Is it wrong to just collect coins I think are cool without any sort of "collection" intended?

My "collection" (accumulation?) is just a bunch of coins I think are cool with absolutely nothing in common. They are all over the historical timeline too.

Is that a bad way to collect?

 

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I'm sure there are people who will explain why a collection should have an overall theme or organization.

Are you enjoying getting and owning the coins? If so, those people can go pound sand.

 

I don't think it's a bad way to collect at all. That said, I really don't collect coins anymore unless they're gold. Mostly I collect Tokens and Medals and I even have one of my Albums and it's called my Hodge Podge Album! Here's a link!
https://www.cointalk.com/media/users/fretboard.19765/albums

 

Agree with Jeff...collect what you like, with or without an agenda.

 

I think it's fine. At any rate, I do it all the time.

 

I've had collectors criticize what I like to collect ( holed type)and could care less. Collect what you like. That's all that matters.

 

Collecting is personal..........don't let anyone tell you that you're doing it wrong.

 

No, it's not a bad way to collect. This is your hobby, you accumulate whatever you please and there's nothing wrong with that.

I began by just buying whatever is old and interesting to me. I still collect like that but nowadays I mainly buy US, Mexican, and German type coins.

In the future, you might want to consider specializing in one (((or many))) different series in the hobby. Or you might not. As long as you buy what you like and aren't getting completely ripped off then there is no such thing as "bad collecting."

 

It's not wrong to collect what you like, of course. If you have a very diverse
collection, it may be harder to sell some day. You might want to break it up
into smaller pieces if you ever sell it. (I wouldn't try to sell US and foreign together,
for example, because most US dealers aren't as interested in foreign coins and are
less likely to make a competitive offer.) If you do choose to begin to specialize in
a few areas, you may start to see buying opportunities that a generalist many not
have the knowhow to take advantage of.

That being said, I'm more of an accumulator than a collector. If it's cheap and it's
interesting, I tend to buy it. A huge fraction of my collection came from junk bins.

For example, I think I got all these Japanese prewar and wartime coins in one trip (4 years ago) at 10-25 cents a piece. I'm no expert on Japanese coins, but learning enough to read dates and recognize older types makes picking through junk bins a lot more fun.

 

I feel the same way as @Gam3rBlake . Have coins from World ,Ancient and Modern all wrapped in one . Thanks to the fine people of CT !

 

Others' approval not required if you're happy with it. I've done that for over 50 years now.

 

Thank you for your thoughts.

I really want a collection of American Colonial coinage but it’s just so darned expensive.

But I also like the pre-1933 gold & silver stuff which is more affordable but still expensive. I’d like to get nice examples of seated coins, Barber coinage, Bust coinage, Morgan’s, etc.,

But I also love Ancients! Especially gold & silver Roman & Greek stuff. The art and variety is unmatched.

There is no way I could even collect one full set of any of those let alone all of them.

So I figured maybe pick up a few nice examples of each.

But then my coins end up ranging from all over history and not really specific.

Frankly I’d be happy with just one nice example of every coin the US has ever minted prior to 1933. Date & mint wouldn’t matter.

 

No. That's how you get around buying keys. If your not collecting the way you want, then it's not really a hobby. It's a 2nd job that you're paying to work at.

 

Wow nice!

When you say don’t sell US & Foreign together..what about ancient foreign?

Like the graded gold & silver ancient Roman & Greek stuff?

Do dealers like that kind of stuff?

 

I guess I just think looking at an entire collection of every single date & Mint Morgan Dollars all in MS66 condition you’re basically looking at the same coin over and over with tiny differences in date & Mint Mark.

What I like personally (my own personal opinion) is looking at a collection where every coin is completely different and together they represent one whole nation (or the world) across time.

But that’s just me and I might be totally twisted in my thinking.

 

I've had the same struggle as you. Too many sets that I love and little room for specialization. When I went to shows dealers would ask me what I collect; my reply was always "mainly coins" lol. But really that's what type collecting is. Buying the best example of each series you can find. I filled up my type set really cheap, now I'm going back and replacing a lot of coins with high quality ones.

 

I'm no expert on selling coins, so it's hard for me to say. In general, a dealer who
doesn't specialize in ancients is going to have a hard time evaluating a collection
with ancients, so it would be hard for them to offer a good price. If you have a
large collection with a lot of different kinds of coins mixed together, it takes a
lot of manpower to separate the more valuable stuff from the rest, label it, and find an interested buyer.

As to specifics, I'm sure there are some members on the ancients board who could give you better advice than I could. In general, the more effort and expertise needed to find a buyer for a coin, the larger difference between a retail buy and sell price you are likely to see.

 

I'll be honest, I certainly started that way, but as you find you like a specific type of coin and you gather more of that type, suddenly you have 1/2 a set and want to finish it collecting coins is sneaky like that

 

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["Gam3rBlake, post: 6306173, member: 115909"]I guess I just think looking at an entire collection of every single date & Mint Morgan Dollars all in MS66 condition you’re basically looking at the same coin over and over with tiny differences in date & Mint Mark.
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That's what I never liked about date collecting. It's like looking a row of yes men at a board meeting and they all have the same hair cuts.

 

It's your collection so collect what you like. It's that simple.