Duplicates

This is something I've wanted to ask a group of knowledgeable collectors for some time. When I buy coins, I'm very very price conscious and will only buy when I feel I'm getting a pretty good deal. I'm also somewhat quality conscious and look for a pretty high quality coin for the money, although I don't mind at all buying circulated coins. However, it doesn't bother me at all if I buy a dulplicate [or triplicate] of something I already own. If I see a Morgan dollar in a date and mintmark I already have for a great price for the grade, I'll buy it. If there are two MS69 modern commemoratives available for a bargain price, I'll buy both. I don't ever think I'll complete a set of anything with this approach, but it doesn't really bother me.

Is this a mistake? Should I mentally force myself to try to assemble a date and mintmark or type set of a certain grade of coins? Or is this "bargain hunter" approach a reasonable way to collect? I feel like Noah sometimes, with at least two of everything.

Thanks in advance.

 

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I think that is great--I do the same and then I resell to buy other coins....but since I've only collected for 5 years I'll let the older and wiser guys tell you what they think ;--)

Speedy

 

Ill let u know when I see some hehe

 

Hmmm
I saw someone post in the last day or so, that they have 4 or 5 of the same common Morgans. That the coins just says "buy me". Me too, I have up to 4 of the same Morgan date/mm. Circulated "common" coins? I love the Walkers. I don`t own the 21`s or the 38-D, but I have multiples as in like 4 or 6 each of the commons. I`m a big time Morgan fan, VAMS etc. I have 3 each of 3 different 1878 7/8 Vams. I just see what I like, and dammit, I just want another one! Of course I can grade, and of course, I know what I like goes for. So I pick and choose, and accumulate. Hmmmm, $450 Morgans? Or $2.50 Walkers....

 

BOTH!!!!!!!!! and more............

 

Ya know that's just one of the things thats so cool about this hobby, there's no wrong way to collect.
Here I sit at least 75 miles from the nearest collecter that I know of. And I'm able to exchange ideas with people from all over the world. People that have the same interest as me...way cool. I don't know if my passion for this hobby would continue if I didn't have the internet as an outlet.
But the best part is there's no rules, collect what makes you happy. If you like classic US coins go for it. Errors, world, gold, ancient, the possibilities are endless. There's not one thing wrong with having six of a certain year & mintmark. I've totally given up on trying to collect coins that will increase in $ value, every time I was positive I had it figured out I was wrong. I quit chasing my tail, & I'm much happier.

 

I would say if you are enjoying what you're doing, you must be doing it right. In my opinion, forcing yourself to change will only take away some of the enjoyment. Down the road you may want to do things differently - if and when that happens, that's when you should change.

It sort of relates to the Quality or Quantity thread I started a couple days ago - someday you may view what you're doing now as a mistake, on the other hand someday you may look back and say 'glad I stuck with it.' Just no way to tell.

If you're enjoying it now, you're doing it right, and if you don't enjoy it tomorrow, do something different, I guess.

 

Did he corner the market on that coin??....I think that would be a fun thing to do!

Speedy

 

I have to admit that there are times when I think collecting as many of the exact same coin as I could find would be a pretty cool thing to do. Then I could have a one coin coin collection with the same coin in various states of condition and toning. There isn't much chance of cornering the market, but it would be unique in its own way.

I just like silver dollars, silver half dollars, commemoratives, and gold pieces. No two coins are exactly alike, so I just collect any and all good deals that I run across regardless of type, date or mintmark as long as the price is right and it fits into the coin budget. I was just concerned that without some sort of "theme" to the collection that it wasn't right to do it this way.

 

You just answered your own question.

I doubt very much that I would continue collecting if I had to follow some stupid set of rules designed to fit some other guy's tastes.

On second thought, I have no doubts - my collecting days would be over.

 

This is a relief. The coin dealers around here really push the date/mintmark and type collecting and are completely unimpressed when I tell them that's not what I do. This worried me because they know a lot more than I do. I never expected anyone to look at my stuff and say "What a nice collection! I know a museum that might be interested in displaying them." But I also don't want to put together a pile of junk. Anyway, hopefully one of my kids will someday appreciate a good number of large old silver coins and a variety of gold coins. "Look! Dad had nine of the same thing!" I have the gold pieces and silver dollars organized fairly well. The halves and the miscellaneous other coins need work.

 

I have the 20th century set if that counts. Other than that I have the complete set of 2005 S Sacs

 

I buy duplicates of coins I really like. And I like different coins for different reasons...scarsity. Birth years, etc.

Some of the ones I can't seem to avoid buying include:

1970 D JFK
1950 D Jefferson
Proof JFK's
Birth Years of Kids, Grandkids, Wife, Brother, and Myself...Boy, do I have a lot of 1942's!

 

Considering I have a fairly finite coin budget, any duplicate I buy means one less non-duplicate I could have bought. So, no, I don’t buy duplicates unless you count coins bought for investment, like a roll of Bison nickels (should be worth twice as much in fifty years, tops).

The coins I buy for investment are with the idea of making money to buy more coins for my collections.

My “finite coin budget” isn’t an exact amount; it’s an approximate amount I’m willing to spend, which is periodically supplemented if my wife asks me to buy something for her. “Sure, dear, you can have that $250 ring (lessee, two more ¼ oz AGEs for me).” But, at the end of the year, I’m going to have spent some exact amount of money on coins. Within that amount, I could have chosen to buy a duplicate OR to have bought a coin I didn’t have but needed for a set.

Just my way of looking at it.

 

I happen to have two of the "same" Greek coin from Abdera c.480 BC and two of the "same" Roman coin from Marcus Porcius Cato the Younger and I have several of the "same" Tibetan tangka coins.

No two are alike, even when they were "mass produced" because they were made by hand. And really, even among the machine-made coins, no two are identical.

Even so, I picked up four Saint-Exupery France 50 Francs and gave one to another pilot. For the same motivation, I have several Physicist notes. And with a special research project going right now, I have several of several denominations from the Central Mine of Eagle Harbor, Michigan, because even though the notes are "the same" the endorsements are different.

You know, Old GD brought up an interesting point... Collecting exactly one coin... hmmmm.... even if you moved on after a while to another coin .... one by one, you would get to them pretty well... hmmmm.... And there are some interesting coins in the US 19th century types, denominations and years with several varieties.

 

GD, what was that coin that the person only collected?

 

I can see that, too. I can see where someone might find a great MS67 Franklin with spectacular toning that gives them great pleasure to look at. Then, next week they find another MS67 Franklin with different, but equally spectacular, toning (or maybe it’s blast white with an exceptional strike or cameo) that they also adore. For them, this isn’t two of the same coin. It’s two very different coins that just happen to have the same denomination, year, and mint mark. And I can see where that would be especially true for those who collect very old coins, where maybe there’s a less of a concern of completing a set as defined by collectors of modern coins (“type”, “date”, etc.), more to acquire a “set” of many old coins regardless of specifics.

But I’m not that kind of collector; I don’t fall in love with specific modern coins and I don’t collect old coins (although I’m thinking about it). I’m more goal-oriented (set completing). Maybe that’s because I’m a more casual collector. For me it’s more a “fun” and “satisfying” hobby, and I have other hobbies I’m more serious about. For me, it’s not (yet) in the “passionate” or “obsessive” (please don’t take that wrong; I used to be obsessive about chess a long time ago) category of hobbies.

I understand that those who collect partly because of a strong love of the history represented by the coins would also be less concerned about modern set specifics

 

As long as its not something like a 1957-D wheatie (limited edition of 1,051,342,000)