A Newbie's Coin Collecting Journey - Narrowing My Collecting Scope 1 1

[The Neophyte Numismatist]

I have opened up a few posts this way, but I am relatively new at coin collecting.  I have been collecting for a year in April 2021.  My coin collecting journey is as follows:

First - Collected whatever came my way.  Lincoln cents in low grade?  Sure!  State quarters?  Why not?  I literally bought albums and stuffed them with anything I could find coin roll hunting.  It was great, and it was cheap.  Then the coin shortage hit... and that stopped that.

Second - Now liking collecting coins from pocket change, I was disappointed when I could no longer get them. So, I went into my first coin shop, and saw coins I never knew existed.  My eyes grew wide as I looked at different sizes and designs of coins.  A large cent?  Who ever even knew that this existed?  I was very intrigued, but also absolutely horrified at coin prices (I had only paid face).  I was scared to death of the expensive coins, but they were so interesting to me.  I could never afford a set, but maybe just one... and with that I started a Type Set.  Over time, I became a little desensitized to the higher coin prices (but never lost sight of the fact that this can get expensive). 

Now - The Type Set exposed me to all "types" of coins (as the name suggests).  I am still not not close to completing the Type Set, and at this point I am not sure if it will ever be.... because.... I am now completely distracted with collecting early copper (half cents in particular).  I love everything about half cents.  I love the fact that the most common half cent is more rare than most "key" dates in other series.  So, every time I have extra money laying around for a coin... it goes toward a new half cent date/variety (as my Type Set sits in wait).

Questions - 

• What has been your coin collecting journey?
• Did you find a changing focus to your collection over time?
• If so, did you find your scope narrowed or widened?
• Have you ever regretted changing your direction?  Would you have done anything differently?
• What is your favorite part about your coin collecting journey?

[Mohawk]

Hmmm.....let's see here, Neo (I hope the abbreviation is okay with you).  Here are my answers:

1. My coin collecting journey has been fairly long and quite varied.  I started collecting coins at the age of 8, in 1988, after finding a 1947 Maple Leaf Canadian Small Cent in change.  I became interested in acquiring all of the Canadian Small Cents I could find out of circulation.  That soon expanded to Lincoln Cents as well.  Once I became a teenager, I walked away from collecting for a few years before picking it up again at 19, in 1999.  I was spurred on by the discovery of a 1999-P Susan B. Anthony Dollar.  At that time, I started working on a collection of Anthony Dollars and Lincoln Cents (no Canadian at this time.  I was living in California then and Canadian was hard to find in circulation out there).  Over the years since then, I've collected some U.S. coins, some Indian coins, some British coins while specializing in Canadian Proof Like coinage and Ottoman coinage.  This takes us to about 2016, when I completely shifted focus to a thematic set of coins depicting birds and other dinosaurs.  Now, we get to 2019 and the beginning of what I do now, which is an attempt at a complete RIC # set of the copper and silver coins of Roman Empress Faustina the Younger, with a few of the nicer provincials thrown in.  Chasing Faustina is the only thing I actively pursue collecting-wise now as the project is absolutely massive and it is something I truly adore and I've sold my other collections aside from my birds and other dinosaurs and my Ottoman Nickel Para collection to fund my Faustina collection.  My dinosaur collection won a Most Creative Custom Set Award in 2017 and my Ottoman Nickel 20 Para collection won a Best Presented Set Award in 2018. Connected to this, I've been selling coins since 2008 to help fund my own collecting.  I also worked in a brick and mortar coins shop for a time from 2012-2013, and I learned a ton about selling there.  This is very much a Cliffs Notes version of my collecting journey that hits the main points.....there's more to it as far as things I've collected, but this is the important stuff.

2. Oh, I definitely changed focus.  I started with U.S. and Canadian coins, then went to Ottoman coins, and then added Canadian Proof Like coins back in, and then abandoned series and country collecting altogether to chase coins thematically and then finally landed on my Faustina the Younger project.  But since finding Faustina, my focus has not wavered once collecting-wise except for some time away after losing my mom and stepmom to cancer within months of each other.  But after some time working through things, I came back to coins and it was Faustina I came back to.

3. My scope has definitely narrowed collecting-wise but widened with what I sell.  Like I said above, I only actively pursue coins for my Faustina the Younger collection now.  But, with my selling, I've moved into selling Canadian coins as well as modern U.S. coins.  For years, I really only sold modern U.S. coins, but I want to expand and try something new and Canadian seems like a good choice.

4. Since finding my Faustina the Younger project, I've had no regrets about changing direction.  I didn't before that, now that I think about it, because everything I tried taught me a lot and the knowledge gained through collecting as widely as I have in the past allows me to be a better help to newbies, as well as being a better collector and better seller.  So, no regrets here!

5. I really cannot pick a favorite part.  It's been a valuable experience that has changed me and enriched me as a person, a collector, a seller and as a student of coins.  If I had to pick a favorite, it would probably be the moment I held my first Faustina the Younger coin in my hand......it was like finally finding my true numismatic destiny after decades in the hobby and not feeling like I was pursuing things that were cool, but not quite....right for me.  When I held that first denarius in my hand, it was immediate love at first sight!!

 

 

[The Neophyte Numismatist]

On 9/14/2021 at 6:28 PM, Mohawk said:

Hmmm.....let's see here, Neo (I hope the abbreviation is okay with you).  Here are my answers....

 

 

Abbreviation is fine with me.  Thanks for sharing your journey.  This hobby is so deep and wide... It's great to hear how others navigate and personalize it. Appreciated!

[JKK]

On 9/14/2021 at 3:05 PM, The Neophyte Numismatist said:

 

Questions - 

• What has been your coin collecting journey?
• Did you find a changing focus to your collection over time?
• If so, did you find your scope narrowed or widened?
• Have you ever regretted changing your direction?  Would you have done anything differently?
• What is your favorite part about your coin collecting journey?

1) Fifty years beginning with US coins, then ancient and world coins.

2) Yes.

3) Widened.

4) No. I could have gone in a different direction any time.

5) The fact that I have in effect a little museum in my house, with artifacts that were ancient when Charlemagne was crowned.

[The Neophyte Numismatist]

On 9/14/2021 at 6:41 PM, JKK said:

 

5) The fact that I have in effect a little museum in my house, with artifacts that were ancient when Charlemagne was crowned.

This is so absolutely cool.  A personal museum of artifacts is such an intoxicating idea.  Thanks for sharing!

[Modwriter]

I took my old cigar box of coins out of storage during the 2020 virus and started google searching for information on my coins. I have searched coin rolls, submitted coins for grading, bid at coin auctions, visited the local coin shops, and recently started selling on ebay again. My coin interest has also expanded from moderns to ancients and from high graded PF70 down to PO01lowball. Thank you all for your guidance, laughs and history lessons. Mike

[Mr.Bill347]

Neo, there are a LOT of real knowledgeable people on these chat boards, JKK, Mohawk, VkurtB, Quintus Arrius, JP Mashoke, Hoghead, Jason, John Zyskowksi to name a few. The guys really know their xxIT!

if they don’t have answers it ain’t been asked yet! Welcome to the forum! Good luck, the only thing I might suggest, is try to figure out what you like best. If it’s pennies fine, but try to narrow your focus at first, don’t be like me a get a little of everything and a whole lot of nothing! 

[JKK]

On 9/14/2021 at 3:44 PM, The Neophyte Numismatist said:

This is so absolutely cool.  A personal museum of artifacts is such an intoxicating idea.  Thanks for sharing!

It's not the draw of every coin collector, but it's prominent for many. Suppose I go to re-read Libanius on the life of Julian the Apostate. How many people can do that while looking at a beautiful siliqua (half denarius, silver) depicting Julian II Augustus himself? How many can hold that piece in hand while reading the ancient sources about its issuing authority? It brings a richness to study that could perhaps be obtained by reading the book amid the ruins of Nicomedia ( İzmit, Turkey), Julian's birthplace--but not in many other ways.

Here's one more: Lifetime learning. Right now I've just come from, with the help of my local ancients mentor, attributing a Maroneia, Thrace copper coin that I bought from a local guy who could only come up with "Greek" as a description. We searched our references, went down blind alleys (all of my bungling creation), put our heads together, and nailed it. Beautiful coin. Next on deck is attributing a Sassanid drachm, which will require me digging through the Sassanid -script until I am sure I have the right legends. Since I do not read the Sassanid -script, this also will be a challenge. After that I've got a bunch of jitals, as in the size of my fist if I were hiding a baseball in it, all of which I have to attribute in order to either keep or sell. Oh, and some are in Arabic -script, some in Devanagari. That ought to keep me out of the fleshpots of Beaverton for a while.

I'm never going to master all these areas of knowledge; I don't think anyone can. I will never run out of work and study. I can do this until my eyes or my brains begin to fail me. And along the way, I hope, I can try to do half as much to help other collectors as my elders have done for me.

[Rummy13]

First let me say I am not as knowable as most of the other people here, but I am learning. My collecting journey started before @Mohawk was even born. IN the 60s my dad would bring home change and my brothers got to look though it for coins he wanted. As I got older I started ordering proof and mint sets from the US Mint.  In the early 90s I expanded my buying to the ASE. Always still looking for book coins in change.

Did I change what I'm looking for? Yes and no. I still look though change, but have added thing like State and American Beauty Quarters. I still buy ASE, Proof sets and mint sets.

Never regretted doing my collection the way I did, because it what I like and I find it fun. Not into collecting for the profit, just the fun. Some day one of my relative will get my collection and I hope they will expand it more with what they like. At least they will have a good base to start from and lots of book to read. I did not have the internet to do my research when I started. so I have lots and lots of books.

What has been my favorite part is kind of two fold. I like what I have made and learned. But lately I have been getting a kick out of getting coins from the mint and seeing them sell for lots more on e-bay.

[The Neophyte Numismatist]

This is awesome.  Some have widened in scope, others have narrowed.  All of you (so far) have just enjoyed the collecting journey with no regrets.

I love the stories in this thread.  It's always fascinating to me the approach people take in collecting.  The approaches and styles are as unique as the collections and collectors themselves.  Its a universal passion in individualized style!  I love it.  Thanks again.

[Mohawk]

On 9/14/2021 at 6:41 PM, JKK said:

1) Fifty years beginning with US coins, then ancient and world coins.

2) Yes.

3) Widened.

4) No. I could have gone in a different direction any time.

5) The fact that I have in effect a little museum in my house, with artifacts that were ancient when Charlemagne was crowned.

I like the museum idea as well, Jonathan.  I have a project something like that planned when my Faustina collection becomes a little more extensive.  There's something magical about an ancient coin and I like the connecting with a person who lived long ago, like you do with Julian.  Faustina was quite a bit more, well, colorful and, frankly, brutal than Julian was but no less interesting for that fact.  I like to stare into the abyss a little bit, I suppose.

~Tom

Edited September 15, 2021 by Mohawk

[Mohawk]

On 9/14/2021 at 9:11 PM, The Neophyte Numismatist said:

This is awesome.  Some have widened in scope, others have narrowed.  All of you (so far) have just enjoyed the collecting journey with no regrets.

I love the stories in this thread.  It's always fascinating to me the approach people take in collecting.  The approaches and styles are as unique as the collections and collectors themselves.  Its a universal passion in individualized style!  I love it.  Thanks again.

I agree!! I've enjoyed reading everyone's responses here.  This was a great question, Neo.  Thanks for asking it!

[J P M]

There are many Knowledgeable members here. I am not in the same league as most of these guys. I know enough to get myself in trouble LoL... I have been saving ( Not collecting ) coins starting in the 60s when I was a paper boy, Silver had just been changed to craperclad and I tried to save anything good but when you are poor and hungry it all spends the same. I always dabbled but never could bring myself or my budget ( 4 Girls cost a small fortune ) to invest in coins. I always saved what looked offbeat or silver but not enough. Now that I have retired and (my wife likes coins) I am really getting into shopping the odd ball places and Coin Dealers looking for deals.  I also built a nice Proof set collection of odd years. My BS ASE collection, and working on Morgan's mostly the cheaper ones $300 or less and any slab coin that is a good deal to me is buying at 30% to 40% off of asking price or list price.  

[Jason Abshier]

I grew up into collecting my uncles collected coins , my Father collected coins , But it was my grandfather who took me to coin shops and small coin shows and flea markets back in the days . They collected the average circulated coins (Morgans, peace dollars , seated dimes, bust halves and so on back then mostly all US issued coinage) … as I got older I got more serious into collecting buying Mint state coins my favorite series were (Mercury dimes , walkers , Buffalo nickels) I sold off all my US coin collection about 10 years ago , I now focus more on German coins and other world coins . Anyone ever see Krause German boom 1500-present ? It’s about 4-1/2” thicker than an old telephone book entirely devoted to just German coins , I haven’t looked back on US coinage since I don’t know when I’ll ever return but the US market is hyped over (US coins only) I even talked to few collectors from other countries one of them asked me saying the (US market is odd market “price wise” for certain common US coins and they aren’t even that rare plenty of them can be found in same grade any-day with a basic online search or coin show! Why such high prices ?) compared to European market a lot coins are much much lower mintage figures and more scarce than US coin would ever be they don’t see the high hyped up prices as US coins do . It’s a hard one to answer about US market how can you blame high prices on “supply and demand”??? When theres tons and tons of US coins that are so easy to find in just about any grade your looking for 

[The Neophyte Numismatist]

On 9/15/2021 at 11:59 AM, Jason Abshier said:

"...European market a lot coins are much much lower mintage figures and more scarce than US coin would ever be they don’t see the high hyped up prices as US coins do . It’s a hard one to answer about US market how can you blame high prices on “supply and demand”??? When theres tons and tons of US coins that are so easy to find in just about any grade your looking for" 

This is so interesting and something I have never thought about.  I guess I collect US coins because I relate to them... never for a second did I think about relative rarity and price.  Very cool perspective.  Thanks!

[Jason Abshier]

On 9/18/2021 at 6:15 PM, The Neophyte Numismatist said:

This is so interesting and something I have never thought about.  I guess I collect US coins because I relate to them... never for a second did I think about relative rarity and price.  Very cool perspective.  Thanks!

No problem , a lot old old world coins can be found in nice raw condition and priced fairly . I believe a lot has to do with collectors from other countries don’t collect like we do here in the U.S.  

but lately some of the world coins been going up in prices slightly due to collectors taking interest in older coins with precious metal and so on rarity as well these collectors were getting them super cheap ! Now prices are starting to climb for certain world rare coins. It still a slow market in world coins one starts to dabble in it gets hooked so many world coins to collect and so much history you just can’t get bored 

[Mohawk]

On 9/18/2021 at 6:15 PM, The Neophyte Numismatist said:

This is so interesting and something I have never thought about.  I guess I collect US coins because I relate to them... never for a second did I think about relative rarity and price.  Very cool perspective.  Thanks!

I think it's important to relate to the coins you collect.  Even though I live in the U.S. and I've collected U.S. coins at different points, I was never able to really stick with that part of the hobby.....because I found that I couldn't relate well to U.S. coins, even though I live in the U.S.!! Ancients are a much better fit for me as I've always been interested in the Roman Empire and I find Faustina the Younger to be in interesting and fascinating person.  Once you find that fit for yourself, it's good to stick with it.......it makes the hobby much more rewarding, in my experience.