I’m kind of in a rut when it comes to coins. Perhaps burnt out, though that may be going too far. I started collecting world coins because of the history and because I could collect so many different old coins from so many countries for so little money compared to U.S. coins. But now I have all the cheap coins, and all I ever do is get outbid on the more expensive coins I need for my collection. Then I start to think about what my motives are for collecting certain things. I’ve always been someone who wants to complete the set and get every coin in the series. I’ve managed to do that for a few of them, but for many either there are a plethora of dates that I still need, which rarely come up for sale and sell for too much money when they do, or I started to wonder why I was collecting them in the first place. Recently I decided to sell off much of my Finnish and Belgian collection, because what’s the point? They’re not particularly attractive, I have no connection to those countries and there is little collector interest. I have too many coins to comfortably look at, and right now I have binders stacked up in a closet. Even with a good organizational system, trying to find any particular coin can be a long process of moving heavy albums and looking for the right one. It’s no fun when all you ever do is lose auctions for the coins you need, which always sell for more than you are comfortable spending. For a while I got interested in more artistic, less historical coins, like ones with animals on them, but most of them are silver, made for collectors, low mintage and sell for $30, $40 or more. My wife and I have our first baby on the way and want to buy a house. I just found out how expensive daycare is, and it was kind of a shock. I don’t see how I can justify buying $50 coins in this environment. I even wanted to sell some of the coins that don’t mean as much to me to cut down on the space and raise some money, but my eBay auctions get no attention, and coins that I used to sell easily sit there unnoticed for month after month. I feel like I never see anything new anymore, and if I do it’s incredibly expensive. I always knew that there would come a time when I could no longer afford to spend money on coins, and I guess that time is here. But even if I could afford to keep spending, as the prices go up, it’s harder and harder to justify. So anyway, just saying. I’m not sure where to go from here with this hobby.
Try writing about the coins you have already collected in numismatic publications. Or you can collect world stamps with animals and NEVER finish the collection even if you decide to spend less than a dollar per stamp! Perhaps you could start with one of each different animal and that would form the basis to teach your child the names of animals!
Sell 90% of what you have in lots on CT or eBay and keep only the coins you REALLY like and absolutely want to keep. Use the money to focus on a certain era or country such as WW2/Third Reich and buy type coins instead of trying to get all the dates and mm's. Buy the nicest grades you can afford w/o spending too much. I changed to this strategy a couple of years ago and it made me happy
Losing auctions because you won't pay beyond what they're worth to you is frustrating. I know. Sometimes it just takes a lot of hunting to find a particular coin you want at a price you are willing to pay. Most of the time, I am glad I waited.
I completely understand the "home life matters more" thing. Been there, done that. If you decide you have to quit, don't sell your coins unless it's a "have to" case. At some point, when the house is empty again, the passion will return, guaranteed. Just ask all those old guy's roaming the bourse at coin shows. Most every one will tell you that they wish they had their old collection back.
I just had a child born earlier this year so I completely understand how you feel. I keep my coin collecting budget to $50/month and it makes it hard to add to my US Type Set as I have to wait months to save up for one coin (you can bet I'm picky now!) If your collection is stressing you, then switch gears to something more enjoyable. I'd suggest maybe going for a world coin from every country of your birth year in BU. It's a set you can complete, won't be super expensive (depending on your birth year I guess?) and would take a long time and be fun. Having it be a type set would take the pressure of owning the most expensive or sought after coin from that country.
Cripes, the diapers alone are killin' ya brother. I've been through that 4 times and ya never think you're gonna get out from under, but you do.
i sense the force is strong in you....but you underestimate the power of ancient coins....come to the dark side.
I don't feel like I'm qualified to write about my coins. I'm not the kind of collector who really digs deep into it like some other people here. I do collect world stamps though, and that is something I might get into more. You can get stamps for 5 or 10 cents apiece which is really nice. I do like to focus on things like animals, ships, history and a few other things that interest me with the stamps.
Maybe I'll get there some day but I'm not quite ready to sell 90% or anywhere close to that. I was trying to thin them out recently and didn't get as far as I hoped. Eventually I do think I'll try to cut down to more of a type collection except for certain areas that I really like, such as Mexico.
Yeah, many years ago I sold my whole stamp collection for $25, and then a few years later I got interested in it again and started buying them again. I wished I hadn't sold what I had.
That's a rabbit hole I don't want to go down. I have a few but I feel like I have to work too hard at ancients.
seriously though, you sound like a good candidate. do some late roman bronze, they are cheap, you can still collect something like a set...mints, emperors, reverse types. lots of knowledge isn't required to get started, or i never would have got my feet wet. just a thought. it's a fun rabbit hole to jump down. we'll be waiting.
I feel like I've been in this spot before. Might be there now. This hobby can be mind-numbing in the amount of "routine" needed. My suggestion...I agree with @bkozak33. Take a break. Put all your coins away, and spend some time with the family. Go outside. Do something new and different. Then, in a couple weeks, or a month, or after your move...pick up your coins again. I've been desperately needing a break from this for a couple years...so at some point I'm going to need to drive down to FL and stay with my cousin for a week. And not think about coins, or eBay, or consignments and file management and labeling and sorting lol....
Here's an option nobody's yet mentioned: tokens and exonumia. You can get a lot of great tokens for a couple bucks apiece. Sell off the coins that don't give you joy and use the proceeds to fund your next collection. That will make it easier to justify to your wife, with the baby on the way.
You don't have to "write deeply" to write about coins. That's just, uh,..."some people's".. perversion. Just writing about what you know (and by synthesizing some information that's readily available on the net) may be just enough to inform many of us about some world coins that are those not-as-well-known coins. I have a Facebook group called "Korean Coins" where I post short tidbits about Korean coins. That may be a way to start. Put together an article of collected tidbits about those World Coins that really turn your crank, and you could have an "off the shelf" article that you could submit to a coin publication for payment.
Thanks for the suggestion, but this area doesn't interest me too much. I have a few tokens, but I don't want to collect something just to collect it.
This might be the best advice. I have already cut back a lot. I have only bought a handful of coins in the last few months. I know that when the baby comes time for any hobbies will be very limited, so it might be quite a while even in the best of circumstances.