Coin "Clutter"

Here's a subject I haven't seen in a thread.

What does everyone do to control and manage "coin clutter". Here is what I mean.

You may specialize in Lincoln cents or Morgan dollars, but you go to a coin show and there's an Indian Head for a give-away price and you can't resist. So you buy it. Then later, at the same show, you buy a "Blue Ike" because of the awesome luster. Then You go home, check your favorite Internet place and find that you can get a complete set of Jefferson Nickels for $40. You can't resist.

Point here is> I think all of us end up "colllecting" or "accumulating" a lot of numismatic (coin) stuff we don't REALLY want (or need) - but for whatever reason, we have it.

How do you deal with this? Do you have an "unclassified" drawer in your desk - or a small box for that stuff and what are the plans for dealing with it? Of course, one option is to hand this stuff out to YN's, but I have bought some pretty costly stuff that I really don't want to give away.

I know if you're really organized and are buying things at super prices, you'll be putting it on e-bay as soon as you get home.

In any case, I am starting to get into this dilemma. In previous lives, I collected sports cards and stamps and had the same problem. I guess it's an addiction of sorts and I should probably seek qualified medical help.

ANYWAYS, any ideas? Any comments?

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

it's nice to have coin clutter

 

I agree comletely. But I know what pocketchange is talkin bout too. Personally, I have my best (most valuable) stuff in the bank, next I have stuff in a safe bolted down to the floor. Then I have a bunch of stuff that isn't very valuable at all (alot of it is souvenier medals type stuff) in a lock box, and finally I have some junk silver and some replicas of old banknotes in a lockbox which doesn't have a working lock as my decoy to bugrlars. Other than that, I like having a few coins laying around the house. Like right now, I've got a heavily circulated walker, and a highly cleaned peace dollar laying out by my favorite chair.

 

I'll take some of that clutter away from you.

 

Stuff like that usually gets passed along to the children (age appropriate) of family members.

 

I bought some clutter on Sunday at Milwaukee, as the dealers were wholesaling away so that they didn't have to haul the pieces home. Now I need to sort it out and sell it off so that I can buy coins I really want.

 

I think I understand what you are saying - I don't really collect bust half dollars or buff nickels, but I have a few I like. The difference is that I do still want them - maybe in a few years I will feel different if I fill up a shelf in a safe. On the funny side every time I go to my local coin shop he has 3/4 war time nickel sets that really look nice and I wouldn't mind having one. Yet I really do not know how to grade them, but I still want one because they look nice and original.

 

It's weird, but I tried and tried...and tried some more to relate to your problem, and I just couldn't do it. I guess thats why I'm a collector, because I collect, and massive piles of hoarded coins aren't problematic to me. I pick up coins all the time I don't need, already have, or that I just find neat, but I just can't see myself getting rid of any....at least not till I pass them down someday, and then it'll be their problem.
Guy~

 

Coleguy, I agree with you. If you collect everything, then nothing is "clutter". Every piece is a valuable addition to your colection.

Steve

 

I suffer from the worst case of OCD ever. My collection is pretty much all clutter. : ) AND PROUD OF IT.


EW EW EW, gotta have it.. BUY ME, NO ME, I hear voices when I go coin shopping.. sigh... AND I LOVE IT.

 

I have piles of clutter. Some of it goes in a drawer, some in a safe, some lays about all of it treasure.

 

Yes, give it to the yns!

Seriosly, coin clutter is coin collecting.

 

Coleguy:
Great phrase, I never thought of it that way.
I have lots of clutter.
Now, that you mention it, I have to figure out what to do with it.

 

2 years ago I was in a similar position.

I looked around the house one day and saw piles and piles of stuff. In my youth, I had collected coins, stamps, comics, baseball, football, hockey cards. I decided to clean house. I set up an ebay account and slowly went throug each pile of clutter. I kept the primo stuff for me and as I culled it out, I repackaged and indexed it so that now I know what I have. The other stuff ..which was about 90% of the clutter went up on the ebay auction block.

I started selling on ebay and the rest is history. Over the last 2 years, I've manged to streamline my collecting and focus in on what was really important. All of the other fringe stuff has been sold. Today, I'm $27,000 richer (just from the stuff sitting in piles) and much beter off for the purge. My collection is more focused with higher grade coins and I even found myself an extremely profitable side business of selling online which pays the mortgage and pays for my kids college tuition.

If I didn't have that one moment when I looked around and said to myself...wtf is all this stuff? I wouldn't have been able to achieve all that I have. Selling the clutter can change your life. It has for me.

 

Most of the time if I can get a good deal on something I'll buy it...put it back and use it for a trade! Or....I'll end up seeing it a few months later and decide that I need a whole set of that coin and end up keeping it!!

Speedy

 

I have three collections

The date/MM sets I collect in dansco albums
The proof set collection, currently 1960-current complete
Then I have the clutter collection
This is everything not listed in the two. random barbers, cents, wheaties, buffalos, spare morgans, spare peace and some other "better" stuff such as well toned proof nickels and stuff.

The clutter collection is my favorite collection to pull otu and look through on a boring night......

 

if i'm not working on that series, i don't buy a coin. if i know someone is looking for it, i might buy it and offer it to that person for a small walking fee...

-steve

 

I agree!

 

Some time ago I too had mountains of clutter when it came to excessive coins. No stopping accumulating coins. Example is 97 Whitman Classic Albums all almost filled. 9 of those long, red cardboard boxes with 2 rows for 2x2's. Jars, boxes of rolls and on and on and on. Massive amount of Wheat Cents in just about everything. This started when I would buy a new coin, better than the one in a certain set, it would go in there and the one from there into the next and the next and on and on until the last one ended in a 2x2. At a coin show a dealer gave me a Whitman Classic Album free for Mercury Dimes. I went home and filled it from duplicates in the 2x2's except for the 42D/41. All else filled which became #97.
Then a few years ago I came down with stage 4 Cancer. Supposedly the end. After 4 operations, 2 bouts of chemotherapy, I'm still here. But I learned that the mess of coins was a massive waste that may end up in a banks counting machiine someday. I joined the PCGS web site and had 25 givaways for YN's only. Got rid of all the excess Wheat Cents, commemorative coins, some proof sets, some uncirc sets and just piles of other items. Out of 25 individuals that received free stuff, I only received a few thank you replies though. One reply was so great I have been sending him piles of other numismatic items that in the near future will mean nothing to me anyway. Now in process of sending him a pile of those 2x2's just to get rid of them. People at coin shows I know have asked why not just bring them to the coin shows and sell them? WHY? I'm pretty old and never can tell about tomorrow so why not just help out the future numismatist. No, Ill just keep on giving things away. I've learned my lessons in life.

 

Carl, I hope you feel well and stay around here for a long time. I enjoy your posts and sense of humor.

I'm stuck with the clutter that I have from my younger collecting days, but I've done a pretty good job of avoiding additional clutter by focusing my habits on a couple of areas. I fall off of the wagon occasionally, but all things considered, the collection is under control. I'll remember the idea about giving away large numbers of coins. I'm still hoping a young family member picks up the collecting bug.

Edit: I should add that oddly enough, one thing that has helped me avoid clutter is the internet. Since I can see various examples of just about any coin imaginable in very high grades, I find I don't have to own them anymore to enjoy them. Weird.