Poll: I don't get it....

"Mark" wrote in message
...
Stujoe wrote:

As far as the collecting aspect itself, I 'get it' all but there is some
of
it that doesn't interest me. What I don't always 'get' is the prices
that
some things go for and some of the overwhelming preoccupation with ultra
grades. But I think of those 2 things (price and grade) as separate
issues
from the coins themselves which I can understand people having an
interest
in, even if I don't.


I think that's what bothers me about the registry set craze, and I think
it's been said in this group before. People aren't collecting the coins
as much as they're collecting the slabs.

I know not all Registry participants are like that but I also believe that
some are. The registry sets are an interesting idea but the fundamental flaw
of the whole thing is that it takes absolutely no knowledge to have the
'finest set'.

--
Stujoe
Email: http://tinyurl.com/wu00
Grading Challenge, Coin News, Virtual Coin Museum and mo
http://www.CoinPeople.com

"Bob Flaminio" wrote in message ...
Bizarro error coins. Like this one:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=3303556594

$1500 for some aluminum scrap that happened to get a dime stamped on it?
Nope, don't get it at all.

In spite of what P.T. Barnum said, I doubt that this guy will ever get
$1,500 for that.

Mark wrote:
... I like to collect Morgans by VAMs.
... I just don't get the registry set craze, especially for
modern business issues.
What is it that you just don't get??

When I was just getting into the hobby about 10 years ago, I heard
Clifford Mishler, president of Krause Corporation, give a talk about
his personal history as a collector and his expectations for the
future of collecting. It covered a lot of ground. One thing he said
was: "Collecting is a gene you do not inherit." In other words,
collectors are a "type" of person. It does not run in families.
People who collect one thing tend to collect other things. Therefore,
he said, when you meet someone who collects something you do not see
the value in or importance of, do not deride, but just accept it for
waht it is, even if it does not appeal to you now. I took that to
heart.

That said, there is much about numismatics that I personally do not
"get."

* Errors. I understand them and I see the collectibility for a
person, for an individual. What I do not "get" is the popularity. I
reject the 1942/1 Mercury Dime and the Three Legged Buffalos and the
1922-Almost-No-D-Perhaps Lincoln Cent as requirements of the the
Whitman Date and Mint Set. Errors are interesting examples of the
mass production high quality process, but golly, it seems irrationally
out of proportion.

* VAMS (see above).

* Micro-step Uncirculateds above 64 to 70. 60... 65... 70. makes
sense to me.

* Numeric grading. Is an MS-69 Morgan only worth 69 times more than a
Fair-01. I saw a nice early federal cent, honest wear only, PCGSed as
Poor-0. The laws of arithmetic speak a loudly against dividing by
Zero.

* "Coin" collecting. To me, it is all numismatics. I have coins,
stocks, tokens, checks, medals, beads, the whole range and gamut. it
is nice to be able to categorize these things by abstracted
commonalities. "Taxonomy" it is called when the way a thing LOOKS on
the OUTSIDE defines it. Myself, I see a clad quarter as being a
modern follis. There is a website for images of Spanish Coins on
American Money http://scoan.oldnote.org/. That surely ties two
otherwise seemingly unrelated things together.

* Euros.

* Nazi money. (or Nazi anything)

* Japanese Invasion Money. (I can see the interest as history. I
cannot understand that this is a collecting "area" where people track
notes by serial number.)

* Modern US Federal Reserve Notes. (OK, I have one dollar bill from
each A thru L, I confess.)

* Five Step Jefferson Nickels.

* Kennedy Half Dollars.

* Ikes

* Roosies.

* Washington Quarters.

* Princess Di

* Non-circulating legal tender of Gibralter, Isle of Man, and Liberia.

* Coinage of Australia -- except Holey Dollars, of course, and tokens,
naturally. Paper money of Australia is interesting, but the ooins,
well, the Large Cent with the 'roo is interesting, perhaps.

* eBay.

* Sniping on eBay.

* High grade modern proofs. (I have one: a dime. Proof-70. End of
story.)

* Uncleaned Roman coins. (I did it, too, I confess, but the constancy
of it amazes me.)

* Modern US Commemoratives -- especially when tolerated by people who
excoriate so-called Non-circulating Legal Tender of other nations.

Michael
ANA R-162953
"I write a column for Numismatist magazine."

Stujoe wrote:
"George D" wrote in message
...


why some of out posting dealers don't answer with a ---I DO!


I am thinking 'sales stuff' goes on behind the scenes sometimes
(email)...but I could be wrong.


I guess you are right. However when I have posted interest in items I have never gotten a
email or reply post from any member/poster dealer.

--
George D
Phoenix, AZ
AAA, AARP, ANA, NRA, RCC ?+1, PIA, PIAAZ, GATF 85006-3032-18-4


Please use this address to mail me. Or remove the arizona in the link.
Remember there is no Arizona.


ALL emails incoming and outgoing are run thru Norton and AVG anti virus.

...ancients

"Michael E. Marotta" wrote in message
om...
Mark wrote:
... I like to collect Morgans by VAMs.
... I just don't get the registry set craze, especially for
modern business issues.
What is it that you just don't get??


That said, there is much about numismatics that I personally do not
"get."

snippety

* Coinage of Australia -- except Holey Dollars, of course, and tokens,
naturally. Paper money of Australia is interesting, but the ooins,
well, the Large Cent with the 'roo is interesting, perhaps.


OK
That's it.
Enough is enough.
========================================
Pick a window, Michael. You're leaving.
========================================

(Tokens... sheesh)

"Large cent with a 'roo"?
No such beast!


Oh - you mean a "penny"!

Picked a window yet?

======================

Continuing on with a list of "I-don't-gets", can ANYONE explain to me the
collectability and/or desirability of baseball cards (such as
AH-craplectibles continually flogs off) or indeed any item which is printed
(manufactured) by a private concern in *any* desired quantity (and having
*no* intrinsic value whatsoever.)

(coinfused)
Jeff

"Mark" wrote in message
...

All of us who collect coins have our favorites. Personally, I like to
collect Morgans by VAMs.

Me too.

On the other hand, I am sure we all look at some aspect of the hobby,
and say to ourselves, HUH??!! I don't get it!

For example, I just don't get the registry set craze, especially for
modern business issues. Why would you spend the premiums that some folks
spend for a coin just because someone slapped a number on the slab?


What is it that you just don't get??

1. Ubergrade post 1980something proofs in registry sets.

2. Dealers who set up a table at a show with a display case full of coins
and don't acknowledge you when you stop to look at what they have, even when
they are idle.

3. Buying third world NCLT.

John Baumgart

"A.Gent" wrote in message
...

"Michael E. Marotta" wrote in message
om...
Mark wrote:
... I like to collect Morgans by VAMs.
... I just don't get the registry set craze, especially for
modern business issues.
What is it that you just don't get??


That said, there is much about numismatics that I personally do not
"get."

snippety

* Coinage of Australia -- except Holey Dollars, of course, and tokens,
naturally. Paper money of Australia is interesting, but the ooins,
well, the Large Cent with the 'roo is interesting, perhaps.


OK
That's it.
Enough is enough.
========================================
Pick a window, Michael. You're leaving.

Yeah, I don't get him, either.

Continuing on with a list of "I-don't-gets", can ANYONE explain to me the
collectability and/or desirability of baseball cards (such as
AH-craplectibles continually flogs off) or indeed any item which is
printed
(manufactured) by a private concern in *any* desired quantity (and having
*no* intrinsic value whatsoever.)

Did someone say "investment quality beanie babies?"

John Baumgart

On Mon, 12 Jan 2004 17:26:50 -0600, Mark wrote:


All of us who collect coins have our favorites. Personally, I like to
collect Morgans by VAMs.

On the other hand, I am sure we all look at some aspect of the hobby,
and say to ourselves, HUH??!! I don't get it!

For example, I just don't get the registry set craze, especially for
modern business issues. Why would you spend the premiums that some folks
spend for a coin just because someone slapped a number on the slab?


What is it that you just don't get??

Modern Condition "rarities" - rare plastic indeed
11 uncirculated grades (4 or 5 tops please)
Modern Commems (except the GW I count that as a classic)
Bullion as investment
Barber Coinage
Transit Tokens

"Mark" wrote:
What is it that you just don't get??

Purchasing coins based on TV infomercials.

Paying 20%+ of the value of a coin to have it slabbed.

Slabbing a coin you don't plan to sell right away (except where verification
of grade or authenticity is a condition subsequent to sale).

Modern bullion coins.

The market for colored coins.

High-priced errors and varieties.

Keeping duplicates, triplicates, bazillicates, or hoards of any kind.

Roll collecting.

"Eye appeal" as a grading criterion.

--Chris





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