I can't even fathom having ONLY 20 coins in my collection. There are way to many US & World Coins that I like. It's probably a smart way to have a kick ass collection, but only 20! I just can't see it.
My Meme is a humorous commentary on the "bigger, better, faster, more" aspect of our hobby. The concept of a "box of twenty" is that you limit your collection to a select 20 coins, and you don't upgrade a coin without first selling off another (weaker) coin from the box. In this sense, you avoid "collection sprawl" and stay disciplined on quality and specialness of each coin. Well, I set out to do a box of twenty, just like many collectors. But when I got to twenty I just kept going, first 40, then 60, and I'm sure in 12 months it will be 80 coins!! The Meme is all about being honest about the coin hobby, and it's addicting aspects. It takes a VERY disciplined collector to actually adhere to the Box of 20 concept, and I am clearly not one of them. So, in that sense, the average collector is incapable of keeping it to 20 coins, even if it was their explicit goal.
I think the name box of 20 really derives from the idea that most TPG slab boxes hold 20 coins. It is more about setting a limit and sticking to it the way geekpryde describes. But your actual box of 20 could be a complete type set. It is just a way to help people stay focused on their set now matter how many it is and to carefully select coins based on your criteria.
The whole "box of 20" thing I have never got. Yes, I understand where it is going. Yes, I know I appreciate high grade coins. To me, the "box of 20" concept is really only applicable to a very limited collection, (say only US coins), and even then I do not understand the severe limitation. To an ancient or world collector, you simply would not have any coins at ALL. Heck, I own about 50 unique types of Sogdian coins, a series of coins most ancient collectors do not even own one of. So, if you prefaced it with saying a very limited coin collecting desire to say US coins, or Tetrarchy coins, or similar, MAYBE I can see the logic of the "box of 20". To me, though, the world and 2600 years is just way too attractive to limit myself to even 2000 coins, let alone 20.
To add some perspective, here is something I wrote on CT in Oct 2012: I recently read an article on CoinWeek that reinforced an idea I've been playing around with in my head, which is that instead of collecting full series of coins by date as I have been doing, that I am thinking it will be more fun to collect by Type. This article introduced me to the concept of a "box of twenty", which is a variation on Type collecting. From the article: http://www.coinweek.com/featured-ne...grades-for-beginning-intermediate-collectors/ I really like the idea of limiting my collection to twenty really nice coins, from a variety of denominations, time periods, and maybe even countries. While I had fun *almost* finishing off my Proof Kennedy's in PF69UC, boy 80+ Kennedy proofs seem to start to all blend togeather. Plus, in my experience it's NOT very fun/informative to show 80+ very similar looking coins to a non-coin person. So, I have totally come around to this concept of a "Box of twenty". My box isn't made up of crazy expensive rare coins (yet), but so far I've filled 10 slots with a nice variety of interesting coins. I am going to slow down coin buying to only a few a year, and get prettier more interesting high quality coins instead of just "filling holes". When my box is filled, I'm going to start swaping out lesser coins for better examples. Maybe in 10 years, my 20 special coins will really be a nice little show-and-tell I can dazzle my guests with. Here is something @Tom B has said on the concept: I think the idea of a Box of Twenty (Bo20) is a very good option for some collectors. Likewise, collecting year date sets, complete regular issue sets, variety sets and type sets is a great idea for some collectors. The Bo20 concept calls to some, but I have found that many will comment negatively on the discipline. For my own collection, I adhere loosely to the idea of a Bo20 by attempting to incorporate only wonderful coins. This strategy necessarily limits the number of coins that I own. At this time I may have 75 or so coins and I have been collecting for a significant period of time. Box of Twenty
The "Box of Twenty" concept seems almost like Bigfoot / Loch-ness / Yeti / Chupacabra: Everyone has heard of it, and no one except a few crazies have seen one. p.s. Today's vocabulary word is: Cryptid
It all comes down to what you want. Whatever way a person wishes to collect is great. I never disparage what or how a person wishes to collect, since it is THEIR hobby, not mine. If I were still only in US coins, I would probably have passed the Type collection stage, since save for gold I nearly had it done. The only things I was missing were things like draped bust quarter, Chain cent, and the like. I already had my flowing hair dollar. But, I do love type collecting, especially for beginning collectors. Maybe I had ADHD, I could never get into filling holes in an album of the same coin except for dates. I respect those who do, but that was never for me. To me, it comes down to collect the way it makes you happy. If you love the pursuit of absolute quality over anything else, the box of 20 idea can give you discipline. Others like me simply want examples of coins they find interesting. I will buy a group lot of 20 coins simply to examine them and find out any differences on them. There is no WRONG way to collect coins, except by not collecting altogether.
I know lots of people who do the "box of 20" thing -- but it's just their "special" 20, not all of their collection. I'd even go so far as to say that most people who do the box of 20 thing have likely hundreds of coins in their collections.
