Learned the hard way...what now?

First of all im sorry for starting 3 new threads in the past 12 hours, i just have a lot of questions. I learned something the hard way in coin collecting. I had tons of coins, my franklin set was halfway complete, i had tons of silver, and then......i lost interest for a few days so i sold it all..........now all i have left is my lincoln cents dansco. It has lots of very bright red, high end wheaties, but they are all common dates. Jow i have 40 bucks to my name, the whitman show is coming up soon, and i dont know where to start. I never thought i would be this lost when trying to come back into collecting. I cant decide what to do! Should i sell my lincoln set and start fresh, should i keep filling my lincoln album, only to get depressd when it comes time to get the key dates? Should i stow away my lincolns and start something new, only to be dissapointed when i rediscover that 40 bucks doesnt go very far at a show? So many options......thanks for any advice!

-Ryan

 

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$40 for coins or $40 bucks is all you have in general? Because if you're truly broke, I'd say spending the only money you currently have on coins is a bad investment.

As for your common date Lincoln's, I'd say keep them, they're not worth enough to try and sell.

 

Yes, as stated above we need more info on your coin budget. Are you a YN? Do you have revolving disposable income, or just scratch to get what you need when it comes up?

 

Don't feel alone... I sold my original collection in 1969 in order to get married; a collection that included complete sets of Lincoln's (with high grade keys), buffalo nickels, mercury dimes, SLQ's (less the key dates), Walkers (less the key dates), complete Peace dollars, dozens of high grade Morgans and plenty of "type" coins (including an uncirculated twenty cent piece and three dollar gold piece). After the marriage fell apart, I was semi-depressed about my collection for years, especially as coin values escalated. But, like marriage, I gave them both a second chance... and since then have never looked back. I would just buy what appeals to you; start slow, and as your expendable income increases, so will your collection. One thing about coin collecting: most of us have experienced periods of time where we lose interest; not totally, but sometimes we get diverted by other priorities. And one other thing, even if you don't have a single coin in your collection, you can still love the hobby.

 

Good questions guys. Im only 16. I dont have a job so right now im studk with allowance as my "income". I have 40 dollars to spend on coins but im trying to save up to atleast 100 to take to the whitman expo this month. And as for selling the lincolns as a whole set in a dansco album i could easily get 80 dollars for them.

 

80 dollars for common date Lincolns in a Dansco for 80 bucks? Who are you selling these to, because clearly they're crazy? The Dansco itself is likely worth more than the pennies inside of it.

 

No. Its not just a few coins here and their. I have all of the fifties, all of the forties, about 6 from the thirties, i have a 1909 and a 1909vdb both in au condition of various other dates. Most of the coins in the album are worth only a dollar, but a lot of them are worth 5-15 dollars. Plus say 20 dollars added for the dansco i could definitly sell it in the 75 dollar range.

 

Keep the Lincoln's! Selling them now won't improve your current situation. Believe me you will appreciate the fact you did save them 30 years from now. High grade common dates will be worth more than you think. Most won't be saved, so high grades will be at a premium. Look at common dates from the mid 1950's. In MS60 most can be had for under a buck, but in MS67 can cost a few thousand.

 

You're probably right and to the right collector you could likely squeeze more out of selling it but I learned long ago, just because I THINK one of my coins or collection of coins is worth a certain amount doesn't necessarily make them worth that much. My dad was bitten by this bug a long time ago and never shook it off. He swore his collection that I inherited was worth about 50x more than it really was and that's what he told people. My brother and sister were surprised when I told them the actual value after I got a hold of it, they took our dad's word for it on the value thinking it really was worth as much as he thought it was.

 

Personally, if I was getting back into coins I would go to the show and take a long slow look around. Look at everything for sale. How do you know if you are still even interested in Lincoln cents? Maybe you start really liking liberty nickels, or buffalos, or mercury dimes? I would say putting together a type set is a great way for a YN to get into collecting, as you are buying a different coin every time, and I find it much more interesting than simply different dates or mm on the same dang coin.

Or, heaven forbid, you may go off on a completely different area like ancients, or world coins. The best value for a YN is world coinage if you want to get as many different coins as possible for as little as possible. Also, it will teach you geography and world history at the same time.

Chris

 

Now is a good time to educate yourself and really decide what you want to do. Just because you can't afford expensive coins, doesn't mean you can't be an educated collector.

Maybe you could start a U.S. type set. The Dansco version has about 71 different spots I believe. A lot of which are very affordable in higher grades. Just a thought. If I could start all over again, that would be the only album I have.

Also, don't feel bad about selling your collection. Look at this way: You have a nice clean slate to start with and aren't tied down with the feeling of having to complete partial sets you may have had.

 

I'd:

1. Stick with the Lincolns you already have.
2. Forget about the Coin Show other than to simply look around.
3. Take your $40 and start buying $25 boxes and look for some WAM's or other nice varieties.

The upside is that, if you do find some WAM's or even transitional varieties, you can sell them to continue to fund your collecting interests. That is, as long as you have them.

I'd kinda question the "I lost interest for a few days so I sold it all" though as it seems fairly short sighted. Most folks that lose "interest for a few days" do not jump to such a wild extreme and then ask the best way to recover.

And why on earth would you get "depressed" when it came time to buy the key dates? If anything at all, you should be excited! Unless, of course you hate to commit the money for them in which case I'd wonder why I was even collecting.

Coin collectors are not MADE. You can sterr someone in a specific direction and "hope" they'll be interested. They are either interested and committed Iwith ibvious logical reasoning) or they are not.

Start searching raw Lincolns and find out if this is what YOU really want to do. If you dont get serious after going through 2500 Lincolns then nothing will kick start your fires.

 

Wow thanks for all the advice guys. Although i guess i would still be considered a "young" numismatist i do have a lot of experience with is and i know what i do and do not like. I definitly like US coins. I have zero interest whatsoever in foreign or ancients. 19lyds, i used to search penny boxes all the time. I think the effort and time spent looking for wams and what not is not worth it. Im not a huge fan of recent coins. Im kind of the cliche collector. I like all the older stuff such as the barber and seated series but because i dont have steady expendable income, i have grown a passion for coins such as wheats, mercs, and franklin halves. That is the kind of stuff i want to collect. I just cant decide if i want to keep filling my lincoln set, or if i want to abandon it either for a little while, or forever. By forever i mean selling my current set, not never collecting wheats again.

 

Oh and to 19lyds, it wasnt literally only a few days. It was kind of a slow process of losing interest but there was a few days where i didnt
Ook or think aboout them at all and that was the deciding factor that. Made me want to sell.

 

At age 16 your best investment might be a lawn mower and a can of gas, if you charge about 15 an hour for lawn mowing, you could make 60 bucks on any nice saturday. A lot of older people will encourage any young person who wants to make some money with honest work.

When I was a kid, one of my chores was to mow our lawn and the lawn of the old retired lady next door, after doing that I would walk a few blocks and find some other lawns that looked like they needed mowing and would knock at the door and say, Good afternoon Maam, I will mow your lawn for 2 dollars, (this was 1962 and 2 dollars was fair) I ended up getting a bunch of customers that paid me every week.

Just remember if you start getting customers they will want you to do it every week or two, so you have to keep them happy, and they will keep you happy.

My parents never gave us an allowance, we were expected to help around the house, but there were lots of older people without children who would prefer to pay a boy to mow their lawn than to do it themselves.

I bet today you could easily make 100 a week doing that, save that money for a few months and you will soon be able to afford coins that you would never be able to afford on an allowance.

 

I completely agree. Coins are nice and all, but a job pays for those coins. I wish I had looked harder for a job these past couple years, because if I had I would have completely finished, at least, my Kennedy half collection (circ, pr, silver pr). Don't worry about how much money you have now. Just find a job, any job that pays. And if you still like coins, buy them with the money you make. Good luck.

 

Well excuse me for interpreting your words literally since if it wasn't a few days then it must have been a couple of weeks or perhaps a few months or maybe even 6 months or longer?

If thats the case, then why mislead by saying "I lost interest for a few days........" instead of "I lost interest a while ago, sold everything and now wish I hadn't."?

 

I agree with those saying keep the Lincolns. I had an almost complete set of pristine 1946-64 Roosevelt dimes and took them out of the album and spent them when I was a kid (about 50 years ago). I thought they'd never be worth much over face value. I'll always regret that. At least I had enough sense to keep the Lincolns, Buffaloes, Indian Heads, SLQs, etc.

 

Hahaha. Woah their buddy. Were all friends here. I wasnt trying to be rude i was just clearing the confusion. No need to get an attitude....its just a coin forum

 

Hey OldSilver do you still have your Avatar?