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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;ewomack, post: 25994695, member: 15588&quot;]The only rule in coin collecting is that there are no rules.</p><p><br /></p><p>I&#039;ve changed my focus numerous times and have also struggled with collecting versus hoarding. Hoarding didn&#039;t work out for me (it <i>can </i>work for some people) and I found myself staring at a pile of regretted impulse purchases thinking what I <i>could have</i> bought had I planned more. Also, when I started buying duplicate coins that I didn&#039;t realize that I already had, I knew I had a problem. </p><p><br /></p><p>Then I tried a US type set and quickly realized the challenge (and expense) of many 18th century types (1793 Half Cent, anyone?). Then my standards skyrocketed and nothing under AU would satisfy me (MS 62+ became the ideal). That made a number of types instantly unaffordable, or at least challenging to afford. In retrospect, I arguably painted myself into a corner. But I knew what I liked as well.</p><p><br /></p><p>Completing a series never appealed to me, with the exception of the amazing Meiji/Taisho era Japanese Dragon Yen coins. That set would also prove difficult and prohibitively expensive (especially obtaining them in MS+ condition), so that didn&#039;t last too long either.</p><p><br /></p><p>Then something strange happened. I realized that coins of Elizabeth I, Henry VIII, and other monarchs were actually available and affordable enough. I couldn&#039;t believe it. Thus began my obsession with hammered coins of all types. Plus, they were <i>so old</i>. They made 1812 look like mere yesterday.</p><p><br /></p><p>This inevitably led to ancients, which, perhaps strangely, led to my focusing on one of the least popular, and sometimes outright dismissed, types: Byzantines. Maybe only Chuck E. Cheese tokens are less popular. Despite everything, I can&#039;t get enough of them, but I&#039;m <i>extremely </i>picky about what I purchase, so I don&#039;t have too many. I don&#039;t care if other people don&#039;t like them. I don&#039;t care that someone on another forum called them &quot;objectively ugly.&quot; I find them uniquely appealing in their crudity and abstraction. So be it. That&#039;s where I&#039;ve currently landed and I&#039;ve even found myself beginning to sell off some of my modern coins. I&#039;m very happy having a small number of coins that appeal to me. Collecting is an enjoyable hobby for me, so I just engage with it when I want to. If it became anything like an obsession, its enjoyment would likely cease.</p><p><br /></p><p>So we&#039;ll see where things go from here. I&#039;ll keep making things up as I go along at a pace and a budget that works for me.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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