Long live the Registry?

[Tradedollarnut]

Is the Registry concept dying a quick and painless death? Does anyone care anymore? Look at the CU Registry forum or this Registry forum. We haven't had a meaningful item to discuss for months!

 

What would it take to breath new life into the concept? Or will it simply be a place to show ones' wares for collections coming up for sale?

[EVillageProwler]

The online registry concept is just a fad. Folks have been applying friendly competition for quite a while. Do you think the few serious Trade Dollar collectors really care about any online registry? Is it because of the online registry that you hope that you-know-who finally gets the '78-CC that'll fit nicely into his set?

 

I think the online registry is a fad with an exceptionally good trait: it allowed many of us to get to know others with like interests. Once this happens, we can share with each other via other electronic venues.

 

EVP

 

[keithdagen]

For me personally, my budget is tight, so I'm not adding a lot of coins. When I do, I usually find more to talk about on the Registry boards. I avoid the one across the way because the only topic seems to be complaints about how those PR-69DC's are weighted.

[Architecht]

 

I disagree.

 

I think that online registries may be less of a hot topic because they've become much more familiar, but that doesn't make them any less a part of the landscape. Like any other new practice, it gets the most attention at introduction and then moderates from there.

 

However, overall the trend I see is one that continues to engrain registries as a part of collecting that brings people together over their hobby - just like in-person collector clubs, or displaying sets at trade shows or anything else that shares the hobby.

 

It reminds me of ecommerce. When it first appeared it was supposed to be the hotest thing ever. Pundits made predictions about the vast percentages of shopping over the holiday season that were going to be done online, and created so much hype that th reality was less impressive than the marketing. Nonetheless, ecommerce continues to grow today despite the lull in press coverage and hype. Why? Because it's just plain convenient and a good idea. This year, my girlfriend did all of her Christmas shopping online. That's progress.

 

I see a fair number of parallels to registries. At some point, the hype dies down, but the concept will continue to spread and permeate the hobby - not as a central focus of the hobby itself, but as one of the pillars that support it.

 

Arch

[Tradedollarnut]

If that's true, wouldn't it make sense that the competition part (the hype part) is the part that fades away and the satisfaction of showing one's set to your peers is what remains? If so, then doesn't it logically follow that the most successful long term Registry will be the most inclusive one?

[Spooly]

The Registry is not a new idea. Their has always been some type of "the best of the best" accounting among collectors and dealers. Every series of coins have had clubs, in these clubs the debate of who has the "best" coin/collection would take place. Most clubs even have some type of "condition census" for coins and collections. The start of third party grading/registry sets you have just brought the "best of the best" to the "masses". So TDN is correct "most successful long term Registry will be the most inclusive one".... this is what has happened. Now all the (Classic) coin clubs are in decline. The "new" coin clubs are message boards/registry sets. It's kind of like the guys that complain about the "ego" factor of the Registry....... like their where no big ego's in coin collecting before the Registry?

 

The more things change.... the more things stay the same.

 

 

 

 

[Architecht]

 

Well, there are a couple of points tangled together here that I view separately.

 

First, let me say that competition is not the whole of the hype. Competition, I think, is quite able to stand on its own merits - as it has throughout countless human interactions - and continue to be an enjoyable part of the registry. I don't think that the thrill or enjoyment of competition will disappear as the "newness" fades from registries. It may become less intense as people fall into a rhythm, but it won't disappear.

 

There's no question, though, that online interaction in the coin collecting community is still not fully mature. There's more territory to be explored. How will competition fit into the long term scene? Will it be only one activity among many conducted online, or will it continue to play a starring role?

 

Inclusiveness is also an interesting topic for registries. You have to bear in mind that there's more to running a registry than just maximum participation. It's got to be good for the hobby, or what's the point, but it also has to be good for the creators or it becomes difficult to justify the expense.

 

Arch

[Oldtrader3]

Amen, Arch, you hit it on the head regarding inclusiveness.

[Tradedollarnut]

Expense? What expense?! Sheesh - we all know that Arch works for peanuts, left over halloween candy and a mug!

[IrishMike]

Any more posts about it being expensive and we will take a poll to have this thread banished to the water cooler.

[gmarguli]

It's kind of like the guys that complain about the "ego" factor of the Registry....... like their where no big ego's in coin collecting before the Registry?

 

True, but I don't recall people paying insane amounts of money for modern grade rarities and constantly complaining that their set moved down a notch and that the incorrect weighting is affecting their set score.

 

I sold one top pop coin a few months back. The biggest concern of the buyer was that I not tell two specific people who I had sold the coin to. Last I checked, it had not been added to his registry set. I'm guessing that it will be sprung on the others when the timing is right. It's no longer about collecting, it's about one-upmanship. That's now the game. Rather sad.

 

[tgilliams]

The online Registry certainly has spurred both competition and increased interest and appreciation of fine coins. What a thrill it is to move from 10th position to 6th. And how and what I need to do to reach #5. Good competition adds to the appreciation and acquisition of fine coins.

[Gunsmoke]

I like the registry and hope it is here to stay. I enjoy it for several reasons: 1) it is a place to log, view and display my coins, 2) it helps me be focused and disciplined in what I collect and why, 3) I enjoy the competition (currently 4th in the buffalo short set and looking for the right coins to move up - though will probably never overtake Hoot), and 4) it provides an incentive for me to be discriminating in my coin acquisitions. If I wasn't interested in the registry then a MS 64 probably would be just as good as the MS 66.

 

I think the registry is good for the hobby and NGC. It has brought me back into collecting, plus I search out not just coins, but NGC graded coins. Two reasons for this, it is safer and because I want coins for the registry.

 

Happy Thanksgiving Day!

[Hoot]

Excellent topic and great responses.

 

The registry in its current form, i.e., and electronic form available for widespread viewing, is the most inclusive expression of the competition among collectors in this hobby to date. As such, it was inevitable that it gathered people who compete in every form of expression, from the "one upmanship" types to those who just love to put what they have out there as a challenge both to themselves and to members of the hobby at large. I rather like the latter, and don't care how my sets rank with them (and niether do they). I typically despise trophy hunters and like those who are passionate about the hobby, expressing that in some form of personal reward by displaying their sets.

 

And this form (the electronic form) of the registry will live on as long as this medium exists, third party grading companies vie for the best reputation, and as long as serious collectors and amateur numistmatists seek to participate, present and educate. In a sense, there is a responsibility that each of us carries into the presentation of our sets. We have an obligation to not be smug or contrite (like the people Greg pointed out). Furthermore, we have both an opportunity and a bit of an obligation to stand and deliver, so that this new form of gathering breaths life. So as we may have educated ourselves (and we should), we should educate. This process ameliorates the competative aspects of the presentation, and makes kinder participation in the craft.

 

Hoot

[keithdagen]

I sold one top pop coin a few months back. The biggest concern of the buyer was that I not tell two specific people who I had sold the coin to. Last I checked, it had not been added to his registry set. I'm guessing that it will be sprung on the others when the timing is right. It's no longer about collecting, it's about one-upmanship. That's now the game. Rather sad.

 

In my opinion, that sums up everything that is wrong with the idea of the PCGS Registry.

[braddick]

.

[Spooly]

I sold one top pop coin a few months back. The biggest concern of the buyer was that I not tell two specific people who I had sold the coin to. Last I checked, it had not been added to his registry set. I'm guessing that it will be sprung on the others when the timing is right. It's no longer about collecting, it's about one-upmanship. That's now the game. Rather sad.

 

Like than didn't happen before the PCGS Registry?.... Please!

 

Those people are no worse than the big group of Doctors and Lawyers that know nothing about coin collecting but yet spend tens of thousands of dollars on coins a year.... because the "dealer" told them they are "rare". All the major dealers fall all over themselves trying to pick off these "clients" from one another. But I guess this type of buyer... is a "new" evil type because of the "Registry".

 

I just wish we could go back to the "pure' and "innocent" days before the Evil Registry ruined the hobby. When their where no big ego's, no one-upmanship and no competition for the finest coins.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Hoot]

I just wish we could go back to the "pure' and "innocent" days before the Evil Registry ruined the hobby. When their where no big ego's, no one-upmanship and no competition for the finest coins.

 

Here here! I have no interest in one-upmanship. I follow the rules of my pure interests and the enthusiasm of finding great coins (sensu Michael)!

 

Hoot

[Oldtrader3]

The one-upmanship and large egos of trophy collectors was there before the Registries. We just weren't privy to it or sickened by it.

[Gunsmoke]

Maybe it is because I don't know any big tropy hunters that I am not sickened by tropy hunting. Why does it sicken you?

 

So what if someone with lots of money purchases a "tropy"? What is the big deal?

 

Not saying you're wrong for how you feel, just trying to understand it.

[EVillageProwler]

I don't like trophy hunters because they contribute to the ever increasing prices of the stuff I want!

 

 

EVP

 

[Oldtrader3]

Gunsmoke: I think that you took me out of context. I was referring to trophy hunting coins, not animals. As a matter of fact, I am a hunter and have been for more than 40 years. I happen to have some mounted deer and antelope trophies, although I am not a trophy hunter per se. Maybe I was not clear in my post about which group I was referring to?

[New_Horizons]

How, then, does one explain a type-set? Isn't that just one 'example' of a series, usually attempting to find 'the' finest, then moving along to another series, as opposed to assembling the series itself? Perhaps its just me, but-- (read the tag-line...)

[Gunsmoke]

Oldtrader, I understood you were referring to coins. I just don't understand the strong resentment.

 

I suppose the analogy is the average coin guy is the hunter that goes out into the woods prior to season and scouts and then hunts each day hoping for a nice buck. And the coin trophy hunter is the guy who slips out of his SUV, meets the guide who settles him into a nice stand and bam o, he shoots a nice 10 pointer not due to his hunting skill, but because of his pocket book.

 

Am I close?

 

 

[Oldtrader3]

I can not speak for other people, but the last guided hunt that I went on was in the Bighorn Mountains in Wyoming. I spent 10 days on horseback in 3 feet of blowing snow, at 11,000 feet, with high winds and driven snow most days. If you have not had the pleasure of sitting on horseback with a driving snow storm in your face when it is 10 degrees, with the wind blowing 30 miles per hour, then you just haven't lived. Base Camp was at 9,500 feet. At least we had warm tents to sleep in.

 

I walked the horse every day in 3 feet of snow, several hours a day, to give the horses a break because they were slipping and losing their balance on the shale on the side of a mountain. I worked the hardest I ever have hunted for 10 days and never saw a trophy deer. They had migrated (we saw the migration trails), down to the foothills. All this for $2,500 plus travel, plus tips for the guides.

 

This is pretty typical of the western wilderness hunts that I have taken. It was hardly a turkey shoot.

[Gunsmoke]

You still haven't answered my original question about your resentment toward coin tropy hunters.

 

My post wasn't intended to suggest that the use of a guide in hunting was wrong. Only trying to make a comparison in an attempt to understand your attitude toward coin trophy hunters.

 

 

[Oldtrader3]

I do not have any resentment towards coin Trophy Hunters. It just is not my cup of tea. I suppose we all are coin Trophy Hunters, in a sense, occasionally which is certainly ok. My only criticism of "Trophy Hunters" in the context of my original post is that IMHO they are sometimes not bona fide collectors but slab/coin accumulators with very little depth of knowledge about the hobby.

 

I feel that you are trying to put words in my mouth. Don't attribute my feelings to me. That is my job. Cool?

[Gunsmoke]

I feel that you are trying to put words in my mouth. Don't attribute my feelings to me.

 

Well, excuse me......... You are right, you did not say you resented trophy hunters, but you did say you were sickened by it.

 

We just weren't privy to it or sickened by it.

 

So I wasn't tryiing to put words in your mouth, just trying to understand why you are "sickened" by trophy hunting.

 

 

[shirohniichan]

It's no longer about collecting, it's about one-upmanship. That's now the game. Rather sad.

 

Yikes, I find myself agreeing with gmarguli and KD at the same time!

[Gunsmoke]

Everyone knows you're really one of their groupies