Am I a lazy or disgraceful collector?

No. Make the hobby whatever you want it to be. No two collectors have exactly the same tastes. And besides, over time your tastes will probably change, or at least evolve.

 

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It's a hobby. If you can't do with it as you please, then whats even the point? Now, being steered away from bad habits that may ultimately ruin the experience for you down the road shouldn't be looked upon as seasoned collectors saying you're disrespecting the hobby. Using your car analogy, you may not wish to baby your cherry ride like a fanatic, but thats not to say you'd willingly let a seven year old use it to run down to 7-Eleven to buy you some beer. You grow with the hobby and the way you collect changes over time. Enjoy it.

 

You have offended me with your disrespectful careless and wreck less collecting tendencies Mr. Tot.

Just kidding, do whatever you want, coin collecting is supposed to be fun. I find that the most "astute" collectors seldom look at their coins let alone handle them without being in a protective case or two. My only suggestion is to preserve you coins the best that you can. Not only will you be able to recover some of what you put into your collection should you ever need it, but you will be preserving them for future generations. Seems like a residuals notion, but think of how many of your coins have survived for decades without being damaged just so that you can enjoy them.

 

I don't really have anything else to add. I collect what I like, I'm not into tiny errors, don't care about slabs, etc. Heck, I'm the only one here who actively collects military trade tokens, Bruce is big into counter marked coins, Saltysam is our casino chip guy, VegasVic has amazing pattern coins, Greg has Jeffersons, and it goes on. Like everyone else has said you may eventually specialize in something. You'll find a particular series or denomination or some other "thing" that gets you pumped and you'll want to learn more, collect, etc.

 

Yeah, the equivalent of your car analogy would be improperly handling or cleaning scarce or classic coins. Just don't mention that you collect Dan Carr overstrikes or that you got a great deal at the flea market.

I don't think anybody's going to tell you that not hermetically sealing your circulated/roll hunted coins and modern commems in a 100% inert, climate-controlled atmosphere, inside a locked bank vault is offensive to the hobby.

I actually kind of like that you don't collect what I do... less competition for the nice coins I want to add to my collection.