A philosophical discussion “the stages of coins collecting”

[wapa]

I say I am new to this hobby of coin collecting and by all means I am. Today I received 2 slabs from Chris (liveandievarieties) that got me really thinking. He sent these out of the goodness of his heart as many of the other members out there have sent coins to me and others. You all are so great and again thanks Chris. Chris has become my coin guru and mentor.

I was thinking as I held those slabs in my hands that these were the first ones I have ever handled and can say that are really mine. I have searched for pennies all my life. Any wheatie I would keep and try to fill those old coin books. I think I still have a couple of them around here, still not filled mind you. But now in my old age I find I have more of an interest in collecting not only wheaties but varieties, errors and damaged coins, though I am not focusing on any one thing. I look at every coin for something. Though deep down I think my focus is more on DD, rpms and other varieties. I still do hunt for those cracks, struck through, lams and so on and so forth.

I classify myself as a searcher/collector. Whereas I like to find coins in rolls and haven’t really made the transition as lets say trying to gather all of the varieties for a certain year by purchasing coins to fill the blanks. Though I have grown over the last 50,000 or so coins searched that I don’t keep as many of the damaged coins as I use too. Cracks have to be large and pronounced whereas if there was a crack in the corner of the memorial I would keep it. I will go back through the piles of coins I kept in the past to glean out the MD’s and weak damaged coins. Zealousness is oh so strong until one learns that most aren’t worth anything more than a cent.

Part of it is economics for me. I can afford to buy boxes of banks rolls as most of the coin go back to the bank and I can buy more. But buying some rolls from Chris and others I would love to grow to just searching bank wrapped BU rolls. But they can be cost prohibitive at times. I guess I am hoping to start finding enough to be able to start selling some to help pay for my habit of US cents. It is an addiction I think. My problem would be selling a coin I think. No problem if I have more than one, I do want to try to have at least one example of as many coins as I can. But that is just me. Slabs, oh yeah, they are cool. And I can see that as a growing habit.

All this babble and I am really wondering what the different stages of collecting are. Are you a gatherer, collector, or seller, one who sells off a coin as soon as you find it – well within reason that is? Where are you in this wonderful world of collecting?

[pman860507]

Chris and many other members are pretty awesome.

I am a horder! LoL

I have never sold a coin. Unless you count the ones that the bank buys for 1 cent.

[wapa]

OMG I am a horder too.

[EE1969]

Ok, I admit Im a hoarder.

[Antiquity]

Not me, neat freak by nature. I did keep alot of cents when I first started but mostly because I had no idea what was going on with them, when I finally figured out what to look for I actually had a couple good finds in my newbie stack. Im still a newbie at heart but feel this website has helped me to learn and grow. So thanks to all who have put up with me!

[coppercoins]

From 1975 through 1997 I was mainly a collector - sold a few here and there, specialized in Lincolns but would collect just about anything.

Beginning in 1997 I begun the long process of trying to assemble a complete set including all varieties. I knew by searching on the internet that there needed to be a good website focusing on what I collect because there wasn't one already. I started gathering information and learning HTML and other web programming tools. I figured if nobody else had done it, I might as well. Coppercoins opened on the first of November, 1999.

Beginning in 2000, I started a college education in CIS and web development solely for the purpose of turning numismatic website development into a full-time venture. By that time I had amassed a collection of over a thousand die varieties, with many extras and a lot of left over coins to get rid of.

Until 2005 I resold the extra 'stuff' I had through eBay and other venues. That year I found and bought lincolncent.com, and programmed a shopping cart retail store where I could sell off the extra stuff I had. It is still running today.

At this point in my life, I am looking to pare down the number of coins I have through searching what I already have, instead of constantly buying more. I have well over half a million coins in a stash of unsearched material, some 3,000 die varieties in the master collection, and an inventory of well over 2,000 coins priced and ready to sell. These are mostly coins I found, but there are some purchase for resale coins included.

I'm not sure what to call it at its differing stages, nor am I sure what to call myself now. I still buy, I still collect, but am sort-of a dealer too. I don't collect everything I used to collect, but I will add anything to the collection in any die state I don't already have. I do keep the nicest example of everything I find, and sell or give away the rest. I guess I stepped from being a collector to being a collector/dealer, to eventually being a 'researcher/author/collector/dealer'. I have written books and articles, I have traveled to buy Lincolns, and I still make it to the bank once in a while for a brick of coins to go through.

[Fido_Finder]

according to my wife...

I am a hoarder.

[hasfam]

I started my first Whitman Lincoln book in 1969 without any seriouness about it. I just did it to do it. Thru the 70's I wasn't much of a collector but I was more of a onlooker and learner. Loved to hang out at the coin shops talking and learning. My dad was collecting a little back then. I had some friends who were collectors and I enjoyed hanging with them and talking coin talk.

My decision to truly and seriously collect was around 1981. I stayed with the Lincolns at that time. I pulled out my Whitman and examined the cents. They were in horrible condition and i could see where i had the brilliant idea of harshly cleaning some of them out of ignorance. I scrapped that book and started all over. from 1981-1996 I collected all denominations, Commmoratives, Silver Eagles, Mint and Proof sets, BU roll set of Lincolns from 1950 to present and Canadian cents.
During that time I experiemented with various types of holders, albums etc until i found what really works for me. I still enjoyed the coin shops and local coin shows. One of my favorite things to do was to go to the weekly Monday night coin shop auction boards. long before ebay. To scan the board and find something you needed for your collection, put in your bid on the paper next to it and if you were luck to win then it was just a great feeling to bring home that coin and put it where it belonged.
In 1996, circumstances arose and we found ourselves moving from California to Kentucky and I had to sell the majority of my collection to help finance the move and for us to live on until I found work.
The next year I started all over, but this time, after buying some kind of coin magazine, I was introduced to varieties. It seemed interesting to me though I knew nothing about it. I was back to leaning again. Books and more books and more books. Coin discussion group on line ( I forgot what it was called back then), Coin shops that knew and sold varieties. I discovered CONECA and joined. And I started searching rolls. Lots and lots of them for the 1st few years. I also went back to collecting everything, all denominations, and commemoratives, etc but I was an aggresive buyer of OBW rolls and Mint/Proof sets. I starting selling an abundance of dupes on eBay and I even opened up a little coin shop on line for a short while.
Once again, life throws you a curve and I was faced again with having to liquidate most of the collection cheap. Ok, so I'll start over...again. This time just Lincolns. Nothing else. Focus, learn more, diligence, learn more. This is when I discovered Coppercoins and joined the forum. From there I learned about LCR. I think that was about 3 years ago. I'm still focused on Lincolns only. I don't hoard and ever so often will sell off coins or give away that are dupes or lower grades or stuff that I'm just not interested in keeping. Still learning. Still fine tuning. Still excited. Once in a while i will think to myself, I wish I knew then what I know now. But thats ok because today is still a good day to put that knowledge to work and search a new brick.
That's my story.

[thecentcollector]

Oddly enough, I started in 1995 collecting (everything) and searching for die varieties. In 1997-98, I just what I believe was called SDDCA (I think this was the predecessor to NCADD). I purchased a Cherrypicker's Guide, and Wexler's "The Lincoln Cent Doubled Die", and got picking. Wexler's book really narrowed down for me what I was eventually to collect. The rest is history.

Just as Chuck stated above, I keep anything that fits into my collection, and keep the nicer items for myself.... everything else I find homes for. I don't have the luxury of having 5 tubes of one variety here. It doesn't make back the money that I put into the hobby in the first place, so I sell them off, offer giveaways, etc.

Just my two cents.

[copperlover]

Great contribution by all. Keep the sparks flying.

Lucien

[Amadauss]

My father was the collector and recently gave my brother sister and I all of his stuff. Everything in coin types but mostly pennies. That was the hook. Came to this site and after searching, felt it was the most knowledgeable site on the web for this sort of thing. Having coppercoins as a member and going to his site does not hurt either . Went out and got a scope (in my opinion you need to have one) and started to really do some searching. Have plenty of time because after having *** with my wife, what else can I do for the other 23 hours and 58 minutes in the day.

Everything I have ever purchased from Chris has been great. Also got some stuff from others here and Brad's stuff is also very good. Roger B. is too nice and he will go above and beyond to satisfy anyone, which considering he lives in Jersey and I don't know anyone that nice in Jersey (except some other members here ) is great. I am really a supporter of BadThads stuff because it works.

With a scope, I am just amazed at how beautiful a coin can be. I have been working on really taking the perfect picture of one and have experimented with all different types of setups. Ray has been great with helping in that area.

Have definitely become a hoarder and my guess is when I really get this understanding down of what to look for and see when I am looking, I will do what some of the more experienced members are now doing.

I have found that even when I get a little crazy and become somewhat of a jerk with posts and just having fun, every member on this site will always respond back with any question I have and respond to any post, trying to help even though they probably have answered that question a hundred times before. That says a lot about the people here and how great they are.

Ok enough of that.....Cimperialis, did I win yet?

[Maineman750]

I was more of a hoarder until the 72 DDO #4 find. That was the first find that I sold, and right after that I sold an 83 DDR #1. But for the most part I'm going to work on getting rid of multiples with that 72 being the exception. After thinking about it, there is no real sense in having four 95 DDO's or even 2 or 3 of any of the others that I do. I can spend that money on toys or a nice camera set up instead of buying more storage space for coins.

[RWBILLER]

Hi
I think that once you get bit by the coin - your in for life. I don't know why I started to collect but I know it was in 1958 at eight years old. My big finds were a 1955 ddo-001 (pitching pennies) and a really nice 1884 quarter that I found in my dads cash register. I actually would sell some coins and Whitman folders at his sweetshop.

That slowly stopped for awhile a's cars, girls, and beer took over. The Vietnam. When I came home I still had a long recovery and coin collecting started again.

The third phase was in 2002, I decided to put a whole Lincoln cent collection together - and did, along with a proof set collection from 1950-2002. In 2005, I started to get sick, etc, retired and sold that collection.

Phase for started in 2008 and continues. That's when the fun started because my daughter and I began to search together and look for vararities/errors. That is when we met Bob Piazza, Bob and I consider ourselves brothers and my daughter loves him. Not only Bob came into our life but many LCR people too. Occasionally I have to sell stuff and I do buy stuff. But I love the thrill of the search and the the finding of a cool coin once in awhile. It is such a natural high.

So, if you put it all together, I am a collector at heart. I thoght at one time becoming a dealer, but then I could never enjoy LCR because I would be looking at each person a's a potential customer and worrying about my next paycheck. (just me). I'm glad where I am now. It's alot of fun.

[wapa]

Thanks for sharing. This, at least to me, has been fascinating to read. Hopefully more will share their collecting past. It is obvious that this hobby is a passion to us all and is very addicting.

[Brad]

I have gone through a lot of stages in coin collecting:

I began as a kid filling up Whitman Albums. Then, after college, my grandfather gave me his set of Lincolns. It included a 1922 No D Die 2, 1955 DDO 1 Whizzed, 1909 S VDB AU55, 1914 D AU58, 1972 DDO 1 MS66RD, and more. The set only ran through 1982, so I spend time completing it. I also needed a 1970 S Small Date to complete the collection. Then, I became interested in more Die Varieties. I was buying RPMs and DDO's on Ebay and searching. I was also putting together other sets - Liberty Nickels, Mercury Dimes, Kennedy Halves, Buffalo Nickels, Peace Dollars, Walker Halves, Indian Cents, Type Sets. I bought a lot of AG coins back then. After completing a lot of sets, I moved into the upgrade stage of replacing all the AG coins with Good or better, and replacing some of my Grandfathers coins. I replaced the whizzed 1955 DDO 1 with a PCGS MS62BN I purchased on Heritage Auctions. I was always interested in Lincoln Cent Varieties along the way, buying a 1984 DDO 1, 1983 DDR 1, 1995 DDO 1, 1944 D/S Type 1 & 2, 1917 DDO 1 and others. At one point I was obsessed with 1922 No D dies 1-4. Besides buying coins on Ebay I was also selling coins. My interest in varieties and the lack of info on the web about die varieties resulted in my creation of the Lincoln Cent Resource. About 6 months into the LCR creation, Pat contacted me a volunteered to create a forum. The forum really made the website a more enjoyable experience for me. About two years ago, I decided to upgrade my Lincolns once again. First, I upgraded all my Key Dates and Semi-Key dates to PCGS XF45 or better. Then, I worked on getting Philly 1909-1934 all in mint state. After that, I completed my 1909-1934 set in PCGS XF45 or better. I am currently working on 1935-1958 in MS65RD-MS66RD, but I am only buying about one of these a month. I still collect other coins, mostly Type. I have a complete set of PCGS Peace Dollars and a complete set of Carson City Morgan Dollars. I also like Toned Silver Kennedys 64-70. My safety deposit box is the largest size they offer. Right now my primary focus is Matte Proof Lincolns. I have 1910, 1911, 1912, 1915, and 1916. I don't think I will ever afford a 1909 VDB matte proof, but that would be the coin that would on the top of my "wish" list. If you are really bored, you can see all my coins here: http://www.pcgs.com/SetRegistry/Memb...ry.aspx?m=9078. Right now, I deal coins with a friend of mine who is a full time coin dealer. I work about 2-3 shows a month. I will be in Wisconsin this weekend. I remember years ago telling myself that my lifetime goal was to get a complete set of Lincolns and Indians. Well, I have come a lot farther than that and hopefully I have a lot farther to go. I think that it is important to have goals and to be patient when I comes to coin collecting. You interests and collection will change a lot over time, but the quality of your collection can keep improving.