Why do you collect coins?

That's better than anything I can think of.

 

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Are you sure that wasn't 'Coast to Coast' Radio?

 

Although an often repeated story the tale of Josh Tatum and the V nickel simply isn't true. The Oxford English Dictionary cites examples of josh used in this sense as far back as 1845. One will also sometimes hear it is from the pen-name (“Josh Billings”) of the humorist Henry Wheeler Shaw, but Shaw did not take up writing until 1858, so he cannot be the origin. More likely an association of Biblical names such as Joshua with simple, rustic farm folks underlays both the word and Shaw’s choice of name.

You are correct though when you say "Yes, there is plenty of history in coins." and this is why I collect.

 

History. I love history - I've owned Roman rings and coins, and even a leaf from a fresco that my mother wears around her neck. My wife wears an old Roman brass ring.

US coins - again the history. And the thought of where the coin has been and what was bought with it. I do love MS-grade coins and even proofs but also worn, common coins just because of their "person-to-person" history.

 

Part of why I'm a numismatist and collector is that it nicely fills some of my OCD tendencies. And to me, coins are just so darn interesting. The amount of research one can do with coins is about endless.
Did I mention it also helps me with my hoarding tendencies

 

Nah. CoasttoCoast is dark conspiracies; the RCC was dark alleys on the Barbary Coast.

 

Because Corvettes won't fit in my closet !!!

 

So get a bigger closet.

 

History, artistic design quality, rarity, condition, eye appeal. When these things are combined; my heart races.

 

Never thought of it that way!

 

I like to collect coins because they combine a lot of different interests of mine--chemistry, history, economics, foreign languages and so on. They are also some of the cheapest and easiest to obtain antique objects which connect us to the past. They are much easier to store and hold their value pretty well compared to many collectibles. I especially like coins from short-lived political units or that show history of wars, crises and inflation. I collect all sorts of world coins indiscriminately, mostly from 1700-1950.

Above: A Queen Anne 1711 shilling made into a love token by engraving the initials of the lovers on the obverse. I love these small windows into the lives of people from so long ago.

 

Because I can and I enjoy it.

 

It is the thrill of the chase especially quality low pop material.

 

When I was 5 years old I found a 1918 Lincoln in my back yard. Then a few months later I found a 1917 Buffalo nickel hidden on a shelf in our chimney. A couple of years later I was telling my great aunt Juila about my finds and she gave me a beautiful 1916 Mercury dime. I guess it just got in my blood.

 

I really don't have specifics. I love the history and designs of coins. I collect classic US coins and modern/classic world coins. I enjoy finding out the history of coins and researching them. For instance, I love Maundy money for some reason. I just purchased what I thought was an 1838 Maundy two pence only to learn in that year these two pence pieces were made in circulation and PL strikes. Mine wasn't PL by any means. The circulation strikes were used in British Guiana and the British territories in the West Indies. How neat is that!

 

I like shinny things. LOL

 

I too am all about the history. I can hold a 100 year old coin in my hands and it tells me stories better than a book could.

 

Shinny things. Remember when silver dollars and halves were called "Bright's"? "...you're gonna spend the rest of your brights down at the house of blue lights..."

 

Like the old ad campaign for the Washington Post - "If you don't get it, you don't get it." Of course, every hobby has it's market-speculating Philistines but for the purists among us, this fusion of art, history (academic and tactile), and the heady serendipity of acquisition/discovery make ours less a passing dalliance and more a lifetime's insatiable intellectual addiction. I'll be stepping off my soap box now...