What to Collect - What went into your decision

[Zebo]

What went into your decision to collect the coins that are your primary focus? Price, history, availability, influence from a family member or friend? Other?

 

[physics-fan3.14]

Of course price, availability, history, and all of the other factors ultimately affect my decision to collect a series. But those decisions only really come after I'm interested in a series.

 

How do I get interested in a series?

 

More often than not, its because I saw an example or two and I thought "Ooh, that's pretty."

[JKK]

What went into your decision to collect the coins that are your primary focus? Price, history, availability, influence from a family member or friend? Other?

 

It evolved. For most of my collecting life, it was US coins, and I built a reasonable collection for not being rich. Then I came to realize that I liked Roman and world coin collecting better, and that these leveraged my education and language backgrounds rather nicely.

 

There are a lot of types of collecting that absolutely mystify me, but I think it's always a bad idea to dismiss any collecting category just because it's not my thing at all. If it makes people happy, great, whatever it may be.

[inkydextruss]

I collect many different coins, but all of them have some sort of precious metal in them. Lately I have stayed away from US coins, because the gold is just not 24k, but 22k. This is only if am buying coins that are more for the bullion.

 

Although I do love Morgans, Walking liberties, but I really enjoy the Canadian maple leafs or the Brittanias.

[brg5658]

I collect many different coins, but all of them have some sort of precious metal in them. Lately I have stayed away from US coins, because the gold is just not 24k, but 22k. This is only if am buying coins that are more for the bullion.

 

Although I do love Morgans, Walking liberties, but I really enjoy the Canadian maple leafs or the Brittanias.

 

Most world gold coins are not 24k gold. Modern bullion issues are 24k in the USA and elsewhere.

[Lastufka Collection]

All of the above really, but my current active sets are

 

A King's Ransom - mostly bullion and other coins containing silver and gold. I was going to have some precious metals in my portfolio anyway for diversification, so why not use that percentage to buy more coins? Plus the coins are mostly commemoratives, so it's also a fun way for me to learn some more history as I research the coins.

 

and

 

The Symphony Set - music-related coins from around the world and throughout history. I just really like music. I'm a songwriter and musician. I started and eventually sold an indie record label. So this is just a way to combine two hobbies/passions.

[World Colonial]

When I resumed collecting in 1998, I initially intended to collect US coinage. After evaluating the cost and my budget, I abandoned the idea. I next looked at the Krause manuals to see what I liked and what I thought my budget could buy. I say "thought" because Krause doesn't reflect actual prices and I had no idea of the availability.

 

Since then, I have changed my focus somewhat but predominantly still collect the coins I chose. Today, I almost exclusively buy better pillar minors and in the last 10 years, maybe bought a handful of coins that are not in the series I collect.