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Message:: [QUOTE="ronnie58, post: 3031263, member: 90698"]When I discovered a treasure trove of Pa. family history spanning 1736 - 1823 it sparked me to return to collecting.  It's a little hard to put into words, but learning about the currency used in that period might provide a window into the lives and stories of ancestors in those formative decades. That was over a year ago and since then other 19th C. series have attracted my attention, but the initial goal remains.   Numismatics is a very diverse field.  I get that for many serious collectors continuous upgrades toward AU and MS becomes a passion, and this can require getting into the more technical aspects.  But for my interests originality is paramount.  Obviously it's nice to stay with the VF to EF grades where possible, in order to get the best feel for the coin, but even in lower grades you can be transported back to an earlier day by a quality original example.    From this perspective even variety collecting seems to have something of a downward pull on the hobby, in that individuals hold an excessive number of historical pieces, limiting availability to a degree.  All of the production details are good to understand, but it is worth considering their relative importance.  I would put more emphasis on coins as connections to the past and all that was sacrificed and endured so that we can live in comfort.[/QUOTE]