How do you thin the herd?

[MikeInFL]

I am facing the decision alluded to in the subject line...and was hoping my forum friends would share their thoughts with me.

 

When faced with the decision of "which coins stay and which should go", please discuss how you make that decision.

 

How do you thin the herd?

[SkyMan]

Unfortunately I find my heard is thinning without my help as I get older... along with my eyesight too!

 

Now, as for thinning the herd, it comes down to several different decision trees. When I have multiple coins of a complete series of coins, let's say proof cameo Franklins, generally I keep the top of the line examples for each year (maybe keeping a duplicate for certain specific years). That way I still have the prime examples and have freed up cash for other purposes.

 

In a like manner when I'm selling coins that I got as a group, but didn't have any specific collecting purpose in mind, let's say Battle Creek coins, I decide first which coins I absolutely want to keep and then back up from there. At a certain point when backing up I crossover to the coins where it's a coin I no longer covet and then all following coins in the grouping (in the BC case 10 out of 34) are ones that I'd part with.

 

Then there are the coins in a given series that have no strong emotional attachment for me. For example, while I've got a variety of toned classic Commems, one coin that kind of sticks out in my mind is the Vermont as possible trade bait. It is a very pretty coin, but it in no way relates to me in a personal manner (as opposed to say my Bay Bridge which represents the area where I live).

 

Finally there are the mistake coins. The ones that I never should have bought in the first place. Some of them I'll just bite the bullet and sell them on Teletrade or whatever auction house and take my losses. Other ones are variants that I'm willing to hold on to to trade for nicer examples when and if they pop up in a show.

 

Just for interest sakes, are you planning on selling your coins to take the money out of your coin collection and put it into something else, or are you selling your coins to free up money to buy other coins? If the latter it might be useful to keep some of your coins to use as trade bait.

[Arizonadesertrat]

My thinning was based on the following considerations:

 

1. Current interest. Dump what doesn't interest you. I sold a full set of Barber halves (EF, no micro-O) earlier this year because I had totally lost interest in them.

2. Market availability. How hard will your ejected coin(s) be to replace should you change your mind down the road? Generic coins are easy to replace, and might be cheaper in the future too.

3. Eye appeal. Keep killer coins, dump low-end ones.

4. Keep coins with special emotional appeal (e.g., ones inherited from a close relative, perhaps some coins collected while a child, perhaps your first 'big' purchase, etc.)

[edmerlr]

For me this was an easy decision.

 

Years ago I sold all of my "other coins" to raise the funds to buy more Bust Half die marriages AND die states.

 

I have taken my LECBH collection as far as my bank account will let me. I am happy with my current die marriage count, but I would like a couple more.

 

Therefore, in order to raise more funds for both the die marriages I am missing AND for upgrades to the die marriages I already have, the die states must go.

 

I stalled for while. I kept trying to win the Lottery. Finally I gave up. (Now I am saving my Lottery money for more coins.)

 

I will be selling more of my die states right after the first of the year. The problem I am having is trying to decide which ones have to stay and which ones must go. My goal is to make these decisions within the next 6 weeks. Fortunately I am only concerned about the next group of coins. I will worry about the rest in 2008. One group at a time. I do know that each time the decisions will be harder and harder to make.

 

...so I guess what I am saying when I said above "...this was an easy decision.", what I really meant to say was:

 

I know what group of coins must go, but within every group is a Keeper or two or three or ? ...now which ones are the Keepers?

 

(Examples from my past that I regret:

 

I sold ALL of my IHC. Why in the Heck didn't I keep my PCGS MS-64RB 1877?

 

I sold ALL of my LIncoln Cents. Why in the Heck didn't I keep my S VDB MS-64 Red?

 

Now I am trying to figure out the Busties that need to go, so that I have no regrets in the future.)

 

Regards,

 

Ed R.

[TomB]

I analyze what may stay and what must go quite often. The pieces that must go are then actually moved rather quickly instead of allowing them to grow roots again. As far as how the analysis was done, well, I wish I could tell you that there is an easy paradigm, but I have yet to find one. Every person's decision making process will be unique to their values and resources.

 

For me, I pit my collecting interests against each other and the individual coins against one another. I value originality of surfaces and eye appeal as well as difficulty in finding a suitable replacement and liquidity. Coins that I believe I can replace fairly easily or that I have no distinct collecting interest in are quite often targeted for sale. Also, I am not afraid to sell a coin at a loss if it was a bad purchase since I view the turnover in funds to be more important than my pride in those cases. Many times I have thought that I bled my collection dry of funds only to realize that there was still more money available once I found a coin that I had to stretch to obtain. In my opinion, this is not an easy process.

[michael]

sent to you via pm

 

 

[realone]

I don't know if I can add anything here, a lot of great thinkers and a lot of great advice.

I have thinned my heard and not regretted one sale and I think that is the true test of successful thinmanship and this is what went into my decision amking effort.

As I a become more educated and alert i found I screwed up on certain coins, so the screw-ups go first. Then I found that I was all over the place with my collection, those few outsiders I sold since they were now considered outside my collection range. And as my knowledge base grew along with my eye there were those coins that weren't screw-ups per say but coins that just didn't make the cut, they didn't have the look and I sold them. With more education I found that certain coins I thought were rare really weren't and needed to go. And lastly I just wanted to keep the ones that I held my interest the most, the ones I couldn't take my eyes off, the ones that were irreplaceable. I don't really care if they are hot at this time but I know that after all the effort that I put in to finding the keepers I don't want to ever get rid of the coins that were tough to come by.

[leeg]

This is never an easy decision for me. I tend to hold the coins with the most eye appeal or rarity. I am now only collecting Classic Commems and Lincoln Cents so not easy to part with any coin because I've just about thinned out everything possible. Keep me in mind for a certain two pieces.

[James_OldeTowne]

Here's how I do it. I put the coins on my website, price strongly the ones I really like, and price fairly the ones that are duplicates, extras or just no longer in line with my core collection.

[shirohniichan]

My thinning was based on the following considerations:

 

1. Current interest. Dump what doesn't interest you. I sold a full set of Barber halves (EF, no micro-O) earlier this year because I had totally lost interest in them.

2. Market availability. How hard will your ejected coin(s) be to replace should you change your mind down the road? Generic coins are easy to replace, and might be cheaper in the future too.

3. Eye appeal. Keep killer coins, dump low-end ones.

4. Keep coins with special emotional appeal (e.g., ones inherited from a close relative, perhaps some coins collected while a child, perhaps your first 'big' purchase, etc.)

 

That's a good list. I think this is related to #2, but I ask myself how likely I am to get interested in certain coins again.

 

For example, I used to collect trade dollars. Now I just look at them on occasion, and I enjoy reading about them. The likelihood I'll want to collect them again some day is fairly high. They're not really a "current interest" as I've moved to the British commonwealth under George V, but they're a past interest

[Mozin]

1. Sell the least expensive coins first. Series is not a consideration.

 

2. Next, sell any series in which I have lost interest.

 

3. When I am need to sell from a series I still collect, I first select the lowest value coins that I would not buy currently. Those that I would not currently buy, I sell.

 

4. If I still need more money, I sell off the common issues.

 

Note: Any REDBOOK varieties, I tend to keep, unless I don't like their look.

[cpm9ball]

If you're in need of thinning the herd because your collections have branched out in myriad directions and it has become too unmanageable, maybe you should think back to the particular coin or series that got you started in the first place. Chances are that is where your greatest passion for the hobby lies. Keep those! As you grew in the hobby, it may be that there was another particular series that helped you to become a more astute collector. Keep those, too! Everything else is more apt to be a compulsive reaction to, "Gee, I'd like to have that!", and it is expendable.

 

On the other hand, if you need to thin your collection for financial reasons, get rid of the Hummer, dump the girlfriend and don't eat out as often.

 

Chris

[bsshog40]

 

On the other hand, if you need to thin your collection for financial reasons, get rid of the Hummer, dump the girlfriend and don't eat out as often.

 

Chris

 

Dang, why didn't I think of that before I sold all my good stuff!

[cpm9ball]

 

On the other hand, if you need to thin your collection for financial reasons, get rid of the Hummer, dump the girlfriend and don't eat out as often.

 

Chris

 

Dang, why didn't I think of that before I sold all my good stuff!

 

I'll keep my part of it for you, and you can have it back whenever you choose.

 

Chris

[bsshog40]

 

On the other hand, if you need to thin your collection for financial reasons, get rid of the Hummer, dump the girlfriend and don't eat out as often.

 

Chris

 

Dang, why didn't I think of that before I sold all my good stuff!

 

I'll keep my part of it for you, and you can have it back whenever you choose.

 

Chris

 

thanks anyway Chris, that may be a ways down the road! (thumbs u

[RI AL]

Hi there, MikeinFlorida. I am a transplanted Miami person myself...FSU grad and all that.

 

I am facing the same dilemma. I love the hobby but am spread too thin, in space, resources, storage and my interests range widely. Now that the kidney transplant has me home and retired I'm getting things "settled"...just in case, I asked myself, "self, what would happen if something happened to me and I left this mass of stuff (thousands of minor foreign included) to my wife" I have inventories of my better stuff, U.S.Type, Music Coins, Hard times tokens, Tibet, Peru and a few other side interests but the "not special" stuff has to go. I don't know how old you are, but I am just being practical because I don't want my collection to become a burden. So, little by little, the low priority stuff is going on E-Bay. When I taught high school before I had to retire, I gave lots of stuff away to the kids and KNOW I started many new collectors. That was rewarding. MY wife knows who to contact as far as auctioning off my collection (but I told her I am taking my 18-19th century U.S. type set with me wherever I go to)!!!.

 

So, maybe "practicality" and not being a burden should be a consideration...not if you're 16 of course....but approaching old-fart-li-ness. I have rarely regretted selling something because I replaced it with something I wanted more. I'm eyeing my 1795 dollar currently...wondering if I should convert to other pieces. It's tough...but what wonderful decisions to be able to make.

 

RI AL...sore back from sorting batch 2 of foreign minors. Found some pretty funky countries in those boxes....and I still have about 400 Latin American coins in a big tin that I used with the kids in my Spanish classes.

 

Hey...gold was below $800 today...I think.

 

RI AL

[supertooth]

Hello Folks----And Another great post by Mike in Florida

 

I sort of am a pack rat---like an old farmer who NEVER throws anything away because he might need it one day. In my lifetime, I have collected a lot of stuff----much of it I still have. Have bought whole accumulations of coins.

 

If say ten years ago you bought a lot of silver at 3--4 dollars an ounce, what do you have today?? Would there be a better way to make money? Certainly there are other ways---maybe more profitable ways. But, for me, I like a certain percent to be absolutely secure. I like having some common stuff around.

 

Sometimes I think that I 'should' sell all the common stuff----buy a real nice coin. But then I think that, if the world goes sour, I'd like it having the other stuff around.

 

Also, I have been fortunate. Didn't really need the money. And, since I do not play the stock market and related stuff, I feel safer in what I do know will appreciate over time. I try to stay secure in what I know the most about. Then let the others do it their way.

 

That doesn't mean that I don't sell. I do sell on occasion. I usually buy 'raw' and then TPG the coin----and maybe down the road---sell a few. I usually do very well. And, I always feel good about it. Try to NEVER look back---but always ahead. Things just keep getting more valuable. I ask myself what is enough profit?? Some may say----all you can get. For me, I can live with a little less greed.

 

On the whole, I basically agree with the other responses. If I were to get real serious, I would basically follow their advice. Would keep my core coins and sell the rest. But, here I am lucky again. Having a son who collects coins----leaves me the option of knowing that, for the most part, he will make out OK when I pass on. He and his sister will do just fine. They know what to do if they want to sell.

 

One of the other reasons that I hoard is that much of what I would buy just isn't available on this market today. Coinkat---on the PCGS boards--- just today talked about the Baltimore Show. NO WALKERS available in the early years in VF--AU. He could have just as easily said No "original" Walkers are available that are worth buying. So, I stay home here---waiting for my Tom B visit today. Knowing that I will pick up the gossip later on today over dinner. Folks---the majority of good stuff is ALL GONE----before the show ever opens to the public. It doesn't really matter what series that you collect----the good stuff has been sealed away---long before you or I would ever have a chance at it. Only the auction houses have some nice coins 'once in awhile'. And, to get them, you better have some deep pockets. Bob [supertooth]

[MikeKing]

Mike, I just thinned down my collection by almost 1/3...or, maybe a little less.

 

I had to do it.

 

I started by simply randomly going through it writing down unquestioningly, any coin that I felt FELT in any way, was not up to my self imposed and more mature standards. The more you learn, the more critical your eye becomes and the more you study, the more you learn of what is true value in a coin. I feel like it's a never ending experience, but the collection has to follow suit, and cull, cull, cull, is the answer.

 

I drew up my list and reviewed it and drew up another one and so on for months. MONTHS. And then reviewed it again and finally decided on about two dozen coins I needed to move out of my collection. Very nice coins, but just not what I needed to have and also could use the room for something in their place that was more consistent for what my tastes were now dictating.

 

So that's the story.

 

edited to add:

then you have to decide HOW to divest, dealer, auction house, directly to other collectors, or any of the above.

[DirtyGoldMan]

Great topic. I have had recent occasion to sell a large part of my collection, and for the most part, I have no regrets. In fact, over the years, I have sold quite a few coins and from a purley collecting standpoint, there are fewer than a handful that I wish I had back. (From a financial standpoint, I might have done better holding some longer, but c'est la vie.)

 

In deciding which coins to keep and which to sell, I had a few considerations, some of which may be applicable to no one and some to nearly everyone:

 

1. I wanted to limit my core gold coin collection to 20 coins. I am not quite there yet, as there are a few stragglers and minor decisions to be made, but I am close. I know this is an arbitrary choice, and it may not apply to most (and for good reason).

 

2. I wanted the retained coins to have some unifying theme(s) so that when I (or someone else) look(s) at them later, they have some semblance of being a collection, rather than a hodge podge.

 

3. I wanted to keep coins that would be the hardest to replace, either those coins that are either very rare, outstanding for what they are,or, preferably both.

 

4. I ignored the financial considerations completely. I kept one of my least expensive/valuable coins and my most expensive/valuable and all price points in between. I did not want this to be a collection of necessarily valuable coins.

 

5. I did my best to ignore emotion (coins from a friend or family member), idiosyncratic dates (birthdate minus 100), or other reasons to buy/collect coins that did not make sense to me.

 

What I have left is a core collection of 20 (or so) gold coins that are representative of the southern mints (with greatest emphasis on Dahlonega and least on Charlotte), early half eagles, and pedigreed/storied coins. Overall, I am pleased with what I have done and ready to move on to the next phase of my collecting life.

[jackson64]

I kind of do it in reverse.....step one is to determine the $ amount that I am striving for. (this is assuming that I had an unexpected bill or a coin became available that was a long sought-after "must have")

 

My second step is to pick out the 20 coins that they will have to pry from my cold dead fingers...and set those aside...

 

Step three...calculate, do i still have way more $ value in coins than money needed? If so repeat step 2 and pare down until I reach the balance of coin value left in front of me and money needed...

 

Step four..as was previously mentioned, sell those coins as quickly as possible before they regrow roots...and NEVER look back...

 

 

PS: for me personally it usually boils down to picking some keys out of my albums that I still love working on (ex: 21-S and 26-S buffs recently paid for a Walker proof I had to have)

 

PPS: a great thread Mike..very interesting to see how others assess this problem also

[Houston Investor]

I usually sell the most expensive stuff first if needing to raise cash for a project.

 

[IGWT]

This will sound like a flip response, but it's not. Undertake to photograph all the coins in your collection. Shed any coin that you don't think is worth photographing, that you tire of looking at after a couple views, or that makes you wince because the camera sees something that your eyes missed (all this with photographic abilities aside, of course).

[MikeInFL]

Wow, great responses from everyone. I thank each of you for your advice and sharing your experience.

 

Before I jump into the logic I'm planning on using, I need to clear up something. My original post infered (incorrectly) that I'm forced to do this. In actuality it is a completely self-imposed decision based on the feeling that I just have too many coins. While my focus has been pretty good over the past year or two, I just want to free myself of some of my earlier mistakes and collecting directions that no longer interest me. I also have not sold many coins, and feel that I'm missing out on learning what I can from that side of the hobby.

 

Anyway, here's the logic that I plan on using:

 

1) Decide on my collecting direction. I'm fairly certain that I will limit myself to type collecting and a date set of large cents, so this step is likely complete.

 

2) Sell virtually everything that doesn't apply to the two collecting goals. Figure the best way to liquidate the extras, which vary from rolls of wheaties to proof sets to modern commemoratives to high-grade Ikes. The exception to this being coins that hold a sentimental value (i.e. my grandfather's collection, etc.).

 

3) Where I have duplicates, sell the less appealing coin.

4) Where I have obvious "mistakes", sell them.

 

So basically, I'll try and separate the wheat from the chaff, and make sure that what remains is more focused. Quite a paradigm shift from my hoarders mentality, but a step that I think is both necessary and potentially educational.

 

Again, thanks to all that have replied thusfar, and please keep the suggestions coming....Mike