Coin Collecting makes no sense... Why??

I remember when I bought an MS-64 PCGS Flying Eagle for $1,000 ... Most everyone, including my wife thought I was absolutely crazy. The familiar argument came up, "Why would you spend $1,000 on one penny, when it's only worth a PENNY!"

I tell people I'm a coin geek and dang proud of it! When you boast about the hobby with confidence, people will see it your way, because face it, EVERYONE is fascinated by money in some shape or form. If anything, we all like to spend the stuff! If they razz you, you tell them - "Hey you don't like money? I'll take it if you don't want the stuff!" I guarantee you will suddenly be COOL amongst their presence True, some (maybe most) won't understand that only 484,000 1909 S VDBs will ever go out to the public and that is extremely rare. Nor will they probably understand the foresight in the 2006 first strike Lincoln Cent that you put in a plastic case will make someone's auction a stunning success in 150 years. Nor will they probably ever gawk at their coins like us diehards every single day and appreciate the beauty of the greats such as Longacre, St. Gaudins, Brenner, etc. But I'll tell you this, it is MONEY and that is everyone's language.

One thing that I have found with my kids. When I give them $10 cash, they spend it and it's gone forever. Consumed in pop, candy, or video games. Gone forever. No trace of its existence. Yet, when I buy my kids a $10 Silver Dollar, worn, but readable or other coins for that matter. I notice that it goes into a plastic box. And not often, but every once in awhile, I see that box out, and I see it emptied, and I see those coins again that were purchased. And then I know, wow, what a treat to buy a kid! Coins are better than most any toy you could think of, pop, candy or consumable item. All these years later, my kids still have all their coins and I have to admit, I feel great about that. Give a kid cash to spend and you've really given him nothing. Give a kid a collectible coin and you've given him the foundation for a life long hobby and something to enjoy in life. So why do I coin collect? It's a lot of fun!

Esky

 

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AMEN!!

 

I was asked once why I spent $ 800.00 on an 09SVDB. My reply was simple. Because I can.

This persons hobby who asked me. Avon bottles.. arghhhhhhhhhh.

 

As per your signuature.

Afraid to start a coin conversation, I'll take out a Sac and start flippin' it in my hand... They'll be like, "What's that?" I'm always like, "A dollar. They're not rare; I have a bunch."
They say, "Why?"
"Cuz."

My story.

 

I think the epitome of the non-understanding joe was when I showed a good friend of mine (who collects coins) and his wife the $1,000 bill I had recently gotten. His wife asked, "You didn't pay $1,000 for that?" -and she was surprised that it cost more to aquire it. (He knew better).

Now, if any of you know of someone willing to sell $1,000 bills for less than $1,000 I'll take all of them.

 

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Tens of thousands for Avon Bottles? hehehe Of course, a buddy of mine has a bottle cap collection that I guess is pretty wicked. Says he picked it up 30 years ago when he was a kid watching Ernie on Sesame Street. I used to collect baseball cards and other sports cards, but I have to admit, collecting paper (No offense to currency collectors) just doesn't seem as good. Something that burns? I'll tell you though the most beautiful bill I ever did see and WOULD pay to collect is that Canadian Bill with the Robbins on it. That is a piece of art!

Esky

 

I felt the same way... about coins, heh. Nice, but so small and compared to currency, hard to see, etc.

 

because there is nothing else to do?

 

I've often thought the same thing. It has always been a puzzle to me why people are willing to pay enormous sums of money for some common, everyday household items from the past; but place a much lower value on the coins that were originally use to purchase those items in the first place. Coins are relatively inexpensive antiques in many cases.

 

Cloud, GREAT answer. I liked that one.

 

For real coin collecting is a waste of time and money, so says many of the people I know. One friend of mine, who has 1200 guns, always mentions how I am wasting my time with coins. Another person I know has walls full of axes, spears, knives and swords and says coin collecting is for little kids with nothing else to do. Then there are people like Jay Leno or Jerry Seinfeld with hundreds of something really important, like cars. We were discussing this recently and one guy I know said his neighbor just moved and had to pay extra for his 6,000 pounds of Hot Wheel/Match Box cars. To each his own.

 

I don't broadcast the fact that I collect coins, but some of my closer friends know, and a few of my co-workers have caught me perusing the CoinTalk boards while I was at work! Most of them just shrug it off and don't really have an opinion they'll express. A few think I'm a "geek" and have said so, but I'm totally cool with that. I look at how they spend their disposable income and shake my head with an equal or even greater amount of disbelief in many cases.

I have a close friend who collects sports cards, particularly hockey cards. She has thousands and thousands of them. I have nothing against her hobby, and I would never put down the collecting of cards, but even she admits that in the end what she has is basically pictures on pieces of cardboard. Coins are different to me. Most of them posess a quantitative worth expressed not only in their numismatic value, but also in their face value and, in the case of silver/gold coins, in the amount of which ever precious metal was used to mint them.

My friend recently inherited her father's coin collection, a hobby that he had for decades and shared with no one. He had some really nice coins, most of them in type set albums. Now she wants to finish what he started. Maybe I'll make a numismatist out of her in the process.....

I work in a public library, with computers mostly, but sometimes I'll substitute at the referece desk in a pinch. I was working there one day when a patron walked in with a paper bag full of common circulated Morgan and Peace dollars. He wanted to know what they were and how much they were worth. The other person working the desk with me had absolutely no clue. I'm sure he could have figured some of it out after a while (maybe not the value) but I knew a great deal off of the top of my head- mint marks, years in production, approximate values, rarer date/mint mark combinations, etc. Before it was over the entire reference department was gathered around us listening to me answer this guy's questions. We had a lot of fun with it.

I love our hobby. I'll never regret having gotten involved in it. I can think of nothing I'd rather do instead.

 

BigsWick, That's a great answer and a great story. Thanks for sharing it.

 

I'm guessing you didn't put an offer (lol)?

 

Ha! Yeah, I thought about it, but I decided against it. I've seen instances where people thought they were being offered low-ball sums from guys who had just given them quick educations on what coins they had, how rare they were, and what they were worth. Then they began to doubt what they'd been told. They assumed the coins were naturally worth more than they'd been led to believe, and they actually got insulted. This guy was a little disappointed, no doubt. I told him that if I were him I'd keep the coins. Sure, none of them were really rare or extremely valuable, but they belonged to someone who loved him enough to leave them to him. Maybe that was the real value in this instance.