Purging my collection

The first several years as a collector my goal was to get as many different coins as possible. I was a completist and it didn't matter what coin it was, if I didn't have it I wanted it so I could try to complete the set. Then at some point I realized this was no longer something I wanted to pursue. Most sets have a few key dates that look exactly like all the other coins but cost way more, and it didn't really make sense to spend so much time and money pursuing them. Besides, what is the point of having so many of the same coin? So with that in mind, I decided to totally shift to just keeping one of each type, and occasionally a few more if the coins were really nice. That meant getting rid of a lot of coins I had accumulated.

But some were easier to part with than others. My Belgian set? See ya. Germany? Cut from two albums to less than one. Some of them were harder though, either because I liked the coins more or I just had so many that it was hard to break it up. But gradually I'm continuing on with the effort. I just finished going through all of my coins again and removing some to sell off. This time I greatly reduced my South Africa, Italy, France and Canada collection, along with some others here and there. It can be hard, but once you start it suddenly gets easier. I usually go through a few waves of whittling them down until I'm satisfied. Here's what I eliminated this time - probably 300-400 or thereabouts.

 

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Much more willpower than I sir. I tend to just toss in a box and put the box in the corner. However, I do find myself pawing through the boxes for fun sometimes, which is the excuse in my mind, (besides keeping to hope my kids will get the bug), that I do not get rid of them.

Nah, forget it. I am a hoarder.

 

I would be interested in seeing some older ( pre - 1964 ) Italian Coins . What do have ? Maybe interested .

 

Late last year I parted with about a hundred world coins I got over the years and kept only the ones I really liked & focused more on the crown size coins among some other types that I get drawn to.

Only made $155 parting them to a dealer I use, but it's nice to sift through one large long box over 2 large long boxes.

They were common stuff/low value for the most part so I didn't expect a windfall.

 

I am breaking up mine too. I have a few hundred coins listed on my numista, and more being added as I downsize. My tastes are more and more refined as I collect more. I am entering my SECOND decade collecting in 2021, so I think a refining of my palate is necessary

 

One of my other hobbies is selling coins on eBay, so when I get tired of something I'm happy to send it along. But don't get me wrong, it's not like my coin collection is ending. I still have well over 10,000 probably.

 

Most of the ones I'm getting rid of are the 5 and 10 centesimi from 1920-1941, 20 centesimi from 1908-42 and 50 centesimi from the WWII era. You can PM me if you're interested.

 

Similar to me. I started seriously collecting around 2010 or so and I was just buying everything in sight. Now I am being more focused, not spending time just browsing eBay and buying anything that looks like a deal. I only buy a few coins on eBay now and they are things I'm specifically targeting. Most of my coin purchases are from dealers' junk bins because that's where I have the most fun and find the most random stuff.

 

That reminds me I should probably purge my excess of 50% and 92.5% silver coins from Great Britain.

 

I would like to see your better German coins...

 

Maybe I am just a hoarder, well I know I am, but I find myself going in and out of collecting interests. I haven't looked at my ancient Chinese for maybe 10 years, but know I will go back to them in the future. Sometimes I am all about Persian, then drift over to Carthage, then maybe Central Asia, then pivot back to Greek. If I sold off sections of my collection, I am afraid I would simply regret it and buy them again in the future. I haven't looked at my US coins for 30 years, but the last time I was in the SDB I pulled out a couple of boxes and really liked looking at them.

Your second decade might sound like a long time, but I have been collecting for over 4 decades at this point. I just know me, and know I will enjoy them again someday. Maybe you have more narrow focus than I have, but maybe think about it. Are you sure 15 years from now you will not get back into those kinds of coins?

 

I am 18 years old, so my collection has been a thing for more than half of my life at this point.

Too much 10 cent bin coins I have. I am heading more towards Roman provincial coins rather than cheap aluminum world coins.

 

Same conclusion I came to about a decade ago. Now I have a much smaller collection, but am a much happier collector.

 

I've been through several waves of these myself. I had a lot of 3 pence, sixpence and shillings and I decided to narrow it down and keep mostly just the ones that were in really good shape. I haven't yet been able to pull the trigger on the pennies, half pennies and farthings though.

 

Mostly what I'm getting rid of isn't "better" coins. I'm really trying to refine my collection to emphasize quality over quantity.

 

Fair enough. One thing I would warn you about ancients is nothing is available all the time. You will bang your head against the wall if you get a narrow focus, (say Antioch tets or Roman Egypt), because it will be feast or famine. Sometimes a huge hoard hits and you are good for a year, then they are gone and almost NOTHING is on the market. Ancients are where my multiple focus really bloomed. Ancient Chinese used to be cheap and plentiful, then they rose in price and went away. If I was ONLY an ancient Chinese collector I would have been frustrated. Instead, I kept an eye on them but looked around and picked up another specialty, one where there was quantities available.

Just a suggestion. Ancients are about PATIENCE. I took a decade to be able to acquire a silver coin with Christopher on it of Constantine VII. Its how it goes. I actually love that about ancients though. It rewards perseverance, its not all about your bank account.

 

Just curious... How are you going about getting rid of them? Trading? Selling?

 

This is a good point. I know at one point I sold off all my stamps and then ten years later I got interested in stamps again. Personally I'm not selling anything that I can't easily find again. The majority of my collection came from junk bins and I can find more of the same if I ever want to. My son is 4 now and hopefully when he's a little older he will be interested and then maybe he and I can go through those junk bins together and rebuild a collection for him. But it would be more fun to do it with him from scratch than just say, "Here's 15,000 coins to look at."

 

For years what I've done is go through junk bins at a dealer and buy everything good, then get home and sort them into the pile I'm keeping and the pile I'm reselling. So I've long sold my extras on eBay and that's what I'll do with these too.

 

Ahhh I see. Something you also might want to consider is selling or trading them on Numista. That way you don’t have to deal with eBay fees and everything and even get some coins you want for yourself by trading with people. I do a lot of trades on there but I have sold coins also and it works smoothly.