What are the "Hobby Killers"?

I was really just rejecting your premise that they have to do anything more than just have a set of state quarters to be a collector. You can be a single track collector that only collected one thing for whatever reason, I reject the whole you have to do xyz to be a "real collector". Now if you just wanted to say they're just a state quarter collector and it didn't carry over to other aspects that would be fine as it's just a descriptor, but the hobby would be a lot more enjoyable if we stopped with the real/fake collector/not good enough type stuff to name a few

 

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There are several good reasons not to count state quarter collectors. To avoid sounding elitist I often say they are "casual" or "unsophisticated" collectors in many instances. I understand exactly what you are saying but the fact is most of the Morgan and Lincoln collectors will be long since gone either retired or passed on in 40 years when all the old men at coin shows are sitting around talking about how they got started. And most of them will be talking about their first collection being states quarters.

Yes, most of them are casual today but these are the collectors who will form the backbone of the hobby in a decade or two.

 

If they don't get discouraged trying to collect one each of 30+ each year. IF we ever have to go back to sailing ships they will use the mint reserves for ballast.

 

I wouldn’t use the term “unsophisticated” but I don’t see anything wrong with saying a casual collector. I would also say that casual collectors extend to classic series like Morgan’s and Lincolns as well

 

I would be a third path in this state quarter discussion, (btw excellent point about cent collectors of years ago being the same). To me, difference between a casual hoarder and a collector is knowledge. Of course a state quarter collector can be a serious coin collector if they learn how to grade, what types of state quarter's there are, (silver, nonsilver, proof, bu, etc), while there can be some people who buy bust dollar who never learned anything whom I would consider a hoarder. What you collect does not matter, it is expertise.

A six year old can be an expert in die states of shield cents s/he finds in circulation, and I would consider that person a collector more than a person spending $50k a year on "pretty" ancient who never bothers to ever learn anything about them.

 

I didn't mean to imply states quarter collectors are "unsophisticated" or that the coins are unsophisticated. I am merely differentiating some states quarter collectors from others. To me there are three type of collectors of states quarters (of course there really are more and no one falls entirely in one category. There are sophisticated collector who study the coins, their distribution, and their history. Many of these collectors also have advanced collections of these coins. Their are casual collectors who essentially are just filling a coin board as the coins are found. They have little interest in the coins as coins. Then there are "unsophisticated collectors" who are more interested in the coins and their attributes but haven't yet learned much about them.

This applies to the registry collectors as well but most of these collectors are rather sophisticated.

Perhaps I should use different words but I tend to prefer to be specific and then forget that other people can't really pick up my meaning from context. All collectors fit this but bust half collectors are mostly sophisticated and this goes double for those collecting higher grade specimens.

I meant no disrespect to anybody. Life is a road and we all choose our own speed and our own diversions. It's no race because we all end up in a tie anyway. One can only "win" by enjoying the trip and I believe there is no better way to win than coin collecting.

 

If you aren't systematically acquiring coins I don't think you're a collector. Just throwing states quarters in a jar does not make you a collector but if you throw them in intending to someday sort them out then I suppose you are a coin collector or at least a nascent coin collector.

Hoarders are not coin collectors.

 

But many collectors are hoarders.

 

I'm a hoarder myself but I am also all the other definitions as well. I collected telephone tokens for five years before I even knew what they were but now I have a lot of knowledge about them.

 

Guilty.

I watch those shows and can relate, not to garbage or anything, but the pain they go through losing their possessions. I would be that way if I ever had to sell, which can be a good thing since it motivates me to invest enough otherwise that hopefully I will never have to liquidate my collection to eat or pay utilities.

Once I am dead my family can do whatever they like with them. With the way my 6 year old likes to spend money, expect quite a few CNG auctions 25 years from now!

 

I guess I am a collector/hoarder myself. I have been collecting coins for over 70 years. And, I think that I kept every coin that could even remotely be considered collectable. As I found coins with better eye appeal I replaced the ones in my collection. Can you imagine how many coins can be accumulated in 70+ years? Now I need to liquidate most of it. With 6 kids, 13 grandkids and 19 great grandkids, I am sorting my hoard and giving them to the kids.

 

For the record I actually think every collector is a hoarder as collecting itself is a form of hoarding. I don't say that in a bad way but it's something to think about when considering if someone is a collector or not. To me simply deciding to keep something is enough to be considered a collector. Obviously there are various levels of collecting in terms of knowledge, intensity, and financial means, but at the end of the day all levels have the same thing in common in that they saw something they liked/though was cool and decided to pursue it in some manner.