How do you mainly acquire your coins

However you still have to buy the coin. The only thing you have "won" is an agreement to purchase the lot at a given amount which is higher than anyone else was willing to pay at that particular point in time.

 

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Whatever I can find in the wild. I haven't made it to the point where I need to buy them to upgrade

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I've acquired the majority of mine roll hunting, as gifts from tellers, and in reject trays.
More recently I have been trading some of those finds for an individual coin, and i made my first coin show purchase the other day.
I enjoy the thrill of finding a gem in the wild, but once you start looking for specific type coins or date/mm combinations some can be virtually impossible to just stumble upon.
And as a side note, I cant remember the last time I found something more significant than a common 40s or 50s wheatback in regular pocket change. In my 4+ years collecting I've found only one silver coin in pocket change.

 

Modern from either the US Mint or APMEX. I live in a very remote area and the nearest coin shop would be 100 miles, so I do a lot of online buying for my Morgan collection. eBay, Heritage, DLawrence, APMEX, Great Collections, Northern Nevada Coins, etc. For my project I limit things to PCGS graded which helps peg prices, or raw where I look for unidentified VAMs.

I also take a different look at things since I cannot travel. Prices are probably more reasonable at shows, but when you factor in the cost of travel and lodging maybe not. You miss the comradery, but that money gets put back into the collection.

 

Most of mine were acquired back around 1982 at coin shows and such. Others (mainly foreign) from Family.

Now I get penny rolls and look through them. And should I finally become employed again, there is a coin store Michael Berry talks about I'd like to visit.
I'll need some specific stuff when I put together a 20th century type set and that might be where some of it comes from.

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I'm a die variety and mint error specialist and collector myself so I prefer the coin roll hunting method through bank wrapped rolls. I do occasionally purchase coins at auction if I would like them for my collection or if I can make some profit.