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#1
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Why choose numismatics??
As a long time collector, since early 1950's, and one who is getting out, I
have a question. Why would anyone choose coin collecting as a hobby now days? The reason I ask are several: - Fake / counterfeit stuff all over the place. Almost every day there are posts about it, - Grading disputes & falsification of grading companies. More frequent posts, - The money changers in it for the $, not for numismatic interests. These and other similar reasons I am getting out of it, liquidating everything. I wasn't even able to find anyone who wanted to get started in the hobby with bunches of free coins. It appears to me that coin collecting is going the way of stamp collecting. Too bad. Bob-tx |
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#2
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Why choose numismatics??
On Jan 13, 5:59*am, "Bob-tx" No Spam no contact wrote:
As a long time collector, since early 1950's, and one who is getting out, I have a question. Why would anyone choose coin collecting as a hobby now days? *The reason I ask are several: - Fake / counterfeit stuff all over the place. *Almost every day there are posts about it, - Grading disputes & falsification of grading companies. *More frequent posts, - The money changers in it for the $, not for numismatic interests. These and other similar reasons I am getting out of it, liquidating everything. *I wasn't even able to find anyone who wanted to get started in the hobby with bunches of free coins. It appears to me that coin collecting is going the way of stamp collecting. Too bad. Bob-tx The Numismatic "Industry" has its pervasive problems (and problem people), but hell - it only reflects the "dry-rot" in most areas of life in Modern America. Almost all of that dry-rot eventually goes back to the basic problem of greed. A person with an interest in coins as historical objects can have their coins and books and ideas just the same as ever, just like a person who has an interest in stamps as historical objects can do the same. "Coins" can be a solitary and personal endeavour, and any conscious self-searching individual can try to avoid being infected with the runaway greed in the Coin "Industry". oly |
#3
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Why choose numismatics??
"Bob-tx" No Spam no contact wrote in message . .. As a long time collector, since early 1950's, and one who is getting out, I have a question. Why would anyone choose coin collecting as a hobby now days? The reason I ask are several: - Fake / counterfeit stuff all over the place. Almost every day there are posts about it, - Grading disputes & falsification of grading companies. More frequent posts, - The money changers in it for the $, not for numismatic interests. These and other similar reasons I am getting out of it, liquidating everything. I wasn't even able to find anyone who wanted to get started in the hobby with bunches of free coins. It appears to me that coin collecting is going the way of stamp collecting. Too bad. Bob-tx I've been a coin collector since the early 1950's myself. Considering what originally attracted me, the prospect of completing an entire Lincoln set from circulation, I doubt that I would have become so attracted today. Buying products from the Mint each year isn't my idea of collecting either. Also, it can be hard to get to "hooked" by adding a state quarter to one's collection every three months. On the other hand, the modest but diverse collection I have amassed over the past half century still pleases me as much as ever, and I see no pressure to "get out". Assuming you've done the same over your lifetime, it's too bad you feel that way. Personally, I never sought many coins that are likely to be counterfeited, and I doubt that a budding young collector would face that problem either. I never considered fakes and counterfeits to be so "all over the place" that it would affect my interest in collecting. I also feel confident enough in my grading capabilities that I see no need to pay for for a TPG opinion on the circulated coins which make up the bulk of my collection. Grading disputes likely have been going on to one degree or another long before we started collecting. I'm not sure what you're referring to by "money changers", but I suspect with most coin firms, profits usually will trump personal interest in their product. Some think it's too bad that young people today also don't seem much interested in collecting tobacco cards, match covers, postcards, model planes, and yes, stamps. I doubt that even giving away some freebies would create many collectors. Times and interests usually change. But I don't see coin collecting disappearing among those of us who already have been taken in by the history of it and become attached to what we have taken so long to accumulate. I would have thought you would have been included here, but I apparently not. Don't worry that today's youngsters don't care as much about the things that once attracted you. If you enjoyed building a coin collection all those years, why not relax and enjoy that collection, even if you no longer care feel comfortable adding to it. |
#4
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Why choose numismatics??
"Bob-tx" No Spam no contact wrote in message . .. As a long time collector, since early 1950's, and one who is getting out, I have a question. Why would anyone choose coin collecting as a hobby now days? The reason I ask are several: - Fake / counterfeit stuff all over the place. Almost every day there are posts about it, - Grading disputes & falsification of grading companies. More frequent posts, - The money changers in it for the $, not for numismatic interests. These and other similar reasons I am getting out of it, liquidating everything. I wasn't even able to find anyone who wanted to get started in the hobby with bunches of free coins. It appears to me that coin collecting is going the way of stamp collecting. Too bad. Bob-tx You've already gotten some good replies to your concerns, so all I will add is that if you're trying to give any coins away, sign me up! I'll cover the postage. :-) Seriously, though, I have a grandson and three children for whom I'm trying to generate an interest in coins. The annual Mint issues that I've accumulated are "pretty" in their eyes but don't spark that romantic interest that older circulated coins hold in the eye of collectors. My last hope here is that maybe an assortment of all the various denominations and issues (Fair or better condition) will boggle their minds enough to get them going. One outlier in my accumulations, a run-of-the-mill 2-cent piece, got more attention from them than all the proof AES and silver Mint sets. "You mean they actually made two pennies into one coin, Dad? Cool!" De gustibus non est disputandum. - mazorj, Coin Evangelist |
#5
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Why choose numismatics??
Bob-tx wrote:
As a long time collector, since early 1950's, and one who is getting out, I have a question. Why would anyone choose coin collecting as a hobby now days? The reason I ask are several: - Fake / counterfeit stuff all over the place. Almost every day there are posts about it, - Grading disputes & falsification of grading companies. More frequent posts, - The money changers in it for the $, not for numismatic interests. These and other similar reasons I am getting out of it, liquidating everything. I wasn't even able to find anyone who wanted to get started in the hobby with bunches of free coins. It appears to me that coin collecting is going the way of stamp collecting. Too bad. Bob-tx now days? Nothing has changed. It's the same in any collectibles market. There are always fakes and cheaters. Some of the fun is learning how to spot these scams and steer clear of them. JAM |
#6
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Why choose numismatics??
On 1/13/2011 6:59 AM, Bob-tx wrote:
Why would anyone choose coin collecting as a hobby now days? The reason I ask are several: - Fake / counterfeit stuff all over the place. Almost every day there are posts about it, - Grading disputes & falsification of grading companies. More frequent posts, - The money changers in it for the $, not for numismatic interests. One answer to your question is to incorporate all of these three areas into your study of coins. Keep in mind that numismatics, which is in the subject line of your thread, is more than coin collecting, the acquisition of coins. Numismatics means the study of coins. There are lots of ways in the real world, human nature being what it is, that this plays out. It's not all negative either. About not getting kids interesting, some are, but much fewer relatively than when you were coming of age. It's a different world, with more sensually stimulating (sight and sound) pastimes today enticing them, such as video games, videos, iPoding, texting, Facebooking, and the Internet in general. Then, when people today get really bored, they can verbify proper nouns. -- Consumer: http://rg.ancients.info/guide Connoisseur: http://rg.ancients.info/glom Counterfeit: http://rg.ancients.info/bogos |
#7
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Why choose numismatics??
"Bremick" wrote in message ... "Bob-tx" No Spam no contact wrote in message . .. As a long time collector, since early 1950's, and one who is getting out, I have a question. Why would anyone choose coin collecting as a hobby now days? The reason I ask are several: - Fake / counterfeit stuff all over the place. Almost every day there are posts about it, - Grading disputes & falsification of grading companies. More frequent posts, - The money changers in it for the $, not for numismatic interests. These and other similar reasons I am getting out of it, liquidating everything. I wasn't even able to find anyone who wanted to get started in the hobby with bunches of free coins. It appears to me that coin collecting is going the way of stamp collecting. Too bad. Bob-tx I've been a coin collector since the early 1950's myself. Considering what originally attracted me, the prospect of completing an entire Lincoln set from circulation, I doubt that I would have become so attracted today. Buying products from the Mint each year isn't my idea of collecting either. Also, it can be hard to get to "hooked" by adding a state quarter to one's collection every three months. On the other hand, the modest but diverse collection I have amassed over the past half century still pleases me as much as ever, and I see no pressure to "get out". Assuming you've done the same over your lifetime, it's too bad you feel that way. Personally, I never sought many coins that are likely to be counterfeited, and I doubt that a budding young collector would face that problem either. I never considered fakes and counterfeits to be so "all over the place" that it would affect my interest in collecting. I also feel confident enough in my grading capabilities that I see no need to pay for for a TPG opinion on the circulated coins which make up the bulk of my collection. Grading disputes likely have been going on to one degree or another long before we started collecting. I'm not sure what you're referring to by "money changers", but I suspect with most coin firms, profits usually will trump personal interest in their product. Some think it's too bad that young people today also don't seem much interested in collecting tobacco cards, match covers, postcards, model planes, and yes, stamps. I doubt that even giving away some freebies would create many collectors. Times and interests usually change. But I don't see coin collecting disappearing among those of us who already have been taken in by the history of it and become attached to what we have taken so long to accumulate. I would have thought you would have been included here, but I apparently not. Don't worry that today's youngsters don't care as much about the things that once attracted you. If you enjoyed building a coin collection all those years, why not relax and enjoy that collection, even if you no longer care feel comfortable adding to it. What you say is pretty much my feelings as well. What I meant by 'money changers' are the people, not dealers who are obviously in business to profit, who are seem to be mostly fixated on buying and selling on EBay. There seems to be little numismatic interest except profit. There are a few very knowledgeable and sincere collectors on the newsgroup, but also many who are not. In addition to losing interest, I don't want to leave my collection for my family to have to dispose of. They would have no idea how to go about it; in fact, I have little idea myself. I refuse to use EBay after reading all the negative comments regarding fakes, slurs about grading, etc. But, I figure it is better that I take care of this problem myself rather than leave it to my wife, kids, and grandkids. I think the mint has probably done a disservice to con collecting with all the new issues of various coins; state quarters and prez-bucks are prime examples but not the only ones. Although I don't collect stamps, I think that hobby has probably gone through similar problems. Bob-tx |
#8
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Why choose numismatics??
"Bob-tx" No Spam no contact wrote in message . .. "Bremick" wrote in message ... "Bob-tx" No Spam no contact wrote in message . .. As a long time collector, since early 1950's, and one who is getting out, I have a question. Why would anyone choose coin collecting as a hobby now days? The reason I ask are several: - Fake / counterfeit stuff all over the place. Almost every day there are posts about it, - Grading disputes & falsification of grading companies. More frequent posts, - The money changers in it for the $, not for numismatic interests. These and other similar reasons I am getting out of it, liquidating everything. I wasn't even able to find anyone who wanted to get started in the hobby with bunches of free coins. It appears to me that coin collecting is going the way of stamp collecting. Too bad. Bob-tx I've been a coin collector since the early 1950's myself. Considering what originally attracted me, the prospect of completing an entire Lincoln set from circulation, I doubt that I would have become so attracted today. Buying products from the Mint each year isn't my idea of collecting either. Also, it can be hard to get to "hooked" by adding a state quarter to one's collection every three months. On the other hand, the modest but diverse collection I have amassed over the past half century still pleases me as much as ever, and I see no pressure to "get out". Assuming you've done the same over your lifetime, it's too bad you feel that way. Personally, I never sought many coins that are likely to be counterfeited, and I doubt that a budding young collector would face that problem either. I never considered fakes and counterfeits to be so "all over the place" that it would affect my interest in collecting. I also feel confident enough in my grading capabilities that I see no need to pay for for a TPG opinion on the circulated coins which make up the bulk of my collection. Grading disputes likely have been going on to one degree or another long before we started collecting. I'm not sure what you're referring to by "money changers", but I suspect with most coin firms, profits usually will trump personal interest in their product. Some think it's too bad that young people today also don't seem much interested in collecting tobacco cards, match covers, postcards, model planes, and yes, stamps. I doubt that even giving away some freebies would create many collectors. Times and interests usually change. But I don't see coin collecting disappearing among those of us who already have been taken in by the history of it and become attached to what we have taken so long to accumulate. I would have thought you would have been included here, but I apparently not. Don't worry that today's youngsters don't care as much about the things that once attracted you. If you enjoyed building a coin collection all those years, why not relax and enjoy that collection, even if you no longer care feel comfortable adding to it. What you say is pretty much my feelings as well. What I meant by 'money changers' are the people, not dealers who are obviously in business to profit, who are seem to be mostly fixated on buying and selling on EBay. There seems to be little numismatic interest except profit. There are a few very knowledgeable and sincere collectors on the newsgroup, but also many who are not. I have mostly bought coins on eBay, but have sold a few as well. I believe that if you're as selective there as you would be in a coin shop or show you can add to a coin collection quite reasonably. It's often hard to tell how much numismatic interest a seller has by his auction, or even if he or she is a dealer. From my own experiences, I'd have to give eBay a thumbs up. In addition to losing interest, I don't want to leave my collection for my family to have to dispose of. They would have no idea how to go about it; in fact, I have little idea myself. I refuse to use EBay after reading all the negative comments regarding fakes, slurs about grading, etc. But, I figure it is better that I take care of this problem myself rather than leave it to my wife, kids, and grandkids. The key here is-- will your wife HAVE to dispose of it? Will she likely be apt to turn it into cash or will she be left comfortable enough financially to simply store it intact in the near term until she either needs the potential cash it represents or a grandchild develops a serious interest in coin collecting. Personally, I would not leave my collection to anyone who I knew would likely look at it as something to dispose of. This can be frustrating. I think the mint has probably done a disservice to con collecting with all the new issues of various coins; state quarters and prez-bucks are prime examples but not the only ones. Although I don't collect stamps, I think that hobby has probably gone through similar problems. I don't know if it's a disservice or not, but the Mint does seem to have turned a lot of its customers off with the increasing glut of new issues and the various forms in which each one is offered. I have become very selective lately with Mint purchases. I have several friends who say they've quit collecting new issue stamps because of this same frustration. |
#9
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Why choose numismatics??
"mazorj" wrote in
: You've already gotten some good replies to your concerns, so all I will add is that if you're trying to give any coins away, sign me up! I'll cover the postage. :-) I'd like to jump in on that deal, too! Free coins??? Sign me up!! |
#10
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Why choose numismatics??
"Eric Babula" wrote in message .. . "mazorj" wrote in : You've already gotten some good replies to your concerns, so all I will add is that if you're trying to give any coins away, sign me up! I'll cover the postage. :-) I'd like to jump in on that deal, too! Free coins??? Sign me up!! I have offered coins to all of my grandchildren, but they are not interested in collecting - coins are for spending. I have been turning rolls of wheaties into the bank or grocery store at the rate of one or two a week, in the hope that some kid will find some and get an interest, but I doubt it will happen. Other than that, I have sold all my type set at gray sheet prices, because that's the best I could get. It broke my heart. There were half cents, large cents, flying eagles, Indian head cents, three cent silver and nickel, a couple twenty cent pieces, and on and on. Got very little for the lot. I'm certainly not liquidating for the money!!! But, liquidate I must. Far too much stuff to leave for someone else to deal with. Bob-tx |
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