Are you an accumulator, a collector or a numismatist.

Numismatist. I specialize in Lincoln Cent Die varieties, their study, and photographic analysis.

 

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My nite is to Beckham numismatist. At the present time I guess I a, a hoarder.

 

I'm a mix of all three and a student at heart. Whenever I buy a coin I research the series online before it even comes in the mail.

 

I think I've been all 3. Pretty much from top to bottom. But like Green I'm no expert

 

I would disagree with this part of your definition of a collector. For many collectors the coin just has to fill that gap. (especially those just starting and those with low incomes.) Believe me I've bought some pretty ugly coins because they fill that gap.

And while I am a collector, I tend to think of myself as more of a numismatist.

 

I think of a numismatist as someone who contributes to the fund of numismatic knowledge by doing die studies, cataloging hoards, finding new varieties and publishing their findings. So, while I learn about the personages and the history behind my coins, I don't consider myself a numismatist.

While most of my collecting efforts center on acquiring examples in my collecting areas (all in the field of ancient Roman imperial and provincial coinage), I'll often buy a bulk lot of coins outside my field or acquire something that wasn't actively on my "want list." So, in some respects, I'm an accumulator.

But often accumulating leads to additional interests and an accumulation may turn into an organized collection over time. So the line between accumulator and collector is often blurred. I think it comes down to how organized and systematic it is.

 

I have a bottle of Jack Daniels which I won in a bingo game at my grandmother's 100th birthday party in 1993. It has never been opened and it still has the JD shot glass on top with the bottle sealed in plastic wrap.

Chris

 

Roman Collector, posted: "I think of a numismatist as someone who contributes to the fund of numismatic knowledge by doing die studies, cataloging hoards, finding new varieties and publishing their findings. So, while I learn about the personages and the history behind my coins, I don't consider myself a numismatist.

Very interesting. You've got the makings of an article here that definitely would be both interesting and be published. Make it generalized and not strictly about ancients. If you sit down and expand all of your post or pick some of the themes (two articles), that should make you a "numismatist."

 

Imagine how potent it is now!!

 

I consider myself somewhere between 2 and 3 but to some degree I disagree with your definition of "collector". My goal is to collect the entire Roman Republic series and IMHO there are definitely times where the biggest appeal of a coin is that it fills a gap. If the goal is collecting the entire series(or at least, as much is possible), some coins are so rare that this is the reality of chasing that goal and IMHO there's nothing wrong with that.

As far as "numismatist" I tend to agree with @Roman Collector - the line there is someone who studies their coins with the goal of making discoveries and adding to the body of knowledge on the subject. Many specialized collectors fall into this area between 2 and 3. I'm not published yet but working on my first paper to hopefully be published soon and in some ways I've already published a handful of new varieties and things like that on my website.

 

I think I'd qualify as being a mix of all three.

 

Exactly the way I would describe myself - except I would add that a passion for history, and how coins relate to it, underlies it all.

 

I am a collector. I have specific goals in mind when I collect, and although I do make some impulse purchases in areas I like, I do tend to be very goal oriented in my purchases of 3rd Century Roman Imperials (my area of focus).

I'm not a numismatist though. I don't really do die studies or discover new varieties. However, I am a bit of an amateur ancient numismatics educator and amateur historian as I will go out of my way to educate others on the historical connection of a coin to an event, and also teach newbies about the history of Roman coinage on my own time.

 

Learn what? From what I have seen with my novice eyes, I can say that big majority of coins (with figures/pictures/texts/materials/etc on them) tell about the cultures/politics/powers/wealth/etc of their days. Such things can be learnt from history etc books. I mean, What really is a numismatist trying to learn from the coin?

 

All three for me!!!

 

Oh, to be a novice again.

 

If this is what a numismatist does "a numismatist actually studies the coin acquired and hopes to learn from them", then, as long as she/he doesn't finish learning, a numismatist is always a novice, isn't so?

 

One never stops learning. Look at my tag line.......

 

go away @ErolGarip

 

Don't worry, with much patience, and effort, you'll get there.