“Average” coin collection? 1 1

[The Neophyte Numismatist]

I am a frequent lurker on the NGC and PCGS registries.  As a newer collector, I am in awe of some of the sets out there.  Like most, I try to buy the best coins I can afford.  
 

As I look as these “million dollar” sets, my brain sometimes warps into thinking that these types of sets are what “most” collectors are building.

Realizing we are all different, and we collect differently… is it even possible to think about what your average/typical coin collection looks like?  

Personally, I collect in 2 ways:

”Find Coins” - I buy Dansco albums for Lincoln cents, Jeff Nickels, etc.  and get boxes of rolled coin from the bank and fill holes.  It’s a lot of fun and I do it with my kids.

“Buy Coins” - these are generally PCGS or NGC graded coins I am only working on two sets (Basic Type Set and a Date Set of Half Cents).

I would categorize my collection as “below average”.  This is not to say that I don’t have some good coins (I do), but I don’t have very many sets completed… still a LOT of holes, missing keys, etc.

But… what do you think the “average” collection looks like?

[bsshog40]

I think it would be hard to know what an average collection would be considered as. Too many options to consider such as income, series interests, level of interest in the hobby, availability of a series, and so on. I think there are more budget collectors than there are million dollar coin collectors by far. To me, I would consider my collection as average, but to someone with more financial availability may find it below average. I think your collection is based on what you collect and how you perceive your collection. 

[scopru]

Very subjective.  Personally, I do not compare joe blow top tier collection vs mine.  I do the best I can with what I can afford.  To some my collection might be above average and too others it would be below average.  To me it is mine and therefore top tier.  

[RWB]

Consider categorizing your collection differently:

"I enjoy it"

"It brings me pleasure"

"The hunt for silver makes me happy"

"It gets me away from my mother-in-law"

[The Neophyte Numismatist]

On 12/2/2021 at 11:02 AM, RWB said:

Consider categorizing your collection differently:

"I enjoy it"

"It brings me pleasure"

"The hunt for silver makes me happy"

"It gets me away from my mother-in-law"

Mine checks all of these boxes 

[Mohawk]

On 12/2/2021 at 11:02 AM, RWB said:

Consider categorizing your collection differently:

"I enjoy it"

"It brings me pleasure"

"It gets me away from my mother-in-law"

These three all day for me.  Especially that last one....I can't stand my mother-in-law.  People with Malignant Narcissism are not fun to be around.

Edited December 2, 2021 by Mohawk

[Coinbuf]

It is a tough question to answer as there are many variables.   Participating on the TPG forums, registries, may give you a distorted view of the hobby as those activities are populated by many of the mega rich collectors and dealers.   That is not to imply that every forum member is rich, many are not.    Even the very large shows are more for the dealer to dealer transactions and feeding the whales than for most collectors.   If you go to a smaller more regional or local show and/or participate in a coin club you would see more of the broader base of collectors and dealers, those that are filling holes in albums with AG-BU raw type of coins.   That average collector still provides the base of the hobby currently and is very important to the health of the overall market.

But I think we have seen a transition to where now the average collector is also one that now also buys slabbed coins in the AU to MS63/64 range who may or may not participate in a registry but not have any asperations of a top level set.   In my own collecting interest of Lincolns a collector can put together an impressive slabbed set (be it date only or full date/mm) of MS65 or MS66 memorial coins for very little money on a per coin basis.   But that set would not be very high ranking in the registry context even though it may be a very beautiful set.

How others view our collections is certainly shaped by their perceptions and views, I do not consider my collection above average but there may be a few that do.

[The Neophyte Numismatist]

@Coinbuf You make an excellent point, and you are spot on.  I really only communicate with collectors on the TPG boards, so I do think I have a distorted view.  I do belong to EAC, but that is another group of high-powered collectors.  I think I fit the mold of "average collector is also one that now also buys slabbed coins in the AU to MS63/64" - I want to build a "nice" collection, but I already know I am not taking home any "registry awards".

So much knowledge, and so many great coin collections on these boards... I will likely always be a "small-time newbie" (and I am okay with that).  But, I think you also spark some thoughts about how the "average collection" has changed over the years.  I don't really have the span to have a true look-back on the hobby and its evolution. Thanks for the insight.

[J P Mashoke]

The old me was a coin saver not a collector. Now I buy coins for there beauty and as a investment so I guess I am collector now  For myself I try to work on one set at a time but when searching for a item I may find something for another set that is a deal I can't refuse so.... I am always working on more than one set now days. My BU ASE and my War Nickel are done mostly. In reality the sets will never be totally complete if there is always a better coin to be found than the ones I have so it is a never ending hobby   LoL

[RWB]

On 12/2/2021 at 11:49 AM, The Neophyte Numismatist said:

Mine checks all of these boxes

Then yours is an "Outstanding Collection" worthy of envy by me and many others.

Edited December 2, 2021 by RWB

[Simple Collector]

I collect both raw and certified. It’s hard to compete with some of the best certified because of dollars,  it, I have actually made a couple of “top pop” coins that lights a competitive fire! I enjoy it and admire the beauty of other sets.

I also try to set goals targeting a specific set and decide what I wish to accomplish and the cost to achieve all the goals I set for a respective set

 

whatever the reasons,I can collect coins much easier than I can muscle cars or other moon money areas!!

[VKurtB]

On 12/2/2021 at 3:54 PM, Simple Collector said:

I collect both raw and certified. It’s hard to compete with some of the best certified because of dollars,  it, I have actually made a couple of “top pop” coins that lights a competitive fire! I enjoy it and admire the beauty of other sets.

I also try to set goals targeting a specific set and decide what I wish to accomplish and the cost to achieve all the goals I set for a respective set

 

whatever the reasons,I can collect coins much easier than I can muscle cars or other moon money areas!!

No desire to have closers in your face at a big car auction?

[James Zyskowski]

Coinbuf. Dang, That’s probably the best explanation I’ve heard. Thanks 👍🏼
Been here awhile and don’t plan on leaving, there’s too much to learn. My collection has a little of this and some of that. Couple small runs of similar types.  I returned to collecting in 2017 and have never checked any registry. How ever I would like to share my first album. In hand they are beefy and high quality. Best $12 I’ve spent in awhile 😉  I believe the majority of collectors are small “family run” operations. Great question 👍🏼

[Hoghead515]

 I collect a little bit of everything. I started some registry sets but theres no way i can ever afford to come close to competing with the collectors in the top places. I love collecting certified coins mostly because i know most the time what im getting. Im very proud of my collection even tho it looks plumb pitiiful compared to most. Im just very grateful for anything I get in life and grateful to be able to get the coins I got. I also like tokens. I like putting together albums also. I just started last year and am no where close to completing my first but its been a great time working on it. One of my favorite parts of the whole thing has been talking to everyone on here and learning about coins and how the mints work. Ive met some great friends on here and that is one of the most valuable things ive got from the hobby.  Friends and knowledge. I wish i had started earlier in life. Also love checking my change and saving coins. Even ones plum worthless to most. I collect about everything and enjoy it. 

[Coinbuf]

On 12/2/2021 at 5:53 PM, Hoghead515 said:

 I collect a little bit of everything. I started some registry sets but theres no way i can ever afford to come close to competing with the collectors in the top places. I love collecting certified coins mostly because i know most the time what im getting. Im very proud of my collection even tho it looks plumb pitiiful compared to most. Im just very grateful for anything I get in life and grateful to be able to get the coins I got. I also like tokens. I like putting together albums also. I just started last year and am no where close to completing my first but its been a great time working on it. One of my favorite parts of the whole thing has been talking to everyone on here and learning about coins and how the mints work. Ive met some great friends on here and that is one of the most valuable things ive got from the hobby.  Friends and knowledge. I wish i had started earlier in life. Also love checking my change and saving coins. Even ones plum worthless to most. I collect about everything and enjoy it. 

Well said Hog, I applaud your mindset X 1,000.   

[Mohawk]

On 12/2/2021 at 7:53 PM, Hoghead515 said:

 I collect a little bit of everything. I started some registry sets but theres no way i can ever afford to come close to competing with the collectors in the top places. I love collecting certified coins mostly because i know most the time what im getting. Im very proud of my collection even tho it looks plumb pitiiful compared to most. Im just very grateful for anything I get in life and grateful to be able to get the coins I got. I also like tokens. I like putting together albums also. I just started last year and am no where close to completing my first but its been a great time working on it. One of my favorite parts of the whole thing has been talking to everyone on here and learning about coins and how the mints work. Ive met some great friends on here and that is one of the most valuable things ive got from the hobby.  Friends and knowledge. I wish i had started earlier in life. Also love checking my change and saving coins. Even ones plum worthless to most. I collect about everything and enjoy it. 

Well said, Hog.  Well said indeed!!! I think you have the best outlook on collecting and the role it plays in one's life I've ever read.  Having fun, learning, making friends and connections, sharing knowledge gained with others and helping them......that's the real important stuff.  Not just in collecting, but in life.  I think that those connections and being part of a community are supremely important.  I'm sure I have some banknotes that most people would spend on beer, but I love them.  I found them or they were gifts from friends and family, and you cannot put a price on that stuff. 

[The Neophyte Numismatist]

I agree that the greatest collections in this hobby (and life) are friends and knowledge.  Both are ultimately more valuable than coins.

[Tony Follis]

I consider myself as a below average collector. I collect coins I like but right right I'm working on two sets. The first set I'm working on is regular issue MS 70 Silver Eagles and the second set is MS 70 Burnished Silver Eagles.

[Lem E]

On 12/2/2021 at 8:23 AM, The Neophyte Numismatist said:

I would categorize my collection as “below average”.

I have seen your sets in the registry and they are FAR from below average my friend.

[The Neophyte Numismatist]

On 12/2/2021 at 11:19 PM, Lem E said:

I have seen your sets in the registry and they are FAR from below average my friend.

That is super nice of you to say.  I am really trying to not buy “but” coins (it’s nice, but…..).  That said, looking around the forums… the bar here is set very high.  When I look at…

@Lem E nickels

@Hoghead515 quarters

@Coinbuf Lincoln’s 

…etc,

I am amazed at some of the coins you all have in your sets.  And that’s just the beginning… dig into almost anyone here.. and a stellar collection is behind the handle on the boards.  It seems like “average” on the boards may be “stellar” in real life.

Thanks again for the perspective.

Edited December 3, 2021 by The Neophyte Numismatist

[James Zyskowski]

Hogsgead515 and Coinbuf thanks. Speaking of perspective I believe it’s relative to the subject as to what is stellar. We are more organized in our collecting but the value is different for gold, silver and clad( copper is different) collections. 
That said the greatest value of my collection is that I like it. 😉

[JKK]

On 12/2/2021 at 6:23 AM, The Neophyte Numismatist said:

Realizing we are all different, and we collect differently… is it even possible to think about what your average/typical coin collection looks like?  

No, for the reasons you described. There's a guy in our club who collects elongates (smashed pennies). He's our VP and works his butt off to help the club succeed. There's another guy who's mostly an error collector. He's the club president. Another collects mainly Oregon tokens and historical stuff. He's the treasurer. My mentor is the ancients and Byz specialist, and not even I have seen his whole collection, but I've bought his discards and it makes me only imagine what the main collection looks like. We have a YN who collects mainly world coins. One of our guys at least at one point held some ungodly distinction with regard to Canadian cent registry sets. I've got a US collection and a world collection, but for active collecting it's mostly ancients and some medieval.

Think about how we'd get an average. You'd need some form of measurement, one that could perhaps create a bell curve where say half of the collections would look roughly similar in content and quantity. The distribution does not in fact work that way. Rather than rolling two six-sided dice, I'd say, you'd be rolling one twelve-sided die, with all possible results equal in probability. So no, I don't think there really is average/typical for serious collectors.

Now, for "the stuff Grandpa brought home from the war and coins he pulled out of circulation," there certainly is an average. They tend to be worth three figures at wholesale (and usually at retail). They consist of some coins from travel or military service, a bunch of wheatback pennies, a couple of IHPs and dateless Buffs, a Morgan dime, some 1946-64 silver, and a couple of proof or mint sets he bought after the period where they might be worth much. But those collections are normally either unloaded by estate liquidators, or passed along to kids who don't collect, and thus don't really grow.

[zadok]

On 12/3/2021 at 11:20 AM, JKK said:

No, for the reasons you described. There's a guy in our club who collects elongates (smashed pennies). He's our VP and works his butt off to help the club succeed. There's another guy who's mostly an error collector. He's the club president. Another collects mainly Oregon tokens and historical stuff. He's the treasurer. My mentor is the ancients and Byz specialist, and not even I have seen his whole collection, but I've bought his discards and it makes me only imagine what the main collection looks like. We have a YN who collects mainly world coins. One of our guys at least at one point held some ungodly distinction with regard to Canadian cent registry sets. I've got a US collection and a world collection, but for active collecting it's mostly ancients and some medieval.

Think about how we'd get an average. You'd need some form of measurement, one that could perhaps create a bell curve where say half of the collections would look roughly similar in content and quantity. The distribution does not in fact work that way. Rather than rolling two six-sided dice, I'd say, you'd be rolling one twelve-sided die, with all possible results equal in probability. So no, I don't think there really is average/typical for serious collectors.

Now, for "the stuff Grandpa brought home from the war and coins he pulled out of circulation," there certainly is an average. They tend to be worth three figures at wholesale (and usually at retail). They consist of some coins from travel or military service, a bunch of wheatback pennies, a couple of IHPs and dateless Buffs, a Morgan dime, some 1946-64 silver, and a couple of proof or mint sets he bought after the period where they might be worth much. But those collections are normally either unloaded by estate liquidators, or passed along to kids who don't collect, and thus don't really grow.

...rolling dodecahedrons, mite be interesting...i have seen a few dodecagon coins though....

[zadok]

On 12/2/2021 at 9:23 AM, The Neophyte Numismatist said:

I am a frequent lurker on the NGC and PCGS registries.  As a newer collector, I am in awe of some of the sets out there.  Like most, I try to buy the best coins I can afford.  
 

As I look as these “million dollar” sets, my brain sometimes warps into thinking that these types of sets are what “most” collectors are building.

Realizing we are all different, and we collect differently… is it even possible to think about what your average/typical coin collection looks like?  

Personally, I collect in 2 ways:

”Find Coins” - I buy Dansco albums for Lincoln cents, Jeff Nickels, etc.  and get boxes of rolled coin from the bank and fill holes.  It’s a lot of fun and I do it with my kids.

“Buy Coins” - these are generally PCGS or NGC graded coins I am only working on two sets (Basic Type Set and a Date Set of Half Cents).

I would categorize my collection as “below average”.  This is not to say that I don’t have some good coins (I do), but I don’t have very many sets completed… still a LOT of holes, missing keys, etc.

But… what do you think the “average” collection looks like?

...average is as average does....f. gump...

[Hoghead515]

On 12/3/2021 at 6:43 PM, zadok said:

...rolling dodecahedrons, mite be interesting...i have seen a few dodecagon coins though....

I had to look those up. Ive never seen one. They look very interesting. How much would something like the one in the pic be worth? Prob way out of my budget just guessing. 

[Rummy13]

I'm the guy that keep the curve of average Joe down. My collection is nothing in comparison to many of the others on here. I am not into collecting to have a better set the anyone else. I collect what I like and can afford. I learn a lot from all the books but learn a lot more from talking to people here and in real life. I personally think the best part of collecting is getting a coin you like and then being able to show it off to other people. Weather it is a new ASE or a coin from BC I love to see them and learn about them. I don't commit much on here because I am learning so much, but people like @Hoghead515 make me feel more comfortable being here. Learning from the more knowable people make me explore other types of coins. There are no coin club around where I live so I learn from people on here. The best advice I ever got on coins came from my dad; Get what you like and a coin is only worth what you are will to give for it.

[VKurtB]

On 12/4/2021 at 8:22 AM, Rummy13 said:

I'm the guy that keep the curve of average Joe down. My collection is nothing in comparison to many of the others on here. I am not into collecting to have a better set the anyone else. I collect what I like and can afford. I learn a lot from all the books but learn a lot more from talking to people here and in real life. I personally think the best part of collecting is getting a coin you like and then being able to show it off to other people. Weather it is a new ASE or a coin from BC I love to see them and learn about them. I don't commit much on here because I am learning so much, but people like @Hoghead515 make me feel more comfortable being here. Learning from the more knowable people make me explore other types of coins. There are no coin club around where I live so I learn from people on here. The best advice I ever got on coins came from my dad; Get what you like and a coin is only worth what you are will to give for it.

 

[VKurtB]

On 12/4/2021 at 8:22 AM, Rummy13 said:

I'm the guy that keep the curve of average Joe down. My collection is nothing in comparison to many of the others on here. I am not into collecting to have a better set the anyone else. I collect what I like and can afford. I learn a lot from all the books but learn a lot more from talking to people here and in real life. I personally think the best part of collecting is getting a coin you like and then being able to show it off to other people. Weather it is a new ASE or a coin from BC I love to see them and learn about them. I don't commit much on here because I am learning so much, but people like @Hoghead515 make me feel more comfortable being here. Learning from the more knowable people make me explore other types of coins. There are no coin club around where I live so I learn from people on here. The best advice I ever got on coins came from my dad; Get what you like and a coin is only worth what you are will to give for it.

“Average collector” is something that has changed many times over the history of the hobby. And it WILL change again. We’ve been through several “eras” just in my lifetime. We’ve had the “just fill the album hole with a junk piece, and that’s good enough” era. We’ve had the “solid BU roll collecting” era. We’ve had the “buy extra mint and proof sets to resell” era. (You can’t do that if everyone else is also doing it.) Before I came along there was the classic commemorative craze era. There is one fizzling out now - the buy everything the Mint offers era. Just check the collapsing sales figures. Then we have the early slab craze era. We now have one I can’t believe ever got started - the “slab everything the Mint offers” era. ¡Caramba, that’s just CRAZY!

[James Zyskowski]

Kurt. Perhaps add the flippers who are getting a rude awakening.  Bought the heck out of the Morgan’s and Peace Dollar early backorder opportunity only to have quality issues and junk packaging. 😉

[RWB]

It's a free market, or should be. If people lose money on their speculations, that's their responsibility and nobody should suggest they be "bailed out" of their sinking row boat.