberty Quarters).

Now, my collection only consists of circulated silver coinage (in one safe), and another safe devoted to V Nickels and Eisenhower Dollars (probably my OCD, but something about V Nickels and Ike's is just beautiful to me). I have no interest in Mint Condition specimens or proofs because they cannot be touched or else their value would be at risk. I now only enjoy coins that I can take out, hold, and admire for their artistic and historical beauty. This being said, I would much prefer a scratched up and dinged Gold Half Eagle than a pristine uncirculated specimen.

So in my own way, I now feel that I am collecting beauty and history in it's filthy and human-handled form, not a random collection of "items" that I had before.

What is the purpose of your collection? Do you prefer the coins that you cannot touch over those that you can? What is our philosophy behind it?

 

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I tend to prefer coins I can hold as well. As the saying goes "History in your hands" not "History locked away in a sealed plastic holder that you can hold in your hand but never touch."

 

Well, I collect what I like. I have a couple different collections I'm working on but my largest and maybe dearest to my heart is my collection of military trade tokens. They are not worth very much and not very attractive. Since I'm active duty Air Force my goal is to complete a set from each base I've been stationed first, second is to collect USAF and Army Airfields, third are unique or otherwise interesting military trade tokens. I have over 100 and I'm quite proud of the collection I've amassed. The collection that is probably second in importance is my challenge coin collection - as each one of these coins has a specific significance to my Air Force career - some were given, some were bought, and one was traded.

My minor collections include: military payment certificates, raw uncirculated Peace dollars, toned graded MS65 &up FBL Franklins, and raw Silver Eagles (bullion hoarding by date). I've also gotten into ancients but that is still in it's infancy.

I don't really have much of an issue with slabs versus raw. If someone likes rubbing their hands over a coin or never touching it, I don't care. Both are fine for me. I like that encapsulation and I like raw.

 

my coins main purpose is to make me very happy. I can literally escape in coins. when I first started out collecting I was all over the place. Now I am very focused on which coins I buy. World coins. "Coins with insects" being my personal favorite, "coins with hands", "coins with certain stars", "coins with small coins on the coin as the design itself", and of course my large MISC section. I do collect some U.S. coins mainly mercury dimes and I will eventually collect a gold type set for U.S. after 16+ years of collecting coins I am finding out that I am liking older coins more and more. I love this hobby.

 

Nice to meet someone with an equally strange obsession! Before collecting I smoked cigarettes as an escape from my full time work and full time school schedule. With collecting, I smoke far less (and working on slowly quitting) and my coins are like a drug to me. When I am overwhelmed with work and school I will sit quietly in my apartment and go through all of my coins paying attention to the details in the wear and circulation of each (I could have an entire role of 1940 Quarters and still know the specific small details that make each unique; from the wear, toning, etc). I may even go as far as saying that I know each of my coins personally.

I always have one or two that I will carry with me wherever I go. Currently it is a 1967 Kennedy Half with some unique circular wear and darkened edges. I know it is logically absurd but I feel as if I am carrying with me some ghost of the past which I am infusing with a piece of myself as I take it along my daily routines.

 

What exactly are Military Trade Tokens (I know I could google it but I prefer a human and soulful answer)? Are they like an on-base currency or more for collecting? I have heard of these but never really looked into them.

 

Military trade tokens have their origins in the civil war era, where certain merchants, called sutlers, would follow around a unit and sell things to them that the Army didn't provide. With the coin shortage of the times, these sutlers would make change with tokens that were good for a certain dollar amount of goods, sort of like a gift card today. From what I can tell, sutlers would take advantage of the soldiers and would overcharge for items because they were the only ones around the soldiers could buy things from. The Army's answer was the Post Exchange...but I'm beginning to digress here.

The trade tokens were used to make change and depending on the base, issued in denominations including .05, .10, .25, .30, .50, $1, and $5. The most common shape is circular but hexagonal, octagonal, triangular, square, and a few other odd shapes were used. The tokens have been made out of various materials including aluminum, nickel, brass, plastic, copper, I think there may be some wood also. Generally they'll read something like OFFUT AIR FORCE BASE / NCO OPEN MESS on the obverse and GOOD FOR / $1.00 / IN TRADE on the reverse.

There were other forms of military coins and currency all being used at the same time. The previously mentioned military payment certificates were used specifically overseas in an effort to spare the local economies and reduce black market activities and were issued in denominations ranging from .05, .10, .25, .50, $1, $5, $10, $20. Also, going back to WWI and lasting (from what I can tell) into Vietnam were payment chits. These were issued in a booklet and could be used for goods and services around base.

 

I would like to add...forms of unique military payment still exist. Currently cardboard "pogs" are used and they range from .05 to .50 and are essentially a gift certificate from the military exchange stores. They are used to make change as it's cheaper to make and ship the cardboard pogs then to ship coins. They can only be used at military exchange stores. Also used are something called Eagle Cards. These cards are linked to a bank account and funds are transferred to these cards from machines set up around base and they're used much like a credit card.

 

I think it's great you will quit smoking. look at it this way better health and more money for coins. I carry a San Marino, Italy "hand" coin with dove in the hand for good luck and it makes a great conversation piece too. I do not find it strange that you carry coins. I have read stories of war time soldiers carrying coins that reminded them of loved ones or a special friend. I took that story to heart and started carrying this coin in a airtite for protection from getting damaged or scratched. this is a duplicate coin. it is made of silver too. I keep it in my wallet. It is in a new better airtite than in the pic below.

San Marino 1991:

 

coins as an "obsession" would be putting it mildly for me. lol look under my nickname...it says "Coin Junky" that's me. I will walk into our coin shop and say..."I need a coin fix" (I want coins) hence my own given name Coin Junky. lol 3 weeks from now I will be getting a nice inheritance check. I of course will pay off most of my huge debt, but I will buy the coin of my dreams if it is still on ebay. a Belgium coin. I am looking forward to going to a coin show in Las Vegas in January or February. this is always huge fun for me.

 

I collect what appeals to my eye. I have a couple sets going: 7070, Peace Dollars and Morgans. I'll eventually move on to another series, but I haven't quite figured that out yet.

 

By far my most rewarding endeavor has been creating birth year sets for my two sons. One 2002 and one 2004. I decided to go NGC graded, one sample of each, PF70 for the proofs and MS67 or above for the Business Strikes. I won't give them to them until they are grown and stable (don't want them to sell them for something dumb). I have the big gold and platinum to go and a few of the harder business strikes to find (dimes for 2002 and the nickles for 2004).

Modern and not too expensive, but I think about all the time when they are in their 60s they may appreciate it and pass them down to someone else.

I am also really proud of my full set of BU franklins in a Dansco album and have all the proofs with the exception of 1951.

As seen from my other thread, I'm close to being done with my Dansco 7070. I love that album and each of the 20th century coins all have some significance in the year (for example, the silver washington quarter is a 1951 the year of my mothers birth.) I keep a detailed spreadsheet of when and where I got them and if they have any significance to me.

So, not really a "focus" but I collect to pass down to my sons - that are also things that I like. My grandfather gave me some coins when I was in college and that is how I got started. A few of them are even in my 7070 album!

 

Purpose: Collect what I like for the history and beauty.

I used to be a slave to the "hole filling" -- but that was not very fun.

 

After smoking for 57 years, I quit "cold turkey" on September 26 of this year. I'm still fighting the urge, and every time I see someone light up on TV, I think about it. All you can do is take one day at a time.

Chris

 

Like some other very wise collectors here, my only main purpose of my coin collection is my happiness and relaxation. It gives me pleasure to research coins, to track them for sale, to have the knowledge I have. That has to be the ultimate goal, your pleasure.

Coins are a terrible investment for most people, (better than most hobbies, but still terrible versus other investments), so never kid yourself your hobby is anything more than something you do for your own personal enjoyment. As a sideline, I fully intend on teaching my sons about history and geography by giving them coins to learn from. I believe most ancient collectors know ancient and world history better than 99% of Americans, (not a terribly high bar to hit unfortunately).

 

I have learned more about U. S. history collecting coins than I did in school. The thrill of finding that one coin to fill that slot in my collection is addictive. I have not filled an album or folder for any series since the early 1980's. I collect coins by type now. Since becoming disabled last March it is what gets me up in the morning. I spend hours a day looking for just the right pieces for my Liberty Seated coins type set. By denomination the only series that I have a complete date and mint set for is the 20 cent pieces, 1875 (AU-55), 1875-CC (AU-55), 1875-S (AU-58), and 1876 (AU-58).

 

I forgot to add.... I really enjoy researching coins. my Krause catalog books are priceless to me for info and pics. I understand the Krause values may differ from real coin market values. it depends on which coins they are.

 

Oh yeah. Sometimes I just pull out a book at random. Luckuly I have about 700, but sometimes its something like one of the KM catalogs and just flip it open to a random country. Boy, Germany is brutal to collect for the 17th century, but interesting to read about!