Collecting for the profit?

About 90% of the posts I have read have in one way or another said something about a coin’s “value” or asking if it will be “worth’ more than...etc.
They have what seems like a built in question of “is it worth It” or “ will it make me some profit” attached to the thread. When a graded coin is discussed, it is often spoken of as to grade and the associated “value “ attached. Resubmits to raise the grade and assure a automatic raise in “value” when sold, etc.

Question for each member of this forum; If you were to eliminate the “value”, “worth”, “profit”, would you still be a coin collector? If so, why?

 

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No doubt I would. Up until recently, I have really never sold much of anything and that is due to a financial situation. If I hadn`t been the victum of a burglery 30 years ago, I would essentially own every coin I`ve ever accumulated.

I think the state of the "hobby" is such, that more emphasis is placed on value and worth than in times past. The really rare coins (and I mean REALLY rare) used to go a generation before you would see them up for sale again. Now they change hands every year or so. The TV hucksters promote a "buy it now before it goes up" mentality.
Ebay and the ability of the everyday guy to be able to sell at market prices is probably another factor.

I don`t know if all this is good or bad. The state of coin collecting in general seems more vibrant than at anytime I can remember (early 60`s is my frame of reference). The proof in the pudding will be at the next downturn in the market. And there will be one, as has happened so many times before (1966 , 1980, early 90`s).

 

Yep---I would still be buying and collecting coins...

what Doug says goes for me too---I have looked for some coins for a long time and when I find them its so nice and fun!

Speedy

 

The world has changed. Professional atheletes care more about their contract than whether the team wins. Endorsements are more valuable than victories. CEOs view their job as making the stock price rise, not building the business. Politicians work to ensure they will receive lucrative jobs as lobbyists when they leave office, not to better the nation. Musicians spend more time perfecting their intellectual property rights than composing and playing music or even caring if people like it.

I'm afraid the profit motive is invading numismatics too and will probably change the landscape forever. People like me are part of the change (problem?). I will continue to put circulated coins in folders for the fun of it, never expecting a profit. I won't spend a worn wheat penny out of respect for what it is, even though I know it will never contribute to my retirement. But any significant amount of money I spend on coins goes to what I consider bargain priced gold and silver coins that I consider to have investment potential in an inflationary environment. So I apologize for my tiny contribution to the damage investors have done to the hobby.

 

yes Dan I would

I like the way they look, shine, and match perfectly in sets. (its that easy)

 

Thank you one and all!
Received the responses that I had expected from this group. It's nice to know you'r around like minded individuals when enjoying this hobby.

 

I would enjoy collecting much much more if the "value" aspect wasn't present. I dislike the dealer side of the hobby and view most of them as parasitic. I understand why they exist but I don't have to like them. As I've said before, I wish that coin values would drop through the floor and then I would be able to afford many more coins. But that's just me.

 

i love the hunt. i love finding that coin you need in the change you got from the store. so much more thrilling than having to pay for a coin

 

I do wish that the market would even out BUT if the coin market falls its a chance that they US dollar will fall too...so in the long run you wouldn't be buying many coins either way ;--)

Speedy

 

That is an interesting take on the subject, Moen, and one that I hadn`t considered. WHAT IF you could get alot of the coins you crave, for prices you could afford. Would that negate the thrill of the hunt?
Would it be too easy? Hmmmmm, I`ll have to think about that. As they used to say on Laugh In (old TV show) Very Interesting .

 

I will be frank...I probably would have not gotten interested in numismatics if not for the additional value attached to the coin's face value. What got me interested in collecting coins was finding that coin "x" was worth "x plus dollar(s)". I remember looking at the Red Book in 1970 (when I was 10 years old) and I couldn't believe that the 1909-S VDB in BU condition was worth over $500!! It could have been $5 million to a 10 year old.

Since then, I could to appreciate the beauty and history of coins. Sometimes I look at a coin from a specific year amd think, "If this coin could talk, tell me where it has been, how many items it help purchase or was it part of a poker pot from the Old West.

So...as much as I appreciate the beauty in coins as some people like collecting items from "Precious Moments" to lead crystal, I like coins because as the old saying goes:

"If you collect money, you will never go broke."

 

Collecting Knowledge

I am with BZCollektor, GDSTMP, Midas and the others, in that I collect history. Coins (money, generally) are just one kind of artifact. I have Roman toga pins (fibula) and oil lamps, etc. When we moved into our new place, I pulled all of the "old" books from their categories and put them in one case in the living rooms. I have Henry Cabot Lodge, Sr.'s biography of Alexander Hamilton and William Graham Sumner's history of US banking. For me, numismatics is history. It is also art. When I was about 25, I ditched a lot of excess "stuff" -- but I kept Jansen's History of Art. Numismatics fits well into that.

There is no fanatic like a convert, however.

I got into numismatics through bullion. Old coins with Miss Liberty were nice, but I would not spend money for "numismatic value" over bullion. I still like silver bars and rounds for that reason. I have six or eight from banks. I have several with aviation themes. But, always, it was the bullion. Eventually, I got interested in coins, and dabbled at Barber Dimes and Mercury Dimes, but I was in the situation of wanting to believe, but not really believing. Then, I discovered ancients. I became a believer.

But it did not last.

After a few years of collecting, I came to see things totally differently than everyone else around me. I kept a few pieces, maybe 25 or so, not for "value" but for history. (Good For One Beer at Scuff's Saloon, Tomahawk, Wisconsin.) Now, I buy coins (or whatever) only as subject matter for writing. However, that means that of necessity, I collect for the knowledge and history, not the "value" present or future.

Besides, what gives a coin value but the writing? Without The Fantastic 1804 Dollar, the coins would just be $10,000 novodels, at best. Without auction catalogs touting their histories, they would not be even that. If not for the Red Book, even a 1909-S VDB would have very little value. Information creates markets.

When asked what he collected, Walter Breen said, "Knowledge."

 

Not necessarily true. What if you had collected nothing but circulated pre-Euro coins from Germany, Spain, Italy, etc., and didn't make a timely exchange for Euros?

 

Picky...picky.

I guess I should have said, "If you collect US money or money that isn't about to be devalued..."

 

The simple solution to the problem of currencies becomming worthless is to collect gold and silver coins at prices fairly close to the bullion value (which narrows the field a lot but works for me). The inflation that occurs, by definition, when money is devalued will largely be offset byt the rise in the value of the coin metal. It is also likely that the "worthless" money will continue to have collection value because of the historical interest in "the funny looking clad coins that people used as money before the big crash."

 

Definitely. While I do look at the value of the coins I have, more out of curiousity, than anything else, that isn't the reason I collect. Like many others, it is about the history and the beauty of the coins. Even the ones that are beat up and abused, my ugly ducklings as I call them, make me wonder what happened to them, what road they ended up on, how the got scratched up, etc. Others, like the Walker I carry with me, have special meaning.

 

Any hobby or fad from beanie babies to pet rocks have bubbles that eventually burst. Coins are a little more complicated than mere beanie babies but there has to be down if there is an up. And people that make their living dealing in coins will undoubtedly suffer if they have over speculated and invest in kind. Coins would probably drop if the value of US currency dropped but so would everything else. I'm certain that the value of rare coins wouldn't have much effect on the currency markets even though they are essentially the same thing-money.

 

One common misconception in this forum is the belief that if the US currency drops in value, so will coins. It isn't that easy to call, and the exact opposite is just as likely. Keep in mind that there is no difference between a fall in the value of the US dollar and inflation. In times of inflation, hard assets tend to do well whether they are oil, gold, silver, art or even rare or scarce coins.

 

One word.........HISTORY