Does it really have to be the 'finest known'

[MikeKing]

Does it really have to be the finest known? Or can't it just be an absolutely beautiful coin, something you love and like. Does it really matter if there is one 'better' or if the 'other' one bears the name of Eliasberg?

 

Can't you have one of the finest collections of 'whatever' without it being the certified coin companies 'finest known?'

 

Does it matter if there is a small scratch or a nick in what you yourself consider an OK place or a place that really doesn't matter to you and still...in your mind...and perhaps in others..and still have one the finest even if not 'the finest known'.

 

Like who the xxxx cares?!!!!?

 

And I ask this because I got this infection or genetic abnormality/disposition that compells me, when I see a specimen of something I already have, thats 2 grades higher...and if I didn't know about it, quite honestly, it wouldn't have phased me at all, that I had what I had. But now I just can't get the 'higher' grade coin out of my mind.

 

 

 

 

[sanmary]

Mike, what matters in collecting is what YOU think about your collection. I own some of the prettiest Mercs ever, but I will never be caught-up in the "who is the best" game. My collection is MY COLLECTION!! Yours should be yours.

[jom]

MikeKing:

 

Exactly! It boggles the mind that some people worry about what OTHERS think about their coins. Who the hell cares if someone has a higher grade? I mean, who's paying the dough anyway? YOU ARE. Therefore, YOU should be the one satisfied with your coins.

 

jom

[Leothelion]

Does it really have to be the finest known? Or can't it just be an absolutely beautiful coin, something you love and like. Does it really matter if there is one 'better' or if the 'other' one bears the name of Eliasberg?

 

Can't you have one of the finest collections of 'whatever' without it being the certified coin companies 'finest known?'

 

Does it matter if there is a small scratch or a nick in what you yourself consider an OK place or a place that really doesn't matter to you and still...in your mind...and perhaps in others..and still have one the finest even if not 'the finest known'.

 

Like who the xxxx cares?!!!!?

 

And I ask this because I got this infection or genetic abnormality/disposition that compells me, when I see a specimen of something I already have, thats 2 grades higher...and if I didn't know about it, quite honestly, it wouldn't have phased me at all, that I had what I had. But now I just can't get the 'higher' grade coin out of my mind.

 

 

Leo

[Tradedollarnut]

And I ask this because I got this infection or genetic abnormality/disposition that compells me, when I see a specimen of something I already have, thats 2 grades higher...and if I didn't know about it, quite honestly, it wouldn't have phased me at all, that I had what I had. But now I just can't get the 'higher' grade coin out of my mind.

 

Ohmygawd! It's contagious!

 

[reid1836]

Well, I can only speak of my own collecting expriences ( 30+ yrs ). I don`t compare my collection to anyone elses because beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder. My taste in what constitutes a beautiful coin may vary greatly from anothers. Of course there are also areas of shared considerations. I like to compare my current collection to those I have had over the years. Always striving to improve in rarity or condition. No , mine will never be of the same stature as Eliasberg , Garrett , or Bass.

Still , in my registry it`s currently the finest known !!!!!!

[braddick]

MikeKing:

 

Exactly! It boggles the mind that some people worry about what OTHERS think about their coins. Who the hell cares if someone has a higher grade? I mean, who's paying the dough anyway? YOU ARE. Therefore, YOU should be the one satisfied with your coins.

 

jom

If I began to care what others thought of my coins I'd crawl into a fetal position, thumb in mouth, and crawl under my bed not to ever return.

 

I do, admittingly, enjoy the ocassional email I might receive from a Collector inquiring why I collect the way I do. Mock me if they must but the passion for what I enjoy lives on.

[Oldtrader3]

I think that you reach some plateau in your life where reality sets in and you realize that you had better be satisfied with what you have in life because it ain't going to get any better!

[nwcs]

I admit that I started out wanting the finest known. Then it became the finest I could afford. Now the only criteria is that the coin have the right look for me. Lightside, darkside, whatever. If it doesn't have the right look, forget it. I also have given up comparing my coins to anyone else. What surer way to disappointment?

[LucyBop]

it doesn't have to be the finest known for me, but hey, if I can score it at a great price, ya, I will!

[BillJones]

To me coin collecting is a private pleasure that I enjoy sharing with others. Since my first love is early U.S. coins (pre 1807 material) I not operating under any illusions that I can afford or even have a chance to purchase the finest known of anything. I have some condition census coins for specific die varieties, and I have some coins and tokens that were plate pieces in the classic reference works. I didn’t go out of my way to buy these pieces, and I did not pay much of any premium to get them.

 

These fellows who think that they have the finest known coins because of the grades that the slab companies have put on them are fooling themselves. First some really great coins have never seen the inside of a certification company. Second, the graders don’t get it right 100% of the time. Third, determining the finest known is not always cut and dried.

 

For example a large cent collector I knew owned a very rare variety of a 1798 cent that had EF or better sharpness, but the coin a huge scratch in the right field. The other claimant to the finest known was a straight VG coin. Which is better?

 

I once owned an 1803 C-2 half cent that was in VF-25. The finest known example had EF-40 sharpness, but it was polished and re-colored . Which one is better?

 

I collect what I enjoy, what I can afford and coins of a quality that matches the amounts that I am willing to spend for a given piece. My “old” commemorative coin collection falls into the category. It’s mostly hand-picked MS-64’s. It’s certainly far from the finest known collection, but it suits me and that’s what counts. The set is registered here with photos of all the coins if you would like to check it out.

 

[Wihlborg]

Well, it's nice to dream, but I realized a long time ago that I would never be able to afford the finest known coins in the series that interest me the most (early silver commem’s, Lincoln cents, & buffalo nickels). I do buy the best grade I can afford or am willing to pay for though.

 

As for upgrading a coin, I am very picky about the coins I buy and tend to become quite attached to them. Although I will upgrade a coin, it really has to be a coin that I like better than the one I already have. I will not upgrade just for the sake of a higher grade. The coin has to have something about it…a look that makes me like it more than the one I already have.

 

Lastly, while it’s always nice to have other collector’s admire my coins, in reality very few people have seen them in person, so I better like them or I would have spent a lot of money for nothing!

 

John.

 

[Leothelion]

Deep down inside each of us, I think there is a place where there's room for at least one "finest known" coin. Knowing that you have at least one coin that is better then any other coin out there. I think for someone to come on here to shed his story on how important it is to be number one in any given series, to tell us the costs to reach that goal would be quite embarrassing, to say the least. To tell of the hard lesson he learned about losing his arse by blowing all his money on pop top coins just to be number one. But then again, this individual might say that losing money was never the issue. That being number one was more important then any thing else in the world. That his name was on the line, that whatever it was going to cost him, that he knew he would need to blow large proportions of money to get that coin because it was so very important to stay ahead of the game, to stay on top, to be number one, to be better then anyone at any cost.

Would that person come here and tell us like it is, his glory days, to be number one and why it's so important to do so...........

 

Remember folks, we're talking about pop top, modern dated coins that are not rare or scarce but that they were certified with some very big numbers as Ed Sullivan might say.......very big numbers!

 

Leo