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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Bacchus, post: 43282, member: 759&quot;]Greetings !&nbsp; I am a new collector myself (13 months), but unfortunately that doesn’t keep me from posting !&nbsp; But I try and contain it to things I think I know about, and I welcome criticisms and corrections to any of my posts here (especially including this one).&nbsp; I ask questions to learn and try and contribute information when I can, and I try and contribute to the sense of community when I can (usually by providing encouragement or making bad jokes).</p><p><br /></p><p>I had been thinking about many of the issues you mentioned.&nbsp; I read the same “wannabe” threads on the other site.&nbsp; I totally reject the definition of collector that the wannabe thread starter espoused, even though I’m sure he is 100-times more skilled and experienced collector than I am.&nbsp; To do that, I have to understand what <i>I </i>think a collector is.</p><p><br /></p><p>I’m thinking that people who <i>keep </i> coins maybe fall into three broad categories:&nbsp; the <i>hoarder, </i>the <i>investor, </i>and the <i>collector. </i> Some people may fit more than one category.</p><p><br /></p><p>The investor purposefully acquires coins for resale at a profit later.&nbsp; He understands the coin business enough to be able to buy at reasonable prices coins that can reasonably be expected to increase in value.</p><p><br /></p><p>The hoarder keeps coins for some of the same reasons as the investor, except is not knowledgable about the business and doesn’t have a plan; he gets a shiny golden Sacagawea in change and throws it into his cigar box of coins that will be “worth a fortune some day.”&nbsp; Typically he doesn’t buy coins.</p><p><br /></p><p>The collector is one who keeps coins for their own sake; he enjoys them for various reasons between the time he acquires them and the time he sells them (if ever).&nbsp; He enjoys looking them, he studies them, he learns more about them.&nbsp; Typically he will be acquiring coins to fulfill a particular type of set:&nbsp; a date set of Jefferson nickels, a date and mint set of Mercury dimes, a Type set of 19th century coinage.&nbsp; It might be something more arcane:&nbsp; civil war coins or medieval Roman coins.&nbsp; A more hard core collector might be working towards completing a Registry set.</p><p><br /></p><p>There are various numismatic skills that these collectors might possess in varying degrees.&nbsp; <i>Grading </i>is a skill that separates more casual collectors from more serious collectors.&nbsp; At the simplest level is the ability to distinguish between poor, fair, good, and fine circulated coins.&nbsp; At a higher skill level is the ability to grade uncirculated coins, particularly at the higher grades.</p><p><br /></p><p>Some collectors are simply filling out folders from pocket change.&nbsp; Some are filling out a folder with a map with state quarters.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Some are acquiring Morgans and are attentive to an amazing level of minutia:&nbsp; varieties within the subtypes within the type.&nbsp; These are some of the more expensive coins, and grading skills are not a luxury because of the steep differences in price between slight differences in grade, particularly in the better grades.</p><p><br /></p><p>Some affluent collectors are acquiring very expensive old gold coins.&nbsp; Deep pockets and an ability to authenticate are probably the prime requirements here.</p><p><br /></p><p>To my mind, you can enjoy collecting at any of these levels.&nbsp; To say that someone isn’t a real collector because he doesn’t grade and collects only state quarters or ASEs is false; he’s merely a different kind of collector with different levels of involvement, expertise, and interest.</p><p><br /></p><p>Just my uncirculated 0.02.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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