It's like old and stuff, so its worth thousands!

I believe part of that has to do with the internet linking supply with demand. In some regions certain antiques were scarce and in high-demand, whereas in others they were plentiful and low-priced. I went to gobs of sales/auctions with my father starting in 3rd grade and started selling my own antique scores on eBay when I was 11. Back in the good 'ole days when you could buy guns, drugs, live hand grenades and prostitutes off eBay, LOL. I can clearly look back and chart the fluctuation in market values, supply, and demand for various classes of items and while many have lost value as everyone who was hunting managed to find what they wanted on eBay, or the passing of generations caused things like WW1 relics or Shirley Temple memorabilia to plummet in value, other classes of items have become more valuable thanks to access to worldwide supplies information and likeminded collectors (various vintage clothes/shoes come to mind).

I honestly believe this is an orchestrated conspiracy to deracinate individuals in the Western world, being perpetrated by Marxists and global corporatist interests (strange bedfellows) to divorce peoples from their history and thus obscure vision of their future trajectories as a people, and instead atomize them and turn them into good consumer cattle or cogs in an engineered socioeconomic class-conflict.

As Orwell aptly stated: “The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.”

Stamp collecting was largely a heavily shilled and hyped speculative bubble like Tulipomania or the Beanie Baby craze, thanks in no small part to the shameless self-promotion of folk like John Walter Scott. A genuine and passionate collector base did and will continue to exist, just as some people still cling to their massive collections of plastic pellet-stuffed toy animals, but in my opinion most of the collecting activity wasn't rooted in deep and sincere personal interest and instead was more of a multigenerational fad built on hype and visions of future profit.

Yep, most people don't seem to even begin thinking about engaging in acquisitive hobbies and collection-building until they've absorbed enough knowledge about themselves and the world to know what they even like to begin with and also have the financial security to pursue it. I started collecting coins, fossils, antiques and old books when I was 5 but many people aren't autistic goobers with supportive parents and don't get started until a bit later.

The collecting of ancient coins or antiquities isn't going anywhere, and as source countries improve enforcement of current export laws or implement new ones the freshly metal-detected supplies will likely start drying up which oughta ensure some degree of value stability or growth in your ancient investments.

 

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Most of what you guys are saying is true, I don’t know anyone else my age who collects coins, or even has more than a passing interest in history, especially ancient history. Most people my age would spend their money on trinkets and going out, rather than looking at old coins!

 

Have you met your generation? Owning the new iPhone is priority #1.

 

You'd be surprised....while it is true that Apple had a bit of a cult following amongst the more tech inclined...the backlash at this consumerist cult is also real. Apple is no longer the #1 operating system even here in the US amongst smartphones anymore.

At any rate, tech is a little different than old tables and desks, and other antiques. For a highly mobile society that's constantly changing jobs and place of residence, a smartphone is not the same as it is an item that's always with you. But millennials have rejected a lot of things that used to be considered valuable and collectable by older generations....that much remains true. I'd you look at Antiques Roadshow, a popular antiques program in the US, they've revised a ton of their old episodes with new pricing, and in almost all cases the antiques are down 40% or more in price than they were a decade and a half ago. Just about the only thing that's still doing well is mid-century modern furniture, which continues to be popular for it's simplicity and portability. Most millennials don't want to be dragging around their parent's old antique desks and cabinets as they move to their third or fourth home for yet another permanent temporary job. Plus the way we live has changed...with the open floor plan being dominant in homes today, formal dining sets, living rooms sets, etc., no linger fits the simpler/more open setting in most homes today.

 

A good friend of mine works at a t-shirt warehouse and snapped a pic of this that came down his line. He's one of a very few that know I collect.

 

iPhone was a bit more metaphorical than literal. I guess I should have said smartphone. To be even more clear, today's smartphone is Rome's purple cloth. It is/was a status symbol. Times haven't changed that much. The younger generation may not want to spend $600 on a coin, but they will for a phone or video gaming system.

 

That shirt is right. After years and years of collecting, the value of my collection has slowly increased from a few hundred bucks initially to now approaching $20,000. Though I will admit I've never spent that much on the collection as most of my pieces were bought as budget opportunities at auctions or from dealers where I had the chance to get a coin at 60% or 70% of market price (hence why I'm a member of the "Bottom Feeders club") . I'm seldom the type of person to spend full retail or above retail on any coin. I've done it, buy it's just not my style.

At any rate, the point is that if I had to cough up all that money in cash right now, without having to sell my property or tap into my retirement account, I couldn't. So in a sense I have way more money in coins than cash on hand (without touching my property or investments). I suppose that will happen to most middle class collectors eventually if they collect for long enough.

 

Maybe a large enough number do, but there's also a sizeable population that don't. Amongst my group of friends, I'd say about half have phones that cost less than $400. Frankly, I find smartphones a little boring these days. The excitement about the latest and greatest one wore off on me about 3 years ago. Coins are far more interesting...or else I wouldn't be here.

I've yet to find anything that would cause my interest in coins to wear off. Do you have a cure for being addicted to studying, learning about, or wanting to collect ancient coins?

 

I used to be that way before I started to collect ancient coins. I thought it would cost me an arm and a leg to get one coin but I was eventually cured.

 

When I first joined CT a couple of years ago, it was to research a few modern coins for value. Everyone was nice and gave me good advice. I kept seeing the people talking about "Ancient Coins" or "The Dark Side" and didn't pay much attention because those type of coins were really expensive. Being able to hold such history in your hands must be, right? Eventually, I read a post by someone that said they bought one for $20. $20? I can afford that. So I made a post asking what I could expect to buy for around that price. The "Ancient" people came back with reams of good advice and tutoring. If it wasn't for CT's Ancient people I would still believe these coins are beyond my reach. I do thank you all. I have slowly been increasing my collection, and it is still humbling to know that I can hold such things and to wonder where they have been.

 

While this is a bit off-topic, it does touch on the subject of why people may gravitate towards "new experiences" as opposed to deep study and concentration on a single subject - such as collecting coins. As I have always fallen into Plumbata's "Autistic Goobers" category, I shall simply be content to stare into the eyes of my Athens Owl and allow the remainder of my life to whiz by.

Eugene

https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p07d07d3/why-time-seems-to-speed-up-as-we-get-older

 

I hear this a lot from people who have a rather stilted view of what that hobby is all about at its core. Did you ever progress from being a "stamp collector" to becoming a "philatelist." Night and day. If your idea of stamp collecting revolved around going to the post office and buying new issues at face, or ordering packets of cheap stamps as advertised by dealers, then mounting them onto pages you wanted to "fill up," then you never grew to the point where you really got it. You and a good 90% of people who once tried it. I have no illusion about trying to change that, but I do want to put it into perspective. I put these out for all who read this and feel justified in trashing philately.

Of the money you spent on that hobby, what portion was spent with nationally known and respected auction houses? How often did you prepare an exhibit for any kind of competition, be it local, national, or international? How many publications did you read or write for? Were you a supporter of any of the national organizations/clubs, or even a local one? Did you develop special expertise in any aspect of stamp creation or the history of their use? Did you do anything to build a personal philatelic library? However you answered those questions, compare those answers to how you would respond to similar questions about collecting ancient coins. One you know, the other you don't. One didn't connect for you; one did. Let's leave it at that.

But for me, a large part of the intrigue in both these collecting hobbies is that they lead to bigger and more diverse things. It was my pursuit of stamps that led me to photography, which I use for coins too. Stamp collecting challenged me to a deeper understanding of paper and how it becomes what it is. Adjunct to that is the study of patent proposals which resulted in a plethora of experimental essays. Mindbending stuff, that. Ancient coins have led me into the chemistry of metals, not only for coin creation, but also preservation. That put me in good stead as a volunteer staffer at the Oriental Institute Museum of the University of Chicago. Which in turn led me to the pursuit of antiquities for both understanding and acquiring them (for a while). All of this and more sprang from a seed that was sown when I was a Cub Scout seeking an arrow point for "collecting things."

How you're going to see all that depends entirely upon the depth of your experience.

I would agree that most stamp collectors did not get into philately deeply enough to "get it." But the characterization of it as a profit driven fad based on self promotional hype fails to look at the historical realities of its origination and subsequent development. You stayed at the surface. Who made the more lasting impact, John Walter Scott, or John N. Luff? Henry Ellis Harris, or Stanley Ashbrook? Washington Press or Amos Press? It depends on what you are looking at, and what you are looking for.

Philately is returning to a niche it held at the beginning of the 20th century - that of a manic pursuit of trivia loved by a few and ignored by the masses. It is also morphing into yet higher levels of historical research now that searchable databases are becoming easier to access. But philately in the US and Europe today does not claim the mass appeal that is shown among countries of the third world where the crowds sometimes outpace the venues. That change is good for some things and not so good for others. How you look at it depends upon what you want.

 

I have had several instances of where time seemed to be in very slow motion. The one that always comes to mind first is of semi-coming at me, a car pulling out around, getting nailed by a small station wagon, the station wagon spinning into the ditch with occupants bailing out and running, the car that was hit flipping end over end over end towards me as parts and pieces exploded from it, and me slamming on my breaks to keep it from tumbling straight into me and watching it tumbling past out into a pasture. Just like in the movies.

The other involved staring at the lug nuts of a semi-trailer as we just missed ramming the trailer flying down the highway after hitting a flying horse.

Seems to be a truck theme to my time warp thing.

 

I think the weirdest attack I've ever received over a YouTube comment on an ancient coin video was being told I'm a member of the Illuminati trying to fool the public into believing that ancient Athenians were capable of minting the Athena/owl tetradrachms. Apparently they were proof of aliens visiting the ancient world, and humans were too primitive to have been able to make those coins.

 

Are you talking to me?

 

Your comment came right after mine so I was confused as always.

 

That's why I'm collecting for my daughters, historical perspective and remembering a piece of history. Hopefully, they will feel the same and pass them onto their children.