Thanks to this hobby, I discovered Marcus Aurelius and his Meditations, and recently the Discourses of Epictetus. A common theme in these Stoic texts is the significance of moderation, detachment from material possessions, and a focus on minimalism. Stoicism also teaches that true contentment comes from within, rather than from external possessions. One could argue that you can appreciate history without owning coins, just as many people go crazy for dinosaurs without owning any fossils. So I find this hobby seems to contrast with stoic principles. While I haven't explored Epicurean texts yet, I believe that the act of collecting, the thrill of hunt and the satisfaction in building a collection, along with its social aspects align more closely with Epicureanism. It also celebrates the pursuit of pleasure and the enjoyment of simple, meaningful experiences. This hobby could be viewed as an appreciation for history and beauty, which resonates with Epicurean thought. I’m not suggesting we need to strictly follow one philosophy or the other, but I’d love to hear your thoughts on this, and how you approach this hobby.
Which one of these two is impressing on you the best what a 300,000,000-year-old Neuropteris is, the abstract depiction, or the actual fossil? Intellectually, these both are equivalent, in that they each get the point across. Far as the significance and meaning goes, the intellect is so much without a clue. That is to say, it takes emotions in order to appreciate significance and meaning, and there's where the sight of the specimen provides the big assist. Without it, we're intellectually understanding, as well as, to a degree, emotionally appreciating the significance and meaning, but not to the degree the seeing of the specimen provides. In a nut, inquiring into the capacity to appreciate history, it's the specimen that communicates or gets that across the best. Opinion of this coin-collecting horse, anyway. FWIW.
I think coin collecting is more of a primadonner art form than anything else. With an ear for good stories as much as if not more than the intellectual side.
