I was having a chat with a friend a few days ago and the subject of purchasing coins arose. He said he almost bid on a an eBay proof coin, but decided not to break his tradition of not purchasing proof or slabbed coins. His whole collection, (a few thousand) consists of coins gained from coin roll hunting, pocket change and random finds on the street. In my fifty plus years of coin collecting, I do not recall ever purchasing a coin. My collection was the result of gifts, CRH'ing, cashier swaps, coin trading and found coins.
I purchase coins all the time. Mostly because you won't find the coins I collect in circulation. I like the pre-1933 US coinage & Ancient Greek & Roman coinage but sadly that stuff left circulation long ago xD.
Most of my collection is from Inheritance , GIFTS , Pocket change and Purchases . I call it the "Motley Crew " Collection.
You can't build a collection of uncirculated Morgan dollars by CRHing, and that pretty much holds true for every pre-1965 silver denomination.
I have only purchased coins for a very long time. The last time I went through rolls was when I spotted $190 in silver at the bank and paid face value for it. I picked out the coins that had numismatic value and sold the rest for silver.
As a youngster I gleaned all my wonderful coins from change. I had a newspaper route so I always had change to plunder. And back then it was fairly common to find a whet cent or a silver coin in the batch. I did spend uncounted hours reading my Redbook and dreaming of have a "real" coin collection. After doing my duty and raising a herd of youngsters, yes I do now purchase those coins that I dreamed of fifty years ago. These days I am a 100% purchase what I want guy.
I inherited a fine collection from my uncle when I was about 12 and ever since then it has been purchase only.
Since I like silver coins and find maybe 1 a year in circulation I have no choice but to purchase them.
I only purchase slabbed coins (PCGS or NGC). I cannot recall the last time I pulled a coin right out of circulation. And for what I collect, roll searching makes no sense. The chance of finding 19th century coins in circulation is essentially zero.
I started in 1948 and was fortunate to be collecting in a time when all coins were readily available in circulation. I haven't bought or traded for coins for my collection for a long time. I only buy current stuff that can't be found in circulation. A good example is the Kennedy Half. I have to find a dealer with them each year.
I had a paper route in the early 50's and received 95% of the weekly payments (obviously) in silver and wheaties. If only...
I collect them and I'll take them any way I can. Gifts, purchased, found or any other way makes no difference to me.
I considered that but took the OP's question differently. Such as, do you only collect by hunting, finding, trading, detecting, gifts, etc., but never purchase. Or shorter, have you purchased coins for you collection. Clearly I was too quick to reply. Thanks,
My start, back in the late fifties early sixties came from pocket change. I collected along with my dad, and neither one of us was all that serious about it. I didn't start buying coins until my son inherited a bunch of coins from his grandfather. Since then, I've been spending money to buy money, and have been able to buy some interesting pieces you can't find in change anymore.