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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;kaparthy, post: 4034574, member: 57463&quot;]Thanks for the replies and interesting points. I work long days that start early. So, I did not get back to this and right now, I can only reply to a few.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>So, it did not really kill the hobby for you. You always treasured the moments spent and those memories were the foundation of a renewed engagement. That is an important consideration. It speaks to the attraction of numismatics as a hobby and collecting hobbies in particular because they bring us physical attachments that we can share.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>I have to agree with just about every word, given some context. Let me start with the last point first. Remember that with collecting anything - but especially numismatics - we have a large body of publications and those provide the knowledge you need to make that special purchase. If you only buy one coin a year, at the end of ten years, you have ten superlative examples well worth the time, effort, and money. If you can afford $100 right now, then you could affort $1000 in a year; and so on. I agree, though, that at some level, there will always be something that is beyond you and always will be. The multi-millionaires who built the world famous collections had to wait each one for the other to get out of the way. Sometimes, the limits are real. But that&#039;s what books are for. I enjoy the Whitman 100 GREATEST series. </p><p><br /></p><p>As for the other points, well, yes, at some moment, the honeymoon is over... but you don&#039;t just get a divorce when it is. It&#039;s a relationship for life and you have to work at it. Oh! The hobby...&nbsp; yes, that, too...</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Watches, fountain pens, arrowheads (points)... If you never, ever handled a coin and then were shown one or saw one in a museum and read about how people used them long ago, it might attract you. Ancient artifacts that go with ancient coins include spindle whorls (for spinning yarn into wool by hand) and bullae (clay seals). We do not. use them but some people find them fascinating.</p><p><br /></p><p>One aspect of that, though, is how we measure &quot;the hobby.&quot;&nbsp; The US Mint sells millions of Proof and Mint sets and thousands (hundreds of thousands) of commemoratives and other items. But only 100,000 people subscribe to <i>Coin World </i>and only about 25,000 are ANA members and maybe 3000 show up to a convention. So, on that basis, yes, I agree that in some far future, we might see a US Mint production run of 3000 annual coin sets total, maybe sold at a museum store to people who come to see the Declaration of Independence.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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