Oh well… “Box of 100” rules go out the window…

Discussion in 'Coin Chat' started by lordmarcovan, May 30, 2024.

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  1. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic & Eccentric Moderator

    For the past several months, I had taken to limiting my primary collection to just 100 certified coins. Exactly one hundred pieces. I was calling it “The Eclectic Hundred”, which had a nice ring to it. (It is indeed a very eclectic assortment.)

    The challenge to this fixed-size collection concept (which is usually called the “Box of 20” since standard slab boxes fit 20 coins) is that in order to add a new coin to the collection, you have to drop one. The idea is that your collection retains the same exact quantity, but you try to gradually increase the quality of your holdings over time, by dropping the lower-end pieces and adding higher-end ones in their place, while always keeping the same number of coins.

    I was up for that challenge for a little while. But in the end, I found it too difficult deciding what to drop with each new addition. I had no more long term success with the “Box of 100” concept than I did with the original “Box of 20” idea.

    The main reason I had gone to a “Box of 100” and a fixed-size, limited-quantity collection again was one, because a smaller collection is easier to organize and manage, and two, I had maxed out all of the available space inside my safe deposit box.

    Now I’ve just gotten a second safe deposit box (hey, problem solved! haha), and I’ve broken the collection back out into several subcategories instead of having them all in the same virtual “box”. So now the collection is again free to grow without me having to make tough decisions on what to sell every time I want to make a new addition.

    Are any of you “Box of 20” or “Box of 100” collectors, who stick to a fixed-size collection? Hats off to you if you’re up to that challenge. I have (again) proved too weak to pull it off in the long term. It takes a lot of material detachment to sell one’s darlings- even when you’re adding “better” coins in their place.

    But I still think it’s a good discipline for those who are up to the challenge. I do remain a believer in the “quality over quantity” maxim.
     
    lordmarcovan, May 30, 2024
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  3. Neal

    Neal Well-Known Member

    Ah ha! So you are human after all!
     
    Neal, May 30, 2024
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  4. Lon Chaney

    Lon Chaney Well-Known Member

    You found an Edwardian penny metal detecting in Georgia?
     
    Lon Chaney, May 30, 2024
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  5. mrweaseluv

    mrweaseluv Supporter! Supporter

    I saw and loved the idea of the 20/100 box collection, but knew even then that I could never limit myself in that way (I almost never willing parted with any coins i've collected)
     
    mrweaseluv, May 30, 2024
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  6. Heavymetal

    Heavymetal Well-Known Member

    Sophie’s choice. Feel your pain brother
    Note to self: Another SDB
     
    Heavymetal, May 30, 2024
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  7. PlanoSteve

    PlanoSteve Well-Known Member

    Well, I have several boxes of both sizes, and got tired of describing them individually, so I just refer to them as a box of 3,220 (+); I'm not really up to the challenge & believe it is something of an "illness" to deprive my desires...:smuggrin::D:p:eek:
     
    PlanoSteve, May 30, 2024
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  8. RonSanderson

    RonSanderson Supporter! Supporter

    I have three albums that enforce my limits. A US Type set, Lincoln cents, and Jeffersons. If I do get an upgrade it goes into the album and the duplicate has to leave. It also means that I am usually looking for raw coins, so that makes the searching a lot more challenging. Needless to say, there is not much turnover.
     
    RonSanderson, May 30, 2024
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  9. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic & Eccentric Moderator

    lordmarcovan, May 30, 2024
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  10. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic & Eccentric Moderator

    Box of 20/100 really does force you into a Sophie’s choice situation every time you make an addition. And it gets harder and harder to stick to as time goes on.
     
    lordmarcovan, May 30, 2024
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  11. Burton Strauss III

    Burton Strauss III Brother can you spare a trime? Supporter

    Burton Strauss III, May 30, 2024
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  12. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic & Eccentric Moderator

    If I were a traditional date-and-mint collector, and ended up with duplicates of the same type and date/mintmark combinations, the upgrading choices would certainly have been easier. But since I’m truly eclectic and all over the map (literally), with a good bit of more esoteric stuff, it’s been a lot tougher.
     
    lordmarcovan, May 30, 2024
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  13. physics-fan3.14

    physics-fan3.14 You got any more of them.... prooflikes?

    Nope, I definitely am not!

    However, I am most definitely quality over quantity. I won't buy a coin unless it meets a few criteria:

    - fits my collection (or has high enough interest that I don't mind it as an assorted coin)
    - is affordable (not necessarily a good value, but can't be stupid price)
    - will be held for a significant period of time

    I won't buy a coin that I'm planning to upgrade or replace, I will wait for the right coin.
     
    physics-fan3.14, May 30, 2024
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  14. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic & Eccentric Moderator

    Got ‘em. That’s the sort of thing I’ve been using inside the SDB, though I’ve gone back to single-row boxes for a more efficient use of space. (My SDB drawers’ inside width is 3x the width of a single row box, so I can put six boxes inside each SDB drawer. They’re reasonably big drawers.)
     
    lordmarcovan, May 30, 2024
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  15. Randy Abercrombie

    Randy Abercrombie Supporter! Supporter

    Discipline be damned!! What’s @CoinCorgi say? Coin up coz the worlds about to end?
     
    Randy Abercrombie, May 30, 2024
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  16. Chris B

    Chris B Supporter! Supporter

    I have a book that holds 4 pages of 9 slabs. So, in theory, my favorite 36. I do add and subtract to the book.....but I don't sell what comes out. It just goes into a different book that isn't my favorites.

    There are at least 2 problems with this. I have coins that should be in the book but don't fit (over-sized slab, odd shape, etc). Also, I'm terrible at getting rid of things. I have 2 safes full of stuff that I like to much to sell. That doesn't count numismatic books and wall art.

    I keep telling my wife that I going to downsize but...... I suck at it. I really am trying. :angelic:
     
    Chris B, May 30, 2024
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  17. ddddd

    ddddd Member

    While I have posted my "box of 20" several times over the years, I always mention that is just a portion of my collection (one could say they are my favorite 20 at that moment in time). While I want to stick to the concept, it is difficult. There are too many side collections that prevent the number from not expanding. Plus certain items take longer to sell and I would rather not miss out on a box of 20 quality coin in the meantime.
     
    ddddd, May 30, 2024
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  18. Lon Chaney

    Lon Chaney Well-Known Member

    Lon Chaney, May 31, 2024
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  19. johnmilton

    johnmilton Well-Known Member

    There is no way that I could be limited to 100 certified coins.
     
    johnmilton, May 31, 2024
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  20. eddiespin

    eddiespin Fast Eddie

    My closest experience had been many years ago after we had just piled up too much from searching boxes. I went over the whole collection and picked out the best, the rest being ancillary. I came up with a number of 500 as the limit for the core and I enforced it. And then one day, and it was in the Spring, if I remember, and love was in the air, and she was there, and I just didn't know what I was doing. And that was the end of that.
     
    eddiespin, May 31, 2024
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  21. PlanoSteve

    PlanoSteve Well-Known Member

    Are you talking about a girl or a coin? :D:singing:
     
    PlanoSteve, May 31, 2024
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