Why do you like what you like?

I'm rediscovering coin collecting with my kids after sharing the hobby with my Dad while I was growing up. As a kid I only collected US Coins but the worlds a much smaller place now. I can't imagine only collecting coins from the US.
To answer the question: I like diversity. It would be great to have a bunch of one type of coin with all the different dates and mint marks to make a set. But I'd rather have a bunch of different types of coins. I'm not collecting for resale or to make money so condition or having a complete set is not as important to me as it would be to some collectors.

 

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It's a good question.

I like the history, so I prefer older to newer coins, even if the older ones are more common. I also prefer US coins to other nations even if the other coins are objectively and subjectively better. I like the precious metals, so I prefer silver and gold. I like a bargain, so I prefer coins that sell reasonably close to bullion value. Many morgan and peace dollars, and many common date liberty gold coins and gold commemoratives from the 1980s can be purchased without paying huge premiums. Among the copper coins, I like civil war tokens and hard times token better than the coins from the US Mint. I'm not persnickety about condition. I'm just as happy with circulated as uncirculated coins, and many EF and AU coins look like tremendous bargains to me compared to the MS coins of the same series. I'm not a big fan of wild toning, and a plain old grey morgan dollar looks just fine to me. I don't really care if a silver dollar has been cleaned, although I won't buy one unless the price is tremendously discounted because I know that others do care. Among modern coins, I think the American Silver Eagles are possibly underappreciated and will rise to more significant premiums to bullion value when the series is discontinued someday. Other than the silver eagles, I've never completed a set, and probably never will. I don't have one-tenth the knowledge of many of the folks here, but sticking to the above guidelines allows me to greatly enjoy the hobby in a sort of low-risk way.

 

Never even thought of why. I just like to collect stuff I guess. I collect all types of coins and really do not have much preference as to any of them. Possibly some are more collected than others but that is usually due to availability. For example I have well over 3,000 Mercury Dimes. Are they my favorite. NO. Just very available at a cheap price. I have over 100 Whitman Classic Albums of practically every one they make and mostly all full. I'm just a colletor with a bad habit of over collecting everything.

 

16th to 18th century world coins. I just love the eye appeal, and the relative rarity. Lot of history in the coins too...especially the german Talers..