Several years ago (last Winter Olympics 2002) my wife severely fractured her ankle while roller skating with some of her friends on an amateur Roller Derby Team, (really) LOL. Anyway while at the Emergency Room she somehow happens to mention to the surgeon that I collect coins apparently while under the delirious effects of morphine. When I finally arrive I'm still muddy and smelly from helping the neighbor with his Llamas and other general country goofing off... The Doctor gives me the quick 60 second diagnosis and then begins to tell me all about his growing collection of Gold $50 American Eagle Bullion AGE coins. He said he'd picked up 30 so far and was expecting another 20 that week. He simply thought coin collecting was so much fun. This guy then asks me how many I have and what else I collect. (LOL, How many AGEs have I got :rolling: ) I told him I had only a couple of gold coins, mainly early American and International silver and copper, but only one Double Eagle, a 1904 Liberty. This guys then confidantly says "they didn't make those back then" and that "the first year these were struck was 1986." I was trying to choose my words carefully since he was going to operate on the old-lady that evening, so I tried to explain that the design of the St Gaudens was copied for the AGE design. He still didn't buy it so I said I had to go home and get cleaned up and arrange for the girls to spend the night at a friends but later that evening I would bring my 1904 to show him. -- It was soon after that I discovered it was going to cost us $2300 for a wheelchair that Jen would need when she checked out. Naturally, my insurance felt she didn't need one so I just wrote a check and decided to argue with them at a later date... About 9:00 PM Dr____ ___ comes out of the operating room and says the wife will live, walk, and skate again. After which I showed him some of my coins and this guy was truly engrossed. I brought in some Bust Coinage, Ancients, and two gold coins; a 1912 Indian and the 1904 Liberty. We talked about an hour and then the dreaded QUESTION is broached. He says, "Why aren't your coins protected in a slab" and "What are the grades..." :rolling::rolling::rolling: So, I confidently told him what I thought the grades were and my opinions of TPGs. He was impressed it seemed and wanted to know where I learned to grade, how I could remember all those numerical equivalents, etc. Now keep in mind my passionate views about these companies wasn't nearly as strong and defined as it is now, but I explained to him that my collection was simply that, a collection. Not an investment, but for personal enjoyment and the love of history. Somehow, I just don't think it registered... To this day, (he's a member of our local club too) this guy drops CRAZY money getting his coins graded and is constantly going for that coveted upgrade. It's like chasing the moon, he's got the fever... Most of us in the club just shake our heads in disbelief... Take Care Ben
I see this a lot at work, with the exception that mostly they don't proclaim themselves as coin collectors as much as they're collectors of gold. Quite a few fellow employees invest tens of thousands a year in gold bullion coins and never see them except when they have to upgrade their safe deposit boxes at the company credit union. It makes me wonder just how many AGE's are never actually seen by their owners and are simply locked away somewhere. Seems like such a waste in my opinion. Guy~
First of all, I vote for Ben as the starter of the most interesting threads on Coin Talk. I remember a local dealer remarking that the number of people stopping in just to buy gold bullion coins has been on the increase. It actually makes sense to me that AGEs would be locked away as a bullion investment rather than slabbed as a numismatic rarity. I would never buy a $20 liberty unslabbed, but on the other hand I would never pay to have an AGE slabbed.
I have an "upgrade junkie" friend. He's into Morgans though. Woking on the coveted PCGS registry set. Actually he does pretty well with. Makes money, upgrades his set and high in the registry. Boring as hell to me though and doubt I'll EVER see him buy a raw coin.
Ben, You really should not collect coins while under the influence of narcotics. Sorry your wife broke her ankle. Been there, done that. I broke my left ankle and tore several ligaments skiing at Copper Mountain in Dec. 2001. Had to have surgery. I still have a plate and 7 screws. I can walk and do pretty much everything I need to do but the ankle will never be the same. (No, I no longer ski.)
i second the motion. ben is now the official starter of interesting and outrageous topics. greg :thumb:
Here! Here! While I am neither for or against slabs I think they have their place. What I am against is buying the slab and not the coin. While I do have a completed graded set of silver eagles (my first branch out from collecting just mint issued coins) everything else is raw and will stay that way. This is about the same thing another guy did at work - he just wanted to buy low and sell high and make money. Nothing about collecting for the fun of it.
I'm not sure if this topic is about Doctors & their deep pocket coin fever or just the yuppie disposable income investment via coin collecting but been there, seen both. They're kinda scary to know because they remind me of PT Barnum's fav 'sucker born every minute' folks. They don't care what it is as long as its expensive and they can buy a lot of it. No wonder our medical bills are so high.
