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Message:: [QUOTE="medoraman, post: 1360989, member: 26302"]I agree. To me its knowledge. I know ancient collectors of the whole spectrum. There is a guy out there right now spending millions of dollars on ancients, yet I doubt he could identify a single coin himself if he had to. I am not sure I would classify him as serious. I know 2 docs that collect ancients. One is a serious student of a series, and has done extensive research for a paper to be published in the Celator. The other buys "pretty coins" that he and his wife think look attractive. I believe the second doc spends more money, but I would say the first doc is the "serious" collector. To me the dividing line has nothing to do with money, its the quest for knowledge and understanding. There are late Roman collectors who never spend more than $20 on a coin who I consider very serious collectors. While a big spender may be a "serious customer" to a dealer, (meaning he can afford a $20,000 coin), he may or may not be a "serious collector". I like to ask people what they collect. If I get a response detailing relative rarity, die states, branch mint scarcity issues, etc I know its a serious collector. If they say, "oh I buy what I like to look at" or similar I don't classify them as serious. They are still a coin collector, I will help them all I am able and glad they are around, but I just don't consider them "serious". Like a lot of definitions around here, completely open to debate though. Chris[/QUOTE]