Vfox Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 A curious thing popped into my mind today when I was looking through my collection of US currency. I would not pay what I did then, for the same note now. It's not that the notes lost value in my mind, certainly not; it's just my method of collecting has changed with my budget and the economy more than I'd like to admit. A few months ago I sold all my coin albums and went back to collecting strickly type coins. I am also preparing to off some of my non-US silver and currency to make room in my budget. Why? Two reasons for me, the first is that I have many things keeping me occupied other than coins currently, life has a funny way of taking over. The second is my budget has been cut to nearly nothing because of events happening in my life. I'm not screaming the poorhouse here, but I certainly think twice before spending $30 on a coin now compared to last summer. I have not lost any enjoyment however and I have been getting into reading about numismatic history until I can regain funds for my collection. So in short the theme here is: What do you collect now? Has your collection changed over the last year? Do you feel a pinch? Have you found another numismatic outlet to pass the time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 I think most of us are evolving our interests in adapting to the current economic situation. I have slowed down, but I am also consolidating interests and writing at present. Over the next few months, I will be evaluating parts of my collection that are inactive at present. Do I want to let the sit for now or sell them and reinvest in active areas of my collection? Its not always an easy question to answer. When the market is soft, its a good time to buy and a bad time to sell. Maybe swapping one collecting area for another is a push, but that is also hard to know for sure. In the end, working with the collection and spending time reading maintains the enjoyment and value of collecting, even if I'm not buying as frequently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottO Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 the same as before, bargain lots. just netted a £30+ coin for £3 just today in fact Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finn235 Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 I pretty much started out in the poor economy. I've built my collection by buying rolls from the bank at face value, grabbing all the goodies out of them, and then spending what's left over. The only coins that I've ever "bought" are the '36 Walking Liberty Half that I bought for $5 (more or less melt value), and a handful of coins that I bought in 2001 out of a "Junk bin" for 25 cents each. A worthwile investment, since I managed to snag a silver 1945 Philippines 10 centavos in XF+ condition, in addition to a number of assorted WWI/WWII-era coins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NumisMattic2200 Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 I'd collect Celts personally, if it's long-term profit you're aiming for - worldwide there are still said to be less than 1,000 collectors of this genre;- how would that compare to the other branches of ancients? hmm.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vfox Posted June 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 I'd collect Celts personally, if it's long-term profit you're aiming for - worldwide there are still said to be less than 1,000 collectors of this genre;- how would that compare to the other branches of ancients? hmm.. As in stone celts (Axe-like artifacts) used in ancient cultures worldwide? Or is that a field of numismatics I'm just not familiar with? I, and my friends are amateur archaeologists and many of us have found stone celts (among other things) used by the Susquehannock Indians and their predecessors. If it is a coin however, just ignore that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NumisMattic2200 Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 If it is a coin however, just ignore that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vfox Posted June 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 If a celt is a coin ignore my ramblings about a stone tool. Celt's are considered hand axes or primitive cutting tools used by Native Americans and other indigenous cultures worldwide. You said you collect celts, so I was just curious if you were referencing these ancient tools or a type of coin that I am not familiar with in the US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottO Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 as in the ancient celts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regandon Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 I've not changed my collecting habits. I still collect 1700 to 1918 German commemoratives graded by PCGS, NGC and ANACS. I do not buy every week like I use to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vfox Posted June 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 as in the ancient celts. Oi, terms in the US sometimes are a bit ambiguous lol. Well, at anyrate the celts(axe) I collect and the Celts(a people/coinage) you collect are probably from the same time periods, haha. At anyrate the celt I refer to is pronounced like selt. Which depending on the dialect and area you live in...the ancient Celts could be pronounced in a similar fashion. Normally though, in the states we pronounce it Kelts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NumisMattic2200 Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 If a celt is a coin ignore my ramblings about a stone tool. Celt's are considered hand axes or primitive cutting tools used by Native Americans and other indigenous cultures worldwide. You said you collect celts, so I was just curious if you were referencing these ancient tools or a type of coin that I am not familiar with in the US. You are not familiar with celtic coins What is wrong with you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vfox Posted June 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 You are not familiar with celtic coins What is wrong with you? I am familiar with Celtic coins, just the terminology used means several things. See my previous post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Stilson Posted July 1, 2009 Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 It has changed some. I used to buy something every week, but now have slowed down. Part of it though is the date morgans I'm missing are getting higher. I have picked up a few lower cost morgans recently. But trying to keep a base amount available if something good comes up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TreasureGirl Posted July 1, 2009 Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 Well, I've always been a poor kid in school, and now I'm a poor graduate in some major debt. So, no change for me. Anything I can find in circulation to fill in my folders, I keep, as well as anything that might catch my eye. I've been lucky lately, though, with some cool things popping up in the attics of friends and relatives that I can get at a discount and can pay for over time. For the time being, I've been working on my jewelry. Unfortunately, I've run out of supplies, so that's become a no-go too. I suppose I'll just read some more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benz Gemz Posted July 1, 2009 Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 Well I primariliy collect ancients, especially Roman provincial coins with archetectural reverses. I have not seen real bargains here except for the occaisional collector dropping some of his/her inventory. Prices seem to be pretty firm. I have added some collecting areas recently, particularily Canadian large cents, which allow me to buy coins more frequently (because of the lower prices) than I could before. Fortunately the economy has not beat me down too bad at this point! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elverno Posted July 1, 2009 Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 I collect almost anything related to the period 1789-1815. Coins, medals, paper money, tokens, jetons, ephemera, bladed weapons, books, everyday artifacts. Whew! Fortunately that means that when money is tight I just collect something non-numismatic. I just collected a French government broadside from 1799-1800 the other day for $7 including shipping. It's Directorate period and virtually as new. Unfortunately it's too large to scan so I'll end up spending as much or more taking it to a copy place with a large scale scanner but that's the breaks sometimes... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill Posted July 2, 2009 Report Share Posted July 2, 2009 I'd collect Celts personally, if it's long-term profit you're aiming for - worldwide there are still said to be less than 1,000 collectors of this genre;- how would that compare to the other branches of ancients? hmm.. And yet there are 2 of us on this forum (and I believe a few more). We definitely make a dent in that 1,000 number. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottishmoney Posted July 2, 2009 Report Share Posted July 2, 2009 It is a great time to buy choice materiel for your collection if you have the cash and no immediate threat of a job loss etc. The problem is that choice materiel is disappearing from the scene, if you can afford to keep it awhile why sell it into this lousy market? I have a large accumulation of stuff I would like to auction off in various venues, but not into this market. I might do some private sales of stuff, but auctions are out of the question at least at this point, looking at results is pretty depressing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hiho Posted July 3, 2009 Report Share Posted July 3, 2009 I just bought a car that my wife can actually drive (automatic transmission, bah) while our sons fight over her car and that set me back a bit, so I have had to cut out most of my impulse buying. But I still have a job (whew...) so if I see something that I REALLY need I still buy it. Here's the new car... The sacrifice's I make for my wife... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Posted July 3, 2009 Report Share Posted July 3, 2009 Beautiful car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobh Posted July 3, 2009 Report Share Posted July 3, 2009 I like Mark's idea of putting away a little money for the event that a great coin is offered -- you never know when that might happen. While I used to buy coins all the time, I was not spending a lot of money per coin. Now I am much pickier and tend to spend a lot more on individual coins, but overall am spending less money than before because my purchases are fewer and farther between. And I feel that the coins I tend to buy nowadays will appreciate in value sooner than some of the run-of-the-mill (albeit higher grade) Morgan dollars, for example. I still collect Morgans, but not actively. Some of the date/mm series I am trying to finish are pretty tough (Nicholas II 50 kopek pieces, for example). I recently won a 1908 50 kopek coin, AU with some minor scratches, for €1100 (abt. $1500). It's very expensive, but also very rare. I saw only two of them -- except for proofs, which I don't collect in this series -- offered before within the past 5 years, and this one was the highest grade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
just carl Posted July 3, 2009 Report Share Posted July 3, 2009 I just try to fill Albums. I stick to Whitman Albums since I started with those about 60 years ago. Of course they were folders back then. Now have well over 100 Albums of almost everything Whitman offers. There is coin dealer I know that when he purchases coin Albums from people, he takes all the coins out and places them all in flips for sale at coin shows. The Albums pile up and he has to much buisness with coins to worry about the Abums. He used to just throw them away but when I told him I use them he started to just give them to me. All the Dansco, Littleton and others I either give to friends or trade for more Whitman's with people that would rather have Dansco. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YeOldeCollector Posted July 3, 2009 Report Share Posted July 3, 2009 I'm still collecting exactly the same I have been for the past few months; Anglo-Saxon, Norman and Early Plantagenet pennies. It's just a shame that there seems to be an acute shortage for sale which means that I'm buying less even though I would like to spend more! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
numismatic nut Posted July 4, 2009 Report Share Posted July 4, 2009 What do you collect now? Us type, and some date/mm stuff. I look at my Lincoln cent folder, and then think "I wish". Has your collection changed over the last year? Yes, it has. I use to buy lots of Lincoln cents, but when you have all the common dates, then you move on to another collecting area.Do you feel a pinch? Well, I can't comment too much on this. I just got my first job at a computer store, so I have no experiance with market swings.Have you found another numismatic outlet to pass the time? Well, I started to sort through a jumbled mess of world coins, but US coins are still my main focus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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