Hello All! I was just wondering if anyone else shares my single greatest problem with coin collecting. I have an annoying tendency to begin collecting a certain series, like Barber dimes, and get about half way through the series before deciding that I really would rather start a different series. As a result I have tons of half filled Whittman folders strewn about my apartment, about 2,500 "unsearched" (yeah right) wheat cents, and tons of 2x2 flips sitting in boxes. Maybe I just have ADD. But for some reason I'm always attracted to cool old coins that I don't have. I just thank God that I can't afford Gold. That would get me in a whole heap of trouble!
As long as you are enjoying yourself, does it really matter? You could learn how to trade or sell your coins, which will put new dimension into your collecting. I personally have a hard time parting with anything I collect.
It is easy to get dsistracted from your set...especially if you hit a coin show and look at all of the beautiful coins displayed. The next you know is that you buy a few coins you had no intention of collecting and the next day you are collecting that series until the next coin catches your fancy. Most of us start with cents and that we all have branched out to other series. It is all part of the collecting bug of "got to have it". So whether you focus on one or two series or you have a little of "all of them", it is all in good clean fun.
ain't that the truth! I don't really collect in series or order. I have a focus now that I've been at it for a few years, but that's about it. I sort of hunt and peck - at least now I'm getting a little more selective.
I don't think that there is anything wrong with the way you collect...that's one of the great things about this hobby, there is no right or wrong as long as you purchase what appeals to YOU. But if I may make a suggestion, or maybe it is more of an observation...it sounds like you should be pursuing a Type Set. With the random varieties that you already have, and your self-confessed attraction to 'coins that you don't have' it seems that you have a good start on filling a Dansco 7070 album. The following link is NOT MINE, but I sure hope that my book looks like this some day! FYI...You can get the book WITH or WITHOUT the gold pages. Beautiful Dansco 7070 Type set
I too have the same proble...but then I'm a collector of COINS...not of sets...so when I buy coins I buy coins I like...if they fit my set...great!...I do try to complete sets...when I get near the end of a set I try harder to complete it... Joesmom...as I said last time I saw that set...I think some of the coins look cleaned...I'm been wrong many times but I think I'm right this time Speedy
I actually do have an almost complete Type set. It's nothing real special as most of the coins only grade F-VF, but thats all that this starving college student can afford. I don't worry about the way that I collect. I know that there is so much out there and I want it. All of it! Someday I'll be able to buy more (if the wife lets me). I promised myself that I'd finish off my Liberty Head Nickels next, but I just found some great old Half Dimes that I can't pass up.
Speedy said it best. Collect coins, not sets. I have one complete set, silver eagles, no big deal. Other than that I buy/collect certain things that I like when I find them at prices I like, even if they are duplicates or triplicates of coins I already own. I don't even feel the need to go the type set route because there are certain series I just don't care about enough to spend money on an example.
I have the same problem, but with collecting in general. I collect coins, stamps, comic books, sports cards, non-sport cards, beer signs & glasses, etc.. All of my collections are OK, with enough interesting items that they can be considered collections but none of the collections are great because the money gets spread around depending on which one has my attention at the time. I think I have finally decided to concentrate on coins, but will have a hard time parting with any of the others.
I focus on Morgans. I intend to collect nothing but Morgans. I wander coin shops, tag sales and the Internet looking only for Morgans. In the last few months, my Morgan Dollar buys have netted me: - 200+ wheaties ranging from AG to MS Reds - Some FS Jeffersons - A bunch of loose circulated Mercuries and Roosevelts - A dozen or so MS Roosevelts - 5 MS Washington Quarters - A stunning MS65+ Barber quarter, out for grading - 2 Walking Liberty Halves - A really nice MS63-ish '61 FBL Franklin - 2 Trade Dollars - 2 Proof sets Oh, yeah, I bought a few Morgans too.
lol @ SuperDave I'm simultaneously working on about 5 different collections now too: * Unc Roosevelt dimes * Mercury dimes * Barber dimes * Two Cent pieces * Three Cent nickel pieces And I'll buy other random stuff that strikes my fancy. PS -- SuperDave... you're still welcome in #mods anytime. Do you like your new title?
I consider my coin/currency collection to be a "survey" collection. Sorta like a type set but I can add what I consider important, or interesting, without resort to somebody else's guidelines. I try to trace the development of coinage/money in the US so it includes some obscure stuff like early steam press coin, etc. Also some things I remember lusting for as a youth such as a Type I quarter and the four 1909 pennies.
Other posters have said it well. I agree. Buy what you like. I have been collecting on and off for 30 years or so and have completed one set in that time: Eisenhowers. I'm getting closer on my Kennedy half collection but would put it aside at any time and start up or continue with another series if the urge struck me. There is no right or wrong way to do it.
