The psychology behind collecting

oly wrote:
On Feb 1, 2:03 pm, "mazorj" wrote:
"Bruce Remick" wrote in message

...







"PC" wrote in message
...
"Arizona Coin Collector" wrote in message
m...
It's also can make good economic sense.
"It's a way of investing," Greenberg said. "Many
collectibles increase in value over time."
If by "Many" he means "A tiny fraction of", then I agree.
I would think that the "over time" part is the key. If you save
almost anything long enough, it will increase in value as a
nostalgic collectors item. Unfortunately, most of us usually will
not live long enough to profit from this foresight.
Even if the value does increase, given the token appreciation of some
"collectibles," the money might have been better invested in an
FDIC-insured bank account drawing 0.3%.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Why be the fool hastening after "money" if one does not intend to use
it? A rich person and a poor person get treated much the same in a
nursing home. Even more so in the grave. Our banks are now in
tatters, to boot. People who collect at least have a bit of
imagination and purpose, against the vacuity of the miser.

oly


It's my opinion that collectors involve themselves in attempting to
create order out of chaos. They pull things out of society that are
being scattered and organize them back together.

"Mr. Jaggers" lugburzman[at]yahoo[dot]com wrote in message
...
mazorj wrote:
"Bruce Remick" wrote in message
...

"mazorj" wrote in message
...

"Bruce Remick" wrote in message
...

"mazorj" wrote in message
news
"Bruce Remick" wrote in message
...

"PC" wrote in message
...

"Arizona Coin Collector" wrote in message
m...

It's also can make good economic sense.

"It's a way of investing," Greenberg said. "Many
collectibles increase in value over time."

If by "Many" he means "A tiny fraction of", then I agree.

I would think that the "over time" part is the key. If you
save
almost anything long enough, it will increase in value as a
nostalgic collectors item. Unfortunately, most of us usually
will not live long enough to profit from this foresight.

Even if the value does increase, given the token appreciation
of
some "collectibles," the money might have been better invested
in
an FDIC-insured bank account drawing 0.3%.

Most of the things I'm thinking about are items that would not
have been considered collectable and would have had zero value
when new-- things like empty coffee tins, oil cans, cereal
boxes,
beer cans, etc. After 50 to 100 years, anyone who would have
saved instead of discarded this type of thing would not only be
considered balmy, but would be able to sell many of them for a
pretty penny. Things like this often do better as long term
investments than items that are considered "collectibles" when
new. You just have to put up with the raised eyebrows from
friends and neighbors.

I suspect that many of the props from period movies, like 1930s
boxes of cereal and soap, were bought or rented from prop houses
at
a pretty penny. All you need to do is hang on to all your trash
for
50 years or more.

I looked into buying an empty example of the early-1950's Wheaties
cereal box I remembered as a kid that had the sports figure cards
on
the back, but didn't want to pay the asking price of several
hundred
dollars for one. I ate the cereal out of many of these boxes and
saved all the cards on the back, never considering saving one
intact. I also saved all the foreign coins from the mid-50's
Wheaties box promotion, too. Hundreds of empty beer can brands
from
the mid-1930's to the mid-1950's routinely sell for well over
$100,
with several going for five figures. Obviously most were
discarded
at the time, hence the stiff price for nice ones today. I've got
one I reluctantly paid $125 for back in 1980, but which now sells
for $1,000 to $1,500. I have them on display, so I would hardly
consider them as "trash", even though a non-collector might.

"One man's trash..."

"...usually ends up blowing into my yard."

James the Windy

Damn, I wish I had thought of that. Oh so true! That and dandelion
seeds.

mazorj wrote:
"RWF" wrote in message
...
"oly" wrote in message
...
A very scotch reply, IMHO.
"Scotch" is a type of whisky (or whiskey, if you prefer)

I think the purist's take on that is that it should be referred to
under the original version of the name, "Scot's whiskey". If you
pronounce it that way now, they just assume you have a lisp.

"Whiskey" is derived from its Celtic name which, IIRC, means "water of
life". It's amazing how many of the local originators' names for
different distilled spirits translate to that same meaning. It's not
surprising to find that many indigenous peoples' names for themselves
translate to "The People" but the widespread use of "water of life"
says a lot semantically about the role that booze plays in human
culture!

Just to keep it slightly on topic, antique unopened bottles of booze
usually are collectible and worth far more than the same amount of the
same contents in a modern bottle. That's got to be more of a snob
thing because unlike wine, spirits don't change much after they're
bottled.

OTOH, like a car leaving the dealer lot, beer starts going downhill
the moment it leaves the brewery. "Honey, this six-pack is two months
old! I better finish it off today before it goes bad."



God invented whiskey to prevent the Irish from taking over the world.

Edwin Johnston wrote:
oly wrote:
On Feb 1, 2:03 pm, "mazorj" wrote:
"Bruce Remick" wrote in message

...







"PC" wrote in message
...
"Arizona Coin Collector" wrote in message
m...
It's also can make good economic sense.
"It's a way of investing," Greenberg said. "Many
collectibles increase in value over time."
If by "Many" he means "A tiny fraction of", then I agree.
I would think that the "over time" part is the key. If you save
almost anything long enough, it will increase in value as a
nostalgic collectors item. Unfortunately, most of us usually will
not live long enough to profit from this foresight.
Even if the value does increase, given the token appreciation of some
"collectibles," the money might have been better invested in an
FDIC-insured bank account drawing 0.3%.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Why be the fool hastening after "money" if one does not intend to use
it? A rich person and a poor person get treated much the same in a
nursing home. Even more so in the grave. Our banks are now in
tatters, to boot. People who collect at least have a bit of
imagination and purpose, against the vacuity of the miser.

oly


It's my opinion that collectors involve themselves in attempting to
create order out of chaos. They pull things out of society that are
being scattered and organize them back together.

I guess we collectors are doing our part to defy the Law of Entropy. ;-)
..

On Feb 2, 11:08*am, Edwin Johnston wrote:
oly wrote:
On Feb 1, 2:03 pm, "mazorj" wrote:
"Bruce Remick" wrote in message

...

"PC" wrote in message
...
"Arizona Coin Collector" wrote in message
news:fYCdnWTnu7QOKBjUnZ2dnUVZ_ukLAAAA@earthlin k.com...
It's also can make good economic sense.
"It's a way of investing," Greenberg said. "Many
collectibles increase in value over time."
If by "Many" he means "A tiny fraction of", then I agree.
I would think that the "over time" part is the key. *If you save
almost anything long enough, it will increase in value as a
nostalgic collectors item. *Unfortunately, most of us usually will
not live long enough to profit from this foresight.
Even if the value does increase, given the token appreciation of some
"collectibles," the money might have been better invested in an
FDIC-insured bank account drawing 0.3%.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Why be the fool hastening after "money" if one does not intend to use
it? *A rich person and a poor person get treated much the same in a
nursing home. *Even more so in the grave. *Our banks are now in
tatters, to boot. *People who collect at least have a bit of
imagination and purpose, against the vacuity of the miser.

oly

It's my opinion that collectors involve themselves in attempting to
create order out of chaos. They pull things out of society that are
being scattered and organize them back together.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I guess that I am not a collector. Chaos is my second middle name,
Pack Rat is my third middle name.

oly

Rav wrote:
Edwin Johnston wrote:
oly wrote:
On Feb 1, 2:03 pm, "mazorj" wrote:
"Bruce Remick" wrote in message

...







"PC" wrote in message
...
"Arizona Coin Collector" wrote in message
m...
It's also can make good economic sense.
"It's a way of investing," Greenberg said. "Many
collectibles increase in value over time."
If by "Many" he means "A tiny fraction of", then I agree.
I would think that the "over time" part is the key. If you save
almost anything long enough, it will increase in value as a
nostalgic collectors item. Unfortunately, most of us usually will
not live long enough to profit from this foresight.
Even if the value does increase, given the token appreciation of some
"collectibles," the money might have been better invested in an
FDIC-insured bank account drawing 0.3%.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Why be the fool hastening after "money" if one does not intend to use
it? A rich person and a poor person get treated much the same in a
nursing home. Even more so in the grave. Our banks are now in
tatters, to boot. People who collect at least have a bit of
imagination and purpose, against the vacuity of the miser.

oly


It's my opinion that collectors involve themselves in attempting to
create order out of chaos. They pull things out of society that are
being scattered and organize them back together.

I guess we collectors are doing our part to defy the Law of Entropy. ;-)
.

It's a part of it, in one way or another, to be sure.

"mazorj" wrote in message
...

"RWF" wrote in message
...
"oly" wrote in message
...
A very scotch reply, IMHO.

"Scotch" is a type of whisky (or whiskey, if you prefer)

I think the purist's take on that is that it should be referred to under
the original version of the name, "Scot's whiskey". If you pronounce it
that way now, they just assume you have a lisp.

"Whiskey" is derived from its Celtic name which, IIRC, means "water of
life". It's amazing how many of the local originators' names for
different distilled spirits translate to that same meaning. It's not
surprising to find that many indigenous peoples' names for themselves
translate to "The People" but the widespread use of "water of life" says a
lot semantically about the role that booze plays in human culture!

Just to keep it slightly on topic, antique unopened bottles of booze
usually are collectible and worth far more than the same amount of the
same contents in a modern bottle. That's got to be more of a snob thing
because unlike wine, spirits don't change much after they're bottled.

OTOH, like a car leaving the dealer lot, beer starts going downhill the
moment it leaves the brewery. "Honey, this six-pack is two months old! I
better finish it off today before it goes bad."

I've never been inclined to make my beer go uphill, choosing instead to stay
dry and to avoid testing that old cliche about what not to do into the wind.
And fortunately, I've never been able to keep beer around long enough to see
it go bad.

"mazorj" wrote in message
...

"oly" wrote in message
...
On Feb 1, 2:03 pm, "mazorj" wrote:
"Bruce Remick" wrote in message

...

"PC" wrote in message
...

"Arizona Coin Collector" wrote in message
news:fYCdnWTnu7QOKBjUnZ2dnUVZ_ukLAAAA@earthlink. com...

It's also can make good economic sense.

"It's a way of investing," Greenberg said. "Many
collectibles increase in value over time."

If by "Many" he means "A tiny fraction of", then I agree.

I would think that the "over time" part is the key. If you save
almost anything long enough, it will increase in value as a
nostalgic collectors item. Unfortunately, most of us usually will
not live long enough to profit from this foresight.

Even if the value does increase, given the token appreciation of some
"collectibles," the money might have been better invested in an
FDIC-insured bank account drawing 0.3%.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Why be the fool hastening after "money" if one does not intend to use
it? A rich person and a poor person get treated much the same in a
nursing home. Even more so in the grave. Our banks are now in
tatters, to boot. People who collect at least have a bit of
imagination and purpose, against the vacuity of the miser.

So 100% of your coins are held solely and purely for their esthetic value?

You're reading too much into this, oly. Of course money only has value in
what it can provide you. Of course the primary value in collectibles is
in their esthetic appeal. We were talking only about the investment
aspect of collecting. The first rule of collecting for collecting's
sake - be it art or coins or memorabilia - is buy only what appeals to,
and pleases you. That way, after you die, your relatives will be the ones
who have to deal with any appreciation in the value of "all that crazy
junk that he collected".
;-)

It's unlikely that a collector who spends several thousand for an item for
his collection wouldn't consider, at least for a moment, how much of the
value he would get back if he had to part with that item. I'm convinced
that in the back of most all collectors' minds is the thought that what they
accumulate will have a greater value one day when they want to quit or pass
it on to an heir.

On Feb 2, 1:16*pm, "Bruce Remick" wrote:
"mazorj" wrote in message

...







"RWF" wrote in message
...
"oly" wrote in message
....
A very scotch reply, IMHO.

"Scotch" is a type of whisky (or whiskey, if you prefer)

I think the purist's take on that is that it should be referred to under
the original version of the name, "Scot's whiskey". *If you pronounce it
that way now, they just assume you have a lisp.

"Whiskey" is derived from its Celtic name which, IIRC, means "water of
life". *It's amazing how many of the local originators' names for
different distilled spirits translate to that same meaning. *It's not
surprising to find that many indigenous peoples' names for themselves
translate to "The People" but the widespread use of "water of life" says a
lot semantically about the role that booze plays in human culture!

Just to keep it slightly on topic, antique unopened bottles of booze
usually are collectible and worth far more than the same amount of the
same contents in a modern bottle. *That's got to be more of a snob thing
because unlike wine, spirits don't change much after they're bottled.

OTOH, like a car leaving the dealer lot, beer starts going downhill the
moment it leaves the brewery. *"Honey, this six-pack is two months old! *I
better finish it off today before it goes bad."

I've never been inclined to make my beer go uphill, choosing instead to stay
dry and to avoid testing that old cliche about what not to do into the wind.
And fortunately, I've never been able to keep beer around long enough to see
it go bad.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

One doesn't buy beer; one only rents it.

oly

"Edwin Johnston" wrote in message
...
mazorj wrote:
"RWF" wrote in message
...
"oly" wrote in message
...
A very scotch reply, IMHO.
"Scotch" is a type of whisky (or whiskey, if you prefer)

I think the purist's take on that is that it should be referred to
under the original version of the name, "Scot's whiskey". If you
pronounce it that way now, they just assume you have a lisp.

"Whiskey" is derived from its Celtic name which, IIRC, means "water
of life". It's amazing how many of the local originators' names
for different distilled spirits translate to that same meaning.
It's not surprising to find that many indigenous peoples' names for
themselves translate to "The People" but the widespread use of
"water of life" says a lot semantically about the role that booze
plays in human culture!

Just to keep it slightly on topic, antique unopened bottles of
booze usually are collectible and worth far more than the same
amount of the same contents in a modern bottle. That's got to be
more of a snob thing because unlike wine, spirits don't change much
after they're bottled.

OTOH, like a car leaving the dealer lot, beer starts going downhill
the moment it leaves the brewery. "Honey, this six-pack is two
months old! I better finish it off today before it goes bad."

God invented whiskey to prevent the Irish from taking over the
world.

Ditto for vodka and us Polish, and wine for us Italians. It appears
to have worked.

Twice in the past century, though, it almost didn't work for Germans
and beer.