What brings you to this hobby

[Dan12345]

Hi to all 

I just wanted to start a thread to get people's stories on what the main reason is you collect the coins you do. There's plenty of different types to collect whether it be moden coins historic coins gold coins silver coins British coins world coins graded or ungraded the list goes on. For some it's an investment and others a hobby, Being new to this hobby I was interested in other people's reasons for Collecting.

For me I do have some modern coins and will collect others which but they don't really get me that excited, I prefer historical coins as I find they have a story to tell and i love history. I really like the feel of and old coin so am not to fussed about graded mint coins in slabs although they are amazing coins and nice to look at but I like to hold and feel a coin.

Everyone is different so what does it for you

 

 

[DaveStacks]

Half investment, half hobby. Personally I stick mainly to bullion, and semi numismatics that don't have ridiculous premiums. At the very least, we're preserving our wealth outside the banking system which is hardly a bad thing. 

[Arcadian]

Pretty much the same for me, hobby/investment.  I stick to newish stuff, as I've no idea what I'd be getting into with older coins.  I do like the different coins of the world though, so I'll probably try to get an America Eagle, then Buffalo, then Mexican Libertad or 50 Peso, I'll have to read up on Ukranian stuff like Noah's ark, etc, but it means I've got a hobby that should have some lasting interest, it's not like I'm buying a coin a week.  I suppose it's a bit like expensive stamp collecting. 

[Gordy]

18 minutes ago, Arcadian said:

Pretty much the same for me, hobby/investment.  I stick to newish stuff, as I've no idea what I'd be getting into with older coins.  I do like the different coins of the world though, so I'll probably try to get an America Eagle, then Buffalo, then Mexican Libertad or 50 Peso, I'll have to read up on Ukranian stuff like Noah's ark, etc, but it means I've got a hobby that should have some lasting interest, it's not like I'm buying a coin a week.  I suppose it's a bit like expensive stamp collecting. 

There's a new design arriving on the eagle this summer too, so 2021 will have two designs

[adamantio999]

Started 4 years ago with gold as a way of saving in an alternative currency (Thanks Mike Maloney for introducing me to this world).
Then the passion grew up and I've started looking at silver a year after. In 2019 I bought almost only the grey metal, which I don't purchase anymore due to the premiums, switching back to gold again.
I'll be honest with you and with myself. As time progressed, I've become a collector as much as a stacker. I try to balance reasonable deals and beauty of the coins (I'm in love with the britannias new design and with the American buffalos).
I think I will be buried with some of my coins. New they are MY PRECIOUS.
I always keep a quarter ounce gold in my pocked wherever I go. I like watching it when I am alone. It reminds me of what it is real.

 

 

[Yetiwatch]

For me obsession... I always start collecting something, at least with shiny stuff the value is unlikely to dive and make me a massive loss in the long run!

[GoldStandardPartyUK]

I work for a bank and seeing how they manage risk gave me little confidence they would handle any crisis correctly, the internal talk of cyclical investment and managing counterparty risk led me to believe central banks would implement policies in the opposite direction to what would be needed, they're worse than useless. 

My views were confirmed by the Sept 2019 repo market crash, since then their over reaction to covid, reckless borrowing, their lack of reaction to actual crises such rise of maoism, socialism and culture war. All this plus historically low GSR basically this is a once in a hundred generations opportunity for silver. 

Is not a hobby. Did Noah have a hobby building his ark? 

[Bigmarc]

59 minutes ago, GoldStandardPartyUK said:

Is not a hobby. Did Noah have a hobby building his ark? 

Noah was over 500 years old when he built his ark. He had a lot of time on his hands.

4 hours ago, Dan12345 said:

Being new to this hobby I was interested in other people's reasons for Collecting.

My wife is not interested, my kids are not interested, my family and mates are not interested. They all pretty much think I am boring, but it's mine, if we are away and I want to disappear to a coin shop, it's something "I" do, If I want to have a day out at a coin fair, it's something "I" do. I've been away on stag weekends and still managed to get away for a few hours peace, just adding to my collection.

4 hours ago, Dan12345 said:

what the main reason is you collect the coins you do

I have always been about the metal more than the coin. I have made many mistakes and collected some bargains and to be honest it wasn't until I joined the forum that I saw the error of my ways. I have learned a lot here and although I am still primarily about the metal (it's simple), I am slowly starting to look at saleable coins. So to clarify I am more of a treasure hunter than a investor. "A hobby"

[StackemHigh]

I've always been a collector of stuff like many small kids are, postcards on holidays and key rings from interesting places i've been but after a bad motorcycle accident and a house fire my priorities changed. I became free and loose with wine women n song and this is where precious metals stopped a downward spiral into marriage and children. I saved some old UK 5p pieces the old one bob (very like 5Dm coins of the time) and on  trips to west Germany i bought several porn mags from the vending machines at motorway services. Good times were had drinking in Germany and the mags helped pay for the trips. On a later trip to Berlin after the wall i was walking around a flee market and spotted some old reich marks and some Bismark metals going very cheap so i bought them and quickly sold them on too. Unfortunatly the old coins buy turned into getting any coins gold or silver from home or abroad to turn a profit. A pocket full did make for some very good holidays in europe. The lads holidays away stopped but the coins have remained. 

A few years ago i made the biggest mistake / regret of my collecting life i sold nearly all of my collection and bought some gold. I have since rebought most of it 

Today i'm a collector of mainly silver and more recently gold. I still buy any old / new coin i like but now i keep most of it, I'll trade with a small group of friends into metals to get what i like. 

I do like the Perth Mint products with their three lunar series, kooks and wedge-tailed eagles favorites. Annual typeset collections of these and other coins keep me away from the pub like the old days but i still go to music gigs in europe and bring back some gold bullion hidden in my wallet. I never go anywhere without some empty filps in there too.

[Jvw]

I started because i have always been interested in metals and history. I combined the two in the world of coins. It intrigues me that I can buy and hold a coin that has been minted a couple hundred years ago without any problem. Premiums of bullion coins are just a small price to pay for the historic value the coin holds imo. I came across some of @BackyardBullion's video's about coins, investment and also his own silver pouring. After joining the forum and ordering BYB's forumbars he was also kind enough to pour my own design on commission. On arrival of the poured bars i remember that that was the exact moment i was hooked on PM's and coins. I did buy some silver coins, but those were not the historic coins I set out to find, and the premium on silver kinda killed the deal on them so i decided to skip silver for now and focus on gold. 

I started buying full gold sovereigns thanks to @SVcollector. It still amazes me that someone in 1842 bought and held the exact coin I bought and hold now. They still are my most precious coins I own, even the rotten dirty bullion ones with dark black marker pen on them. 

Sovereigns are small, so I decided also to compensated that by buying more chunky gold coins like the Mexican 50 pesos and the Peruvian 100 Soles. Those are just investment to be honest, and I would have never bought them if I wasn't offered to buy one to be honest. I am glad that I did, the weight of those coins are just amazing. And you can play and fumble around with them, just like the bullion sovereigns. The design of the 50 Pesos (Centenario) let me right in the arms of the Winged Victoria on the 1oz gold Libertad. It was just love on first sight! I soon welcomed some Libertad in my life and even bought the ridiculously expensive 1oz gold 2018, 2019 and 2020 Reverse proofs from my main (and only) Libertad dealer @muenzdachs. (Out with my low premium intentions!)

That transformed me from a bullion stacker to a collector I guess. Now I like to find beautiful coins with a good story behind them. Like 8 reales silver pillar dollars or Dutch 14 gulden gouden rijders. But don't get me wrong, it is sovereigns for me always and ever! 

History and precious metals combined, who can say no to that?

And that's where I am at right now.

Edited July 31, 2021 by Jvw

[Arcadian]

6 hours ago, adamantio999 said:

Started 4 years ago with gold as a way of saving in an alternative currency (Thanks Mike Maloney for introducing me to this world).
Then the passion grew up and I've started looking at silver a year after. In 2019 I bought almost only the grey metal, which I don't purchase anymore due to the premiums, switching back to gold again.
I'll be honest with you and with myself. As time progressed, I've become a collector as much as a stacker. I try to balance reasonable deals and beauty of the coins (I'm in love with the britannias new design and with the American buffalos).
I think I will be buried with some of my coins. New they are MY PRECIOUS.
I always keep a quarter ounce gold in my pocked wherever I go. I like watching it when I am alone. It reminds me of what it is real.

 

 

Finally, a proper use for that odd little pocket in my jeans, a precious metal pocket 🙂 

[SilverStorm]

13 hours ago, DaveStacks said:

Half investment, half hobby. Personally I stick mainly to bullion, and semi numismatics that don't have ridiculous premiums. At the very least, we're preserving our wealth outside the banking system which is hardly a bad thing. 

Me same as DaveStacks, to the tee lol.  Only difference is that I am three quarters investment, and one quarter hobby.   

[Paul]

I read this quote back in the mid 2000s and it really resonated with me, since i had some issues with debt in my early 20s and never looked back since 

 

“Gold is the money of kings, silver is the money of gentlemen, barter is the money of peasants – but debt is the money of slaves.”

― Norm Franz, Money & Wealth in the New Millennium: A Prophetic Guide to the New World Economic Order

 

[StackemHigh]

14 hours ago, Arcadian said:

Finally, a proper use for that odd little pocket in my jeans, a precious metal pocket 🙂 

I've been told it's an old style  ticket pocket. I always carry a slim lighter in it .

Edited August 1, 2021 by StackemHigh

[SilverStorm]

8 hours ago, Paul said:

I read this quote back in the mid 2000s and it really resonated with me, since i had some issues with debt in my early 20s and never looked back since 

 

“Gold is the money of kings, silver is the money of gentlemen, barter is the money of peasants – but debt is the money of slaves.”

― Norm Franz, Money & Wealth in the New Millennium: A Prophetic Guide to the New World Economic Order

 

Considering most of us here collect both gold and silver, I guess we are all kings and gentlemen!  Woot!  😆

[Minimalist]

On 31/07/2021 at 14:29, Dan12345 said:

people's stories on what the main reason is you collect the coins you do.

Survival.

[HillWalkerDundee]

I hold in my lifetime as silver is a thing of beauty and gold a store of wealth. After my demise, it is a little something for my grandchildren. Of the two, I prefer silver, I love its beauty.

[CollectorKyle]

60% I have an 18 Month old little boy and his mum thinks money is the way to go and I don’t so Gold and Silver it is.

20% I have been poor with my finances in the past, and find investing a better way of saving due to today’s ease of spending. After looking into things and knowing how the big wide world sort of works I believe that this is the way forward.

20% It’s just cool. (This grew from 0 in about 6 months.)

 

Only 27 so have a way to go but really inspired by some of you on here and some of the replies on this thread are brilliant!!

 

[Dan12345]

Great reading all the replys and wow didn't realize so many people collect for investment. 

I do have some bullion silver in my collection and will be getting more and some gold as well but didn't expect nearly every one to look at coins and metals as an investment for the future. 

Now I've read all the replys and people's stories I'm not really that surprised and it actually may change the way I buy in the future

[TechSilver]

Started of as an alternative investment after the 2008 financial crash, but has morphed into a hobby now

Just wish I had more spare cash to buy collectible coins; Get's boring buying Eagles, Britannia's, Maples, etc.

Have to window shop for Mint of Poland or Coin Investment Trust coins - My YouTube videos being the closet I'll get to owning these coins 😥

[KevinFlynn]

I used to be a little saver without ambition. Once I reached a more substantial salary I started to get interested in putting more money back and started looking into investment options of my house bank. Something made me look beyond what my bank advisor told me and somewhere in between I got my hands on a book about the Subprime Crisis of 2008. Which lead me to start reading  about investment alternatives and somehow I landed in the precious metal investment internet sphere™ (forums and their like). This is as far as I recall.

I started to construct an informed portfolio and chose gold as a cornerstone. It seemed to be gold or real estate, and real estate is not an option for me. Precious metals made saving fun for me for the first time in life which in turn helped me delve deep into the topic.

I bought my first gold coins, then added silver to diversify. Also silver is cheaper - it is easier on questionable investments, say, buying collectible bullion or semi numismatics. So it's mainly bullion for investment for me (government minted investment coins or easily moved trade coins), with more playful decisions in silver.

 

Edited August 3, 2021 by KevinFlynn

[EdwardTeach]

Noticing the low interest rates at the bank got me wondering what physical assets might be a better way of storing wealth. After a few months pondering this question I came across a Brexit related YouTube video in which Nigel Farrage made an unrelated comment that investing in physical gold and silver is likely a safer way of saving money over the next decade. So I investigated this further and it led me down the rabbit hole of understanding what real vs fiat money is and what the central banks are up to with their out of control money printing.

So far I don’t have much saved because I’m quite poor but at least I am out of debt and have something real and tangible tucked away now. It feels far better than letting my savings get inflated away by rapidly rising inflation.  Also the knowledge I’ve gained about what money is and how it works is probably more valuable to me than the investments I’ve made in gold and silver (and a little bit of crypto too 😉).

Edited August 4, 2021 by EdwardTeach

[wilspeak]

To me Stacking Gold and Silver is a Investment/Hobby/Savings for rainy day. 

[DuperDash]

I am stacking gold, silver and platinum as an investment and to add more variety and diversify my portfolio, as i do not like to put all my eggs in one basket. I never really considered buying precious metals before and never even knew the process was so simple. Now my aim is to have 10% of my wealth in precious metals and i won't be letting go of it until i am either very old or very desperate. Although i initially started as a stacker/investor, i am now appreciating the beauty of some coins etc and how diverse the designs are and i just want to buy certain pieces just to have, so think i am also edging towards collector.

There is something very enticing about owning precious metals in bullion form, makes me feel like i actually have treasure you know, something solid and real not just fiat currency but the stuff of kings and queens you know. None of my friends/ family are into it and i feel like i sort of, have one over all of them by investing some money in precious metals, they all think i am crazy but i feel getting into this was one of the best decisions i have ever made.

my philosophy is, "If i keep filling small pools one day i will have an ocean!"

[Alex944]

It started as a partial investment.  It's only been since 3 years or so ago. Missus and I decided to start saving up for a house deposit and putting some money in stocks and crypto, I also wanted to take a punt on putting some money in gold at the time. Bought a 1oz gold bar and I remember being very disappointed about the size of it 😅. However, that golden hue really attracted me. It wasn't long after that that I decided to buy a couple of silver coins, you know, so it didn't cost me an arm and a leg. One of the EU dealers had a scheme where you could store your purchases for 6 months before shipping so I bought 2-5 silver coins a month with some spare change.

When I got these coins, I was definitely hooked. My missus was a bit skeptical at first but she now has the run of 2018-2021 silver dragons from the Perth mint on her home desk and is very protective of them 😂. I'm lucky that she supports me in this.

All in all, it has turned into more of a hobby than an investment, though I do consider it a strong investment for long term wealth protection. Some people's hobbies are money pits that only cost you, but at least with this hobby I'll be able to pull out some of my finances (if I so wish) AND I get nice and shiny things.