Pet Peeve 2018

[LINCOLNMAN]

I was reading a FUN show report and once again read disdainful remarks about "widgets" and "dreck". Do these people not realize how important it is to have a collector base other than those who are interested in more expensive material? I'm sure there are some collectors who start at the top of the price ladder, but I would imagine most work their way up. Even if that weren't the case, how does it elevate the hobby to look down on collectors who aren't interested in $100k coins or who can't afford them?  Rant over.

[WoodenJefferson]

It never bothered me that I like to look at eye candy but yet find it unattainable...I am happy with an $80 coin as I am with a $800 dollar coin. That and I don't have to worry about the $80 coin and can enjoy the hobby more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[physics-fan3.14]

Were you reading Laura Sperber again?

You shouldn't pay much attention to her. 

[LINCOLNMAN]

1 hour ago, physics-fan3.14 said:

Were you reading Laura Sperber again?

You shouldn't pay much attention to her. 

Caught me, but she isn't alone, maybe just unusual?

[jtryka]

It's funny, I realized a long time ago that there are some aspects of the hobby that don't interest me, whether high-grade moderns, patterns, fractional currency, etc. but it doesn't do me or anyone else any good to demean those who do enjoy them.  To each his own!  As for the other thread about women in the hobby, I had the pleasure of visiting a cousin a few weeks ago and I found out that my late aunt actually collected coins!  I think she got into it because of my grandfather, but when I visited my cousin, she had me look through them and I was amazed.  There was nothing of spectacular value, but here was a woman that just saved interesting coins from circulation.  She put them in albums and others in pill bottles or envelopes.  At the time they were probably "dreck" to some, but filling albums with what were then modern coins, now have a lovely collection of uncirculated silver dimes, quarters and halves with some of the prettiest toning I've seen.  And she just did it for fun and to pass the time, nothing wrong with that!

[LINCOLNMAN]

48 minutes ago, jtryka said:

It's funny, I realized a long time ago that there are some aspects of the hobby that don't interest me, whether high-grade moderns, patterns, fractional currency, etc. but it doesn't do me or anyone else any good to demean those who do enjoy them.  To each his own!  As for the other thread about women in the hobby, I had the pleasure of visiting a cousin a few weeks ago and I found out that my late aunt actually collected coins!  I think she got into it because of my grandfather, but when I visited my cousin, she had me look through them and I was amazed.  There was nothing of spectacular value, but here was a woman that just saved interesting coins from circulation.  She put them in albums and others in pill bottles or envelopes.  At the time they were probably "dreck" to some, but filling albums with what were then modern coins, now have a lovely collection of uncirculated silver dimes, quarters and halves with some of the prettiest toning I've seen.  And she just did it for fun and to pass the time, nothing wrong with that!

One of the early collectors who mentored me was a lady friend of my mother. She collected Indian Head Cents. I remember her fondly.

[numisport]

5 hours ago, physics-fan3.14 said:

Were you reading Laura Sperber again?

You shouldn't pay much attention to her. 

If those were her comments we need not worry as she only markets PCGS coins thus only represents part of the market.

[physics-fan3.14]

1 hour ago, numisport said:

If those were her comments we need not worry as she only markets PCGS coins thus only represents part of the market.

It seems like the market, like society, has become quite polarized. You have your favorites, and everyone else is wrong! 

D-crats/R-licans. 

PCGS/NGC

CAC/Non-CAC

2017 was, more than any other year, the year of divisiveness. 

Laura Sperber is the most elite of the PCGS/CAC only spoiled elite, and I've got no place for her in my numismatic philosophy. 

The coins are coins, and speak for themselves! Some of them are blue collar, common, album-filling workhorses. Some of them are elite, white collar million dollar rich-kids. 

But the end goal is the same - an appreciation for history, art, beauty.... 

In the end, I don't care about PCGS vs NGC. And that's the problem I have with the hobby today! I care about the coins! 

[BillJones]

The over emphasis on key date coins only has inflated their value and denied collectors who pay too much attention to that market a chance to enjoy some reasonably priced pieces. To me "dreck" is over graded, over priced material, and total dependence upon labels and stickers will not save you from it. In fact it might even lead you to buy it.

[SkyMan]

Coin collecting is about HAVING FUN, not about whether you can go to FUN and drop a wad.  

[LINCOLNMAN]

On 1/9/2018 at 8:34 PM, physics-fan3.14 said:

It seems like the market, like society, has become quite polarized. You have your favorites, and everyone else is wrong! 

D-crats/R-licans. 

PCGS/NGC

CAC/Non-CAC

2017 was, more than any other year, the year of divisiveness. 

Laura Sperber is the most elite of the PCGS/CAC only spoiled elite, and I've got no place for her in my numismatic philosophy. 

The coins are coins, and speak for themselves! Some of them are blue collar, common, album-filling workhorses. Some of them are elite, white collar million dollar rich-kids. 

But the end goal is the same - an appreciation for history, art, beauty.... 

In the end, I don't care about PCGS vs NGC. And that's the problem I have with the hobby today! I care about the coins! 

Good stuff. 

[Just Bob]

I suppose that collecting mostly tokens puts me in the "widget" category, but it also means that I can spend a hundred or so at a show and come home with a handful of pieces, instead of spending a handful of hundreds on just one piece.

[World Colonial]

On ‎1‎/‎9‎/‎2018 at 1:25 PM, LINCOLNMAN said:

I was reading a FUN show report and once again read disdainful remarks about "widgets" and "dreck". Do these people not realize how important it is to have a collector base other than those who are interested in more expensive material? I'm sure there are some collectors who start at the top of the price ladder, but I would imagine most work their way up. Even if that weren't the case, how does it elevate the hobby to look down on collectors who aren't interested in $100k coins or who can't afford them?  Rant over.

I'd guess almost no collectors start in the upper end of the hobby in the US, overwhelmingly financial buyers, just as they do in South Africa.

I have read this type of market report numerous times in the past.  Personally, I'm not impressed with hardly any of the coins subject to this promotion.  The quality differences are trivial for the price spreads.  The price level is either inflated or exorbitant and bears little if any relation to the numismatic merits of what is being bought.  Lastly, it isn't like hardly of these coins are hard to buy.  Only a low minority of these coins are scarce, except under the contrived and imaginary scarcity criteria invented by US collectors.

It is marketing, nothing else.

[Raisethis2]

Next time you're at a show where Legend is present ask them to let you see something. Ask their price then ask why it's so,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,ugly. I've got boxes full of widgets that look like keepers to me. 

[physics-fan3.14]

7 hours ago, Raisethis2 said:

Next time you're at a show where Legend is present ask them to let you see something. Ask their price then ask why it's so,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,ugly. I've got boxes full of widgets that look like keepers to me. 

They won't show you anything. You have to be one of their customers, or introduced by one of their customers. 

To be fair, the inventory on their website is chock full of really cool, really high grade, and really expensive stuff. They've got a lot of cool coins. 

The attitude surrounding that company, however, is just so off-putting. 

[MarkFeld]

9 hours ago, Raisethis2 said:

Next time you're at a show where Legend is present ask them to let you see something. Ask their price then ask why it's so,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,ugly. I've got boxes full of widgets that look like keepers to me. 

You're suggesting that he engage in the very type of behavior with which he has stated he has a "pet peeve".

[LINCOLNMAN]

To be clear, I wasn't so much focusing on Legend, although it was their FUN report that set me off. More, my pet peeve is the tendency to look down one's nose at other forms of collecting. I can remember many years ago, before it became fashionable to collect high-grade Lincolns (at least that was what prices reflected), I was scouring shows for the real key dates. Many of the hotshot young dealers would ask me "why are you interested in that junk?" So, not only is such behavior bad manners, it can be shortsighted as well. Lastly, 98% of the population thinks we're half nuts - we need to stick together.