please convince me to stay

i dont know that my opinion will count for much seeing as i have only been doing this for only a few weeks, but here is how i see it. i stumbled into an 1881 morgan silver dollar a few weeks ago, and i have been hooked ever since. but for me i look at it in a different way. i look at coins as not only something with dollar amount on it, or what it could be worth in the future, but rather as a piece of history. for me this hobby is really good because i love american history, so this really is something that i know i will grow to love. however i too am on a tight budget. yes i want to go and buy every morgan i can get my hands on, but thats not a smart idea. i had to take a step back just as soon as i started. thanks to the advive of some really great people here, i grabbed a few books to read up on, asked some questions, and came up with a plan. i decided that i will start smaller and try and complete a set of mercury dimes. while doing this, i can still research morgans, learn how to grade them properly so i know what i am looking at when i am ready to buy. start small, and grow from there is the best advice i can give u, and hopefully u will stick with it. good luck.

G
:high5:

 

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One phase of this history topic is civil war dates. I recently have been slowly buying up a couple 1861 and 1862 half dimes and dimes. That and a 1863 Indian head cent I've had for about 36 years keep me interested and focused on collecting coins with civil war time period dates. Of course it gets stupid on e-Bay when you see 1866 and 1868 coins listed as civil war dates!

 

First, plenty good advice here for stainless, there are many hours that can be spent with rolls, and with reading, that will give you great enjoyment of the hobby without much cash outlay.

Second, to Drusus, I would like to know more about those coins in your post. I understand they refer to Sahelian ethnic groups, from Niger and Chad at least. They are stunning.

 

Actually your advice is VERY well founded. From a newbie to a newbie.

VERY insightful.

 

They are medals produced in 1930 by Emile Monier at the time of de l'exposition coloniale de Paris(the colonial exposition of Paris.) They depict a Senopufo girl (Ivory Coast), woman from Bornou (Dahomey), Tuareg (Niger), and a Kassonké woman (Sudan). These were to showcase the different cultures in the French Colonies. They are silver plated Bronze, I think, and simply outstanding works of art.

 

If you have a hard time buying something that may go down in value, then no hobby will ever be for you.

 

hano comments guys..

i think i know how im gonna do it

 

If you don't have lots of cash to fund this hobby then you need to be creative and patient. I'm trying to finish our 'P' and 'D' set of statehood quarters. I refuse to pay more than a quarter for a modern quarter. By chance I visited a kids' booth at a coin show with my son and saw a whole basketful of 'P' and 'D' statehood quarters in near BU condition that they were giving to each child visiting. Since it was an hour from the show's closing, I asked if they would exchange 40 quarters for $10. In that single visit we got at least 25 different 'P' minted quarters in very good condition including the 2002 TN 'P' mint. It's not easy to find near BU 'P' mints out here in So Cal, but we were able to do it without paying a premium.

Also by chance I found a bank that still had rolls of the older statehood quarters. I bought all that they had and some of the rolls are going for much more than the $10 face value. My son will be trading those rolls in the future for something else he wants.

I've seen people walk into coin shops and pay 75 cents for the current statehood quarter, or $1.75 for the current presidential dollar. Those people must truly love their hobby if they are willing to pay such a premium. I also love this hobby, but my son and I are trying to find creative ways to fund our hobby. I hope you stick with this hobby and find creative and exciting ways to collect coins that will bring you joy in owning.

 

If you consider the history behind even the least expensive vintage coin, even a single purchase out of the "treasure box" can lead to many enjoyable hours researching the coin's "story."

We are also on a very limited budget. Fortunately, three of Thalia Elizabeth's four interests can be satisfied on that limited budget: coins from 2000, the year she was born; coins from 1900, because they are 100 years older than she is; and anything with Queen Elizabeth II on them. Her first example of that last category was what started all this off for her: a Canada cent. (The fourth item she likes is gold, and, well...)

I've finely narrowed my current focus so as to not blow the budget. I've also become very involved in my local club now so the majority of the time I spend on the hobby isn't actually "collecting" at all-- it's being a club officer and doing outreach activities. Like, for example, setting up a display for a local coin show a week from this Sunday. I'll probably spend more on gas and materials for that show than I will on coins, but that's OK.

I consider reading the various opinions and stories here to be part of the hobby as well.

 

Looks like you kinda posted this same situation all over this forum in different stories. The thing here is why you should stay with this hobby and what it costs.
For the main thing is this is supposed to be a fun hobby. Something relaxing, educational and interesting. If you think of this hobby in a monitary tone, you'll loose most of that.
You say your not a wealthy individual so this may not be your type of hobby.
When I started collecting I had no money, my parents had very little money and since they came from another country, no relatives to lean on either. Yet somehow, I managed to start a stamp collection, coin collection and was actually able to go to a show once every 6 months. My DAD gave me pennies and I saved them all. No candy for me. I needed those pennies. Funny thing is I still have every one of them.
You think this is an expensive hobby? Then why are there many, many, many milllions of little kids collecting coins? Or do they all have jobs?

 

stainless...you can collect various clad sets from circ....read david bowers' experts guide to collecting and investing in rare coins. it is a large book and well worth the money. it has a lot of information regarding the hobby. all of his books are excellent reads, but this book can really be an extremely useful guide for you. best wishes, steve

 

Stainless - If you really need to be "convinced" to stay around collectors with your investment-only focus battling against your disdain for people selling coins above face value, I suggest that you follow PT Barnum's advice, and head "This way to the egress!"

 

no one should have to convince you to stay a collector.

 

I agree that purchasing rolls or boxes of rolls from the Bank is the cheapest way to collect coins and at the same time, you can even make some money to support your hobby! Search the coins for known Errors and Varieties as well as the Dates and Mints that you need, keep those and return the rest to another Bank. At the same time, you might find Wheat and Indian Cents in Cent rolls...Buffalo, Liberty "V" and even Shield Nickels in Nickel Rolls and Silver coins in Half, Quarter and Dime rolls. In many cases, you may find enough Errors, Varieties, Silver and older coins to sell occasionally to support buying some coins that you need from a Coin Dealer or via the Internet. As quite a few of the coins in the rolls from the Bank will be AU to BU and you may get some BU rolls that have never been opened, the chance of finding some fairly high grade Error and Variety coins is pretty good. When you can purchase coins at face value, find quite a few AU to BU Error and Variety coins and sell them for $1 to $4 or more each, then you've got a pretty good gig going!

Also, pick up a reliable but fairly inexpensive Metal Detector and Metal Detect as much as possible in your spare time. If you can locate some really good spots, then your finds will quickly pay for the Metal Detector and pay some of your coin collecting costs.

Good luck!


Frank