I think I snapped..........

I got back into collecting in December after a 30+yr lay off. I've always loved type coins so I aggressively began completing a 7070 Type Set mostly slabbed and all problem free. I placed cetain condition criteria upon my coins based upon century and realistic costs.

I made huge progress and was thoroughly enjoying it and all the variety of different denominations and designs. On a whim I bought a $5 gold Indian which caused me to shift my goal slightly to a 7070 w/gold. Then it happened. I was only needing about 8 coins. Not a problem. The expensive ones were mostly bought.

But I found the 8 coins I needed had absolutely no, zero, zip appeal to me. It was down to the dreaded Seated Liberties with all the different varieties and the $1 gold. I had at least one of every denomination and 2 in some. They just didn't excite me at all. I would look at what I needed and found myself just looking to fill a hole. I then realized that with all included Seated Liberties I would have 15 in my collection(3 half dime, 3 dime, 20c, 3 quarter, 3 half dollar, 2 dollar). It was really beginning to dominate the entire 19th century in a way I didn't find appealing. Motto, No Motto. Arrows, Arrows & Rays, Legend Obverse, Stars, blah blah blah.....

And then I looked at my gold and the Type 2 $1 I had. Yuk. It just felt tiny and worthless compared to my $10 and $20 gold. There I felt like I had something.

So I took out my collection and looked at every single coin several times and began to reconsider my collecting goal. I saw myself drawn to 3 different types of the coins. The odd ones(1/2 and Lg cents, 2c,3c,20c), the big pretty ones(Morgans, Peace, Walking Lib 50c) and the blingy ones(gold).

I walked into the LCS yesterday, gutted my 7070 of what I didn't consider appealing coins and picked up another slabbed St Gaudens and $10 Liberty. I now love my copper pages, odd page, gold page and big silver page. I will probably still keep a kind of Type Set but just without all the varieties within each style.

I never have quite fit into a specific mold in my life so why start now.........

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

NOOOOOOOO! MUST.... COMPLETE...... BOOK.

 

ugh, just remove the page(s) from the book.

 

I just did something similar.

I too was working on a graded type set (which i loved) and I was within maybe 15-20 coins of being complete with mine (mostly easy ones left) when I was forced to sell for some financial issues I had going on at the time.

After I sold, I didnt really buy any more coins for a few weeks as I was just too sad over selling my prize that I had been building. I had literally looked over every coin several times before I decided what to let go.

Once the coins were gone and I didnt have the distraction right in front of me I started realizing that like you, I was just buying things to fill holes and didnt really collect the series or care much about the coin, I just needed to keep the trend going of bringing this set to a close. Once I realized that, I just started buying what truly appealed to me and stopped worrying about the 'sets'. I am not a set guy anyway, at least not in the traditional sense. I cant go for a complete set of anything as I dont believe in spending hundreds or thousands for a coin that I can find in better condition for a lot less if all i consider is the design and dont get caught up on the mintmark and associated mintages. I find that I like uncirculated or lightly circulated coins and its just unrealistic right now for me to pay $1000+ for all the key date coins in UNC grades. So I collect nice type coins that appeal to me and I feel like I am now buying better coins than what i was and not wasting money on coins I could care less about.

You are not alone my friend

 

The collector Gods smile upon you my friend.

Another thing.......the #1 rule to coin collecting is: There ain't no rules.

 

If you didnt get rid of all that Seated Stuff, PM me and let me know what you have left.

 

the best thing about coins is that you can change your interest at any time. when I first started collecting coins I was all over the place. now I am very focused on what I get. the most important thing I find is that I am having fun doing it. with out the fun or the thrill of the hunt... what do you have ??? I also like researching coins too. I am even thinking about do a couple abstract paintings of coins to sell to benefit CoinTalk.

 

This part is growing on me too. Ive just joined a specialty club and have been buying books and catalogs like crazy

 

you should see my stack of world Coin catalogs (Krauses) it's huge, I buy them ever 2 years. I can never get enough good coin books. I love world coins... the variety is huge.

 

you are not alone. I had to sell some coins because of money/debt problems. yes it HURT to do so. the beauty in coin collecting is that there is a wide price range to choose from. saving up to buy a great grade is always great. but if you are on a strict coin budget..?.... some coins are better than no coins at all.

 

Collect what appeals to you. No shame in selling the coins that you didn't particularly like. Keep up the good work.

 

I been like that to bouncing all over the place. Now I want to Dansco Albums and try to fill all of them up. Like Starting with the Pennies then work my way up. I also want to get a few more Morgans and get some Peace Dollars eventually. As well anything silver to put up just in case silver does go up in price

 

I can relate. I've snapped in the past and when putting together my type set I took great care to look over all available options and picked a route in which I felt it wouldn't be filling holes or buy coins I didnt enjoy. Luckily enough when I was done it came out as an exact 20 coins to fit into a box.

 

I'd be curious to see your list. I quickly sold some really nice slabbed stuff like a 5c Shield with Rays, Liberty No Cents and Type 2 Buffalo and kept more common examples because they were nice high grades but worth a lot less than those I sold. I didn't see a point for myself in keeping such minor differences.

One thing I will certainly get rid of are a 1957 PF68 Lincoln and 1976-S Silver 25c.....Those 2 little coins which cost less than $100 for the pair shockingly jumped my NGC competitive 7070 up 8500pts......LMAO. I had no idea until I entered them and when I saw the points I thought there must be an error......So if someone wants to jump some easy points let me know. Maybe that could be a new thread. St Gauden for 900pt and these for 8500.

 

I started a Dansco 7070 and when it got to the point where most of what was left to acquire was the copper I stopped, reevaluated what I wanted to do, and broke up the album and started my Liberty Seated coinage type set. I am one of those rare coin collectors who have never owned either a Lincoln cent or a Jefferson nickel folder as a kid. My first coin folder was a Dansco six page folder for Barber, Mercury and Roosevelt dimes all in one.

 

Many (most?) of us have gone through something similar and it is completely normal, in my opinion, to shift your focus based upon experience. I have been in the hobby-industry for over two decades and the coins that I buy for myself cannot be connected in a simple album. Rather, they are all truly cool pieces and make me happy to hunt for them and own them.

 

Try getting into ancients. My library of just books on ancient coins is about 600 volumes, with another 100 or so for world coins. Then the history books, etc.

 

Well, to each their own. I collect some inexpensive series, just for fun - but, I’m a type collector at heart. I completed the Dansco 7070 w/gold long ago and now only sell or give away a coin when I find a better one to upgrade. I find non collectors or those who are new to coin collecting are most fascinated with the type set, all the coins they had no idea existed.

 

I work overnight at walmart and told a good cashier friend to keep a look out for coins

 

To the OP, I would echo what some others have said, collect what you love. I always hated the "set" mentality in US coins, how so many people bowed to what either the Redbook or a coin folder manufacturer dictated made up a "complete" set. Its your hobby, you should never have to buy a coin you do not want just because other believe you "need" it.

It not just US collecting, but any series where others try to tell you what constitutes a "set". I remember hearing of an ancient collector collecting a set of Roman emperors. He used someone else's list, and admitted the last five he bought gave him absolutely no joy, he just bought them and put them away. Its ridiculous. Every coin I buy gives me joy in a different way. Sometimes it is part of a set that I define, others just because I like the coin. Its your hobby, its your money, spend it on how you wish and tell anyone else who tries to tell you how to collect to mind their own business.

At one time a "collection" of morgan dollars would only include one per date. Mintmarks were ignored. It wasn't until the 1890's that any kind of attention started to be paid to mintmarks. Just think how much more fun it would be to put together a mercury set without worrying about the 16d, or a 09sVDB for a Lincoln "set". I wish this type of date only collecting were more popular, since almost all "sets" of US coins are pretty cheaply achievable this way. Maybe we would have fewer collectors quitting due to "high prices" if they could feel better about not having to buy such VASTLY overpriced "keys", ("keys" only because of what OTHERS say has to be included in your set).