What Do You Do Regarding Coins.....When NOT Buying Coins ? 0

[GoldFinger1969]

This hobby has lots of down-time when we are not approaching or closing a final purchase of a coin. 

Do any of you spend time -- besides on forums like these  -- doing stuff other than the acual buying/selling of a coin ? 

Here's what I do in between purchases:

(1)  Reading & posting on Forums, including this one (of course !  ).

(2)  Reading books on the coins I collect/enjoy.

(3)  Reading older articles from years ago or even decades ago for historical knowledge or relationship to contemporary events.  Many of them are on the internet.

(4)  Reading current or older auction catalogs.  Scanning and looking for them, too !!

(5)  Researching prices, recent and years ago, for major coin types I follow.  I do this at HA and GC.

(6)  Reading the coin descriptions at HA or SB on Trophy Coins which usually have lots of interesting stuff on the coin type involved (i.e., Saints or Morgans).  The information on higher-priced coins tends to increase the more the price does.

Alot of the information I have -- especially from the Internet (articles, forum posts, columns, etc.) -- I cut-and-paste and will save in Word & PDF format so I have it permanently on my PC and can share it with others and preserve it (articles and websites go down or disappear). 

I wouldn't say it's new research or super-important stuff.....more of a compendium....but it has lots of useful information and  some trivial that might be of interest to people looking for the backstory to particular coins, sales, coin types, the hobby, financial impacts, etc.

Edited December 15, 2022 by GoldFinger1969

[World Colonial]

1) Reading and posting, here and on the PCGS Forum.  Read Coin Week too.

2) Looking for coins that are candidates to buy.  This is mostly auctions, eBay, and a few dealers.  (ANS MANTIS is another source I have looked at too.) But I also have a list on a spreadsheet of coins I know exist (which I have mostly never seen for sale) from reference books (plate coins), prior auction catalogs, and the TPG populations.  These are potential coins I may approach dealers or even the collector who owns it, at some point.

3) Identifying coins in my current collection that are candidates to be sold.  I'm in the process of selling a partial six coin set right now.  Outside my primary interest, there are two "side collections" I am interested in continuing.  Most everything else I would get rid of, at the right price.

4) Keeping up with coins I do not collect and almost certainly will never buy.  This is mostly auction results (such as to put together the data for that series ranking per a prior thread) and becoming familiar with Coin Facts.  I look at Coin Facts intermittently to compare estimated survivorship to my primary interest, Lima and Potosi pillar coinage. 

Edited December 15, 2022 by World Colonial

[samclemen3991]

I tend to build my own personal versions of coin sets or sub-sets.  It is not unusual for me to spend 3 to 5 years looking at various coins and groups of coins before buying even one piece.  Some sets never happen for various reasons, other sets get put into a rotation that can be years in the future.  Case in point, the set I am currently working on requires 12 more coins to complete.  I anticipate finishing it by summer 2024.  I have a second set that is lacking 5 coins.  I just keep an eye for those since they are of the 2 or 3 coin appearances a year type.  I have a third set that only has 8 coins and requires 19 coins to complete.  I track coins for that set in case a rare opportunity happens, but that set will have to wait it's turn to become a priority.  I am also currently researching a set of coins  that may or may not ever happen.  James

[Coinbuf]

Read and participate on three coin forums

Work on my coin photography skills, as poor as they are I need to spend lots of time here.  

Work to be able to afford a few coins when they are available.

Edited December 15, 2022 by Coinbuf

[GoldFinger1969]

I should have added (7) check out local coin shops (LCS) and (8) Attend coin shows from 1-day local shows to multi-day regional shows to Big Nationals like FUN. 

[RWB]

I put them under my pillow at night in hopes of them hatching.

[l.cutler]

Haunting the coin forums, studying the coins I already have, researching coins I would like to get.

[VKurtB]

On 12/15/2022 at 1:37 PM, Coinbuf said:

Read and participate on three coin forums

Work on my coin photography skills, as poor as they are I need to spend lots of time here.  

Work to be able to afford a few coins when they are available.

On photo work - you n’ me both, brother. This is not easy to do well. It’s too easy to do lousy. 

[zadok]

...compendium...interesting choice n accurate...mostly i upgrade what i have n research archives on census of coins i have future interest in...to include finest knowns, top-pops, rarities (5 or less)...especially like to buy the finest knowns of potential registry set contenders should i ever decide to pursue those sets...entertaining a set of finest knowns across different series, not sure just what to call such a set...perhaps a compendium registry set???....