collection? or OBSESSION

I've noticed that I can't help but read every serial number on every note that passes my hand. when i count the rolls of dimes and quarters... i look for silver. When i see a roll of nickels, I just want to break it open to see if there are any war times or buffalo. When I'm at work sometimes... it's all i think about... and I wonder...

Is going out to the bank... out of our way... and purchasing 500 bucks in coinage an obsession?

 

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Well perhaps that is an obsession. But hey, when you find a key date or some interesting errors inside the lot, you will get rewarded! It's definately much better than going towards the metal refinery isn't it?

 

Yep, I share many of the same problems.....you're not alone.

 

I know exactly how you feel! I search a minimum of a $100 worth of nickels a week. When I'm at work I keep about $20 worth in my laptop bag incase I end up with "free time" or there is always lunch break!! When I first started nickel roll searching years ago I thought hmm... as soon as I get my first set put together I'll move on... but I havn't moved on, now I'm at the "I want rolls of each individual coin/date" ... and now I am starting to get interested in errors and RPM's so now I go through all my old finds to see if I have something hiding... Yep, when it comes to nickels, I am obsessive and compulisive... I actually started collecting when I quit smoking when I had a craving for nicotine I searched rolls that I kept in my Carhartt vest pockets... I guess Nickels became my addiction that replaced smoking...Funny but true... It worked for me... DAK

 

xeno:
Obsession?
I have many collectible coins, and probably several hundred books on coins, plus piles of Coin World & Numis News in my office, the living room and bathrooms.
The books are on about ten shelves in the living room, a cabinet that my neighbor gave me, a dozen shelves in the basement, and everywhere else.
An obsession?
Nah, just good research.

 

...Obssession

 

Yes. Seek professional help.

 

i have amassed a large collection of Lincoln cents, Jefferson nickels, and Roosevelt dimes. i have started a BU short set of Mercury dimes and have completed a type set (coins first issued in 1916) and am putting together a 20th century silver set. i have also picked up books for the Lincoln cent and the Mercury dime, along with the Red Book and Photograde.

i started to collect 1 month ago. this is a hobby.

-Steve

 

I have been told that I have been obsessed, but hey, better to be obsessed with something harmless (except on you wallet!) like this than being obsessed over drugs or something to the sort. Lol, I dod the exact same things you do. Can't help but look at serials and all that.

Phoenix

 

Yep - We all have it, otherwise why would we be here? This is CA (Coins Anonymous) of cyberspace and I'm a proud member ...

 

Phoenix, you've got the hang of it...I like your style! :thumb:

And let me just add...anybody that thinks they need to seek professional help for a coin-collecting obsession ought to promptly and forthwith have their head examined!

 

I have long regarded collectors of anything (including myself) as nuts (to use a precise clinical term). In my case, my coin collecting is a year-round thing. Once a year, I become afflicted with seasonal collecting disorder (SCD) in which I am compelled to collect Christmas tree ornaments until the holidays are over.

I did a little research and found the following summary of an article about the psychology of collecting:

Subkowski P. On the psychodynamics of collecting. [Case Reports. Journal Article] International Journal of Psycho-Analysis. 87(Pt 2):383-401, 2006 Apr.

"The urge to collect is a ubiquitous phenomenon which has anthropological, sociobiological and individual psychodynamic roots, but occurs far more frequently among men than women. The author examines the reasons for this gender difference and defines systematic collecting to distinguish it from addictive, obsessive and messy collecting, and from related phenomena such as perversion. The mode of collecting and choice of object are important indicators as to the unconscious psychodynamics of a collector and offer opportunity to describe his structural level. Collecting ranges across a broad spectrum, from an ego-syntonic integrated mode, i.e. sublimation, to a neurotic defence against pre-oedipal or oedipal traumas and conflicts. Alongside this drive-theoretical approach, object and Kleinian theory are also applied to the understanding of collecting. Collecting represents a specific form of object relating and way of handling primary loss trauma, which is different from addiction, compulsion, or perversion. Under certain circumstances collecting can also result in a successful Gestalt or way of life. The paper concludes with a case study showing how collecting develops from a pre-oedipal to a more integrated oedipal mode during the course of the analysis, which is reflected in changes in the transference."

I'm glad it's not considered to be a perversion.
Interesting about the gender disparity. That's pretty obvious from the participants on this discussion board.

 

Hi, my name is Frank and I have a problem.
I am a coin-aholic.

 

Yes, but it's a good one... If you search and look, you won't miss anything...what would you have if you didn't feed your obsession?

Clinker

 

When I'm near the end of a set, it definitely becomes an obsession. The rest of the time it is just a compulsion.

 

Im glad i participated in that study the report is bassed on... Now i just need them to get out of my head lol

kidding aside.. how do they know me so well??

 

Obsession....

 

Just good old fashioned PASSION about the coins you enjoy.

Mark
Coral Springs, FL

 

it all started with stupid state quarters for me... then when i found the ones i needed... i needed something else to find... yada yada yada

 

xeno108 wrote:

"I've noticed that I can't help but read every serial number on every note that passes my hand."

Yeah, I am that obsessed. When I was in my mid teens in the mid 1960`s, I had some graph paper with all little boxes that conveniently allowed me to enter the denomination, serial number, and series of all currency that passed through our household. This was during the time when 1963 and 1963A FRNs of all denominations were the norm. $1 silver certificates were already gone. I had 8 or 10 pages of notes recorded with maybe 50-60 notes per page. I do remember a run of 1950-B $20 FRN`s from my dad`s paycheck for several months as if they had been released from some mega bank vault hoard at the time. Perhaps around 1967.

I just joined the "wheresgeorge.com" thing, and your post makes me want to start recording the serial number, series and denomination of every single note that passes my hands once again.

Obsessed??? I think so....