what you like the most in coin collecting

think ill hold off on gold till i win the lottery

 

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Since I live in the middle of nowhere:

1. Getting that coin in the mail.
2. Walking into a good coin show with a pocketful of money.
3. Walking into a good coin shop with a pocketful of money.
4. Showing a coin to a non-collector and getting "Man, I've never seen that."
5. Getting the same response from another collector.

I don't think any of us would be here if we didn't have plenty to fill up this post with...

 

thats a GREAT list, cept i still need to do #2

 

Yeah, that's what makes it a nice thing: the novelty of walking into a coin show with some money to spend...it almost never happens. In fact I can't remember it happenning to me...perhaps, that post was just wishful thinking!

 

the challenge

 

I enjoy the nice uncirculated slabbed coin and the beauty in the coin, BUT there is something about holding an worn 1855 seated half and pondering where its been and who used it or carried it in their pocket.

 

I don't quite understand why I would rather have a coin than a diamond and neither do my friends -- there is just something about a coin that was made 70 years prior to my existance that is still as beautiful as it ever was- and will be long after i am gone.

 

May I suggest that the salient fact is that the coin was made? A diamond simply exists. It always existed and always will (give or take a few billion years). A coin came into existence as a result of human intelligence, to meet a human need. If a coin were "purely" utilitarian, like an arrowhead or a hammer, it would still have an inherent beauty of design. (Even arrowheads and hammers have their elements of non-functionality that make them more "attractive" in the eye of the creator.) Coins, of course, are works of art. As such, they reflect the basic value judgments of their creators.

 

"A diamond simply exists."

I'll argue that point. An UNCUT diamond simply exists. A great deal of effort went into cutting and polishing the finished gem, so it refracts the light for the greatest effect. It, too, is a work of art.