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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Drusus, post: 605446, member: 6370&quot;]This is a hobby for me...I am not trying to be a star or to be remembered as a &#039;leader&#039; in the field in the big scheme of things. I have no idea who IS a leader in this field but I wouldn&#039;t mind sitting down and having a chat with this guy to tell him what I think about the job he has done on this hobby because since I have been collecting I have seen a lot of &#039;trends&#039; I just do not care for. But in the end, I do as I please with little worry as to what the so called powers that be think this hobby should be about. Because its all about what I think it should be...because its MY hobby.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>I think the best things that could happen to me in this hobby is to have someone say they think I have good taste in the coins I collect. That when I die people say &#039;what a great and interesting collecting he had...&#039; that someone learned something from the information I provided. That someone thinks my collection is interesting enough to keep and build on.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>I find this hobby to be separated by a line. Those people who are looking to make it more than a hobby, and those who are content with just enjoying the hobby. As it is a hobby...I tend to be wary of people who are looking to extract more money out of it (like TPGs). To me, as hobby is a DIY as you can possibly make it...in coins, IMO, it all can be DIY save providing the coins as resonable price...buying ONLY the coin and a flip.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>I couldn&#039;t care less if new collectors are attracted to the hobby, it not my concern if people choose this hobby...in fact less people the better, less I have to compete for coins. I dont want to compete for coins...I just want the coins I want. In fact my advice would be a series of warnings about those who see the hobby as a way to extract money from you...trying to make an already expensive hobby, that much more expensive. The predators out for your pocket book who will try to paint this hobby as a certain way and that way often means you have to spend far more than just the price of the coin and a 2x2. These people are often seen as people who set trends or uphold them...but they harm the hobby, not help it.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>I applaud all the collectors out there who just have a love for the coin and a love for the hobby and are more than willing to be a &#039;knowledgeable collector&#039; (in all their various forms) and nothing else. To me it the greatest hobby in the world and you can be a knowledgeable collector, in fact you can be the most knowledgeable in your area of collecting, you can know more than the TPGs (and many I know DO) and never have to suck a penny out of the pockets of your fellow collector. Its a labor of love...that&#039;s what I love about this hobby. Knowledgeable collectors who do all this work, provide so much information, amass wonderful collections out of just the love of the hobby and for nothing else. </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>This hobby is expensive enough, I am not going to just march in a row and follow the leader and do things how others expect me to do it because, as I have found, there are a lot of people who say they know how it is and in truth...they don&#039;t know quite as much as they let on as they are often just regurgitating what they have been told and when put to it, they often cant even explain why.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>So in short...its a hobby, its just one thing I like to do in my spare time and I don&#039;t think I will ever be known as some leader in this &#039;field&#039;, nor do I know exactly what that would entail in a hobby, save for simply being knowledgeable in your field. </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Without any kind of Numismatics degree, we all just take and give to the hobby as we see fit and conduct our own independent study...I like it that way....people doing it for the pure passion, not because their paycheck depended on it. I make my living elsewhere...coins are my hobby and passion, not my income.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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