Your year in coins

2008 was the start of what hopes to be a life long hobby for me. I read some very good books on the advice of some of the people here on CT and it has been a tremendous help to furthering my knowledge. 2009 is a whole new year. i can finally focus on buying and have a good idea of what i am looking at.

 

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In 2008 I found CoinTalk and all the great folks on this site. I have really been trying to hone my grading skills this year, but it is a slow process of learning. I expanded my collection in a variety of areas -- morgans, bust halves, old copper halves and large cents, continuing to try to finish my complete Wheat cent set, silver eagles on the modern side, as well as moving into toned coins. Really enjoying the hobby. Thanks for all the great help so far from the experts on CT. Happy New Year! :hail:
John

 

If there has been anything I have learned, it is to LOOK at the coin before you buy. My eye has been sharpened and my mistakes have been costly, but I consider it tuition paid. You must look thru the holder and look at the coin. These are not stocks we are trading, these are coins.

I did my first coin show as a dealer this year, and ended up doing more than a dozen on the " other side of the table". There is no training better than that.

I also learned there is more to this than flipping coins on the bay for a quickie.

Building a website and jumping head first in with real, hard earned money has made me less sloppy. My discrimination factor is on high. I also learned not to drink and bid. The next days invoice can hurt you, much more so than a hangover.

I was told by a cpl vets, "hey there Mr Newbie " Coin Dealer ". don't quit your day job" , and I am SOOOOOO glad I followed that advise.

Last but certainly not least, I was able to meet a whole bundle of you cointalkers !!!! That is one of my best accomplishments of '08.:smile

 

Clembo, cmon, you made some numismatic strides this year as well.........tell us about them.

 

I think Clembo is on hiatus and is a little bored with our blah blah on this site!

 

OK,

I've been called out. Not on hiatus Catbert but have honestly become bored at times. Need a break now and then as it were.

NOW how was my year in coins. Boring - NOT!!!!

Let's jump into the way back machine shall we?

I was a posting fool employed as a painter/drywall repair man. Housing market died and it seemed I would have to sell some coins to keep the bills paid. THIS was bad.

Owner of coin shop was VERY busy and offered me a "part time" job. This only happened because I stopped in to buy supplies for selling my coins actually. Talk about timing.
This was GOOD. Took said job and have worked for him full time since then. This was REAL good.

Can't forget the trip to Long Beach folks. Courtesy of Jack. A great experience to say the least and also met Acanthite and Cave Troll on the trip. Jack and his wife are great hosts and I'll never forget that trip.

Now as for working in a shop. Yes, really cool working for a guy that has forgotten more than you know. Scary thing is I teach him a thing here and there and CT has helped.

One can not help but learn new things in such a setting. Especially if the boss is like mine and buys darn near anything that walks in the door.
We have a pretty good library at work and actually having to use it makes it easier to learn. It's not just reading - it's doing.

Due to this I have started a small World Coin collection. See enough other types of coins and you do start to appreciate some more.

I haven't spent as much as usual partly due to finances but also because it's better to go for quality at the right price. I had been into this mindset more anyway but working in a shop reinforces it.
Granted, I will still pick up a deal when I see one even in lower grade.

Now, as Jack stated earlier about quitting his day job to become a dealer it's NOT a great idea. I hope to start doing shows in the future and will not quit mine that's for sure.

I have been given the opportunity to observe a successful dealer at work BEHIND the scenes. I'm watching 42 years of experience at work folks.
It's complicated yet simple at times. It does require work and money to work with.

In short being at the shop was the highlight of my year in coins and life as far as that goes. ANYTHING I can learn there is a bonus that I hope to use in the future.

NOW are you guys satisfied? (Jack and Catbert)

Happy New Year to all.

clembo

 

2008 was a good year for me in coins. After not buying coins for some time, I got back into with great inthusiasm. Buying coins that will make my retirement a little easier. Yes I'm talking key coins. I believe Silver will go higher than we think. I think it will go above 40 an ounce, but not 50 or 100. Those people that think that are nuts. I hope I'm wrong though. So I started stacking also.