Last coin of 2014: Trajan's Column denarius

I absolutely agree that this is an abhorrent behavior. Perhaps I've somehow managed to navigate around it and there are worse dealers out there, but no one I've worked with in US coins and ancients has never insinuated that there is a minimum price for entry to buying good coins.

Coming from a lower-middle class upbringing, I've only been fortunate enough to afford more expensive coins comparatively recently. I thoroughly enjoy the large pile of ancients I have that cost me $2-3 (or less) each, as well as the albums of heavily circulated US coins collected with my father wherein the Dansco album costs far more than the enclosed coins are worth.

We're saying the same thing; my point is that just because someone spends more money, it does not make them an "investor". If a dealer is suggesting to wait for a coin that meets all of the attributes they're looking for (rather than settle on an impulse buy), that doesn't make them an "investment advisor".

If you've read my posts in this thread, I'm not at all inferring that you shouldn't buy a coin because you know of a nicer one that exists. It also isn't about dealers suggesting to seek out only the "finest known" or top grade coins: it's stating that it is worth waiting for a coin that you'll be happy with and not constantly stare at a problem you dislike (whether that's an edge split, smoothing, tooling, etc.) if you know you could wait and find one which doesn't have that problem.

Selling coins is time consuming and often results in losing money: why tie up capital (even $5) if you could wait a bit longer to find a coin which you wouldn't need to sell if a better fitting example came along? Patience is a virtue that needs to be encouraged in collectors of all budgets. New collectors don't know how to spot issues or the frequency at which coins come to market, which is where dealers with the "but" mentality are extremely helpful.

There are many problems that I personally don't mind: when I was buying US coins, I would happily collect "details" coins that were lightly cleaned and crack them out of their holders. Some people don't like that - everyone has their personal preferences and needs to decide that for themselves.

As I said several posts ago, "A wholesome, well-centered, coin in good metal with solid detail and a grade of Fine or VF may be vastly superior to a MS coin with an irregular strike". I don't think anyone would consider a lower grade making a coin "imperfect", and I don't think anyone has ever said "[your] way of collecting is only for fools". The issue I have is that there's a perception that the people spending > $X are in it only for a place to park their spare money, which is absolutely incorrect and frustrating to hear repeated the many times its been said or inferred.

 

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Ides, et al.: When we were playing in the folks' change, Indian head cents were closer to our date than wheat cents are to today. A thrill was finding a coin 100 years old which now includes the first Lincolns. The hard thing to find in circulation now is a high grade early zinc cent now over 30 years old and rotting quickly compared to the earlier alloy ones. If the government had been willing to change the types on circulating coins even every 20 years or so, I suspect we would have more kid coin collectors.

AJ: I know we would get along better than most people so far separated economically but I suspect there is difference when you are known as someone who buys coins up to $100k and one who goes for $100 items. I make a point of not even asking half of the dealers at a Baltimore show if they have what I want because I know their time is more valuable than the likelihood of a positive reply.

 

I make it simpler for myself and work within my budget as best as I can. I think most people do similar collecting that I do because funds are limited. Patience I think is important to all budget collectors, old and new. I learned a couple years ago that if I wait, I don't have to spend over $100 for a coin. Might be $1000 or $100,000 for other people. Each person has their own collection that they can be proud of. I love my collection despite being low cost and low grade. I've spent about $2000 in almost 4 years.