Not sure where to go from here in this hobby

@panzerman. I always admire the coins you post. I would greatly appreciate it if you would kindly post a photo of your oldest coin. Unless I'm calculating it incorrectly, you stated you have coins from all 27 centuries (2,700 years). Also, Arabic numerals were not in use that long ago so could you please show where the date is and what style is it. I know it's a lot to answer so if you choose not to reply, I will understand.

 

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Thanks.

Gladly, most ancients are not dated. This EL Trite (1/3 Stater) is a relative unknown.
It was struck by an uncertain "City State" in Ionia.
Ionia where Greek settlement in Western Anatolia (modern day Turkey)
This coin was struck circa 650-25BC
Obverse: Has "cluster of grapes?"
Reverse: Punches
electrum=natural alloy of gold/silver found along riverbanks back then. The composition of this coin 60%AV
40%AR

 

I gotta admit, one of my biggest fears is that the next generation, if they collect at all, will not be accustomed to date/mintmark sets. What that means for the value of my Walker, Merc, Peace, etc. sets is too terrifying to contemplate...

 

Very nice Trite. It appears to be better than 60% gold visually, did you have it tested? Note that there have been some studies done on these early electrum pieces which indicate that the smaller the denomination, the higher the gold content. In recall reading somewhere that the trites or maybe it was smaller, could go up to 80% gold. I have one of these, but a full stater of Samos (Ionian also) which was listed at 40% gold. It is indeed very white in appearance.

I'd love to get some of these things analyzed for metallurgy one of these days...

Also a good comment by QuintipleSovereign. The new generation seems absolutely uninterested in coins or history and particularly anything old. Also the demographics of this country are changing and the new people are not historically coin collectors.

 

I just got my "White Gold" book. I looked thru it today, and they have metallurgy for most types. You are correct its upto 80+ percent for earlier issues.
On the newer generation, they are being driven out of the coin market by the hot market trends. Prices have increased dramatically in past 25 years. However in Europe/ China/ Japan/ there is very high demand for classical collector coins. Then, there are the speculators who collect rarities just for investment.

 

The sun'll come out tomorrow, betchur bottom (Morgan Silver) dollar that tomorrow there'll be …….

 

Thank you very much for your prompt and informative reply.

 

Going back to the original posting of this thread, wondering where I am going with this coin collecting thing...now in the current plague doldrums, very seldom does anything come in the mail. I look at various coins offered in auctions and most are priced way higher than I want to pay. When I look through my collection, I am constantly amazed at seeing coins I did not know I had. That probably has to do with me getting older and forgetting more. Hopefully India will open up again and I will be able to buy more of their ancient coins. I love those esoteric oddities from India and the Silk Roads countries.

 

I like your OP:

I guess this is what you're talking about? The infamous plague dollar [taler] of 1528. They also made a double plague thaler (same date) & Goldbergs sold a choice AU specimen 2 years ago for a really choice price. I recall somewhere around 20 - 40 X what I paid for this taler.



Realistically I'm in the same situation you're in. I have some nice collections but I'm missing many of the keys to make those collections something special. It seems that investors and coin flippers have locked onto those items and pushed the prices through the roof.

My dentist told me a story of how another dentist he knew was a coin dealer. In his office he set up some terminals and hired a person to buy and sell foreign coins. The dentist gave the hiree some sheets with guidelines on values. He said the person was there 8 hrs a day, 5 days a week and basically scoured on-line auctions and bought up coins which were undervalued and they reconsigned them and realized good profits*.

Of course this is great for people wanting to make money but now I find myself in exactly the same situation you are in. All the needed coins for my very varied non-US collections are super expensive.

However, the coronavirus tend to target old people disproportionately. Despite the end of quarantining, there is no indication of a letup of the disease. Older people are disproportionately the ones with the assets to invest in expensive coins. Thus, I think that when this plague thing is over, you'll find it a lot lot easier to buy the pieces you're after.

* There are some aspects of this story I find difficult. For example decent foreign coins, from ancients thru talers to modern world require such a specialist's knowledge that I can't imagine hiring someone that easily. Probably they were doing this to US slabs only but my dentist may have embellished this story for me as I collect ancients and select world coinage.

 

Like everything, as much as endless progress-minded people don't want to admit, everything has it's limitations, including collecting. Most hobbies have a "live, eat, sleep and dream" phase where it culminates with an obsession bordering on frenzied mania and one wants to know every little aspect and nuance of the subject to the point of omniscience. Because human attention span, not to mention brain bandwidth and monetary accumulation, also has limitations, few reach that point and often take up other hobbies, or other aspects of the same hobby, for novelty and start the cycle all over again. Repeat ad infinitum.

With collecting, when I find that I don't even know what I possess, or worse, purchase something that I already own, I know it's time to ratchet back. Aimless hoarding, though at first as appealing as devouring everything at an open dessert bar, will almost always turn into a meaningless pursuit. Mere accumulation can become routine, mechanical and feel pointless.

I reached that point with coins about two years ago when I realized that when I left a local coin show without purchasing something, I felt tangible pangs of disappointment. Why did I feel that way? So the show had nothing I wanted to buy (or, perhaps more likely, I couldn't - or didn't want to - afford what I really wanted to buy). So what? I realized that going to shows and buying had become more of an addiction than a true pleasure, more like "having a hit" than doing something meaningful. That's when I realized the extent of my problem and determined the source of the ennui that set in around the hobby for me. I backed off and starting thinking about why I even began collecting in the first place. It felt almost pathological.

Instead of selling everything frantically, which I would have regretted, I sold some obvious impulse buys and kept most of my nicer items. Then I really slowed the buying down. Now I only only buy something if it's something that I've wanted for a while and haven't seen before. Yesterday I found a graded Japanese coin online that I've always wanted, so I bought it. It was my second purchase this year.

So I think I've reached some form of collector's homeostasis again. We'll see.

 

I am often guilty of that...

 

I have every coin I own on my brain memorybank. My problem is that I like everything, never enough $$$$$.
Seems with every passing year I love the hobby more....

 

Yes, but think about all the elderly who live in FL and all the silver that will be dumped at their banks!

 

Any example to illustrate? It's often that I go to a local or even a major show nowadays and don't find a single item. No harm in that Also right now there seems to be sort of a mini coin craze going on so pieces are very tough to get.

 

CoinTalk is my problem...I read about a coin here, or see one, and my brain begins to churn...iwantit, iwantit, iwantit...I think I hate you people

 

I'm planning to write to Governor DeSantis and propose making it against the law for "outofstaters" to come to Florida banks and buy change until we Floridians have had a chance to go thru it first!

 

Sadly I think I have encroaching Alzheimer's. Last year I bought an ngc-64 Brazilian dollar/Peso (actually 2,000 reis) of King Peter II (Dom Pedro) thinking that I didn't have an 1888. Turns out I had a raw ms one in that grade and am lacking the 1889. Fortunately it's a cheap coin so having 2 of them won't kill me but I literally can't remember everything.


This is the raw specimen, possibly an ms-63.

 

That's a beauty! Nothing wrong with having 2 of them. I have 3, 4 or more of identical coins here, and it does not bother me at all. Wait until old Panzerman makes a mistake like we do, then we can laugh at him.
Here is a pair of 1514 Malwa Sultans AR 1/2 Tanka.

 

I'm afraid I don't have the problem of not knowing what I have. When I go to a coin show or auction I have my tablet, which has my coin inventory on it. My friend has his inventory on his smartphone. Granted, I still have a bunch of coins I have yet to inventory, and since this was an inherited collection there are undoubtedly many more duplicates, but when I go to buy I have a better idea of what I know I have.

 

Hello Hiddendragon,
I know the feeling, but mine had to do with my stamp collection. I've been primarily a stamp collector with coins on the side. (That's not to say my coin collection is a weak sister as I decided to go for Quality over Quantity with coins).
At the end of last year I came to the conclusion that I was more of an 'acquirer'
then a collector of stamps and the 'fire' was no longer there.
I had decided to put the pre-1970 MNH British Commonwealth collection up for auction with a Canadian auction house....then came Ms. Corona! Although I believe they are still holding stamp auctions, I decided I'd hold off selling.
I wish I had a GREAT suggestion for your problem & know it's a rather lame answer but you do need to weigh you needs, then weigh your heart with regards to coin collecting.
Once you know where you stand, then you can make the decision best for you & yours.
Good Luck, Sincerely,
J.T.