Reading about the hysteria we are all experiencing on the auction side of coin collecting gave me cause to pause. As a relatively new collector I must plead guilty...

to being part of the problem. I rely on PCGS, NGC and the red book for values, however they rarely agree. So for me it has turned into a matter of how much I have to spend vs the desirability of the coin. I began collecting when the mint issued the Marine Corps Anniv. Commemorative. I have fallen in love with this hobby.

My signature collection "War and Conflict" has real fuzzy boundries and that has me worried finacially. At some point I will need to make some decisions about where this project begins and ends. I keep finding beautiful coins everywhere I look and recently expanded my collection to include world coins, so called dollars and medals.

Including these later items troubled me at first because I originally wanted to maintain a "PUREST PROSPECTIVE." That is to build a collection with the highest graded U.S.coins possible. The addition of medals and so on hadn't entered my mind. But in retrospect, I did not know they even existed. Having said that, I guess I will just keep collecting and upgrading as my wallet allows. I'm finding the real expense is in grading my coins, a necessary evil for the path I've chosen.

I really enjoy reading your input. So keep on sharing. Steve

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